Incorporating 21st Century Vocabulary Words Into the Conversation & the Curriculum

To become successful, intelligent, and mindful 21st Century learners, young people need to understand and apply a small group of vocabulary words that now have expanded digital world meanings.

Parents may want to use and talk about these words in conversation as often as possible. Teachers should consciously incorporate them into the curriculum, because the vocabulary knowledge provides young learners with tools that help them consume information more effectively.

As young preadolescents and teens become more comfortable with these words and increasingly able at applying the conceptual meanings they may also gain skill at discerning and then avoiding many of the digital world problems and pitfalls that children encounter.

The knowledge of 21st Century vocabulary words helps  children develop what Howard Rheingold, in his book Net Smart, calls “social-digital know-how.”

A young person accumulates social-digital know-how in today’s connected world by demonstrating a growing ability to collaborate, investigate, collect information, innovate, make decisions, dig deeper when things get hard, think mindfully, and respectfully consider other people’s opinions. When young learners don’t understand the 21st Century vocabulary words, it is far more difficult to accumulate the social-digital know-how that’s needed for personal success in a connected, information-dense world.

21st  Century Learning Vocabulary List