Defining 21st Century Skills for K-12: A Review of …
Running Head: DEFINING 21ST CENTURY SKILLS FOR K-12
Defining 21st Century Skills for K-12: A Review of the Literature
Sharon R. Synan
University of West Georgia
Abstract
21st Century Skills is a phrase used in industry and education loosely, with no clear definition. The purpose of this literature review is to define 21st Century Skills and indicators as they relate to K-12, and how they have been measured and assessed. 21st Century Skills include work ethic, creativity, technology literacy, and communication skills. This review analyzes research in four categories related to 21st Century Skills: Industry and education policy; indicators of 21st Century Skills, effectiveness of measurement tools and evaluations of 21st Century Skills; and integration and alignment practices.
Defining 21st Century Skills for K-12: A Review of the Literature
Historically nations that foster knowledge, innovation and creativity, embracing technological advances lead the world in prosperity (State Educational Technology Directors Association, 2007). Fostering knowledge includes literacy. Literacy and technology have been connected since earlier history. The internet has changed the definition of literacy by introducing readers and writers to electronic texts that incorporate features not typically found in traditional written prose creating new opportunities and global impact (Karchmer, 2001). The notion of a literate populace must be expanded to include the technology based skills and abilities that will enable citizens to function in an increasingly technological world (Educational Testing Services, 2002). These technology based skills and abilities are included in the concept behind the current academic and business buzz phrase “21st Century Skills”. Although this phrase is used with the presumption of understanding, a clear definition is difficult to pinpoint. What exactly is the definition of “21st Century Skills”? The purpose of this literature review is to investigate the skills and indicators that define 21st Century Skills as they relate to K-12, how they have been determined, measured and assessed based on research. Finally, the review looks at research integrating and aligning these skills in K-12 environments.
Methodology
To find and gather resources for this literature review Galileo, Georgia’s online library, was used to gain access to journal articles. Functions to limit the search to peer reviewed and full text were enabled. Emphasis was placed on finding research relating to 21st Century Skills specifically in regards to K-12 online learning environments. Key word searches used included, but were not limited to, 21st Century Skills, Century 21 Skills, online education, standards, virtual education, and K-12 education.
In a 2009 metasynthesis of multiple types of published writings the data showed only 18 percent of the qualifying literature included 21st century skills, making 21st Century Skills the least represented in the literature (Barbour, Cavanaugh, & Clark, 2009). The literature for this review was found to be scarce in keeping with the metasynthesis cited above. Websites created by organizations and associations interested in 21st century skills with published research and reports were searched for additional literature. Once a sample of literature was collected, information was then coded into four categories including: observations from industry and human resources; characteristics of 21st century skills and indicators; groups involved in standards, measurement, evaluation and the barriers for K-12; and how to align and integrate with course work and content standards for K-12. Research to support each category is included within the subsections.
Observations from Industry and Human Resources
Most industry leaders believe that early development of skills in computers, programming, and networking is essential to pursuing further education in college, in job training, or in other educational modes before getting a job in the high tech industry (Chapman, Loveless & Roberts, 2000 p. 311). In a digital world, no organization can achieve results without incorporating technology into every aspect of its everyday practices (SETDA, 2007, p.2). To compete successfully for tomorrow’s jobs, today’s students will need to learn to be future leaders who can think creatively, work collaboratively, use technology to solve problems, and take initiatives (Task Force, 2008). The United States faces increased competition for jobs from college graduates in other countries (Borja, 2006, p. 47). To meet the growing demand for increased understanding and learning in K-12 classrooms the government included the Enhancing Education through Technology Act of 2001, Title II. Part D of NCLB (Barbour, Cavanaugh & Clark, 2009).
