The Four Cs of 21st Century Learning

The Granite School District Educational Technology Department seeks to leverage the power of technology to support the “Four Cs” of 21st Century Learning: Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity. These four skills were first identified in 2006 by the Partnership for 21st Century Learning — a coalition that included the U.S. Department of Education and leading business and education organizations — as essential learning and innovation skills for success in the 21st century.

These four Cs are the guiding principles behind our digital literacy goals for students, as outlined in the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards for Students and Digital Promise’s Indicators of Impactful Technology Use.

International Society for Technology in Education, 2024, *ISTE Standards for Students*

Students select relevant technology for learning.
Students use technology to develop collaboration, comunication, creativity and innovation, and critical thinking skills and to develop agency. — Digital Promise, Indicators of Impactful Technology Use

Enhancing the teaching of curriculum using digital tools will help prepare our students for their future success. In the coming weeks and months, we will be featuring digital tools, resources, apps and websites that support student learning in the Four Cs, culminating in dynamic lists of tools that support each of the Four Cs and the other ISTE standards for learning with technology.

Additional Resources

Here are links to additional resources on the Four Cs and digital literacy goals for students:

<a class="gsd-ada-issue" data-ada-message="Link text should include the document type (PDF): "Preparing 21st Century Students for a Global Society:Â An Educator's Guide to the "Four Cs"" Preparing 21st Century Students for a Global Society:Â An Educator's Guide to the "Four Cs" (PDF)Preparing 21st Century Students for a Global Society: An Educator’s Guide to the “Four Cs” [National Education Association]
Above and Beyond: The Story of the 4 Cs [FableVision Learning and P21 – Partnership for 21st Century Learning]

4 Cs Infographic

Videos

Article Author: Kristen Johnson, Granite District Educational Technology Specialist (Updated by Jenny Peirce)