Teaching Generation TechX with the 4 Cs - Jennifer Levin-Goldberg
As we journey further into the 21st century, apprehensions emerge among business leaders in American markets. These concerns do not go unwarranted or unnoticed. Contemporary data portrays a despondent picture regarding new graduate preparedness for the global workforce. The findings reveal that employers feel the new entrants are deficient in the21st century skills imperative for current market progress and profit.
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I welcome any comments on this submssion. Thank you,
I appreciate your approach to prepare students for the global environment they will be entering. Your concrete examples will assist the reader. Although the example do not appear challenging for some undergraduates, I suppose they could be for others that are in second or third-tier academic settings. I question your "green" part of your example. The "green" card is over-played and many students do not have the skill set to do a full cost and benefit analysis. Just a thought. I look forward to more of your work.
Thank you for your comments Mark. I used the "green" example (lol) because it is an applicable and organic issue that is and I believe will become more prominent and implemented during their lifetime. I concur that many students lack the skill set to perform a cost-analysis; however, that is a shortcoming on the educational environment not preparing students for more 21st century skill sets and knowledge. I bet if educators believed students could perform these tasks and raised the bar, students of all subjects and grade levels will surprise us! We just need to believe and try! What do you think?
Our country has always been known for creativity and invention, those ideas need fostering in the wake of entering the go\lobal market on an even keel.
Some data suggests that the comparisons globally are not accurate as you would suggest we are far from what employers want or need. Further data and study may be needed to address the skill sets in lower grades first.
Betty Swaney
Thank you so much Betty for your comments! I completely concur! We need to revolutionize our educational platform immediately in order to better prepare out future leaders. In regards to the comment you made concerning data. It is bleak; however, the data I used is from current sources and studies.Some in the past have been bleaker(that's not to insinuate American education is improving..lol). The sources I use are from the most recent statistics and data from impartial sources.Do you think I need to stipulate that in the paper? What are your thoughts? I completely agree with you that lower grades need to address these skills as well as a multitude of others.When I was an instructional coach and Dean of academics, I used to get so frustrated when I saw how educators failed to truly challenge their elementary school students. This may be a more epidemic problem. If you want to conduct a study with me on this I would LOVE to do it! LOL.
Jennifer
Good points and interesting. It is especially relative to today's generations ( where they are use to texting and other gaming systems. The gaming may help problem solving but does not help in presenting ideas or writing responses. I see today's work environment as more need to problem solve and how to read and interpret data. The understanding of technology and how software packages work is an increase knowledge of the ends and outs of package being used.
Creating real world problems is a start to ensure students learn to work as an individual and then in groups. We are seeing many teams in organizations grow to reach a conclusion as a team. Our hope with this approach is also that the executives in charge will also listen to the team and support their decision or help the team understand the reason it can not be supported.
We as instructors can assist by expanding our discussion questions and at the same time have a team project as you suggest.
Another approach is to have one or two different levels of a capstone course to help bring together many different courses into one project where everything can be brought together to ensure the students can bring together the concepts.
Brian, thank you for your comments. I especially love capstone courses and projects!!! If I could "invent" or start my own 21st century school, I would definetly include them in the curriculum. I believe we really can change the what and how we teach to better prepare our students for the 21st century. We need strong visionary leaders to help support and create these 21st century schools. If I start one, would you be willing to work there? LOL.
Jennifer - this is quite an interesting article because of its relevancy and because of the terrific concrete tactics that you offer to resolve the challenges that you describe. If we can assume that everyone is a willing participant of the increasingly knowledge-based economy in which we operate, then there are some definite areas of opportunity in regard to pedagogy. From my experience, going beyond the "set-up" of the organization in the business case study, online simulations, that allow the students to proceed through all stages of the business cycle, can be very effective. These simulations can integrate technology, and encourage the learner to think beyond the one-slide summary of thoughts for a case study analysis. Simulations also usually occur in teams, and the consequent group decision making process can also strengthen their presentation and interpersonal skills. The group interaction can also help them to build their ability to evaluate the work, and thought processes, of others - a skill which is near the top of Bloom's Taxonomy pyramid. In summary, learning is likely more engaging when there is a perceived "payoff" for the participant. For many, if this payoff is made more present and near through a simulation, or other tool, then we may be able to increase the number of willing participants in our emerging global and knowledge economy!
