Which Skills are seen as 21st
Century Skills?
- Technological competence. Students have to be
prepared to use technology to the best of their abilities to achieve results.
Schools need to incorporate technology learning area or subject which
intensively prepares learners with knowledge in Informatics and hardware usage.
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Students need to understand and comprehend
more than just core subjects. An in-depth knowledge is needed to successfully go through life in the 21st
Century
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Subjects which were once seen only at tertiary level in the information and
communication learning area have to be taught at much earlier stages of
education with some parts of
communication even being taught at the intermediate phase of education
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As new skills are required to cope with technological
demands of the 21st Century, new assessment methods become
increasingly vital and necessary to keep up with the advances.
How should education be structured to
meet the needs of students in this 21st century world?
-
According to Goh Chok, it is better to
develop the thinking and learning skills required for the future.
- Teachers must be encouraged to expand their repertoire
of teaching and learning strategies to include new and innovative pedagogies in
the 21st century.
- There must be new education reforms that aim
to bring thinking schools into fruition including, innovation and Enterprise
“Teach and Learn more”, and curriculum 2015.The experience of Singapore provides
an instructive example on the international literature on the endeavours,
challenges and prospects of creating thinking schools in the 21stcentury.
It is said that teachers of engaged learning are designers of learning
opportunities. They create a learning environment where students work
collaboratively to solve problems and construct their own meaning (Ng 2008).
How do we define a school?
There
are people that still believe a school is a building! We believe that any environment
where teaching and learning takes place is a school. The learning environments in the 21st
century are inherently multidisciplinary. They are not constructed in order to
teach geometry or philosophy. They are similar to a real world application or
discipline like managing a city, building a house, setting a budget, solving a
crime etc. That makes it possible for the learners in the 21st
century not to be limited to learning opportunities by age or geographical
location.
The
21st century school institutions have classrooms that are designed
to cater for different multiple intelligences. These schools make the most
out-of-school time while meeting the needs of today's working families by
offering safe, structured, and stimulating environments for school-age children
when school is not in session. They also understand that children who are
healthy, well-fed, and physically fit can concentrate in class and learn better
and promotes children's wellness through preventive medical and dental
services, mental health services, and improved nutrition and fitness. They treat parents as partners and provide
them with information and support to be the best possible parents they can be.
They have good sporting facilities because they know learning goes beyond the
classroom set up.
How do we define a teacher?
The
role of teachers in the 21st century is different. They are defined
as designers of learning opportunities. They create a learning environment
where learners work collaboratively to solve problems, do authentic tasks and
construct their own meaning. They are co-learners with their learners instead
of providers of solutions. (Ng 2008). They are called facilitators of learning
because they do not teach (as formerly understood) where a teacher is in
control of the learners` learning, lecture or preach, they merely facilitate a
learning process and `primarily focused on the producing the highest possible
quality of learning that will in turn produce the highest possible quality
intended outcome` (Slabbert, de Kock and Hattingh 2009). Facilitators initiate
learning, get learners engaged in the learning process and maintain learning by
ensuring that the learner remains engaged with the learning process.
A
learner defined as a person in the process of gaining higher- order thinking
skills such as critical thinking, creative thinking, innovative thinking and
problem solving skills. This is not achieved by conventional assessments and
didactic way of teaching which is teacher centred. In the 21st
century, learners are less dependent on their teacher and not passive but
rather engaged in class. They are responsible for their own learning, strategic
in their learning process, collaborate with others and are energised throughout
the learning process (Koh, Tan and Ng 2011). Learning in the 21st century is research-based, not textbook-driven. It
is called authentic learning because it typically focuses on
real-world complex problems and their solutions, using role-playing exercises,
problem-based activities, case studies, and participation in virtual
communities of practice. Aauthentic learning intentionally brings into play
multiple disciplines, multiple perspectives ways of working, habits of mind,
and community. That simply means the activities that learners do in class match
the real-world tasks of professionals in practice as nearly as possible.
How do we define curriculum?
