Trainer Guide for Course 5:

Improve communication skills with the 21CLD skilled

communication dimension

Objectives

1. Determine why skilled communication is important

2. Define skilled communication
3. Explore the 21CLD Skilled Communication rubric and decision tree
4. Examine Microsoft tools that support learners in skilled communication
5. Design learning activities that focus on skilled communication

Resources for this module

 Learn course: Improve communication skills with the 21CLD skilled communication dimension
 21CLD OneNote Notebook

Preparation for this module

Target audience

 K-12 educators

Timing

 120 minutes (2 hours)

Two weeks prior

 Secure the location for the training

 Prior to the training, invite participants to the training via email

One week prior

 Optional: Send a reminder email about the training

 Ensure your location has projection, sound, and Internet connectivity

Day of training

 Arrive early to set up for the presentation and test Internet, projection, and sound

 Arrange the room for small group discussions. Organize educators by grade, division, or content area, or mix them
as you see fit

Invitation email
 SUBJECT: Improve communication skills with the 21CLD Skilled Communication dimension

DATE: [INSERT DATE, TIME HERE, PLACE, DURATION]

Hi, educators!

I’m so excited for our next 21st century learning design session focused on the Skilled Communication dimension. This
time, we’ll be:

 Exploring the dimension

 Examining the rubric by coding some anchor lessons, and
 Evaluating our own learning activities according to the rubric

Preparation

 If possible, please arrive approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled start time
 Bring your lesson plan book and/or the learning activity plans you selected at our first session

Have questions about this professional development opportunity? Don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

See you soon!

[xxxx]

Reminder email
 SUBJECT: Improve communication skills with the 21CLD Skilled Communication dimension

DATE: [INSERT DATE, TIME HERE, PLACE, DURATION]

Hi, educators!

This is just a friendly reminder that our 21st century learning design session on skilled communication is coming up!

I look forward to exploring with you how we can use 21st century learning design to incorporate the Skilled
Communication dimension into a learning activity!

Preparation

 If possible, please arrive approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled start time
 Bring your lesson plan book and/or the learning activity plans you selected at our first session

Have questions about this training session? Don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

See you soon!

[xxxx]

Timing Suggested talking points Presenter action

15 min prior   Do:

 Greet participants as they arrive.

Access the Improve communication skills with

the 21CLD skilled communication dimension

course so you can get to the videos quickly.

Access the 21CLD OneNote notebook and display

the first page. 

1 min Say:

Welcome! I’m so excited to be here with you today!

Thank you for taking time out of your day to join us and

participate in this session.

(Acknowledge the organization sponsoring the event.)

1 min Say:  

Today, we’ll be exploring the Skilled Communication rubric. This

rubric helps educators design activities that require learners to

 support their communication and substantiate their claims with
evidence.

5 mins Say: Do:

Let's start with a quick check-in. What type of activities do you

currently assign to your learners that require them to practice

their communication skills?
Give participants time to respond to the prompt.
(Give participants time to respond.) 

Say:

Thank you all for sharing! 

1 min Say:

We live in a connected society where the Internet allows us to

communicate with people all over the world. In contemporary

 
communication, the active process of communication is as

important as the product.

The digital capture and publication of even informal

communications means that the products of our

 communications last longer and are shared more widely than
ever before.

Learners must therefore be able to communicate clearly and

persuasively for a variety of audiences, in the academic realm as

well as society. 

1 min Say:

The Internet and the advent of mobile phones

have revolutionized how people communicate. In

2021, 65.6% of the world's population has Internet access.

Additionally, the number of mobile connections exceed the

2021 world population, and 89.9% of the population own

mobile phones.

Cloud technology and smartphones allow people to engage in

multiple forms of communication while on the move. Email, text

messaging, and video conferencing are now a regular part

of our everyday lives. 

1 min Say:
 These powerful tools provide us with more effective and cost-
efficient ways to communicate. They allow us to communicate

in a variety of formats either asynchronously or in real time. All

we need is a device and an Internet connection and away we

go!

