Preparing Students for the 21st Century is Not Enough

It's the end of 2014, which means in a few weeks the calendar will turn over and it will be 2015.  It seems like only yesterday year 2000 hit us.  We made it to the 21st century and with the turn of the century, many advancements were being made and the development of new technologies is constantly getting better and better.  Google has developed the first driver-less car.  3D printing is becoming more and more accessible with brands like MakerBot.  I can solve math problems by taking a picture on my smartphone using PhotoMath.   USB drives have gone from 128mb to becoming obsolete with cloud based storage.  It's amazing what is happening.  The crazy part is...the technology referenced above is the technology of the present, not the technology of the future.  So it begs to question, what is next?  When the year 2000 hit we entered the 21st century and sadly, many of our schools didn't and still haven't and we have been living the 21st century for 14 full years.  The first graders of right now will graduate high school a quarter of the way through the 21st century and what opportunities are we giving them?

So what is this post about?  In a sense it is about 21st century skills, but more importantly, it is about throwing 21st century skills out the window and relabeling it.  We are 14 years through the 21st century and we are still pushing 21st century learning...?  Don't get me wrong, I agree that our students need to be prepared for the 21st century, but before we know it the 21st century will be half over and what then?  I propose we simply start saying we will prepare our students for the future.  There is the term "future ready" which has gained a lot of attention, but what is the definition?  Can we define it?

By saying we are preparing students for the 21st century, we are essentially telling ourselves we are preparing kids for the present.  Is that enough?  I think of the changes made with technology within my own teaching career (4 years).  It is incredible and that's just 4 years.  By the time those little 1st graders graduate what will they be faced with.  Wearable technology?  Think about the amount of schools that ban cell phones and think about the fact that we are not too far away from cell phones just being a part of what we wear on a daily basis.  Are we ready for the change?  How are we preparing our kids for that now?

It's tough to predict the future and things change constantly, but I cannot help but think that we might not be doing enough now.  I know there are great schools out there that arguably are doing well, but what about the schools that are not?  When elementary students are coding and creating robots and connecting with people all over the world, I think that is a start.  What the students who are still getting worksheets to prove their learning?  What about the schools who block twitter, YouTube, and cell phones?  What about the schools who are not providing students with access to an outside world through technology?  What about the schools that are still using textbooks from 10-15 years ago?  This is only the tip of the iceberg.  Giving students access is not the end all, be all.  The system needs a big change.  Why reinvent the wheel?  Becuase the wheel doesn't fit the road we are on and I would argue that it hasn't for a while.

Sorry for the amount of questions in the post.  I accept criticism of these ideas, but think about and take it and ask these questions about your instruction, your school, and your district.  What are doing to prepare your students for the present, but even more importantly, what are doing to prepare your students for tomorrow?