The 33 Digital Skills Every 21st Century Teacher should Have

Every single teacher is concerned about his/ her teaching practices and the skills involved in this process. How many times have you wondered about a better way to teach the same lesson you have delivered to an eariler class? How often have you used technology to engage your students and improve their learning ? These are some recurring questions we keep regurgitating each time our teaching skills are put to the test.

It is amazing how technology has changed the whole world giving rise to new forms of education we never thought of. Our students are more digitally focused than any time before. They spend more time interacting with their mobile devices than they do with their parents or close relatives. Admittedly, this digital boom has both  positive and negative impact on our students. Lack of concentration, short attention span, distraction, visual  stimulus overload, identity theft, lack of real world socializing, privacy issues, depression, and many more are but a direct result of the growing exposure to this technology. Studies have even proved that multitasking, which some educational technology experts brag about in relation to the use of today's technology, reduces the power of our concentration to the half.  We should not, However, only look at the empty side of the cup, the other side is way bigger.


There are  actually several pluses for the use of technology in education and to try and list them  all here is way beyond the scope of this short post. Generally speaking,  no two argue over the fact that technology advantages in education ( and in our life at large ) way  outnumber  its downsides. It is thanks to technology that you are now reading this post and will probably share it with your colleagues.

There is no blinking the fact  that the type of students we teach today are completely different from last century's. We , definitely, need to look at some of the skills we, as teachers, need to equip ourselves with to better live up to the challenge. Among all the challenges we would have in education, there is not as daunting a challenge as catching students focus and getting them engaged in the learning process. For this particular reason, and in addition to the skills I initially mentioned in 21st Century Teaching Skills article, I would like to provide you  with another list of  some equally important digital skills that you, as a teacher, need to seriously consider if you want to pave the way for the 21st century teaching. I have added a list of web tools under each skill for teachers to better exploit it.

Please, remember that I have spent many laborious hours working on  this post and all I ask is a credit back to Educational Technology and Mobile Learning when re-using this content somewhere else.

The 21st century teacher should be able to :


1- Create and edit  digital audio


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
Free Audio Tools for Teachers



2- Use Social bookmarking to share resources with and between learners


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
A List of Best Bookmarking Websites for Teachers



3- Use blogs and wikis to create online platforms for students


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
Great Tools to Create Protected Blogs and Webpages for your Class



4- Exploit digital images for classroom use


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :

• A List of Some of The Best Photo Editing Tools for Teachers
• A List of Great Tools for Teachers to Create Animated Pictures and Images
• A list of Some Awesome Photo and Image Resources for Teachers

5- Use video content to engage students


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :

• 80 Educational Alternatives to YouTube 
• A List of some of The Best Video Tools for Educators

6- Use infographics to visually stimulate students


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :

• 8 Free Tools to Create Awesome Infographics
• Educational Infographics to Share with your Students
• A List of Top Educational Infographics
• A Set of Awesome Infographics on Language Learning
• This is how Teachers Can Embed Infographics in Their Blogs and Websites

7- Use Social networking sites to connect with colleagues and grow professionally

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :

• Teachers Comprehensive Guide to The Use of Social Networking in Education
• Top 25 Social Media Websites for Teachers
• Google Plus Use in Education
• Facebook Use in Education

8- Create and deliver asynchronous presentations and training sessions


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
A List of The Best Presentation Tools for Teachers



9- Compile a digital e-portfolio for their own development


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
Free Tools to Create Digital Portfolios 



10- Have a knowledge about online security


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :

• Teachers Free Tools and Resources on Internet Safety 
• Online Safety Tips and Tools to Protect Kids online and Inform Parents about Internet Dangers
• Free Resources to Teach about Bullying

11- be able to detect plagiarized works in students assignments


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
Free Plagiarism Detector Tools fr Teachers and Educators



12- Create screen capture videos and tutorials


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
Five Great Screen Capture Tools for Teachers



13- Curate web content for classroom learning


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
10 Must have Bookmarklets for Teachers



14- Use and provide students with task management tools to organize their work and plan their learning

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
A List of Great Task Management Tools for Educators



15- Use polling software to create a real-time survey in class


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
15 Free and Easy Poll/ Survey Tools for Teachers



16- Understand issues related to copyright and fair use of online materials

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :

• Teach your Students Copyright Issues
• The Full History of Copyright from Its Origins to What it is Now

17- Exploit  computer games for pedagogical purposes

Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :

• The Gaming Revolution in Education
• Video Games Improve The Brain's Performance

18- Use digital assessment tools to create quizzes


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
Free Tools to Create and Administer Quizzes



19- Use of collaborative tools for text construction and editing


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
A List of Great Free Collaborative Tools for Educators



20- Find and evaluate authentic web based content


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
The Three Effective Ways Teachers Should Know about



21- Use of mobile devices like tablets


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :

• 8 Free Resources on The Use of iPad in Education
• A Free Comprehensive Guide to The Use of iPad Apps in Education
• A List of Excellent iPad  Apps for Educators

22- Identify online resources that are safe for students browsing


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
A List of Awesome Kids-safe Websites



23- Use digital tools for time management purposes


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :

• 8 Free Tools for Better Time Management
• Five Free Tools to Organize and Schedule Meetings

24- Learn about the different ways to use YouTube in your classroom


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :

• 17 Free YouTube Tools Every Educator should Know about
• A List of YouTube Tools to Crop, subtitle, convert and Save Videos

25- Use note taking tools to share interesting content with your students


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :

• 9 Great Note Taking Tools for Teachers
• Free Android Note Taking Apps for Educators

26- Annotate web pages and highlight parts of text to share with your class


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
13 Free Web Annotation Tools for Teachers to Draw, Add notes, and highlight interesting parts in webpages



27- Use of online graphic organizers and printables


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
A List of Free Graphic Organizers for Educators



28- Use of online sticky notes to capture interesting ideas


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
13 Free Sticky Notes Tools for Teachers and Students



29- Use of screen casting tools to create and share tutorials


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
A List of The Best Free Screen Casting Tools for Teachers to Record and Share Tutorials



30- Exploit group text messaging tools for collaborative project work


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
9 Free Group Text Messaging for Educators



31- Conduct an effective search query with the minimum time possible


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :
The Entire Google Search Guide for Teachers



32- Conduct A Research Paper Using Digital Tools


Here are some tools for teachers to develop this skill :

• Free Research Tools Every Educator Needs to Know about
• 6 Free Tools to Easily Cite Resources for students and teachers

33- Use file sharing tools to share docs and files with students online


A List of The Best File Sharing Tools for Teachers


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