21st Century Education

M3.U2.A2

21st Century Education

21st Century Education

The 4 C’s are a fundamental part of the 21st-century education. By effectively implementing the 4 C’s within our education standards, we will be able to better impact the children of tomorrow.

Critical Thinking

Creativity

Collaboration

Communication

“tell me and I might forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”

-Benjamin Franklin

Critical Thinking

When students are thinking critically they are:

• using higher level thinking
• solving problems
• brainstorm
• compare & contrast
• categorize

When students are given time to develop these skills, they are able to be better equipped to ask the right questions and express their own opinions.  

Critical Thinking Video

Creativity

There have been so many TED talks and forums circling the internet about how kids are taught out of creativity. We as a society are educating our children to not be creative. With the 21st-century education model, schools and educators are wanting to integrate creativity more into education. With the lack of creativity comes the fear of failure.

Students need to know that it is okay to fail. When we fail we are able to learn from our mistakes and gain knowledge from them. Risk taking is an essential part of creativity. By taking risks, they can come up with new and improved ideas.

Creativity Video

Collaboration

Collaboration is a vital tool in today’s society. People that are able to collaborate with one another will be able to excel much further in life. The expression ‘two is better than one’ really hits home with this topic. Many employers are not looking so much at just content knowledge but more at how people are able to collaborate with one another.

Collaboration in the classroom helps students to become effective listeners, clear communicators, and team players. When students work together and collaborate they are learning more skills than just the topic at hand. Working together with people and being able to share your ideas in a group setting is a skill in and of itself. Student-centered classes are one of the best ways to establish collaboration in the classroom.

Collaboration Video

Communication

There are many ways to establish communication within the classroom. One thing to remind students is that the message is the key element to communication. What are you trying to say or get the listener to understand? Nonverbal communication is just as important as verbal. Many times this is overlooked but practicing body language and nonverbal communication important for a person to become a great communicator.

The best thing about all four of these C’s is that if done correctly they are all intertwined together to support and strengthen each other. Although it is possible to really excel at one ‘C’ more than the others they all work together to better educate the learner. The world is rapidly changing and these skills are geared for these rapidly changing 21st-century learners.

Communication Video