LESSON : 1
PREPARING TEACHERS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY LEARNER
In this lesson, you will be educated about the type of learner you are encountering in the classroom and the new literacies required enabling, engaging and empowering the digital children of your classroom. Mark Proust states that, the one thing that does not change is that at any and every time it appears that there have been “great changes”. So change is inevitable and traditional class environments needs a change adapting to digital environment and also are created to the needs of the students. Today our learners are tech savvies, so we need to flip our classroom, have a new mindset and have a big picture and redesign the curricular pattern of taking class in this digital age.
The video below is to refresh your mind before you get into the
depth of learning.
depth of learning.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
The students you teach today are digital natives. A digital native , who is the 21st century learner thinks differently, communicate differently, process differently, learn differently, analyze and evaluate differently. In consensus they are programmed differently. Today information is available to everyone in the palm of their hands. Educators should understand the type of students who come to them for learning, and the skills needed for them to be successful. The students you teach these days are collaborators, who want to work with peers engaging in conversation, share opinions in class and around the world. They do not want to be lectured to for hours. They are scrutinizers who check real facts of information. They are fun seekers, the common saying by teachers “don’t smile before Christmas will not work with today’s students”. They are integrity hounds. They expect others to be straightforward and they do not like to be cheated or misled. Educators should be aware of this and also educate parents to be about transparency in the information exchange process. They want to be
respected and their opinions to be considered. They are speed chasers , everything needed to be done quickly, innovation hunters, freedom finders and customizers, who personalize everything what they do. Educators should be aware of these eight characteristics to make a successful learning environment with
meaningful digital technology.
8 Characteristics of the 21st Century Learner
ROLE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE LIFE OF A 21ST CENTURY LEARNER
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CONNECTING THE DIGITAL DOTSNew literacies in the 21st century are essential for the educator. They should know the new digital literacies in the 21st century to teach students about searching for information, strategies to search, analyze and evaluate the information. Since social component is involved with education, teachers should be flexible to co-learn with the students. Gone are the days that teachers are the gatekeepers to knowledge and wisdom. Digitality is the new literacy in the 21stcentury with programming and also it is blended with values on the ethical side. So educators should understand the tools available and able to master most of them if not all. An educator has the responsibility to develop digital children and citizens. They should also be aware of the Mark Ribble`s nine themes to be a digital citizen; they are digital etiquette, digital communication, digital literacy, digital access, digital commerce, digital law, digital rights & responsibilities, digital health &wellness and digital security (Mike Ribble, 2007).
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For References, Resources , Readings and Assignments Click on it . You can also access by hovering the cursor over Lesson 1 .