Preparing Students with 21st Century Skills
At Camp BizSmart, we believe in preparing students to thrive in the global marketplace. Core components are: entrepreneurship, innovation, belief that education is critical to staying on the cutting edge of 21st century skills; using real world experts and collaborative technology to facilitate boundary-less learning. Core values are: teaching business and entrepreneurial skills grounded in character, courage and citizenship.
Camp BizSmart is providing the skills and hands-on experience that many Fortune 500 companies such as Cisco, believe is important. We in fact share many of the same core values and vision for creating students capable of thriving in the global marketplace as witnessed by Michael Stevenson, Cisco VP of Global Education – his words appear in bold – how Camp BizSmart compliments these statements appears in italics following each statement:
“It’s about identifying the skills that young people need to flourish in today’s economy and society – critical thinking, complex problem-solving, creativity, collaboration.” (Camp BizSmart teaches these skills utilizing project based real world problem solving and business skills experts)
“Now to get to those skills, we’re going to need to do teaching and learning in different ways. Very often, it won’t be the old subject-bound, fact-based approach; it’ll be project-based. It’ll be across subject boundaries. It’ll be drawing experts into the work. It’ll be focusing on real-world problems. That kind of learning, we believe, is best set up to deliver those skills.” (At Camp BizSmart teams solve actual problems given them by Silicon Valley founders & CEO’s. Expert mentors guide them through acquiring the skills needed to create a business plan to support their solution. They then must defend that solution in front of a panel of angel investors in a business plan competition.)
“And if you look at the collaborative technologies, they’re there for a purpose. They, because they focus on collaboration and creativity in their nature, are the best equipped in a teaching environment to support that kind of teaching and learning.” (Camp BizSmart teams use virtual technologies to share information 24/7 and solve problems. They utilize flip video to capture their progress, and practice articulating their ideas. They utilize collaborative technology tools such as TelePresence, Skype, and other virtual meeting tools.)
This is about education transformation which takes advantage of networking technologies to drive it. For global companies like Cisco, the need for educated, trained and competitive work forces are pivotal in plans for continued growth and economic success, both in the United States and overseas. (Camp BizSmart students are enthusiastic users of innovative collaborative technology currently available, and will create the next generation of tools and solutions. They love to solve real problems and appreciate learning from the wisdom of successful entrepreneurs and executives.)
Stevenson says the potential benefits for Cisco, among others, are huge. While students of all grade levels can feel the impact of this transformation, the greatest beneficiaries will be the youngest students. This works best if you take this kind of approach – inquiry-based, collaborative approach – with kids in the elementary phase. They then build on that as they work through complex, project-based pieces of work in the later secondary years. (Camp BizSmart teaches “Tweenpreneurs”, 11-15 yrs of age, real world, hands-on project based skills essential to thrive in today’s world. Camp BizSmart produces continuous learners who create priceless value for their communities, their country, and the world.)