The explosion of new technologies is constantly creating new

opportunities for us to communicate with people all over the

world and has made it easier than ever to work remotely.

These technologies certainly have enormous potential to

support skilled communication, and they’re placing new

demands on educators to prepare young people on how to use

them appropriately. 

1 min Say:

Unfortunately, all too often, young people use these powerful

tools to engage in low level chatter through single texts or

tweets on inconsequential matters.

However, these tools have the potential for extended

communication and more meaningful discussion of important
issues by allowing learners to go beyond the written
 word with pictures, audio, or video to add more impact to their
statements. 

1 min Say:

These multi-modal communication tools allow learners to select

the best medium to communicate their message. For example,

younger children might capture their reflections

about a favorite story by making an audio recording because

they don't yet have the skills to capture it in writing.

Older learners might create a video to capture their

understandings about a particular play or piece of poetry and

post them on a school blog for others to see and respond to. In

this way, technology allows young people to capture and share

their views with an audience that’s outside their own school

environment.

This gives new meaning to the notion of extending the walls of

the class. To better link our learners with the outside world,

educators need to consider how to design appropriate learning

activities to engage young people to become effective

communicators. 

3 mins Say: Do:

 Now, I will play the overview video for the Skilled
Communication dimension.

(Play the Introduction to skilled communication video.)

Play the Introduction to skilled communication
video.

1 min Say:

The 21CLD Skilled Communication rubric examines whether

learners produce extended or multimodal communication.

At a deeper level, it explores whether learners

substantiate their communication with a logical explanation,

examples, or evidence that supports a central thesis.

At its deepest level, learners must craft their communication for

a particular audience. 

5 mins Say: Do:

Let’s all go to the OneNote notebook and review the skilled

communication rubric together.

To get to the notebook, open your web browser and type

aka.ms/21CLDnotebook into the address bar. This will take you

 directly to the 21CLD notebook.

(Give participants a few minutes to access the 21CLD notebook

and locate the Skilled Communication Rubric page.)

Give participants time to access the 21CLD
notebook and locate the Skilled Communication

Rubric page.

2 mins Say:

The 21CLD Skilled Communication rubric captures the big ideas

of skilled communication and is a useful framework when

designing learning activities. The levels of the Skilled

Communication range from 1 to 4: 

1: Learners are not required to produce extended or multi-

modal communication.

2: Learners are required to produce extended communication or

multi-modal communication. But they are not required to

provide supporting evidence or design their work for a

particular audience.

3: Learners are required to produce extended communication or

multi-modal communication and they are required to provide
 supporting evidence: they must explain their ideas or support a
thesis with facts or examples.

OR

They are required to design their communication for a

particular audience, but not both.

4: Learners are required to produce extended communication or

multi-modal communication, provide supporting evidence, and

they design their communication for a particular audience.

1 min Say: Do:

Now, let’s switch over to the Skilled Communication Decision

Tree page in the OneNote notebook.

(Give participants a minute to locate the skilled communication

Give participants a minute to locate the skilled
decision tree page.)
communication decision tree page.

2 mins Say:

The Skilled Communication decision tree is a visual

representation of the big ideas in the dimension. It consists of a

series of three questions that educators must consider when

designing learning activities to deepen skilled communication: 

 The first question asks if the learning activity requires

extended or multi-modal communication. If the answer

to this question is “no”, learners are not required to

produce extended or multi-modal communication. The

learning activity is then coded as a one.

 If the activity requires extended or multi-modal

communication, then the answer to first question is

“yes”. If learners are required to produce extended

communication or multi-modal communication, then we

move to the next question which asks if learners are

required to provide supporting evidence.

If the answer is “no”, then we must ask if the learners

communicate to a particular audience. If the answer to

this question is also “no”, then the learning activity is

coded as a two.

 A learning activity can be coded a three with two

different scenarios. First, if learners are not required to

provide supporting evidence, but they do create the

communication for a specific audience, then the learning
 activity is coded as a three.

