Our world has drastically changed in the last few decades, and education reform has taken off! There was once a disconnect in what was being learned in the classroom vs. what was occurring in the outside world. Desks were arranged in rows where very little opportunity for collaboration took place. Skills were taught in isolation and the relevance of what was being learned was often lost.
Now, The 21st century classroom is designed to encourage active learning and interaction as critical thinking, problem solving, and computer literacy skills are being taught. If the curriculum is not relevant, the students will become disengaged and unmotivated.
Imagine this: the students are opening their wireless laptops to their wikis so that they can continue their collaboration on their writing; they are creating glogs which are digital posters to display their creative ideas that can link to websites to support what they have learned on any given skill; they are reading and commenting on blog posts and sharing their ideas about various topics; they are logging on to digital quizzes that they can submit upon completion for instant feedback; they are skyping with other classrooms around the world and gaining new perspectives; and they are gaining knowledge of how we live in an interconnected society where technology is essential.
This is a snapshot of what it looks like in a PDS classroom on a day-to-day basis. The boys are engaged in a curriculum that is connected to their interests and that will benefit them in the world that they are facing.
