Question 1 - The enGauge 21st Century Skills are broken into four areas:

• Digital-Age Literacies
• Inventive Thinking
• Effective Communication
• High productivity

How do you feel these correlate to the curricular/educational standards we have in our schools?

Please make sure to include your name

    EnGauge 21^st Century Skills

    By Peg Meddaugh

Before looking at these four main categories individually, I’d like to comment on this graphic. I thought this graphic was great. I intend on posting this in my classroom.  Do students realize what skills are expected of them as they enter the “real world”?  With the depth of research that was done to create this set of objectives, it would be in all of our best interests to remind ourselves what is expected, for both students and teachers alike!

Digital-Age Literacy

Digital-literacy intends that all students are proficient in the basic understandings of reading and writing, science, economics, and how technology works.  This is very similar to the Wisconsin standards, as Janet had mentioned.  And I, too, feel more comfortable with the state standards since they are more specific as to how true literacy can be attained.  However, I was surprised to think that this could be covered in a student’s 13 years of school.  I know that my school district is not even coming close to covering some of those expectations.

Inventive Thinking

Inventive thinking presents many of the skills that the “Net Generation” already seems to be proficient.  With the use of technology from Kindergarten on up, students develop the ability to adapt to multiple tasks, be more self-directed and intuitive than previous generations (Mine!), and be more willing to take risks.  One area that may need more development is the deep analysis and using sound reasoning.  Much of what this generation does as per analysis or comparison, can be done with a touch of a button.  It is our goal as educators to keep their minds fully active, while using other tactics such as Bloom’s Taxonomy and deep levels of questioning.  Our state standards reflect the very same.

Effective Communication

Since I am the Speech and Mass Media teacher for my high school, I found this area the most intriguing and satisfying.  As educators, we understand the importance of effective communication, yet students will be asked to be much more proficient in this area than we can ever imagine.  It is essential to develop skills which will assist in future communicative roles: working collaboratively in corporations, problem-solving with peers, and learning how to best communicate one’s ideas in order to function as a unit.  Other factors, such as personal responsibility regarding the integrity of using technology, will be more and more prevalent as technology takes a leading role within our schools.

High Productivity

I found Brian’s comparison to our Wisconsin standards interesting and helpful, and agree that we must “beef it up” in this area.  I don’t believe schools have enough time to try to incorporate all of these skills, especially connecting to management skills.  How sad is that?  Many times, especially at the high school, one can assume that students have acquired those skills prior to this point in their education.  However, then I read Dan’s excerpt and am truly hopeful that we as educators can tap into the productivity of these students and work towards their understanding and implementation of these skills. 

Overall, I found this activity very inspiring, yet somewhat scary.  As an optimist, I would say that many of these skills are already being addressed and focused on within the high school. Yet, as a pessimist, I think “How can we ever prepare these students for a future that will be ever-changing with new technology and jobs that have never even thought of at this point?”  The point is to aim high.  It is evident that we all, students, teachers, administration, and the community must strive to reach higher than we ever have in the past to present the best possible future we possibly can.

Lisa Chase

This is a wonderful website. It is extremely well written, organized and though through. It references many resources and experts in educational technology. The goals set forth are incredible and I mean that in the sense that they cover everything. I also mean that they are incredible as in an idealistic way. Right or wrong, I can't see schools covering all this material in four years. However, one must set the bar high so that we all have something to aspire to.

Digital-Age Literacies

Many different literacies are listed and explained. The goals listed here are very all-encompassing, from basic literacy to global awareness. I see our best students being able to acheive these goals, but for the entire school population I feel it may be a little impracticle and un-realistic. For example: Economic Literacy- Can students

identify economic issues, examine consequences of changes in economic conditions and public policies, and weigh costs against benefits? I guess if one discusses this at the most basic level it can be accessible. Once again, I know that they are aiming for the top.

Inventive Thinking

I totally agree with the opening sentence in this category: Experts agree that as technology becomes more prevalent in our everyday lives, cognitive skills become increasingly critical. I think about something as simple as calculators. It drives me crazy when I go to McDonald's and the computer isn't working and I watch someone struggling to figure out how much change to give me. As a teacher, I think to myself "man did we fail..."

In this area, I think we MUST reach every student. Technology can be a very useful tool indoing so, but we need to be careful to not let the computer do the work. I'm refering in particular to the section of higher order thinking and sound reasoning.

Effective Communication

This category is right in line with what I teach in music. We need to be able to work with one another effectively in groups. We need to be able to effectively communicate. Technology is the greatest tool for communicating in the history of the world. We do need to teach ethics in schools regarding the appropriate useage of technology.

High productivity

This is not the area where we are focused yet in secondary education. Post-secondary-undergraduate education yes. Some classes I guess one could argue are geared for "real world" applications, but all in all I think that high school (where I work) is still about exposing students to many different fields of study. Not too many students of mine know exactly what they want to do with their lives yet.

We do teach them (or at least try ) how to plan and manage themselves effectively.

--Jamie Beckman

Digital-Age Literacy

What it means to be literate has greatly changed over the past fifty years due to the increased use of technology. For example, being literate used to mean a person could read and write effectively. Now, the National Literacy Act of 1991 defined literacy as "an individual's ability to read, write, and speak in English, and compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job and in society to achieve one's goals, and develop one's knowledge and potential" (National Literacy Act of 1991, Sec. 3). In my opinion, the above definition has set the standard for “digital-age literacy.” I believe that the state and national standards set for today’s educators/students have the intentions of meeting what it means to be digitally literate. However, in all reality when I examine my own school I am not sure if our students’ graduate high school able to fully apply what they have learned. I especially feel this way in terms of the economic literacy and the global awareness category. Our students take one, yes, one class in true economics. They do have other years of social studies but true economics is where the seniors start to see the light that essential money planning for personal and governmental needs is very important. Just looking at statistics of the average American who is in debt, I believe our school systems’ really need to spend some more time stressing the importance of economics.

