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enGauge®
21st Century Skills
Literacy in
the Digital Age
www.ncrel.org/engauge
FOR 21ST CENTURY LEARNERS
Cheryl Lemke
CEO, Metiri Group
Ed Coughlin
Senior Vice President, Metiri Group
Dr. Vandana Thadani
Associate, Metiri Group
Crystal Martin
Research Associate, Metiri Group
Copyright © 2003 by the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory and the Metiri Group. All rights reserved.
This work was produced in whole or in part with funds from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), U.S.
Department of Education, under contract number ED-01-CO-0011. The content does not necessarily reflect the
position or policy of IES or the Department of Education, nor does mention or visual representation of trade names,
commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the federal government.
enGauge 21st Century Skills: Literacy in the Digital Age
Gina Burkhardt
CEO/Executive Director, NCREL
Margaret Monsour
Deputy Director, NCREL
Gil Valdez
Deputy Director, NCREL
Cathy Gunn
Director, Center for Technology, NCREL
Matt Dawson
Program Associate, Center for Technology, NCREL
enGauge®21st Century Skills:
Literacy in the Digital Age
1120 East Diehl Road, Suite 200
Naperville, Illinois 60563
Phone: (800) 356-2735
Fax: (630) 649-6700
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Fax: (310) 286-7941
www.metiri.com
Table of Contents
Message to the Reader 2
Extra! Extra! The World Is Different! 3
Executive Summary 4
Growing Up Digital 6
ADigital Divide 7
ADigital-Age Economy 8
Digital-Age Learning 10
The enGauge 21st Century Skills 12
Methodology 13
Digital-Age Literacy 15
Inventive Thinking 33
Effective Communication 47
High Productivity 59
Glimpses Into 21st Century Classrooms 67
Getting There From Here 72
AProcess for Bringing 21st Century Skills Into Your Schools 73
Cross-Match to National Models 74
References 80
1
www.ncrel.org/engauge
Message to the Reader
Today’s school leaders face a serious dilemma: Communities expect their graduates to be ready to thrive in the
Digital Age, but the 21st century skills required for such success are not well defined. Those skills are not included
in many state learning standards or measured on most state and local assessments.
The current era of high-stakes testing will have a positive impact on students only if we get the metrics right.
Without 21st century skills, students are being prepared to succeed in yesterday’s world—not tomorrow’s.
Schools must do more to keep pace with rapid technology, research, and societal changes. To ensure that students
will be ready to thrive in today’s knowledge-based, global society, three significant things need to occur:
•The public must acknowledge 21st century skills as essential to the education of today’s learner.
•Schools must embrace new designs for learning based on emerging research about how people learn,
effective uses of technology, and 21st century skills in the context of rigorous academic content.
•Policymakers must base school accountability on assessments that measure both academic achievement
and 21st century skills.
This publication represents an important first step toward Digital Age readiness. Readers are invited to use the
enGauge 21st Century Skills as a platform for the shifts in school policy and practices necessary to give our students
the education they require in a knowledge-based, global society.
enGauge 21st Century Skills: Literacy in the Digital Age
2
Extra! Extra! The World Is Different!
The Workplace Farmers are checking soil moisture from their hand-held computers, and factory workers
are guiding robots.
Education Teachers are serving as facilitators, exploring with their students the vast world of ideas
and information.
Health Care More efficient systems are linking together county, state, and federal facilities, accelerating
the study, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases through networked applications and medical
databases.
Public Safety Officials are gaining access to instantaneous emergency-response information and
inter-operation of critical equipment regardless of jurisdiction.
Government Free and universal access to information is increasing for all citizens, whose informed
opinions are in turn shaping policy and fostering greater global democracy.
Ethics Ethical issues are no longer just about right and wrong but also about informed choices
between two rights—such as doing all we can to save lives and allowing people to die
with dignity.
Information presented in this table was found in two sources:
Computer Systems Policy Project. (2000). Building the foundation of the networked world (p. 8).
Washington, DC: Author.
Cornish, E. (Ed.). (1996). Exploring your future: Living, learning, and working in the Information Age
(pp. 7-11). Bethesda, MA: World Future Society.
3
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Executive Summary
Are your graduates ready to thrive in today’s Digital
Age? Upon serious reflection, most schools must
answer with a resounding “no!” This publication is a
guide for those interested in changing that answer to
the affirmative. As the CEO Forum on Education and
Technology (2001) concluded in Key Building Blocks for
Student Achievement in the 21st Century, “The definition
of student achievement must be broadened to include
the 21st century skills that will be required for students
to thrive in the future” (p. 1).
The world in which our children live is significantly
different from that of yesterday. Today’s youngsters
use laptops, pagers, instant messaging, and cell phones
to connect to friends, family, experts, and others in
their community and around the globe. They are
bombarded with visual messages from the media—
messages specifically targeted to tap into the billions
in discretionary spending they control or influence.
Members of this generation expect to actively participate
in and through their media, hence the decrease in
time spent by teens in viewing television and the
corresponding increase in time spent on computers,
gaming, and the Internet. (See “Media Trade-Offs”
on page 4.) Our children now have at their fingertips
a virtual world—with all its promises and pitfalls.
Hard as it is to believe, the Internet became available to
the average American less than a decade ago. Today,
we still find ourselves in the process of defining cultural
and societal norms for Internet and Web usage. Our
children are not looking to or waiting for adults to
establish those norms—they are simply jumping into
the fray, exploring the world of chat rooms, avatars,
MP3s, and digital communication with aplomb.
As cyberculture analyst (and author of Playing
the Future) Douglas Rushkoff (2001, personal
communication) quips, “Children are native to
cyberspace and we, as adults, are immigrants.” And
therein lies both a challenge and an opportunity:
How do we, as adults, with the least experience in
this milieu, provide leadership? How do we help
children use their native intelligence about technology
in sophisticated, responsible ways that serve them
well as they make their way in the Digital Age?
The solution lies in public acknowledgment that
yesterday’s education is not sufficient for today’s
learner. Academic excellence must be acquired within
the context of today’s technological environment
in order to fully prepare students to thrive in the
Digital Age.
The 21st Century Workforce Commission’s (2000)
National Alliance of Business summed up the economic
implications for us: “The current and future health of
America’s 21st century economy depends directly on
how broadly and deeply Americans reach a new level
of literacy—
‘
21st Century Literacy’ ” (p. 4).
enGauge 21st Century Skills: Literacy in the Digital Age
4
Academic Achievement
Academic Achievement
Academic Achievement
Academic Achievement
Digital-Age Literacy
•
Basic, Scientific, Economic,
and Technological Literacies
•
Visual and Information Literacies
•
Multicultural Literacy and
Global Awareness
Inventive Thinking
•
Adaptability, Managing
Complexity, and Self-Direction
•
Curiosity, Creativity,
and Risk Taking
•
Higher-Order Thinking and
Sound Reasoning
Effective Communication
•
Teaming, Collaboration,
and Interpersonal Skills
•
Personal, Social,
and Civic Responsibility
•
Interactive Communication
High Productivity
•
Prioritizing, Planning, and
Managing for Results
•
Effective Use of Real-World Tools
•
Ability to Produce Relevant,
High-Quality Products
21st Century Learning
Areport from the 21st Century Literacy Summit (2002)
contends that “the explosive growth of technology in
every aspect of society offers us a unique opportunity
to engage our citizens in economic and civic life” (p. 4).
The report further states that to take advantage of this
opportunity, we must
continually acquire
and develop new
knowledge and skills.
Summit participants
noted, “Information
and communication
technologies are
raising the bar on the
competencies needed
to succeed in the
21st century, and they are compelling us to revisit
many of our assumptions and beliefs” (p. 4).
The sheer magnitude of human knowledge, world
globalization, and the accelerating rate of change due
to technology necessitates a shift in our children’s
education—from plateaus of knowing to continuous
cycles of learning. Therefore, policymakers and
educators alike must define 21st century skills,
highlighting the relationship of those skills to
conventional academ-
ic standards. As they
do so, they must also
recognize the need for
multiple assessments
to measure these skills
within the context of
academic standards,
evaluating their
application to today’s
technological, global
society.
enGauge 21st Century Skills
The enGauge 21st Century Skills should be considered
within the context of rigorous academic standards.
They are a bridge to authentic, intellectually
challenging work by students.
5
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“Information and communica-
tion technologies are raising
the bar on the competencies
needed to succeed in the
21st century.”
— 21st Century Literacy Summit
The sheer magnitude of human
knowledge, globalization,
and the accelerating rate of
change due to technology
necessitates a shift in our
children’s education—from
plateaus of knowing to
continuous cycles of learning.
Media Trends
Over 65 percent of American children,
aged 2 to 17, now use the Internet—
up from 41 percent in 2000.
Media Trade-Offs:
Kids who use the Internet spend
37 percent less time watching
television—and 16 percent
more time with friends and
family. Teenagers (aged 13 to 17)
in 2002 spent more time each day
with digital media (3.5 hours)
than they did watching television
(3.1 hours).
Exploring
Learning
Communicating
Gaming
Activities that kids aged 9 to 17 engage in online at least weekly:
2002
2000
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Information presented in the above exhibit was found in two sources:
Corporation for Public Broadcasting. (2003). Connected to the future: A report on children’s Internet use.
Retrieved April 7, 2003, from http://www.cpb.org/ed/resources/connected/.
Grunwald Associates. (2000). Children, families, and the Internet. Burlingame, CA: Author.
Growing Up Digital
Today’s children are “growing up digital.” Their view
of the world is very different from that of adults, thanks
to unprecedented access to information, people, and
ideas across highly
interactive media.
It is precisely this
real-time, webbed
interactivity, suggests
Don Tapscott (1998)
in Growing Up Digital,
which has spurred
societal changes in
ways prior technolo-
gies did not.
Douglas Rushkoff (1999), in Playing the Future, agrees:
“Our children…are the latest model of human being.
Looking at the world of children is not looking back-
ward at our own past—it’s looking ahead. They are
our evolutionary future” (p. 4).
“Consider any family of immigrants,” Rushkoff
continues. “Who learns the language first? Who adopts
the aesthetic, cultural, and spiritual values of the new
country? The children, of course….Well, welcome to
the 21st century. We are all immigrants in a new
territory” (p. 4).
More than half the people in our nation—and 65
percent of our children—are now online. The latest
research from the U.S. Department of Commerce puts
the current growth rate for Internet use at 2 million new
users per month, with children and teens being the
fastest growing group of new users (Economics and
Statistics Administration, 2002). As a country, we now
use the Internet for business transactions, shopping,
entertainment, information searches, communication,
and of course, learning. In January 2001, the Web-Based
Education Commission reported that this increased use
“is bringing rapid and radical change into our lives—
from the wonderfully beneficial to the terrifyingly
difficult” (Kerry & Isakson, 2001, p. i). The challenge to
educators is to help students develop the 21st century
skills that enable them to fully realize technology’s
most positive effects.
enGauge 21st Century Skills: Literacy in the Digital Age
6
“Our children…are the latest
model of human being.
Looking at the world of
children is not looking
backward at our own past—
it’s looking ahead. They are
our evolutionary future.”
— Rushkoff
ADigital Divide
In the 1990s, the digital divide was characterized as a
gap in technology access that translated into inequities
in educational, economic, social, and civic opportunities
among sectors of the population. Since then, education
leaders have come to realize that access is simply the
first step. Equally important are robust home access
and the readiness of individuals to use technology,
communication networks, and information efficiently,
effectively, and productively.
According to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s
2003 report, Connected to the Future, digital access
today is more a factor of income than ethnicity. With
children’s home access to the Internet increasing,
with life and school tasks becoming more and more
Internet-dependent, and with quality content requiring
higher and higher bandwidth, low-income students are
at a potential disadvantage. This disparity is increasing
the pressure on schools to provide robust Internet
access for all children.
With quality, interactive content becoming increasingly
bandwidth intensive, access to broadband is redefining
the digital divide. The Corporation for Public Broad-
casting (2003) also stated that children with broadband
access at home report spending more time online (65
percent), watching less television (37percent), and get-
ting better grades (23 percent) than children without
access. While more cautious than their children, in
general, parents confirm these findings.
If this situation were solely an issue of access, by all
accounts we would be making good progress in closing
the digital divide. Children, Families, and the Internet
(Grunwald Associates, 2000), for example, found that
“girls are on the Net in proportions equal to or greater
than boys,” and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s
study ANation Online: How Americans Are Expanding
Their Use Of The Internet (National Telecommunications
Information Administration & Economics and Statistics
Administration, 2002) reports that:
•Some 143 million Americans—regardless of income,
race, age, gender, geographic location, or disability—
were online in September 2001, an increase of
26 million from just one year earlier.
•Between December 1998 and September 2001, Internet
use in the lowest income households increased at
a 25 percent annual growth rate. Internet use in
the highest income households increased from a
higher base but at a much slower 11 percent annual
growth rate.
• Children and teenagers use computers and the
Internet more than any other age group.
– Ninety percent of children between the ages of
5 and 17 (or 48 million) now use computers.
– Seventy-five percent of 14- to 17-year-olds and
65 percent of 10- to 13-year-olds use the Internet.
– Computers at schools substantially narrow the
gap in usage rates for children from high- and
low-income families.
While this progress is certainly encouraging, access is
just the first step. According to the U.S. Department of
Commerce study,
Falling Through
the Net (National
Telecommunications
and Information
Administration, 1999),
the digital divide also
represents differences
in the capacity to
use technology
tools efficiently and
effectively. True equity requires high levels of
technology proficiency to ensure broader, more
meaningful, and increasingly innovative uses of
technology by all segments of the population. In turn,
these heightened levels of technology proficiency—
so critical in the Digital Age—require higher levels
of 21st century education.
In Digital Transformation, the International Information
and Communication Technologies (ICT) Literacy Panel
(2002), argues that our conception of the digital divide
must be expanded: “A continued focus on building
infrastructure should be complimented by an effort to
identify those without an ability to manage, integrate,
evaluate, and create information in a traditional sense
and to provide them with the necessary tools to acquire
these skills” (p. 1). Without these skills as a foundation,
“all the hardware and access in the world will not…
decrease the existing gaps currently defined by the
digital divide” (Gonzalez, 2002).
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True equity will require
high levels of technology
proficiency to ensure broader,
more meaningful, and
increasingly innovative
uses of technology by all
segments of the population.
In many schools and homes, students now have the
access to technology that is the first step toward closing
the digital divide. Now, says the CEO Forum (2001), we
must shift our emphasis to “how [technology] should
be applied to achieve educational objectives” (p. 3) for
all. Students today are graduating from high school and
attending college in record numbers. It’s up to parents
and educators to ensure that they’re truly spending that
time well, developing the skills necessary for success-
fully living, learning, and working in the 21st century.
ADigital-Age Economy
Experts at the U.S. Department of Labor stated it
best: “We are living in a new economy—powered by
technology, fueled by information, and driven by
knowledge” (Secretary’s Commission on Achieving
Necessary Skills, 1991, p. 1). Because of this, they
assert, “The influence of technology will go beyond
new equipment and
faster communica-
tions, as work and
skills will
be redefined and
reorganized” (p. 1).
Despite the boom
and bust of the
dot-com craze, a
recent University of
California–Berkeley
study finds that
“the adoption of
Internet business
solutions has already
yielded a current,
cumulative cost
savings of $155.2 billion to U.S. organizations” (Varian,
Litan, Elder, & Shutter, 2002, p. 5). Digital Economy
2000, a report by the U.S. Department of Commerce,
attributes most productivity gains since 1995 to infor-
mation technology (IT) and its resulting organizational
change, despite the economic slowdown that began
in 2000 and the economic repercussions of September 11
(Economics and Statistics Administration, 2002).
Given the rapid diffusion of technology during the
past 30 years, many analysts have also considered
technological change to be a major factor in determin-
ing wages (Mishel, Bernstein, & Boushey, 2003). Some
studies estimate that, on average, IT jobs pay 85 percent
more than other jobs (Pociask, 2002). Digital Economy
2002 reports that the
average wages per worker
in IT industries are twice
the national average
($73,800 compared to
$35,000) for all workers
engaged in private,
nonfarm industries
(Economics and Statistics
Administration, 2002,
p. 41). Even in non-IT
industries, most analysts
agree that technologically skilled workers are likely to
earn higher wages than those without such skills. The
U.S. Department of Commerce also further reports that
“workers who use a computer at work can earn 17 to
22 percent more than other workers” (Economics and
Statistics Administration, 2002, p. 49). These same
analysts note that rapid change and increased competi-
tion require that workers use their “soft skills” (e.g.,
interpersonal, management, and problem-solving
skills) to adapt quickly to changing technologies and
organizational structures (Economics and Statistics
Administration, 2002, p. 49).
Even economists—such as the analysts at the Economic
Policy Institute—who find it “difficult to identify the
role of technological change in recent wage trends,”
(Mishel et al., 2003, p. 201) agree with the assertion
regarding the need for soft skills. Mishel et al. (2003)
cite a wage gap within groups of workers with similar
education and experience as a sticking point to more
cut-and-dried theories relating technology to increased
wages. They do say, however, that this within-group
wage inequality can be related to technological change
“if it is interpreted as a reflection of growing economic
returns to those worker skills (motivation, aptitudes
for math, and others) that are not easily measured”
(p. 203). In other words, simple technology proficiency
is not enough.
So experts agree: Education—when it means
developing the skills needed to live, learn, and work
successfully in the Digital Age—does pay, especially
in an information-based economy (Mandel, 2002).
And it will continue to pay, according to others. The
CEO Forum (2001) advises that “students require
higher levels of education to succeed in the new
knowledge-based economy. Today, 85 percent of jobs
enGauge 21st Century Skills: Literacy in the Digital Age
8
“Students require higher
levels of education to succeed
in the new, knowledge-based
economy.”
— CEO Forum on Education
and Technology
“We are living in a new
economy—powered by
technology, fueled by
information, and driven
by knowledge. The influence
of technology will go beyond
new equipment and faster
communications, as work
and skills will be redefined
and reorganized.”
— Secretary’s Commission on
Achieving Necessary Skills
(SCANS), U.S. Department
of Labor
require education beyond high school, compared to
61 percent in 1991” (p. 5).
Authors of the National Research Council’s Building
AWorkforce for the Information Economy suggest that
workforce preparation is dependent on the ability of
schools to promote students’ cognitive abilities, such
as logical thinking, problem solving, analysis, careful
observation, and data management. The authors
contend that “these abilities are highly valued in
the workplace” and vital to successful performance
(Committee on Workforce Needs in Information
Technology, 2001, p. 225).
Furthermore, according to Technically Speaking, a report
by the National Academy of Engineering and the
National Research Council, “Technologically literate
workers are more likely than those lacking such literacy
to have a broad range of knowledge and abilities, such
as the critical thinking
skills identified by
the Secretary’s
Commission on
Achieving Necessary
Skills (SCANS)”
(Pearson & Young,
2002, pp. 40-41).
SCANS encourages
schools to “look
beyond the schoolhouse to the roles students will
play when they leave to become workers, parents, and
citizens” (SCANS, 1992, p. 10). These recommendations
build upon the principles set forth in the 1991 SCANS
report, What Work Requires of Schools. In its 1992 report,
the commission links the economy, schools, and the
need for continued renewal of workers’ skills according
to three key concepts:
• The qualities of high-performance that today
characterize our most competitive companies
must become the standard for the vast majority
of employers, public and private, large and small,
local and global.
