Comments on: Flawed assumptions http://www.joannejacobs.com/2009/03/flawed-assumptions/ Thinking and Linking by Joanne Jacobs Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:51:22 +0000 hourly 1 By: A puffed pastry filled with Friday Roundup! « Twin Cities School Notebook http://www.joannejacobs.com/2009/03/flawed-assumptions/#comment-44498 A puffed pastry filled with Friday Roundup! « Twin Cities School Notebook Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:25:09 +0000 http://joannejacobs.com/?p=7887#comment-44498 [...] (Speaking of which – so-called 21st century skills like problem-solving, etc. have taken a bit of flack this week) (NPR’s The Takeaway/Marion Barry/EdWeek/Joanne Jacobs) For those of us with mild [...] [...] (Speaking of which – so-called 21st century skills like problem-solving, etc. have taken a bit of flack this week) (NPR’s The Takeaway/Marion Barry/EdWeek/Joanne Jacobs) For those of us with mild [...]

]]> By: Catherine Johnson http://www.joannejacobs.com/2009/03/flawed-assumptions/#comment-44497 Catherine Johnson Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:22:43 +0000 http://joannejacobs.com/?p=7887#comment-44497 I tried to leave a comment but couldn't get it to post, so I've written <a href="http://kitchentablemath.blogspot.com/2009/03/why-21st-century-skills.html" rel="nofollow">a post at kitchen table math</a>. I tried to leave a comment but couldn’t get it to post, so I’ve written a post at kitchen table math.

]]> By: Education Intelligence » Blog Archive » Of education and strawmen http://www.joannejacobs.com/2009/03/flawed-assumptions/#comment-44496 Education Intelligence » Blog Archive » Of education and strawmen Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:55:50 +0000 http://joannejacobs.com/?p=7887#comment-44496 [...] Downes, in a post arguing that Joanne Jacobs has erected strawmen in her post on the 21st Century Skills debate, erects a few of his own. Each of these [...] [...] Downes, in a post arguing that Joanne Jacobs has erected strawmen in her post on the 21st Century Skills debate, erects a few of his own. Each of these [...]

]]> By: Aggregating Content is a 21st Century Skill at The Core Knowledge Blog http://www.joannejacobs.com/2009/03/flawed-assumptions/#comment-44495 Aggregating Content is a 21st Century Skill at The Core Knowledge Blog Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:27:43 +0000 http://joannejacobs.com/?p=7887#comment-44495 [...] Joanne Jacob also weighs in with a lengthy recap of the ongoing debate;  Finally, a hat tip to Jay Greene, who provides comic relief with a 21CS spoof from The Onion:  An impossibly deadpan Fox News-style panel discussion on Are Violent Video Games Adequately Preparing Kids for the Post-Apocalyptic Future?  “The games make it all seem deceptively simple,” one panelist opines.  “A kid’s not going to be able to kill a six-foot long irradiated beetle just by pushing a few buttons.  He’s going to have to get down there with an axe and hack and hack and hack…” [...] [...] Joanne Jacob also weighs in with a lengthy recap of the ongoing debate;  Finally, a hat tip to Jay Greene, who provides comic relief with a 21CS spoof from The Onion:  An impossibly deadpan Fox News-style panel discussion on Are Violent Video Games Adequately Preparing Kids for the Post-Apocalyptic Future?  “The games make it all seem deceptively simple,” one panelist opines.  “A kid’s not going to be able to kill a six-foot long irradiated beetle just by pushing a few buttons.  He’s going to have to get down there with an axe and hack and hack and hack…” [...]

]]> By: Tracy W http://www.joannejacobs.com/2009/03/flawed-assumptions/#comment-44494 Tracy W Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:03:41 +0000 http://joannejacobs.com/?p=7887#comment-44494 What I don't really get is the motivation of the P21 people. It's quite surprising that it's apparently never occurred to one of them to wonder why previous educational efforts failed. What I don’t really get is the motivation of the P21 people. It’s quite surprising that it’s apparently never occurred to one of them to wonder why previous educational efforts failed.

]]> By: David Cohen http://www.joannejacobs.com/2009/03/flawed-assumptions/#comment-44493 David Cohen Wed, 04 Mar 2009 07:01:48 +0000 http://joannejacobs.com/?p=7887#comment-44493 Great posting! I guess it's natural that people say that when you present information that matches their experiences. I have plenty of training and theoretical reasons to do more group activity and student-directed learning, but as mentioned above, the main obstacle to doing it isn't convincing teachers it's worthwhile, but rather, providing the training, practice, and TIME that we need to do this work effectively. Groupwork for its own sake is not good enough. And yes, skills need to be put to use in learning real and challening content. Some folks like to point out how quickly new information is being manufactured, or created, or catalogued - choose your verb - and then suggest that we can't prepare students for the future if we focus on content. After all, the "content" or information they'll use in the future, especially in science and technology, hasn't been created yet. However, if students' skills aren't being put to use in the service of reaching deep understanding, finding, evaluating, critiquing the existing and well-established information and ideas, then we haven't really given them a complete skill, or skill set. Great posting! I guess it’s natural that people say that when you present information that matches their experiences. I have plenty of training and theoretical reasons to do more group activity and student-directed learning, but as mentioned above, the main obstacle to doing it isn’t convincing teachers it’s worthwhile, but rather, providing the training, practice, and TIME that we need to do this work effectively. Groupwork for its own sake is not good enough.

And yes, skills need to be put to use in learning real and challening content. Some folks like to point out how quickly new information is being manufactured, or created, or catalogued – choose your verb – and then suggest that we can’t prepare students for the future if we focus on content. After all, the “content” or information they’ll use in the future, especially in science and technology, hasn’t been created yet. However, if students’ skills aren’t being put to use in the service of reaching deep understanding, finding, evaluating, critiquing the existing and well-established information and ideas, then we haven’t really given them a complete skill, or skill set.

]]>