21st Century Learning Initiative

The CMSCE 21st Century Learning Initiative includes hands-on workshops, coaching/mentoring sessions and online collaborations with the goal of increasing teacher and student academic content knowledge through real-world experiences.

This Initiative began in the summer 2008 with small leadership teams of six teachers (Cohort 1) from five school districts throughout New Jersey. Through professional development workshops and in-class mentoring these teachers immersed themselves in social networking, bookmarking, online PD, and team collaborations. They then integrated what they learned into their classrooms to engage their students and make learning more meaningful by:

• Recording, editing and publishing podcasts documenting class trips, special events and curriculum content
• Using Google Earth and Google Maps to compare and contrast communities and geographic regions
• Using desktop videoconferencing to improve speaking skills and increase opportunities for student collaborations within the Initiative as well as the Global community
• Using social networking to gain access to materials from teachers around the nation

Each new cohort participates in 3 stages of implementation.

Stage 1 (Fall) Creating a Technology Leadership Team (TLT)

• The TLT will consist of 6 teachers per school across all grade levels and subject areas
• TLT members must have easy access to technology
• One teacher on each team must be identified as the Team Leader for scheduling and communications
• Day 1: Half-day in-district training
  • Topic 1: Why do we teach what we teach?
  • Topic 2: Focus on the learning not on the tools
  • Topic 3: Developing your Personal Learning Network
• Day 2: Half-day in-district training
  • Topic 1: Roundtable discussion of collaborative tools used in the past four weeks
  • Topic 2: Teachers need personal experience with the new literacies, use them to explore what you are interested in
  • Topic 3: Student roles in 21st Century Learning
• TLT members, including Lisa Thumann, will participate in an ongoing conversation sharing ideas and information

Stage 2 (Fall/Winter) Nurture all Learners

• Elluminate Session
• The members of the TLT will implement the projects they created in the fall to provide opportunities for all learners, including teachers and students to learn and grow.
  • Surround learners with ideas and information
  • Collaboration and shared learning should be student driven, not just teacher driven
  • Day 3: Full-day in-district mentoring to assist teachers as their students participate in the initial collaborations
  • Day 4: Full-day in-district mentoring to assist teachers as their students participate in the initial collaborations
  • TLT members, including Lisa Thumann, will participate in an ongoing conversation sharing ideas and information

Stage 3 (Spring/Summer) Community is Essential

• Elluminate Session: All TLT members will meet online with Lisa Thumann to facilitate global collaborations within participating school districts.
• The members of the TLT will implement the projects they are creating in stage 3 to provide opportunities for all learners, including teachers, students, parents and community to learn and grow.
  • The community should permeate all possible spaces, in the classroom, in the home and online (outside the walls of the building)
  • Encourage and pursue input from both inside and outside of the community
  • Educators should provide access for learners to reach outside of the building to neighboring schools and the global community.
  • Day 5: Full-day in-district mentoring to assist teachers as their students participate in the initial collaborations
  • Day 6: Full-day in-district mentoring to assist teachers as their students participate in the initial collaborations
  • TLT members, including Lisa Thumann, will participate in an ongoing conversation sharing ideas and information

Breakdown of Professional Development

• 2 1/2 day workshop on site
• 4 full-days of in-class mentoring
• 3 Elluminate sessions with the entire state-wide Initiative
• TLT members, including Lisa Thumann, will participate in an ongoing conversation sharing ideas and information
• Support as needed

For additional information contact:

Harriet Schweitzer, Associate Director

harriets@rci.rutgers.edu, 732-445-0669

Lisa Thumann, Sr. Specialist in Technology Education

lisa.thumann@gmail.com, 732-445-3025

Additional Resources:
Samples from classes involved with the Initiative.

Council of 21 Concludes its Year-long Study: Preparing Schools and School Systems for the 21st Century
You Tube – Did You Know 4.0 Video
Dangerously Irrelevant: Key Question
21st Century Learning: 9 Principles for Implementation