Trainer Guide for Course 4:

Innovate with the 21CLD real-world problem solving and

innovation dimension

Objectives

1. Determine why real-world problem solving and innovation is important

2. Define “problem solving”
3. Explore the 21CLD Real-World Problem Solving and Innovation rubric and decision tree
4. Examine Microsoft tools that support real-world problem solving and innovation
5. Design learning activities that focus on real-world problem solving and innovation

Resources for this module

 Learn course: Innovate learning with the 21CLD real-world problem solving and innovation 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: Innovate with the 21CLD real-world problem solving and innovation 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 real-world problem solving and innovation
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 last session

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

See you soon!

[xxxx]

Reminder email
 SUBJECT: Innovate with the 21CLD real-world problem solving and innovation dimension

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

Hi, educators!

This is just a friendly reminder that our 21st century learning design session on real-world problem solving and innovation
is coming up!

I look forward to exploring with you how we can use 21st century learning design to incorporate the real-world problem
solving and innovation 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 last 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 Innovate with the 21CLD real-world problem

solving and innovation 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 real-world problem

solving and innovation rubric. This rubric helps

 learners practice solving problems for which they do
not already know a solution.

5 mins Say: Do:

Let's start with a quick check-in. Do you currently Give participants time to respond to the prompt.

incorporate real-world problem solving in your class?

If so, how?

(Give participants time to respond.) 

Say:

Thank you all for sharing! 

1 min Say:

Our world faces complex and challenging problems:

 Climate change   
 Pollution 

 Habitat and biodiversity loss 

 Ocean conservation 
  Water scarcity 
 Food security 

 Disease 
 Gender equality, and

 Poverty… to name a few.

1 min Say:

Global challenges are increasing every day and our

children need to be prepared to solve them. They

won’t be able to find solutions to these problems in

textbooks or multiple-choice tests. Instead, society

needs problem solvers who can work on a multi-

disciplinary team to tackle hard problems in creative

and innovative ways.

1 min Say:

The 21st century has already brought unimaginable

changes to the world of work. The need for

knowledge workers to create new products and

services that meet the needs of clients is a major
 driving force for economic growth.

In our global, knowledge-based economy, employers

actively seek workers capable of generating and

testing creative ideas.

According to employers, the most important skills in

new recruits include:

 Teamwork

 Problem solving

 Innovative thinking

1 min Say:

To help learners develop these skills and become

innovative thinkers, educators must design learning

activities that engage learners in problem solving.

The key is to design a learning scenario with a defined

challenge in a real-world context. This requires

learners to innovate by implementing their solutions,

designs, or ideas to audiences outside the classroom.

1 min Say:

To create these learning activities, we might ask

learners to engage with a challenge that exists in their

community.

For example, there may be a community with a

problem where children can’t access the school safely

when walking.

In such a case, learners might propose getting a traffic

officer to help them cross the street safely. They must

convince the City Council that there’s a need for the

expense.

In this scenario, learners work on an unresolved real-

world problem. They have a specific problem and

must use real-world data to solve it.

In working to find a solution, learners create, adapt,

evaluate, and apply ideas. Most importantly, they

complete this work for a specific, plausible audience.

In this way, learners are accountable to actual

stakeholders outside the classroom.

 Finally, this problem provides learners an opportunity
for innovation. Innovation requires putting ideas or

solutions into practice in the real world or

communicating ideas to someone outside the class

who can implement them.

In today's workplace, problem-solving tasks abound,

whether it’s finding new ways to reach global markets

or redesigning a product with new materials.

Successful workers must be adept at generating and

testing creative ideas to solve problems with specific

requirements and constraints.

3 mins Say: Do:

Now, I will play the overview video for the real-world Play the Introduction to real-world problem solving and
problem solving and innovation dimension. innovation video.

(Play the Introduction to real-world problem solving

and innovation video.)

1 min Say:

The 21CLD Real-World Problem Solving and

 Innovation rubric examines if the learning activity
requires learners to solve problems for which they

don’t already know a solution.

In stronger activities, learners complete tasks

where they solve real-world problems. The strongest

activities require learners to practice innovation by

implementing their ideas, designs, or solutions for

audiences outside the classroom.

5 mins Say: Do:

Let’s all go to the OneNote notebook and review the Give participants time to access the 21CLD notebook and

Real-World Problem Solving and Innovation rubric locate the Real-World Problem Solving and Innovation
together. rubric page.

