Those of you who have been faithfully reading these entries may remember a reference to "21st Century skills" in education. I just finished reading an article that referred to a recent poll conducted by a group called "Partnership for 21st Century Skills". That poll suggests that public opinion not only supports the teaching of "21st Century skills" but also feel schools aren't currently doing a good job teaching those skills. This begs the question, "What are 21st Century skills?"

During the last school board meeting, each school presented its building goals. The middle school, as one of its goals, is looking to define 21st Century skills. I expect similar discussions to take place at the high school. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) talks about skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, communication and self-direction, as well as computer and technology skills. To me, we, in education, should be incorporating technology into our instruction as well as expecting students to utilize technology in demonstrating knowledge and skills associated with our course content. Not just showing students how to use technology, but expecting them to be using that technology in the projects they complete for us.

The difficulty, for schools, in successfully teaching 21st century technology skills is that the technology is new for most instructors also and the advancements come so rapidly that it's tough, financially, to purchase the technology and keep it updated. At a recent school board meeting a representative from the company hired to do a technology audit in the district described some issues we have with our existing technology. He mentioned some of our "old" equipment. That equipment is seven years old. Technology is advancing so rapidly that seven years represents the lifetime of some equipment. In an environment where curriculum is updated on a seven-year cycle, we may not be able to keep pace with technological advancements.

I guess what I'm saying is, we all need to evaluate our situation. People want schools to use technology to help prepare students for success in the 21st century. Schools, in my opinion, want the same thing. I'm not sure people are ready to "put their money where their mouths are" by supporting the necessary funding to allow schools to do so. It takes money to provide time for training teachers to effectively utilize technology in their curriculum. It takes money to purchase equipment and keep it updated so students can effectively use technology in demonstrating knowledge and skills associated with course content. Collectively, we need to decide we are willing to fund schools appropriately to provide those opportunities. I don't think one can have a 21st century school with 20th century funding.