How I See the 21st Century Learning

As I See It

 

 

The 21^st Century Teaching and Learning style has been the most talked-about agenda globally and Malaysia is no exception.

Our plans and actions are based on the goal. In fact, some countries have been on their way to their destination on 21^st Century Education programmes with some adjustments from the errors they have encountered.

Have we started our journey towards the 21^st Century Education? Yes, we have. Firstly, we embark on the physical aspect of it for instance, the classroom arrangement. Some logical patterns have been suggested. Then, every school has to set up classrooms of those patterns. The progress is monitored by appointed officers from the ministry and the education department. The enhancement of management sector follows. This has been very much cared about as compared to the methodology of teaching and learning. Numerous paperwork marked the identity of our managerial business, so we take to filing thousands of sheets of it to fulfil the needs of managerial documentation.

The philosophy of 21^st Century is created for guidance and revolution follow suit. Factually, there had been revolution in pedagogy since 1984 (my experience). The aspect of C and C (critical and creative thinking) had been emphasized. We are struggling to equip ourselves with the knowledge. Currently, we are implementing H.O.T.S (Higher Order Thinking Skills) which I think is just another name for C and C.

 

 

 

 

Let us turn the pages of history. Isaac Newton, a scientist had been critical enough to discover the theory of gravitation in 1687 which traced the falling apple story. Newton chose to think about nature’s phenomenon back in 15^th century! He later developed the Newton’s Laws of motion. In Malaysian schools, the implementation of Nuffield Science in the lower secondary is to tease the students’ intellectual faculty to think critically and creatively and develop their inquisitive domain. That was carried out more than 40 years ago. So, H.O.T.S. business is just like a sequel to C and C.

Back  in the late 70’s, I was taught the basics of physical geography about factors that determine the climatic of a mass of land among which are distance from the sea, cloud cover, altitude, latitude and aspects; BINGO! I got it! You’ll see that from here, the higher order thinking skills could be established and nurtured. Without basic facts, one could not set up proper thinking activity. The tool to thinking is facts; facts are synthesized during thinking.

 

 

LEARNER-CENTRED LEARNING

Learner-driven Learning by Fred Ende

Getting to learner-driven learning is a multiple-pathway process, but here are three intersections where we can look to make the “right” turn when we arrive.

 

Question, rather than answer. In terms of putting learning in the hands of learners, it is much more powerful to know the questions, than to know the answers. The best educators aren’t the keepers of content. They are the sharers of questions, happy to know less about information and more about inquiry. Building a conversation, class or course around a series of questions helps to showcase that learning is about a process. Yes, it is a process of seeking answers, but also one of uncovering new questions to ask. Since a question, by its nature, is not an endpoint, educating through questioning puts the power in the hands of those who will be learning the new questions to ask. And that often allows the power to be shared by all. It took me a long time to realize the value of saying “I don’t know,” but once I discovered that I didn’t lose anything through this statement -- and rather, gained more for myself, and my students -- I felt confident saying it regularly, paired with a “let’s find out.”

 

Keep it interactive. While a quest built on questions serves as a great foundation, we need to make sure that if we want learners to do the driving, we keep the learning about “doing.” After all, we can’t do all our driving from the passenger seat -- at least not with current technology; not yet anyway. We all need to feel engaged, and to do that, we need to feel as if we are a part of the learning experience. In other words, it is doing “with us,” rather than “to us.” When learners drive the learning, they are fully engaged in the thinking, doing and reflecting that occurs. For example, I recently had an opportunity to lead a webinar using a very different virtual tool. The tool, called Shindig, builds in much of what we need to feel in order for a webinar to happen with us, rather than to us. With avatars, integrated video, and opportunities to break up into small discussion groups, it is the most face-to-face virtual experience I have ever had. After that session, I finally realized why webinars had never worked for me before: I had previously felt like an audience member, rather than a participant. The same is the case for any learner-driven experience; learners must be participants.

 

Follow up. Even after learners are doing the actual driving, they can still run into trouble. The tank can be on empty, a tire can go flat, a battery can go bad. In all these situations, support is a necessity. Learner-driven learning can’t be just about the learner doing the driving 24/7. As skills build and/or problems develop, we need to provide follow-up to keep the vehicle -- and the learner -- headed in the right direction, and the right direction for the learner, not necessarily for us. In my book, "Professional Development That Sticks," I talk about the necessity to provide future opportunities for learning and support so that all that has been learned so far doesn’t become deserted and overgrown, much like an abandoned road. One of the best things we can do to keep learning in the hands of the learner is to make it clear that we’re invested in them charting their own course, and that we’re there to help them find their way.

 

There are many potential drivers along the path of learning. But there is really only one subset of drivers who should be behind the wheel. Those are the ones with the licenses to learn, in other words, those who are currently occupying a learning frame. And that means that if we aren’t currently in that frame, we need to be comfortable sitting in the passenger seat and letting the learner take the wheel.

 

 

 

 

Walking Along the Unbeaten Path Is Worth It?

Have you ever wondered that doing something which is unusual or different will suffer from contradiction from the mainstream? Thinking out of the box is one way to get out of the ordinary into the extraordinary. Try to break yourself out of the 'cocoon' and you will fly. Believe in what you do is one great thought. The belief will push you to strive harder until you reach certain standard where you will not be ridiculed but respected.

Since April 2014, I have been working on the setting up of an information hub which is an equivalent to a megamall, at no cost at all! The best part of it is, I am sharing it with my fellow teachers.