VIDEOCONFERENCING Bringing 21st by Janine Lim
Themes and Skills and how these are addressed by videoconferences in Berrien and Cass counties.
How are you breaking down the walls of your classroom? Do you use videoconferencing to bring the world to your students? Did you know that you can use real- time live interactive videoconferencing to expose your students to new ideas and diverse cultures? In this article, we’ll review some of the 21st
10 | The Partnership for 21st Century Skills
has the most commonly used definitions of 21st
century skills. The framework includes “themes” to be integrated into all areas, and specific “skills” that students should be practicing. You can read more at
www.p21.org/documents/ P21_Framework_Definitions.pdf. In this article, we will examine two of the themes (Global Awareness and Civic Literacy) and two of the skills (Communication and Problem Solving).
Century Theme: Global Awareness The Partnership for 21st
21st Century
Skills defines Global Awareness as: • Using 21st century skills to understand and address global issues
•
Learning from and working collaboratively with individuals representing diverse cultures, religions and lifestyles in a spirit of mutual respect and open dialogue in personal, work and community contexts
•
Understanding other nations and cultures, including the use
of non-English languages
While there are certainly some excellent tools for learning about global
Conference 2011 |
issues (including exploring websites, collaborations via blogs and wikis, etc.), videoconferencing provides a unique exposure to global peers. During a videoconference, students must listen carefully to understand accented English and vocabulary uncommon in the United States. When students are face to face during a videoconference, they see differences in dress and mannerisms. As students ask each other questions and learn about their areas, they often learn that they have the same interests, even though there are differences. During the videoconference, students learn to express in real-time mutual respect and to openly dialogue with their global peers. Given students’ rising preference for texting and other non face-to-face communication, videoconferencing is another way to increase students’ abilities to communicate in real time.
One excellent way to connect with other classes in various communities across the United States and around the planet is Read Around the Planet, an international videoconference celebration of reading run by TWICE, Michigan’s K12 videoconference organization, and
MACULJOURNAL
Learning Essentials to the Classroom
Century
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