things to think about for THE 21st CENTURY LEARNER

From cell phone and video games to Facebook and YouTube, digital media are changing the way young people play and socialize in the 21st century.

Now material are providing inside or outside the classroom, students are easily find information anytime and anywhere and if teachers can only provide formulas, theories, and researches then the teacher's role is absolute. but now we are facing the 21st century and teachers are no longer as the main sourch of information again, if the teachers are not teaching in different ways to enggage the students. so the question is what do young people need to learn today in order to succeed in the future ?

because today's global society demands new thinking skills and higher levels of educational achievment , by understanding the skills young people need to succeed in the real world, we can start to design learning environments fit for the 21st century. How can we help young people to discover what they love, master what they learn, and apply what they know to the challanges that matter to them . because they want to collaborate and work with their peers. They want to incorporate the technology they love into their classroom experiences as much as they can. In short, they have just as high a set of expectations of their educators as their educators have of them

This 21st-century skills list is purposefully embedded within the Essential Fluencies. In the meantime, let’s talk more about why these skills are important. We’ll go through each point separately and talk about it in detail.

1.Problem solving

Students need the ability to solve complex problems in real time.

Why it’s important: In the future, complex problems that we can’t even conceive right now will be everywhere. As society advances, so will the complexity of its manageable conflicts. The more we focus on students’ ability to devise effective solutions to real-world problems, the more successful those students will become. This is what Solution Fluency is all about. It means solving complex problems effectively in real time using unique and carefully designed solutions.

In addition to this, problem-solvers can work independently from higher supervision. They are initiative takers and enjoy risk, and they aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty and make mistakes. They also learn from those mistakes, and habitually debrief their processes to create more efficient and economical solutions. are the kinds of people who will be successful in a global marketplace like ours. Such an individual is an asset to any workforce. It’s worth mentioning that in this future we’re talking about, workers who are unable to think proactively towards solving problems will have a hard time finding employment.

2. Creativity

Students need to be able to think and work creatively in both digital and nondigital environments to develop unique and useful solutions.

Why it’s important: Our digital students are in a constant state of stimulation and neural development with technology use. They are natural producers and consumers, or prosumers, of information. Problem-solving is a skill that comes naturally to them and this can be advanced profoundly with the proper engagement in their learning. This comes from doing rewarding projects and meaningful tasks that give them challenges to overcome in imaginative ways. Ask any student about what they like to create and you’ll get a myriad of different answers. They are constantly searching for ways to express themselves and their uniqueness. Through social media, they display this creative edge and are given constant and instantaneous feedback from their peers. This same level of creative power is used as they face interesting challenges and figure out how to meet them with ingenuity and vision. This is why Creativity Fluency is one of the Essential Fluency skills. Creativity is a vital outlet that inspires students to see who they are and what they can do, and to realize what they can accomplish. It is fundamental that this side of any student is allowed to shine forth in their learning.

3. Analytic thinking

Students need the ability to think analytically, which includes proficiency with comparing, contrasting, evaluating, synthesizing, and applying without instruction or supervision.

Why it’s important: Analytic thinking means being able to use the higher end of Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy or higher-order thinking skills (HOTS). You can learn more about this taxonomy, devised by educator Andrew Churches, at his educational wiki Edorigami.

Tasks that require linear thinking and routine cognitive work are being outsourced more and more. So it’s essential to guide students towards being able to perform analytic thinking. It is crucial to their ability to succeed in life after the classroom. Analytic thinking is a significant part of what makes up Information Fluency. According to Palgrave Study Skills, the common piece of feedback that many first-year university students receive on early assignments is that they are “not analytical enough.” Palgrave goes on to profile an in-depth explanation of what critical and analytical thinking is. Analytical thinkers see data and information in many different dimensions, and from multiple angles. They are adept at conceptualization, organization and classification, and knowledge synthesis. These types of skills are invaluable because they allow students to deal practically with problems of a social, mathematical, and scientific nature. It empowers them to make effective and level-headed decisions in their lives and relationships. It’s easy to see why critical and analytical thinking skills are important to success beyond school.

4. collaboration

Students must possess the ability to collaborate seamlessly in both physical and virtual spaces, with real and virtual partners globally.

Why it’s important: Students of the digital age are social by nature. They text, post, update, share, chat, and constantly co-create in technological environments with each other. When they are unable to do this in school, they become disengaged and unattached to their learning. Connection and collaboration with others are essential not only to their learning but their mental and emotional health. It is a skill that ducators must exercise with them regularly, and understanding Collaboration Fluency will assist with this.

The workforces of the future (and even our present day) are globalizing due to the Internet. It is now the norm to communicate and market for global demographics instantaneously and effectively. An organization’s business partners are now halfway across the world, and yet they meet and work with each other every day. The ability to collaborate and communicate in these situations is essential.

This kind of interaction goes hand-in-hand with the mindset of global awareness that is part of Global Digital Citizenship. Simply put, better collaborators make better students—and better citizens.

