The 21st-Century Learner

What does it mean to be a "21st-century learner"?

According to Tony Wagner's The Global Achievement Gap, there are seven survival skills that our students should be developing in order to succeed in today's competitive (and cooperative) world. They include:

1. critical thinking and problem solving
2. collaboration across networks and leading by influence
3. agility and adaptability
4. initiative and entrepreneurialism
5. effective oral and written communication
6. accessing and analyzing information
7. curiosity and imagination

In addition, Wagner also indicates that today's students have developed a new set of learning styles: learning through multimedia, learning as discovery, learning by creating, and learning through connection to others.

In order to build on our students' strengths and effectively prepare them for an ever-changing world, we must begin to question how we approach teaching and learning.

So, as I throw this question - What does it mean to be a 21st-century learner? - out to you, I also encourage you to consider another one: How do we best engage that 21st-century student in meaningful ways?

Here are some ideas from the field:

And from students:

What do YOU think? What does this look like in your classroom? What would you LIKE for it to look like in your classroom?