Information Literacy Training for IL TrainersUniversitas Pelita Harapan

4 – 6 Februari 2010

21st Century Literacy Skills

Diljit SinghUniversity of Malaya

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The 21st Century

From To

The 21st Century

From To

The 21st Century

• Change has occurred everywhere Business Healthcare Products Services … … …

• Change has come about because of Growth of technology Growth of information

Outline of Presentation

• The 21st century as the information era

• Skills for success in the 21st century

• Developing 21st century skills

The 21st Century as the Information Era

The 21st Century as the Information Era

The 21st Century as the Information Era

• Every 5 years, the total amount of information doubles• Every 2 years, the amount of scientific information

doubles • Every 1 hour, the amount of electronic information

doubles (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2007)

The 21st Century as the Information Era

• The English Language now has 1,003,322 words (as at 22 January 2010)

• The English language passed 1,000,000 words on 10 June 2009

• English gains a new word every 98 minutes (or about 14.7 new words a day)

• Some of the new words in the past 10 years Twitter Global warming H1N1 Blog Texting

The English Language WordClock

Skills for Success

• Skills for success in pre-20th century Hunting, Fishing, Farming Manufacturing Home management

• Skills for success in 20th century Reading ] Writing ] Literacy Arithmetic ]

Skills for Success

• Skills for Success in in the 21st Century Basic, Technological, and Information Literacies

Skills to negotiate the complexities of life in today’s society Globalization ‘Wired’ world Multicultural world

In the 21st century, literacy means more than reading, writing, and arithmetic. Literacy means communication, logical thinking, creativity, critical reading, persuasive writing, problem solving, …

Skills for Success

• 21st century skills Critical-thinking and problem-solving skills Communication and collaboration skills Creativity and innovation skills Information and communications technology literacy Contextual learning skills Information and media skills

Skills for Success

• 21st century skills Leadership Personal responsibility Ethics People skills Adaptability Self-direction Accountability Social responsibility Personal productivity

Developing 21st Century Skills

• Who is responsible? Policy makers Administrators Community leaders School Principals Teachers Librarians Parents Caregivers and family members … …

Developing 21st Century Skills

20th Century Schools

Industrial Model Time on task Standardization of teaching,

learning and assessment Transmission of knowledge Over-emphasis on control Building learning from the part to

the whole Lack of attention to diversity,

individual differences, socialization, and collaboration

Narrow view of effectiveness and efficiency

21st century Schools

Informational Model Learn at varying speeds Flexible, individualized learning Learning how to learn Flexibility Building learning whole part

whole Diversity, individual differences,

socialization, influence learning Effectiveness and efficiency are

contextual

Developing 21st Century Skills

• Shift from Teacher- Centered to Child-CenteredConstructivist Theory

• Shift from Individualism to CollaborationSocial Learning Theory

• Shift from Skills only to Connecting children to our world

Global Awareness, Civic Literacy, Environmental Literacy, Critical Literacy, Technology and Media Literacy, Financial and Economic Literacy, Information Literacy

Developing 21st Century Skills

CHILD WORLD SCHOOL

EXPERIENCES

Developing 21st Century Skills

The quality of an education system

cannot exceed the quality of its teachers  World’s Best Performing School Systems, 2008 

Developing 21st Century Skills

But are we ready?

Thank you

diljit@um.edu.my

diljit_singh@hotmail.com