Tuesday, August 28, 2007

21rst Century Skills

Please answer all the following questions. You must read at least five other people's responses and comment or question on at least one other student in your own reflection.

Seeing that you, as a whole group, are considered the "Net-Generation", what real world skills do you need in order to succeed in the global scheme of life? If public education must prepare you for the "real world", what should we help to prepare you to do? When you think about the inevitable future, what concerns you regarding your place in a vast, competitive, innovative global market?

28 comments:

Chris F said...

The real world skills that i would need to be sucessfull in the net generation are computer skills, people skills, and independence. each of these skills come in place in the real world because computers are in every business and people skills because you need to sell the product and if you dont have people skills then you can't sell anything. Independence because you need to help your self pout first more than anything.The public school system needs to help us by teaching us all these skills to make it in the real world. My place in this system is a very small one because i don't have all of these skills yet but i will later on down the road.

Ariel K. said...

I personally don’t think there is any right answer to what skills public education needs to teach us to get us ready for the real world because, everyone is different. Like Chris said, he needs computer skills, but it just might so happen a guy sitting next to him is a genius at computers. I think every individual needs help in different areas. I think public education is doing what they can to get us ready for the real world by requiring us to take core classes such as english, math, science and world history. The one thing that concerns me the most when it comes to finding my place in this world, is not living up to the potential of what I should or could be doing. I don’t want to settle.

Paul D. said...

The skills I believe that will help me in the global scheme are a strong independenc, an emotional openness, strong views, and being able to be trusted. Schools should help students become leaders because in the business world either you have what it takes or your done for. Schools should teach students to become self-reliable and self-independent. No one's going to do your work for you! In order to succeed you need to have a strong motivation to succeed and an openness to your superior's advice. What concerns me in my place in a vast, competitive, innovative global market is the CEO's who go to China or third world countries and have those people working in their business for cheap labor. My biggest concern is "Am I going to be able to give the global market what it's looking for in an employee." Only the path I choose can lead me to the ultimate descion but with the right guidance in school I personally believe I can achieve my dream!

Lara B. said...

For me, the skills I would need in the real world are to be able to be independent, have knowledge about computers, geography of the world and information about the world. I feel that in my future I will need to know multiple languages and have good person skills to become successful. I feel that the public education that is being taught now is preparing us for the real world, and college. When I think about the future, ecspecially mine in fashion I feel threatened knowing that people over in China and Japan have so much more knowledge of just not knowing about fashion but the whole world and how they're learning about American history and how we don't learn about theirs because we don't even know our own. I also think that they have a wide advantage over us because there are so many more people over there that they have more knowledge and they can learn it faster than we can. I agree with A. Kavanagh that public education is doing what they can and that we have to find out our futures by going out and pursing it not just letting it be handed to us.

Phil E. said...

I would like to direct this question towards Chris. How do you propose the public schooling system teaches people skills? I believe that the most important skill is that of common sense. Without common sense a businessman would not be able to swim in the big pond. Schools can't teaching common sense in classes but the high school situation teaches common sense a lot. I agree with Chris in that another important skill to have is computer skills. computers are taking over the world and in the future I bet pencils won't even exist. The schooling system can help this by having are class more technologically based.

Tara.G said...

I honestly don't know if there is a right answer to this question but I'm going to give my opinion. I personally think that the one thing that should help us with the real world right now is our schools. Like Chris said before, the Littleton Public Schools should be the one to help us in the long run. Without the schools help I see that we won’t be able to successes in life. I think that the schools should help us out by getting us ready for everything that can come along in the real world. We should be able to take the classes that will help us. Like I really don’t think that history is going to help anyone with the real world. With an English class you honestly need to know how to write and read. That is something that will prepare me for the real world. Honestly the one thing that I think that would help us the biggest way is our parents. Our parents should help us along in every way that we need the help in. Parents to me should be the ones to help us with life and to see the real world. I know that kids need to be independent but it would never hurt to have a parent along side you to help you out. Something else that we need is the communication skills, the education, and the technology skills like said before by Chris. This isn’t just something to blame on the school; it’s the independence role that needs to come into play as well.

D.holsapple said...

The Skills we will need to succeed in the future are unpredictable. More over, everyone won’t have the same job so there’s no additional skill training we need at this current time. I don’t believe there’s a need for more skills to be taught in schools, but it would better if they offered a bigger variety of skills we can learn. I’m not really concerned about the future because as long as I get a solid education at a good school. I think the skill that will keep anyone stay ahead in the field of work is the ability to innovate or stay ahead. I have a question P.daeke, you say, “Schools should help students become leaders because in the business world either you have what it takes or your done for,” well what if someone like me doesn’t have any interest in business? Should I have to take classes that you feel necessary for your future?

