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21st century skills are a new initiative in education that requires the integration and use of multiple technologies. The article clearly states in order for America’s students to compete in a global economy, 21st century skills must be infused into current education curriculum. 21st century skills are comprised of: “global awareness, financial, economic, business, and entrepreneurial literacy, civic literacy, health literacy, creativity, and innovation skills, critical thinking and problem solving, communication and collaboration, information literacy, media literacy, information and communications technology literacy, flexibility, and adaptability, initiative and self direction, social and cross cultural skills, leadership and responsibility as essential 21st century skills” (Gut 7). This would seem to be a near impossible task for educators to not only teach current curriculum standards based on high stakes testing but also create ways to allow students to gain these numerous 21st century skills. A good portion of this article talks about how government feels strongly about preparing learners to be able to use 21st century skills. Even President Obama has said that too much focus has been placed on standardized testing and that our focus should be on 21st Century skills. This statement is strong, but does not seem to be supported by actions. We still are focused on making AYP each year based on standardized tests. Additionally government wants schools to teach these 21st century skills but the schools lack the resources and training. Teachers are unsure of how to implement the skills within their classroom. The resources that schools have to teach 21st century skills are not adequate. For example, we have new computers in two labs and some in the library. Most staff does not have access to these computers for one fourth of the year because of standardized testing. When they are available there are networking issues that prevent staff and students from utilizing the technology. One of the more proactive approaches to teaching 21st century and technology skills is that it be taught in conjunction with the core curriculums. Technology should be used to enhance curriculum. Many new textbooks provide teachers with different ways to get students using 21st century skills. My question here would be, are these technology integration skills via textbooks proven to get results? This article does a good job of offering numerous websites and ideas for educators to utilize in an attempt to tailor current curriculum to allow student opportunities to gain these skills. At one point the article talks about what type of learners the students must be “…nomadic, flexible, mobile learners who do not depend solely on connecting with people and resources. Teachers must be co-learners and models in their own use of connections and networks”(Gut 9). One of the more interesting suggestions for curriculum development was utilizing the Smithsonian’s History Explore website ( [] ) to research a timeline of American history. From this research it was suggested teachers could have their students create a timeline of their own lifetime using multimedia technology. Included in this article were some examples of project ideas and websites that encourage and incorporate 21st century skills into the social studies curriculum. I looked at some of them and thought I could find ideas to encourage social studies teachers in my building to utilize. One site that I looked at was Thinkfinity. This site focuses on math social studies science and 21st century skills. It has many lesson plan ideas and also has interactive tools that teachers could use in their classroom presentations. In addition it provides webinar training and blogs for educators to network and share ideas. Another site that I liked was Route 21. This defines and explains what the 21st century skill are and then supplies resources to help learners develop their 21st century skills. The conclusion offers a good perspective for educators who question their own ability to utilize technology in the classroom. They suggest educators become, “managers of their students’ talents, time, and productivity…to be the guide on the side rather that the technician magician” (Gut 13). Application I see myself playing a big role in helping other staff members develop 21st century skills with students. One way I help with 21st century skills is to work with other staff members to develop lessons that incorporate technology into their units. An example would be taking information learned in class and publishing it with a type of presentation software. In the past we have used podcasting, Power Point, Print Shop, and Microsoft office I also support them by finding resources for them, encouraging them and supporting them with their own technology use, and teaching information literacy skills.