Next, in terms of global awareness I think teachers try to make our students aware of other cultures but I still have students who think that everyone in China is poor and are amazed when we read excepts from The World is Flat to discover that people in India do have Internet. Most students do not see that fact that America is falling behind in terms of education and quite possibly may not always be the super giant of the world. Therefore, I think some of the standards need to be revised when it comes to global awareness.

Inventive Thinking

The standards laid out across the curricular area do in my opinion encourage higher-level thinking, self-direction, curiosity, and creativity. Our standards apply Bloom’s level of taxonomy which creates higher-level thinking. I know that teachers try their best to promote self-direction and the standards constantly talk about planning effectively but this is a skill that many students still struggle with. I don’t necessary think it is the fault of the standards or teachers.

Finally, in terms of creativity and curiosity our standards are encouraging students to keep wondering and researching. A quote which represents this is “you can establish the wonder, and once you do that, everything else follows”, something I agree with (21^st Century Skills). However, it is important to remember “because technology makes the simple tasks easier, it places a greater burden on higher-level skills" (International ICT Literacy Panel, 2002, p. 6). Therefore, we must constantly revisit the standards to ensure we are preparing the future leaders of our world.

Effective Communication

As an English teacher my job is to prepare students to become effective communicators. The English Language Art standards combine with the Media Technology standards do a good job of promoting communication through the use of technology. Whether or not teachers implement such projects that can do just this is questionable. It is important that our students learn how to give presentation using multi-media effectively seeing as they will be required to so do in most jobs. We must teach the difference between reading off jammed packed PowerPoint slides versus using PowerPoint as an aid. Technology has raised the bar for what we now consider effective communication.

Effective communication also calls for our students to collaborate with others. Our standards do set the expectations that students work in groups; however, I don’t know if our students are really getting the skills necessary to function as a group member seeing so many adults can’t even function in groups. A classic example of this is the process in which change can or cannot happen.

High Productivity

I would have to agree with the website that high productivity currently is not a huge focus of many of our schools. I think our standards have the intention to set students up to be productive but we haven’t quite figured out how to help ALL students succeed after high school. We are trying though by relating what students are leaning to the real-world. This is definitely an area in which we as educators need to focus more time on.

- Amanda Simon

I believe that the educational skills envisioned by the 21st Century Skills framework are very similar to the intent of the state and national standards that are currently in use in our classrooms in that they foresee the need for students to be critical consumers of information, rather than focusing on the ability to regurgitate facts. Each of the areas had items that were of particular interest to me.

Digital-Age Literacy

The concepts envisioned here are situated around being able to use information in a critical manner to interpret the world around you. Our curriculum is in the initial phases of incorporating technology for these type of purposes. I believe that as our district tech planning continues, we will use the different literacies as potential benchmarks for implementation of new technologies.

Inventive Thinking

This is definitely an important concept in today's world. The pace of change that our students will be required to function in dwarfs anything that has occurred in the world to date. The concept introduced throughout this course (and masters program) that many of the jobs that we are preparing students for don't exist yet is key to getting administrators and teachers working together to incorporate this level of skill and rigor into the curriculum. One of my guiding principles when talking to teachers is to try and incorporate project-based learning into their technology projects wherever possible. The work of Dr. Roger Schank in this area (http://www.socraticarts.com/schank/index.htm) is a great resource for people who wish to begin researching what project-based learning is.

Effective Communication

This is one area in which I have seen more cross-curricular work than any other to date in our district. Many teachers at our elementary and middle school levels are including presentation and teaming into their projects and day-to-day activities. My action research at the Kindergarten level included an analysis of how classroom interaction can be impacted by technology use, and the results were that technology-infused lessons (with the use of a smartboard) can positively impact the student-to-student interactions in the classroom. One item on my to-do list for our district is to find a way to personally become involved with presentations to students on legal and ethical issues that they may not be aware of in the use of technology in their personal lives.

High Productivity

The focus of project-based learning is that all learning be related to real-world outcomes. That is how I see this set of 21st Century Skills; the ability to take a set of instructions or guidelines and utilize the skills that you have learned to create an end product....whether that be a presentation, web page, research paper, or digital media (movie/images/etc). This is one of the items that is most difficult to measure, and as such one that I have not seen as much evidence of in the classes that I have been involved with.