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 real-world problem solving

and innovation rubric page.)
2 mins Say:

The rubric captures the big ideas of real-world

problem solving and innovation and serves as a

framework for designing real-world activities. Each

level of problem solving and innovation (one to four) is

described within the rubric:

1: The learning activity's main requirement is not

problem solving. Learners use a previously learned

answer or procedure for most of the work.

2: The learning activity's main requirement is problem

solving. But the problem is not a real-world problem.

3: The learning activity's main requirement is problem

solving and the problem is a real-world problem but

learners do not innovate. They are not required to

implement their ideas in the real world, or to

communicate their ideas to someone outside the

academic context who can implement them.

4: The learning activity's main requirement is problem

solving, the problem is a real-world problem, and

learners do innovate. They are required to implement
 their ideas in the real world or to communicate their
ideas to someone outside the academic context who

can implement them.

1 min Say: Do:

Now, let’s switch over to the Real-World Problem Give participants a minute to locate the real-world
Solving and Innovation Decision Tree page in the problem solving and innovation decision tree page.

OneNote notebook.

(Give participants a minute to locate the real-world

problem solving and innovation decision tree page.)

2 mins Say:

The Real-World Problem Solving decision tree poses

questions related to the concepts in the rubric.

Answering these questions will inform the design

process for a learning activity that incorporates real-

world problem solving.

 The first question the decision tree asks is if

the main requirement of the activity is problem

solving. If the answer to this question is “no”,

 then the learning activity is coded as a one.

 If the main requirement is problem solving,

then the answer to the first question is “yes”,

and we move on to the next question on the

decision tree. The second question asks if

learners are working on a real-world problem.

If the answer is “no”, then we stop here and

the learning activity is coded at a two.

 If the main requirement of the learning activity

is problem solving and learners are working on

a real world problem, then the answer to the

second question is “yes”.

We then move to the next question: Does the

learning activity require innovation? That is,

does it require learners to put their ideas or

solutions into practice in the real world? If the

answer is “no”, then the learning activity is

coded at a three.

 If the learning activity does require innovation,

 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:

This 21CLD dimension requires learners to solve a

real-world problem with a defined challenge. Problem

solving happens when learners must:

 Develop a solution to a problem that’s new to

them,

 Complete a task that they haven’t received

instructions on how to do, or

 Design a complex product that meets a set of

 requirements

Learning activities that require problem solving don't: 

 Give learners all the information they need to

complete the task, or 

 Specify the process they must follow to arrive

at a solution

1 min Say:

When learners work on problem-solving tasks, they

engage in some or all of the following activities: 

 Investigate the parameters of the problem to

guide their approach,

 Generate ideas and alternatives,

 Devise their own approaches,

 Explore several possible procedures that might

be appropriate to the situation, or

 Design a coherent solution, test the solution,

 and iterate improvements to the solution.

1 min Say:

The first question asks: Is problem solving the main

requirement? 

To meet this rubric, problem solving must be the

learning activity's main requirement. The main

requirement is the part of the learning activity the

learner spends the most time and effort on and is the

part that we focus on when grading.

1 min Say:

In the following scenarios, the main requirement

is not problem solving:

 Learners reading a story and then taking a quiz

on what they read

 Learners learning about pedestrian safety by

studying a map showing bus stops and

pedestrian crossings 
  Learners using Microsoft Excel to calculate the
mean, median, and mode of several sample

data sets

1 min Say:

In the following scenarios, the main requirement is

problem solving:

 Learners being required to rewrite a story from

the perspective of a character other than the

narrator

 Learners using a map of a bus route to

propose where to add pedestrian crossings in

a fictional town 

 Learners identifying appropriate situations for

using mean, median, and mode by exploring

several sample data sets in Microsoft Excel

2 mins Say:

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

question to consider is: Are learners working on a
real-world problem?

Real-world problems are authentic situations and

needs that exist outside an academic context. These

real-world problems have several common

characteristics.

 Real people experience them.

For example, learners diagnose an ecological

imbalance in a rainforest in Costa Rica; they're

working with a situation that affects real

people who live there.

 They have solutions for a specific, plausible

audience other than the educator as grader.

For example, designing equipment to fit a

small city playground may benefit the children

of the community.

 They have specific, explicit contexts.

For example, instead of learning which

vegetables grow best in which parts of one's

own country, learners who are engaged in

 real-world problem solving develop a plan for
a community garden in a public park in their

own town. This learning activity has a specific

context, but the other activity doesn’t.

