Using Technology to Cultivate 21st Century Skills

Today, I taught a summer development course for teachers in my district on using technology to cultivate the 21st century skills of creativity, collaboration, communication, and search.

We read chapter 4 from Understanding the Digital Generation: Teaching and Learning in the New Digital Landscape to help us understand the way our students' minds work.  We watched the video, "Did You Know in 2028?" to help us understand what the world will be like when this year's kindergartners graduate from high school.  Then, we discussed all things Google: drive, docs, forms, classroom, and search.

I shared a couple of my favorite tech for primary students:
Padlet
Vocaroo (easiest voice recording ever!)
Smart Record (using Smart Notebook to capture your computer/Smart Board with audio)
Remind (one way communication via text from teachers to parents) www.remind.com

It was a great day of learning and I'm excited for this great group of teachers to share with others.


Here's what they had to say about how they'll use what they learned...

Here's our Padlet discussing the National Educational Technology Standards...