Skip to main content

The Great Content Debate

There has been a really interesting debate raging about 21st Century Skills and content in education. It seems that many in education think 21st Century Skills is counter to learning content. You can read about their views here:

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/Bridging-Differences/2009/03/what_about_21st_century_skills.html

http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2009/03/flawed-assumptions-undergird-the-partnership-for-21st-century-skills-movement-in-education/

http://www.coreknowledge.org/blog/2009/02/25/21st-century-skills-fadbusters/

It is an interesting debate. Both sides make good points, but I find myself stuck in the middle. Why is teaching content counter to the goals of teaching 21st century skills? I for one can not question the need to learn deeply about a topic in order to have relevant arguments. I believe one must understand their topic in order to speak, write, or present on it. But where I believe 21st Century Skills is more than just a fad is in the way in which it shifts our understanding of how we access that content, process that content, and communicate our learning about that content.

There is no denying that content is more readily available today than ever before. However, that content is hiding amid millions of webpages, ads, and other distractions. If we don't teach our students how to effectively sift through the morass of information that bogs so many of us down, we will instead limit our students to either ignore the hordes of valuable information online or give equal value to all the content online. Handing kids a textbook and asking them to ignore the topical, thoughtful information that is available 24/7 is like teaching kids how to write essays on slate boards. It doesn't prepare them for the world they are already participating in.

The challenge we have as teachers is we are being asked to use tools that are essential to our students future, yet somewhat foreign to many of us. In addition, we are struggling to find the time to explore these tools to create meaningful opportunities for our students to learn how to use them. At the same time, we are feeling a great deal of pressure to get up to speed quickly. We don't want to feel responsible for ill-preparing our students.

One thing is for sure, content alone will not prepare our students for a world in which technology is changing the way we access information, connect with others socially and professionally, and organize our lives. On the other hand, technology skills alone will not prepare our students to make deep connections, solve meaningful problems, or communicate in significant ways.

We need both.

Photo Credit: http://payless4textbooks.com/Eric/SpryAssets/textbooks.gif

Comments

  1. Dan WillinghamMarch 9, 2009 at 3:54 AM

    Hi
    I don't think that anyone disagrees with your basic point--that we need both content and skills. (It would be pretty hard to make the case that we don't.) The argument is over whether the specific plan that P21 has put forward is going to deliver skills and content to students. I've argued that there are significant problems in the methods they advocate--that these methods sound plausible, even obvious, but they overlook some fundamentals about how the mind works. My argument dovetails well with that of Diane Ravitch, the historian. She basically says "Most or all of this has been tried before, and it didn't work." Content comes up a lot, because of this historical context--when similar plans didn't work in the past, it was frequently because content got jettisoned.
    So I think the P21 goals are great, but I think their plan is terrible.

    ReplyDelete
  2. dzukorMarch 9, 2009 at 5:20 AM

    Dan-
    Thanks for your reply. I guess I am having trouble in this debate separating P21 from the general discussion of 21st Century Skills. I admit that the term has become watered down and lost meaning as we use it to represent all kinds of things. However, I think it is still worth pointing out that there are clearly some new skills that need to be addressed in order to better prepare our students for the future that awaits them. Technology both complicates and enriches our lives. Furthermore, it is fundamentally changing how we interact, communicate, and learn. As for skills like critical thinking, innovation, and problem solving, I agree that they have been around forever, but I would argue that we have allowed them to become overshadowed by basic skills recently. I also believe that new tools have changed the way we innovate, problem solve, and think critically. For example, online collaborative tools allow us to do these things with people across time and space. This has changed the way we share our ideas, gather input, build on other peoples' ideas, etc... Our students need these types of opportunities.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Carole RiesMarch 20, 2009 at 2:14 AM

    Hi Dave, I was just reading this article emerging technologies in education. Sort of relates to this topic. Check out this link. http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/wikis/etl/index.php/Technology%2C_Teaching%2C_and_Learning#Introduction.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Creating Traditions

Over the winter break, my wife and I got talking about traditions. At this time of year, there are many. Somehow or another, the conversation ended up on technology. (I don't know how... really!!) We were talking about how traditions are a part of our core values. For us, a love of nature is a core value. We have planned a couple of family trips to take advantage of the nature that is accessible throughout our country. We talked about how many people, including us at times, feel like technology can be a threat to our core values. It might be in conflict with our work/life balance, our love of the outdoors, our perceptions of what good relationships are about. But then we began talking about how technology has helped us build on our core values. As we planned our trip to Utah to go to the National Parks, we used the Internet to research the parks, find a flight, book a hotel, rent a car, and look at maps of the area. We might use a GPS system to help us get around while we are there...
4 comments
Read more

From See Saw to Balance Beam

Lately I've been feeling a bit conflicted. I hear some people write very eloquently about the power of data. If we collect good data on our students, we can use that data to help inform instruction. We will make sure that every student gets the instruction they need. They talk about common formative assessments. They talk about personalizing education. I hear others write equally eloquently about the fact that easy access to information changes how and what we teach drastically. They talk about constructivism and project based learning. They talk about the importance of creativity and design. They talk about deconstructing curriculum and focusing on skills instead of content. And me? I feel like a see saw. One day I'm on the data bandwagon. The next day I'm a hardcore constructivist. And I often have a hard time reconciling these two notions. On my data days, I'm thinking about standards, assessments, how my instruction ties into the curriculum. On my constructivist day...
3 comments
Read more

The Well Equipped Computer Lab - Feedback Encouraged!

I have the wonderful opportunity (and responsibility) to research and select some software for our elementary school computer labs. I have a moderate budget, but it is enough to purchase 3-5 new titles depending on costs. The committee will meet throughout this year and hopefully make its decision by March. I am very interested in the feedback of others, both within the district and elsewhere. We currently have some software in the labs that are still being used. This is an opportunity to fill in some gaps. I also want to go on record as stating that I recognize that there are many websites, free or otherwise, that can meet some of our needs. However, as we collect websites for specific skills and concepts, we are learning that there are often drawbacks to many of them, whether it is the fact that they are not part of a cohesive program that can track progress and individualize instruction or that they have many distracting elements on the screen. I also feel strongly that the core of ...
4 comments
Read more