• The nation’s schools must be transformed into
high-performance organizations.
• All Americans should be entitled to multiple
opportunities to learn. (SCANS, 1992, p. xv)
Empirical research shows that small firms, in
particular, contribute significantly to economic growth
as measured by new job creation. Of these, the most
innovative firms have been shown to “create a
disproportionately
greater share of net
new jobs than those
firms with lesser
innovative intensity,”
suggesting that
“highly innovative
new firms are a major
source of economic
growth” (BJK
Associates, 2002, p. 2).
Researchers Armington and Acs found that highly
innovative firms are more likely to form in labor market
areas (LMAs) with a higher percentage of educated
and skilled workers. These researchers conclude that
“a positive relationship may actually exist between
the ‘size’ of a region’s knowledge base and new firm
formation” (BJK Associates, 2002, p. 3).
The Bureau of Labor Statistics sums it up: “Education
is essential to getting a high-paying job” (Bureau of
Labor Statistics, Office of Occupational Statistics and
Employment Projections, 2003). With our economy
making such an “unprecedented transition” into
high-skilled, information-based industries, not
providing students with opportunities to develop
21st century skills and proficiencies will create “a
disconnect” between the innovative jobs being created
and the skills of the workforce (Chao, 2001, p. 7).
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“Look beyond the schoolhouse
to the roles students will
play when they leave to
become workers, parents,
and citizens.”
– SCANS, 1992
Not providing students with
opportunities to develop 21st
century skills and proficiencies
will create a disconnect
between the innovative jobs
being created and the skills
of the workforce.
Digital-Age Learning
Given the realities of globalization, knowledge work,
and accelerating societal change, it’s obvious that what
students learn—as well as how and when they learn—
is changing.
Over the last decade, there were tremendous
advances in the science of learning, made possible by
the convergence of research in the cognitive sciences,
neuroscience, human development, and technology.
As a result, we know more today about how people
think and learn (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 1999).
For starters, the research clearly shows that students
learn more when they are engaged in meaningful,
relevant, and intellec-
tually stimulating
work (Newmann,
Bryk, & Nagaoka,
2001). While all
learning is deeply
personal, the
frequency and
relevance of such
moments increase
when technology
enables us to tap outside experts; visualize and analyze
data; link to real-world contexts; and take advantage
of opportunities for feedback, reflection, and analysis
(Bransford et al., 1999).
Technology influences learning in three significant
ways. A synthesis of recent research and national skill
sets shows that technology can be a driver of change,
a bridge to academic excellence, and a platform for
informed decision making and accountability:
1.A Driver for Change: The 21st Century Skills
Technology has catapulted us into a knowledge-
based, global society. It is clear that success in this
society will require significantly different skills
than in the past (CEO Forum, 2001; International
ICT Literacy Panel, 2002). However, policymakers
and educators have not yet clearly defined what it
means to be “educated” in a Digital Age. The irony
of a call for 21st century skills in this era of high-
stakes testing based on conventional metrics is not
lost on teachers. To fully realize the educational
opportunities that 21st century skills can bring to
students, education leaders must formally incorpo-
rate them into the mainstream of school curriculum,
instruction, and assessment.
2.A Bridge to High Academic Achievement
Technology serves as a bridge to more engaged,
relevant, meaningful, and personalized learning—
all of which can lead to higher academic achievement.
Research indicates that when technology is used
appropriately, children learn more, even as measured
by conventional tests (Newmann et al., 2001;
Wenglinsky, 1998). It is important to demonstrate
this research link to teachers, thereby encouraging
them to incorporate technology into the mainstream
of student learning.
3.A Platform for Informed Decision Making
and Accountability
Technology provides a platform for more informed
decision making using timely, meaningful data to
shape learning opportunities. This situation translates
into more personalized learning based on continuous
feedback available to students, teachers, and parents.
The challenge lies in building such accountability
systems on the foundation of the right indicators—
indicators that lead to high academic standards and
21st century skills. Only this foundation will enable
true Digital Age readiness.
enGauge 21st Century Skills: Literacy in the Digital Age
10
There will be changes in what
students learn. But it’s just
as important to recognize
the ongoing shifts in how
and when they learn.
Educators have no choice. The times require that
schools change or become obsolete. Just as doctors must
stay abreast of the latest medical research and lawyers
must keep up with
case law, educators
must stay current
with practices that
optimize student
learning. While this
practice may be
happening in some
schools and districts,
all of our schools
need to become
organizations that formally and systematically use
research results to drive systemwide change. This
approach is particularly important in the current era
of high-stakes assessment.
Such a transition will require teachers and administra-
tors themselves to become knowledge workers with
21st century skill sets. School leaders need to drive
change, taking on new, collaborative roles and using
inventive thinking to integrate the emerging “science
of learning” into their school systems. All students
should have the opportunity to attend dynamic,
high-quality schools designed to meet the challenges
of the Digital Age. The implications for pedagogy,
teacher and student roles, curriculum, assessment,
infrastructure, and the community are significant.
In short, the 21st
century skills
should form a
major part
of the foundation
of improvement
processes in
schools.
The 21st century
skills identified in
this publication
are meant to be considered in the context of academic
content and standards-based reform. Examples of
actual classroom practices follow the briefing pages
describing each of the skills. These classrooms
exemplify the ways in which 21st century skills can
breathe new life into academic content, leveraging
technology in ways that powerfully advance learning
by strengthening student engagement in challenging,
authentic, and intellectual work.
The research indicates that all children—regardless
of age, gender, socioeconomic status, and academic
status—can excel when immersed in such meaningful,
challenging work (Newmann et al., 2001).
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It’s time for the education
of our children to shift from
plateaus of knowing to
continuous cycles of learning.
The 21st century skills should
form a major part of the
foundation of improvement
processes in schools.
The enGauge 21st Century Skills
Based on two years of study, the enGauge 21st Century Skills represent the fresh, serious, new perspective required
in light of recent historical events, globalization, and the idiosyncrasies of the Digital Age. The following skill
clusters, when considered within the context of rigorous academic standards, are intended to provide the public,
business and industry, and educators with a common understanding of—and language for discussing—what is
needed by students, citizens, and workers in the Digital Age.
Digital-Age Literacy
• Basic, scientific, economic, and technological literacies
• Visual and information literacies
• Multicultural literacy and global awareness
Inventive Thinking
• Adaptability and managing complexity
• Self-direction
• Curiosity, creativity, and risk taking
• Higher-order thinking and sound reasoning
Effective Communication
• Teaming, collaboration, and interpersonal skills
• Personal, social, and civic responsibility
• Interactive communication
High Productivity
• Prioritizing, planning, and managing for results
• Effective use of real-world tools
• Ability to produce relevant, high-quality products
Each skill cluster is further broken down into representative
skill sets, which offer guidance on recognizing student
performance in developing the enGauge 21st Century Skills.
enGauge 21st Century Skills: Literacy in the Digital Age
12
Methodology
The enGauge 21st Century Skills were developed
through a process that included literature reviews,
research on emerging characteristics of the Net
Generation, a review of current reports on workforce
trends from business and industry, analysis of
nationally recognized skill sets, input from educators,
data from educator surveys, and reactions from
constituent groups. Many of these important works,
in particular the nationally recognized skill sets, are
cross-matched to the enGauge 21st Century Skills.
Some of these sources are listed below. A full list of
sources and cross-matches to national skill sets are
listed toward the end of this publication.
•National Educational Technology Standards
(NETS) for Students, 2000, International Society
for Technology in Education. Available at
cnets.iste.org/students/s_book.html.
•What Work Requires of Schools, 1991, Secretary’s
Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills, U.S.
Department of Labor. Available at wdr.doleta.gov/
SCANS/whatwork/whatwork.html.
•Standards for Technological Literacy: Content
for the Study of Technology, 2000, International
Technology Education Association. Available at
www.iteawww.org/TAA/PDFs/xstnd.pdf.
•21st Century Literacy in a Convergent Media
World, 2002, 21st Century Literacy Summit.
Available at www.21stcenturyliteracy.org/white/
WhitePaperEnglish.pdf.
•Being Fluent With Information Technology,
1999, Committee on Information Technology
Literacy, National Research Council. Available at
www.nap.edu/html/beingfluent/.
•Information Literacy Standards for Student
Learning, 1998, American Association of School
Librarians (AASL), Association of Educational
Communications Technology (AECT), and American
Library Association (ALA). Available at
www.ala.org/aasl/ip_nine.html.
•Technically Speaking: Why All Americans Need
to Know More About Technology, 2002. National
Academy of Engineering and National Research
Council. Available at www.nap.edu/books/
0309082625/html/.
•Preparing Students for the 21st Century, 1996,
American Association of School Administrators.
•Digital Transformation: A Framework for
ICT Literacy, 2002. Report by the International
Information and Communication Technologies
(ICT) Literacy Panel for the Educational Testing
Service (ETS). Available at. www.ets.org/research/
ictliteracy/ictreport.pdf.
•How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and
School, 1999. J. Bransford, A. Brown, & R. Cocking
(Eds.). Available at www.nap.edu/html/howpeople1/.
In addition, data was gathered from educators at
state-level conference sessions in 10 states, surveys,
and focus groups in Chicago and Washington, D.C.
Initial drafts of the enGauge 21st Century Skills were
reviewed by experts in the field prior to inclusion
in the enGauge list.
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Development of Student Profiles
After the skills were identified, a second wave of
study was conducted that drew on a vast body of
work dealing with each skill (see References). After
analyzing and summarizing that work, we sought to
develop profiles of students who have obtained the
skills (see boxes in the pages that follow).
Early in the process, it became clear that many of
the skills identified were not new constructs; existing
research was able to substantially inform the qualities
that make up those skills. What these sources typically
did not address (with some exceptions) was the shape
these skills can take, either in 21st century environ-
ments or in the context of the technology tools available
today. Thus, the strategy for developing the profiles
was twofold: We drew on existing work as much as
possible to inform the content, and we supplemented
this content with our own expertise on teaching and
learning in Digital Age classrooms.
Awide range of sources was used in this process.
When possible, empirical studies and theoretical
work from psychology and education were used for
generating specific facets of the skills. Sometimes this
process itself involved repeated passes through the
literature. Publications by organizations specializing
in a skill (e.g., the American Library Association’s
work on information literacy, and the National
Academy of Sciences’ work on scientific literacy),
as well as publications by experts in a field (e.g.,
Daniel Goleman’s work on emotional intelligence),
also were used to build both the profiles and the
continua. These sources typically represented field-
based expertise. Together, the three types of sources
represent “best thinking” by researchers, theorists,
and organizations about what qualities characterize
an individual possessing each of the skills. (Specific
resources used to generate each student profile are
listed at the end of each skill section.)
enGauge 21st Century Skills: Literacy in the Digital Age
14
Digital-Age Literacy
As society changes, the skills needed to negotiate the complexities of life also change. In the early 1900s, a
person who had acquired simple reading, writing, and calculating skills was considered literate. Only in recent
years has the public education system expected all students to build on those basics, developing a broader range
of literacies (International ICT Literacy Panel, 2002). To achieve success in the 21st century, students also need to
attain proficiency in science, technology, and culture, as well as gain a thorough understanding of information
in all its forms.
Digital-Age Literacy includes the following:
•Basic Literacy: Language proficiency (in English) and numeracy at levels necessary to function on the job and in
society to achieve one’s goals and to develop one’s knowledge and potential in this Digital Age.
•Scientific Literacy: Knowledge and understanding of the scientific concepts and processes required for personal
decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity.
•Economic Literacy: The ability to identify economic problems, alternatives, costs, and benefits; analyze the
incentives at work in economic situations; examine the consequences of changes in economic conditions and
public policies; collect and organize economic evidence; and weigh costs against benefits.
•Technological Literacy: Knowledge about what technology is, how it works, what purposes it can serve,
and how it can be used efficiently and effectively to achieve specific goals.
•Visual Literacy: The ability to interpret, use, appreciate, and create images and video using both conventional
and 21st century media in ways that advance thinking, decision making, communication, and learning.
•Information Literacy: The
ability to evaluate information
across a range of media;
recognize when information
is needed; locate, synthesize,
and use information effectively;
and accomplish these
functions using technology,
communication networks,
and electronic resources.
•Multicultural Literacy:
The ability to understand and
appreciate the similarities and
differences in the customs,
values, and beliefs of one’s
own culture and the cultures
of others.
•Global Awareness: The
recognition and understanding
of interrelationships among
international organizations,
nation-states, public and private
economic entities, sociocultural
groups, and individuals across
the globe.
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Academic Achievement
Academic Achievement
Academic Achievement
Academic Achievement
Digital-Age Literacy
•
Basic, Scientific, Economic,
and Technological Literacies
•
Visual and Information Literacies
•
Multicultural Literacy and
Global Awareness
Inventive Thinking
•
Adaptability, Managing
Complexity, and Self-Direction
•
Curiosity, Creativity,
and Risk Taking
•
Higher-Order Thinking and
Sound Reasoning
Effective Communication
•
Teaming, Collaboration,
and Interpersonal Skills
•
Personal, Social,
and Civic Responsibility
•
Interactive Communication
High Productivity
•
Prioritizing, Planning, and
Managing for Results
•
Effective Use of Real-World Tools
•
Ability to Produce Relevant,
High-Quality Products
21st Century Learning
Basic Literacy
Basic literacy is language proficiency (in English) and numeracy at levels of proficiency necessary to
function on the job and in society to achieve one’s goals and to develop one’s knowledge and potential in
this Digital Age.
Students Who Have
Basic Literacy Skills:
In Relation to Language Proficiency
•Meet standards for the following areas in the context
of traditional and media-based prose*, documents**,
and communication venues encountered in
everyday living:
–Reading – Writing
–Listening – Speaking
In Relation to Numeracy (Quantitative Literacy)
•Meet standards for the following areas in the
context of traditional and media-based prose*,
documents**, and communication venues
encountered in everyday living:
–Arithmetic computing
–Mathematical reasoning and problem solving
In Relation to Information and
Technological Literacy
•Meet standards for the following areas in the
context of traditional and media-based prose*,
documents**, and communication venues
encountered in everyday living:
– Recognizing when information is needed
– Locating information
– Evaluating all forms of information
– Synthesizing and using information effectively
*Prose includes (but is not limited to) literature, editorials,
newspaper articles, poems, and stories
**Documents include print and media-based artifacts, such
as job applications, bus schedules, maps, checks, tax forms,
and tables.
Digitization blurs the lines between text, voice, video,
and data. Now they’re all just packets of electronic
information across global networks. The interpretation
of such multimedia communiqués belies the question:
What constitutes basic literacy in the Digital Age?
Basic literacy—the ability to read, write, listen, and
speak—is more important than ever, and the definition
of basic literacy has changed over time to reflect that
increasing importance. In the early 1900s, basic literacy
meant the ability to write one’s name. That definition
was later expanded to mean the decoding of text,
and by the 1930s it had come to include reading
and expressing oneself through writing (Bransford
et al., 1999).
The National Literacy Act of 1991 defined literacy
as “an individual’s ability to read, write, and speak
in English, and compute and solve problems at levels
of proficiency necessary to function on the job and
in society to achieve one’s goals, and develop one’s
knowledge and potential” (National Literacy Act
of 1991, Sec. 3).
The National Assessment of Adult Literacy
measures basic adult literacy along three scales—
prose, document, and quantitative—composed of
literacy tasks that simulate the types of demands that
adults encounter in everyday life. Prose literacy tasks
include understanding and using information from
texts such as editorials, newspaper articles, poems,
and stories. Document literacy tasks include locating
and using information found in common artifacts such
as job applications, bus schedules, maps, payroll forms,
indexes, and tables. Quantitative literacy tasks include
performing arithmetic operations required as prose
and documents encountered in everyday life (e.g., bank
deposit slips, checkbooks, order forms, loan applica-
tions) (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003).
The authors of Digital Transformation, a recent report
published by the Educational Testing Service’s Center
for Global Assessment, define today’s literacy as the
ability to use “digital technology, communications tools,
and/or networks to access, manage, integrate, evaluate,
and create information in order to function in a knowl-
edge society” (International ICT Literacy Panel, 2002,
p. 2). In other words, although reading, writing, listen-
ing, and speaking are paramount, today’s students
must be able to decipher meaning and express ideas
through a range of media.
enGauge 21st Century Skills: Literacy in the Digital Age
16
Resources Used to Develop the Content for Basic Literacy
Bransford, J., Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (Eds.) (1999). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school.
Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
International Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Literacy Panel. (2002). Digital transformation:
Aframework for ICT Literacy. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Services (ETS). Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://www.ets.org/research/ictliteracy/ictreport.pdf
International Society for Technology in Education. (2000). National educational technology standards for students:
Connecting curriculum and technology. Eugene, OR: Author. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://cnets.iste.org/
students/s_book.html
National Center for Adult Literacy. (2002). Defining and measuring literacy. National Assessments of Adult Literacy
(NAAL) Web site. Retrieved February 19, 2003, from http://nces.ed.gov/naal/defining/defining.asp
National Literacy Act of 1991, Pub. L. No. 102-73, 105 Stat. 333 (1991). Retrieved February 17, 2003, from
http://novel.nifl.gov/public-law.html
21st Century Literacy Summit. (2002). 21st century literacy in a convergent media world [White paper]. Berlin,
Germany: Author. Retrieved April 14, 2003, from http://www.21stcenturyliteracy.org/white/
WhitePaperEnglish.pdf
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Scientific Literacy
Scientific literacy is knowledge and understanding of the scientific concepts and processes required for
personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity (National
Academy of Sciences, 1995).
Students Who Are
Scientifically Literate:
•Have the knowledge and understanding of scientific
concepts and processes required for participation in
a Digital Age society.
•Can ask, find, or determine answers to questions
derived from curiosity about everyday experiences.
•Have the ability to describe, explain, and predict
natural phenomena.
•Are able to read with understanding articles about
science in the popular press and to engage in social
conversation about the validity of the conclusions.
•Can identify scientific issues underlying national
and local decisions and express positions that are
scientifically and technologically informed.
•Are able to evaluate the quality of scientific informa-
tion on the basis of its source and the methods used
to generate it.
•Have the capacity to pose and evaluate arguments
based on evidence and to apply conclusions from
such arguments appropriately.
Technology and science are tightly interwoven, and
breakthroughs are occurring in both at astounding
rates. In the past decade alone, scientists have mapped
the genome, discovered how to clone animals, and sent
probes past the outer edges of the solar system—
advances that were possible only through accelerating
advances in technology.
Many of the social and political issues that have
come to the forefront in the past decade have a strong
scientific component. Issues related to reproductive
technologies, the environment, and energy, for example,
require a scientifically literate population for wise
decision making in the coming years. Yet the current
scientific literacy of the American people is a bit sus-
pect. In a survey of American adults conducted by the
National Science Foundation, less than a quarter of
the adults surveyed could define the word molecule,
and only about a third could describe what it means
to study something “scientifically” (National Science
Board & National Science Foundation, 2002).