Bob Boyd Effective CommunicationDigital Age Literacy looks as literacy skills in a way similar to they way Gardner looked at multiple intelligences. The literacies seem to blend both Gardner’s theory and Bloom’s taxonomy, putting the skills into a hierarchy, where Basic literacy is needed to function, and global awareness literacy allows the learner to synthesize information and make essential judgments based on the information. In evaluating how schools approach these literacies, it seems as if schools do well addressing Basic literacy, and different disciplines address different aspects of the litericies listed, but the overall classroom emphasis is neither based on these literacies nor designed to address these ideas across the curriculum. Inventive Thinking will be the major component for economic success in the 21^st century. Schools focus on analysis, defined here as Higher Order Thinking and Sound Reasoning, but tend to shy away from the skills that would lead students on a less compliant path. Skills like Risk-Taking and Self Direction do not come into play in many American classrooms. I think this is, in part, due the construction of the American classroom. Large class sizes, coupled with few administrative supports, may make teachers wary of opening the classroom to this kind of thinking. Educators are beginning to make efforts in the areas of Adaptability and Managing Complexity through group work and long term assignments. With the renewed importance of standardized testing, it not surprised to see that many of this critical skills are not being practiced in the classroom in favor of teaching more concrete and “testable” skills. Effective Communication skills are at the crux of a successful life. In both personal and professional life our abilities to communicate thoughts and ideas are paramount to our efforts to connect and direct others. Without these crucial skills, few interactions will be successful. While modern education is filled with instruction on communication, it is typically one-sided, with the emphasis on communicating one’s own ideas. Where we need to improve to prepare students for the world is to communicate as part of a team and to receive others’ communications with grace. People with strong communication skills are as adept to listening and possessing as they are presenting their own thoughts. I think in this case school is reflective of what is happening in society. Areas of personal responsibility, community responsibility and the ability to see another’s point of view are deficiencies in the American culture. The classroom is a reflection of these societal woes. High Productivity is necessary in a world where increasingly more time and effort is demanded from people. Those with the ability to keep pace in this difficult world will be successful, and those who cannot prioritize, manage and delegate will become hopelessly overwhelmed. Little time is spent on these crucial skills in the classroom. In the online environment this is a key skill students utilize, and it is by far the largest contributor to student failure. Parents seem reluctant to allow these skills to be tested in the classroom. A majority of my parent contacts as an online teacher are parents asking me to make exceptions for students who did not successfully manage their time and/or did not successfully problem solve. Without understanding the consequences for failing to utilize high productivity skills, students will find little need to acquire and develop these skills. Students should not have to wait until they are fired from a job or devastated by poor money management before they realize the necessity of these skills.

I would agree with Bob. For an educator willing to pull their head out of the sand, the four areas identified by enGauge are similar to the essential skills that have been swirling around education/educators since I entered the profession (which wasn't that long ago, limiting my frame of reference). The state standards seem to address at least some skills within these four areas. Of course, there is still the reality that many teachers are not even aware of the state standards that exist, so encouraging them to look at and adopt the 21st century skills enGauage identifies on their own seems somewhat pointless.

Below I've taken the enGauge standards and held the Wisconsin State Standards in English Language Arts up to them for the purpose of comparison. I attempted to sort them and repeated them if they fit into multiple categories. I think it is an interesting look at what already exists that can be adapted to fit within new frameworks.

Digital Age Literacies

• E.12.1 Use computers to acquire, organize, analyze, and communicate information.
• E.12.2 Make informed judgments about media and products.
• E.12.4 Demonstrate a working knowledge of media production and distribution
• E.12.5 Analyze and edit media work as appropriate to audience and purpose
• A.12.1 Use effective reading strategies to achieve their purposes in reading.
  • Distinguish between fact and opinion in nonfiction texts

Inventive Thinking

• E.12.5 Analyze and edit media work as appropriate to audience and purpose
• F.12.1 Conduct research and inquiry on self-selected or assigned topics, issues, or problems and use an appropriate form to communicate their findings
  • Use research tools found in school and college libraries, take notes, collect and classify sources, and develop strategies for finding and recording information

Effective Communication

• E.12.4 Demonstrate a working knowledge of media production and distribution
• E.12.5 Analyze and edit media work as appropriate to audience and purpose
• F.12.1 Conduct research and inquiry on self-selected or assigned topics, issues, or problems and use an appropriate form to communicate their findings.
• C.12.1 Prepare and deliver formal oral presentations appropriate to specific purposes and audiences.
  • Synthesize and present results of research projects, accurately summarizing and illustrating the main ideas, using appropriate technological aids, and offering support for the conclusions

High Productivity

• E.12.3 Create media products appropriate to audience and purpose.

Wow, this was more helpful than I had actually intended it to be. So, where are we missing out on specific skills within the enGauge framework?

Well, it is obvious that High Productivity needs to be beefed up a bit. This, however, would be directly addressed in any classroom that embraces the Project Based Learning philosophy of education. It also seems that other core areas in the school would have a stronger emphasis in High Productivity (other than writing papers and creating presentations) that would support this goal.

Understandably, effective communication is clearly addressed within the English standards. It seems that even the most out-of-touch English teacher knows that this is a part of their job. As more teachers embrace online blogs and discussion pages, podcasting projects, online writing initiatives, online office hours, and other digital communication focused activities, this goal will be specifically addressed.

The Inventive Thinking skill set seems to be the area where Language Arts education needs to identify a way to support this 21st Century Skill. Of course, the nature of creative writing, research writing, presentation, and communication requires, on some level, Inventive Thinking. Therefore, the leap between what Language Arts is currently doing and what they could be doing to address the Inventive Thinking skill is not that great. Implementation of technology into this goal is really only one great idea away from fully addressing the Inventive Thinking skill.

And, in terms of digital literacy, many English teachers seem to be transferring their well-developed text-focused lessons to address online resources as well. One focus of Language Arts is centered on encouraging students to be careful consumers of information (research papers, critical analysis of a text, current-events reports, author biography research, etc.). Again, while not all teachers may have yet adopted those lessons to tie in technology literacy (by the way, Amanda's definition of literacy was a real eye-opener for me), perhaps we are not so far away from the enGauge goal as it may seem.

Schools are headed in the right direction when it comes to these enGauge 21st Century Skills. The standards are responsible for pushing them there. However, that is a generalized statement that does not apply to those educators who still are unaware that state and national standards are in place that they should be well aware of. It is for these people that districts will need to extend their hands (perhaps a carrot in one and a stick in the other) and move them forward in a way that encourages them to identify and utilize these standards to influence their instruction practices.

-Brian Yearling

I agree with Jamie when he says that these goals set forth by the engauge website seem to be idealistic to obtain in 4 years. Although some schools may be able to obtain most of the goals in four years, those schools will be few and far between. Technology goals require money and support and those both can be hard to find.