Tara M said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tara M said...

I believe that why some students are struggling to answer this question is because, as Ariel said, everybody needs help in different places to learn different skills to lead that certain individual to success. As a district LPS has decided which classes are required and exactly how many credit hours one needs of that subject to graduate. Since we have to have more English credits, that means there are more skills that are needed to be learned, all to help us in the real world. Now it is up to us to find our what we are going to do for a living now that the school has finished helping us do so. Along with Chris my place in this system has not yet grown to what it will be by the time I'm done with High School because I still have not learned everything necessary.

Spencer B said...

What I need in order to succeed in the global scheme of life is to really keep ahead of the technical advances world wide. As an N-Gener I use tools that open the global market instead of just what is happening in my own own city. Machines continue to replace humans, so educators must stay one step ahead by learning the lastest technical advances and keeping the N-Geners excited and up to date.
My concerns are competing against the brighter more advanced person. I believe there won't be enough jobs for everyone. How will I be able to survive if i'm not in the top ten percent.

Kaitlyn H. said...

Everyone needs an education to succeed in life but there are many differnt types of learning steps to take to make it in what you want to be when you grow up. I belive that we need the basic skills like math and science and other courses in what we have to learn to graduate, but i also believe that we need to learn how to be independent. Learning how to be independent is the most important skill there is to know to be successful because if you cant fend for yourself, you wont make it anywhere in life. I think that public schools are doing a great job in prepraring us for the real world because they offer us classes that could help us in our future. As for D. Holsapples question at the end of his blog, I do think that high schoolers should take classes that they feel are necessary for their future because before they take the big step after graduation, they at least get a feel for if they like what they dream to do in the future. I know not everyone knows exactly what they want to do in their future but at least public education can offer them ideas to help them out. I'm not really concerned at this point in my life right now in where I stand in the competitive, innovative global market because I am only a high schooler, I have a while to figure that out and be concerned later on.

Margaux L said...

Agreeing with Ariel, each person is different in their own way, I don't believe there is one specific real world skill everyone needs but more or less there are different skills needed for each individual. For me, I really don't know what kind of skills I need yet. I haven't yet figured out what I want to go with the rest of my life or what I want to be. If i had to choose I would say having people skills, being confident in yourself, and motivation. Many of these skills cannot be taught in school, the only person who can motivate you is yourself. Being confident is not really something a teacher can teach you but more or less it has to come from within you. I really don't know what the future holds.

Andrew H. said...

The skills we need in life kind of depend on what job path you take, so in saying that I think that the skills you need are unlimited and it is all a personal preference. Saying that public education must prepare you for the “real world” the only thing I have to say about that is its all your own view and not the public school districts so many people have different idea of what the perfect life / job would be. The inevitable future is the fact that will either get a great job and have lots of money or we’ll get a not so good job and either not make it or die, eventually. The population is growing and so job titles are getting harder to find and so you have to work harder at your goals. P. englert said that the most important thing you can learn in life is common sense which I agree with but you wont get into a good collage with just common sense you need a mixture of schooling and at least a small idea of what to do if life hands you an apple (common sence).

Liz S. said...

After reading what Paul said about every student becoming independent and being trusted, it made me think about this article Mr. Robinson had our class read called, Diagnosing the Ophelia Syndrome, or something like that. The Ophelia syndrome has to do with people doing always just doing what they’re told to do and not really going above and beyond, rather just doing what’s needed to get by. Our “Net-Generation” has started to become a generation that is being taught differently by teachers and all role models of a sort. Teachers give assignments like this that aren’t asking a specific question, but instead are making the topic broader, which makes the students form their own opinions and ideas and decide what they think instead of having the teacher or others think for them. Our generation is the generation that’s starting to expand minds, and as a result people are getting smarter, more creative, and starting to go further in life. Sure there are always the people that prove this wrong, but statistics of things from grades to graduation and even to diseases cured have been increasing more and more each year. The point is that the key thing that is needed to prepare us for the real world is teaching and learning the ability to think for yourself and to form your own opinions and ideas, because in the end that’s what is going to count in the real world and what’s going to help you get further in life.

Matt D. said...