To address this issue, prominent national groups
such as the National Research Council, the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, and the
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics have
revolutionized thinking about science and mathematics
education by setting standards that emphasize scientific
inquiry, scientific process, problem-based learning,
and the integration of science and mathematics (Linn,
Kessel, Lee, Levenson, Spitulnik, & Slotta, 2000).
These groups are calling for new approaches to science,
numeracy (quantitative literacy), and the use of mathe-
matics to investigate, explore, estimate, systematize,
and visualize phenomena across the curriculum.
Scientific literacy is important throughout students’
lives as they participate in public policy issues related
to technology; as they stay current with advances in
areas such as biotechnology, medicine, and space
exploration; and especially as they enter an increasingly
scientifically based workforce (National Academy of
Sciences, 1995).
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18
Resources Used to Develop the Content for Scientific Literacy
American Association for the Advancement of Science. (1989). Science for all Americans: Project 2061. Retrieved
April 11, 2003, from http://www.project2061.org/tools/sfaaol/sfaatoc.htm
Curtis, D. (1996). RiverWebSM: Building a program framework for watershed science education. Online presentation
for University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Education Division. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/RiverWeb/ppt/tsld001.htm
Gallagher, J. J. (1996, September). Educating teachers of science to improve scientific literacy of high school students.
Paper presented at IPN Symposium on Scientific Literacy, Hamburg, Germany. Retrieved April 11, 2003,
from http://www.ipn.uni-kiel.de/aktuell/buecher/ipn154.htm
Illinois Scientific Literacy Network. (1997). Illinois state goals for learning: Science and mathematics. Retrieved April 11,
2003, from http://www.imsa.edu/project/isln/about/State_Goals_Sci_Math.html
Larsen, T. (Ed.) (2001). Entertaining science: Aforum for the promotion of science and scientific literacy in popular culture.
Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.scientificliteracy.org/newsletter.htm
National Academy of Sciences. (1995). National science education standards. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/
National Science Board & National Science Foundation. (2002). Science and engineering indicators. Arlington,
VA: Author.
Saskatchewan Learning. (1992). Science: A curriculum guide for the secondary-level biology. Regina, Saskatchewan,
Canada: Government of Saskatchewan. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/
biology/index.html
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Economic Literacy
Economic literacy is the ability to identify economic problems, alternatives, costs, and benefits; analyze
the incentives at work in economic situations; examine the consequences of changes in economic conditions
and public policies; collect and organize economic evidence; and weigh costs against benefits.
Students Who Are
Economically Literate:
•Can evaluate costs, benefits, and the limitations of
resources, using this knowledge to make informed
choices as consumers, producers, savers, investors,
and citizens.
•Are able to evaluate different methods for allocating
goods and services by comparing the costs and
benefits of each method.
•Can identify economic incentives that affect people’s
behavior and explain how incentives affect their
own behavior.
•Understand how competition, trade barriers,
shortages and surpluses, and the interaction between
buyers and sellers can influence prices.
•Are able to describe the roles of various public and
private economic institutions, including the Federal
Reserve.
•Understand the basics of income and its distribution,
interest rates, inflation, unemployment, investment,
and risk.
•Can identify and evaluate the benefits and costs of
alternative public policies, and assess who enjoys the
benefits and who bears the costs.
•Understand the value of entrepreneurialism and
the roles of small and large businesses in the
U.S. economy.
Thanks in part to technological and communications
advances, ordinary people are wearing more economic
hats than ever before. In their roles as consumers,
producers, workers, and investors, productive citizens
need a level of economic literacy that will help them
better comprehend the world and make good decisions
for the future. Furthermore, because economic issues
play an important role in local, state, national, and
international policymaking, they frequently influence
voter choices. A better understanding of economic
issues, including the role businesses play in society,
can enable citizens to recognize the forces that affect
them every day, helping them identify and evaluate the
consequences of private decision making and public
policies. It is only when citizens are articulate and well
informed that the institutions of a democratic market
economy will function effectively (National Council
on Economic Education [NCEE], 2003).
By the time they graduate, students should have
developed a high degree of economic literacy.
According to NCEE and its corporate sponsors,
students should understand basic concepts and be
able to reason logically about key economic issues that
affect their lives as workers, consumers, and citizens.
They should know some pertinent facts about the
American economy—including its size and the current
rates of unemployment, inflation, and interest—and
they should have an understanding of what those
facts mean. Last, students should understand that
economists often hold differing views on economic
issues. This last understanding is especially important
for topics such as the appropriate size of government
in a market economy, how and when a government
should deal with unemployment and inflation, and
how and when it should promote economic growth
(NCEE, 2003).
To foster this knowledge, NCEE, in partnership
with the National Association of Economic Educators
and the Foundation for Teaching Economics (1996),
developed a list of 20 Voluntary National Content
Standards in Economics (see profile at left for eight
of these standards). The full version—developed
by a panel of economists and economic educators
and supported by business leaders—includes
rationale, benchmarks for students, samples of what
students can do to enhance or demonstrate their
understanding of economic issues, resources, and
more (see http://www.ncee.net/ea/standards/).
Another rich source of technology-based, economic
lesson materials for K–12 students and educators is
EconEdLink (http://www.econedlink.org/index.cfm),
a program of NCEE and a member of the MarcoPolo
consortium.
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20
Resources Used to Develop the Content for Economic Literacy
Foundation for Teaching Economics. (n.d.). Introducing young individuals to an economic way of thinking.
Retrieved February 19, 2003, from http://www.fte.org
Foundation for Teaching Economics. (1996). Voluntary national content standards in economics. New York:
Author. Retrieved April 21, 2003, from http://www.fte.org/teachers/nvcs/nvcs.htm
Louis Harris and Associates & National Council on Economic Education. (1999). Literacy survey: Results from
the standards in economics survey. Youngstown, OH: Author. Retrieved February 19, 2003, from
http://www.ncee.net/cel/results.html
MarcoPolo Education Foundation. (n.d.). Internet content for the classroom. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://www.marcopolo-education.org/
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Technological Literacy
Technological literacy is knowledge about what technology is, how it works, what purposes it can serve,
and how it can be used efficiently and effectively to achieve specific goals.
Students Who Are
Technologically Literate:
•Demonstrate a sound conceptual understanding
of the nature of technology systems and view
themselves as proficient users of these systems.
•Understand and model positive, ethical use of
technology in both social and personal contexts.
•Use a variety of technology tools in effective ways
to increase creative productivity.
•Use communication tools to reach out to the world
beyond the classroom and communicate ideas in
powerful ways.
•Use technology effectively to access, evaluate, process
and synthesize information from a variety of sources.
•Use technology to identify and solve complex
problems in real-world contexts.
Just 20 years ago, cell phones, laptops, pagers, and
fax machines were in the realm of scientists and
science fiction. Today, those technologies and the
Internet have gained widespread public acceptance
and use. It is clear that, in today’s Digital Age, students
must be technologically literate to live, learn, and work
successfully. The No Child Left Behind Act requires
participating states to strive for technological literacy
by all eighth graders (No Child Left Behind Act of 2001,
Part D, Sec. 2402).
Most schools acknowledge the importance of
technology to their students’ futures, but to date
few have successfully incorporated technology into
the mainstream of academic learning (Pearson &
Young, 2002, pp. 104-105). While E-Rate (federal
discounts for school infrastructure) monies have
enabled schools to make significant gains in building
the technical infrastructure required, the shifts in policy
and practice needed to ensure that all students learn
to use technology effectively have been more difficult
to achieve.
National standards and guidelines have been devel-
oped for K–12 students’ technological literacy. The
National Educational Technology Standards (NETS)
for students, developed by the International Society
for Technology in Education’s (ISTE, 2000), are widely
accepted by K–12 schools. The profile on the left
includes the six categories into which the 14 NETS
standards are classified.
In addition to the NETS standards for students, the
Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary
Skills (SCANS) report and the American Association
of School Administrators include competency in the
use of computers and other technologies as an essential
skill for students in the 21st century (SCANS, 1992;
Uchida, Cetron, & McKenzie, 1996).
These reports assert that technological literacy is an
essential component of job readiness, citizenry, and
life skills. Students must not only become competent
in the use of technology and associated applications,
they also must be able to apply their skills to practical
situations. Most experts agree that students should
develop technological skills in the context of learning
and solving problems related to academic content
(Baker & O’Neil, 2003).
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22
Resources Used to Develop the Content for Technological Literacy
Akira Toki Middle School. (n.d.). Technology education at Akira Toki Middle School in Madison, Wisconsin. Retrieved
April 11, 2003, from http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/toki/tecliter.htm
Alaska Department of Education and Early Development. (2001). Content standards for Alaska students. Retrieved
April 11, 2003, from http://www.educ.state.ak.us/ContentStandards/Technology.html
Arizona Department of Education. (2001). Academic standards and accountability. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://www.ade.state.az.us/standards/technology/default.asp
Baker, E. L., & O’Neil, H. F., Jr. (2003). Technological fluency: Needed skills for the future. In H. F. O’Neil, Jr. & R.
Perez (Eds.), Technology applications in education: A learning view. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Bugliarello, G. (n.d.) Reflections on technological literacy. Bulletin of Science, Technology, and Society. Retrieved
April 11, 2003, from http://web.poly.edu/administration/articles/reflect_on_technol_liter.cfm
Bugliarello, G. (1997, Spring). Technological literacy. The Bridge, 27(1). Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://www.nae.edu/NAE/naehome.nsf/weblinks/NAEW-4NHML6?Opendocument
Committee on Information Technology Literacy. (1999). Being fluent with information technology. Washington, DC:
National Academy Press. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.nap.edu/html/beingfluent/
Dugger, W. E. (2001). Standards for technological literacy. Phi Delta Kappan, 82(7), 513-517. Retrieved April 11, 2003,
from http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kdug0103.htm
Fanning, J. (1995). Expanding the definition of technological literacy in schools. In S. C. Berger & D. M. Wilber (Eds.),
What’s noteworthy on learners, learning, and schooling. Aurora, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and
Learning. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.mcrel.org/PDFConversion/Noteworthy/
Learners_Learning_Schooling/jimf.asp
International Society for Technology in Education. (2000). National educational technology standards for students:
Connecting curriculum and technology. Eugene, OR: Author. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://cnets.iste.org/
students/s_book.html
International Technology Education Association. (2000). Executive summary of standards for technological literacy.
Reston, VA: Author. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.iteawww.org/TAA/STLexesum.htm
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning. (n.d.). Technology standards and benchmarks. Retrieved April 11,
2003, from http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/benchmark.asp
Saskatchewan Education. (n.d.). Understanding the common essential learnings. Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada:
Government of Saskatchewan. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/policy/
cels/index.html
Trilling, B., & Hood, P. (1999). Learning, technology, and education reform in the knowledge age, or “we’re wired,
Webbed, and windowed, now what?” Educational Technology, 39(3), 5-18.
Waetjen, W. (1993). Technological literacy reconsidered. Journal of Technology Education, 4(2). Retrieved April 11, 2003,
from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/v4n2/waetjen.jte-v4n2.html
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Visual Literacy
Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, use, appreciate, and create images and video using both
conventional and 21st century media in ways that advance thinking, decision making, communication,
and learning.
Students Who Are
Visually Literate:
Have Working Knowledge of Visuals Produced
or Displayed through Electronic Media
•Understand basic elements of visual design,
technique, and media.
•Are aware of emotional, psychological, physiological,
and cognitive influences in perceptions of visuals.
•Comprehend representational, explanatory, abstract,
and symbolic images.
Apply Knowledge of Visuals in Electronic Media
•Are informed viewers, critics, and consumers of
visual information.
•Are knowledgeable designers, composers, and
producers of visual information.
•Are effective visual communicators.
•Are expressive, innovative visual thinkers and
successful problem solvers.
The graphic user interface of the World Wide Web
and the convergence of voice, video, and data into a
common digital format have increased the use of visual
imagery dramatically. Through advances such as digital
cameras, graphics packages, streaming video, and
common standards for imagery, visual imagery is now
routinely used in communication. Experts in many
fields—from architecture, to medicine, to farming—
are now using visualization tools to represent data in
ways never before possible. (For example, visuals are
used to model phenomena such as population growth,
weather and traffic patterns, and the spread of disease.)
From three-dimensional representations of data, to
geographic information systems, to representation
icons, a picture is truly worth a thousand words.
Students need good visualization skills to be able to
decipher, interpret, detect patterns, and communicate
using imagery—especially given the ease with which
digitized visuals can be manipulated.
Computer-based visualization and analysis tools
have fundamentally changed the nature of inquiry in
mathematics and science. Scientists use these powerful
modeling tools to detect patterns and understand data
using colors, time-sequenced series, three-dimensional
rotations in real-time, and graphic representation of
complex correlations (Bransford et al., 1999).
Visualization tools enable students to make their
thinking visible in all academic areas. Students are
able to build interactive models to test theories in
real time and use graphics to display results. Graphic
organizers and visual mapping tools enable students to
make sense of complex subjects by exploring linkages,
relationships, similarities, and differences between
phenomena, and visually representing interplay among
system components. The software packages Inspiration,
STELLA, and SemNet are three excellent examples of
such tools (Linn & Hsi, 2000).
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Resources Used to Develop the Content for Visual Literacy
Barry, A. (1997). Visual intelligence: Perception, image, and manipulation in visual communication. Albany, NY:
State University of New York Press.
Bransford, J., Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (Eds.). (1999). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington,
DC: National Academy Press.
Burmark, L. (2002). Visual literacy: Learn to see, see to learn. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development.
Center for Media Literacy. (n.d.). Center for Media Literacy Web site. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://www.medialit.org
Dickinson, D. (1998). Technology that enhances visual-spatial intelligence. New Horizons for Learning.
Retrieved April 21, 2003, from http://www.america-tomorrow.com/ati/mi4.htm
Dondis, D. A. (1970). Aprimer of visual literacy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Hoffman, D. D. (1998). Visual intelligence: How we create what we see. New York: W. W. Norton.
Hyerle, D. (1996). Visual tools for constructing knowledge. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development.
Hyerle, D. (2000). Afield guide to using visual tools. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.ascd.org/readingroom/books/hyerle00book.html
Innovative Learning Group. (n.d.). Thinking maps. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.thinkingmaps.com/
International Visual Literacy Association. (n.d.). International Visual Literacy Association Web Site. Retrieved
April 11, 2003, from http://www.ivla.org/index.htm
Iowa State University. (n.d.). Brain-based visual education. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~design/ART/NAB/bbased.html
Lester, P. M. (1988). Faking images in photojournalism.Media Development, 1, 41-42. Retrieved April 11, 2003,
from http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/lester/writings/faking.html
Linn, M. C., & Hsi, S. (2000). Computers, teachers, peers: Science learning partners. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Media Awareness Network. (n.d.). Media Awareness Network Web site. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/index.cfm
Messaris, P. (1994). Visual “literacy”: Image, mind, and reality. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Pomona College. (n.d.). The online visual literacy project. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://www.pomona.edu/Academics/courserelated/classprojects/Visual-lit/intro/intro.html
Tufte, E. R. (1983). The visual display of quantitative information. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.
Tufte, E. R. (1990). Envisioning information. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.
Tufte, E. R. (1997). Visual explanations: Images and quantities, evidence and narrative. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.
Wilde, J. (1991). Visual literacy. New York: Watson-Guptill.
Williams, R. (1994). Non-designer’s design book. New York: Peachpit Press.
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Information Literacy
Information literacy is the ability to evaluate information across a range of media; recognize when
information is needed; locate, synthesize, and use information effectively; and accomplish these functions
using technology, communication networks, and electronic resources.
Students Who Are
Information Literate:
Before Accessing Information
•Determine what is known and what is needed for
problem solving.
•Identify different sources of information, including
text, people, video, audio, and databases.
•Prioritize sources based on credibility and relevance.
When Accessing Information
•Identify and retrieve relevant information from
sources; use technology to enhance searching.
•Revise information-gathering strategies that prove
to be ineffective.
•Understand how information retrieved does or does
not address original problem.
•Evaluate information in terms of credibility and
social, economic, political, legal, and ethical issues
that may impact it; use technology to facilitate
evaluation.
After Information Is Extracted
•Use retrieved information to accomplish a
specific purpose.
•Present information clearly and persuasively using
a range of technology tools and media.
•Evaluate the processes and products of these
activities, including resulting social consequences.
In their publication Information Power: Building
Partnerships for Learning, the American Association
of School Librarians and the Association for
Educational Communications and Technology
(1998) called information literacy “a keystone of
lifelong learning” (p. 1). The publication also
lists 12 key standards under three umbrella areas:
information literacy, independent learning, and social
responsibility. Information literacy includes accessing
information efficiently and effectively, evaluating it
critically and competently, and using it accurately
and creatively.
Accessing information has become increasingly
important as databases previously accessible only to
library media specialists are now available to students
directly. Browsing, searching, and navigating online
have become essential skills for all students, as has
recognition of the limitations of digital archives. (Some
things remain unavailable electronically.) Familiarity
with natural inquiry, Boolean search strategies, and
organizational systems (cataloging, abstracting,
indexing, rating) is extremely important as students
locate information from sources across the globe
(Brem & Boyes, 2000).
The digitizing of resources raises new issues of analysis
and evaluation. The International ICT Literacy Panel
(2002) asks us to consider a student who is asked to
prepare a presentation based on information from
the Web. That student can access vast quantities of
information without a lot of understanding, because
search engines make accessing information so simple.
But the panel cautions:
Using search engines well requires an increased
skill level. Evaluating and synthesizing information
found in a variety of sources requires even more
advanced skills, representing a literacy that is
far beyond what is needed in a more constrained
environment, such as with textbooks where all the
information is contained within one source. In effect,
because technology makes the simple tasks easier, it
places a greater burden on higher-level skills (p. 6).
Ultimately, students need to understand the interrela-
tionships between library collections, proprietary
databases, and other Internet documents to ensure
appropriate, effective searching and accurate evaluation
of sources. Furthermore, as students access electronic
resources, it is critical that they recognize the impor-
tance of honoring the intellectual property of others
by strictly adhering to copyright and fair-use laws.
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Resources Used to Develop the Content for Information Literacy
American Library Association Presidential Committee on Information Literacy. (1989). Final report. Chicago:
American Library Association. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.infolit.org/documents/89Report.htm
Association of College and Research Libraries. (2000). Information literacy competency standards for higher education.
Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Our_Association/Divisions/
ACRL/Standards_and_Guidelines/Information_Literacy_Competency_Standards_for_Higher_Education.htm
Eisenber, M. B., & Berkowitz, R. E. (n.d.). Big 6 skills overview. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.big6.com/
showcategory.php?cid=6
Brem, S. K., & Boyes, A. J. (2000). Using critical thinking to conduct effective searches of online resources. Practical
Assessment, Research, and Evaluation, 7(7). Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://ericae.net/pare/
getvn.asp?v=7&n=7
Ercegovac, Z. (1998). Information literacy: Search strategies, tools, and resources. Los Angeles: InfoEN.
Hancock, V. E. (1993). Information literacy for lifelong learning. ERIC Digest. College Park, MD: ERIC Clearinghouse
on Assessment and Evaluation. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED358870). Retrieved April 11, 2003,
from http://ericae.net/edo/ED358870.htm
Hertzberg, S. (1999). The quality of researchers’ searches of the ERIC database. Education Policy Analysis Archives,
7(25). Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://olam.ed.asu.edu/epaa/v7n25.html
Hubbard, S. (1987). Information skills for an information society: Areview of research. ERIC Digest. College Park,
MD: ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED327216).
