21st Century Skills and Pre-Service

Teacher Education
Jillian Brandt Maruskin

The phrase “21st century skills” has been a buzzword pre-service teachers.
among librarians for some time now, but it is still working
its way into the vocabulary of many educators and education Today’s Pre-Service Teachers
administrators. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a
national  organization that advocates for 21st century readiness Many pre-service teachers can be labeled as “digital
for every student, defines 21st century skills as critical thinking, natives” because technology is and has practically been since
problem solving, collaboration, creativity, communication, and birth an integral part of their lives. Unfortunately, this does
innovation (http://www.p21.org/index.php). These skills are an not always mean they are equipped with the “digital literacy”
integral part of ensuring a successful transition into college. skills necessary to select proper technologies for the classroom
or teach and troubleshoot such technologies. Students enter
New technologies emerge constantly and demand swift undergraduate institutions with vastly different backgrounds;
adaptation. As such, 21st century skills are dynamic. The phrase many simply had adequate access to digital technologies
itself will likely morph into something new as technologies and during high school. Pre-service teachers can have reserved
educational standards evolve. Out of these skills has emerged attitudes towards exactly how technology should be used in
the “21st century student.” No longer satisfied to sit in a chair and the classroom. Will technology be a distraction? Is the use of
be lectured, 21st century students require learning experiences technology even appropriate?
replete with collaboration and engaging activities.
For more information on pre-service teacher attitudes
It has become clear that efforts to ease this transition toward technology, I recommend Lei’s article from the Journal
require collaboration among librarians, educators, and of Computing in Teacher Education titled “Digital Natives as
administrators. Academic librarians in particular hold a great Preservice Teachers: What Technology Preparation is Needed?”
responsibility because well-prepared college freshman increase
the likelihood of retention and student success. In addition, they I developed a workshop aimed at Ohio Wesleyan
are in a position to share the expectations faculty will have for University’s (OWU) pre-service teachers with the intention to
students when they arrive at college. Communication between address some of the aforementioned issues.
academic and school librarians is essential and the practice is
becoming more common, but there is yet another area where Ohio Wesleyan University’s Teacher Education
academic librarians can ease the transition to college and the Program
work place for high school students; namely, by working with
Each year, approximately 20 – 30 OWU students have a
declared major of Education. EDUC 377, a teaching workshop,
is a required course taken in conjunction with student teaching.
Brandt Maruskin (Information, Research & Instructional
The Technology Assignment (which addresses the following
Services Librarian)
technology competencies: using software applications,
Ohio Wesleyan University [Delaware, OH]
information literacy skills, integrating technology into teaching,

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and collecting data for teaching and learning) is a requirement (2010) “A Transition Checklist for High School Seniors.” The
for the portfolio each student submits in order to graduate. figure below is from the LibGuide I created to accompany the
class (http://libguides.owu.edu/21stcenturyskills).
As librarian liaison for OWU’s Education department,
I conduct frequent syllabi audits. As soon as I read the syllabus
for EDUC 377 and the Technology Assignment, I knew I
could create a workshop that would not only help the students
complete the assignment, but could also challenge them to think
about the role of technology in the classroom. As an added
bonus, I could encourage students to partner with the school
librarian and introduce them to important resources offered
through INFOhio (a freely available, state-funded resource for
all of Ohio’s K-12 students, teachers, parents, and librarians).

Since technology competencies are such an essential

component of information literacy, my participation in the
course was seen as a natural fit by both myself and the faculty
member. The workshop would include an introduction to 21st
Century Skills, INFOhio, and Web 2.0 Applications. I would
also provide examples of successfully completed assignments
and participate in a discussion of the assignment. Finally, I
would share the benefit of faculty/school librarian partnership.

Workshop Outline
• Introduction to 21st Century Skills

• INFOhio (Resources, Research Project Calculator, 21 Expanded Workshop Outline

Essential Things)
Introduction to 21st Century Skills
• Web 2.0 Applications
• Ohio is a part of the Partnership for 21st Century
• Practical Examples Skills.

• Discussion of the Assignment • Ohio is aggressively revising and implementing new

education standards that speak to the goals of the
As a part of the workshop’s introduction, I ask everyone to Partnership for 21st Century Skills.
remember what it felt like to be a freshman in college.
• Ohio has adopted the Common Core standards that
• “Were you scared?” focus on skills like critical thinking, problem solving,
and information literacy.
• “Did you feel prepared?”
• Clearly, Ohio is invested in equipping students
• “Did you know how to use software like Microsoft with the 21st Century Skills they will need in order
Office? Had you ever blogged? Could you attach to succeed in college and/or the workplace; Ohio
documents to an email?” teachers should be just as invested.

