Library Links

"Content that might be of interest to Teacher-Librarians..."


3.6.10

21st Century Learning - Some resources to checkout

For those of you looking for some additional reading in this exciting area. (Thanks Ray)

1.  Transforming American Education:  Learning Powered by Technology
This is the draft of the American national tech plan, located at http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010  As a document, it summarizes many contemporary themes about how schools might change, and technologies role in supporting them.  This is the document about which Alec Couros said, "Don't tease me!"

Cisco has supported several interesting papers on this and the global learning theme.  Another recommendation on this site is Leadbeater's Learning from the Extremes.

This is one of many documents and resources produced by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.  The Guide and its supporting materials assist educators and administrators in measuring the progress of their schools in defining, teaching and assessing 21st century skills. 

4.  Warlick, D. (2004). Redefining literacy for the 21st century. Worthington, Ohio: Linworth Pub.  Amazon details at http://amzn.to/9x6CG8  In 2009, Warlick updated the content in the book Redefining Literacy 2.0   More of his stuff is online at http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/.

5. Leadbeater, C. (2005). The shape of things to come: Personalised learning through collaboration. Nottingham: DfES Publications.
Possibly better known for his recent book, We-Think, Leadbeater produced several documents for the UK's Innovation Unit, including this one, which focuses on the benefits of highly personalised learning and the implications for networks of schools and communities. The other Innovation Unit publications are also worth a browse or two, along with other works by Valerie Hannon or John Abbott.  Related sites:  The 21st Century Learning Initiative http://www.21learn.org/site/publications

6. Mulford, B. (2008). The leadership challenge: Improving learning in schools. Australian education review, no. 53. Camberwell, Vic: ACER Press.
A gateway into much of this thinking, with a focus on implications for school leadership.

7.  Also, for Twitter users, it would be worth paying attention to George Siemens (http://twitter.com/gsiemens), Alec Couros (http://twitter.com/courosa), and the folks they follow on Twitter.