Retrieved April 11, 2003 from http://ericae.net/edo/ED327216.htm
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Multicultural Literacy
Multicultural literacy is the ability to understand and appreciate the similarities and differences in the
customs, values, and beliefs of one’s own culture and the cultures of others.
Students Who Are
Multiculturally Literate:
Value Diversity
•Are aware of how cultural beliefs, values, and
sensibilities affect the way they and others think
and behave.
•Appreciate and accept similarities and differences in
beliefs, appearances, and lifestyles.
•Understand how technology impacts culture.
Exhibit an Informed Sensitivity
•Know the history of both mainstream and
nonmainstream American cultures.
•Can take the perspectives of other cultural groups.
•Are sensitive to issues of bias, racism, prejudice,
and stereotyping.
Actively Engage with/in Other Cultures
•Are bilingual/multilingual or are working toward
becoming bilingual/multilingual.
•Communicate, interact, and work with individuals
from other cultural groups, using technology where
appropriate.
•Are familiar with cultural norms of technology
environments and are able to interact successfully
in such environments.
Within the virtual worlds of e-mail, chat rooms,
virtual classrooms, and even multiplayer gaming
environments, individuals from cultures and societies
are interacting with a frequency that was unimaginable
even a decade ago. As e-commerce, e-communication,
and advances in transportation bring the people of the
world closer together, it is increasingly important for
students to understand and appreciate diversity and
other cultures.
In order to work cooperatively with individuals from
vastly different backgrounds, students must have
opportunities to learn about, appreciate, and under-
stand the beliefs and values that drive them. These
qualities must reflect a notion of multicultural literacy
that is broader than it has been in the past. First, it must
be sensitive to the many subcultures that exist within
the larger American society. Second, it must include
newly developing technological cultures such as virtual
workspaces and chat-room environments. Third, it
must recognize the evolutionary nature of culture and
the impact that technology has—and will continue to
have—on cultures worldwide (Banks et al., 2001).
Every student should have the opportunity to interact
cross-culturally in meaningful ways. Such interaction
might include, for example, communicating via e-mail
or videoconference with peers in other countries to
enhance language proficiency; participating in an
shared environmental science project; or sharing
viewpoints on international events via moderated,
online exchanges. Whether across town or across the
globe, the learning that takes place from both formal
and informal dialogues can serve as a bridge to open-
ness and appreciation of diversity and other cultures.
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Resources Used to Develop the Content for Multicultural Literacy
Anicich, M., & Kirk, R. (1999, March). Cultural awareness education in early childhood education. Paper presented at the
54th annual conference of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, San Francisco. (ERIC
Document Reproduction Service No. ED433928)
Arvizu, S., & Saravia-Shore, M. (1990). Cross-cultural literacy: An anthropological approach to dealing with
diversity. Education and Urban Society, 22(4), 364-376.
Banks, J. A., Cookson, P., Gay, G., Hawley, W., Irvine, J. J., Nieto, et al. (2001). Diversity within unity: Essential principles
for teaching and learning in a multicultural society. Seattle, WA: University of Seattle. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://www.educ.washington.edu/COEWebSite/programs/ci/publications/dwu.htm
Beaupre, B. (2000, November). Blending cultural, academic, and technological communication: Literacy for the new
millennium. Research in Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED441234)
Brandt, R. (1994). On educating for diversity: A conversation with James A. Banks. Educational Leadership,
51(8), 28-31.
Burnette, J. (1999). Critical behaviors and strategies for teaching culturally diverse students. ERIC Digest.
New York: ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service
No. ED435147)
Gay, G. (1994). Asynthesis of scholarship in multicultural education. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/leadrshp/le0gay.htm
Gura, M. (1994). The human mosaic project. Educational Leadership, 51(8), 40-1.
Hirsch, E. D., Kett, J. F., & Trefil, J. S. (1987). Cultural literacy: What every American needs to know. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
Janzen, R. (1994). Melting pot or mosaic? Educational Leadership, 51(8), 9-11.
Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). What we can learn from multicultural education research. Educational Leadership,
51(8), 22-26.
Parkinson, W., & Saunders, S. (1999, September). Cultural literacy and languages: Enabling students to learn to
live together. Paper presented at the 30th World Congress of the International Society for Education through
Art (InSEA), Brisbane, Australia. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED449058)
Petropoulou, Z. (1992, March). Cross-cultural awareness in teaching business French courses in an academic environment:
Problems and difficulties. Paper presented at the 11th Annual Eastern Michigan University Conference on
Languages and Communication for World Business and the Professions, Ypsilanti, MI. (ERIC Document
Reproduction Service No. ED357599)
Stigler, J. W., Gallimore, R., & Hiebert, J. (2000). Using video surveys to compare classrooms and teaching across
cultures: Examples and lessons from the TIMSS Video Studies. Educational Psychologist, 35(2), 87.
Taylor, P. (1999, October). Cultural literacy: Are practically average knowledge levels enough? Paper presented at the
annual meeting of the American Educational Studies Association, Detroit, MI. (ERIC Document Reproduction
Service No. ED448148).
Uchida, D., Cetron, M., & McKenzie, F. (1996, July/August). What students must know to succeed in the 21st
Century. The Futurist, 30(4), 27-34. Retrieved February 19, 2003, from http://www.grossmont.net/musgrave2/
teach/students.htm
Van Ausdell, B. W. (1994). Books offer entry into understanding cultures. Educational Leadership,51(8), 32-5.
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Global Awareness
Global awareness is the recognition and understanding of interrelationships among international
organizations, nation-states, public and private economic entities, sociocultural groups, and individuals
across the globe.
Students Who Are
Globally Aware:
•Are knowledgeable about the connectedness of
the nations of the world historically, politically,
economically, technologically, socially, linguistically,
and ecologically.
•Understand that these interconnections can have both
positive benefits and negative consequences.
•Understand the role of the United States in interna-
tional policies and international relations.
•Are able to recognize, analyze, and evaluate major
trends in global relations and the interconnections
of these trends with both their local and national
communities.
•Understand how national cultural differences impact
the interpretation of events at the global level.
•Understand the impact of ideology and culture
on national decisions about access to and use
of technology.
•Participate in the global society by staying current
with international news and by participating in the
democratic process.
In The Lexus and the Olive Tree, author Thomas Friedman
(1999) says that globalization has replaced the Cold
War in defining international relationships. Access to
telecommunications and technology has caused shifts in
power from nation-states to multinational corporations,
public and private economic entities, sociocultural
groups, and even individuals.
Today, international commerce accounts for nearly
a quarter of the American economy. Athird of U.S.
economic growth and a quarter of new job creations
are due to exports (Foreign Policy Association, 2000).
But as U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (1998)
reminds us: “Unless the basic principles of equity
and liberty are defended in the political arena and
advanced as critical conditions for economic growth,”
the rewards reaped from a global economy will be
limited. Indeed, informed citizens worldwide are
beginning to articulate wider principles, policies,
and politics of global awareness.
As recent events have demonstrated, the need to
maintain a broad and accurate perspective on global
trends and events has never been more pressing. As
virtually every decision in our society—political, social,
ecological, and technological—has a rippling effect
on our world, participation in a democratic decision-
making process requires a level of sophisticated
understanding and analysis for which our current
educational system may leave students unprepared.
Communications technology, of course, is a tremen-
dously important component of global awareness.
According to John Naisbitt (1994),
With the activities of the world being replayed
for us in our living rooms each night, none of us
can feign ignorance about affronts to society’s
ethical standards. We have all become our brother’s
keepers—at least in this sense. Communications tech-
nology has empowered individuals and communities
through instant access to information of all kinds.
Responsibility comes with that access. Are we up
to the task? (p. 193)
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Resources Used to Develop the Content for Global Awareness
Anderson, S., Cavanagh, J., Lee, L., & Ehrenreich, B. (2000). Field guide to the global economy. New York: New Press.
Annan, K. (1998). The laureate 1998: Commemorative lecture. Retrieved April 14, 2003, from
http://www.seoulpeaceprize.or.kr/english/prize_speech_02.shtml
Castells, M. l. (1996). The rise of the network society. Oxford, England: Blackwell.
Czarra, F. R. (2002-03). Global education checklist for teachers, schools, school systems, and state education agencies
(Occasional Paper from the American Forum for Global Education, 173). New York: American Forum for
Global Education. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.globaled.org/issues/
Drucker, P. (2001, November 3). The next society. The Economist (Special Supplement), 3-20.
Economist. (2001). Pocket world in figures (2001 ed.) London, England: Profile Books.
Foreign Policy Association. (2000). Citizen’s guide to U.S. foreign policy: Election 2000. New York: Author. Retrieved
April 14, 2003, from http://www.fpa.org/topics_info2414/topics_info_show.htm?doc_id=38476
Friedman, T. L. (1999). The lexus and the olive tree: Understanding globalization. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
Naisbitt, J. (1994). Global paradox. New York: Avon Books.
Sassen, S. (1988). The mobility of labour and capital. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
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Inventive Thinking
Experts agree: As technology becomes more prevalent in our everyday lives, cognitive skills become increasingly
critical. “In effect, because technology makes the simple tasks easier, it places a greater burden on higher-level skills”
(International ICT Literacy Panel, 2002, p. 6). The Committee on Workforce Needs in Information Technology (2001)
defines intellectual capabilities as “one’s ability to apply information technology in complex and sustained situations
and to understand the consequences of doing so” (p. 18). These capabilities are “life skills” formulated in the context
of Digital Age technologies.
Inventive Thinking is comprised of the following “life skills”:
•Adaptability and Managing Complexity: The ability to modify one’s thinking, attitude, or behavior to be
better suited to current or future environments; and the ability to handle multiple goals, tasks, and inputs, while
understanding and adhering to constraints of time, resources, and systems (e.g., organizational, technological).
•Self-Direction: The ability to set goals related to learning, plan for the achievement of those goals, independently
manage time and effort, and independently assess the quality of learning and any products that result from the
learning experience.
•Curiosity: The desire to know or the spark of interest that leads to inquiry.
•Creativity: The act of bringing something into existence that is genuinely new and original, whether personally
(original only to the individual) or culturally (where the work adds significantly to a domain of culture as
recognized by experts).
•Risk Taking: The willingness to make mistakes, advocate unconventional or unpopular positions, or tackle
extremely challenging problems without obvious solutions, such that one’s personal growth, integrity, or
accomplishments are enhanced.
•Higher-Order Thinking
and Sound Reasoning: The
cognitive processes of analysis,
comparison, inference and
interpretation, evaluation, and
synthesis applied to a range
of academic domains and
problem-solving contexts.
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Academic Achievement
Academic Achievement
Academic Achievement
Academic Achievement
Digital-Age Literacy
•
Basic, Scientific, Economic,
and Technological Literacies
•
Visual and Information Literacies
•
Multicultural Literacy and
Global Awareness
Inventive Thinking
•
Adaptability, Managing
Complexity, and Self-Direction
•
Curiosity, Creativity,
and Risk Taking
•
Higher-Order Thinking and
Sound Reasoning
Effective Communication
•
Teaming, Collaboration,
and Interpersonal Skills
•
Personal, Social,
and Civic Responsibility
•
Interactive Communication
High Productivity
•
Prioritizing, Planning, and
Managing for Results
•
Effective Use of Real-World Tools
•
Ability to Produce Relevant,
High-Quality Products
21st Century Learning
Adaptability and Managing Complexity
Adaptability and managing complexity is the ability to modify one’s thinking, attitudes, or behaviors to be
better suited to current or future environments; and the ability to handle multiple goals, tasks, and inputs while
understanding and adhering to constraints of time, resources, and systems (e.g., organizational, technological).
Students Who Are
Adaptable and Able to
Manage Complexity:
When Dealing With Change
•Are positive about change and recognize the gains
that might result from it.
•Adapt to change quickly and calmly, without
idealizing earlier methods and ideas.
When Faced with Complex Problems or
Multiple Goals
•Think about problems from multiple perspectives;
understand they can be solved using different
strategies and can involve more than one solution.
•Anticipate contingencies and handle them
with confidence.
•Look for and correct problems as they occur; abandon
strategies that prove to be ineffective.
•Manage multiple goals and set subgoals in service of
larger ones; stay focused under pressure; and keep
sight of “the big picture.”
•Use self-management strategies to:
– Allocate time and resources.
– Remain organized.
– Be accountable for meeting goals.
•Strive towards goals despite obstacles.
•Understand the components of relevant systems.
•Reflect on lessons learned from past behaviors, and
use these insights to help plan future endeavors.
The Digital Age is inherently complex. In the past,
multitasking was called for periodically. In this era of
accelerating change, however, multitasking often is a
requirement.
Many of today’s students have grown up multitasking.
They listen to CDs and MP3s on earphones while com-
pleting homework and interacting in online chat rooms.
Such complexity requires individuals to plan, think,
design, and manage in new ways—taking into account
contingencies, anticipating changes, and understanding
interdependencies within systems (Goleman, 1998;
Committee on Information Technology Literacy &
National Research Council. 1999). In doing so, resource
management (time, space, materials) is increasingly
required to execute a plan successfully. Any such
approach often will result in components of a system
interacting in complex, unexpected ways. As projects
are executed, it is important to trace interdependencies
among information systems to look for, understand,
and monitor cause and effect (Committee on
Information Technology Literacy & National Research
Council, 1999).
As a variety of solutions become apparent, their
attendant trade-offs, advantages, and disadvantages
must be examined to determine differing levels of
appropriateness. Although the complexity of issues
in today’s global economy is self-evident, how this
complexity is to be managed is not as obvious.
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Resources Used to Develop the Content for Adaptability and Managing Complexity
Arizona Department of Education. (1997). Arizona standards: Workplace skills standards. Retrieved April 11, 2003,
from http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/emc300/azstandards/wprationale.htm
Dunbar, K. (1998). Problem solving. In W. Bechtel, & G. Graham (Eds.), Acompanion to cognitive science.
London, England: Blackwell.
Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books.
Johnson, S. (1998). Who moved my cheese? New York: G. P. Putnam.
Liedtke, W. W. (1998, May). Teacher-centered projects: Confidence, risk taking, and flexible thinking (mathematics).
Paper presented at Connections ’98, the Fourth University of Victoria Faculty of Education Research Conference,
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.educ.uvic.ca/connections/
Conn98/contents98.html
O’Neil, H. F., Chung, G. K., & Brown, R. S. (1995). Measurement of teamwork processes using computer simulation
(CSE Technical Report 399). Los Angeles: National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student
Testing. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.cresst.org/Reports/TECH399.pdf
Pulakos, E. D., Arad, S., Donovan, M. A., & Plamondon, K. E. (1999, June). Adaptability in the workplace:
Development of taxonomy of adaptive performance. Paper presented at 23rd Annual International Personnel
Management–Assessment Council (IPMAC) Conference on Professional Personnel Assessment, St. Petersberg, FL.
Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.ipmaac.org/conf99/pulakos.pdf
Usuki, M. (2000). Promoting learner autonomy: Learning from the Japanese language learners’ perspectives. (ERIC
Document Reproduction Service No. ED450588)
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Self-Direction
Self-direction is the ability to set goals related to learning, plan for the achievement of those goals,
independently manage time and effort, and independently assess the quality of learning and any products
that result from the learning experience.
Students Who Are
Self-Directed:
In the Planning Phase
• Set goals.
• Plan strategically.
• Believe in their abilities.
During Learning Activities
• Work to reach goals.
• Develop interest in their work.
• Focus and maintain their attention.
• Constantly teach themselves.
• Monitor their own performance.
• Seek help when needed.
Upon Completion
• Evaluate their work.
• Understand that hard work and perseverance
breed success.
• Have positive self-images of themselves as learners.
• Use what they have learned to adapt to new
situations.
Because change occurs constantly in our information-
rich society, self-directed, continuous learning is no
longer seen as an option for successful workers in
the Digital Age (Chao, 2001). According to the U.S.
Department of Labor (SCANS, 1992), today’s workers
are participating in more out-of-school learning to
improve their job skills than at any time in the past,
and they must continue to do so. The complexity
of today’s workplace makes competence with new
literacies and new skills imperative.
Technology can serve as a causal agent in this process;
the rate of technological change drives the rate of
workplace change. The self-directed learner who can
anticipate these changes and is constantly upgrading
his or her skill set is extremely valuable in the 21st
century (BJK Associates, 2002; CEO Forum, 2001).
Conversely, those who lack the ability to learn and
adapt will find themselves in jeopardy in the modern
workplace.
In addition to contributing to the need for lifelong
learning, technology also can provide support for
learners in ways that were unrealistic 10 years ago.
Access to knowledge resources, opportunities for
collaboration, online courses, and just-in-time learning
environments have caused an exponential growth in
the resources that are available to support self-directed
learning. For the learner who has internalized the
processes that support self-directed learning, this
profusion of resources makes learning more readily
available today than at any time in history.
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Resources Used to Develop the Content for Self-Direction
Bandura, A. (2001). Guide for constructing self-efficacy scales. Unpublished manuscript.
Covey, S. (1990). The seven habits of highly effective people. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Deci, E., & Ryan, R. (n.d.). Self-determination theory: The self-regulation questionnaires. Retrieved April 11, 2003,
from http://psych.rochester.edu/SDT/measures/selfreg.html
Graham, S., Harris, K., & Troia, G. (1998). Writing and self-regulation: A case. In D. Schunk & B. Zimmerman,
Self-regulated learning: From teaching practice to self-reflective practice. New York: Guilford Press.
Harris, K., Graham, S., & Schmidt, T. (n.d.). Every child can write: Strategies for composition and self-regulation in the
writing process. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/writing/harris_writing.html
Hogan, K., & Pressley, M. (Eds.) (1997). Scaffolding student learning: Instructional approaches and issues. Cambridge,
MA: Brookline Books.
Keirns, J. (1998). Designs for self-instruction. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Meichenbaum, D., & Biemiller, A. (1998). Nurturing independent learners. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.
Newmann, F. (1996). Authentic achievement: Restructuring schools for intellectual quality. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Newmann, F. M., Bryk, A. S., & Nagaoka, J. K. (2001). Authentic intellectual work and standardized tests: Conflict or
coexistence? Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.consortium-chicago.org/publications/p0a02.html
Schunk, D., & Zimmerman, B. (1998). Self-regulated learning: From teaching to self-reflective practice. New York:
Guilford Press.
U.S. Department of Labor. (1999). Futurework: Trends and challenges for work in the 21st century. Retrieved April 13,
2003, from http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2000/summer/art04.htm
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Curiosity
Curiosity is the desire to know or the spark of interest that leads to inquiry.
Students Who Are Curious:
Display Personal Characteristics
• React positively to novel elements in the environment
and often seek new experiences.
• Are more tolerant of ambiguity and less anxious
in uncertain situations than students who are
not curious.
• Explore novel elements in the environment by
moving toward, manipulating, or asking questions
about those elements.
• Persist in examining new elements in order to know
more about them.
Approach Learning in Unique Ways
• Often learn more than is required.
• Are more likely to look for patterns or engage in
hypothesis testing.
• Stumble upon topics that prompt spontaneous
inquiry.
