The Brain and 21st Century Skills

Student's today receive and encoded information differently. I've experienced in the classroom a shift in the student's reception of content. I can stand in front of the classroom and lecture for 10 minutes and have almost zero impact on the students' understanding/reception/encoding of information. My student's today:

1. Student's do not do retain information very well if the content is delivered orally.
2. Student's require interaction with the information for greater retention.
3. Student's expect any meaningful information to be delivered via entertainment.

In the past education involved learning facts. Today, facts can be had at a click of a button. Some key skills required for the 21st century because of technology are:

1. The ability to find information, ie facts, content, etc.
2. The ability to discern if the information is valid.
3. The ability to communicate thoughts and ideas via technology.

Children today are growing up with technology in their hands and are very comfortable with it. I see the biggest challenge is not teaching them to use the technology as much as teaching them to critically think (discern) which information is valid.

I can see that using Web 2.0 in the classroom could be used to:

1. Model how to find information.
2. Model how to discern, question, and test information.
3. Model how to effectively communicate findings.

Technology is a tool but is only as effective as the craftsman using it. I believe student's will need to be taught how to use these tools and to understand that technology is not a replacement for critical thinking.