http://woulibrary.wou.edu.my/weko/eed502/Characteristics_of_a_21st_Century_Classroom.

pdf

Characteristics of a 21st Century Classroom As we move further into the new millennium, it becomes
clear that the 21st Century classroom needs are very different from the 20th Century classroom
needs. In the 21st Century classroom, teachers are facilitators of student learning and creators of
productive classroom environments in which students can develop the skills they will need in the
workplace. The focus of the 21st Century classroom is on students experiencing the environment
they will enter as 21st Century workers. The collaborative project-based curriculum used in this
classroom develops the higher order thinking skills, effective communication skills, and knowledge of
technology that students will need in the 21st Century workplace. The interdisciplinary nature of the
21st Century classroom sets it apart from the 20th Century classroom. Lectures on a single subject at
a time were the norm in the past and today collaboration is the thread for all student learning. 20th
Century teaching strategies are no longer effective. Teachers must embrace new teaching strategies
that are radically different from those employed in the 20th Century classroom. The curriculum must
become more relevant to what students will experience in the 21st Century workplace. Changes in
the Classroom The 21st Century classroom is student centered, not teacher centered. Teachers no
longer function as lecturers but as facilitators of learning. The students are learning by doing, and
the teacher acts as a coach, helping students as they work on projects. Students learn to use the
inquiry method, and to collaborate with others--a microcosm of the real world they will experience
once they leave the classroom. Students no longer study each subject in isolation. Instead, they work
on interdisciplinary projects that use information and skills from a variety of subjects and address a
number of essential academic standards. For example, books assigned in reading or English, may be
set in a country that is also being explored in social studies. The final reading of an English book
report may require that specific social studies standards be met as well. Textbooks are no longer the
major source of information. Students use multiple sources, including technology, to find and gather
the information they need. They might keep journals, interview experts, explore the Internet, or use
computer software programs to apply what they have learned or to find information. Instead of
being reserved only for special projects, technology is seamlessly integrated into daily instruction. In
this new classroom, flexible student groupings, based on individual needs, are the norm. The
http://www.learningaccount.net/Course_Files/T21C001_055.htm (1 of 8)1/30/2008 1:26:59 PM
Characteristics of a 21st Century Classroom teacher still uses whole group instruction, but it is no
longer the primary instructional method used. Teachers assess student instructional needs and
learning styles and then draw on a variety of instructional and learning methods to meet the needs
of all the students in the classroom. The focus of student learning in this classroom is different. The
focus is no longer on learning by memorizing and recalling information but on learning how to learn.
Now, students use the information they have learned and demonstrate their mastery of the content
in the projects they work on. Students learn how to ask the right questions, how to conduct an
appropriate investigation, how to find answers, and how to use information. The emphasis in this
classroom is on creating lifelong learners. With this goal in mind, students move beyond the student
role to learn through real world experiences. Just as student learning has changed so has assessment
of that learning. Teachers use a variety of performance-based assessments to evaluate student
learning. Tests that measure a student’s ability to memorize and to recall facts are no longer the sole
means of assessing student learning. Instead, teachers use student projects, presentations, and
other performance-based assessments to determine students’ achievement and their individual
needs. The goal of the 21st Century classroom is to prepare students to become productive
members of the workplace.
https://www.edweek.org/tsb/articles/2010/10/12/01panel.h04.html

Keith Moore
Director, Bureau of Indian Education, Department of Interior

Students in the 21st century learn in a global classroom and it’s not necessarily within
four walls. They are more inclined to find information by accessing the Internet through
cell phones and computers, or chatting with friends on a social networking site.
Similarly, many teachers are monitoring and issuing assignments via virtual classrooms.

https://www.aeseducation.com/career-readiness/what-are-21st-century-skills

Communication is about sharing thoughts, questions, ideas, and solutions. In the

technological age, it's much easier and, at the same time, harder to communicate.
Technology has provided us with more convenient ways to communicate, but
sometimes the various ways can become overwhelming. In addition, the
communication can become more about the tech being used than the message
you're trying to send. Without effective communication, there's no way to get
anything done inside the classroom or anywhere, which is why this is an essential
21st Century skill.

Collaboration is about working together to reach a goal and putting talent, expertise,
and smarts to work. Just like with communication, technology has made
collaboration easier. Actually, technology takes collaboration a step farther, making
types of collaboration possible that weren't before technology. Just like with
communication though, the same breakdowns can happen. The number of choices
can get overwhelming, and the actual collaboration can get lost while we pay too
much attention to the tool we're using to collaborate. As the world goes more
interconnected, collaboration will become a more and more essential skill than it
already is, which is why it makes the list of the 4Cs for 21st Century skills.

