Recommended Book 21st Century Skills, Learning for Life in Our Times

MassCUE Leadership Symposium - March 11th 2010
A unique symposium experience. MassCUE's 5th Annual Technology Leadership Symposium, hosted by MassCUE and METAA, will be held at the Hogan Center at the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.. More...
The symposium will provide you the opportunity to experience a day of “Connecting, Communicating, and Collaborating” with colleagues. The conference sessions will be based on the Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel book, “21st Century Skills, Learning for Life in Our Times.” Together we will focus on how this framework translates into a 21st Century education that prepares all of our students for success. Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel's new book, 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in our Times, a book-length ad for the content-free learning championed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Trilling is global director for the Oracle Education Foundation, a P21 board member. Fadel is global leader for education as Cisco Systems, also a P21 board member. They co-chair P21's Standards, Assessment, and Professional Development committee. Why are 21st century skills so important? Trilling and Fadel's answer is that a "21st century skills gap" causes businesses to spend "over $200 billion a year...finding and hiring scarce, highly skilled talent, and in bringing new employees up to required skill levels through costly training programs." (p. 7) (There isn't a citation for either the existence of a "21st century skills gap" or for the $200 billion figure.) So Trilling and Fadel argue that the skills identified as "21st century skills" by P21 (critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity and innovation, etc.) must become the basis for education because these skills "address new work skill demands" and will prepare students to "invent new and better services and products for the global marketplace." (pages 49, 56).

Link http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/documents/p21_framework_definitions_052909.pdf
Audio interview http://www.21stcenturyskillsbook.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/KUCR-Education-Today-interviews-Trilling1.mp3
Blog http://www.21stcenturyskillsbook.com/blog/