In the area of digital-age literacy there are several categories within it that are discussed. This one totally links to what we have in our schools because it discusses the many ways students think and act in a digital world. Some students are very well versed with technology, while others aren't and our standards need to be able to be achieved by all. The digital age literacy areas define all the different types of learners in our classroom from the basic to the students who will be working with computers for their careers.

Inventive thinking discusses the abililty of people to be able to apply technoogy they have learned to things in their lives and to developed situations. The inventive thinking area is broken down into different "life skills" which the website's author feels are important to know. They kind of remind me of Bloom's taxonomy, that students learn best by applying what they have learned. Each of these life skills discusses different ways technology can be applied through thinking, behavior, and actions.

I beleive effective communication is something that the school I work in has really focused on. We regularly have professional development sessions we can attend to further our learning of different parts of technology. Also we have designed our school schedule so that there is teacher collaboration built in to every third day of school. OUr school works through different committees and that is how school decisions start to be made.

The area of high productivity is something which really hit home with me. Schools are judged based on how well their students perform on high stakes, standardized tests. But this in no way determines how successful of people the school is putting out. For example, I had a student last year who barely graduated, but already owned two extremely successful businesses. If he was looked at on his standardized tests anyone would have said he would not be a productive adult, but here is was being a productive high school student and nobody ever would know by his test scores. Test scores should not be the only judge of a schools ability to produce highly productive people. I agree with the fact that in schools we don't focus as much on this part of education. We are too focused on improving the students writing and performances on these tests that we often forget who we are teaching and what we are trying to get them ready for.

Kristin Hubmann

After considerable review, I have come to the conclusion that the enGauge 21^st Century Skills incorporate the curricular/educational standards that we have in our schools and go on to expand them to be more appropriate for the 21^st century. However, they do not effectively break down benchmarks that educators can use to measure progress toward goals.

Digital Age Literacy

For example, as it applies to English/Language arts, Wisconsin Academic Standard 12.4: Students will read to acquire information and draw on and integrate information from multiple sources when acquiring knowledge and to develop a position on a topic of interest. Compared to the enGauge version of this standard: The student who is information literate accesses information efficiently and effectively, evaluates information critically and competently and uses information accurately and creatively.

The enGauge skills are much more concise and based on outcomes, however, when designing curriculum that will meet standards, teachers will probably address the skills targeted through enGauge anyway.

Inventive Thinking

Both the Wisconsin Standards and enGauge skills stress high-level thinking skills. However, one category, creativity, disturbs me because I do not see it being enhanced through the use of technology. Students find it easier to use layouts, graphic backgrounds, clip-art and photography that already exists when they produce products, rather than create from ground zero. In contrast, today’s students have a greater ability to accept change in the environment because of the rapid advances that have taken place in their lifetime. This ability will help them to accept and learn new technology as it is introduced to them.

Once again, the enGauge skills focus on exchanges through the use of contemporary tools, transmissions and processes. The academic standards address these skills but use vocabulary that imply that it is happening within the context of the classroom, i.e. oral presentations and discussions.

In English, we are expanding our communication skills by incorporating a WIKI site that will include other English classrooms for discussions. Students are also journal writing and getting feedback electronically. These are baby steps but in the right direction.

High Productivity

The ability to prioritize, plan and use tools to produce quality products is addressed through both enGauge skills and the Wisconsin Academic Standards. Students must be able to use these skills in order to be successful in school. Teachers are assigning project-based assignments that mirror real-life situations. Students must create a timeline and plan out short-term and long-term goals, frequently in a group situation. These skills are necessary for 21^st century careers and it is good that students are becoming comfortable working this way. I frequently assign projects to students in my LD English class because I can modify the expectations to the ability level of the individual student while still having the same core curriculum.

While the enGauge skills are more appropriate to 21^st century applications, I find the Wisconsin Academic Standards to be more helpful since they outline the benchmarks and short term objectives that one can use to measure whether progress is being made to reach a standard. This may be due to the fact that I am familiar with the Wisconsin Standards and use them frequently when I write individualized education plans.

-Janet Yunker

Digital-Age Literacy

Being an Economics teacher I can appreciate the emphasis this website makes to the importance of economics and global awareness in our daily lives. I know this may sound sick, but from the day we come into this world kicking and screaming we are playing the game of economics and it is our job to teach the masses in how to play the game effectively so students can be successful and not reliant on our government to bail them out. So how do we get them there?

As the website states we need to help these kids “function in a knowledgeable society.” Before they can do any inventive thinking, communicate effectively or produce in society they need to have the basic knowledge of each category listed in Digital-Age Literacy statement. In other words, they should be proficient in the English language, they should understand scientific concepts and processes, they should have a basic understanding of economic principles, etc. Only when this knowledge is in place can they truly start to do great things that will give them the edge in global competition. In this increasingly global world we need to push our students to excel in this basic literacy using technology to bridge the gap created by our ever-changing world.

Inventive Thinking

Once the basic literacy is in place the inventiveness of learning begins. As a former colleague of mine said, “this is where the fun begins, but before we can get to the fun we need to have the knowledge in place.” (Dave Rupnow) I agree with Amanda Simon that our standards are pushing our students to higher levels of learning. They do encourage our students to self-direct themselves and to be creative. They ask students to step out the box and try new things. They ask students to back up what they say through sound reasoning. All categories listed under inventive thinking are things our future employers are looking for in our students. We need to be intentional in what we do with our students so they have the experience with these ideas.