Critical thinking is looking at problems in a new way and linking learning across
subjects and disciplines. Just like with the previous two ideas, critical thinking has
been an essential skill in every century and profession. However, technology has
changed the critical thinking platform. The more technology makes menial tasks
such as memorization null and void, the more room that gives us to spend time on
more complex thinking skills. However, it's too easy to let technology do the thinking
for us, or thinking that it does. In order to succeed in the 21st Century, you have to
remember that, no matter how high tech the machine, it's useless without a person
telling it what to do and thinking critically about the result.

Creativity is trying new approaches to get things done, innovation, and invention.
The 21st Century is a fun time to be creative thanks to technology. Not only are the
traditional ways of creativity still available, but there are tons of new possibilities
made available. Instead of just painting a picture, you can animate it or arrange a
piece of music on a computer without ever learning how to play an instrument. All
that said, it's still up to you to put things through the creative process. Whether you're
going to tell the world's next bestselling story or you are just trying to find a way to
organize your classroom more efficiently, it's up to you to utilize both your own
thinking power and the technology at hand to get the creative project done.
http://www.teachercertification.org/a/role-of-education-in-the-21st-century.html

The Role of Education in the 21st Century

Our world is changing, and in order to prepare our children for this new world we need to
change the way we educate them. In the 21st century educators must create a curriculum
that will help students connect with the world and understand the issues that our world faces.
Schools in the 21st century will become nerve centers, a place for teachers and students to
connect with those around them and their community. Teachers in this new environment will
become less instructors and more orchestrators of information, giving children the ability to
turn knowledge into wisdom.

In order to educate in the 21st century, teachers and administrators need to cultivate and
maintain the student's interest in the material by showing how this knowledge applies in the
real world. They must also try to increase their student's curiosity, which will help them
become lifelong learners. Next they should be flexible with how they teach and give learners
the resources to continue learning outside of school.
There are many skills that children will need in order to be successful in the 21st century.
Here are a few of the most important 21st century skills:
 Ability to collaborate, work in teams
 Critical thinking skills
 Oral presentation skills
 Written communication skills
 Ability to use technology
 Willingness to examine civic and global issues
 Ability to conduct research to learn about issues and concepts
 Chance to learn about new career opportunities

In the ideal 21st century classroom, kids are actually excited about going to school, and
there are little or no discipline problems because everyone is eager to learn. In this type of
classroom activities and lessons are related to the community, whether local or global.
Students collaborate with people from different schools and different countries to learn about
issues that affect us all, as well as how we can solve them today and in the future.
The curriculum in the classroom is designed to incorporate many skills and intelligence
levels, and makes use of technology and multimedia. The lessons are not based on
textbooks, instead they are project based. Skills and content are learned through their
research and projects, and textbooks are provided as one of many possible resources.
A new addition to 21st century curriculum is the study of green education and environmental
issues. Kids are taught awareness of their world and real experts such as scientist and
politicians are brought in to answer student's questions.
New schools in the 21st century will be bright and spacious, and kids will have room for
group projects and individual assignments. Walls will be hung with student work, and there
will be places for students to put on performances for their parents and members of the
community. Students have full access to technology and, if possible, every student will have
a laptop.
Within the school there will be labs and learning centers, as well as studios for art, music,
theatre, and so on. Each classroom will be equipped with a television so that all students can
watch school productions and other school presentations.
While it may take some time before schools and teachers are equipped to properly educate
in the 21st century once they are the results will be dramatic. Children will be engaged and
eager to learn. In fact, they will carry on learning at home and over holidays, and they will
have the resources they need to keep learning no matter where they are. This ability to
foster a love of learning is truly the role of education in the 21st century.

https://www.teachthought.com/learning/4-essential-rules-of-21st-century-learning/

4 Essential Rules Of 21st-Century

Learning

4 Essential Rules Of 21st Century Learning

contributed by Jennifer Rita Nichols
The term “21  century” has become an integral part of educational
st

thinking and planning for the future. Educators and administrators are
actively searching for ways to prepare students for the future, and the
educational system has been evolving faster than ever before.
Various studies have shown us that rote memorization is not an effective
learning strategy and that teacher-centered classrooms (versus student-
centered classrooms) may not be the most efficiently structured ones
for student engagement.
However, despite learning about the skills that students will need to
develop to become successful in the 21  century, as well as what beliefs
st

about education may be worth hanging onto or throwing away, schools

and teachers are left trying to figure out what their role needs to be in the
education of their 21  century students.
st

Once upon a time, the role of the educator was to prepare students for
the specific tasks they would be required to complete (be it a trade, craft,
or profession). Communities were also much more homogenous, and so
specific values and cultures needed to be transmitted and practiced to
ensure the survival of those beliefs.