Second, if learners are required to provide supporting

evidence, but they do not create the communication for

a specific audience, the learning activity also is coded as

a three. In short, if we answer “yes” to one of these

questions but not to both, then the activity is coded as a

three.

 Finally, if learners produce extended or multimodal

communication and provide supporting evidence, then

we ask if the learners communicate to a particular

audience. If the answer is “yes”, then the learning activity

is coded at a four.

4 mins Say: Do:

Let’s pause to check in. Does anyone have questions about the

rubric or decision tree?

Answer any questions that arise.
(Give participants time to ask questions.)

Say:
 Wonderful! Now, let’s examine each level of the rubric.

1 min Say:

The 21CLD skilled communication rubric examines whether

learners produce extended or multi-modal communication.

At a deeper level, it explores whether learners

substantiate their communication with a logical explanation,

examples, or evidence that supports a central thesis. At its

deepest level, learners must craft their communication for a

particular audience.

1 min Say:

This 21CLD dimension requires learners to practice their

communication skills. 21st century skilled communication

takes many different forms. In this rubric, however, we don't

focus on informal discussions, whether face-to-face or
electronic. Instead, we focus on activities that require learners to

articulate their ideas in a permanent form such as:

 A presentation  
  A podcast  
 A written document 

 An email  
 A performance 

 A skit, or
 A debate  

1 min Say:

Less formal conversation media are also important aspects of

communication. However, for informal communications

like a video call to qualify in this rubric, they will need to have

an outcome related to the learning goals of the activity.

For example, do learners produce a summary of what they've

learned through the video call or build that learning into the

final products they create? The skilled communication rubric

evaluates the requirements of the product or outcomes of the

learners' work and asks: 

Is the communication — 

 Extended, 
  Multimodal, 
 Substantiated, and 

 Designed with a particular audience in mind? 

1 min Say:

The first question asks: Is the communication extended or

multimodal? 

With the first question, the communication may be either

extended or multi-modal.  

Extended communication is when learners must produce

communication that represents a set of connected ideas rather

than a single simple thought. In written work, extended

communication is the equivalent of one or more complete

paragraphs. In an electronic or visual media work, extended

communication may be: 

 A sequence of video,  
 A podcast, or  

 A slide of a presentation that connects or illustrates

several ideas  
 However, a single text message or a tweet isn’t extended
communication. Electronic communication qualifies

as extended only if it produces an outcome that

requires learners to connect the ideas they have discussed. The

duration of an electronic chat is irrelevant in evaluating

extended communication. 

1 min Say:

The following scenarios do not require extended

communication: 

 Learners participating in a webinar where they listen to

presentations by peers from a sister city and

asking follow-up questions 

 Learners solving a geometry problem but not writing a

proof 

 Learners posting a one-sentence comment in response

to a recent news article of their choice 

 Learners holding a video call with peers from another

school to talk about a novel they’ve read 
1 min Say:

The following scenarios require extended communication: 

 Learners hosting a webinar to present on different

topics about their city to peers in a sister city and

answering follow-up questions 
 Learners writing an extended proof to demonstrate the

solution to a geometry problem 

 Learners writing a letter to the editor in response to a

recent news article of their choice 

 Learners holding a video call with peers from another

school to create a plan for a

joint performance on a novel they’ve just read 

1 min Say:

Multi-modal communication includes more than one type of

communication mode or tool used to communicate a coherent

message.

For example, learners might create a presentation that

integrates video and text or embed a photograph into a blog
 post.

However, the communication qualifies as multi-modal only if

the elements work together to produce a stronger message

than any one element alone.

Additionally, if the learning activity allows learners to choose

the tool or tools they will use to communicate, it’s a multimodal

communication opportunity. 

1 min Say:

The following scenarios are not multimodal communications: 

 Learners creating a radio advertisement for

their invention. The learning activity doesn’t offer

learners any choice regarding the type of media. 