Effective Communication

When I teach economics to my students I point out that economics is really a new language just like French or German. I also tell them students need to know the language before they can communicate it effectively. If we all spoke a different dialect of the same language where would we be? Once the language is in place we can work better collaboratively. We can understand why we do things the way we do. In other words, we wouldn’t be asleep behind the wheel. We will understand what triggers us to fall asleep and make sure it doesn’t happen again. On a whole we will be better citizens who understand what is going on. “For none are so blind than those who refuse to see.”

High Productivity

It amazes me how far this country has come in simply 150 years from an agrarian society, to an industrial society, to a technological society. My question is how did this happen? My answer is productivity. If it weren’t for the creative minds that began the industrial revolution we would still be pushing plows in fields. Seriously, just look. In economics we always talk about scarcity. For example, the farmer only has so much land yet each year he or she produces more and more. How is this possible? Answer productivity. People learn how to make better use out of the resources they have. Just look at the evolution of the computer over the last 50 years. It is amazing. We must teach students to be productive with what they have so we continue to push the limits of scarcity. Never underestimate the power of the mind once it understands.

Dan Simonson

I felt an immediate connection to this site because it addressed technology in the classroom in relation to preparing learners for the world outside of the classroom. I think too often Education focuses on the classroom- spending time teaching technology programs or skills that have little application to the world outside of the classroom. This approach acknowledges the world outside of the classroom is the essential world, and education help prepare learners to be high functioning world dwellers.

- Anna Lardinois

Digital Literacy:

To be “literate” used to mean that a person could read and write. In the 21^st century, people need many more skills to be considered literate. According to the digital literacy section of the enGauge website, there are several categories including: basic literacy, scientific literacy, economic literacy, technological literacy, visual literacy, information literacy, multicultural literacy and global awareness. Literate people need to be able to read, write, and process a variety of information in a variety of categories. For example, to be technologically literate, people need to know what technology is, and how it can be used to achieve specific goals.

Inventive Thinking:

With an increase in technology use, there is a greater emphasis placed higher order thinking skills. Since simple tasks have become easier, we now have more time to think critically. As a math teacher, we can use calculators to quickly graph a complex equation that would have taken at least 10 minutes by hand. This frees up a lot more time that allows us to analyze the graph. Inventive thinking is broken down into six categories: adaptability and managing complexity, self-direction, curiosity, creativity, risk taking, and higher order thinking and sound reasoning. During the last school year I was able to work with the Waukesha School District “FIRST” robotics team. The team was made up of about 25 students who were given a bucket of parts and a task. The team was able to build a highly functioning robot. During these meeting and competitions I was witnessing inventive thinking first-hand.

Effective Communication:

Technology has definitely enhanced our communication abilities. E-mail, cell phones and the internet have made is possible to communicate with virtually anyone at anytime of the day or night. Enhanced communication does have a price. With more and more people sitting behind their computers it is possible that one of the categories listed on the enGauge website could become endangered: interpersonal skills. With less personal interaction, our ability to read human emotion, motivation and behaviors could be diminished.

High Productivity:

According to the enGauage website, and leading researchers, we need to be careful when we try to link high-stakes testing with productivity in the workforce. I really identified with this category. My school places a lot of emphasis on the WKCE and ACT scores of our students. I agree that these scores should not be the only thing that shows the achievement (or lack of achievement) of our schools. Placing emphasis on high stakes tests takes away from what we as educators are trying to accomplish: creating motivated life-long learners.

-Kristin Haefke

The EnGauge 1^st Century Skill align closely to the curricular/educational standards we have in school now. The digital-age literacy area is the place where I find the most topics or that I would need to do a better job at integrating into my third grade classroom and in most of the classrooms in our elementary schools as a whole. The first two categories, basic literacy and scientific literacy, are areas that I can say the students in my classroom meet. The rest of the items on the list I would say are very weak in our system (in the third grade).

The Inventive Thinking areas are much more touched upon in the classroom and are more of a focus than those in the digital area. Of course it does depend on the teacher but I feel like even without the amount of technology I would like to have I am able to focus on these areas with my students.

In the area of Effective communication I am able to work on the first two areas with my students, teaming and collaboration and interpersonal skills, but the remaining areas are difficult to teach because in my district the tools needed are very limited. The students in our district, at the age I teach, do not have access to electronic means of communication.

Finally, in the area of high productivity, although it is a area that is found to be the least focused on, it is something that I find I work on. Again, the communicate part is limited to paper generated forms or through teacher assistants. I do try to use real world problems or events in everyday curriculum but again it has to be appropriate for the third grade level.

Kim Struve

Digital Age Literacies - This section(s) look at what it takes to be successful in many different strands of our students learning. It defines what literacy is for reading, writing, speaking, economics, science, visual, technological, and cultural. These standards or goals are relavent to our teaching. I know for me that my students do hit many of these sections, but not nessesarily in my class. The team of teachers I work with are pretty good at giving different ways in teaching kids while using technology. I am lucky that the science teacher in my house has this same degree we are working towards and is very technologically savy.

Inventive Thinking - Giving students the oppurtunity to be creative, and higher order thinking skills is very important. Like Kim I see this section more in my classroom than that of the Digital literacy. The "new math" that we use forces students to think more critically and goes more indepth than what I used to teach. It also gives students the opportunity to make mistakes and take risks, knowing that if they are wrong, they will eventually be guided back. I just hope that inventive thinking and the digital litarcy will blend together in my class someday.

Effective Communication - Technology has helped with bring communication together in many different ways like e-mail, phones, chat rooms, ect., but sometimes I feel that our students may loose out on the person to person communication (social) that they need. I know that in my room like some of the others, that I can really hit the team work and Personal Responsibility in my classroom, but some of the others are more difficult at this time because of the students access to communicate with technology is limited.

