Do you C what I C?

There are multiple ways to use a blog, one of which is to show cool new tools and features of products. I’ve steered away from that at this point because there are so many people already doing great work on this. I’ve aimed more for identifying broader trends I’ve seen with the amazing educators I get to work with.

What do you C?

This month, I’ve seen lots of folks doing cool things with technology, but one area of growth potential I’ve noticed is the 4 C’s of 21st Century Learning: Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Creativity. Yes, I see students communicating and collaborating with each other, thinking about their assignments, and drawing pictures and cutting and gluing as they each make their designated elf. However, I think this is simply the low-hanging fruit, and doesn’t really exemplify the spirit of what these 4 C’s are really aiming for. This is the 20th Century way of implementing these skills. We want a 21st century version because that is the world our students will live in, literally and figuratively.

For me, the 4 Cs are fully realized when they extend beyond the walls of the classroom. Critical thinking and Creativity might look more like students creating their own classroom “Code of Hammurabi” and thinking critically about which one would be the best code to use as a set of school rules. Or maybe it would mean deciding to buy a Christmas present for a kiddo in need, creating an advertising campaign to collect money, and thinking critically about how precisely to spend the money.

Communicating and Collaborating might mean communicating via Google Hangout with a class in another country and collaboratively collecting data on the kinds of food each group eats, and creating a group blog post or podcast about how that impacts lifestyles in each country. Maybe it means a class locates an expert on entomology to video-conference with as they are studying insects, helps the expert develop their next research question, and can help participate in citizen science data collection.

Diving into the Deep Cs

While there is lots of room for growth, I have also seen some awesome examples as well. One amazing example I saw of this was Ms. Fredette's 6th graders who are doing a STEM challenge to design a method of getting a Harry Potter character across the Black Lake via a new method with the members of their group.

I did get to help with the communication piece with several classes recently with the tool Flipgrid. Ms. Brandt had her 3rd graders connect with their pen pal class via Flipgrid videos to compare the weather in each location. Ms. Maya had her 6th graders use Flipgrid as not only a standard exit ticket reflection of learning, but also as a tool to connect with their Classroom Champions Olympian buddy and reflect on the core value of the month.

Another area I have seen teachers work on the creativity aspect is through robotics and coding. We have had many folks use the Hour of Code resources as well as various robots to start to explore coding, which has definitely created some sparks (and all out flames) of creativity! The critical thinking and collaboration kids naturally engage in through this process is so inspiring! As we go into the new year, the 4 C’s will definitely be an area I am hoping to encourage more people to try. Not only does it help students learn more deeply, it makes teaching a whole lot more fun!