 Learners writing lab reports about their science lab on

density of matter using only narrative text 

 Learners producing a podcast on a hurricane for their

journalism class by writing a script with which to record

the audio podcast. The story is the same whether written

out (in the script) or spoken (in the podcast).
1 min Say:

The following scenarios are multi-modal communications: 

 Learners creating a print, radio, or television

advertisement for their invention. The educator

designed the activity to allow learners choose what type

of media they wish to use.

 Learners writing lab reports about their science lab on

density of matter, including narrative text and visual

evidence of what they saw in their experiment (such as

drawings or screenshots of real-time data displays). The

activity requires multiple modes of media that work

together for a more complete description of the

experiment.
 Learners producing blog posts on a hurricane for their

journalism class, including a written description of the

conditions and additional audio or visual media. The

activity requires multiple modes of media to add depth

to the learners' descriptions.  

1 min Say:

If we answer “yes” to the first question, the next question to

 consider asks: Does the communication provide sufficient
supporting evidence? 

Communication requires supporting evidence when learners

must explain their ideas or support their thesis with facts or

examples. The evidence must be sufficient to support the claim

that the learner is making. In this instance, a thesis is a claim,

hypothesis, or conclusion. Learners must have a thesis when

they: 

 State a point of view, 

 Make a prediction, or  

 Draw a conclusion from a set of facts or a chain of logic 

1 min Say:

The following scenarios do not require supporting evidence: 

 Learners writing an essay about global warming. They

may complete this activity with a set of facts. They don't

have to state and support a claim, hypothesis, or

conclusion
 Learners deriving a mathematical equation and
 computing the equation without explaining their logic
 Learners writing a blog post listing the main themes

in Alice in Wonderland
 Learners writing a journal entry from the perspective of

a slave. They must describe their day with historical

accuracy, but they don’t state or support a perspective

about their imagined life

 Learners using Flipgrid to video themselves solving a

mathematical problem and stating the steps they took.

They don’t narrate their reasoning process

1 min Say:

The following scenarios do require supporting evidence: 

 Learners writing an essay about why global warming is a

problem. They must state and defend a claim about

global warming.
 Learners describing their derivation of a mathematical

equation and explaining the logic that brought them to

this conclusion.

 Learners writing a blog post about the main themes

from Alice in Wonderland with examples from the story
 to illustrate their point.
 Learners writing a journal entry from the perspective of

a slave. They must state a perspective or a point of view

about their imagined life and describe their day with

historical accuracy to support that perspective.

 Learners using Flipgrid to video themselves solving a

mathematical problem, including both the steps they

took and their reasoning.

1 min Say:

If we answer “yes” to the second question, we then ask

ourselves: Is the communication designed appropriately for

a particular audience? 

At its deepest level, skilled communication requires learners to

ensure their communication is appropriate to the specific

readers, listeners, viewers, or those with whom

they’re communicating. It’s not enough for learners to

communicate to a general audience such as the Internet.

They must have a specific group with specific needs in mind to

shape their communication appropriately. When they

communicate with a particular audience, learners must select
 the tools, content, or style they will use to reach that specific
audience. They must consider: 

 What tools the audience has access to or use on a

regular basis 

 The relevant information they need

to present for their audience to understand their thesis 

 The formality or informality of the

language appropriate for the specific audience

To qualify for this level of skilled communication, the learning

activity may specify a particular audience, or learners may select

their own audience. It's ideal, but not essential or always

possible, for the audience to see the communication. 

