but how do these skills help the way that teachers teach and the way that learners learn?

and how does technology help in making these skills?

Let's take a step back

in 2012 teachers, community leaders and policy makers worked together to make the framework for learning

this framework shows how teaching and learning should happen in today's world

the importance of learning is for learners to learn the 4C's

these skills are important for leaners to grow in work and in life

let's take a look at how technology can help grow these skills in learners

Critical thinking is when learners are able to analyse (study), interpret (understand), evaluate (figure out), make decisions and solve problems

for example take a high school social studies class

in which learners are comparing public use of fossil fuels (buried materials) in the past and in the present

as well as online research learners can use video conferencing to have interviews with field experts (a person who has special skill in area)

learners can use graphs and tables to organize and show their findings

find similar and different things in their data and share with each other

communication is when learners share information expressing their thoughts and opinions clearly to eachother

for communication to happen there needs to be strong listening (paying attention to signing/lip reading) and evaluation skills

communication includes verbal (signed) and written skills and multimedia (mixed media) messages

for example in a grade 5 class where learners are learning about forest fires in their area

a local fire chief asked a question on a community site (website) on how to stop forest fires

Learners could post short written replies to the question, by doing this learners are having an online conversation

learners learn to show their thoughts in a clear way

while showing control of their opinions of issues in their communities

collaboration is when learners are able to work with eachother to reach a goal

while being flexible and sharing group work

for example a grade 8 science class can work in small groups with other nearby schools to research on environmental (surroundings) issues

students can take different roles in their groups depending on their talents and interests

for example some can make observations (to look at something)

some can record data and others can share results

creativity is when one can brainstorm (plan and think), refining (polish and clean) and accepting other people's ideas.

and making ideas visible and useful to others

for example a grade 3 class might work together to brainstorm new ways of recycling

learners choose to create a recycling campaign and making an awareness video for the next assembly

you can see from these examples that when technology is used correctly it can help with using the 4C's in a classroom

technological tools can help learners think critically, communicate, collaborate and be creative

we know that these skills help grow higher order thinking

which is crucial (very important) for today's learning

so what do the 4 C's look like for teaching and learning in your classroom