I think that you need to be smart and you have to know how to use all technology. You should probably be able to speak a differenrt language other that english because that is what a lot of businesses are looking for. You should do something that you are good at and that you like and you should try hard and not be lazy. Public schools should teach more classes on business and they should be practical and help you know what you want to do in life because there are so mant different things that you can do. I want to be in the Marines so it would suck to get shot. Thats the only thing that concerns me. So i guess i dont really have a plce in the normal businees market like most people will.

brian h. said...

I agree with many of you. I agree with a. kavanagh. Everybody is different. There are no skills that everybody needs besides the ability to learn. What you might need to learn might be totally different than what I need to learn. I also agree with l. schwisow in that the ability to form our own opinions is also an ability everybody needs to learn and practice. Personally, I don't think there is any specific skill I need to succeed in this generation. This is because,even though I have an idea of where I want to go with my life, anything can happen. I might figure out I don't like the current subject and switch to another one. As far as my concerns, I don't have any major concerns. I don't know what I'll be doing in 10 years or even 5. But I do know that we are all here for a reason. Everybody was created to do something. Whether that affects millions of lives or whether it affects just a couple. Everybody can make a difference and everybody has a place in this world. The problem is finding that place.

Amanda G. said...

Skills that you will need for the real world in order to succeed in the global scheme are computer skills,independence,and have good people skills. Personally I think public schools need to teach how to have good computer skills which they are trying to do by having us blog and stuff. They should teach how to have good people skills by having us talk in front of the class more[eventhough I hate talking in front of the class].Going along with Chris, my place in this global market is minimal because I am still working on all thease skills and are not all up to quality yet.

HannahG said...

Agreeing with Tara, I think it's important that the schools teach us about what we are going to really use in real life rather than a bunch of stuff we aren't going to find useful. I think it's important to know computer skills in the world today, because as the article clearly stated that's the direction that our society is moving to. Computer skills are going to be necessary for our generation because almost everything is electronic now. Even on line courses are being offered! The only thing that concerns me with these computers is the fact that we are building such inpersonal relationships with people over the internet rather than in person. I think the computers are having a negative effect on our social skills.

Kelsi. K said...

One of the most important world skills needed would probably be common sense. Obviously you don't talk to people online that you don't know, and you don't post personal information about yourself. You also need to now a good deal about computers and how to do all of this blogging stuff. However, the real world is different than school. In school we learn things that we won't really need to use for a long time, until we acutally get out in the real world, and even then i'm not so sure. The Highlands Ranch High School's Valedictorian said in his speech, "In my eighteen years i've learned a lot about a lot. In the end most of that information is completely useless." My point is, none of us really know what we want to do with the rest of our lives, i know i don't. For the longest time i wanted to be an actress. I really did, i could picture myself in broadway musicals. Well of course middle school and peers tore down my confidence, and now i actually get stage fright, ha, imagine that. There was also my seventh grade teacher that said wanting to be an actress was stupid, and that i would probably never amount to anything. wow, no wonder i hate raising my hand in class. Anyway, my point is, i don't know what i want to do, or where i want to go. All i know is that i want to do something that makes a difference. Teachers can't teach things that they know for sure will be useful in the real world, because the real world is constantly changing. Which brings me back to the skills you need to be part of the net-gen. websites are constantly changing, you spend months figureing out how to do everything on a website, and then low and behold, the administers re-arrnage it. Just like blogs. First it was e-mail, then Instant messenger, then facebook, then mysapce, and now here we are, doing our homework on a blog. the same way with projects. you used to glue stuff on poaster board, then you saved powerpoints to floppy disks, then to CDs, and now you save everything on zip drives, or instead of doing a powerpoint, you take your video camera and make a really crappy movie in your basement, and, WOW, you get and A, just for being creative like that, so is it my fault that i'm failing a class cause i don't have a video camera to make facy movie and to creative stuff like that, i guess so. you can't even buy niontendo anymore, it's all on wii. i've never had any sort of game system in my life. I don't have a big screen TV with surround sound. i don't even have caller ID. Does that mean that i'm not cut out to be in the net-gen. I think what people need is to just slow down. People don't know what they need in the real world, and why should they, we can worry about that when we get to the real world. We can worry about what technology skills we will need, when they change again, it doesn't matter if your the smartes computer genius in the world, technology changes and eventually everyone will be running on outdated software. So why worry about the real world, or the net-gen now, we should just go with the flow, and do what we need to do, and forget about planning ahead. Planning never works anyways, something is always bound to go wrong. there is a 25% chance that as soon as i hit the post button, my computer will freeze and i will loose this entire write up(knock on wood).

Loraine F. said...
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Loraine F. said...

