4 Essential Rules Of 21st Century Learning The term “21st century” has become an integral part of educational thinking and planning for the future. Educators and administrators are actively searching for ways to prepare students for the future, and the educational system has been evolving faster than ever before. 1. Instruction should be student-centered The days of lecturing teachers has passed – though not entirely. While student-centered learning is strongly encouraged in the 21st century, this does not mean that the teacher can never give a lecture again. Instead, it means that the main source of knowledge in the classroom should not be the teacher. Education is no longer about listening to the teacher talk and absorbing the information. In order to contribute to society, students will need to be able to acquire new information as problems arise. Then, they will need to connect the new information with the knowledge they already have and apply it to solving the problem at hand. They will not be able to call upon a teacher for answers, so will need to have ‘learned how to learn’ on their own. In this classroom model, the teacher would act as a facilitator for the students. Instead of passively receiving information, the students would gather information on their own, under the guidance of their teacher. Different learning styles are encouraged, and students have an enhanced sense of motivation and responsibility. They engage in many different types of hands-on activities, as well as demonstrate learning in many different ways. Learning is about discovery, not the memorization of facts. 2. Education should be collaborative Students must learn how to collaborate with others. Society today has people collaborating across the globe. How can students be expected to work with people from other cultures, with different values from their own, if they are not able to work with the people they see each day in their classroom? Students should be encouraged to work together to discover information, piece it together, and construct meaning. Collaboration should also be dynamic. Students should learn how to recognize the different strengths and talents each person can bring to a project, and change roles depending on those attributes. Schools should also be collaborating with other educational institutions around the world to share information and learn about different practices or methods that have been developed. They should be willing to alter their instructional methods in light of new advancements. 3. Learning should have context Student-centered does not mean that the teacher gives up all control of the classroom. While students are encouraged to learn in different ways, the teacher still provides guidance as to the skills that need to be acquired. The teacher can make a point of helping students to understand how the skills they are building can be applied in their lives. Students will be much more motivated to learn something that they can see the value in. Since we are no longer preparing students for specific tasks and roles, we need to take a more general approach and teach them the skills that are useful in any situation. Lessons have little purpose if they do not have any impact in a student’s life outside of the school. 4. Schools should be integrated with society In order to prepare students to become responsible citizens, we need to model what a responsible citizen is. Schools will often work at accomplishing this by creating events for the school community, by encouraging students to join committees or take part in school projects, and by occasionally helping the community around them with activities such as food drives or neighborhood clean-ups. With the powers of technology and the internet, students of today can do even more. Our community is no longer just the area of space located around the school, but reaches out and envelopes the world. Education needs to help students take part in this global community and find ways of impacting more than just their neighborhood. This doesn’t mean that they do not need to learn the value of helping others around them and protecting their immediate environment, but that they should also be learning about how they can help and protect a world further away from them, but also closer all the time.
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NorShahila IShakWELCOME TO KategoriArchives
January 2020
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