In viewing Dr. Tony Wagner’s video regarding 7 skills students need for their future, I agreed with the points brought out by him. He points out that in today’s digital age, the “internet generation” is used to instant gratification and is used to having the ability to use the web for extending friendships (Facebook, My Space, LinkedIn), interest-driven (blogs), self-directed learning (online classes); and are constantly connected, creating, and multitasking in a multimedia world—everywhere except in the classroom.
Among the 7 skills mentioned are critical thinking and problem solving, effective oral and written communication, and accessing and analyzing information. These three skills can benefit individual and learning team performance. Accessing and analyzing information is the first step taken in order to solve a problem. This is the most important step that aides in the critical thinking process. Knowing how to obtain information (effective web search) and what to obtain is necessary in knowing which direction to take in the decision making process. The amount of information made available to us is tremendous. Being able to differentiate between what is trivial and what is important is an absolute indispensible skill.

Critical thinking and problem solving is necessary not in just the classroom, but in your everyday life. According to Dr. Tony Wagner, the reason Toyota is so successful is because Toyota engages all employees, and encourages them to use their mind. The Toyota assembly line uses teams to build their cars, but to build them in such a way that they take responsibility for the quality of the car. The employees engage in conversations regarding how to build higher quality cars with fewer defects, and are also engaged in conversations about the cars of the future. Critical thinking helps you see all sides of the coin instead of just one