 If learners use data to solve the

problem, they use actual data—not data

developed by an educator or textbook

publisher.

For example, learners use real scientific records

of earthquakes, results of their own

experiments, or first-hand accounts of a
historical event.

1 min Say:

The following scenarios are not real-world problems: 

 Learners re-writing a Shakespeare play in a

new rhyme scheme

 Learners using a bus map in a textbook to

propose where to add pedestrian crossings in
 a fictional town

 Learners investigating the interaction between

green plants and carbon dioxide in the air

 Learners identifying appropriate situations for

using mean, median, and mode by exploring

several sample data sets in Microsoft Excel

1 min Say:

The following scenarios are real-world problems: 

 Learners re-writing a Shakespeare play for a

teenage audience

 Learners using their town's bus routes to

propose where to add pedestrian crossings in

their town

 Learners investigating whether growing plants

in their classroom improves the air quality

 Learners analyzing data about a basketball

team and using Microsoft Excel to graph

performance patterns for the overall team and
 individual players

1 min Say:

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

ask ourselves: Does the activity require innovation? 

Innovation requires putting learners' ideas or solutions

into practice in the real world.

For example, it’s innovation if learners design and

build a community garden on the grounds of their

own school.

However, simply designing the garden

isn’t innovation. If learners don’t have the authority to

implement their own ideas, it counts as innovation

only if they convey their ideas to people

who may implement the idea.

It is innovation if learners present their ideas for

building a community garden to local officials

who might implement the design. But it’s

not innovation if learners only share their plans with
 their class. 

1 min Say:

Innovation also benefits people other than the

learners. In other words, it has value beyond meeting

the requirements of a learning exercise.

For example, townspeople who turn the new

garden in the public park and teenagers who attend

the rewritten Shakespeare play benefit from learners'

efforts. It also counts as innovation if learners create a

project for a science fair or submit an original poem to

a regional poetry contest.

Neither are educator-controlled. Both have real

audiences who are interested in and may benefit from

the learners' work. 

1 min Say:

The following scenarios do not require innovation: 

 Learners re-writing the Shakespeare play for a

 teenage audience but not performing it

 Learners writing letters addressed to the town

council about improving pedestrian safety, but

only giving the letters to their educator to

grade

 Learners investigating two or more websites or

games, developing a presentation on Internet

safety guidelines for parents and learners, but

not handing it in for a grade

 Learners analyzing data about a basketball

team and using Microsoft Excel to graph

performance patterns for the overall team and

individual players

1 min Say:

The following scenarios do require innovation: 

 Learners re-writing the Shakespeare play for a

teenage audience and performing it at a local

youth center
  Learners writing letters to the town council
about their ideas for adding pedestrian

crossings in their town and mailing the

letters to council members

 Learners investigating two or more websites or

games, developing a presentation on Internet

safety guidelines for parents and learners, and

presenting their products at parent's night

 Learners analyzing statistics on a basketball

team's past performance and

creating mathematical models using Microsoft

Excel for the coach to illustrate targeted

improvements for both team and individual

performance

1 min Say: Do:

Now that we’ve discussed the rubric and decision tree, Give participants a minute to find the learning activity in

let’s practice coding an anchor lesson. the 21CLD notebook.

Go the 21CLD OneNote notebook, and then the

 anchor lesson section.

Then, select The Modifying Recipes learning activity

page.

(Give participants a minute to find the learning

activity.)

15 mins Say: Do:

Now, I’ll give you 15 minutes to review this lesson. Use As participants review the learning activity, mill around the
either the Real-World Problem Solving and Innovation room to help or answer questions.

rubric or decision tree and code the lesson. Feel free

Set a timer for 15 minutes. If participants finish early, move
to work with a colleague.
on to the next activity.

When everyone is finished, we’ll discuss your findings.

(Give participants 15 minutes to review the lesson and

code it according to the rubric/decision tree.)

5 mins Say: Do:

Okay! I loved listening to your conversations! Foster a collegial conversation about the anchor lesson.

Let’s discuss as a whole group what you all observed Encourage educators to explain why they decided on a

in coding this lesson. specific code.

 Who would like to share what number you coded the
lesson and why?

(Pause for responses)

Say:

Did anyone code it a different number?

(Pause for responses)

3 mins Say: Do:

Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts!