Daniel J. Smith, MA, MBA, PhD
Jennifer, this was a great paper. I am very interested in this topic as a parent of a gamer. It seems that K-12 education needs to get on the ball and start teaching more in the format that kids learn. I suppose this would start with teacher training, but inherently it goes back to the "gap" that you mention and that is the Boomers learn differently than the Gamers or "Millennials." The Boomers have a vast amount of information they have stored up as workers in the past two to three decades. As they retire, we are going to have to figure out how to transfer that information to the Gamers in a way they will understand and that will be through technology. Problem-based learning is one great way to accomplish this, but the big barrier in K-12 education is the focus on high stakes tests and accountability. Teachers feel so much pressure to prepare kids for the test, they are reluctant to embrace PBL because they fear it will take too much time away from test preparation. However, in fact, it would add to the time they have for preparation because we can bundle standards and implement content from several subjects at once. Of course, this takes time and planning, but if we can do one or two PBL scenarios a year, we will get there. Of course we also have to address higher education, so it seems we have our work cut out for us. One suggestion I have for the paper would be to tie these scenarios back to your 4C's ..........
Cristie
I can appreciate the issues you raised in your paper. As I read your submission, I could not help but equate your research with the problems I often encounter with learners using the net for information, but doing a copy & paste, instead of re-writing the material in their own words. Teaching critical thinking in the lower grades could be an excellent foundation for students as they move to higher levels of education. In a finance class I teach, I use Microsoft Excel for the homeworks to solve the problems. I often find that I am teaching Excel, in addition to the course content. Many learners do not know how to input a simple formula and use a calculator, then type the answer.
Kathleen, thank you. I understand and can relate to your experience. Whenever I would assign students to demonstrate mastery or understanding of a topic via a multimedia presentation, I find myself teaching them how to utilize power point, creating podcasts, and the various websites to "jazz up" a presentation, like Splashcast or Prezi. In an already copious curriculum to teach with very limited time allotted to teach it, this makes our jobs more challenging. What do you think?
It is good to know educators are moving beyond identifying the issues of how to educate this generation of implementing effective modes of teaching to engage new/today's learners. Your submission is on point. You provide important steps that should be taken into account as curriculum and instruction approaches are reviewed and future lessons are created.
Given the global marketplace, we must teach thinking skills. We need problem-solvers! Therefore, I love the infusion of real-world issues and problems within the learning environment. Good submission!
I found your 4C's interesting. There was a research article published in ASCD I believe a few yrs ago which profiled the necessities our students must have in order to be not only competitive but successful in the globalized world. It is interesting since to date our school systems still are not adequately providing these in American schools. This coincides with the gap in student interest in school and learning gaps. Contrasting somewhat with the international systems. Good points to civics in education and our roles as educational institutions and teachers. Your paper is well researched as a topic very connected to the educational situation of today's globalized tomorrow.
Daniel, you are correct! The 21st century skills incorporate and align to higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. Not only are these skills homing and polishing higher levels of thinking but it prepares out future leaders of tomorrow how to better compete globally. Thank you for your kind comments.
P.Thompson, thank you for your wonderful accolade. I concur! We need to infuse critical thinking skills into the instruction and present assignments and assessments (formative and summative for checking and evaluating understanding of concepts) utilizing real world problems/applications.
Bobbe, you are correct! The data is out there informing schools and their leaders how imperative it is that these changes need to be engaged; however, it is staggering how nothing to date is being done to actually implement it! Sadly, this generation will be responsible for this country's political, social, and economic arena when we retire. If we do not furnish them the skills they need to successfully do so,I am afraid of where this country is heading!
The STEM approach is being used more and more in the schools across the nation and the interactive real approach is making a big difference. Not only are the students not being taught to the test, but they are actually more interested, motivated and engaged learners. We should be implementing more of these forms of teaching at the higher level of education as well.
This subject is critical to all instructors on preparing students for employment. One of the premises is that students have access to technology. Have you considered the implication of infrastructure in preparedness? For instance, countries such as South Korea, have a higher percentage of internet availability than the United States. Could these be moderating variables that affect the outcome?
I teach critical thinking classes for college students, both ground and online. Basic reading skills are low for large percentage of students. Your example using Google Earth for application of critical thinking skills worth noting; interaction is the driver. Your commentary easily becomes best management practices transitioning disciplines. It was a pleasure to read.
Note: your title page shows your professional title with the "Dr." before your name and the "Ed.D" after, but I believe only one is used.
Barbara, thank you for your kind comments. Infastructure would help facilitate this process. Other countries like South Korea as well as Japan,China,and Singapore have recognized this and one can see where their PISA scores rank in comparison to the US. Not only do I hope this paper inspires educators to utilize best practices by incorporating these 4 C's but institutional leaders to invest in the technology to bring this to fruition. By the way, you are correct! Thank you for bring the Dr. thing to my attention! LOL. I completely overlooked that. Much appreciated!
Thank you Jeri. I hope this paper inspires others to get on board!