• Make an active attempt to learn about and keep
abreast of novel ideas and current events.
• Are intrinsically rather than extrinsically motivated
to learn.
Curiosity has never been more important than in
this Digital Age of entrepreneurship, innovation,
and accelerated change. During the Industrial Age,
students and workers were expected to follow explicit
orders and procedures. Today, knowledge workers are
expected to adjust and adapt to changing environments
(Cline, 1997; Pearson & Young, 2002). To do so, they
must maintain their curiosity and drive, thereby staying
current and informed (BJK Associates, 2002). Curiosity
fuels lifelong learning as it contributes to the quality of
life and to the intellectual capital of the country.
Just as business and industry have redefined the
types of workers they need, the science of learning
is beginning to unlock the secrets of how people
learn. Researchers such as Bransford et al. (1999) now
understand how the thinking of the expert differs
from that of the novice, enabling educators to develop
learning strategies that teach students to become expert
learners. In fact, the very structure of the brain can be
changed through intellectual pursuits. Bransford et al.
(1999) explain that there is “a relationship between the
amount of experience in a complex environment and
the amount of structural change” in the brain (p. 113).
In other words, learning organizes and reorganizes
the brain. But just being in such environments is not
enough. Students who are curious about the world
around them have the intrinsic motivation to seek out
answers to perplexing, complex questions. Today that
propensity to maintain a high level of curiosity is truly
an attribute.
Curiosity can fuel lifelong learning as it contributes
to quality of life and to the intellectual capital of
the country.
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Resources Used to Develop the Content for Curiosity
Bradbard, M. R., & Endsley, R. C. (1980). How can teachers develop young children’s curiosity? What current
research says to teachers. Young Children, 35(5), 21-32.
Bransford, J., Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (Eds.) (1999). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington,
DC: National Academy Press.
Cline, W. (1997). Trade and income distribution. Washington, DC: Institute for International Economics.
Day, H. (1968). Role of specific curiosity in school achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology,59(1), 37-43.
Day, R. I., & Langevin. (1968). Two necessary conditions for creativity. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service
No. 026673)
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1982). Curiosity and self-directed learning: The role of motivation in education. In L. Katz,
Current Topics in Early Childhood Education, 4. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Hawkins, V. J. (1982). Curiosity: A prerequisite for the attainment of formal operations? Education, 103(1), 100-102.
Loewenstein, G. (1994). The psychology of curiosity: A review and reinterpretation. Psychological Bulletin,
116(1), 75-98.
Maw, W. H., & Magoon, A. J. (1971). The curiosity dimension of fifth-grade children: A factorial discriminant
analysis. Child Development, 42, 2023-2031.
Orbach, E. (1979). Simulation games and motivation for learning: A theoretical framework. Simulation and Games,
10(1), 3-40.
Pearson, G., & Young, A. T. (Eds.), (2002). Technically speaking: Why all Americans need to know more about technology.
Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Peterson, R. W. (1979). Changes in curiosity behavior from childhood to adolescence. Journal of Research in Science
Teaching, 16(3), 185-192.
Small, R. V., & Samijo. (1997, February). How information affects intrinsic motivation: Two exploratory pilot studies.
Proceedings of selected research and development presentations at the 1997 National Convention of the
Association for Educational Communications and Technology, Albuquerque, NM. (ERIC Document
Reproduction Service No. ED409872)
Torrance, P. E. (1969). Curiosity of gifted children and performance on timed and untimed tests of creativity.
Gifted Child Quarterly,13(3).
39
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Creativity
Creativity is the act of bringing something into existence that is genuinely new, original, and of value
either personally (of significance only to the individual or organization) or culturally (adds significantly to
a domain of culture as recognized by experts).
Students Who Are
Personally Creative:
Exhibit Innovation and Risk Taking
• Produce original, unique, and cogent ideas, phrases,
and products.
• Exhibit expertise in at least one domain.
• Take risks and excel despite mistakes.
Are Intrinsically Motivated
• Exhibit curiosity, inquisitiveness, wonder,
and excitement.
• Are flexible and adaptable.
• Become immersed in challenging learning for
intrinsic reasons.
• Tolerate ambiguity well and respond with
spontaneity and ingenuity.
Exhibit Complex Personalities
These students are often:
• Energetic, yet able to quietly contemplate ideas.
• Divergent thinkers, yet able to think convergently
at appropriate times.
• Playful, yet disciplined and able to persevere.
• Imaginative, yet rooted in reality.
• Extroverted, yet able to be introspective.
• Passionate and committed to learning, yet analytical
and objective.
• Driven and aggressive, yet sensitive.
• Rebellious, yet able to operate within traditions.
Caveat: Although a student may be personally creative,
that is no guarantee that the student will be able to be creative
within a group or organization. Creativity within a group
requires a learning environment that promotes creativity
within strong teaming and collaboration. Creativity within an
organization requires a learning environment that promotes
and encourages creativity among individuals as valued
members of the organization (Williams & Yang, 1999).
Creativity is defined here at two important levels:
that which is culturally significant, and that which is
personally or organizationally significant. Both hold
great value.
Human social, emotional, and intellectual development
has been driven by creativity. Perhaps more than any
other human quality, creativity has left permanent and
lasting marks on cultures worldwide—and it is at the
very heart of the knowledge-based age. According
to the Progressive Policy Institute (2002), “The New
Economy is all about economic dynamism…and is
epitomized by fast-growing, entrepreneurial companies,
one of its hallmarks. The ability of firms to innovate…is
becoming a more important determinant of competitive
advantage” (p. 1). President George W. Bush (2002)
believes “the strength of our economy is built on the
creativity and entrepreneurship of our people” (p. 1).
Many individuals and teams of individuals have
creatively influenced our culture through emerging
technologies (e.g., breakthroughs such as the silicon
chip, laser surgery, and the Internet). The literature
confirms that such cultural creativity requires not only
originality and a deep understanding of a given field
but also widespread societal acceptance of the cultural
breakthrough or invention in order to be considered
creative (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996; Weisberg, 1999).
Today, the creative individual potentially has more to
offer—and gain—from society, than ever before. Our
knowledge-based age has shifted power from those
who own raw physical materials to those who have
intellectual capacity—the capacity to create and
produce knowledge. At an economic level, creative,
knowledge-producing individuals and organizations
are highly likely to be economically solvent. At a
personal level, the lives of persons who are personally
creative can be richer, more interesting and, possibly,
more fulfilled (Collins & Amabile, 1999; Nickerson,
1999). In addition, technology has provided individuals
and communities with the time to spend in creative
pursuits, resulting in extraordinary extensions and
expansion of domains as well as the establishment of
new ones such as biotechnology (Csikszentmihalyi,
1996). To that end, the current federal administration is
aggressively promoting innovation and entrepreneur-
ship—encouraging creativity in the worlds of science,
business, and industry.
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Resources Used to Develop the Content for Creativity
Abdulezer, S. (2001). The state of the arts: Curating the digital classroom. Converge Magazine, 4(6).
Albert, R. S., & Runco, M. A. (1999). Ahistory of research on creativity. In R. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of creativity
(pp. 16-31). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Bush, G. W. (2002, May 6). A proclamation. Small Business Week. Retrieved April 13, 2003, from
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/05/20020506-2.html
Collins, M. A., & Amabile, T. M. (1999). Motivation and creativity. In R. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of creativity
(pp. 297-312). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York: HarperCollins.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1999). Implications of a systems perspective for the study of creativity. In R. Sternberg (Ed.),
Handbook of creativity (pp. 312-335). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Dyson, E. (1998). Release 2.1: A design for living in the digital age. New York: Broadway Books.
International Society for Technology in Education. (2000). National educational technology standards for students:
Connecting curriculum and technology. Eugene, OR: Author.
Miele, F. (1995). Skeptic magazine interview with Robert Sternberg on The Bell Curve.Skeptic, 3(3), 72-80. Retrieved
April 11, 2003, from http://www.skeptic.com/03.3.fm-sternberg-interview.html
Nickerson, R. S. (1999). Enhancing creativity. In R. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of creativity (pp. 392-430). Cambridge,
MA: Cambridge University Press.
Plucker, J. A., & Renzulli, J. S. (1999). Psychometric approaches to the study of human creativity. In R. Sternberg
(Ed.), Handbook of creativity (pp. 35-61). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Progressive Policy Institute. (2002). The 2002 state new economy index. Washington, DC: Author.
Retrieved April 13, 2003, from http://www.neweconomyindex.org/states/2002/index.html
Secretary’s Commission on Achieving the Necessary Skills, U.S. Department of Labor. (1992). Learning a living:
Ablueprint for high performance. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies. Retrieved
April 11, 2003, from http://wdr.doleta.gov/SCANS/lal/LAL.HTM
Sternberg, R. J. (Ed.). (1999). Handbook of creativity. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Sternberg, R. J., & Lubart, T. I. (1991). Creating creative minds. Phi Delta Kappan, 72(8), 608-614.
Weisberg, R. W. (1999). Creativity and knowledge: A challenge to theories. In R. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of creativity
(pp. 226-250). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Williams, M., & Yang, L. T. (1999). Organizational creativity. In R. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of creativity
(pp. 373- 391). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
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Risk Taking
Risk taking is the willingness to make mistakes, advocate unconventional or unpopular positions,
or tackle extremely challenging problems without obvious solutions, such that one’s personal growth,
integrity, or accomplishments are enhanced.
Students Who Are
Risk Takers:
• Are willing to tackle challenging tasks, even when
success is uncertain.
• Choose tasks involving reasonable or intermediate
risk rather than excessive risk.
• Share and advocate ideas they believe in, even when
those ideas are unconventional.
• Are willing to hold their work or thinking up
to critical appraisal and amend thinking when
successfully challenged.
• Are willing to be incorrect and willingly take on tasks
that might result in errors.
The very nature of learning requires risk taking.
Asmall child would never learn to walk, talk, or
socially interact without taking risks, experiencing
successes and failures, and then monitoring and
adjusting accordingly.
Quantum leaps in learning, solving problems,
inventing new products, and discovering new
phenomena require risk taking. Risk taking within the
learning environment requires a willingness to think
deeply about a subject or problem, share that thinking
with others to hear their perspectives, listen to their
critiques, and then build on those experiences toward
a solution or solutions (Dweck, 2000; Weiner, 1994).
Too often, students are engaged in learning activities
that focus on the ‘right answers.’ Instead, students
should be encouraged to engage in discussions about
numerous approaches—and potential solutions—to a
problem (Brophy, 1998; Vispoel & Austin, 1995).
In order to take risks that lead to intellectual growth,
students must be in environments that they perceive to
be safe—places in which to share ideas, reflect on and
discuss perspectives, and learn new things. Research
shows that students learn more when they are engaged
in intellectually stimulating assignments where they
engage in meaningful, intellectually stimulating work
in which they construct knowledge (Newmann, 1996;
Newmann et al., 2001). This research applies to all
students regardless of socioeconomic status or prior
academic achievement.
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Resources Used to Develop the Content for Risk Taking
Atkins, W. J., Leder, G. C., O’Halloran, P. J., Pollard, G. H., & Taylor, P. (1991). Measuring risk taking.
Educational Studies in Mathematics, 22, 297-308.
Atkinson, J. W. (1957). Motivational determinants of risk-taking behavior. Psychological Review, 64(6), 359-372.
Brophy, J. (1998). Failure syndrome students. ERIC Digest. Champaign, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and
Early Childhood Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED419625)
Clifford, M., Chou, F. C., Mao, K., Lan, W. Y., & Kuo, S. (1990). Academic risk taking, development, and external
constraint. Journal of Experimental Education, 59(1), 45-64.
Dweck, C. (2000). Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Philadelphia: Psychology Press.
Newmann, F. (1996). Authentic achievement: Restructuring schools for intellectual quality. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Newmann, F. M., Bryk, A. S., & Nagaoka, J. K. (2001). Authentic intellectual work and standardized tests: Conflict or
coexistence? Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.consortium-chicago.org/publications/p0a02.html
Stipek, D., Recchia, S., & McClintic, S. (1992). Self-evaluation in young children. Monographs of the Society for
Research in Child Development, 57(1).
Vispoel, W. P., & Austin, J. R. (1995). Success and failure in junior high school: A critical incident approach to
understanding students’ attributional beliefs. American Educational Research Journal, 32(2), 377-412.
Weiner, B. (1994). Integrating social and personal theories of achievement striving. Review of Educational Research,
64(4), 557-573.
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Higher-Order Thinking and Sound Reasoning
Higher-order thinking and sound reasoning includes the cognitive processes of analysis, comparison,
inference and interpretation, evaluation, and synthesis applied to a range of academic domains and
problem-solving contexts.
Students Who Are
Higher-Order Thinkers
and Sound Reasoners:
• Identify the essential elements in a problem as well as
the interaction between those elements; use electronic
tools to facilitate analysis.
• Assign relative values to essential elements of a
problem and use those values to rank elements in
meaningful ways; assess similarities and differences
in problems and their elements.
• Construct relationships between the essential
elements of a problem that provide insight into it;
extract implications and conclusions from facts,
premises, or data.
• Create and apply criteria to gauge the strengths,
limitations, and value of information, data, and
solutions in productive ways.
• Build new solutions through novel combinations
of existing information.
For decades, researchers have been calling for
higher-order thinking and sound reasoning in K–12
curricula. The 1991 SCANS report included thinking
skills in the foundation competencies necessary for
solid job performance. In this report, the authors define
thinking skills as “thinking creatively, making decisions,
solving problems, seeing things in the mind’s eye,
knowing how to learn, and reasoning” (SCANS, 1991,
p. 13). The International Society for Technology in
Education (2000), in its release of the National
Education Technology Standards (NETS) for students,
included critical thinking, informed decision-making,
and real-world problem solving through technology.
The National Research Council’s Committee on
Information Technology Literacy (1999) included
“intellectual capabilities” as being critical to technologi-
cal fluency, citing “engagement in sustained reasoning”
and “expecting the unexpected” as two of the 10 key
elements that enable students to plan, design, execute,
and evaluate a solution. All of these are critical aspects
of higher-order thinking and sound reasoning
Higher-order thinking in the context of a fast-paced,
knowledge-based society requires both divergent
and convergent thinking. Divergent thinking uses
the creativity to play “what if,” establishing multiple
scenarios and ideas to consider as hypotheses.
Convergent thinking enables students to use
sound reasoning and common sense to analyze
those possibilities to select the hypothesis with
the most potential based on a set of criteria for
expected outcomes.
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Resources Used to Develop the Content for Higher-Order Thinking and Sound Reasoning
Anderson, L. M. (1999). Rethinking Bloom’s taxonomy: Implications for testing and assessment. (ERIC Document
Reproduction Service No. ED435630)
Educational Testing Service. (1993). Learning by doing: A manual for teaching and assessing higher-order thinking in
science and mathematics. Princeton, NJ: Author.
Ennis, R. H. (1985). A logical basis for measuring critical thinking skills. Educational Leadership, 43(2), 44-48.
Ennis, R. H. (1992). Assessing higher order thinking for accountability. In J. W. Keefe & J. H. Walberg (Eds.),
Teaching for thinking (pp. 73-91). Reston, VA: National Association of Secondary School Principals.
Quellmalz, E. S. (1985). Needed: Better methods for testing higher-order thinking skills. Educational Leadership,
43(2), 29-35.
Schlechty, P. C. (1997). Inventing better schools: An action plan for educational change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
45
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Academic Achievement
Academic Achievement
Academic Achievement
Academic Achievement
Digital-Age Literacy
•
Basic, Scientific, Economic,
and Technological Literacies
•
Visual and Information Literacies
•
Multicultural Literacy and
Global Awareness
Inventive Thinking
•
Adaptability, Managing
Complexity, and Self-Direction
•
Curiosity, Creativity,
and Risk Taking
•
Higher-Order Thinking and
Sound Reasoning
Effective Communication
•
Teaming, Collaboration,
and Interpersonal Skills
•
Personal, Social,
and Civic Responsibility
•
Interactive Communication
High Productivity
•
Prioritizing, Planning, and
Managing for Results
•
Effective Use of Real-World Tools
•
Ability to Produce Relevant,
High-Quality Products
21st Century Learning
Effective Communication
According to the 21st Century Literacy Summit (2002), “Information and communications technologies are
raising the bar on the competencies needed to succeed in the 21st century” (p. 4). Both researchers and the business
community agree: Effective communication skills are essential for success in today’s knowledge-based society. The
1991 SCANS report, for example, lists the following as necessary for success in this area: participating in a team,
teaching others new skills, serving clients and customers, exercising leadership, negotiating, and working with
diverse groups of people (SCANS, 1991, p. 81). Information technology can play a facilitative role in effective
communication, but emerging technologies also can present ethical dilemmas. As information and communication
technologies become more pervasive in society, citizens will need to manage the impact on their social, personal,
professional, and civic lives.
Effective Communication involves:
• Teaming and Collaboration: Cooperative interaction between two or more individuals working together to solve
problems, create novel products, or learn and master content.
• Interpersonal Skills: The ability to read and manage the emotions, motivations, and behaviors of oneself
and others during social interactions or in a social-interactive context.
• Personal Responsibility: Depth and currency of knowledge about legal and ethical issues related to technology,
combined with one’s ability to apply this knowledge to achieve balance, integrity, and quality of life as a citizen,
a family and community member, a learner, and a worker.
• Social and Civic Responsibility:
The ability to manage
technology and govern its
use in a way that promotes
public good and protects
society, the environment,
and democratic ideals.
• Interactive Communication:
The generation of meaning
through exchanges using a
range of contemporary tools,
transmissions, and processes.
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Teaming and Collaboration
Teaming and collaboration means cooperative interaction between two or more individuals working
together to solve problems, create novel products, or learn and master content.
Students Who Are
Adept at Teaming
and Collaboration:
Personally
• Are willing and able to take on different roles and
tasks within the group to accomplish shared ends.
• Are open and honest with ideas, concerns, and values.
• Are leaders as well as followers.
• Apply collaborative skills to a variety of situations.
• Reflect on group interactions after collaborative
activities; use experiences to make future
collaboration more productive.
Interpersonally
• Commit to a shared goal and accept responsibility
for group work toward that goal.
• Work to match tasks to team member abilities,
expanding team membership when necessary.
• Share personal understandings and resources with
other group members.
• Listen respectfully and objectively; offer constructive
feedback.
• Iteratively design and redesign solutions through
honest debate, disagreement, discussion, research,
and development.
Why collaborate and team? Because cooperative
interaction is essential for survival in today’s fast-paced,
complex world.
Increasing levels of complexity require expertise
in highly specialized fields. Time itself has become
a commodity, and the net result is a flattening of
organizational structures—the transfer of high-stakes
decision making from high-level executives into the
hands of workers on the front lines.
The adage “the whole is greater than the sum of the
parts” has never been more true than when applied to a
highly functional team operating within the complexity
of today’s world—whether in the fields of education,
medicine, transportation, finance, politics, or any other.
Despite the high stakes, teaming and collaboration
are not well understood—in the classroom or in the
boardroom. Simply tasking people to work together
does not constitute teaming and may not result in
collaboration. Highly effective teams have four key
elements: (1) a compelling, shared goal or goals;
(2) team members with unique competencies that will
contribute to successful outcomes; (3) members that
operate within a formal structure, with defined roles
that facilitate collective/collaborative work; and (4)
mutual respect, tolerance, and trust (Schrage, 1989).
