21 st Century Skills – What Are We Really Talking About?

I’ve come to find that the term “21 st century skills” is a little like “family values”.  We’re all in favor of the idea; we’re just not always sure what we mean.  To me, 21st Century Skills means: critical thinking, problem solving, creativity and innovation, adaptability, collaboration, communication (written, oral and blended and advanced media), media literacy, self direction and self assessment, and application of technology to learned skills.
The application of 21 st century skills requires context.  In order to think critically, we must have knowledge we can bring to bear to a process or problem. Academic content must be integral to the learning process.  Contrary to some recent debates on the subject of 21st century skills, it is not a question of skills vs. content. The challenge is to merge the two into engaging, relevant learning experiences.