I am posting this on behalf of my colleague, Nassim Lewis, who is in the process of getting setup to post blogs on this site. We didn’t want to wait to get this out…so here you go!

First of a three-part series written by Nassim Lewis, one of Intel’s leaders in education interactive design

The last few decades have brought significant changes to the economies of the world. Forces like globalization have changed the where and what of our workplaces. Countries that once focused on manufacturing have transitioned to more knowledge based industries and former agrarian nations have become global manufacturers. Technology has been a key driving force in many of these changes. Developments like personal computing, cell phones and the internet have changed the how and when of information. People across the globe now have faster, broader and more mobile access to information. At the individual level these changes have had a major impact on the skills a person needs to be successful in the 21st century. It is thus critical that our education systems adapt to focus on 21^st century skills building, in order to maximize the potential of each individual student.

The skills of the 21st century are focused around higher order processes like critical thinking, collaboration and effective communication. Traditional pedagogies which depend on a top down flow of information and rote memorization are not sufficient. We live in an information age where students more than ever need to know where to find information and how to analyze the information they receive. Technology plays an important role in delivering these skills. Not only will most students enter a workplace that is dependent on information and computing technologies but technology also fosters 21st century skills like information literacy, communication and collaboration.

A growing number of organizations like Partnership for 21st century Education (P21) have responded to the changing education needs and are providing direction for educators, administrators and policy makers. In the Framework for 21st Century Learning, P21 describes the knowledge and skills that students must master to succeed in life, and also the critical education support systems that must be in alignment for students to master 21st century skills. As providers of education solutions, we must share the same goal, and strive to create 21st century solutions. To help guide our decisions regarding research and development, we must explore and address the needs of each education support system: standards, assessment, curriculum, professional development and the learning environment.

In future articles of this three part series, we will delve deeper into each of the 21^st century education support systems. We will explore the history, current state and emerging trends associated with each system, beginning with standards and assessment in the next article.