"The illiterate of the twenty-first century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."----Alvin Toffler
 
The world has changed. What does literacy look like today? It certainly means being able to read and write, understand mathematics and science, and apply this knowledge to real-world issues.
 
But literacy also means understanding that our world is complex. It is a world driven by new ideas, knowledge, and technology. It is made up of different peoples, cultures, and perspectives. If we are to rise to the challenges and opportunities in this new global age, it means embracing a new vision for teaching and learning.

In a 21st century learning environment all students are able to learn, instruction is engaging, interactive, contextual in the real world, student centered and differentiated for individual learners needs; 21st century tools and technologies are integrated into the learning process; systems (technological and otherwise) are student and learning focused; and personnel engage in continuous professional growth to maintain their skills and knowledge.

The HELP Team will offer guidance and consulting for schools rebuilding and remodeling to incorporate strategies to develop digital literacy, creativity, higher-order thinking, communication and collaboration.
 

Glossary of Key Terminology:

• Wireless Networking
• 1 to 1 Computing Capabilities
• SMART Boards
• Smart Cards
• Schools become Community Learning Centers
• Project Based Learning
• Integrated Technology
• Teacher Gap Analysis and Prescriptive Professional Development Plan

Case Studies:

The Digital School – A Florida demonstration school goes Digital – what will it take for the rest of us?

Ocoee Middle School strives to offer its students a progressive and comprehensive education to prepare them to meet the challenges of life in the twenty-first century; computers and digital curriculum are part of daily life.

School size:  1700
Grade level:  middle school grades 6-8
Location:   Ocoee, Florida of the Orange County Public School district, 12th largest school district in the nation
Free and reduced lunch: 40%
Topic(s):   tablet computers, technology based curriculum, distributed e-learning environment, digital based learning, 1:1 computing

Read More


Laptops on Exhibition, Portland Maine

King Middle School is dedicated to the idea that we can create a school where all kids succeed at a high level. Students engage in eight to twelve week experiential learning expeditions. These expeditions are in-depth and interdisciplinary in nature and require students to engage in sophisticated research, use the community in authentic ways, and represent their knowledge with high quality products which are presented to legitimate audiences.

School size:  500
Grade level:  middle school
Location:   King Middle School serves the most racially, ethnically, and economically diverse neighborhoods in the state of Maine.
Free and reduced lunch: 60%
Demographic:  More than 120 of King's approximately 500 students speak 28 languages and come from 17 countries.

Read More


A “Super Fantastic” Use of Technology
Mary Scroggs Elementary, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

This K-5 school is committed to technology integration and project-based learning. Every one of Scroggs' 29 teachers has a Web page that may include a daily or weekly newsletter, homework assignments, announcements, volunteer opportunities, student work, "cool" Web sites, and even pictures of a teacher's dog or Questions of the Week

Read More   

Assessment Overview

This overview piece focuses on New York City’s Urban Academy, and their efforts to make “testing” meaningful. It presents the argument that traditional standardized tests can’t adequately measure the 21st Century Skills that are vital to success in the real world.

Read More


It’s All Happening at the Zoo School, Minneapolis, MN

The School of Environmental Studies at the Minnesota Zoo (SES) is an optional high school in the Rosemount/Apple Valley/Eagan School District. The district has 28,500 students and is located in the southern suburbs of St. Paul, Minnesota. The school houses roughly two hundred juniors and two hundred seniors in a facility built on a 12-acre site on the grounds of the Minnesota Zoological Gardens. Students are able to use facilities at the Minnesota Zoo as well as those of the adjacent 3000-acre Lebanon Hills Regional Park as learning laboratories. Both are a short walk from the school.

Read More   

Multimedia Feature: Redesigning Learning Environments

A multimedia feature exploring the design of 21st Century Schools, featuring Capitol Elementary School in Phoenix, and the School of Environmental Studies (Minneapolis)

Read More

Resources:

K-12 One to One Computing Handbook

A complete resource guide for policy makers, school boards, superintendents and the K-12 community as prepared by the Center for Digital Education

Audience:  policy makers, school boards, superintendents and the K-12 community
Topic:  One to One Computing

1:1 Computing – A Guide Book to Help You Make the Right Decisions  

A comprehensive guide to implementing one to one, technology rich integration programs.

Audience:  policy makers, school boards, superintendents and the K-12 community
Topic:  One to One Computing, enhancing student learning and achievement

Partnership for 21st Century Schools

Tool Kits:

ISTE Resources to Support 21st Century Schools

Provides a summary of resources and classes available from ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) for improving the use of technology in the classroom

Audience: teachers, technology specialists and coordinators, administrators, library media specialists, staff developers, technology integration specialists, 
Topic:  improving the use of technology in the classroom

Reports and Articles:

Learn about the landmark study conducted this spring that asks superintendents, curriculum directors, and technology directors the important questions about the future of educational technology as a learning tool in a report.

Audience:  policy makers, school boards, superintendents and the K-12 community
Topic:  Digital learning trends, closing the achievement gap   

New Skills for a New Century

Project-based learning teaches kids the collaborative and critical thinking abilities they'll need to compete.  By Bob Pearlman
 

Re-Visioning High School – How three districts created new visions of what high school should be in the 21st century   

This article from Cable in the Classroom’s Threshold magazine, talks about three districts, each tackling a different challenge associated with re-visioning and rebuilding schools for the future.  In one case, Microsoft partnered with Philadelphia to build a “School of the Future” that would also meet state and federal requirements, union contracts, space per student and cost requirements.  It is important to note that the district is paying for the school and not Microsoft – whom is only providing inspiration and intellectual capitol.   In a second case, a small Chicago high school implemented a program in which teachers were trained to work together, similar to other professional career paths which require collaboration, cooperation and distributed knowledge.  The third situation talks about an Indiana school challenged with retraining impressing technology into their curriculum and instruction and how they used a five year grant to make it work.

Audience:  policy makers, school boards, superintendents, and the K-12 community including parents
Topic – Defining “re-visioning” as schools being built today need to accommodate the needs of students whom will graduate in 2010, 2020 and beyond.  

Building a 21st Century High School – The Lessons of New Tech High:  planning, building and running a new kind of school for a new kind of student from Cable in the Classroom’s Threshold magazine 

Dedicated to building a school where both 21st century standards and state standards are both on the same list and considered to be required for graduation and every teacher is expected to work her students towards mastery of these skills. 

Audience:  policy makers, school boards, superintendents, and the K-12 community including parents
School size – small (under 400 students), high tech and high touch school
Grade level: high school
Demographic:  Napa Valley public high school located in the California Wine Region