Successful collaboration and teaming begins with
collective energy and a shared drive among team
members to accomplish a shared goal (Schrage, 1989).
To help ensure a team’s success, organizations—
including schools—must pose problems that inspire
collaboration and teaming and then create the work-
place or classroom norms that both facilitate and
reward such work.
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Resources Used to Develop the Content for Teaming and Collaboration
Davis, B. D., & Miller, T. R. (1996). Job preparation for the 21st century: A group project learning model to teach
basic workplace skills. Journal of Education for Business, 72(2), 69-73.
Denton, H. G. (1990). The role of teamwork in technology education: Observations from an action research program.
Journal of Technology Education, 1(2).
Gokhale, A. A. (1995). Collaborative learning enhances critical thinking. Journal of Technology Education, 7(1).
Howard, S. A. (1999). Guiding collaborative teamwork in the classroom. Effective Teaching, 3(1). Retrieved April 11,
2003, from http://cte.uncwil.edu/et/articles.htm
Johnson, D., & Johnson, R. (1989). Cooperation and competition: Theory and research. Edina, MN: Interaction
Book Company.
Johnson, R. T., & David, W. (n.d.). An overview of cooperative learning. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://www.clcrc.com/pages/overviewpaper.html
Peterson, K. (1995). Building a committed team. Pathways to School Improvement. Retrieved April 11, 2003,
from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/leadrshp/le200.htm
Peterson, K. (1995). Skills, knowledge, and capacities for effective teamwork. Pathways to School Improvement.
Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/leadrshp/le2skill.htm
Peterson, K. (1995). Teams have many advantages. Pathways to School Improvement. Retrieved April 11, 2003,
from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/leadrshp/le2advan.htm
Schrage, M. (1989). No more teams! Mastering the dynamics of creative collaboration. New York: Currency/Doubleday.
University of Virginia Teaching Resource Center. (1992). Using groups effectively: Teaching concerns. Retrieved April 11,
2003, from http://trc.virginia.edu/tc/Cooperative.htm
Webb, N. (1994). Group collaboration in assessment: Competing objectives, processes, and outcomes (CRESST Report 386).
Los Angeles: National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing.
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Interpersonal Skills
Interpersonal skills include the ability to read and manage the emotions, motivations, and behaviors of
oneself and others during social interactions or in a social-interactive context.
Students Who Have
Interpersonal Skills:
• Are aware of and able to manage their own emotions,
strengths, and limits during both face-to-face and
virtual interactions.
• Are able to manage their behavior during
social interactions.
• Are able to align their goals to the goals of others
during collaborative activities.
• Understand and positively manage the emotions of
others in both face-to-face and virtual environments;
empathize with others; are sensitive to the needs of
others and to the forces that shape the way that others
feel and behave; enhance the strengths and abilities
of others.
• Manage conflict effectively by devising win-win
solutions; constructively influence the behavior of
others; use effective communication and persuasive
strategies; listen well.
Many have wondered how it happens that persons
with high IQs don’t always land the top jobs. The
answer often lies in interpersonal skills. In fact,
emotional intelligence—the capacity to manage
emotions well—is twice as important to success in
the workplace as IQ and expertise (Goleman, 1998).
The teamwork necessitated by the complexity of
today’s workplace has placed increased importance
on a worker’s interpersonal skills. Such teaming often
brings together individuals from diverse groups who
may not share common norms, values, or vocabularies
but who do offer unique expertise, insights, and
perspectives.
Interpersonal skills in the Digital Age are somewhat
more complex than they have been in the past. E-mail,
voice mail, audioconferencing and videoconferencing,
and the myriad of other technologies that enable
individuals to communicate with each other not only
increase the ways in which individuals can interact
but also require a heightened sensitivity to the nuances
of interpersonal interactions. This idea is particularly
true in the worlds of virtual learning and virtual
communication, where one cannot yet use hand
gestures, facial expressions, or body language to
fully express ideas. The challenge to students is to
perfect interpersonal skills not only in face-to-face
interactions but in virtual interactions as well.
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Resources Used to Develop the Content for Interpersonal Skills
Billikopf, G. (1994). Conflict management skills. Labor management in agriculture: Cultivating personnel productivity.
Berkeley, CA: Regents of the University of California Agricultural Issues Center. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/ucce50/ag-labor/7labor/13.htm
Cherniss, C. (2000, April 15). Emotional intelligence: What it is and why it matters. Paper presented at the annual
meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, New Orleans, LA. Retrieved April 11, 2003,
from http://www.eiconsortium.org/research/what_is_emotional_intelligence.htm
Finegan, J. (1998, November). Measuring emotional intelligence: Where we are today. Paper presented at the annual
meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.
Finley, D., Pettinger, A., Rutherford, T., & Timmes, V. (2000). Developing emotional intelligence in a multiage classroom.
(ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 442 571)
Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books.
Jones, K., & Day, J. D. (1996). Cognitive similarities between academically and socially gifted students.
Roeper Review, 18(4), 270-273.
Mayer, J. D., Caruso, D. R., & Salovey, P. (1999). Emotional intelligence meets traditional standards for an
intelligence. Intelligence, 27(4), 267-298.
Murray, B. (1998). Does “emotional intelligence” matter in the workplace? APA Monitor, 29(7). Retrieved April 11,
2003, from http://www.apa.org/monitor/jul98/emot.html
Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills. (1991). What work requires of schools. Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of Labor. Retrieved April 14, 2003, from http://wdr.doleta.gov/SCANS/whatwork/whatwork.html
Young, C. (1996). Emotions and emotional intelligence. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://trochim.human.cornell.edu/gallery/young/emotion.htm
51
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Personal Responsibility
Personal responsibility is the ability of an individual to manage and use technology to achieve balance,
integrity, and quality of life as a citizen, a family and community member, a learner, and a worker.
Students Who Are
Personally Responsible:
• Acknowledge that access to technology is a privilege,
not a right, and as such warrants adherence to
protocols and ethics.
• Practice responsible use of technology systems,
information, and technology.
• Understand the global implications of personal
actions within the World Wide Web system.
• Set, prioritize, and meet personal as well as civic,
family, and work-related goals; maintain a focus on
important goals in spite of obstacles.
• Balance personal, civic, family, and work demands.
Emerging technologies present individuals with
challenges, opportunities—and yes, temptations—like
never before. Once the exclusive domain of industry,
electronic data is now at our fingertips and on our
desktops in the form of digital music, digital video,
digital text, digital images, statistics, and business and
personal correspondence.
An important component of personal responsibility
with electronic media and information is staying
current with emergent laws, policy, and practice in
this realm (Willard, 2001). The International Society
for Technology in Education (2000) defines standards
for such decision making in the following areas: (1) the
understanding of the ethical and societal issues related
to technology; and (2) the practice of responsible use
of technology systems, information, and software.
Technology can drive values; for that reason, ethics and
values must be developed to guide the application of
science and technology in society (Uchida et al., 1996).
Afurther challenge that has arisen as a result of the
availability of new communications technology and
new levels of global competition is the maintenance of
balance between one’s professional and personal lives.
E-mail, cell phones, and wireless networks have created
a level of personal access that, while convenient, also
can become intrusive. Although overall hours worked
in the United States have declined slightly in the last
25 years, the proportion of those people working more
than 49 hours per week has spiked. This proportion
approaches 60 percent in higher income brackets
(Rones, Gardner, & Ilg, 1997). As a result, the ability
to establish priorities that place civic and family
responsibilities in a proper perspective may be a key
skill in the 21st century.
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Resources Used to Develop the Content for Personal Responsibility
Arizona Department of Education. (2001). Technology education standards: Academic standards and accountability.
Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.ade.state.az.us/standards/technology/default.asp
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of self-control. New York: W. H. Freeman.
Elias, M. J., Tobias, S. E., Friedlander, B. S., & Chopra, G. (2000). Raising emotionally intelligent teenagers: Parenting
with love, laughter, and limits. New York: Harmony Books.
Elliott, E., & Dweck, C. (1988). Goals: An approach to motivation and achievement. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 54, 5-12.
Huitt, W. (1997, April 18). The SCANS report revisited. Paper delivered at the Fifth Annual Gulf South Business
and Vocational Education Conference, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/
Kesar, S., & Rogerson, S. (1998). Developing ethical practices to minimize computer misuse. Social Science
Computer Review, 16(3), 240-251.
International Society for Technology in Education. (2000). National educational technology standards for students:
Connecting curriculum and technology. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://cnets.iste.org/students/s_book.html
Madison Metropolitan School District. (2001). Technology standards: Technology and learning. Retrieved April 11, 2003,
from http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/tnl/tech/techlearn/techstandards.htm
National Association of Secondary School Principals. (2001). Easing transitions with social-emotional learning.
Principal Leadership. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.nassp.org/news/pl_soc_emo_lrng_301.htm
New York City Board of Education. (n.d.). Performance standards for applied learning. Retrieved April 11, 2003,
from http://www.nycenet.edu/dis/standards/applied/
North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. (n.d.). Indicator: Social, ethical, and legal issues. Retrieved
April 11, 2003, from http://www.ncrel.org/engauge/framewk/pro/issues/proissra.htm
Pajares, F. (1996). Self-efficacy beliefs in academic settings. Review of Educational Research, 66(4), 543-578.
Percy, B., & Leight, M. (2001). Side by side. Converge Magazine. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://www.convergemag.com/magazine/story.phtml?id=3030000000002918.0
Rones, P., Gardner, J., & Ilg. (1997). Trends in hours of work since the mid-1970s. Monthly Labor Review, 120(4).
Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1997/04/art1exc.htm
Schunk, D. (1991). Self-efficacy and academic motivation. Educational Psychologist, 26(3 & 4), 207-231.
Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills. (1991). What work requires of schools. Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of Labor. Retrieved April 14, 2003 from http://wdr.doleta.gov/SCANS/whatwork/whatwork.html
Stewart, M. (2000). The classroom, board room, chat room, and court room: School computers at the crossroads.
School Business Affairs, 66(9), 23-28.
Willard, N. E. (2002). Computer ethics, etiquette, & safety for the 21st century student. Eugene, OR: International Society
for Technology in Education.
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Social and Civic Responsibility
Social and civic responsibility is the ability to manage technology and govern its use in a way that
promotes public good and protects society, the environment, and democratic ideals.
Students Who Are
Socially and Civically
Responsible:
• Recognize the importance of citizens’ access to and
use of information in a democratic society.
• Pursue technology-related public policy that
promotes ethical behavior, maintains personal
privacy, and protects intellectual property as it
recognizes and manages the inherent risks and
ethical dilemmas raised by innovation.
• Actively engage in public discourse and raise
public awareness on ethical issues raised by new,
emerging technologies.
• Promote positive technological changes that advance
the public good.
Given today’s rapid rate of change, technological
advances often precede public agreement on the
social and civic implications of those advances.
People require significant time to discover and evaluate
emerging technologies, discarding some and adopting
others. In a democratic society, all citizens have a right
to access and use information, but they also have a
responsibility to use it in ethical ways, weighing such
issues as privacy versus security, freedom of electronic
speech versus intellectual property, and the impact
of particular technologies on current and future
generations.
The relative infancy of the World Wide Web is one
example of our open window of opportunity for
shaping socially and civically responsible norms of
technology use. Agreement on what such norms
should consist of requires public discourse by informed
citizens. Schools, therefore, share a responsibility for
ensuring that students have a deep understanding
of technology, the historical impact of technology on
society, and the roles of individuals and democratic
institutions in shaping and maintaining responsible
uses of technology.
Besides being socially and civically responsible as
individuals, children also need to understand their
role in shaping public policy. One policy action
aimed at social responsibility is the Children’s Internet
Protection Act of 2000, which requires all schools and
libraries given federal funds for connectivity to use
filters that block objectionable materials (Miscellaneous
Appropriations Act, 2001). While the need for Internet
safety is generally agreed upon, this method of
achieving such safety remains controversial.
Truly informed action can come only from
knowledgeable, insightful, and shared reflections
on practices, policies, and public law. Berson (1996)
writes that schools should “promote the development
of competent citizens who possess the critical thinking
skills necessary to function in a democratic society”
(p. 486). Likewise, the National Council for the Social
Studies (2002) identifies “citizenship education” as a
primary purpose of K–12 education. Even the current
No Child Left Behind legislation suggests it is necessary
for our education system to “improve the quality of
civics and government education,” as well as to “foster
civic competence and responsibility” (No Child Left
Behind Act, Sec. 2342).
In short, students must learn to be informed and
active in public policy debates that arise out of
technological change.
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Resources Used to Develop the Content for Social and Civic Responsibility
American Association of School Librarians. (1999). Information literacy: A position paper on information problem solving.
Chicago: Author.
Berson, M. J. (1996). Effectiveness of computer technology in social studies: Areview of the literature. Journal of
Research on Computing in Education, 28(4), 486-98.
Committee on Information Technology Literacy & National Research Council. (1999). Being fluent with information
technology. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Retrieved April 14, 2003, from http://www.nap.edu/html/
beingfluent/.
Debuono, B. A. (April 29, 1998). Quote of the day. New York Times, p. A2. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://query.nytimes.com/search/full-page?res=9505E4DC173EF93AA15757C0A96E958260
International Technology Education Association. (2000). Standards for technological literacy: Content for the study
of technology. Reston, VA: Author. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.iteawww.org/TAA/PDFs/
xstnd.pdf.
National Council for the Social Studies. (2002). Avision of powerful teaching and learning in the social studies: Building
social understanding and civic efficacy. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://databank.ncss.org/article.php?story=20020402115147994
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Pub. L. No. 107-110, 115 Stat. 1425 (2002). Retrieved April 15, 2003, from
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/ESEA02/pg31.html
21st Century Literacy Summit. (2002). 21st century literacy in a convergent media world [White paper]. Berlin, Germany:
Author. Retrieved April 14, 2003 from http://www.21stcenturyliteracy.org/white/WhitePaperEnglish.pdf
Web-Based Inquiry Science Environment. (n.d.). Standards and learning goals for genetically modified foods in perspective
project. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://wise.berkeley.edu/
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Interactive Communication
Interactive communication is the generation of meaning through exchanges using a range of
contemporary tools, transmissions, and processes.
Students Who Are
Interactive Communicators:
When Selecting Modes of Interaction
• Consider features, conventions, and etiquette of
interactive electronic environments.
• Choose media and processes appropriate to purpose
and audience.
• Seek out and interact with virtual communities of
interest (formal and informal learning).
During Interaction
• Use a range of expression (such as voice, video, text,
and image) to maximize the impact of a medium or
online environment.
• In synchronous modes, are comfortable with
immediacy of interaction, engaging in appropriate
give-and-take, and effectively interpreting and
providing emotional cues to enhance electronic
communications.
• Manage high-volume electronic communication
efficiently and effectively.
• Listen well, seek mutual understanding, welcome
full sharing of information, and consider others’
views before commenting.
• Exhibit personally responsible behavior, especially in
situations of anonymity.
Electronic media create new venues for communication.
These new venues change with whom, how, and
when communication occurs. They give voice to those
formerly silent and breaks the monopolies of those
previously in exclusive control. Astartling example
of these shifts occurred in 1989 at Tiananmen Square,
when the government’s media repression was thwarted
by the electronic communications of individuals with
pagers, cell phones, and ham radios.
In today’s wired, networked society, it is imperative
that students learn to communicate effectively using
a range of media, technology, and environments.
This includes both asynchronous and synchronous
communication, such as person-to-person e-mail
correspondence, electronic mailing lists, group interac-
tions in virtual learning spaces, chat rooms, MOOs,
MUDs, interactive videoconferencing, phone or audio
communications, and interactions through simulations
and models. Several of these require knowledge of
etiquette unique to their particular environment.
While technology does not alter the fundamental
principles of high-quality, interactive communication,
it does add new dimensions for enhanced communica-
tion through the use of expressive digital visuals,
online learning environments, chat rooms, threaded
discussions, and e-mail. Expertise in the use of these
new interactive communication conventions is as
essential to students as expertise with phones was a
decade ago (Rushkoff, 1999; Tapscott, 1998).
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Resources Used to Develop the Content for Interactive Communication
Dyson, E. (1998). Release 2.1: Adesign for living in the digital age. New York: Broadway Books.
Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books.
Kamp, D. (1999). The 21st century manager: Future-focused skills for the next millennium. Dover, NH: Kogan Page.
Negroponte, N. (1996). Being digital. New York: Vintage Books.
Rifkin, J. (2000). Age of access. New York: J. P. Tarcher.
Rushkoff, D. (1996). Media virus. New York: Ballantine Books.
Rushkoff, D. (1999). Playing the future. New York: Riverhead Books.
Senge, P. (Ed.). (2000). Schools that learn. New York: Doubleday.
Tapscott, D. (1997). Growing up digital: The rise of the net generation. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. (2001). Essential academic learning requirements.
Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.k12.wa.us/curriculuminstruct/ealrs.asp
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Academic Achievement
Academic Achievement
Academic Achievement
Academic Achievement
Digital-Age Literacy
•
Basic, Scientific, Economic,
and Technological Literacies
•
Visual and Information Literacies
•
Multicultural Literacy and
Global Awareness
Inventive Thinking
•
Adaptability, Managing
Complexity, and Self-Direction
•
Curiosity, Creativity,
and Risk Taking
•
Higher-Order Thinking and
Sound Reasoning
Effective Communication
•
Teaming, Collaboration,
and Interpersonal Skills
•
Personal, Social,
and Civic Responsibility
•
Interactive Communication
High Productivity
•
Prioritizing, Planning, and
Managing for Results
•
Effective Use of Real-World Tools
•
Ability to Produce Relevant,
High-Quality Products
21st Century Learning
High Productivity
According to leading researchers, caution should be exercised when attempting to link high-stakes testing and high
standards to the creation of a productive workforce (Levin, 2001). Levin’s studies in the 1990s led him to conclude
that how well students do on current tests in no way correlates to how productive they will be in the workforce.
High productivity currently is not a high-stakes focus of schools, yet the skills involved in this cluster
often determine whether a person succeeds or fails in the workforce:
• Prioritizing, Planning, and Managing for Results: The ability to organize to efficiently achieve the goals of
a specific project or problem.
• Effective Use of Real-World Tools: The ability to use real-world tools—the hardware, software, networking,
and peripheral devices used by information technology (IT) workers to accomplish 21st century work—to
communicate, collaborate, solve problems, and accomplish tasks.
• Ability to Produce Relevant, High-Quality Products: The ability to produce intellectual, informational,
or material products that serve authentic purposes and occur as a result of students using real-world tools to
solve or communicate about real-world problems. These products include persuasive communications in any
media (print, video, the Web, verbal presentation), synthesis of resources into more useable forms (databases,
graphics, simulations), or refinement of questions that build upon what is known to advance one’s own and
others’ understanding.
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Prioritizing, Planning, and Managing for Results
Prioritizing, planning, and managing for results involves the ability to organize to achieve the goals
of a specific project or problem efficiently and effectively.
Students Who Prioritize,
Plan, and Manage for Results:
• Are able to frame meaningful questions that provide
clear direction to planning processes.
• Spend a considerable amount of “up-front” time
reflecting on these questions and developing a
specific plan that is likely to lead to a solution.