1 min Say:

When designing learning activities, the requirement is that

learners must develop their communication with that audience

in mind. For example, learners may develop some type of

activity to teach younger children how to divide fractions. They

will decide what medium to use to reach those learners, such as

a podcast or a game.
 Additionally, they must consider what type of language and
content the children would understand and relate to. This

satisfies the requirement even if the younger learners never

use the podcast or the game. Many educators find it useful to

specify an audience of a different age or background than the

learners themselves. This highlights the need to think about: 

 The audience they’re communicating with 

 What they will and won’t understand 

 What they might find interesting 

1 min Say:

The following scenarios are not designed for a particular

audience: 

 Learners creating a video about their school using

appropriate imagery and evidence, but with no specified

audience
 Learners writing an essay about their ideas for

improving a particular product

 Learners completing a "rocks and minerals" science

project. The learning activity requires them to

communicate a central finding, include rock and mineral
 samples, narrative text and/or audio information, but
the educator is the only one who will see it.

1 min Say:

The following scenarios are designed for a particular audience: 

 Learners creating a video about their school, using

appropriate imagery and evidence, to welcome

incoming learners

 Learners writing a letter to a company suggesting

improvements to a product, considering the arguments

and perspectives that will be most compelling to that

company

 Learners designing a "rocks and minerals" exhibit for the

town library. The learning activity requires them to

communicate a message through the exhibit, which

must include samples, different media to capture visitor

interest, and take-home pamphlets for visitors 

1 min Say: Do:

Now that we’ve discussed the rubric and decision tree, let’s
 practice coding an anchor lesson.

Go the 21CLD OneNote notebook, and then the anchor lesson

section.

Then, select The Growth Mindset learning activity page.

(Give participants a minute to find the learning activity.)

Give participants a minute to find the learning
activity in the 21CLD notebook.

15 mins Say: Do:

Now, I’ll give you 15 minutes to review this lesson. Use either

the skilled communication rubric or decision tree and code the

lesson. Feel free to work with a colleague.

As participants review the learning activity, mill

When everyone is finished, we’ll discuss your findings.
around the room to help or answer questions.
(Give participants 15 minutes to review the lesson and code it
Set a timer for 15 minutes. If participants finish
according to the rubric/decision tree.)
early, move on to the next activity.

5 mins Say: Do:

Okay! I loved listening to your conversations!

 Let’s discuss as a large group what you all observed in coding
this lesson.

Who would like to share what number you coded the lesson
Foster a collegial conversation about the anchor
and why?
lesson.

(Pause for responses)

Encourage educators to explain why they decided
Say: on a specific code.

Did anyone code it a different number?

(Pause for responses)

3 mins Say: Do:

Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts! Play the Skilled communication anchor lesson

video.
It’s important to understand that our analysis here is less about
getting a right answer and more about thinking critically about

the lesson and exploring the concepts of the rubric.

Now that we have compared our analyses with each other’s,

let’s compare it with Becky’s.

(Play the skilled communication anchor lesson video.)

15 mins Say: Do:

Now, let’s work in small groups to analyze one more anchor

lesson.

Each small group will have a different anchor lesson. You will

review your assigned lesson and code it according to the rubric.

You may work independently to review and code and then

discuss your analysis as a group.

Or you can work on coding the lesson together.

Once you’ve finished your group discussion, you can look at the
analysis in the notebook and compare it to your group’s

analysis.

Any questions? Okay, I will assign each group an anchor lesson

now.

(You can assign anchor lessons by counting off groups as a 1, 2, Assign each group an anchor lesson.
or 3. Then, assign each group as follows:
Give groups 15 minutes to analyze their assigned
Group 1 – Indigenous Cultures lesson.

Group 2 – Design a Catapult

 Group 3 – Doing Business in Birmingham

1 min Say:

Great job, everyone!

Now, let’s explore some of the Microsoft tools that can support

your learners’ communication.

When researching or preparing work, Microsoft Teams allows

learners to connect with experts and partners outside their

class. Learners may use OneNote Class Notebook to produce a

summary of what they've learned through the call.

They also have a variety of Microsoft tools to choose from when

delivering their communication. 

Microsoft Word allows learners to write extended responses

that include supporting evidence. Learners may also use Word

to create a blog post with images and even embed a video in

the document, making the communication multi-modal.

Additionally, Word's Dictate tool helps learners express their

ideas, and the Editor tool serves as a virtual writing assistant. 

