What does a 21^st century classroom look like? Is there a interactive whiteboard at the front of the room instead of a blackboard? Are students busily manipulating iPad screens rather than laboring with pencil and paper? Do students tweet their questions rather than raise their hands?

When we talk about giving students a 21^st century education the focus is often on technology. Let’s get new computers in the classroom. Let’s open up broadband networks so that every school has high-speed Internet access. Let’s fund the latest software packages and encourage students to collaborate using social media. Yes, let’s do all those things, but let’s also remember that 21^st century classrooms need 21^st century teachers.

In one month, educators and administrators from around the world will convene in Denver for ISTE 2010 for five days of communication and collaboration. This will be my third trip to the annual conference and each year I return excited to start incorporating some of the many things I learned in my own classroom. Yet somehow I end each school year (this one is no exception) feeling like I often paired new technologies with outmoded teaching techniques, rather than changing my teaching program to best utilize the resources.

The wiki site educational origami published an interesting piece describing the characteristics of a 21^st century educator. The graphic below, pulled from the article, shows the many hats a forward thinking teacher must wear to prepare students who often seem light years ahead of us when it comes to using new media.

I’d like to hear what the ISTE Connects community thinks a 21^st century educator looks like?  How do they teach?  Is technology necessary to give students a 21^st century education, and what role does the teacher play in the next generation classroom?