If you know me or have read this blog at all, you probably know that I find the term “21st century skills” a little annoying especially since they include things like creativity and problem solving. As though we have some corner on the market of those things because we live in a time in which you can watch Philipinno prisoners do the Thriller dance on your iPhone.

But as I’ve worked at various projects lately, I have been thinking about what specific kinds of skills might be useful for students to learn and while they eventually lead to those more generic skills (like problem solving), they are very much situated in a 21st century context.

One skill that I think would be very useful for students to learn is some kind of programming: whether it’s game creation using Scratch or Flash or web-based data work using php/SQL, programming is a wonderful way to be introduced to a worthwhile skill that demands great problem-solving skills. I’ve been working with a variety of programming, lately mostly of the database variety, and I move from finding myself knee deep in frustration when the code breaks go head-in-the-clouds excited when something finally works the way I want it to.

I’ve learned that there are always several different ways to do the same thing and that semi-colons are very important pieces of punctuation. I’ve also learned that there are many very helpful people out there who are willing to offer advice and guidance but I have to know how to ask the right questions and provide the right kinds of information. Finally, I’ve learned that I should go to bed when things are working, because when they’re not, I dream about them and sometimes the answer arrives in those dreams but more often than not, I just have a restless night.

I’m going to introduce my students to some very basic programming by using Scratch. We don’t have a lot of time (the biggest problem with the courses I teach) but we can get our feet wet and maybe a few of them will pursue it or, even better, let their kids give it a try.