High Productivity - We teach our kids to be productive people, but it is not often emphized. I think that we jsut do it on a daily basis. I know our school really takes a look at the WKCE test and sometimes I feel we spend to much time analyizing one test the students take each year. If we just teach the kids what they suppose to know and spend less time worrying about the test, they will end up being successfull and give us high quality work. My students solve real life problems often in their daily work and this lets them know why for the future.

Rob Grisar

Throughout my certification program, I received countless assignments that required me to not only create a lesson or unit plan that met the curriculum guidelines for a specific subject within the English/Language Arts field, but also aligned with the Wisconsin Model Academic Standards for English/Language Arts (and on occasion, aligned with Wisconsin Model Academic Standards for Information and Technology Literacy). Going through certification under the PI-34 guidelines, standards have always been pushed as a means of assessing student proficiency and keeping teachers accountable for what they teach in their classrooms.

Digital-Age Literacy

The Digital-Age Literacies, as the website indicates, expand on a wider range of literacies needed for student achievement and success in the 21st century “real world.” First and foremost, the Basic Literacy standards – evaluating students proficiency to read, write, listen, and speak –align extremely well with English/Language Arts standards. The Technology and Information Literacies also align well with the English/Language Art standards because they take into consideration media production and elements of information acquisition. Within an English classroom, students are expected to become proficient in reading, writing, listening, speaking, researching, and creating media products, all of which are covered under the Digital-Age Literacy standards.

While some English teachers stop there, others expand their curriculum choices to involve some of the other literacies mentioned on the enGauge website. Visual, multicultural, and global awarenss literacies can be addressed within the English classroom with careful selection of novels, short stories, essay topics, or research topics. Through a carefully planned lesson, teachers can encourage students to gain insights on different customs, values, and beliefs or learn about the interrelationships among internal organizations. In the 21st century, it is an English teacher’s duty to engage students in expanding beyond the basic literacies and seeking out information that will give them further understanding of information in all its forms.

Inventive Thinking

The Literacy in a Digital Age article provided some interesting insights into the need for inventive thinking in the 21st century. It states, “In effect, because technology makes the simple tasks easier, it places a greater burden on higher-level skills” (International ICT Literacy Panel, 2002, p. 6). This assertion corroborates with research showing that teaching higher-level, critical thinking skills is necessary to obtain student achievement and success outside of school. The various parts of the inventive thinking section: adaptability and managing complexity, self-direction, curiosity, creativity, risk-taking, and higher-order thinking and sound reasoning all yield themselves to English/Language Arts. Student-centered research projects and reading and writing at the evaluation, analysis, and synthesis levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy allow students to engage in inventive thinking and develop the necessary skills they will need to succeed in the 21st century world.

Effective Communication

The enGauge website separates the Effective Communication category into five elements: teaming and collaboration, interpersonal skills, personal responsibility, social and civic responsibility, and interactive communication. The schools are success in providing students with multiple opportunities to work collaboratively with each other on projects and in discussions. Additionally, the classroom environment (and even the school environment in general) provides students with the ability to perfect their interpersonal skills. The final three part of the Effective Communication category are yet to be addressed on a scale that would be necessary for the full academic achievement and student proficiency. Although students use technology such as cell phones, MySpace, emails, and AOL Instant Messenger as primary sources of communication, there has not been strides to teach students how to effectively communicate using these modes of communication. Rather, schools ban these methods of communication; often to the detriment of the students. One of our goals as an English Department is to create lessons that will provide students with instruction on how to use these 21st century modes of the communication properly, in the hopes of giving them the skills to make responsible decisions when using this technology. (On a lighter note, we are also sick of correcting answers like “IDK” and “ here r 2 examples”)

High Productivity

In an attempt to move away from “fact regurgitation,” teachers are moving away from worksheets, quizzes, and tests and embracing more student-centered activities. Looking at the High Productivity categories (prioritizing, planning, and managing for results; effective use of real-world tools; and ability to produce relevant, high-quality products), it would be no surprise that this would meet the most skepticism from teachers. While it is important for students to become highly productive by means of creating projects, knowing the effective hardware, software, etc. needed to accomplish the 21st century work, and having the ability produce high-quality products, several teachers like making these decisions for the students. When developing a lesson plan, teachers often develop the objectives and goals for the assignment, provide information and requirements for the type of technology that should be used, and provide assessments by which the final product will be judged against. Relinquishing control of the development, planning, and managing of an assignments may be difficult for teachers even though it will yield higher academic achievement among students because they have ownership in the entire process. Additionally, as I have seen first-hand in my English Department, teachers often underestimate the abilities of their students. While I find it difficult to convince some members of my English Department that students need to develop skills beyond writing in a 5-Paragraph essay form, I would expect a lot of resistance from those teachers in giving students the ability to create and manage their own projects.

This section as opened my eyes to a standard that I am not meeting within my classroom. I think it would be exciting to allow students to create their own project, within the guidelines of a specific topic area, taking into account what their process will be, what resources they will utilize, and what their final product would be. The results would be insightful – providing information on how well students are prepared for life in 21st century society.

- Heather Slosarek

Right now I am being asked to identify the standards we use in our alternative education program. Of course, we are being encouraged to use more by expanding what we teach and offer. Once we complete our lists for Math, Social Studies, and English we then need to create a “Power Standard” for each subject. Power Standard? In essence the PS is a one line encompassing statement for all of what we teach in math or any other subject. The PS is a lofty statement supported by the standards as stated at the DPI website.

