Education begins with the learner who is growing up in a digital era. In order to effectively facilitate the learning of digital age learners, educators need to address the challenges of 21st century learners, skills, and learning environments.21st Century Learners There are several characteristics that distinguish 21st century or “digital age” learners from their predecessors:
· Technology-savvy: P12 students today use technologies (cell phones, Internet, computers, video games, social networking, etc.) to an unprecedented extent. Nearly all their technology use occurs outside of school. (It’s important to note, however, that students from lower income households are less likely to have home access to high speed connectivity, computers and other technologies.) (See http://depd.wisc.edu/series/06_4168.pdf.) · Diversity: The nation’s P12 population is increasingly diverse, in terms of ethnic, racial and linguistic diversity, and the steadily growing percentage of students with such special needs as autism. In the past three decades, the percentage of minority students has risen from 22% to over 42% and is expected to continue rising www.nytimes.com/2007/06/01/education/01educ.html). · Different modes of cognition: Today's learners regularly “multi-task” – e.g., sending text messages to friends while listening to music while surfing the Web. More importantly, they process information using different areas of their brain than children used even just a decade ago. (see “iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind”, Small & Vorgan, 2009). 21st Century Skills While it remains essential for young learners to master such traditional core academic skills as reading, writing and arithmetic fundamentals, today they also need to develop “21st century skills”. As Wagner notes in The Global Achievement Gap (2008) these skills include critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration across networks and leading by influence, agility and adaptability, initiative and entrepreneurialism, effective oral and written communications, assessing and analyzing information, and curiosity and imagination. As Wagner notes, knowledge is increasing logarithmically such that the knowledge base available to a student entering a postsecondary engineering program as a freshmen will have changed entirely once or even twice during his or her four years of study. Thus, it is less and less important for P12 learners to master content – beyond truly essential skills and knowledge – and increasingly imperative for them to develop robust skills as a lifelong learner, the ability to critically assess the quality of digital content, and the other 21st century skills noted above.
21st Century Learning EnvironmentsThe National Association for K-12 Online Learning projected in 2009 that by 2019 fully half of the nation’s P12 courses would be conducted partly or entirely online (www.inacol.org/press/docs/nacol_fast_facts.pdf). NACOL cites an exponential increase in participation by learners and schools in online and hybrid education. In addition to this national trend, several years ago New Hampshire revised its state regulations in 2005 (the “300” administrative rules) requiring all high schools to identify what competencies learners could expect to master as a result of participating in that course. These regulations also require high schools to permit learners to engage in performance based assessments that allow them to earn credit for that course, without taking it, provided they demonstrate mastery of the competencies. Through such “extended learning opportunities” as internships, service learning, participation in sports and other experiential learning, New Hampshire’s learners can thus learn not only online but also beyond the classroom in the world around them.Key Implications These challenges have the following implications. To effectively facilitate learning:
1. Educators need to be effective in utilizing learning technologies to engage learners in the process. in learning. 2. Educators need to know how to engage with and serve learners from ethnically, racially, socioeconomically and linguistically diverse backgrounds as well as those with special needs. 3. Educators need to know how to effectively employ learning facilitation strategies that are compelling, interactive, and authentic, as opposed to relying primarily on the traditional pedagogy of “instruction” and “delivering content”. Thus, in addition to facilitating learners’ acquisition of scientific knowledge, the educator engages learners in “doing” a given discipline – i.e., conducting scientific inquiry as opposed to just learning about the scientific knowledge others have produced. 4. Educators need to be able to explain to learners the real-world applicability of the content with which they are engaging their students. (???) 5. The role of the educator must change from exclusively or primarily conveying content to learners and then assessing their recollection of this content, to facilitating primarily constructivist learning in which students develop 21st century skills and mastery of core skills and knowledge. Thus, we need to think and act in terms of “facilitating learning” rather than “instruction”, “learning facilitator” or “educator” rather than “educator or instructor”, “designing learning experiences” rather than “designing instruction”, and “learner” rather than “student”, to emphasize this paradigmatic shift. 6. Educators need skill in assisting learners to plan and participate in extended learning opportunities (ELOs), and in designing and employing performance-based assessments to determine whether the learner has successfully mastered the competencies of a course through ELOs. 7. Educators need skill in designing and employing hybrid and entirely online education, facilitation, collaboration and other e-learning strategies and tools to facilitate students’ learning. In addition to being skilled in addressing these unprecedented challenges, effective educators also must have high expectations for all learners and understand the significance of the personal, social, physical, and academic development of each learner. They do this with the recognition that learners are individuals who bring differing personal and family backgrounds, skills, abilities, perspectives, talents and interests. Educators collaborate with learners, colleagues, school leaders, families, talented individuals, businesses, members of the learners’ communities, and community organizations, to understand better their learners and maximize their learning. Within supportive and safe learning environments, educators promote learners’ acceptance of responsibility for their own learning and collaborate with them to ensure the effective design and implementation of both self-directed and collaborative learning.
