Thoughts on Technology and 21st Century Skills, Feb. 2013

We are fortunate, I believe, for all that has been implemented and offered, in regards to technology integration, for the Burlington Public Schools.  With forward-thinking leadership and support from Dr. Eric Conti, Superintendent, Patrick Larkin, Asst. Superintendent, and Dennis Villano, Director of Technology Integration, the Burlington Public Schools have leaped ahead to become one of the leading tech-progressive districts in Massachusetts.

Burlington High School was one of the first public high schools in Massachusetts to go one-to-one, in September 2011.  Throughout the 2011-2012 school year, teams of faculty, staff and administrators from public schools, from all over Massachusetts, came for day visits to Burlington High School.  Now, in February 2013, the Marshall Simonds Middle School became one of the largest one-to-one middle schools in North America.  Some elementary classrooms in Burlington have started pilot programs.  It is clear that our leaders are aware of what the future might look like, in school, college, industry and business, and the seamless integration of technology (a stated goal in our BPS Technology Plan) connects well with the 21^st century skills students will need.

Some 21^st century skills are: (1) to think creatively and in clever ways, such as in thinking “outside the box;” (2) to learn through authentic experiences; (3) to collaborate with others digitally and globally; (4) to empathize or internalize learning for positive emotional goals and outcomes; (5) to employ or support diverse learning styles; (6) to interact with the global world to understand different perspectives; (7) to draw ideas from broad or different resources and solve complex problems; and (8) to incorporate or combine unlike lessons or elements into integrated solutions or understandings through technology.

I see how some of these 21^st century skills could impact teaching and learning, through greater connectivity with the world and other learners.  Social media, for instance, offers easy ways for students to connect with others across great distances.  Sites and applications like Evernote and Dropbox allow students to save things right from the web, and share resources with others, seamlessly connecting the internet, sources and individuals with other learners.

Our Burlington Technology Plan supports 21^st century skills in many ways, but the most direct and obvious means in Burlington is through one-to-one initiatives; essentially putting robust hardware, software and interactive applications in the hands of students and teachers.  Robust hardware, software and interactive applications allow students and staff to use powerful digital tools that can be used to engage, instruct and excite.  For some time, I considered the technology given to us as an “extra” tool in our toolbox; something that could be considered a supplement.  I have learned, from reading the Burlington Technology Plan, that the technology in our classrooms should not be considered something “extra” or as a “supplement,” but rather the goal is seamless integration.

The Burlington Public Schools are ahead of the curve, in comparison to other Massachusetts public school districts, and it is my opinion that our school leaders are doing it “the right way,” for the most part.  I might assume that some Burlington teachers are not happy with the current amount of support, or the direction we are going, but in my opinion, there is “just enough” support from our building and district technology staff.  It is unreasonable for teachers to expect tech staff to be available all the time, at any given hour, and so now, as I look at technology integration challenges for schools, from this perspective as an aspiring administrator, I see the need but also the job of teachers to learn more on their own; and to take more responsibility.

Within the context of 21^st century skills, we should be mindful of the many unknown elements in the future; as it relates to school, college and the work place.  Since there is much we do not know, we must try to think critically about what the world will look like in the near future and prepare accordingly.  We already know that the world is more connected and becomes more connected each day.  The internet opened up our world in dramatic ways, but now I see the mix of social media and the rampant use of smart phones multiplies this effect of a connected world.  This in turn, means that teachers and administrators need to take more responsibility for their own learning of technology; to push themselves all the time, pedagogically and technologically.  I admit that I also need to work harder at trying to understand how to best use the great hardware, software and applications available to us here in Burlington.

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