• Anticipate obstacles and plan accordingly, sustaining
interest and effort in the face of complexity.
• Exhibit positive leadership traits; cause others to act
in accordance with a plan.
• Utilize time and resources efficiently and effectively.
• Monitor progress effectively throughout the
implementation of the plan.
• Self-evaluate.
The level of complexity often present in today’s society
requires workers—and students—to carefully plan and
manage their work and to anticipate contingencies. In
addition, it requires concentration on the main goals of
a project—an ability to keep an eye on the outcomes so
as to guide and align all facets of the project toward
those goals.
Although this work was the responsibility of managers
in the Industrial Age, it is now a basic requirement for
the typical knowledge worker of the 21st century.
The 1991 SCANS report supports this concept by
including “systems” as one of its five competencies.
In that report, systems are defined as the understanding
of complex interrelationships and the ability to monitor
and correct performance. The 1991 SCANS report
also includes a fifth competency—“technology”—that
emphasizes the selection and application of technology
to ensure desired results. In the “personal qualities”
section of the foundation, SCANS lists self-management
as a desired and necessary trait (SCANS, 1991).
In a recent summary of research on project-based
learning, the lack of ability to create and systematically
carry out systematic plans to address complex
questions was identified as one of the key obstacles
to successful implementation (Thomas, 2000). Explicit
instruction in planning processes; scaffolds that support
planning; and significant opportunities to prioritize,
plan, and manage in the course of learning will be
needed to build these skills in all students.
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Resources Used to Develop the Content for Prioritizing,
Planning, and Managing for Results
Huitt, W. (1997, April 18). The SCANS report revisited. Paper delivered at the Fifth Annual Gulf South Business and
Vocational Education Conference, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA.
Rohn, J. (2001, September 25). Jim Rohn’s weekly e-zine, No. 101. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://www.jimrohn.com/ps.dll?s=jimrohn&a=&b=1343951&p=0&@ses_ID=1560
0414125269&@msg_2779900_415178521=1&@obj_ ID=124987
Thomas, J. (2000). Executive summary. Areview of research on project-based learning. San Rafael, CA: Autodesk
Foundation. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.k12reform.org/foundation/pbl/research/
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Effective Use of Real-World Tools
Effective use of real-world tools (e.g., the hardware, software, networking, and peripheral devices used
by information technology workers to accomplish 21st century work) is using these tools to communicate,
collaborate, solve problems, and accomplish tasks.
Students Who Effectively
Use Real-World Tools:
• Understand the value of tools for a particular field
and are comfortable using these tools.
• Enhance their learning about content areas through
both general technology tools and those specific to
a field of study.
• Use the real-world tools of field practitioners as a
bridge between the theory and practice.
• Document their resultant products and, when
appropriate, write technical manuals to guide use
and possibly continued development of the work
by others.
Bill Gates’ 12th rule for “business at the speed of
thought” is to “use digital tools to help customers
solve problems for themselves” (Gates, 1999, p. 82).
This idea is dependent on ubiquitous, networked
communication.
According to the standard for “technology productivity
tools” of the International Society for Technology in
Education (2000), choosing appropriate tools for the
task and applying them to real-world situations in
ways that add significant value results in increased
collaboration, promotion of creativity, construction of
models, and the preparation of publications and other
creative works.
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Resources Used to Develop the Content for Effective Use of Real-World Tools
International Society for Technology in Education. (2000). National educational technology standards for students:
Connecting curriculum and technology. Eugene, OR: Author. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://cnets.iste.org/
students/s_book.html
National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies. (n.d.). National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies
Web Site. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.nwcet.org/
Online Internet Institute. (2002). Online Internet Institute Web site. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://oii.org/index.html
Serim, F. (2001). From computers to community: Unlocking the potential of the wired classroom. New York: Centrinity.
Thurow, L. (1999). Building wealth: The new rules for individuals, companies, and nations. The Atlantic Monthly,
283(6), 57-69. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/99jun/9906thurow.htm
21st Century Workforce Commission. (2000). Anation of opportunity: Strategies for building tomorrow’s 21st century
workforce. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor.
63
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Ability to Produce Relevant, High-Quality Products
The ability to produce relevant, high-quality products relates to intellectual, informational,
or material products that serve authentic purposes and result from student use of real-world tools to
solve or communicate about real-world problems.
Students Who Generate Relevant,
High-Quality Products:
• Ensure that content is accurate, balanced, carefully
researched, and well-documented (application of
information literacy).
• Strategically use a variety of media (text, video,
audio) and technology tools to add value to their
products.
• Skillfully integrate and apply technological,
information, and visual literacies to generate
“knowledge products.”
• Create “knowledge products” that have significance
beyond the classroom walls.
• Understand both the utility of the products created
and the way they meet the needs or demands of the
original problem.
• Have internal standards for high-quality products,
and routinely use these standards to test and evaluate
products and the processes that led to them.
Research by Newmann (1996) suggests that students
who engage in intellectually stimulating work learn
more. Newmann’s three criteria include knowledge
construction, disciplined inquiry, and value beyond
the school. Effective use of real-world tools can advance
each of these criteria to bring excitement, motivation,
and real-world value to the study of the academics.
Such work can provide a bridge between the theoreti-
cal, conceptual study of academics and the application
of theory into practice in the field.
Under the heading “technology problem-solving
and decision-making tools,” the International Society
for Technology in Education (2000) includes the use
of technology for making informed decisions and
for problem solving in the real world. Likewise,
the National Research Council’s Committee on
Information Technology Literacy (1999) identified a
tripartite approach to being fluent with technology—
a combination of capabilities, concepts, and skills. This
combination is critical, for without the practical aspect
of the skills, the capabilities and concepts would remain
abstract, unable to exert influence the real world.
Researchers are finding learning benefits for students
who build authentic products involving the creation
of meaningful products (Newmann et al., 2001). Such
experiences can provide students with deep insights
into whatever domain of knowledge they pursue and
whatever tools they use.
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Resources Used to Develop the Content for
Ability to Produce Relevant, High-Quality Products
Committee on Information Technology Literacy & National Research Council. (1999). Being fluent with information
technology. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://www.nap.edu/html/beingfluent
International Society for Technology in Education. (2000). National educational technology standards for students:
Connecting curriculum and technology. Eugene, OR: Author. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://cnets.iste.org/
students/s_book.html
Newmann, F. (1996). Authentic achievement: Restructuring schools for intellectual quality. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Newmann, F. M., Bryk, A. S., & Nagaoka, J. K. (2001). Authentic intellectual work and standardized tests: Conflict or
coexistence. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.consortium-chicago.org/publications/p0a02.html
North Central Regional Technology in Educational Consortium, Porter, B., & Education Technology Planners. (2000).
Scoring guide for student products. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.ncrtec.org/tl/sgsp/index.html
National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies. (2001). National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies
Web site. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.nwcet.org/
Online Internet Institute. (2001). Online Internet Institute Web site. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from
http://oii.org/index.html
Schlechty, P. (1997). Inventing better schools: An action plan for educational reform. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Serim, F. (2001). From computers to community: Unlocking the potential of the wired classroom. New York: Centrinity.
Thurow, L. (1999). Building wealth: The new rules for individuals, companies, and nations. The Atlantic Monthly,
283(6), 57-69. Retrieved April 11, 2003, from http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/99jun/9906thurow.htm
21st Century Workforce Commission. (2000). Anation of opportunity: Strategies for building tomorrow’s 21st century
workforce. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor.
65
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Glimpses Into 21st Century Classrooms
The programs highlighted on the following pages tell the stories of real students who are developing
21st century skills in the context of rigorous, content-based, academic study. Learn how these teachers are
engaging their students in authentic, intellectually stimulating and challenging work that motivates them to work
hard, collaborate in meaningful ways, build a variety of skills, and conduct research to accomplish their goals.
Each of the four examples addresses multiple 21st century skills:
Grades 1–2 Grades 4–12 Grades 9–12 Grades 9–12
Kristi Rennebohm WISE Science Geometry in Electric Soup
Franz’s Classroom the Real World
Digital-Age Literacy
• Basic Literacy X* X
• Scientific Literacy X* X
• Economic Literacy XX
• Technological Literacy XXXX
• Visual Literacy XX
• Information Literacy XX
• Multicultural Literacy X
• Global Awareness X*
Inventive Thinking
• Adaptability and
Managing Complexity XX
• Self-Direction XXX*
• Curiosity XX
• Creativity X* X
• Risk Taking XXXX*
• Higher-Order Thinking
and Sound Reasoning X* X
Effective Communication
• Teaming and Collaboration XXX*
• Interpersonal Skills XXX
• Personal Responsibility X
• Social and Civic
Responsibility XX
• Interactive Communication X* X X X
High Productivity
• Prioritizing, Planning,
and Managing for Results X* X X
• Effective Use of Real-World Tools XXX*
• Ability to Produce Relevant,
High-Quality Products X*
*Indicates a primary 21st century skill addressed by this project.
As you peruse the classroom stories, note how naturally these teachers have
incorporated the 21st century skills into their student learning activities. 67
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Kristi Rennebohm Franz’s Primary Classroom
Printed with permission from Dr. Rennebohm Franz, Sunnyside Elementary, Pullman, WA
Level: Primary, Grades 1–2
Content Areas: Reading, Writing, and Social Studies
Article: (enGauge)
Web site: www.psd267.wednet.edu/~kfranz/index.htm
When Jane McLane first mentioned her upcoming sabbatical to bicycle around the world to Kristi Rennebohm
Franz, a fellow teacher at Sunnyside Elementary in Pullman, Washington, she never dreamed she’d end up with
25 virtual companions. But somehow she did—Kristi’s first and second graders! By carrying a digital camera and a
small computer, Jane was able to communicate on a daily basis with Kristi and her students. Along the way, Kristi’s
students leaned to write, read, and communicate as they interacted with Jane about world languages, cultures,
geography, art, time zones, and architecture.
The 6- and 7-year-olds in Kristi’s class are energized by these kinds of learning activities. While technology takes up
only a minor part of their day, it adds tremendous value to their learning. Kristi is a master teacher and a technology
risk-taker. She likes—and builds upon—her children’s energy levels, suggesting that “the tempo learning at this
age matches the current tempo of technology.” She respects her children’s ingenuity, intelligence, and curiosity, and
uses technology in ways that extend and enrich their learning.
In 1993, she started using the Internet by reading and writing simple text e-mail messages with local to global
I*EARN students and teachers. Today, she and her students have added Web site publishing, videotape production,
and live video conferencing—all focused on exploring curricular topics. Kristi discovered early in this journey that
by having children share their classroom curricular experiences through local to global telecommunications,
their learning took on energy and inquiry beyond what she had ever imagined. The classroom became a place of
“turbocharged” teaching and learning due to being connected to the real-world experiences of others who shared
a passion for learning.
Using e-mail, Web sites, video, and video conferencing, Kristi’s students learn to write, read, and communicate
with global peers about water habitats, world languages, culture, art, and much more. The kids not only build
critical thinking and problems solving skills, they build friendships as well. Their interaction allows them to identify
and share their cultures with one another in ways that both affirm commonalties and uncover a world of diversity,
giving them positive opportunities to comprehend the world in new ways. They use new technologies as tools for
knowing themselves in the process of knowing and understanding others.
The immediacy of e-mail and Web site publishing enables Kristi’s students to gain a cognitive hold on the
connection between the ideas they send and the ideas embedded in other students’ replies. Learning to read and
write in this social context enables them to share what they think and know with global peers, just as it provides
the essential ingredients for developing literacy skills. These students write for a purpose and with the expectation
of learning more through collaborative communication.
The simultaneous use of text and digital images in both e-mail and Web site publishing provide powerful,
developmentally appropriate realms for building technology, visual, and information literacies. Videoconferencing
uses real-world tools to bring students face to face with distant peers, building multicultural literacy and global
awareness, and promoting a vision for taking positive action with what they learn from one another.
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WISE: Web-based Integrated Science Environment
Printed with permission from the College of Education, University of California, Berkeley.
Level: Grades 4–12
Content Areas: Science, Mathematics, and Social Sciences
Web site: http://wise.berkeley.edu
The Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE) is a free, online, project-based learning environment
supported by the National Science Foundation for students in Grades 4–12. In WISE, students work collaboratively
on real-world topics like malaria, genetically modified foods, earthquakes, water quality, and the mystery of
deformed frogs. They learn about and respond in socially responsible ways to contemporary scientific controversies
through designing, debating, and critiquing solutions using “evidence” Web pages that promote information
literacy, as well as other real-world tools that support data visualization, causal modeling, simulations, online
discussions, and assessment.
In the real world, problem solving requires specific skills: collaboration, risk-taking, the ability to manage
complexity when evaluating conflicting evidence, using data to back up a point of view, prioritizing,
planning, and managing for results. WISE software includes a large—and growing—suite of special features that
help develop exactly these skills.
Additional offline activities, such as experiments or class debates, also play an integral role. In the Plants in Space
Project, for example, students (Grades 4–8) construct a small hydroponic garden in their classroom, analyze factors
responsible for plant growth (e.g., light, water, and soil), compare earth plants and Wisconsin Fast Plants (referred to
as “NASA space plants”), and analyze what factors are important for plant growth in a space station environment.
The Plants in Space Project was designed by a partnership that included NASA scientists, research biologists,
teachers, educational researchers, and technology specialists. Web-based materials bring the space station to life
and raise questions relevant to students (e.g., Can we grow plants with no dirt whatsoever?).
WISE projects are centered on the following four key goals, all aimed at developing scientific literacy:
1. Making Science Accessible: Science is made accessible when students are given opportunities to explore a
personally relevant problem and investigate their own ideas about it (e.g., “Do plants eat dirt?”). Effective
instruction provides opportunities for students to evaluate scientific evidence according to their own personal
understanding, to articulate their own theories and explanations, and participate actively in science learning.
2. Making Thinking Visible: To help students connect science instruction to their own understanding, their
thinking needs to be made visible. The Plants in Space project, for example, includes online graphing so students
can represent plant growth.
3. Learning from Each Other: Science learning is rarely performed in isolation from one’s peers; rather, peer
exchange is often vital to learning. This is true of real-world scientists and should also be true of classroom
learning. WISE technology is designed to capitalize on the social nature of learning. Students work in pairs,
and activities often call upon students to explain evidence to one another. Finally, online communities have been
developed to link to additional resources, peers, and mentors in the field.
4. Promoting Autonomy: Science instruction should prepare students for self-directed, lifelong learning. To do this,
WISE presents students with accessible, independent activities that require sustained reasoning. WISE activities
like critique, comparison, and design are chosen because they will be important to students throughout their lives.
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Geometry in the Real World
Printed with permission from the George Lucas Educational Foundation.
Level: Grades 9–12
Content Areas: Mathematics, Science, and Social Sciences
Article: George Lucas Foundation: http://www.glef.org/EdutopiaPDF/Fall01.pdf (pp. 10-11).
Each spring at Mountlake Terrace High School in Washington, Eeva Reeder presents her geometry students with
both a challenge and an opportunity: Become members of two- to four-person architectural teams from the year
2050, competing for a contract to design a state-of-the-art high school. The designs must meet the learning needs of
students in the year 2050, must accommodate 2,000 students, and must make use of the natural benefits of the given
site, preserving at least half of its existing wetland. One team will be awarded the contract based upon presentations
of the designs to a panel of professional architects.
Over a frenzied—and exciting—six-week period, the teams research architectural design elements on the Web and
through interactions with professionals in the field. They then develop site plans (using CAD), scale models, floor
plans, perspective drawings, cost estimates, and written proposals that model those of existing companies—all
while making use of mathematical and technological concepts. They maintain design files of all their working
drawings, notes, and group contracts, such as the Team Operating Agreement (adapted from a similar form at
the Boeing Company), in which team members come to consensus on items such as expectations of themselves
and each other, how decisions will be made, how misunderstandings will be prevented, and how conflicts will
be resolved.
Eeva Reeder is passionate about the importance of this sort of hands-on, real-life application of abstract
mathematical concepts, as well as the value of working as a team to produce relevant, high-quality products.
“The ability to work collaboratively is a learned skill,” she says. “Students need repeated opportunities to practice
it within a complex, high-stakes context—similar to the one they’ll encounter in the workplace and in the world.”
For students, she continues, having an audience other than the teacher is a powerful motivator to produce work
of the highest possible quality. Students seem to care more about their work and take it upon themselves to revise
and edit it in ways they rarely do for traditional classroom assignments. The external audience also enables them
to celebrate and value learning in ways that a single grade from a teacher cannot.
This problem-solving process provides students with plenty of opportunity for learning and improving life skills.
Beyond teaming and collaboration, this includes interactive communication, self-direction, sound reasoning, the
ability to manage complexity, and using real-world tools to develop high-quality products. Learning like this blurs
the distinction between schoolwork and life outside the classroom, blending academic rigor with real-life relevance.
Assessments of the projects are also grounded in real life. During the project’s initial phase, students are given a
scoring rubric by which their work will be measured; each project artifact is evaluated on quality and accuracy,
clarity and presentation, and concept. Teamwork (participation, level of involvement, and quality of work as a team
member) is assessed during the course of the project and at the end.
When their designs are complete, the teams present to a panel of architects, who also formally assess the work.
Students and professionals discuss the evaluations during a follow-up field trip to the architects’ offices. They
work together to identify the projects’ strengths based on concept, site planning, educational vision, technology use,
environmental impact, and teamwork during the presentation. Finally, students have the opportunity to ask specific
questions of these field-based professionals, often developing lasting and interactive relationships with them. In
some cases, the architects have even incorporated student ideas into their own school designs!
enGauge 21st Century Skills: Literacy in the Digital Age
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Electric Soup
Printed with permission from Electric Soup, National Edition Project: Grant supported by SchoolCity.com
Level: Grades 7–12
Content Areas: English Language Arts and Visual Arts
Article: Education Week: www.edweek.org/sreports/tc99/articles/t-profile.htm
Web site: http://homer.hcrhs.k12.nj.us/esoup/
In Florence McGinn’s 11th and 12th grade Imaginative Process class at Hunterdon Central Regional High School
(HCRHS) in New Jersey, students reflect on artistic creativity through literary classics like Oedipus Rex and the
stories of Henry James.
But it’s the students’ own creative projects—visual imagery, poems, and “free writes”—that really make the course
resonate. In fact, these projects almost never stop at the classroom door; students add their best work to class
Web sites, electronic portfolios, and the Web-based Electric Soup, a highly
acclaimed, student-run literary magazine now receiving international offers of
peer-level partnerships. “Fascination is the key,” the Chinese-American high
school teacher says of her teaching philosophy. “You can establish the wonder,
and once you do that, everything else follows.” In addition, giving students
the tools to create and publish their work, said McGinn in an interview with
Education Week, “intensifies the learning process. Learning is not isolated—
and that’s very important to me.”
