21st Century Learning Symposium

• < Previous Event
• Next Event >

Comment

Comment by tom abeles on July 15, 2011 at 7:28am

We keep talking about giving students 21st century skills, yet we are having trouble delivering basic reading, composition and numeracy skills w/many graduating not just from secondary, but also post secondary lacking these skills. Just what skills are we talking about and do these allow us to jump over the basics or will they incorporate these areas automatically?

 

We forget that, today, knowledge is fungible (has value) and is transferable across geo-political boundaries meaning knowledge work, as we know, today, can be obtained at the click of a mouse from across cyberspace. Thus the value or cost of this knowledge is asymptotically approaching zero. We know this at the post secondary level with all the open education resources which are starting to appear at lower levels (CF Kahn Academy). Just as post secondary institutions are becoming concerned, it may be time that secondary schools also start reconsidering their purpose.

 

Clayton Christensen's idea of disruptive innovation for mature industries is just being understood at the post secondary level. Maybe the real issue is not what is being taught but rethinking the basic education model itself.