Module 1: Century Education Contexts
21st Century Schools
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.
This has become an innovation in education, from textbook-driven, teacher-centered,
paper- and-pencil schooling into a better understanding of the concept of knowledge and a new
definition of the educated person. Therefore, it makes a new way of designing and delivering the
curriculum.
Schools will go from 'buildings' to 'nerve centers', 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 into wisdom.
Therefore, the 21st century will require knowledge generation, 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 context.
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.
21st Century learning demands a school that excites students for school. There is a little
or no discipline problem because of strong student engagement. Likewise, parents are informed
about positive changes in their children. As a result, students’ manifest significant improvement
in basic skills of reading, writing, speaking, listening, researching, scientific explorations, math
multimedia skills and others.
The 21st Century Curriculum
The twenty-first 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 multimedia, multiple
literacies and authentic assessments, including service-learning([Link]
century-skill
The classroom is filled with self-directed students, who work independently and
interdependently. The curriculum and instruction are designed Imbued with the concept of
differentiation. Thus, Instead of focusing on textbook-driven or fragmented instruction, instruction
turns to be more thematic, project-based and integrated with skill and competencies purely not
confined within themselves, but are explored through research and concept application in projects
and outputs ([Link]
Learning is not confined through memorization of facts and figures alone but rather is
connected to previous knowledge, personal experience, interests, talents and habits
The 21st Century Learning Environment
Typically, a 21st Century classroom is not confined to a literal classroom building but a
learning environment where students collaborate with their peers, exchange insights, coach and
mentor one another and share talents and skills with other students. Cooperative learning more
than Isolated learning. They use technologies, including Internet systems and other platforms.
Hence, In the process of creating a world-class 21st century learning environment,
building new schools and remodeling of present school facilities can be addressed toward
creating environmentally friendly, energy-efficient, and "green" schools. Inside every classroom
student shall apply their knowledge of research in life, which is a clear indication of a relevant,
rigorous, 21st century real-life curriculum.
An ideal learning environment also considers the kind of spaces needed by students and
teachers in conducting investigations and projects by diverse groups for independent work. An
ideal learning environment has plenty of wall space and other areas for displaying student work
that includes a place where the parents and the community can gather to watch student
performances, as well as a place where they can meet for discussions.
Technology in the 21st Century Pedagogy
Technologies are not ending in themselves but these are tools students use to create
knowledge for personal and social change.
21st Century learning recognizes full access to technology. Therefore, a better bandwidth
of WIFI access should be available along areas of the school for the students to access their files
and supplement their learning inside the classroom. Various laboratories and learning centers are
set up in such a way that they allow a space needed for students' simulation and manipulative
works. All classrooms should have televisions to watch broadcasts created by the school and
other schools around. Other resources in the school can also be utilized by students in creating
opportunities for their knowledge exploration ([Link]
[Link]).
Understanding 21st Century Learners
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).
Students' entire lives have been immersed in the 21st Century media culture. They take
in the world via the filter of computing devices, such as cellular phones, handheld gaming devices,
PDAs, and laptops plus the computers, TVs, and game consoles at home.
A survey by Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation found that young people (ages 8-18) spend
on electronic media an average of six hours a day. In addition, many are multitasking, such as
listening to music while surfing the Web or instant-messaging friends while playing a videogame.
The preschoolers easily navigate electronic multimedia resources on games, in which
they learn colors, numbers, letters, spelling, and more complex tasks, such as mixing basic colors
to create new colors, problem-solving activities, and reading.
However, as Dr. Michael Wesch points out, although today's students understand how to
access and utilize these tools, they use them only for entertainment purposes. Thus, students
should be prepared and assisted to become media literate as they function in an online
collaborative research- based environment with the advent of researching, analyzing,
synthesizing, critiquing, evaluating and creating new knowledge.
21st Century Skills Outcome and the Demands in the Job Market
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, initiative, social skills,
productively and leadership. These skills have always been important in an information-based
economy.
Likewise, skills demanded in the job market include knowing a trade, following directions,
getting along with others, working hard and being professional, efficient, prompt, honest, and fair.
More so, to adapt to these jobs in this information age, students need to think deeply about issues,
solve problems creatively, work in teams, communicate clearly in many media, learn ever-
changing technologies and deal with the influx of information. Amidst rapid changes in the world,
industry requires students to be flexible, take the initiative, lead when necessary, and create
something new and useful.