There are several characteristics that distinguish 21st century or “digital age” learners from their predecessors:
· Technology-savvy: P12 students today use technologies (cell phones, Internet, computers, video games, social networking, etc.) to an unprecedented extent. Nearly all their technology use occurs outside of school. (It’s important to note, however, that students from lower income households are less likely to have home access to high speed connectivity, computers and other technologies.) (See http://depd.wisc.edu/series/06_4168.pdf.)
· Diversity: The nation’s P12 population is increasingly diverse, in terms of ethnic, racial and linguistic diversity, and the steadily growing percentage of students with such special needs as autism. In the past three decades, the percentage of minority students has risen from 22% to over 42% and is expected to continue rising www.nytimes.com/2007/06/01/education/01educ.html).
· Different modes of cognition: Today's learners regularly “multi-task” – e.g., sending text messages to friends while listening to music while surfing the Web. More importantly, they process information using different areas of their brain than children used even just a decade ago. (see “iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind”, Small & Vorgan, 2009).
21st Century Skills
While it remains essential for young learners to master such traditional core academic skills as reading, writing and arithmetic fundamentals, today they also need to develop “21st century skills”. As Wagner notes in The Global Achievement Gap (2008) these skills include critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration across networks and leading by influence, agility and adaptability, initiative and entrepreneurialism, effective oral and written communications, assessing and analyzing information, and curiosity and imagination. As Wagner notes, knowledge is increasing logarithmically such that the knowledge base available to a student entering a postsecondary engineering program as a freshmen will have changed entirely once or even twice during his or her four years of study. Thus, it is less and less important for P12 learners to master content – beyond truly essential skills and knowledge – and increasingly imperative for them to develop robust skills as a lifelong learner, the ability to critically assess the quality of digital content, and the other 21st century skills noted above.
21st Century Learning Environments The National Association for K-12 Online Learning projected in 2009 that by 2019 fully half of the nation’s P12 courses would be conducted partly or entirely online (www.inacol.org/press/docs/nacol_fast_facts.pdf). NACOL cites an exponential increase in participation by learners and schools in online and hybrid education. In addition to this national trend, several years ago New Hampshire revised its state regulations in 2005 (the “300” administrative rules) requiring all high schools to identify what competencies learners could expect to master as a result of participating in that course. These regulations also require high schools to permit learners to engage in performance based assessments that allow them to earn credit for that course, without taking it, provided they demonstrate mastery of the competencies. Through such “extended learning opportunities” as internships, service learning, participation in sports and other experiential learning, New Hampshire’s learners can thus learn not only online but also beyond the classroom in the world around them.Key Implications
These challenges have the following implications. To effectively facilitate learning:
1. Educators need to be effective in utilizing learning technologies to engage learners in the process. in learning.
2. Educators need to know how to engage with and serve learners from ethnically, racially, socioeconomically and linguistically diverse backgrounds as well as those with special needs.
3. Educators need to know how to effectively employ learning facilitation strategies that are compelling, interactive, and authentic, as opposed to relying primarily on the traditional pedagogy of “instruction” and “delivering content”. Thus, in addition to facilitating learners’ acquisition of scientific knowledge, the educator engages learners in “doing” a given discipline – i.e., conducting scientific inquiry as opposed to just learning about the scientific knowledge others have produced.
4. Educators need to be able to explain to learners the real-world applicability of the content with which they are engaging their students. (???)
5. The role of the educator must change from exclusively or primarily conveying content to learners and then assessing their recollection of this content, to facilitating primarily constructivist learning in which students develop 21st century skills and mastery of core skills and knowledge. Thus, we need to think and act in terms of “facilitating learning” rather than “instruction”, “learning facilitator” or “educator” rather than “educator or instructor”, “designing learning experiences” rather than “designing instruction”, and “learner” rather than “student”, to emphasize this paradigmatic shift.
6. Educators need skill in assisting learners to plan and participate in extended learning opportunities (ELOs), and in designing and employing performance-based assessments to determine whether the learner has successfully mastered the competencies of a course through ELOs.
7. Educators need skill in designing and employing hybrid and entirely online education, facilitation, collaboration and other e-learning strategies and tools to facilitate students’ learning.
In addition to being skilled in addressing these unprecedented challenges, effective educators also must have high expectations for all learners and understand the significance of the personal, social, physical, and academic development of each learner. They do this with the recognition that learners are individuals who bring differing personal and family backgrounds, skills, abilities, perspectives, talents and interests. Educators collaborate with learners, colleagues, school leaders, families, talented individuals, businesses, members of the learners’ communities, and community organizations, to understand better their learners and maximize their learning. Within supportive and safe learning environments, educators promote learners’ acceptance of responsibility for their own learning and collaborate with them to ensure the effective design and implementation of both self-directed and collaborative learning.