To succeed in the real world you always have to "one up" another person. You're always competing with the kids taking more AP classes than you,or the kids playing more sports than you.It's like survival of the fittest. If you can't handle a certain amount of homework hours, sports, clubs, and friends you will crash and burn. In preperation for the real world you need a strong sense of work ethic. Schools are pushing more and more education and classes are progressively getting harder and harder. Competition is a huge factor when trying to get a good job coming out of high school. There's always going to be someone better than you. You constantly have to be on top of your game. Your purpose is to stand out whatever it takes. Now as for this technolagy stuff, I hate it all. Honestly nothings better then knowledge that's dependent on your mind alone. Having to turn to the internet for everything is just making us lazy. That doesnt help at all with work ethic! What happened to books? Now the internet offers short summaries of every book EVER! That's lazy and in no way broadens your range of knowledge. Our generation should be called the easy-access generation. So therefore, I disagree with almost every person who said it's absolutely neccasery to have computer skills. DON'T FORGET WE STILL HAVE BRAINS! Remember?

Natalie H. said...

I believe our generation will need good people skills, extra computer skills, and extreme formality. I believe knowing what you want to acheive in your job, business, or goal for the day is very important. Many people in china and Japan have so much extravigant knowledge that the will help them be extremely sucessful. I predict that knowing more than one language, and being aware of the whole entire world will be very useful for the "net generation." The world is very comopetitive and exhausting. Being knowledgeable in serveral fields will hep you go farther in life. Computers may start taking over a ton of jobs. Everyone needs to open their eyes really see the world. Know what move to make. This can only be accomplished by experience and really furthering your knowledge of the world and it's contents as a whole. Realiablity, confidence, and common sense will help you go further!

Maureen K. said...
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KatieM2009 said...

All the public school system can do to helps is prepare for the real world as a whole generation is teach us with updated ways of technology but continue to have students work on their people skills. No one can really succeed in life just sitting in front of a computer the whole time. On the other hand, they can't live without any interaction with technology. What the future holds no one can tell. They can predict but no one is positive. I'm not sure about my place in the global market. I know where I want to be in the future but once again, there is no knowing for sure what is going to happen. Also, I agree with Tara and think that students also need help and support from their parents to make it into the real world.

Maureen K. said...

Honestly, school only brings us so far. Primary education is here not only to deliver facts to students, but to teach us skills like comprehension, rhetoric, and logic. We need to grow and adapt to our true potential if we want to succeed in this huge world. School helps us realize how we can be beneficial, and as Ariel said, going over the basics (core classes) that we can apply to later on. I'm truly worried that my place in the global market will soon disappear, leaving me with a foreign language degree and a cardboard box to live in.

Alyssa B. said...

I think public education needs to prepare students to make intelligent, independent decisions and equally, learn to accept consequences for such decisions. My greatest example being homework. I feel that teachers should provide homework (or access to problems) as well as provide the students with the choice, not requirement, of completing it. If the student chooses not to complete the homework, he will learn to live with the consequences of doing poorly on not only tests, but discussions and essays as well. For example, instead of assigning reading pages and study guide for points, the consequential loss in points would spawn from lack of participation in a discussion, or blog. If a student does not feel comfortable expressing his content knowledge through an exam or discussion, he would be provided with an opportunity to expand his communication and problem-solving skills to arrive at a different form of expression.
It is also important for todays student to be educated in computer science as well as math and English. However important these skills are, I strongly agree that the purpose of school is also to give the student skills such as logic, the ability to communicate his ideas and needs, and the power to adapt socially and physically to the requirements of daily life.

Heather K. said...

i beleive that we need all the skills we can get to make it out in the real world becasue you don't know waht life is going to throw at you. I also think that math is a good skill to have in the real world becuase people use it everyday and sometimes they don't even know that they are using it. People skills are going to be big to because you to beable to the people of what new product your trying to sell and the sell a product and be good in the long run becuase you will be making money that business or company because they will want to by more. life skills is good you will learn what new and how to use them.

A.Lepry said...

Although all of the comments I have read so far keep saying that school is not teaching us the right "stuff" in order to succed in the real world, there is nothing we can do about it. I am one out of billions of teenagers around the world who is getting treated the same as me. Only very, very few are certain of what they are going to do when they grow up so, we night as well take in all the stuff that were getting taught in case someday we decide to change our dreams. For instance, I absoultley hate math. Every day I think, "Why am I here? Why didnt I ditch this class?" But every day I go. Because even though I hate it I want to succeed in it, its the way I was raised. So even though we might think some of the stuff were learning is useless (because most of it may very well be), we night as well listen to what everyone has to say so we can expand or own minds, too.