MODULE 1:

21ST CENTURY educaton

Learning
1. Outcomes
Define 21st Century Education
2. Describe the 21st Century teacher and the needed innovative tools for learning
3. Examine the critical attributes of 21st century education
4. Explain how 21st century education concept can be integrated in the classroom
5. Draw relevant life lessons and significant values from the experience in practicing
21st century education
6. Analyze research abstract on 21st century education and its implications on
teaching learning process
7. Prepare an evaluation instrument intended for 21st century teaching learning

This modern society is ushered in by a dramatic

Concept technological revolution. It is an increasingly diverse,
Exploration globalized and complex media saturated society.
According to Dr. Douglas Kellner, this technological
revolution bears a greater impact on society than the transition from an oral to print
culture.
Education prepares students for life in this world. Amidst emerging social issues and
concern, there is a need for students to be able to communicate, function and create
change personally, socially, economically and politically at the local, national, and global
levels by participating in real life and real world service learning projects.
Emerging technologies and resulting globalization also provide unlimited possibilities for
inviting discovery and developments.

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21st Century Education Context
21st Century School. 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 text-book 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 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 make elaborate 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 (http://edglosarry.org/21s'-century-skills).

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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, and
instruction turns to be more thematic, project based and integrated with skills and competencies
purely not confined within themselves, but are explored through research and concept application
in projects and outputs. (http://edglosarry.org/21s'-century-skills).

Learning is not confined to 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 little classroom with their peers, exchange insights, coach and mentor one another
and share talents and skills with other students. 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. 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
students shall apply their knowledge of research in life, which is a clear indication of relevant,
rigorous, 21st century real life curriculum.

An ideal learning environment also considers the kind of spaces needed by students and
teachers in conducting investigation and projects by diverse groups four independent work. An
ideal learning 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 ends in themselves
but these are tools students used to create knowledge for personal and social change.

21st century learning recognizes full access to technology. Therefore, a better bandwidth
of Wi-Fi 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 broadcast created by the school and other
schools around. Other resources in the school can be also be utilized by students in creating
opportunities for their knowledge explorations
(http://www.21stcenturyschools.com/Critical_Pedagogy.htm).

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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
intellectualized and believe that learning is constant (Hawkins and Graham, 1994).

Student at higher lives have been immersed in the 21st century media culture. They think
in the world via the filter of computing devices, such as cellular phones, handheld gaming
devices, PDAs, and laptop plus the computers, TVs, and game console at home.

A survey by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation found that young people (ages 8-18)
spend on electronic media an average of 6 hours a day. In addition, many are multitasking, such
as to listening to music while surfing the web or instant messaging friends while playing a video
game.

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 Demand 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 , and technology literacy; and
(3) Life skills that include flexibility , initiative , social skills , productivity 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 the 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
(http://thoughtfullearning.com/resources/what-are-21st-century-skills).

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The 21st Century Learning Implications. 21st century skills are viewed relevant to
all academic areas and the skills may be thought 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 discipline; articulating technical scientific concepts in
verbal , written , and graphic form; presenting laboratory reports to a pool of specialist , or used
emerging technologies , software programs and multimedia application 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 described 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 merit 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 to today could be proven
to be false tomorrow and the job 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 room 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 passed 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 or 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 a
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.
(http://thoughtfullearning.com/resources/what-are-21st-century-skills)

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A Paradigm Shift for 21st Century Education
Before 21st Century Education 21st Century Education

Time-based Outcome-based
Focus: memorization of discrete facts Focus: what students know, can do are like after
all the details are forgotten.
Lower order thinking skills in Bloom's Higher order thinking skill(metacognition), such
Taxonomy, such as knowledge and as application, analysis, synthesis and
comprehension evaluation
Textbook-driven Research driven
Passive learning Active learning
Learners work in isolation and confined in the Learners work collaboratively with classmates
classroom (walled classroom). and others around the world
Teacher-centered: teacher is dispenser of Student-centered: teacher is facilitator/coach of
knowledge, information and attention. students learning.
Little to no student freedom. Great deal of student freedom
Fragmented curriculum Integrated and interdisciplinary curriculum
“Discipline problems"- No trust between No "discipline problems" – Students and
educators and students. Little student teachers have mutual respect and relationship
motivation. as co-learners. High student motivation.
Grades taken from formal assessment Grades are based on students' performance as
measured entered in the class record for evidence of learning outcome

