EDUC 106 Module 1

• • Schools in the 21st century focus on a project-based curriculum for life that would engage students in addressing real-world problems and humanity concerns and issues.
• Schools will go from “buildings” to ‘nerve centres’ with open walls and are roofless while connecting teachers, students and the community to the breadth of knowledge in the world.
• Teachers will transform their role from being dispensers of information to becoming facilitators of learning and help students translate information into knowledge and knowledge wisdom
• The 21st century will require knowledge generations, not just information delivery, and schools will need to create a ‘culture of inquiry’.
• • Learners will become adaptive to changes. In the past, learners spent a required amount of time in respective courses, received passing grades and graduated. Today, learners are viewed in a new text.
• These changes have implications for teachers: (1) Teachers must discover student interest by helping them see what and how they are learning to prepare them for life in the real world; (2) They must instill curiosity, which is fundamental to lifelong learning; (3) They must be flexible in how they teach; and (4) They must excite learners to become more resourceful so that they will continue to learn outside formal school.
• • The 21st Century Curriculum has critical attributes that are interdisciplinary, project-based and research driven. It is connected to local, national and global communities, in which students may collaborate with people around the world in various projects. The curriculum also integrates higher-order thinking skills, multiple intelligences, technology and multi-media, multiple literacies and authentic assessments, including service learning.
• The classroom is filled with self-directed students, who work independently and interdependently.
• • Cooperative learning is also apparent in which students work in teams because cooperation is given more emphasis than competition, and collaborative learning more than isolated learning.
• • In the process of creating a word-class 21st century learning environment, building new schools and remodelling of present school facilities can be addressed toward creating environmentally-friendly, energy-efficient, and ‘green schools. Inside every classroom, students shall apply their knowledge of research in life, which is a clear indication of a relevant, rigorous, 21st century real-life curriculum.
• Today’s students are referred to as digital natives, while educators as “digital immigrants’ (prensky, 2001). Most likely, digital natives usually react, are random holistic and non-linear. Their predominant senses are motion and touch. They learn through experience and learn differently. Digital immigrants often reflect, are sequential, and linear. Their predominant senses are hearing and seeing. They tend to intellectualize and believe that learning is constant (Hawkins and Graham, 1994)
• A survey by the henry J Kaiser Family foundation found that young people (ages 8-18) spend on electronic media an average of six hours a day.
• The 21st Century skills are a set of abilities that students need to develop to succeed in the information age.
• The Partnership for 21st Century Skills lists three types, namely: (1) Learning Skills which comprise critical thinking, creative thinking, collaborating, and communicating; (2) Literacy Skills which is composed of information, literacy, media literacy, and technology literacy; and (3) Life Skills that include flexibility, initiative, social skills, productivity and leadership.
• Teachers should practice teaching cross-disciplinary skills in-related courses, such as integrating research methods in various disciplines; articulating technical scientific concepts in verbal, written, and graphic forms; presenting laboratory reports to a pool of specialists, or use emerging technologies, software programs and multimedia applications as an extension of an assigned project.
• The eight attributes of 21st Century education are; 1. Integrated and Interdisciplinary; 2. Technologies and Multimedia; 3. Global Classrooms; 4. Creating/ Adapting to Constant Personal and Social Change and Lifelong Learning; 5. Student-Centered; 6. 21st century Skills; 7. Project-Based and Research –driven and; 8. Relevant, Rigorous and Real World.
• This critical attribute implies the need to review the curriculum and create strategies infusing different subjects towards enhancing the learning experiences of students. (Integrated and Interdisciplinary)
• It implies a need to acquire and use computers and multimedia equipment and the design of a technology plan to enhance learning at its best. (Technologies and Multimedia)
• This critical attribute implies the need to include current global issues/concerns, such as peace and respect for cultural diversity, climate change and global warming in classroom discussions. (Global Classrooms)
• Education in the 21st century subscribes to the belief that learning does not end within the four walls of the classroom. (Creating/ Adapting to Constant Personal and Social Change and Lifelong Learning)
• Education in the 21st Century is focused on students as learners while addressing their needs. (Student-Centered)
• Education in the 21st century demonstrates the skills needed in becoming productive members of society. (21st Century Skills)
• This implies the need for knowledge and skills in research, such as self-directed activities, leaning projects, investigatory projects, capstones and other research-based output. (Project-based and Research-driven)
• It implies the use of current and relevant information linked to real-life situations and contexts. (Relevant, Rigorous and Real World)
• The 21st Century teachers are characterized as; 1. Multi-literate; 2. Multi-specialist; 3. Multi-skilled; 4. Self-directed; 5. Lifelong learner; 6. Flexible; 7. Creative problem solver; 8. Critical Thinker; 9. Has a passion for excellent teaching and; 10. High emotional Quotient (EQ).
• (Multi-literate) Teachers know how to use various technologies in teaching.
• (Multi-specialist) Teachers are not only knowledgeable in the course subject they teach but also in other areas so that they can help the learner build up what they gain in the classroom and outside the school and make sense of what was learned.
• (Multi-skilled) Teachers cope with the demand for widening learning opportunities by being skillful not just in teaching but also in facilitating and organizing groups and activities.
• (Self-directed) Teachers are responsible for various aspects of school life and know how to initiate action to realize the learning goals of the students and the educational goals of the country, at large.
• (Lifelong learner) Teachers embrace the ideal that learning never ends. Therefore, teachers must be constantly updated on the latest information related to their subject and pedagogic trends. They should also share what they are learning with their students and colleagues with a high sense of professionalism.
• (Flexible) Teachers are able to adapt to various learning styles and needs of the learners. They can facilitate learner-centered teaching with flexibility using alternative modes of delivery.
• (Creative problem solver) Teachers create innovative ideas and effective solutions to the arising problems in the field, be it in the classroom, in the school or the profession as a whole.
• (Critical Thinker) Teachers are critical thinkers as they encourage students to reflect on what they have learned, and rekindle in them the desire to ask questions, reason out, probe, and establish their own knowledge and belief.
• (Has a passion for excellent teaching) Teachers possess passion in the teaching profession to ensure that students are motivated to learn under their guidance and care.
• (High emotional Quotient/EQ) Teachers do not just have the head but also the heart to teach. Teaching is emotionally taxing but an influential job as it involves interaction with human beings.