The new buzz word in education as a result of Common Core is
21st century learning. So what exactly do we mean by that phrase?
Well things are dramatically changing all around us in the world and the arena
of education is no exception. The massive big world as we once thought it to be
is becoming more and more interconnected.
Our environment is becoming less stable, and technology is continuously
altering and transforming our relationship to information. Social media has made
us information monsters and the changing global conditions demand that we
rethink what we learn , but even more importantly, how and where we learn.
Today’s teachers are preparing students for jobs that have
not been invented so we need to teach them much more than reading and math. The term 21st-century skills is used to refer
to certain core competencies such as collaboration, digital literacy, critical
thinking, and problem-solving skills that needs to be taught to students of
today for jobs in the future. The incorporation of technology into our curriculum
allows us to teach with more enhanced tools and students can locate access,
acquire and even create knowledge much more quickly than students in the past.
Today’s higher education classroom is becoming global and
students are being instructed in classrooms that it’s not necessarily within
four walls. Students can access class information by accessing the Internet through
their cellphones, iPads, tablets or computers. Access to professors can be via
text, email, Google hangouts in addition to cellphones. Similarly, student to
student collaboration occurs in the same way. The virtual classroom is becoming
a way of life.
In a 21st century classroom students learn through
meaningful projects. They can design, plan, carry out, and publicly exhibit a
project that can benefit their community. Teachers must create an interest in
learning through inquiry based instruction that will promote student engagement
and academic success. We must as education take advantage of the digital technologies
available and help our students become both digitally literate and digitally
adept for the future.
