Week 1

Our world is an ever-changing place, and as such, our education system here in the U.S. needs to be adaptable to fit the needs of today's students. Higher education is becoming increasingly important when in comes to securing a career in today's economy, though arguably some of the essential skills needed to thrive in the workplace are not being taught in schools. Both the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and the National Educational Technology Standards have developed a framework describing the new skills they feel students need in order to succeed in the modern world. In addition to learning traditional subjects such as English, math, writing, science, and history, they feel it is essential for students to be globally aware, and literate in finance, economics, entrepreneurial skills, environmental issues, and civil issues. It is also imperative for students to learn to communicate effectively, collaborate with their peers, and develop strong critical thinking and problem solving skills. In addition to these other new skills, it is perhaps most important for students to become technologically savvy. Technology is becoming more and more dominant in today's culture and it is essential for students, who are the future of our country, to be knowledgeable about all kinds of modern media. That is why this technology class is so essential to our teacher training program. We as teachers need to be able to help our students master these new essential skills, and in order to do that we must be comfortable with new technology ourselves.   

Presentation