In spite of this initiative, 75 percent of the 431 company human resource officials polled said K-12 schools are responsible for teaching basic skills such as writing, critical thinking, reading comprehension, and work ethic, while also suggesting that education has fallen short of that responsibility (Borja, 2006, p. 47). An additional survey reported 96 percent of adults in the United States believe that students today need to improve upon skills needed to succeed in the 21st century (U.S. Students, 2008, p. 22). The business community would seem to concur. The U.S. Department of Commerce, in a published report, states that education is the least technology-intensive enterprise in a ranking of technology use among 55 U.S. industry sectors (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2003). In response to this perceived deficiency, American corporate leaders began to commit their time and corporate resources to educational reform. These partnerships have become powerful advocates for educational reform. The Michigan roundtable is one good example, as it inspired the founding of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (Sipple, 1999).
Characteristics of 21st Century Skills and Indicators
Anne Bryant, the Executive Director of the National School Board Association has stated, “More students are taking AP courses and graduates are better prepared and ready for college.” (Borja, 2006, p. 47). Is a deep knowledge of subject matter enough? Ken Kay, President of P21 does not think so, and believes that students must develop 21st century skills like creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving (Aronowitz, 2010, p. 3). A new set of skills is necessary to prepare students for life and work in the digital age. These skills include digital literacy, inventive thinking, effective communication, and high productivity abilities (CEO Forum, 2001).
It is apparent that with the acceleration in the pace of technological innovation and saturation in society, skills such as problem-solving, synthesizing information and communicating via technology are essential for today’s students (Barron, Harmes, Kalaydjian & Kemker, 2003, p. 489). Even children in primary schools are being taught to communicate effectively through electronic texts such as e-mail (Frid, 2001). Business and education leaders agree that mastery of core subjects and 21st Century Skills are essential for success in life and work. When business leaders were asked to list the skills they considered most desirable, they included the following: work ethic, collaboration, social responsibility, critical thinking and problem-solving. Creativity and innovation were also included as important (Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow, 2008).
How can educators summarize these skills into a clear definition? More than one attempt has been made to define these skills. The Massachusetts Board of Education Task Force definition of 21st Century Skills stems from extensive research done on the real skills employers nationwide say they need and have led to the development of the Partnership on 21st Century Skills and other statewide efforts all across the country. This catch-all phrase covers a spectrum of skills and abilities ranging from critical thinking to creativity, innovation to leadership, global awareness to media and financial literacy (Task Force, 2008). The American Society for Quality uses indicators to define 21st Century Skills such as organizational skills, communication skills, problem-solving and reasoning, creativity, teamwork and collaboration, as well as science and technology (U.S. Students, 2008, p. 22). The National Education Technology Standards for Students lists the following: creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and information fluency, critical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making, digital citizenship, and technology operations and concepts (National Education Technology Standards for Students, 2007). INACOL National Standard of Quality Online Learning lists indicators including using 21st Century Skills in the core subjects, 21st century content, learning and thinking skills, ICT literacy, self-directed learning, global awareness, and includes 21st century assessment as identified by the partnership for 21st century skills (iNACOL, 2007).
Groups Involved in Standards, Measurement, Evaluation and Barriers
21st century skills cover a broad spectrum of skills. To help insure quality and consistency in educational practices, organizations and associations have developed standards, measurements, and evaluation tools to address 21st Century Skills. These groups include: The International Society for Technology Education which has published the National Education Technology Standards for Students and for Teachers; iNACOL, The International Association for K-12 Online Learning, which has published the iNACOL National Standards for Quality of Online Learning; the Southern Regional Education Board, which has published Standards for Quality Online Courses; Educational Testing Services, which has published iskills; and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, which is a national organization that advocates for 21st century readiness for every student. These national standards have encouraged and guided states to develop their own 21st Century Skills standards. Some states with 21st century skills specific standards include: Arizona, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Oregon (Aronowitz, 2010, p. 1).
Methods of evaluating 21st Century Skills are continuing to be developed. Educational Testing Services developed iSkills, and a tool for predicting online learning success has been developed titled the Educational Success Prediction Instrument (ESPRI). The ESPRI helps predict which high school students are likely to succeed online and provides a basis for counseling. This prediction tool measure self-motivation, experience with technology, attitude toward technology, and self-confidence. Many of these characteristics are similar to 21st Century Skills (Marshall & Roblyer, 2003).
