The Skills of Tomorrow

Gone are the days of the card catalog, the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature, microfilm, chalkboards, Xerox copies and dial-up modems. Instead, we have replaced them with online catalogs, internet research, white boards and smart boards, wi-fi throughout our buildings, iPads and, in some places, laptops in the hands of every student.  With these significant changes in our society come significant changes in the classroom. The classroom where our kids will learn is not the classroom where we grew up.

   “Today's students are capable of much more than what was expected of them just a few years ago. Many of the jobs the kids will hold haven't even been created yet,” Beth Oyler, mother of three and elementary school teacher, says.

   One area in education where changes have been marked is in the library or, as most are called now, the Library Media Center. Before, LMC’s were centered on book collections, and teachers would bring their classes down to the LMC for book checkout and other instructional lessons. As more and more students obtain digital readers like a Nook, a Kindle or an iPad, the need for print editions shrinks.

   “I feel that most reference and non-fiction collections will be digital but still see the need for some print materials in fiction. We still have some adults and, believe it or not, teens who want to hold a print book in their hands,” Connie King, mother of two and library media specialist, says.

   Another facet of an LMC was computer lab use. But now that many classes have laptops or carts of laptops, the need in many schools to take a whole class to a computer lab no longer exists. Consequently, the LMC shifts to more of a learning center.

   “Library space is obviously changing, but the current need for the facility still exists. At a school with one-to-one and blended learning, the space will house students who are working out of class but not at home,” King says.

   Research has always been an important part of school and will continue to be. It is full of even more possibilities now with the vastly expanded amount of information available to students that they couldn’t access before.

      “With the glut of information available at the click of a mouse, two of the most important skills being taught are critical thinking and thorough evaluation, whether in regards to assigned research or personal inquiry,” King says. “These are important skills that have always been taught, but with the amount of accurate and inaccurate information increasing daily, the need to discern between the two has never been greater.”

   Oyler agrees and adds, “Students must be able to enter an effective search term and then be able to discern whether the source is credible, up-to-date and accurate. They must understand whether the information is fact or opinion. That has not changed with technology.”

   One additional thing that is changing with technology is how  instruction occurs for students.  Several local schools are looking into other options for learning.

   “We are re-thinking the structures of schools with blended learning, online options, leveraging technology and teacher experiences to bring more autonomy to students and how they want to learn—making them responsible for learning,” Tracey Kracht, mother of two and instructional technology specialist, says.

   With these changes in the classroom, teachers also have to change the way they instruct the students of this generation.

   “Access to information has changed, so instruction has to change. I have heard that a thing of the past will be arguments,” Kracht says. “You can just use Siri and find the answer; no longer do you have to argue who won a game. That changes instruction for teachers and creates revisions in strategies. Now we have the 'googleable' answer, because students have access to all kinds of data. But can they now apply what they know?”

  Also going by the wayside is teaching cursive in elementary schools. Many schools are no longer taking the time to teach cursive, saying it is no longer needed in the digital era. A quick search in the app store showed 62 results for teaching cursive handwriting. No longer do students need to practice with a teacher, because they can practice on an iPad, iPhone or iPod.

   With YouTube readily available for students, video learning and teaching themselves is becoming more prevalent.

   “I came downstairs from putting away laundry and my fourth grader was sitting on a step with his rainbow loom in hand and his iPod Touch on his lap. He was watching a YouTube video to learn how to do a fish-type weave. He just looked it up because there weren't any instructions on that particular weave in his directions, and he ‘prefers to watch a video to reading the diagrams.’ I didn't help him; this is how students are learning now,” Kracht said.

Jennifer Higgins is a freelance writer, mother and teacher from Kearney. She recently had her students create an iMovie project, but also enjoys  “old skills” like taking notes and using markers and paper to create a poster.