World Economic Forum Identifies Ed-Tech Needs for 21st Century Skills

Chansamone O’Meara

IL

Molnar, M. “World Economic Forum Identifies Ed-Tech Needs for 21st Century Skills.” Education Week. (March 19, 2015). Retrieved April 27, 2015, from http://mobile.edweek.org/c.jsp?DISPATCHED=true&cid=25983841&item=http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/marketplacek12/2015/03/world_economic_forum_identifies_ed-tech_needs_for_21st_century_skills.html

Digital content providers today can take advantage of the lack of available education technology, according to the World Economic Forum report.  The forum is an international organization whose goal is to improve the world through public and private cooperation.  It selected 91 countries and evaluated how they each measured up in nine out of 16 skill areas that are essential for 21st century skills. The lack of consistency in the definition and measurement of the skills make it difficult to measure all 16 skills.  which resulted in only being able to measure nine of them. Traditional subjects like “literacy, math, and science are well represented, but ed-tech for higher-order competencies like critical thinking and problem solving, and character qualities like grit and initiative, are not adequately covered by existing education technology, the researchers found.”  Higher order skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, communication, and collaboration are too complex and challenging to measure and test. The report identifies goals for lawmakers to work and collaborate with other countries to standardize definitions and assessment for 21st century skills.  The standardization process such include “creating learning objectives, developing curricula and instructional strategies, delivering instruction, embedding ongoing assessments, providing appropriate interventions, and tracking outcomes and learning.”

The report makes the following recommendations for policymakers, educators, education technology providers, and funders:

• Assess and realign education systems and standards for the development of 21st century skills
• Develop and promote technology expertise among teachers
• Develop products to fill gaps in 21st century skills measurement and instruction
• Provide funding for piloting, transferring, and scaling up technology-enabled models

Evaluation

If we live in an interconnect and global society then it is essential that there is a standardization of 21st century skills that every modern country can measure itself against.  There are standardize tests that measure how well each school performs across states and the country.  It would make a lot of sense to create a similar type of assessment so the desired skills an employer or educational institution wants in a candidate can be easily assessed.  It can also provide critical information that schools may need to to reevaluate instruction, practices, and lessons being taught.