Chapter 1 Ed 110 - Building and Enhancing New Literacy 2nd Sem SY 2023-2024

Chapter 1:
ST
21 CENTURY EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION

This modern society is ushered in by a dramatic technological revolution. It is an

increasingly diverse, 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
concerns, 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 exciting discoveries and
developments.

OBJECTIVES
• Define 21st Century education;
• Describe the 21st Century teacher and the needed innovative tools learning;
• Examine the critical attributes of 21st Century education;
• Explain how 21st Century education concepts can be integrated in the classroom ; and
• Share relevant life lessons and significant values from the experience in practicing 21 st
Century education.

LET’S FIND OUT!

21st Century Education Contexts

21st Century Schools. 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 textbook-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.

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Chapter 1 Ed 110 - Building and Enhancing New Literacy 2nd Sem SY 2023-2024

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 twenty-first 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 may collaborate 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.
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,
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:/edglossary.org/21st-century-skills).
Learning is not confined through memorization of facts in figure 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 literal classroom building but a learning environment where students collaborate 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, “green” schools. Inside every classroom, students shall
apply their knowledge of research in life, which is a clear indication of a relevant, rigorous, 21 st
Century real-life curriculum.
An ideal learning environment also considers the kind of spaces needed by students and
teachers in conducting investigations and projects by diverse groups for independent work. An
ideal learning environment has plenty of wall space and other areas for displaying 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 use to create knowledge for personal and social change. 21st Century

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learning recognizes full access to technology. Therefore, a better bandwidth of Wifi 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 broadcasts created by the school and other schools around.
Other resources in the school can also be utilized by students in creating opportunities for their
knowledge explorations.

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. The predominant senses are hearing and seeing. They tend to intellectualize and believe
that learning is constant (Hawkins and Graham, 1994).
Students’ entire lives have been immersed in the 21 st Century media culture. They take in
the world via the filter of computing devices, such as cellular phones, hand held gaming devices,
PDAs, and laptops 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 six hours a day. In addition, many are multitasking, such
as 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 Demands 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-

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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 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.
The 21st Century Learning Implications. 21st Century skills are viewed relevant to all
academic areas and the skills may be taught 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 disciplines; articulating technical scientific concepts in
verbal, written, and graphic forms; presenting laboratory reports to a pool of specialists, or use
emerging technologies, software programs and multimedia applications 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 describe 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 merits 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 true today could be
proven to be false tomorrow and the jobs 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 them
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 pass 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/she understands the socio-historical context of where they
are now, whet 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.

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Chapter 1 Ed 110 - Building and Enhancing New Literacy 2nd Sem SY 2023-2024

The 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 and
are like after all the details are
forgotten.
Lower order thinking skills in Bloom’s Higher order thinking skills
Taxonomy, such as knowledge and (metacognition), such as application,
comprehension analysis, synthesis, and evaluation
Textbook-driven Research-driven
Passive learning Active learning
Learners work in isolation and confined in the Learners work collaboratively with
classroom (walled classroom). classmates and others around the
world (global classroom).
Teacher-centered: teacher is dispenser of Student-centered: teacher is
knowledge, information and attention. facilitator/coach of students’ learning.
Little to no student freedom. Great deal of student freedom.
“Discipline problems” — No trust between “Discipline problems” — Students and
educators and students. Little student teachers have mutual respect and
motivation. relationship as co-learners. High
student motivation.
Fragmented curriculum Integrated and Interdisciplinary
curriculum
Grades taken from formal assessment Grades are based on students’
measures entered in the class record for performance as evidence of learning
reporting purposes outcome
Assessment is for marking purposes and Assessment is important aspect of
placed as part of lesson plan structure instruction to gauge learning outcome
Low expectations. What students receive is High expectations that students
what they get. succeed in learning to high extent.
Teacher is judge. No one else sees student Self, peer and others serve as
work. Outputs are assessed using structured evaluators of student learning using
metrics. wide range of metrics and authentic
assessments.
Curriculum is irrelevant and meaningless to the Curriculum is connected to students’
students. interests, experiences, talents and the
real world.
Print is the primary vehicle of learning and Performances, projects and multiple
assessment. forms of media are used for learning
and assessment.
Student diversity is ignored. Curriculum and instruction address
student diversity.

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Students just follow orders and instructions Students are empowered to lead and
while listening to teacher's lecture. initiate while creating solutions and
solving problems.
Literacy is the 3 R's (reading, writing and Multiple literacies of the 21st Century
arithmetic). aligned to living and working in a
globalized new society.
Factory model, based upon the needs of Global model based upon the needs of
employers for the Industrial Age of the 19th a globalized high-tech society.
century
.

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 process
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 endeavors.
Assessment has been made varied to address multiple literacy development in diverse contexts.
Teachers turn to become facilitators rather than lecturers 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 reshapes the students’ holistic perspectives.

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 applications and technology platforms. It

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Chapter 1 Ed 110 - Building and Enhancing New Literacy 2nd Sem SY 2023-2024

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 citizens 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 within the four
walls of the classroom. Instead, it can take place anywhere, anytime regardless of age. This
means that teachers should facilitate students’ 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 or real-life situations. As such, the curriculum should
be planned in such a 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 classrooms,
where d diversity factors and issues are taken into account and addressed 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 that teachers should possess these 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, capstones and other research-based output.
8. Relevant, Rigorous and Real World. Education in the 21st Century is meaningful as it
connects to real-life experiences of learners. It implies the use of current and relevant
information linked to real-life situations and contexts.

The Characteristics of a 21st Century Teacher

The 21st Century teaching-learning environment becomes more complicated brought by

technological changes. Therefore, teachers 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. 21 st 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 course subject they teach but also
in other areas so that they can help the learner build up what they gain in the 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 ideal 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 their guidance and care.
10. High Emotional Quotient (EQ). Teachers 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.
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 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.
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 “podcast” 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 21st-century.
7. MySpace (http://www.Myspace.com). It is a social networking website that offers an interactive
user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos

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internationally. Students can rate professors, discuss books, and connect with high school and
college classmates here.
8. Second Life (http://www.secondlife.com). It is an Internet-based 3-D virtual world that uses
avatars (digital representations) 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 (http://www.webkinz.com). 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:/Awww.wikipedia.org), an online multilingual free-content encyclopedia, which
has 7.9 million articles in 253 languages.
12. Youtube (http://www.Youtube.com). 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 videos.
13. Google Docs. It allows students to collaborate with other people and the document materials
that need to be compiled, processed, 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.). These are
means to communicate and share ideas among users.
17. Smartboards and audience response systems. These are replacement for traditional chalkboards
or whiteboards in classrooms.
18. ReadWriteThink.org. (www.readwritethink.org). It is a repository of standards-based literacy
lessons that offer teachers instructional ideas for Internet integration.
19. WebQuest Page (www.webdquest.org). It provides Webquests on an array of topics across
content areas with a template for creating one’s own.
20. Literacy Web (http://www.literacy.uconn.edu). It is an online portal that includes a large
number of new literacy’s resources for new literacies for teachers.

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EVALUATION

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