Connections

Education circles are repackaging basic skills that have always been important and calling them [|21st Century Skills]. You've probably heard of it, and if you're an experienced educator, you realize that this is nothing new.

I think the reason they are being resold is two-fold: 1) End of Course tests like Virginia's SOLs and NCLB; and 2) it's a smaller world.

Today, many students in school are being killed with drill and practice teaching methods so they pass their tests. Meanwhile, because of technology, students from across the world are getting chances educationally and economically to succeed where previously, US students dominated.

So, reviewing these skills are important, and seeing how it relates to Wikipedia can be helpful.

Below are the skills cited by many as the new 21st Century skills and how Wikipedia addresses these:


 * 1) [|Core Subjects] remains the focus of 21st Century Skills, and obviously, Wikipedia dominates in that area since it has over 2.7 million articles in English alone.
 * 2) [|Creativity and Innovation] are used by trying to write or revise for a real audience. Since Wikipedia has so many articles, you have to think "out of the box" to add to it.
 * 3) [|Critical Thinking and Problem Solving] are also skills the Wikipedia can help foster as students may have to search for primary documents or valid resources to add to an article. Students also learn to be careful readers so they can spot bias or and section of reading that needs citation.
 * 4) [|Communication and Collaboration] is what Wikipedia is about. Students have to write clearly and accurately for a real audience and they can also easily partner with others to contribute to an article.
 * 5) [|Information Literacy] is the overlooked value of Wikipedia. Everyone assumes that Wikipedia might be wrong, which is the right assumption careful readers should have when reading any source of information. Wikipedia is the best real-world source of understanding what information means today.
 * 6) [|Media Literacy] is similar to Information Literacy, but since Wikipedia works with copyleft issues, it's a great source for students to use images and sounds.
 * 7) [|ICT Literacy] is defined as, " Using technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate and communicate information, and the possession of a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of information" Questions?
 * 8) [|Life and Career Skills] include such things as: Flexibility & Adaptability, Initiative & Self-Direction, Social & Cross-Cultural Skills, Productivity & Accountability, and Leadership & Responsibility. I think it's fair to say that when Wikipedia is treated as a project, many of these skills will be used.