Digital Learners and 21st Century
by: Graceous E. Paypa
Digital Learners1. The 21st Century dawned as the beginning of the
Digital Age- a time of unprecedented growth in technology and its subsequent information explosion. Never before have the tools for information access and management made such an impact on the way we live, work, shop and play. New technologies and tools multiply the market daily and the new technologies of today are outdated almost as soon as the reach the market. Numerous studies and reports have emerged over the past decades that seek to identify the life, career, and learning skills that define the skills needed for success in the 21st century world. While there are some differences in how the skills are categorized or interpreted, there are also many commonalities.
2. Common skills across most of the students include:
Creativity and Innovation Using knowledge and understanding to create new ways of thinking in order to find
solutions to new problem
To create new products and services
Think Creatively:
use a wide range of idea creation techniques (brainstorming)
Create new and worthwhile ideas (both incremental and radical concepts)
Elaborate, refine, analyze and evaluate ideas in order to improve and maximize creative efforts
Work Creatively with Others Develop, implement and communicate new ideas to others effectively
Demonstrate originality and inventiveness in work and understand the real world limits to adapting new ideas
Implementing Innovations Act on creative ideas to make a tangible and useful contribution to the field
in which the innovation will occur
Communication
Communicating effectively in a wide variety of forms and contexts for a wide range of purposes and using multiple media and technologies.
Communicate ClearlyArticulate thoughts and ideas effectively using oral, written and nonverbalcommunication skills in a variety of forms and contexts
Listen effectively to decipher meaning, including knowledge, values, attitude, and intentions
Use communication for a range of purpose (e.g to inform, instruct, innovate, and persuade and in diverse environments( including ,ulti-lingual)
Utilize multiple media and technologies , and know how to judge their effectiveness a priori as well as assess their impact
Collaboration
Working with others respectfully and effectively to create, use and share knowledge, solutions and innovations
Collaborate with Others Demonstrate ability to work effectively and respectfully with diverse teams
Exercise flexibility and willingness to be helpful in making necessary compromises to accomplish a common goal
Assume shared responsibility for collaborative work and value the individual contributions made by each team member
Information Management
Accessing, analyzing, synthesizing, creating, sharing information from multiple sources
Effective Use of Technology
Creating the capacity to identify and use technology efficiently, effectively and ethically as a tool to access, organize, evaluate and share information.
Career and Life SkillsDeveloping skills for becoming self-directed , independent learners and workers who can adapt to change , manage projects, take responsibility for their work, lead others and produce result
Cultural AwarenessDeveloping cultural competence in working with others by recognizing and respecting cultural differences and work with others from a wide range of cultural and social backgrounds
Information, media and technology skil ls
INFORMATION LITERACY
Access and Evaluate InformationAccess information efficiently (time
and effectively (sources) Evaluate informatkion critically and
competentlyUse and Manage Information
Use information accurately and creatively for the issue or problem at
handMangae flow of informatkon from a
wide variety of sourcesApply a fundmental understanding of the ethical/legal issuse surounding
the access and use of information
MEDIA LITERACY
Analyze Media Understand both how and why media
messages are constructed and for what purposes
Examine how individuals interpret messages differently, how values and points of vies are included or excluded , and how media can influence beliefs and behaviours
Apply fundamental understanding of the technical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of media
Create Media Products Understand and utilize the most
appropriate media creation tools, characteristics and conventions
Understand and effectively utilize the most appropriate expressions and interpretations in diverse, multi-cultural environments
ICT Literacy
Apply Technology EffectivelyUse technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate and communicate informationUse digital technologies, communication/ networking tools and social networks appropriate to access, mange, integrate, evaluate and create information to successfully function in a knowledge economyApply a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of information technologies.
Integrating 21st Century Skills with ContentThese skills are about the thinking processes and behaviors students will use as they learn subject area content and work woth others to deepen their understanding of the content. All of the frameworks emphasize the need to ground 21st century skills in core content, an expecially in an interdisciplinary fashion. Organizing instruction around important concepts and “big ideas” helps students create conceptual structures for stiring,retrieving and using information in anew and unanticipated ways. As the 21st century skills are integrated into content, come key design principles include:
1. Connecting the content knowledge to real-world applications and problem situations
2. Emphasizing deep understanding of the learning
3. Help Students understand and monitor the thinking processes they are using
4. Using technology to help students access, analyze organize and share what ther are learning and allow students to independentky locate appropriate tools for th task
5. Providing opportunities to students to become “creators as well as consumers of published information”
6. Engaging students in solving complex problems that require higher orded thinking and application of content and that results in new perspectives and solutions to problems
Instruction that meets the needs of today's students will incorporate
A variety of learning opportunities and activities
The use of appropriate technology tools to accomplish learning goals
Project-and problem-based learning
Cross-curricular connections
A focus on inquiry and the student-led investigations
Collaborative learning environments, both within beyond the classroom
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF
A 21ST CENTURY EDUCATOR
There are essential skills for the Digital learners that should consider in giving appropriate activities and assessments but what about the 21st Century Teacher, what are the characteristics we would expect to see in them?
Must be able to adapt the curriculum
Be able to adapt software and hardware
Be able to adapt to a dynamic teaching experience
Must understannd and apply different learning styles
The Visionary
Must see the potential in the emerging tools and web technologies, grasp and manipulate them
Can look at others ideas and envisage how would they use these in their class
Looks across the disciplines and through the curricula
Collaborator
Able to leverage these collaborative tools to enhance and captivate our learners
Must be collaborators, sharing, contributing, adapting and inventing
Risk Taker
Must take risks and some times surrender yourself to the students knowledge
Have a vision of what you want and what technology can achieve, identify the goals facilitate learning
Use the strength of the digital natives to understand and navigate new products
LearnerWe expect our students to be life-long learners
must continue to absorb new possibilities and experiences
must endeavour to stay current
The 21st Century Teacher or educator must learn and adapt
Communicator
Are fluent in tools and technologies that enable
communication and collaboration
Know how to use different media in communication
Allows students to be able to express their insight and
share their thoughts
Model
Must model the behaviours that are expected from their students
Educators are often the most consistent part of our student life
They model: Tolerance, Acceptance, a wider view than just their curricula areas, global awareness and reflection
Leader
Clear goals and objectives is crucial to the success or failure of any project
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