Mahalo to Educational Technology and Mobile Learning who again come up with a short, concise and helpful visual for teachers, administrators, and parents! If you have not checked out the short and valuable work these folks put out, I strongly suggest you do so in the near future!
This is a short post consisting of a pictorial representation of the Anatomy of a 21st Century Classroom. This is a topic of great discussion not only in Hawaii Catholic Schools, but in every classroom across the country.
The question of meeting students needs at a personal level drives the descriptors of what a classroom should look and feel like so that all students are comfortable and able to learn. Classrooms filled with isolated desks and rows are not conducive to developing the 21st century skills in our students necessary to compete in our constantly stretching world. Constructing classroom environments that are flexible with multiple access points to information and tools give students the freedom, within carefully crafted boundaries, to pursue their learning at their own pace. The teacher sets the tone and guides the process through a classroom set up that engages students and begs for student collaboration and interaction with others both in the room and outside school walls.
The 21st Century classroom facilitates student learning and also provides the canvas for our students to become creators of knowledge. Availability of tools that allow students to access, analyze, and curate information, formulate theories and explore possibilities bring the 21st Century classroom to life. Our classrooms should be places that are alive and organic and constantly evolving to meet students' needs. Teachers bring in the tools and curricula necessary to support pedagogical practices that move students along their path toward meeting standards and developing the 21st Century skills necessary to pursue their dreams and aspirations.
In this type of environment, students thrive as active participants in their education. Teachers function as facilitators of learning, focusing on constructing activities and lessons that support the development of 21st Century skills in each and every student!