Just as important is exploring technology to enhance that learning. For that
reason, Electric Soup is multifaceted. On one part of the site, students practice
literary skills of observation and description by digitizing pictures of them-
selves, writing stories and poems based on interviews with family members,
and creating multimedia collages about their childhoods. In another, Microsoft®PowerPoint®, Multimedia®Flash®,
and other software applications are used to maximum effect by student writers to create artistic images representing
their emotions. Virtual Art explores a world of creative possibility that arises when students combine technology
with artistic imagery in the 21st century, while in Interviews, students interact with accomplished professionals
from an exciting range of fields, gaining insight into the lesser-known aspects of the world of work. Young Writers
invites elementary and middle school students to experience seeing their names in print, at the same time giving
high school editors the chance to practice and refine valuable, real-world skills while collaborating across time
and distance.
Electric Soup and Florence McGinn’s award-winning educational concepts have been part of presentations and
demonstrations for groups as diverse as PBS, the Smithsonian Institute, China’s President Jiang Zemin, Disney’s
Celebration Team, the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, and many others in the United States
and abroad. There’s even a new National Edition—a collaboration between HCRHS and SchoolCity.com that
redefines the original material into thematic editions in an interpretative, student-designed Web format. The
National Edition is selected, collated, and designed by student editors from Hunterdon Central.
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When you go to sleep, your
subconscious enters the wild
world of Dreamland. What the
dreamer sees at night can be
put into words. So why not
turn your dream into a poem?
Or a story?
(From Dreams, on the Electric
Soup Web site)
Getting There From Here
After reading this publication, it will seem obvious that schools need to embrace 21st century skills. Yet the
very nature of institutions such as schools is to maintain the status quo. Don’t be surprised when others don’t
immediately see the urgency of incorporating the new thinking reflected here.
Consider using the process on the following page as a way to bring 21st century
skills into your school. As you do:
• Stay Focused: Remember, the goal is to ensure that our students are able to
thrive in the Digital Age. Getting there from here will take commitment, perse-
verance, hard work, and careful analysis of whether your strategies and tactics
are contributing to that goal.
• Take on Something Doable: Don’t try to implement all of the 21st century
skills at once. Bring them into the mainstream of standards-based learning and
academic achievement, cluster-by-cluster, skill-by-skill. Identify a couple of skills
that you know will resonate with your school and community. Build from there.
• Build Bridges: Advocate the use of common sense, logic, statistics, insights from the business community, humor,
and other tactics to create a sense of urgency for your 21st century skills. In this age of high-stakes assessment, it
will be necessary to build a bridge between the 21st century skills and the high academic achievement that is first
and foremost in teachers’ and administrators’ minds. Do your homework. Build a strong bridge—convince others
that the 21st century skills can add to students’ viability in this knowledge-based, global society.
• Honor and Extend Existing Work: Chances are some, if not all, of the 21st century skills are being at least
partially addressed by innovative teachers in your school or community. Build on that work by helping those
educators to be more explicit and purposeful in addressing such skills, adding missing components such as
assessments. Where the 21st century skills are not being addressed, help teachers to build them—along with
effective uses of technology—into existing lessons. Go slowly—appeal to teachers’ natural inclination to do
what is right for students.
• Make Decisions at the System Level: Don’t expect teachers to make individual
decisions to incorporate 21st century skills into their classrooms until the school
district has made a formal commitment to doing so. In this high-stakes testing
environment, it is just too risky for individual teachers to dedicate instructional
time to ideas not yet sanctioned by the school system. Commit to the concept at
the system level; collaboratively build and align curriculum, instruction, and
assessment to the 21st century skills; and create a culture of openness, support,
and reward work toward that innovation.
enGauge 21st Century Skills: Literacy in the Digital Age
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Bring 21st century skills into
the mainstream of standards-
based learning and academic
achievement.
Don’t expect teachers to
make individual decisions
to incorporate 21st century
skills into their classrooms
until the school district has
made a formal commitment
to doing so!
AProcess for Bringing 21st Century Skills Into Your Schools
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1. Learn 2. Advocate
Investigate the rationale and history behind the 21st century
skills. Research, reflect, discuss, debate, and argue. Why are
these skills important? Who says so? What would happen if
we did nothing? What’s the fit with standards-based reform
and high-stakes testing? How do I communicate this?
Academic Achievement
Academic Achievement
Digital-Age
Literacy Inventive
Thinking
Effective
Communication High
Productivity
21st Century Learning
Set a goal worth striving for.
Engage the leadership team. Create a
sense of urgency and understanding
about key 21st century skills. Be unified
and clear on what skills are worth going
after and why. Identify and focus on skills
that matter to your community—skills
that will advance learning goals and your
school district’s vision.
3. Focus
Find the fit for your schools.
Engage your community, teachers, par-
ents, and business leaders. Facilitate dis-
cussions and consider viewpoints, but
only after everyone understands what
the skills are and what it looks like
when kids master them. Highlight the
pioneering work already taking place,
and link 21st century skills to that
important work. Prototype new ideas.
Make the commitment.
Based on research, discussions, and
feedback, make a formal decision to
invest resources, time, and money into
achieving the goal of getting students
ready to thrive in the Digital Age.
Identify and commit to a specific set
of 21st century skills.
Implement with integrity.
Thoughtful staging should smooth
the way for effective implementation!
Establish a support system to ensure
that schools have what they need to
be successful. Continue the profes-
sional development, formative assess-
ment, and continuous evolution of
curriculum, instruction, and assess-
ment necessary to help ensure that
students will be ready to thrive in
the Digital Age.
Try things!
Simultaneously seed classroom pilots
and districtwide, content-specific
research. Collect stories and artifacts
of successful practices. Keep every-
one informed. Publish findings,
using them to drive change and
develop “solutions that work.”
Make necessary
system changes.
At the district level, formally
align curricula, instruction, and
assessment in content areas based
on your findings. Make changes in
policy and practice.
Get everyone ready.
Build ongoing professional
development, resources acquisition,
curriculum development, and
leadership around research and best
practices for each of the target skills.
Identify the key characteristics
of successful practice and keep
it simple!
5. Impact 4. Activate
Cross-Match to National Models
National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for Students (2000)
By the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE): cnets.iste.org/students/s_book.html.
First released in 1998 after five years of development and extensive input from educators across the nation, the National
Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS) are the de facto standard for most schools today. ISTE has since
built extensive curriculum guides and teacher standards based on these standards.
Compared to enGauge 21st Century Skills, the ISTE standards do not specifically address Visual Literacy, Global
Awareness, Adaptability/Managing Complexity, Curiosity, or Risk-Taking.
ISTE NETS enGauge 21st Century Skills
1. Basic Operations and Concepts
• Students demonstrate a sound understanding • Technological Literacy
of the nature and operation of technology systems.
• Students are proficient in the use of technology. • Technological Literacy
2. Social, Ethical, and Human Issues
• Students understand the ethical, cultural, • Multicultural Literacy
and societal issues related to technology. • Social and Civic Responsibility
• Students practice responsible use of technology • Personal Responsibility
systems, information, and software. • Social and Civic Responsibility
• Students develop positive attitudes toward • Teaming and Collaboration
technology uses that support lifelong learning, • Effective Use of Real-World Tools
collaboration, personal pursuits, and productivity.
3. Technology Productivity Tools
• Students use technology tools to enhance learning, • Information Literacy
increase productivity, and promote creativity. • Creativity
• Students use productivity tools to collaborate in • Relevant, High-Quality Products
constructing technology-enhanced models, preparing • Prioritizing, Planning, and Managing for Results
publications, and producing other creative works. • Teaming and Collaboration
4. Technology Communications Tools
• Students use telecommunications to collaborate, • Interactive Communications
publish, and interact with peers, experts, and
other audiences.
• Students use a variety of media and formats to • Information Literacy
communicate information and ideas effectively • Interactive Communication
to multiple audiences.
5. Technology Research Tools
• Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and • Information Literacy
collect information from a variety of sources. • Economic Literacy
• Students use technology tools to process data • Scientific Literacy
and report results. • Information Literacy
• Economic Literacy
• Students evaluate and select new information • Information Literacy
resources and technological innovations based • Effective Use of Real-World Tools
on the appropriateness to specific tasks.
6. Technology Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Tools
• Students use technology resources for solving • Higher-Order Thinking and Sound Reasoning
problems and making informed decisions.
• Students employ technology in the development of • Economic Literacy
strategies for solving problems in the real world. • Higher-Order Thinking and Sound Reasoning
• Effective Use of Real-World Tools
International Society for Technology in Education. (2000). National educational technology
standards for students: Connecting curriculum and technology. Eugene, OR: Author.
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What Work Requires of Schools (1991)
By the U.S. Department of Labor: http://wdr.doleta.gov/SCANS/whatwork/whatwork.html.
In 1991 the Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) published skills that were required to enter
the workplace successfully. SCANS identified workplace know-how that defined effective job performance. The list had
two elements: five competencies and a three-part foundation of skills and personal qualities.
Compared to enGauge 21st Century Skills, the SCANS proficiencies do not explicitly address Multicultural Literacy, Global
Awareness, aspects of Interactive Communication and Visual Literacy, or High-Quality Results.
SCANS enGauge 21st Century Skills
Five Competencies
• Resources: Identifies, organizes, A. Time • Adaptability/Managing Complexity
plans and allocates resources B. Money • Economic Literacy
C. Material and Facilities
D. Human Resources
• Interpersonal: Works with others A. Participates as Member of a Team • Teaming and Collaboration
B. Teaches Others New Skills • Self-Direction
C. Serves Clients/Customers • Multicultural Literacy
D. Exercises Leadership
E. Negotiates
F. Works with Diversity
• Information: Acquires and uses A. Acquires and Evaluates Information • Information Literacy
information B. Organizes and Maintains Information • Economic Literacy
C. Interprets and Communicates Information • Interactive Communication
D. Uses Computers to Process Information
• Systems: Understands complex A. Understands Systems • Scientific Literacy
inter-relationships B. Monitors and Corrects Performance • Economic Literacy
C. Improves or Designs Systems • Adaptability/Managing Complexity
• Prioritizing, Planning, and Managing for
Results
• Technology: Works with a variety A. Selects Technology • Effective Use of Real-World Tools
of technologies B. Applies Technology to Task • Technological Literacy
C. Maintains and Troubleshoots Equipment
AThree-Part Foundation
• Basics Skills: Reads, writes, performs A. Reading • Basic Literacy
arithmetic and mathematical B. Writing • Scientific Literacy
operations, listens, and speaks C. Arithmetic/Mathematics
D. Listening
E. Speaking
• Thinking Skills: Thinks creatively, A. Creative Thinking • Higher-Order Thinking and Sound
makes decisions, solves problems, B. Decision Making Reasoning
visualizes, knows how to learn, C. Problem Solving • Visual Literacy
and reasons D. Seeing Things in the Mind’s Eye • Curiosity
E. Knowing How to Learn • Creativity
F. Reasoning
• Personal Qualities: Displays A. Responsibility • Teaming and Collaboration
responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, B. Self-Esteem • Self-Direction
self-management, and integrity C. Sociability • Personal Responsibility
and honesty D. Self-Management • Social and Civic Responsibility
E. Integrity/Honesty
Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills. (1991). What work requires of schools: ASCANS report for America: 2000.
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor.
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Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning (1998)
By the American Association of School Librarians and the Association for Educational Communications and Technology:
www.ala.org/aasl/ip_nine.html
The Information Literacy Standards were developed as a foundation upon which to base lifelong learning. Prepared
by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and the Association for Educational Communications and
Technology (AECT), they have been widely promoted by the American Library Association. The nine standards fall
into three categories: information literacy, independent learning, and social responsibility.
Compared to the enGauge 21st Century Skills, the AASL and AECT standards address student skills from the perspective
of a library media specialist. The enGauge 21st Century Skills are broader in scope, including such areas as Scientific
Literacy, Visual Literacy, Multicultural Literacy, Global Awareness, Interactive Communication, Risk-Taking, and High-
Quality Results.
Information Literacy Standards enGauge 21st Century Skills
Information Literacy
• Standard 1: The student who is information literate • Basic and Information Literacy
accesses information efficiently and effectively.
• Standard 2: The student who is information literate • Information Literacy
evaluates information critically and competently. • Economic Literacy
• Higher-Order Thinking and Sound Reasoning
• Standard 3: The student who is information literate • Information Literacy
uses information accurately and creatively. • Creativity
• Effective Use of Real-World Tools
Independent Learning
• Standard 4: The student who is an independent learner • Information Literacy
is information literate and pursues information related • Self-Direction
to personal interests. • Curiosity
• Standard 5: The student who is an independent learner • Visual Literacy
is information literate and appreciates literature and • Information Literacy
other creative expressions of information.
• Standard 6: The student who is an independent learner • Information Literacy
is information literate and strives for excellence in • Effective Use of Real-World Tools
information seeking and knowledge generation. • Relevant, High-Quality Products
Social Responsibility
• Standard 7: The student who contributes positively to • Social and Civic Responsibility
the learning community and to society is information • Technological Literacy
literate and recognizes the importance of information • Economic Literacy
to a democratic society.
• Standard 8: The student who contributes positively to • Information Literacy
the learning community and to society is information • Personal Responsibility
literate and practices ethical behavior in regard to • Social and Civic Responsibility
information and information technology. • Technological Literacy
• Standard 9: The student who contributes positively to • Information Literacy
the learning community and to society is information • Teaming and Collaboration
literate and participates effectively in groups to • Social and Civic Responsibility
pursue and generate information. • Prioritizing, Planning, and Managing for Results
American Association of School Librarians & Association for Educational Communications and Technology. (1998).
Information literacy standards for student learning. Chicago: American Library Association.
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Technically Speaking: Why All Americans Need to
Know More About Technology (2002)
By the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the National Research Council (NRC):
www.nap.edu/books/0309082625/html/.
This Committee for Technological Literacy was charged with developing a vision for technological literacy in the United
States and recommending ways to achieve that vision. The project was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF)
and the Battelle Memorial Institute.
Compared to enGauge 21st Century Skills, the focus for this committee’s work is on Technological Literacy, just one of
the skills included in the enGauge 21st Century Skill set. Nevertheless, the following match can be made:
Technically Speaking enGauge 21st Century Skills
Characteristics of a Technologically Literate Citizen
Knowledge
• Recognizes the pervasive presence of technology • Technological Literacy
in everyday life.
• Understands basic engineering concepts and terms, • Scientific Literacy
such as systems, constraints, and trade-offs.
• Is familiar with the nature and limitations of the • Scientific Literacy
engineering design process
• Knows some of the ways technology shapes human • Multicultural Literacy
history and people shape technology
• Knows that all technologies entail risk, some that can • Prioritizing, Planning, and Managing for Results
be anticipated and some that cannot.
• Appreciates that the development and use of technology • Economic Literacy
involving trade-offs and a balance of costs and benefits. • Prioritizing, Planning, and Managing for Results
• Understands that technology reflects the values and • Multicultural Literacy
culture of society.
Ways of Thinking and Acting
• Asks pertinent questions, of self and others, regarding • Self-Direction
the benefits and risks of technology. • Technological Literacy
• Economic Literacy
• Seeks information about new technologies. • Curiosity
• Technological Literacy
• Participates, when appropriate, in decisions about the • Social and Civic Responsibility
development and use of technology.
Capabilities
• Has a range of hands-on skills, such as using a computer • Technological Literacy
for word processing and surfing the Internet and operating
a variety of home and office appliances.
• Can identify and fix simple mechanical or technological • Technological Literacy
problems at home or work.
• Can apply basic mathematical concepts related to • Scientific Literacy
probability, scale, and estimation to make informed
judgments about technological risks and benefits.
National Academy of Engineering: Committee on Technological Literacy. (2002). Technically speaking: Why all Americans need to know
more about technology. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
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Standards for Technological Literacy (2000)
By the International Technology Education Association (ITEA): www.iteawww.org/TAA/PDFs/xstnd.pdf.
These standards were developed by the Technology for All Americans Project to promote the study of technology and
technological literacy. Compared to the enGauge 21st Century Skills, these skills focus on classes specializing in the study
of technology as a topic. Nevertheless, the following match can be made:
Technological Literacy enGauge 21st Century Skills
The Nature of Technology
• Standard 1: Students will develop an understanding of the characteristics • Technological Literacy
and scope of technology. • Scientific Literacy
• Standard 2: Students will develop an understanding of the core concepts of technology.
• Standard 3: Students will develop an understanding of the relationships among
technologies and the connections between technology and other fields of study.
Technology and Society
• Standard 4: Students will develop an understanding of the cultural, social, • Multicultural Literacy
economic, and political effects of technology. • Technological Literacy
• Economic Literacy
• Standard 5: Students will develop an understanding of the effects of technology • Scientific Literacy
on the environment. • Social and Civic Responsibility
• Standard 6: Students will develop an understanding of the role of society in the • Technological Literacy
development and use of technology. • Social and Civic Responsibility
• Standard 7: Students will develop an understanding of the influence of technology on history. • Technological Literacy
Design
• Standard 8: Students will develop an understanding of the attributes of design. • Relevant, High-Quality
Products
• Standard 9: Students will develop an understanding of engineering design. • Scientific Literacy
• Standard 10: Students will develop an understanding of the role of • Higher-Order Thinking and
troubleshooting, research and development, invention and innovation, Sound Reasoning
and experimentation in problem solving. • Creativity
Abilities for a Technological World
• Standard 11: Students will develop abilities to apply the design process. • Effective Use of Real-World
Tools
• Standard 12: Students will develop abilities to use and maintain technological products • Technological Literacy
and systems.
• Standard 13: Students will develop abilities to assess the impact of products and systems. • Relevant, High-Quality
Products
The Designed World
• Standard 14: Students will develop an understanding of and be able to select
and use medical technologies.
• Standard 15: Students will develop an understanding of and be able to select and use
agricultural and related biotechnologies.
• Standard 16: Students will develop an understanding of and be able to select and use energy
and power technologies.
• Standard 17: Students will develop an understanding of and be able to select and use
information and communication technologies.
• Standard 18: Students will develop an understanding of and be able to select
and use transportation technologies.
• Standard 19: Students will develop an understanding of and be able to select and
use manufacturing technologies.
• Standard 20: Students will develop an understanding of and be able to select and use
construction technologies.
International Technology Education Association (2000). Standards for technological literacy: Content for the study of
technology. Reston, VA: Author. Available at: www.iteawww.org/TAA/PDFs/xstnd.pdf.
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• Technological Literacy
• Effective Use of Real-World Tools
• Scientific Literacy
• Economic Literacy
• Interactive Communication
• Social and Civic Responsibility
What Work Information Technically Technological
NETS Requires Literacy Speaking Literacy
ISTE SCANS AASL and AECT NAE/NRC ITEA
Digital-Age Literacy
• Basic Literacy XX
• Scientific Literacy XXX
• Technological Literacy XX XXX
• Economic Literacy XX XXX
• Visual Literacy XX
• Information Literacy XX X
• Multicultural Literacy XX X X
• Global Awareness
Inventive Thinking
• Adaptability and Managing
Complexity X
• Self-Direction XX X
• Curiosity XX
• Creativity XX X X
• Risk Taking
• Higher-Order Thinking
and Sound Reasoning XX X X
Effective Communication
• Teaming and Collaboration XX X
• Interpersonal Skills X
• Personal Responsibility XX X
• Social and Civic Responsibility XX X X
• Interactive Communication XX X
High Productivity
• Prioritizing, Planning,
and Managing for Results XX X X
• Effective Use of Real-World Tools XX X X
• Ability to Produce Relevant,
High-Quality Products XX X
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80
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Notes:
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