Nowadays, we don’t live in the same world. Society is a mix of many

different beliefs and cultures. Globalization has opened up the world and
allowed people to connect in new and exciting ways. We blend traditions
and create unique belief systems that are not taught in any classroom,
but are developed through our life experiences and passions. We transmit
our values and cultures without the expectation of them being adopted by
our audience – just accepted by them.

So then, what is the role of education in the 21  century?

st

As always, at its core, the role of education is to prepare students to

become active, successful, and contributing members of society. The
essence of education’s role has not changed.

However, there has been an important change that must be considered.

Society has changed. We cannot adequately prepare students for the
society that exists today or will exist tomorrow, if we continue to prepare
them for the society that existed yesterday. In order to prepare students
to play their role in the 21st-century society we are a part of, a few things
need to be considered when deciding how education will look in our
schools and classrooms.

1. Instruction should be student-centered

The days of lecturing teachers has passed – though not entirely. While
student-centered learning is strongly encouraged in the 21  century, this
st
does not mean that the teacher can never give a lecture again. Instead, it
means that the main source of knowledge in the classroom should not be
the teacher. Education is no longer about listening to the teacher talk and
absorbing the information.
In order to contribute to society, students will need to be able to acquire
new information as problems arise. Then, they will need to connect the
new information with the knowledge they already have and apply it to
solving the problem at hand. They will not be able to call upon a teacher
for answers, so will need to have ‘learned how to learn’ on their own.

In this classroom model, the teacher would act as a facilitator for the
students. Instead of passively receiving information, the students would
gather information on their own, under the guidance of their
teacher. Different learning styles are encouraged, and students have
an enhanced sense of motivation and responsibility. They engage in many
different types of hands-on activities, as well as demonstrate learning in
many different ways. Learning is about discovery, not the memorization of
facts.

2. Education should be collaborative

Students must learn how to collaborate with others. Society today has
people collaborating across the globe. How can students be expected to
work with people from other cultures, with different values from their own,
if they are not able to work with the people they see each day in their
classroom?

Students should be encouraged to work together to discover information,

piece it together, and construct meaning. Collaboration should also be
dynamic. Students should learn how to recognize the different strengths
and talents each person can bring to a project, and change roles
depending on those attributes.

Schools should also be collaborating with other educational institutions

around the world to share information and learn about different practices
or methods that have been developed. They should be willing to alter
their instructional methods in light of new advancements.
3. Learning should have context
Student-centered does not mean that the teacher gives up all control of
the classroom. While students are encouraged to learn in different ways,
the teacher still provides guidance as to the skills that need to be
acquired. The teacher can make a point of helping students to understand
how the skills they are building can be applied in their lives. Students will
be much more motivated to learn something that they can see the value
in.

Since we are no longer preparing students for specific tasks and roles, we
need to take a more general approach and teach them the skills that are
useful in any situation. Lessons have little purpose if they do not have any
impact in a student’s life outside of the school.

4. Schools should be integrated with society

In order to prepare students to become responsible citizens, we need to
model what a responsible citizen is.

Schools will often work at accomplishing this by creating events for the
school community, by encouraging students to join committees or take
part in school projects, and by occasionally helping the community around
them with activities such as food drives or neighborhood clean-ups.

https://thinkstrategicforschools.com/education-21st-century/

A 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION

A 21st century education is about giving students the skills they need to succeed in this
new world, and helping them grow the confidence to practice those skills. With so much
information readily available to them, 21st century skills focus more on making sense of
that information, sharing and using it in smart ways.

The coalition P21 (Partnership for 21st Century Learning) has identified four ‘Skills for
Today’:
 Creativity
 Critical thinking
 Communication
 Collaboration
These four themes are not to be understood as units or even subjects, but as themes
that should be overlaid across all curriculum mapping and strategic planning. They
should be part of every lesson in the same way as literacy and numeracy.

Creativity is about thinking through information in new ways, making new connections
and coming up with innovative solutions to problems. Critical thinking is about analysing
information and critiquing claims. Communication is understanding things well enough to
share them clearly with other people. Collaboration is about teamwork and the collective
genius of a group that is more than the sum of its parts.

There are other skills that are important, which fall within these four areas.
Entrepreneurship can be considered a skill of its own. Inquiry and problem solving are
key. Emotional intelligence (EQ) is one of the most important keys to successful work
and relationships. The bottom line? Education needs to be all about empowering
students with transferable skills that will hold up to a rapidly changing world, not
prescribed content that has been chosen for its past relevance.

With the powers of technology and the internet, students of today can do
even more. Our community is no longer just the area of space located
around the school, but reaches out and envelopes the world.

Education needs to help students take part in this global community and
find ways of impacting more than just their neighborhood. This doesn’t
mean that they do not need to learn the value of helping others around
them and protecting their immediate environment, but that they
should also be learning about how they can help and protect a world
further away from them, but also closer all the time.