QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY

Diffun, Quirino
BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY AND LIVELIHOOD
EDUCATION
Module 1: Topic 5

This module will acquaint you to the 21st century skills that are needed to be equipped
for success in the modern world. Identifying the said 21st century skills will enable you
to visualize how to apply them in real life situations.
Competencies

• Determine the 21st century skills

Discussion
The 21st century skills are the skills needed by
digital learners to be equipped with for success in the
modern world. These are categorized into three
categories: learning skills, literacy skills, and life
skills. Each of these categories pertains to a specific
part of the digital curriculum.

1. Learning Skills
This category teaches students about the mental
processes required to adapt and improve upon a
modern work environment.
• Critical Thinking
It is the practice of solving problems. Moreover, it
teaches students to question claims and seek truth.
In addition to working through problems, solving
puzzles, and similar activities, critical thinking also
includes an element of skepticism. Critical thinking
empowers students to discover the truth in
assertions, especially when it comes to separating fact
from opinion. With critical thinking, students don’t
just learn a set of facts or figures. Instead, they learn
how to discover the facts and figures for themselves
• Creativity
It teaches students to think outside the box or think in a way that’s unique to them.
While creativity is often treated like a you-have-it-or-you-don’t quality, students
can learn how to be creative by solving problems, creating systems, or just trying
something they haven’t tried before. Creativity allows students to embrace their inner
strengths from big-picture planning to meticulous organization. As a student learns

“Molding Minds, Shaping Future.”

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 QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
Diffun, Quirino
BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY AND LIVELIHOOD
EDUCATION
about their creativity, they also learn how to express it in healthy and productive
ways.
• Collaboration
It is the practice of working together to achieve a common goal. It teaches students
that groups can create something bigger and better than you can on your own.
Collaborative learning is the practice of segmenting students into groups and having
them work in specific roles according to their strengths. Each member of those
groups is responsible for a different part of the project’s completion, and the group
members share what they’ve learned to achieve their common goal. Best of all,
collaborative learning eliminates the main pitfall of group work — one student doing
all the work.
Collaboration doesn’t have to take place in the classroom though. Today, with the
Internet nearly everywhere, students have more collaboration options at their disposal
than ever.

• Communication
It is the practice of conveying ideas quickly and clearly. It teaches students how to
efficiently convey ideas. Communication is often taken for granted in today’s society.
After all, if you say something, that means you conveyed an idea, right?
Reading to an audience — even if it’s just two other people in a group discussion
— lets students determine whether they should keep expanding on an idea or wrap
up their point. The point is that as students practice communication, they become
better at efficiently conveying an idea without losing their point “in the weeds,” so to
speak. With communication locked down, students can streamline their ideas and
make a positive impression on those around them.

2. Literacy Skills
These focus on how students can discern facts, publishing outlets, and the technology
behind them. There’s a strong focus on determining trustworthy sources and factual
information to separate it from the misinformation that floods the Internet. They’re
sometimes called IMT (information, media, and technology) skills, and they’re each
concerned with a different element in digital comprehension.
• Information Literacy
It is the fondation skill. It helps students understand facts, especially data points,
that they’ll encounter online. More importantly, it teaches them how to separate fact
from fiction. In an age of chronic misinformation, finding truth online has become a
job all on its own. It’s crucial that students can identify honesty on their own.
Otherwise, they can fall prey to myths, misconceptions, and outright lies.
• Media Literacy

“Molding Minds, Shaping Future.”

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 QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
Diffun, Quirino
BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY AND LIVELIHOOD
EDUCATION
It is the practice of identifying publishing methods, outlets, and sources while
distinguishing between the ones that are credible and the ones that aren’t. Just like
the previous skill, media literacy is helpful for finding truth in a world that’s saturated
with information. This is how students find trustworthy sources of information in
their lives. Without it, anything that looks credible becomes credible. But with it,
they can learn which media outlets or formats to ignore. They also learn which ones
to embrace, which is equally important.
• Technology Literacy
It goes another step further to teach students about the machines involved in the
Information Age. As computers, cloud programming, and mobile devices become
more important to the world, the world needs more people to understand those
concepts. Technology literacy gives students the basic information they need to
understand what gadgets perform what tasks and why. It unmasks the high-powered
tools that run today’s world. As a result, students can adapt to the world more
effectively. They can play an important role in its evolution.

3. Life Skills
Also called FLIPS, these skills all pertain to someone’s personal life, but they also bleed
into professional settings. These take a look at intangible elements of a student’s
everyday life. These intangibles focus on both personal and professional qualities.
• Flexibility
It is the expression of someone’s ability to adapt to changing circumstances. This
is one of the most challenging qualities to learn for students because it’s based on
two uncomfortable ideas: “Your way isn’t always the best way” and “You have to know
and admit when you’re wrong”. Flexibility requires them to show humility and accept
that they’ll always have a lot to learn — even when they’re experienced. Still, flexibility
is crucial to a student’s long-term success in a career. Knowing when to change, how
to change, and how to react to change is a skill that’ll pay dividends for someone’s
entire life. It also plays a big role in the next skill in this category.
• Leadership
It is someone’s desire for setting goals, walking a team through the steps required,
and achieving those goals collaboratively. Whether someone’s a seasoned
entrepreneur or a fresh hire just starting their careers, leadership applies. Entry-
level workers need leadership skills for several reasons. The most important is that it
helps them understand the decisions that managers and business leaders make.
• Initiative
True success also requires initiative, requiring students to be self-starters.
Initiative only comes naturally to a handful of people. As a result, students need to
learn it to fully succeed since initiative is an attribute that earns rewards. It’s

“Molding Minds, Shaping Future.”

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 QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
Diffun, Quirino
BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY AND LIVELIHOOD
EDUCATION
especially suggestive of someone’s character in terms of work ethic and professional
progress.
• Productivity
Along with initiative, 21st Century skills require students to learn
about productivity. That’s a student’s ability to complete work in an appropriate
amount of time. In business terms, it’s called “efficiency.” By understanding
productivity strategies at every level, students discover the ways in which they work
best while gaining an appreciation for how others work as well.
• Social Skills
Social skills are crucial to the ongoing success of a professional. Business is frequently
done through the connections one person makes with others around them. While these may
have been implied in past generations, the rise of social media and instant communications
have changed the nature of human interaction. As a result, today’s students possess a wide
range of social skills. Some are more socially adept than others. Some are far behind their
peers. And some lucky few may be far ahead, as socializing comes naturally to them.

References
Boss, S. (2019). It’s 2019. So why do
21st-century
skills still matter?. Retrieved at
[Link]
on July 2020.

Stauffer, B. (2020). What are 21st century skills?. Retrieved at

[Link]

[Link]

“Molding Minds, Shaping Future.”