To me enGauge seems like a bunch of PSs (no pun intended). I think I am going to modify a couple for my own department purposes. EnGauage presents a bunch of goals students should be able to do before they are ceremoniously unleashed into the world. It is full of questions like “Can students do…” or “Do students…” throughout the identified skills. How do we measure competency? A couple projects, quizzes and tests, final exams, and WKCE. All fantastic measures of student research, analysis, synthesis, and demonstration of learned skills. I know teachers who assign a PowerPoint project in the name of technology integration. They even assign partners or small groups in order to create the notion that meaningful interpersonal communication may take place.

Our job as soon to be newly minted teachers with a Masters of Education in Instructional Technology is to take an activate role in changing the culture in each of our schools. Use DPI, enGauge, or anything else your district has bought into. Brian’s work on converting the 21^st Century Skills into DPI standards was productive and eye opening. For the most part, if we are teaching to the standards for our grade or subject, we are teaching the skill set promoted by enGauge. Brian identified a need for addressing standards that promote high productivity. DPI has another link to information and technology literacy () that lists either the original or additional standards in 4 areas; media and technology, information and inquiry, independent learning, and the learning community. It is a 59 page document that I try to apply in my classroom even though I know the English standards exist. It does refer to productivity but in the context of group projects and other related assignments. Prioritizing, planning, effective use, relevant products are inferred instead of stated outright. http://dpi.state.wi.us/standards/pdf/infotech.pdf

Even if I were to use enGauge’s 21^st Century Skills, I would be told that these are nice PSs and still be expected to support them with DPI standards.

Paul Pulvermacher

Christopher See

Several of Wisconsin’s Information and Technology Literacy standards map to the standards in enGuage. Wisconsin’s standards most closely fit into the enGuage standards that involve gathering information, processing information, and communicating information – Digital-age Literacy, Effective Communication and High Productivity. Where Wisconsin’s standards do not match up with enGuage is Inventive Thinking. Wisconsin’s ITL standards do not have clear expectations of creative thinking – especially “Risk taking” – as defined in enGuage. From what I see in my school, I agree with Heather that teachers often define the final product, rather than giving students the chance to determine what the best product might be.

I have a Language Arts teacher who insists that her poetry unit include a final product that is simply poems with colored text and pictures printed out. This is how she meets the technology requirement for her curriculum. Her students (6th grade) are capable of creating Flash multimedia, PowerPoint presentations, web pages, videos, podcasts, and some other interesting products. This year, the tech teacher and I have encouraged her to allow her students to be creative in how they present their poems. I'm hoping she takes us up on the offer to help with that.

Here is how I see the ITL standards matching up with enGuage:

Digital Age Literacy

Before accessing information

Determine what is needed, identify possible sources, evaluate resources based on relevance and credibility

B.X.1 Define the need for information

B.X.2 Develop information seeking strategies

When accessing information

Get the relevant information from available sources, revise information gathering strategies, evaluate information retrieved.

B.X.4 Evaluate and select information from a variety of print, nonprint, and electronic formats

B.X.5 Record and organize information

After extracting information

Use the information, present the information clearly, evaluate the process.

B.X.6 Interpret and use information to solve the problem or answer the question

B.X.7 Communicate the results of research and inquiry in an appropriate format

B.X.8 Evaluate the information product and process

Inventive Thinking

C.X.1 Pursue information related to various dimensions of personal well-being and academic success

C.X.4 Demonstrate self-motivation and increasing responsibility for their learning

Effective Communication

D.X.1 Participate productively in workgroups or other collaborative learning environments

B.X.7 Communicate the results of research and inquiry in an appropriate format

High Productivity

B.X.7 Communicate the results of research and inquiry in an appropriate format

In my district, the problem with the ITL standards - and so with the similar enGuage standards as they apply to information and technology - is that there is no policy requiring teachers to include them in their planning. Since students in grades 5-8 take technology classes outside of their content areas, most teachers do not feel they need to help students meet these standards. The problem with relying on the tech classes, besides missing the 4th grade standards, is that students do not get enough practice applying their information and technology skills to create the varied products that result from the needs of the different content areas. Their final products in tech class are more or less in a vacuum, so students do not fully understand how to apply those skills to their other classes.

The teacher of the technology class and I often encourage teachers to apply the ITL standards. We do this by introducing a new concept, tool or process, then tie it to a standard, letting teachers know they can help students meet X standard by using what we have introduced. I have had several teachers tell me they appreciate that approach, and I know they do remember the standards we reference.

Although the Wisconsin Model Academic Standards for Foreign Language do not contain a specific section that includes technology or media standards, the skills from the EnGauge site and the current standards have many similarities. The 5 C’s of the Foreign Language Standards (Communication, Culture, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities) allow students to show their proficiency in the target language in many ways.

Digital-Age Literacies

In the area of technological literacy, students are able to see the capabilities of new technologies that are being used in the classroom, with interactive whiteboards, websites, and mp3’s replacing the overhead projectors and tape recorders of the past. Students are now able to communicate with other students from around the globe in an instant message or email instead of a pen pal letter.

Language learning can have many visual aspects dealing with new vocabulary or culture. Having tools such as streaming video and internet practice sites allow students to move towards visual technology literacy. With digital video cameras in the classroom students are able to produce their own media to share with others. With all the multimedia outlets that are available to them, students can learn to recognize reliable sources for finding appropriate information.

As much as foreign language classes are about learning how to speak and understand the language, there is also a focus on culture and learning about the customs and practices from all over the world. EnGauge’s multicultural and global awareness skills mirror the foreign language standards for culture and comparisons.

