Why QTL?
Need: 21st Century Learning
One of the most often repeated buzz phrases in current education lingo is '21st Century Skills'. The Centers for Quality Teaching and Learning views the term as much more than the latest passing trend.
Today's students need active engagement across the curriculum to keep them interested, and teachers must employ creative teaching strategies to prepare them for the future. Students and teachers alike have a tremendous need for 21st Century skills - not just in the use of technology, but problem-solving, collaboration, and a host of others.
The QTL Process centers on instructional strategies for teaching in a way that fosters these increasingly critical skills. From this page you'll find information on the need for 21st Century Teaching and resources for making it happen.
Resources and Articles on 21st Century Learning
Attributes of a 21st Century Learner
What skills and qualities should teachers develop in their students in order to prepare them for the future? We brought a team of QTL instructors together to identify needs QTL can help educators address.
Nicky, the Future-Ready Student
This graphic from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction illustrates critical attributes of successful 21st Century students. How many of these skills do you possess?
Technology as a Catalyst for Change: The Role of Professional Development
This ISTE/SERVE report, written by former Centers for Quality Teaching and Learning staff members Nita J. Matzen and Julie A. Edmunds, is based on early evaluation of QTL practices and their impact in the classroom. The QTL Process has continued to evolve well beyond its initial technology focus, but the report illustrates why professional development is so critical to helping teachers use the technology at their disposal wisely and effectively to meet the needs of 21st Century learners.
"Engage Me or Enrage Me: What Today's Learners Demand"
This article, by Mark Prensky, examines the needs of a generation whose members expect teachers to earn their attention through engaging lessons and activities. His conclusion: we can't afford for the classroom to be the one place in their lives where they are not actively engaged.
Effects of Technology on Learning
A Boston College research paper shows the effects of technology on learning, and the limitations of standardized testing.
Video Links
A Vision of K12 Students Today
This video was created "to inspire teachers to use technology in engaging ways to help students develop higher level thinking skills... and to motivate district level leaders to provide teachers with the tools and training to do so.
New Technology in the Middle Ages
This light-hearted clip may amuse anyone who has ever struggled with new skills, as well as anyone who has tried to provide 'tech support' to a reluctant user.