Barriers keep K-12 classrooms from implementing these standards. One barrier is that the use of technology itself is often narrowly conceived and misunderstood. Examples of narrowly conceived use of technology could be a classroom teacher using a computer for recording daily grades. This same teacher may consider this to be daily class use while the standard is related to student creation and use. Another barrier is fear for student safety. Students make frequent use electronic text. Using electronic text within the classroom can motivate students to read and write. Electronic text can be used to teach social skills. These skills need to be taught because students are already representing themselves and forming themselves digitally (Gamboa & Guzzetti, 2005). Some of the indicators are not really skills but rather are very subjective, such as creativity (Aronowitz, 2010). Assumptions that education already uses technology can stand in the way of progress. The fostering of 21st century skills requires new approaches to teaching and learning and it requires learning environments that mirror those of high-performance, knowledge driven organizations (SETDA, 2007, p. 3). Some of these new learning environment issues can be found in the development of virtual schools. Similar to the variations in the definition of 21st Century Skills, these online learning environments have variations in policies such as trial period, and course completion that must be addressed in order to evaluate and measure for quality purposes by States and other stakeholders (Barbour & Hawkins, 2010).
How to Align and Integrate with Content Standards for K-12
What is the vision provided by national standards? Now that standards are in place, teachers and course designers need a common vision moving beyond the old objective type learning based on what students should know and do by aligning the content and 21st Century Skills into the framework of learning (Bell & Irving, 2004). The standards serve to set the basis for technology benchmarks for various grade levels. After the publishing of A Nation at Risk, priority was placed on testing for proficiency across the nation in content areas. J. Genovese writes “Social values will be reflected in education and eventually on tests.” (Genovese, 2002 p. 113). In the same study he notes a marked shift away from factual knowledge toward de-contextualized problem solving emerging in the 21st century (Genovese, 2002). The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has launched the P21 Professional Development Affiliate Program in an effort to establish a network of affiliates to help build and implement K-12 professional development programs that foster 21st Century Skills. These programs help align professional development with the Partnerships Framework for 21st Century Learning (New pd, 2008, p. 10). The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has developed content specific skill maps that demonstrate how teachers can develop lessons for students that combine core skills such as critical thinking or communications techniques with modern technology. Most schools do not have a 1:1 computer to student ratio. The lack of computer hardware often requires teachers to develop strategies to implement programs not planned by the developer of the program. One common strategy is to pair students on one computer as cooperative learners. Few computer programs exist that incorporate instructional strategies for learning groups. Teachers need training on best practices in various environments such as cooperative learning to make the experience successful for students. Cued response in a cooperative learning environment is one strategy that is highly successful (Klein & Sherman, 1995). Cooperative learning environments promote collaboration, a 21st Century Skill; however, peer cooperation should not be expected but developed. Mediated learning experiences teach effective cooperative, pro-social skills (Dinos & White, 2010). A wide range of problem-solving examples is included in the Partnership Frameworks to help teachers integrate 21st century skills in all K-12 classes (Box & Yell, 2008, p. 348). Development of student’s 21st Century Skills are facilitated by 21st century teaching. Such teaching emphasizes interdisciplinary thinking; active problem-solving; reflective evidence based reasoning; theory-practice connections; ongoing feedback; authentic assessment; flexible roles in collaborative settings; student autonomy tempered with inter-dependence and teamwork; diverse perspectives; reciprocity and social responsibility (Greenhow, 2007, p. 2).