Inventive Thinking

Learning a foreign language forces students to move outside of their comfort zone and to take risks. When talking with other students or teachers in the target language, students are forced to adapt their conversations based on the comments or responses from the other person involved. They are also able to learn from their mistakes and adapt as they are striving for proficiency in another language. In many instances they are allowed to be creative and use their current knowledge of the language to complete performance assessments to prove what they have learned. As they progress in their language learning, they also develop higher order thinking skills and are able to compare and contrast their culture with the other cultures they are studying.

Effective Communication

One of the 5 C’s of the Foreign Language Standards is Communication. Students learn conversational, listening, reading and writing skills as they learn a second language. These skills are divided into three separate sections of the Foreign Language standards, interpersonal, interpretive and presentational. The EnGauge skills of communication especially teaming, collaboration and interactive communication match well with these standards. Students are frequently asked to work with others to practice speaking and listening before being assessed on either of these skills. Learning a language is all about how students can manipulate the language based on what they know to communicate with others in written or spoken form.

High productivity

Foreign Language students are regularly asked to create products that show what they have learned in the target language through performance assessments in writing and speaking. They can present this information in a variety of ways using the technological tools they have available to them. Due to the fact that students are learning how to communicate in the “real world” they complete many authentic tasks with the language that they are learning. The beauty of technology is students are able to save their work and go back and revise without having to rewrite everything again. With the new web technologies, students can post their work and have others read it and make suggestions for improvement leading to higher quality products.

--Angie Jurisch

Digital-Age Literacies

Students don't have much of a problem in this department! Many are as technology savvy as they can be. While they may not use technology in the most appropriate and responsible ways students definitely know how to use the any technology that can transfer information quickly! I have found that when we do activities in class that require the use of some type of technology the less direction I give students about how to use the software program, for example, the better. Students enjoy the freedom to 'play' with the technology and problem solve ways to best utilize it to accomplish the task at hand, it becomes a real motivating factor.

Inventive Thinking

This is where students can standout from one another with their technology use. While most students know how to use different technology resources, it is there ability to be creative that will help them use technology to its fullest potential. Those who are responsible risk-takers and creative problem solvers will really find unique ways utilize technology in the most efficient and effective way.

Effective Communication

The ability to communicate is what makes this world go round! Students are constantly being asked to communicate facts as well as opinions. Technology provides the opportunity and burden of endless amounts of information to recieve and share with individuals from around the world. I believe students need the most guidance and lack the most skills in appropriate, audience appropriate language and subject matter.

High Productivity

High productivity and Inventive Thinking really seem to provide a 'catch 22' in education. High Productivity is often defined as high WKCE scores, high ACT scores, and high college acceptance rates. On the other hand, Inventive Thinking is really not at all evaluated in high stakes testing.  Inventive Thinking becomes more real outside of the school building, when students are asked to problems solve in high pressure, meaningful and real situation. This is not something that can easily be evaluated on a written test, it requires many more dimensions and in the world of work it demands the best possible utilization of technology.

Melissa Schuett

Digital-Age Literacy

          In social studies the students encounter facts about how being “literate” means throughout American history. I generally talk about facts on how life was like, especially dealing with education. Over 100 years ago being literate meant that you were able to read and write, and now that definition has gone way past what people during that point ever thought possible. Now people have to have the ability to read, write, and speak English, along with computing and solving problems where they can function on a job and society. In today’s schools, teachers have the intention to meet national and state standards so students could be digitally literate.

In my social studies and geography classes I apply digital literacy. Through readings, discussions, and projects I apply more multicultural and some with global literacy, hoping they understand and appreciate the similarities and differences in their own customs, values, and beliefs and the cultures of others through many comparisons. The students do a good job of seeing the differences between our culture with others, but I wonder if they really get the true meaning of other cultures. We focus on these pieces of multiculturalism: 1) are aware of how cultural beliefs, values, and sensibilities affect the way they and others think and behave, 2) appreciate and accept similarities and differences in beliefs, appearances, and lifestyles, 3) understand how technology impacts culture, 4) can take the perspectives of other cultural groups, and 5) are sensitive to issues of bias, racism, prejudice, and stereotyping.

Inventive Thinking

I agree that with the inclusion and use of technology in our everyday lives, cognitive skills become critical. Technology and standards do raise the bar; it encourages higher-level thinking skills, self-direction, curiosity, and creativity. They are skills that students will continually work with in school and later apply it in the real world. Some of these, when applied to middle school are hard to develop, such as self-direction and curiosity. My students want change, to get away from the textbook to learn and apply information creatively. They are more accepting to learning new technology and enjoy the implementation of technology in their learning.

Effective Communication

          Students’ today need to be able to communicate effectively to succeed in today’s society. In school and in the real world people need to participate in teams, teach others new skills, provide leadership, negotiate, and working with a diverse population. Eventually they will need to direct their own social, personal, professional, and community lives. Many teachers in my school include presentations; they group students for projects and in their daily activities. I try to promote communication through group work and the use of technology. Students need to learn how to effectively present information using multimedia technology because it is used in presenting information in most jobs. I promote and teach this through example, using technology in my teaching.

High Productivity

          When people look at schools they look at standardized tests. People ask questions like how well students are learning and how successful the school is at educating students. Standardized tests are given in schools and posted for all to see. Does it effectively determine the success of people who come out of school? Maybe or maybe not. What would Bill Gates say? Test scores should not be the only means to judge if schools are effectively educating productive citizens in our society. My school just started AIMS testing where it shows students skills in reading, spelling, math, and more. When viewing these scores some of my student I noticed and surprised where some students were compared to one another. Yes it gives me strengths and weaknesses of students, but some that did poorly because of being timed on certain areas. I believe relying on just these tests takes away from what teachers are doing in the classroom, assisting students in becoming productive citizens in the real world.

By: Carl Dehne