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 analysis with each

other’s, let’s compare it with Becky’s.

(Play the Real-World Problem Solving and Innovation Play the Real-World Problem Solving and Innovation
anchor lesson video.) 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, code and,

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.

Assign each group an anchor lesson.

(You can assign anchor lessons by counting off groups
as a 1, 2, or 3. Then, assign each group as follows:

Group 1 – School Change

 Group 2 – House on Mango Street

Group 3 – Design a Catapult Give groups 15 minutes to analyze their assigned lesson.

1 min Say:

Great job, everyone!

Now, let’s explore some of the Microsoft tools

available to support your students in real-world

problem solving and innovation.

Learners use a variety of Microsoft tools to support

their problem solving and to put their solutions into

practice in the real world.

When learners work on problem-solving tasks, they: 

 Investigate the problem

 Brainstorm solutions and alternatives to the

problem

 Devise their own approaches, and

 Design a coherent solution, test the solution,

 and iterate improvements to the solution

1 min Say:

In the problem-solving process, learners may use: 

 OneNote Class Notebook to brainstorm and

collect research and data 

 Minecraft: Education Edition to create

simulations

 Microsoft Forms to collect data 

 Microsoft Excel to analyze data 

 Microsoft Teams calls to connect with

experts  

1 min Say:

When their problem solving also requires innovation,

many Microsoft tools help learners publish their ideas

in the real world.

 Microsoft Video Editor helps learners create

 documentaries, commercials, music videos, or
other video products that inform or persuade

their chosen audience

 Microsoft Voice Recorder helps learners

create podcasts

 Microsoft PowerPoint allows learners to give

dynamic live presentations. With PowerPoint,

learners may use a headset and have real-time,

automatic captions or subtitles on screen.

Additionally, with Live Presentations in

PowerPoint, audience members may: 

o See a presentation on their own devices

o Read live subtitles in their preferred

language

o Give feedback during the presentation

o Evaluate the presentation

1 min Say:
 Microsoft Sway allows learners to create attractive
multi-media presentations for the web. With a

dynamic, interactive canvas, learners may build a

presentation with text, images, videos, and embedded

Office files to share additional information or a

Microsoft Form to collect data

Microsoft Word helps learners create flyers,

pamphlets, or deliverables for their selected audience

Flipgrid helps learners create tutorials with the

screencast feature

Minecraft: Education Edition allows learners to

create prototypes of their designs

Microsoft MakeCode Arcade allows learners to

create video games that teach a lesson, review

concepts, or simply entertain

3 mins Say: Do:

Now, let’s see some of these tools in action! (Play the Microsoft tools for real-world and problem
solving and innovation video.)
 (Play the Microsoft tools for real-world problem solving
and innovation video.)

5 mins Say: Do:

Can you think of any other Microsoft tools that would Encourage discussion about the Microsoft tools that

support your learners’ real-world problem solving and learners could use when problem solving and innovating.
innovation?

(Pause for responses.)

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 have

learned here today and apply it to your own learning

activity.

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

hear from Michael Urvachev, an educator in Russia, to

learn how he incorporates real-world problem solving

 and innovation into a learning activity. Play Michael’s video.

(Play Michael’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.

Choose one of those now and evaluate it according to

the Real-World Problem Solving and Innovation

rubric.

Use the Real-World Problem Solving and Innovation

decision tree to guide the design of the activity.

Consider the following: 

 Is the main requirement problem solving?

 Are learners working on real-world problems?

 Does the learning activity require innovation?

 Determine the level of real-world problem solving and
innovation you want in this lesson and re-design it to

reach that level on the rubric.

Remember, without targeted learning

design for problem-solving skills, learners will

not have the opportunity to develop them.

15 mins Say: Do:

Take the next 15 minutes and 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

real-world problem solving and innovation, consider

analyzing a different learning activity that you might

want to re-design for deeper problem solving and

innovation.

Feel free to discuss your lessons with your colleagues.

Some of the best re-designs come from collaboration

with other educators and building off one another’s

 ideas.

Sharing your activity, its current code, and your goals Set a timer for 15 minutes.

with others is a great way to start the re-design

Mill around the room and answer questions or help
process.
educators in need.

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’ problem-solving and

innovation skills.

5 mins Say: Do:

Before we close for today, does anyone have any

questions related to the Real-World Problem Solving

and Innovation 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 Real-World Problem Solving and

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

I’ll see you next time on [next meeting time].