• “How were your time-management skills?” INFOhio Resources, Research Project Calculator, 21
Essential Things
• “Did you know how to use library resources like
online catalogs or databases?” • INFOhio resources will be available to those OWU
students who go on to teach in the state of Ohio.
As librarians, we know that a big part of being a good
teacher is empathizing with the user’s vulnerabilities. We often • This free, state-funded resource is for all of Ohio’s
have to examine resources as if it is for the first time so we can K-12 students, teachers, parents, and librarians.
provide better instruction. Surely, this practice can be beneficial
for teachers. Asking for this self-reflection is a great way to • INFOhio provides electronic resources for schools
set the stage for the rest of the workshop and contribute to and instructional development for teachers while
successful design of technology lesson plans. promoting information and media literacy through the
use of technology.
After we reflect, I share a few items from Owen’s
• This excellent online “home base” for Ohio teachers

176 LOEX-2012 -Brandt Maruskin-

 also includes information about Ohio’s standards, Shakespeare’s Hamlet). I also compile student work so I can
citation guides, Internet2 (an organization that have more examples to share with future classes. Because new
negotiates on behalf of schools to secure cost- applications develop so quickly, it is a good idea to revisit your
effective network and technology solutions), sample examples prior to each year’s workshop. I suggest you use
lesson plans, and more. Go2Web20 (http://www.go2web20.net/) to help you keep up
on the latest developments.
INFOhio 21st Century Learning Commons/21 Essential
Things Discussion of Assignment and Workshop Conclusion

• A place where educators can learn to enhance 21st • Back and forth dialogue between the faculty and
century learning for their students by utilizing librarian is imperative.
various technologies and learning methods.
• Encourage students to come to you if they have
• Teachers can earn continuing education credits with questions.
these self-guided, interactive tutorials.
• Evaluate the workshop through discussion or survey.
• Topics include effective search engine use,
professional development, use of research databases • Be sure to ask students if they understand the
such as EBSCO, and much more. importance of 21st century skills, as well as the
importance of collaborating with their school
INFOhio Research Project Calculator librarian.

• A simple, interactive way for students to engage in Commentary

the research process.
In 2010 and 2011 the Technology Assignment was
• Students enter information about their assignment given towards the end of the semester. After a discussion with
and are given a timeline to complete the following the faculty member, we decided that the assignment will be
steps: Question, Gather, Conclude, Communicate, given earlier as it can be useful for other coursework. This
and Evaluate. workshop is ever-evolving. I plan to work closely with the
faculty member to determine where else I might be able to
• Teachers have access to support materials such as insert instruction into this course.
exercises and rubrics to use in conjunction with the
Research Project Calculator.  Conclusion
Web 2.0 Applications Although there is little doubt that 21st century skills
are a vital part of preparing our students for the workforce
• There are endless freely available applications on the
and college, a challenge remains: How do we make these
web such as wikis, blogs, videos, podcasts, picture
skills seem important/exciting/necessary to our teachers?
books, collages, and more.
Another challenge lies in the terminology. In some arenas, the
• Teachers must know when and how to use them. phrase “21st century skills” has been replaced with the term
“transliteracy.” With workshops such as this one, academic
• Go2web20.net is a great index of web applications librarians can keep pre-service teachers informed and continue
organized by purpose (e-learning, collaboration, the conversation. Thankfully, the curriculum and standards line
design, etc.). up with our mission. The evidence for the value of these skills
is readily available; our responsibility is to collect and share it
• Teachers must be cautious about which applications with our students and faculty.
they use in the classroom.
Bibliography
• Do not use a tool just because it seems cutting edge
or exciting. INFOhio, (n.d.). 21st century learning commons. Retrieved
from http://learningcommons.infohio.org/.
• Teachers should experiment with Web 2.0
applications on their own well in advance of actually INFOhio, (n.d.). About INFOhio. Retrieved from http://www.
using them with students. infohio.org/ABOUT/.

Practical Examples INFOhio, (n.d.). Research project calculator. Retrieved from

http://www2.infohio.org/rpc/.
Part of my preparation for the workshop includes
creating examples to show the students. I have made a Lei, J. (2009). Digital natives as preservice teachers: What
blog, Wordle, podcast, Prezi, Bubblesnap, and more. I technology preparation is needed? Journal of
create examples centered around the same thing (in my case,

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 Computing in Teacher Education, 25(3), 87-97.

Maruskin, J. (2010). Incorporating 21st century skills into the

curriculum. Retrieved from http://libguides.owu.
edu/21stcenturyskills.

Owen, P. (2010). A transition checklist for high school seniors.

School Library Monthly, 26(8), 20-23.

Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (n.d.). A framework for 21st

century learning. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org.

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 APPENDIX

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