Conclusion
An evaluation of the literature revealed a pattern within the selected pieces. The samples selected began with one of three themes; workforce demands for increased student learning of skills; a description of the indicators of 21st Century Skills; or a comparison of technology information and the integration of technology as a 21st Century Skill. A major discrepancy found is the inclusion of ICT, media, and technology within 21st Century Skills. Proponents of Information and Communication Technology strongly advocate for indicators that stand-alone within ICT. ICT proponents would argue that claiming to be technologically literate is the ability to make well-considered decisions or to think critically about technology. Technology literacy, ICT advocates believe, should be separated out from 21st Century Skills (National Academy of Engineering, 2002, p.1). Media literacy advocates would propose a separate standard as well, including the need for students’ ability to access the role of media in their lives (Badke, 2009, p. 47). Having used the iNACOL standards to evaluate an online course, I appreciate the need for continued professional development on the importance and clarification of 21st Century Skills. The use of 21st Century Skills standards as an evaluation tool almost seems to be merely an afterthought added at the end of a college course to cover all the bases or complete a checklist. After this review I now realize that this apparent insignificant standard has one of the greatest impacts on the overall quality of the course and should be emphasized. Use of the website and resources provided by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills would be a great site to access and use to make recommendations when completing course evaluations.
Future Research Recommendations
The literature leaves room for many suggestions for future research. The digital divide at one time referred to access of technology in schools. Today, research that goes beyond access to include the ability to optimize the use of the technology they posses and assess the worth, reliability, and ultimate functionality of the information that is found is vital (Badke, 2009, p. 47). Research questions for this area would be: What is the new definition of digital divide? Does access of technology equal optimal use of technology? Methods to adequately measure 21st century learning along with the tools to use for those measurements are greatly needed. Research questions for this area include: How do schools, teachers, and students measure creativity and integrate it into assessments?
I would like to conduct a mixed research at New Tech High School in Napa, California. New Tech opened in 1997. The qualitative data would intend to measure alumni attitude toward New Tech High School. The quantitative hypothesis would be: A high school focused on 21st century skills and work force readiness will produce students who are better prepared for college and the work place. The participants would be students who have graduated from New Tech High School after 2000 and who attended from ninth grade through high school graduation. Since student records are confidential I would ask the school board to send a letter to alumni requesting permission to release their name for an attitudinal study. A survey would be developed using a Likert scale to measure attitude. A questionnaire would be developed and emailed to respondents asking questions about their higher education experiences, work experiences, etc. If possible a panel of alumni would be invited to participate in a group interview and discuss the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the high school program. The data analysis would divided into two initial categories; one for those going to college immediately after graduating high school and one for those going straight into the workforce. College attendees would be coded for common themes and workforce students would be coded for common themes.
Research Specific References
Barron, A. E., Kemker, K., Harmes, C., & Kalaydjian, K. (2003). Large-scale research study on technology in K-12 school: Technology integration as it relates to the national technology standards. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 35(4), 489.
Borja, R. R. (2006). Work skills of graduates seen lacking. Education Week, 26(9), 10.
Frid, S. (2001). Supporting primary students' on-line learning in a virtual enrichment program. Research in Education, (66), 9.
Genovese, J. E. C. (2002). Cognitive skills valued by educators: Historical content analysis of testing in ohio. The Journal of Educational Research, 96(2), 101-114.
Guzzetti, B., & Gamboa, M. (2005). Online journaling: The informal writings of two adolescent girls. Research in the Teaching of English, 40(2), 168-206.
Hawkins, A., & Barbour, M. (2010). U.S. virtual school trial period and course completion policy study. The American Journal of Distance Education, 24(1), 5.
Karchmer, R. A. (2001). The journey ahead: Thirteen teachers report how the internet influences literacy and literacy instruction in their K-12 classrooms. Reading Research Quarterly, 36(4), 442.
Roblyer, M. D., & Marshall, J. C. (2002). Predicting success of virtual high school students: Preliminary results from an educational success prediction instrument. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 35(2), 241.
Sherman, G. P., & Klein, J. D. (1995). The effects of cued interaction and ability grouping during cooperative computer-based science instruction. Educational Technology Research and Development, 43(4), 5-24.
Sipple, J. W. (1999). Institutional constraints on business involvement in K-12 education policy. American Educational Research Journal, 36(3), 447-488.