5. communication

Students must be able to communicate not just with text or speech, but in multiple multimedia formats. They must be able to communicate visually through video and imagery as effectively as they do with text and speech.

Why it’s important: Communication is a broad term that incorporates multi-faceted levels of interaction and sharing information. Students love to communicate using technology. This is an essential part of Media Fluency. But it’s more than just being able to effectively use digital media. It’s about personal interactions as well. We must remind our students that responsible communication practice puts forth their best representation of who they are as individuals in every relationship and alliance they make in their lives. Whether talking face-to-face, blogging, texting, or creating a visual product, their values and beliefs are defined by how well they communicate with others. Encouraging them to develop and hone every aspect of their communication skills will serve them well in both their personal and professional lives.

6. Ethics, Action, and Accountability

This includes adaptability, fiscal responsibility, personal accountability, environmental awareness, empathy, tolerance, and global awareness.

Why it’s important: These are among the many characteristics of the Global Digital Citizen. A well-rounded and responsible global digital citizen practices personal, global, and online responsibilities geared towards creating a better world for everyone. This is a selfless, helpful, and caring individual who is respectful of other cultures and belief systems, and diligent about being at their best with interactions of all sorts, both online and offline. Teaching our kids about global awareness and Internet safety have become mainstream practices in education. It’s great to see such skills garnering the attention they deserve. The Global Digital Citizen Foundation continues to create resources to help educators all over the world incorporate these practices into their own teaching strategies.

Why Create an Online Place That Serves the Public Interest in Citizenship Education?

Given the civic mission of schools, in general, and the importance of citizenship education to social studies, in particular, we may accept the premise that the Internet is a distinct place. If so, then our society is obligated to dedicate Internet space to serve the public interest to prepare the next generation for citizenship in an online environment. Although such space already is provided to a degree (e.g., the electronic educational services and resources provided by a host of public agencies), no such publicly maintained democratic commons is specifically geared toward learners. If we have dedicated “brick and mortar” space for citizenship education in the offline environment to prepare learners for civic life in that environment, why not dedicate virtual space for a similar endeavor, specifically geared toward civic action in an online environment?

I propose the creation of a national town commons open to K-12 students established as an .edu site or a series of .edu sites. The site would serve as a democratic commons where young people might engage in discussion of school or local, national, or global concerns. Such a commons also might serve as a means for young people to post calls for action and reports on actions taken, provide information about themselves or the community in which they live, and the list goes on.

I realize the perils of such a site, though I hope the questions and concerns do not diminish discussion about the idea itself. Concerns over cyber safety have not resulted in calls to eliminate young people’s access to the Internet, nor have incidents of school violence resulted in calls to close schools. I would hope that concerns over cyber safety in a democratic commons for young people do not prevent consideration of the commons in itself.

The National Center for Education Statistics (2006) indicated that only 46% of schools permit student access to the school intranet. The schools’ growing hesitancy to permit students to go online reveals both a failure to recognize the importance of creating such a place and a sign of a growing digital disconnect between young people’s online out-of-school lives and their offline in-school lives. This situation highlights the need for an online democratic commons dedicated solely to students, a place where students learn both how to protect themselves and how to prosper and be proactive online.

Conclusion

I fully realize that, at first blush, the scope of what I propose is overwhelming. I hark back to an earlier time, a time when young people such as my sister were unable to secure a public education. She contracted polio when she was seven and has needed the aid of a wheelchair ever since. Initially, the school system was unable to accommodate her. Fortunately for her, technology eventually came to her rescue via a two-way intercom system between her bedroom and each of her classrooms.

In hindsight, maybe some of my thinking arises from her experience, since she engaged in a “virtual school” of her time. Back then, though, the prospect of accommodating her and so many other young people with needs outside the social norm seemed a daunting task, one which too many people were all too willing to dismiss as impossible to achieve. All she wanted was an education, and she has since obtained a master’s degree, adopted four young girls from India, and now writes federal regulations regarding how to accommodate those with special needs. I shudder to think what her life, and others like hers, would have been like if educators at the time had listened only to those who said meeting her needs was an impossible task.

In posing the creation of a virtual laboratory of democracy from the vantage point of what young people today need to prepare for citizenship in a digital society of tomorrow, I am reminded of Coleman’s (2006) call for “an open debate about what young people want from the democratic process and how they would like to use the technologies of communication with which they are familiar” (p. 261). Although he was speaking of the debate itself, I take Coleman’s thinking one step further and suggest that a virtual lab is “a risky, exciting, and highly creative exercise in planning for the next generation of democratic citizens” (p. 261). Such a proposal represents a leap into the future, into a place yet unknown, but I believe the leap is necessary and well worth taking.

References

Anyon, J. (1978). Elementary social studies textbooks and legitimating knowledge. Theory and Research in Social Education, 6(3), 40-55.

Avery, P. G., & Simmons, A. M. (2000-2001). Civic life as conveyed in United States civics and history textbooks, International Journal of Social Education, 15(2), 105-130.