What is 21st-Century Instruction?

The largest tag on the right-hand sidebar of this blog is "21st-Century Learning". But what does that even mean?

This week, I spent time with department chairs and administrators from across our district in goal-planning days for next year. My part of the workshop was to discuss our district's emphasis on 21st-century instruction. That meant I had to clarify in my own mind what this nebulous term means. I thought back on articles, blog posts, discussions, conference sessions, and conversations I've had over the last three years as a ToSA for Technology and Learning, and brainstormed a list of comparisons between 20th- and 21st-century instruction.

Download this chart as a PDF (color | B&W for printing)

As I presented this chart to teachers this week, I was (pleasantly) surprised at the positive reception it got, so I share it here in case others may find it valuable. I welcome your comments or additions.

A couple of points arise from this exercise. First, if I had to give an "elevator speech" on 21st-century learning, I would say that the essential component is some amount of student control over their own learning: what they learn, how they learn, when they learn, where they learn, how fast they learn, how they demonstrate that learning. That does not mean complete and total control; the degree and dimension of that control still must be judged by an experienced educator.

Second, notice that instructional technology is only one of the items on this list. Certainly 21st-century technology can help accomplish many of the other items, making them easier or more practical, but 21st-century instruction does not mean simply instructional technology. For that reason, my job title and emphasis will change next year, to ToSA for 21st-Century Instruction (ToSA 21C, for short). I hope to be working with teachers on many of the above topics, including but not limited to instructional technology.