U.S. students need 21st century skills.(2008). Reading Today, 25(4), 22-22.
White, R., & Dinos, S. (2010). Investigating the impact of mediated learning experiences on cooperative peer communication during group initiatives. The Journal of Experiential Education, 32(3), 226.
Complete List of References
Apple – ACOT2: Understanding of 21st Century Skills and Outcomes (2008). Retrieved from
Badke, W. (2009). Media, ICT, and information literacy. Online, 33(5), 47.
Barron, A. E., Kemker, K., Harmes, C., & Kalaydjian, K. (2003). Large-scale research study on technology in K-12 school: Technology integration as it relates to the national technology standards. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 35(4), 489.
Booth, S. (2009). At the tipping point: K-12 online learning. Independent School, 69(2), 20-22.
Borja, R. R. (2006). Work skills of graduates seen lacking. Education Week, 26(9), 10.
Cavanaugh, C. S., Barbour, M. K., & Clark, T. (2009). Research and practice in K-12 online learning: A review of open access literature. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10(1)
CEO Forum on Education and Technology. (2001, June). The CEO Forum school technology and readiness report: Key building blocks for student achievement in the 21st century. Retrieved February 21, 2002 from .
Chapman, G., Loveless, T., & Roberts, L. G. (2000). Federal support for technology in K-12 education. Brookings Papers on Education Policy, (3), 307-357.
Educational Testing Service. (2002). Digital Transformation: A Framework for ITC Literacy by Educational Testing Service. Retrieved March 26, 2010 from
Frid, S. (2001). Supporting primary students' on-line learning in a virtual enrichment program. Research in Education, (66), 9.
Genovese, J. E. C. (2002). Cognitive skills valued by educators: Historical content analysis of testing in ohio. The Journal of Educational Research, 96(2), 101-114.
Greenhow, C. (2007). 21st century teaching online: strategies for planning, implementation, and assessment. Informally published manuscript, Department of Education, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Retrieved from
Guzzetti, B., & Gamboa, M. (2005). Online journaling: The informal writings of two adolescent girls. Research in the Teaching of English, 40(2), 168-206.
Hawkins, A., & Barbour, M. (2010). U.S. virtual school trial period and course completion policy study. The American Journal of Distance Education, 24(1), 5.
International Association for K-12 Online Learning. (2007) iNACOL National Standards of Quality for Online Courses. Retrieved April 2, 2010 from
International Society for Technology in Education (2007). National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers 2008. Retrieved April 1, 2010 from
Irving, K. E., & Bell, R. L. (2004). Double visions: Educational technology in standards and assessments for science and mathematics. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 13(2), 255-266.
Karchmer, R. A. (2001). The journey ahead: Thirteen teachers report how the internet influences literacy and literacy instruction in their K-12 classrooms. Reading Research Quarterly, 36(4), 442.
National Academy of Engineering (2002). Technically speaking: why all Americans need to know more about technology.
New pd program targets 21st-century skills.(2008). T.H.E.Journal, 35(12), 10.
Roblyer, M. D., & Marshall, J. C. (2002). Predicting success of virtual high school students: Preliminary results from an educational success prediction instrument. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 35(2), 241.
Sherman, G. P., & Klein, J. D. (1995). The effects of cued interaction and ability grouping during cooperative computer-based science instruction. Educational Technology Research and Development, 43(4), 5-24.
Sipple, J. W. (1999). Institutional constraints on business involvement in K-12 education policy. American Educational Research Journal, 36(3), 447-488.
Task force recommends integration of 21st century skills throughout K12 system.(2008). US Fed News Service, Including US State News,
U.S. students need 21st century skills.(2008). Reading Today, 25(4), 22-22.
White, R., & Dinos, S. (2010). Investigating the impact of mediated learning experiences on cooperative peer communication during group initiatives. The Journal of Experiential Education, 32(3), 226.
Yell, M., & Box, J. (2008). Embrace the future: NCSS and P21. Social Education, 72(7), 347.
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