According to Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21), various industries look for
employees who can think critically, solve problems creatively, innovate, collaborate and
communicate. Therefore, for a perfect match between academe and industry demands, schools
need to embed time-tested industry- demanded work skills in the curriculum
([Link] skills).
The 21st Century Learning Implications
21st Century skills are viewed as relevant to all academic areas and the skills may be
taught in a wide variety of both in-campus and community settings.
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.
Likewise, accrediting organizations and regulatory bodies may require 21st century skills
in the curriculum. In doing so, the assessment tools should also contain these skills. They may
design or adopt learning standards that explicitly describe multi-disciplinary skills that students
should acquire and master.
Schools and teachers should use a variety of applied skills, multiple technologies, and
new ways of analyzing and processing information, while also taking initiative, thinking creatively,
planning out the process, and working collaboratively in teams with other students.
More so, schools may allow students to pursue alternatives, in which students can earn
academic merits and satisfy graduation requirements by completing an internship, apprenticeship
or volunteer experience. It is in this manner that students can practice a variety of practical,
career-based, work-related skills and values while equally completing the academic coursework
and meeting the same learning standards required of students.
In today's world, Information and knowledge are continuously increasing at a certain rate
that no one can learn everything about every subject. What may appear true today could be
proven to be false tomorrow and the jobs that students will get after they graduate may not yet
exist. For this reason, students need to be taught how to process, analyze and use the information
and they need adaptable skills that they can apply in all facets of life. Thus, merely teaching them
ideas and facts without teaching them how to use them in real-life settings is no longer enough.
Schools need to adapt and develop new ways of teaching and learning that reflect a
changing world. The purpose of school should be to prepare students for success after graduation
and therefore, schools need to prioritize the knowledge and skills that will be in the greatest
demand, such as those deemed to be most important by college professors and employers.
Hence, teaching students to perform well in school or pass the test alone is no longer sufficient.
Henceforth, teachers must realize and students must understand that no one can move
toward a vision of the future unless he/she understands the socio-historical context of where they
are now, what events led them to be where they are, how this can inform development of vision
for the future and how they want to get there. Thus, a clear articulation of the purpose of education
for the 21st Century is the place to begin.([Link]
century-skills)
A Paradigm Shift for 21st Century Education
The paradigm shift from the 20th to the 21st Century, shows that the structure and
modalities of education have evolved. Students become the center of the teaching-learning
process in the21st Century using wide array of technological tools to assist them in exploring
knowledge and information needed in surviving the test of time and preparing for future career
endeavors. Assessment has been made varied to address multiple literacy development in
diverse contexts. Teachers turn to become facilitators rather than lecturers and dispensers of
information. As such, curriculum is designed in a way that it connects to life in the real world,
interconnected with other disciplines and reshapes the students’ holistic perspectives.
The Critical Attributes of 21st Century Education
Education continuously changes dramatically throughout time. There is a paradigm shift
in the way teaching and learning is delivered. Therefore, the 21st Century teacher needs to
develop essential knowledge, skills and values in order to cope with these changes and address
students' need (21st Century School, 2011).
The following are eight attributes of 21st Century education and their implications:
1. Integrated and Interdisciplinary. Education in the 21st Century is characterized by
interfacing various disciplines in an integrated manner rather than compartmentalizing its
subsequent parts. This critical attribute implies the need to review the curriculum and create
strategies infusing different subjects toward enhancing the learning experiences of students.
2. Technologies and Multimedia. Education in the 21st Century makes optimum use of
available Information and Communication Technology (ICT), as well as multimedia to improve
the teaching and learning process, including online applications and technology platforms. It
implies a need to acquire and use computers and multimedia equipment and the design of a
technology plan to enhance learning as its best.
3. Global Classrooms. Education in the 21st Century aims to produce global citizens by
exposing students to the issues and concerns in the local, national and global societies. 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.
4. Creating Adapting to Constant Personal and Social Change and Lifelong Learning.
Education in the 21st Century subscribes to the belief that learning does not end within the
four walls of the classroom. Instead, it can take place anywhere, anytime regardless of age.
This means that teachers should facilitate students' learning even beyond academics.
Therefore, it should not end with requirement compliance and passing the exams, but also for
transferring and applying knowledge to a new context or real-life situations. As such, the
curriculum should be planned in such a way that students will continue to learn outside the
school for life.
