A 21st Century Classroom: Are Home Educators there?

This post is a small sample of the class I took; a very small look into what other teachers are being challenged to perform in their classrooms.  As I took the class, I felt as though maybe home educators should also be learning these 21st century skills and allow their students to incorporate a few elements that interest them or their family into their daily lives.

Beyond Classroom Walls - the 21st century classroom from murcha


The above information is one slide out of 55:  Are homeschoolers able to do these objectives that 5th graders are given the opportunity to do?  I'm not trying to get home educators to keep up with public school; however, homeschooling parents should be aware of what is available and utilize it to the fullest if desired.

One 21st century skill is collaboration.  The internet is full of ways to collaborate with others (facebook groups, Google Hangouts, Skype).  Collaboration may be a big problem if we isolate ourselves from others in our homeschool journey.  I recently observed a STEM (science technology engineering math) club meeting (from our local cooperative group) where collaboration took place. The leader facilitated learning and drew out answers to critical thinking questions.

I'm not sure I want complete 'tolerance' taught to my children as stated above.  Homeschoolers' goals should be what we want them to be.  Our goals and intentions should not change.  We need to take the available resources and create opportunities for our children that mimic the real world, the global world - the 21st century.

Do you have any ideas for incorporating technology into a homeschool?  I'm going to do a series of posts on 21st century learning, since I'm taking an online college class on this topic.  I've learned so much and want to share tidbits of ideas here and there, so technology will not be neglected as our children graduate and head off to college.  They may need more experience with 21st century skills.

Some simple examples of 21st century learning are as follows:

Utilizing digital photographs of science experiment results

Allowing students to use equipment may not always be a possibility, but would benefit them as they learn the equipment, troubleshoot the equipment, and become proficient with it.  It would not have to be a microscope, but could be a car, refrigerator, or computer. 

Microscopes are one aspect of 21st century learning.  Notice the screwdriver here.   She and her sister had to install the light bulb, place the batteries, and troubleshoot the microscope themselves.  I allowed them to investigate and problem solve.  They felt accomplished afterwards and utilized problem solving ideas.