Educators know that for students to thrive in our constantly evolving world, what they learn must go beyond reading, writing, and arithmetic. We must not only be willing to deliver these content areas in new ways, but also teach our students the skills they need to succeed academically and in life.
Students must be problem solvers with deep critical thinking skills. They must be able to look creatively at any situation to generate new solutions. They have to work with others collaboratively and be able to communicate their ideas to people effectively. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills refers to these four skills as the “4Cs”: Creativity, Collaboration, Communication, and Critical Thinking.
The 4Cs are not new concepts. But the learning needs of today’s students are. Technology has provided a new dimension to these four skills, making them both more important and, at times, more complex for educators to develop in their students.
This is why the Professional Learning and Leadership Collaborative at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation partnered with Digital Promise to create The 4Cs: Using Technology to Support the 4Cs micro-credentials.
The goal of this micro-credential stack is to support educators who create innovative and personalized student learning environments by leveraging technology and the 4Cs. These micro-credentials align to the Friday Institute’s larger goal of supporting educators at all levels as they think about what it means to meet the needs of every learner and how technology can help to get there. We believe these micro-credentials are one way educators can implement high-quality and personalized student learning experiences.
The 4Cs: Using Technology to Support the 4Cs stack has four micro-credentials exploring each of the 4C skills:
Critical Thinking to Support Student Learning in a Digital Learning Environment
Communication to Support Student Learning in a Digital Learning Environment
Collaboration to Support Student Learning in a Digital Learning Environment
Creativity to Support Student Learning in a Digital Learning Environment
Each of these micro-credentials provides educators with a foundation of the targeted skill, applications for a digital context, and ideas for classroom implementation. Educators who earn these micro-credentials will have demonstrated in practice how powerful each of the “Cs” can be for student growth in a digital and personalized learning environment. We hope these micro-credentials can serve as a bridge for educators between a best practice and the urgent need to use technology to personalize learning.
Learn more about the 4Cs micro-credentials here.