Curriculum in the 21st century is
project-based and aimed at life that will
Have students addressing real-world problems and
important humanity issues. The aspect of educational life that is reflective of
society is being asked to catch up with what is current. Each component of
learning included in the curriculum has been identified as contributing
directly to learners` achievement of short term outcomes that contribute to
more complex outcomes. Curriculum places strong emphasis on continuous
formative assessment rather than summative assessment. It is not based on recalling of fixed body of
content but rather on monitoring learners` progress, identifying their
strengths and weakness and providing them with constructive feedback. (Vandeyar
and Killen, 2003)
Which Media Literacy Skills do we need
-
Reading
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Writing
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Internet skills
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Mobile technology skills
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Electronic Interactive skills
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The ability to publish electronically
What is the Global Classroom
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This is a set of curriculum activities and
subjects which have become so widespread (internationally) that students are
learning similar things regardless of what part of the planet they reside in.
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This has mainly been brought about by
advances in technological and more so advances in commendation technology.
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Audio and visual technological capabilities
allow others to communicate visually over vast distances across the globe
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Teaching styles and methods, paradigms and
styles are readily accessible due to technological advances. This information
is easily disseminated globally due to internet, and other applications such as
cable and satellite television
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Global Classroom therefore is the existence
of regular interaction between individuals and or organisations who through the
availability of masscommunication tools can exchange knowledge and information
readily, whether knowingly or unbeknownst.
What is 21st Century
Literacies?
-
‘In Intelligence Reframed Howard
Gardner contends that
"literacies, skills, and disciplines ought to be pursued as tools that
allow us to enhance our understanding of important questions, topics, and
themes." Today's readers become literate by learning to read the words
and symbols in today's world and
its antecedents.’ And in today’s day and age,
there is much more needed than just reading and writing.
-
Literacy in the 21st century also includes digital
and or visual Literacy
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Digital Literacy is defined as the ability to perform assignments
effectively in a digital surroundings
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Literacy includes the
ability to read and interpret media (text, sound, images), to reproduce data
and images through digital manipulation
-
21st Century
Literacy could ultimately and simply could be defined as being able to utilise
information found online as efficiently as possible.
What is Green Education
- Green Education (GE) is the knowledge of how to
competently achieve tasks which will allow for preservation of the environment
today
-
Green Education includes know the different types of
materials used today and how to recycle them
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GE also includes the ability to know where to
save energy, especially electrical energy.
-
GE can also be the dissemination of HOW to do
that which is list above.
- Green Education increasingly important
because resources on earth are finite and the ever increasing risk of climate
change
What technology resources can we use?
In
this 21st century, we need technology resources that can provide
access to information select the most reliable information (analysing,
assessing and distinguishing appropriate information), and construct new
information and everything revolving around information. It should be created
in such a manner that it meets the requirements of the digital generation. Slobber,
JAB, Pg. 12. If all learners might need a computer during lessons, then all
classrooms must be created in such a manner that it meets their needs .In order
that learning and teaching can be made simple, cars should be technologically
fitted so that learners and teachers can access their files while driving. The
use of voice technology can be put in to use as another means to combat
pre-planning of corruption from taking place.
What is the purpose of education?
Education
should be the most important service industry that needs to revolution the
needs of the digital generation in this 21st century. It needs to
respond to the ever changing technological environment which needs high quality
and creative generation. The 21st century kids are totally different
from the current generation in the way they think, access, absorb, interpret,
process and use information and above all in the way they interact and
communicate.
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It enables individuals to reach their full
potential as human beings, individually and as members of society.
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It will enable them to think and act
intelligently and purposefully in protecting their rights and responsibilities.
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It enables the learner to become aware of the
conditions of life and to have the necessary skills and knowledge to be able to
create change.(John Dewey)
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In this century, education needs to produce
men and women who are needed to think critically and can be able to read and
write.
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It installs values that enable an individual
to distinguish between right and wrong.
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It helps individuals to acquire social skills
which enable them to interact with people around themselves.
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It helps to build interpersonal skills.
Why a paradigm shift is taking place.
According
to Alfred North Whitehead, a paradigm shift takes place because a pupil’s mind
is an organism. It accumulates principles, ideas and concepts, and therefore
can change as the world changes. David Harvey highlights flexible accumulation
as the central articulating principle of the post-modern economy:
The consequences of such flexible
accumulation are:
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Breakdown of traditional demarcation
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Multitasking
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New labour process, e.g. contracting out,
part-time work versus permanent jobs
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Niche marketing: specification in producing
and consuming
Additional References:
D Abilock, 21st Century Literacies [online] Noodle Tools Inc. http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/ [accessed 4 March 2012]