1 min Say:

Microsoft PowerPoint is a fabulous tool creating and sharing

live presentations.

As they prepare their presentations, the Designer tool allows

learners to focus on the content while creating a professional-

quality product. Learners may also use the Dictate tool to

express their ideas in PowerPoint Online.

Once the PowerPoint is ready, learners may use the Research

Coach tool to practice their presentation and receive feedback.

When they’re ready to present, the Live Presentations feature in

PowerPoint allows audience members to see the presentation

on their devices and read live subtitles in their preferred

language.

The audience may even offer feedback in real time during the

presentation and evaluate it with a short survey at the end. 

1 min Say:

Microsoft Sway allows learners to create attractive multimedia

presentations for the web. With a dynamic, interactive canvas,

learners can build a presentation with text, images, videos,

 embedded Office files, and/or even Microsoft Forms to collect
data. 

Microsoft Video Editor allows learners to create documentaries,

public service announcements, or other video products for

specific audiences.

And finally, Microsoft Video Recorder helps learners to create

podcasts. 

3 mins Say: Do:

Now, let’s see some of these tools in action! (Play the Microsoft tools for skilled communication
video.)
(Play the Microsoft tools for skilled communication video.)

4 mins Say: Do:

Can you think of any other Microsoft tools that would support

your learners’ skilled communication?

Encourage discussion about the Microsoft tools
(Pause for responses.) that learners could use when communicating.

3 mins Say: Do:

 Great ideas, everyone!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. All these tools would

definitely help our learners!

Now, let’s talk about how you can take what you’ve learned

here today and apply it to your own learning activity.

Before we work on our learning activity, though, let’s hear from

Aaron Bates, an educator in Australia, to learn how he

incorporates skilled communication into a learning activity.
Play Aaron’s video.
(Play Aaron’s video.)

1 min Say:

Okay!

Let’s start putting what we’ve learned into action. You all

selected a few learning activities to use in our sessions.

Select one of those now and evaluate it according to the skilled

communication rubric.

Use the Skilled Communication decision tree to guide the

design of the activity.

Consider the following: 

 Are learners asked to produce extended or multi-modal

communication?

 Is their communication substantiated with a logical

explanation, examples, or evidence that support a

central thesis?

 Do learners craft their communication for a particular

audience?

Determine the level of skilled communication you want in this

lesson and re-design it to reach that level on the rubric.

Remember, methods of communication differ, and learners

need to develop a range of skills to communicate effectively.

Think about your learners and their experiences to date. Their

current experiences will impact the learning activities we design.

It's important to be clear about:

 How we want our learners to communicate their

 ideas, and
 How different audiences shape this communication 

15 mins Say: Do:

Take the next 15 minutes to analyze your activity according to

the rubric.

After coding the activity, consider whether you want it to code

higher. If so, modify the activity to meet your goal. If you don’t
want the activity to code higher for skilled communication,

consider analyzing a different learning activity that you might

want to re-design for deeper skilled communication.

Feel free to discuss your lessons with your colleagues. Some of

the best re-designs come from collaboration with other Set a timer for 15 minutes.
educators and building off one another’s ideas.
Mill around the room and answer questions or
Sharing your activity, its current code, and your goals with help educators in need.
others is a great way to start the re-design process.

1 min Say:

Awesome job, everyone!

 I have loved hearing your conversations about your learning
activities and seeing the changes you’re making to deepen your

learners’ communication skills.

4 mins Say: Do:

Before we close today, does anyone have any questions related

to the Skilled Communication dimension or the 21CLD design

process?
Answer participants' questions.
(Pause for questions)   

1 min Say: Do:

Thank you for your time and attention today!

You’ve all been wonderful, and I have loved learning from you.

If you have any questions or final thoughts, please feel free to

share them.
Share the link to the Skilled Communication course

Be sure to go to the online course and take the quiz related to online and show participants where the quiz is
this course. located.

I’ll see you next time on xxx (indicate the next time you will
meet the group).