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reporting purposes
Assessment is for marking purposes and Assessment is important aspect of instruction to
placed as part of a lesson plan structure. gauge learning outcome
Low expectations. What students receive is High expectations that students succeed in
what they get learning to high extent
Teacher is judge. No one else sees student Self, peer and others serve as evaluators of
work. Outputs are assessed using structured students learning using wide range of metrics
metrics. and authentic assessments
Curriculum is irrelevant and meaningless to the Curriculum is connected to students' interests,
students experiences, talents and the world
Print is the primary vehicle of learning and Performances, projects and multiple forms of
assessment media are used for learning assessment
Student diversity is ignored Curriculum and instruction address student
diversity
Student just follow orders and instructions while Students are empowered to lead and initiate
listening to teacher’s lecture. while creating solutions and solving problems
Literacy is the 3 R's (reading, writing, and Multiple literacies of the 21st century aligned to
‘rithmetic). living and working in a globalized new society.
Factory model, based upon the needs of Global model based upon the needs of a
employers for industrial Age of the 19 th century globalized high-tech society

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 teaching-learning truffles in
the 21st 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 and in
devour. Assessment has been made varied to address multiple literacy development in diverse
contexts. Teachers turn to become facilitators rather than lectures 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 reshape the students holistic perspective .

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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 schools,
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 application 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 at its best.

3. Global Classrooms. Education in the 21st century aims to produce global citizen 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 with the
four walls of the classroom. Instead, it can take place anywhere, anytime regardless of
age. This means that teachers should facilitate student 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 of real-life situations. As such,

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the curriculum should be planned in such way that students will continue to learn even
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
classroom, where diversity factors and issues are taken into account and address 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 the teacher should possess this 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, capstone and
other research based output.

8. Relevant, Rigorous and Real-world. Education in the 21st century is meaningful as it

connect to real-life experiences of learners. It implies the use of current and relevant
information linked to real life situations and
contexts.(http://iflex.innotech.org/GURO21/module1/11_5.html)

The Characteristics of a 21st Century Teacher

The 21st century teaching learning environment becomes more complicated brought by
technological changes. Therefore, teacher should be able to cope with and adapt to these changes.
Thus, teachers must be equipped with attributes, knowledge and skills critical to 21st
century education so that they may be able to integrate them in their teaching period 21st century
teachers are characterized as:

1. Multi-literate. Teachers know how to use various technologies in teaching.

2. Multi-specialist. Teachers are not only knowledgeable in the core subject they teach but also
in other areas so that they can help the learner build up what they gain in 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.

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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 idea 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.

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 the guidance and care.

10. High emotional quotient (EQ). Pictures 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. (http://udyong.gov.ph)

Common 21st Century Technology Tools for Learning

As teacher for the 21st century, no one can escape from the reality that we are now in a
borderless society. It is therefore important that we should know different technology tools for
learning to respond to the needs of 21st century learners ‘ and the demands of the times. The
following are the common 21st century technology tools:

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.

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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 digitalized audio files that are stored on the internet and downloaded to
listeners’ computers or most likely to MP3 players. The term “podcasts” comes from 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 21 st century.

7. Myspace. It is a social networking website that offers an interactive user-submitted network

of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos internationally. Students can
rate professors, discuss books, and connect with high school and college classmates here.

8. Second Life. It is an internet-based 3D virtual world that uses avatars (digital representation)
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 technology enables integration of virtually
all kinds of information for more efficient and comprehensive retrieval.

10. Webkinz. 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 (http://www.wikipedia.org), an online multilingual free-content encyclopedia, which
has 7.9 million articles in 254 languages.

12. YouTube. 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 a video .

13. Google docs. It allows students to collaborate with other people and the document materials
that need to be compiled, process, transacted and analyzed.

14. Prezi . It allows individuals to use pre-made, creative presentation templates.

15. Easybib. It allows individuals to generate citations in any given format.

16. Social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Edmodo, Schoology, Instagram,

etc .). This or means to communicate and share ideas among users.

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17. Smart boards and audience response systems. These are replacement for traditional
chalkboard or white boards & classroom.

18. ReadWriteThink.Org. It is a repository of standards-based literacy lessons that offer

teachers instructional ideas for internet integration.

19. WebQuest Page. It provides webquests on an array of topics across content areas with a
template for creating one's own.

20. Literacy web. It is an online portal that includes a large number of new literacyand
resources for new literacies for teachers. (http://cnets.iste.org/teachers/t_glossary.html#t)

THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION

Education prepares students for life in this world that can make them communicate ,
function and create change personally , socially , economically and politically on local ,
national and global levels ,
There is a drastic change brought about by the advent of the 21st century education in the
SYNTHESIS

context of a curriculum, classroom environment , technology , learners and demands of the

job market .
21st Century education implies challenges among teachers in the way they need to embrace
technology advancement and instructional innovation.
With a paradigm shift from 20th century to 21st century education, transformations and
transition are taking place.
To cope with the demands of 21st century education, educational institution should address
it's 8 critical attributes.
Teachers must be multi-literate , multi-specialist , multi-skilled , self-directed , lifelong
learners , flexible , creative problem solver , critical thinker , emotionally intelligent and
passionate for excellent teaching

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