5. Student-Centered. Education in the 21st Century is focused on students as learners while
addressing their needs. Differentiated instruction is relevant in the 21st Century classrooms,
where diversity factors and issues are taken into account and addressed when planning and
delivering instruction, including their learning styles, interests, needs and abilities.
6. 21st Century Skills. Education in the 21st Century demonstrates the skills needed in
becoming productive members of society. Beyond learning the basic skills of reading, writing
and numeracy, students should also develop life and work skills in 21st century communities,
such as critical and creative thinking, problem-solving and decision-making and ICT literacy
and skills. Therefore, it implies that teachers should possess these skills first before their
students.
7. Project-Based and Research-Driven. 21st Century education emphasizes data, information
and evidence-based decision-making through student activities that encourage active
learning. This implies the need for knowledge and skills in research, such as self-directed
activities, learning projects, investigatory projects, capstones and other research-based
output.
8. Relevant, Rigorous and Real World. Education in the 21st Century is meaningful as it
connects to real-life experiences of learners. It implies the use of current and relevant
information linked to real-life situations and contexts.
The Characteristics of a 21st Century Teacher
1. Multi-literate. Teachers know how to use various technologies in teaching.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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
ahigh sense of professionalism.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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
being.
Common 21st Century Technology Tools for Learning
1. Affinity Groups. These are groups or communities that unite individuals with common
interests. Electronic spaces extend the range of possibilities for such groups.
2. Blogs. Web logs or "blogs" are interactive websites, often open to the public that can include
Web links, photographs and audio and video elements.
3. E-portfolio. It refers to student's works that are generated, selected, organized, stored and
revised digitally. Often, electronic portfolios are accessible to multiple audiences and can be
moved from one site to another easily. It can document the process of learning, promote
integrative thinking, display final work, and/or provide a space for reflective learning.
4. Hypertext. These are electronic texts that provide multiple links and allow users to trace ideas
in immediate and idiosyncratic directions. Hypermedia adds sound, video, animation, and/or
virtual reality environments to the user's choices.
5. Podcasts. These are digitized audio files that are stored on the Internet and downloaded to
listeners' computers or most likely to MP3 players. The term "podcast" comes from the iPod,
the popular MP3 player.
6. Web 2.0. This refers to a second generation of Web-based communities that demonstrate the
participatory literacies that students need for the 21st century.
7. Myspace ([Link] It is a social networking website that offers aninteractive
user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, musicand videos
internationally. Students can rate professors, discuss books, and connect with highschool and
college classmates here.
8. Second Life ([Link] It is an Internet-based 3-D virtual world that uses
avatars (digital representations) to explore, socialize, participate in individual or group
activities. Create and trade items (virtual property) and services.
9. Semantic Web. It is an extension of the current Web that puts data into a common format so
that instead of humans working with individual search engines (e.g.: Google, Ask Jeeves) to
locate information, the search engines themselves feed into a single mechanism that provides
this searching on its own. Sometimes called Web 3.0, this information for more efficient and
comprehensive retrieval.
10. Webkinz (htpp://[Link]) It is an Internet simulation wherein children learn pet care
and other skills.
11. Wiki. It refers to software that fosters collaboration and communication online, Wikis enable
students to create comment upon, and revise collaborative projects. One of the most
prominent is Wikipedia ([Link] an online multilingual free-content
encyclopedia, which has 7.9 million articles in 253 languages.
12. YouTube ([Link] It is a popular website for video sharing where users can
upload, view and share video footage, including movie clips, TV clips, and music videos, even
student-produced videos.
13. Google Docs. It allows students to collaborate with other people and the document materials
that need to be compiled, processed, transacted and analyzed.
14. Prezi. It allows individuals to use pre-made, creative presentation templates.
15. Easy bib. It allows individuals to generate citations in any given format.
16. Social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Edmodo, Schoology, Instagram, etc.). These are
means to communicate and share ideas among users.
17. Smartboards and audience response systems. These are replacement for traditional
chalkboards or whiteboards in classrooms.
18. [Link]. ([Link]). It is a repository of standards-based literacy
lessons that offer teachers instructional ideas for Internet integration.
19. WebQuest Page ([Link]). It provides WebQuests on an array of topics across
content areas with a template for creating one's own.
20. Literacy Web ([Link] It is an online portal that includes a large
number of new literacy's resources ([Link] [Link]#1) for new
literacies for teachers.