1

21st Century Learning Design

https://preview.education.microsoft.com/learningpath/e9a3beec

Introduction
Students around the world need advanced skills to succeed in the globalised, knowledge-based
world of today. 21st Century Learning Design, or 21CLD, professional development helps
teachers redesign their existing lessons and learning activities to build students’ 21st century
skills. Transforming education by focusing on 21st century skills is one of Microsoft’s focus
areas, and providing workshops for teachers on the 21CLD curriculum has been successful.
However, in order to give many more teachers the opportunity to engage in this training, we have
created this 21CLD series of online courses.

21CLD online
The 21CLD curriculum - developed to enhance 21st century skills in student learning - builds on
the 21CLD research methodology, providing a collaborative, practice-based process that helps
educators transform how they design enriching learning activities for their students. The 8
courses provide approximately 20 hours of online tutorials, video, readings, educator-discussion
and self-assessment. Educators have the opportunity to actively engage with classroom evidence
of 21CLD in action in classrooms across the globe.

The 21CLD curriculum is based on rubrics, which have been developed and tested
internationally for the Innovative Teaching and Learning (ITL) Research project. These rubrics
help educators identify and understand the opportunities that learning activities give students to
build 21st century skills. A learning activity is any task that students do as part of their school-
related work. It can be an exercise that students complete in one class period or an extended
project that takes place both in and outside of school. The 21CLD rubrics incorporate a research-
based methodology for coding learning activities to ensure you are embedding 21st century skills
in your teaching practices.

The 21CLD curriculum describes six rubrics of 21st century learning, each of which represents
an important skill for students to develop. These are:
1. Collaboration
2. Skilled communication
3. Knowledge construction
4. Self-regulation
5. Real-world problem-solving and innovation
6. Use of ICT for learning

21CLD elements
The core elements of the 21CLD curriculum include:

1
2

A focus on redesigning learning to develop 21st century skills and deepen understanding
of 21CLD curricular goals.
Facilitating educators to use new learning designs within their own teaching and to
analyse the impact on student learning.
Sharing new learning activities with other educators locally and globally.
An opportunity for educators to discuss and support each other as they tease out the
21CLD skills.

21CLD course structure

The 21CLD curriculum consists of the following 8 online courses:
The 21CLD introductory course explains the background to the 21st century skills and
provides the research at the foundation of the overall 21CLD curriculum.
In the next 6 courses, each of the 21st century skills is introduced. The 21CLD rubric is
used to analyse learning unit examples.
The final course brings together all of the 21st century learning design elements and leads
educators to reflect on how the 21CLD approach can influence their own classroom
practice and their students' learning.
Throughout the curriculum, educators are encouraged to share new and redesigned
learning activities.

Collaboration
We live in a globally-connected world but can we effectively collaborate? Within our classrooms
today do our young people have opportunities to collaborate with each other on learning tasks?
Indeed what does it mean to collaborate? What form does it take? What skills do we need to be
able to engage in effective collaboration? These are questions we need to examine and engage
with if we are to prepare our young people for life in a globally connected society.
Our young people are currently “connecting” with people through social media but are they
“collaborating” to build shared understandings; make their voices heard and effect change in
their world? For many much of their social interaction is “reacting” to or “sharing” some type of
media rather than collaborating with peers or a wider network.
Yet these young people inhabit - and will have to continue to live in - a world of complex
problems, which they will have to wrestle with continually. These real-world problems will not
be solved by “individuals” acting on their own but can only be surmounted by people effectively
collaborating with each other. Currently, in many work places people are collaboratively
working together, often across time-zones, continents and very different cultures, working within
diverse teams.  For this to be effective, they need to work respectfully, while making
compromises to accomplish a common goal. How do we prepare our students for such
experiences?
To begin with, we need to develop a shared understanding of what it means to collaborate. What
are the component skills required in order to collaborate effectively? These could include
negotiation, conflict resolution, agreement on what must be done, distribution of tasks, listening
to the ideas of others, and integration of ideas into a coherent whole. 

2
3

It is only when we have a shared understanding and a language to describe what it looks like in
action that we can begin to think about how to design learning environments that provide
opportunities for young people to develop this skill of collaboration.
We need to develop a learning culture that supports teachers to design learning activities where
students' work is interdependent and where they are required to share responsibility and make
substantive decisions with other people.
Such a learning culture moves away from a model of individuality to one of collaboration.  This
doesn’t happen by accident – it needs to be designed and it requires teachers to play a central role
in ensuring genuine collaboration is taking place. 

The Big Ideas – Collaboration

Working Together
Students work together when the activity requires them to work in pairs or groups to:
 discuss an issue
 solve a problem
 create a product

Students who work in pairs or groups might also include people from outside the classroom, such
as students in other classes or schools, or community members or experts. Students can work
together face-to-face or by using technology to share ideas or resources.
 
Shared Responsibility
Students have shared responsibility when they work in pairs or groups to develop a common
product, design, or response. Shared responsibility is more than simply helping each other;
students must collectively own the work and be mutually responsible for its outcome.

If the group work involves students or adults from outside the classroom, this qualifies as shared
responsibility ONLY if the students and the outside participants are mutually responsible for the
outcome of the work.
 
Substantive Decisions 
Students make substantive decisions together when they must resolve important issues that will
guide their work together. Substantive decisions are decisions that shape the content, process,
OR product of students’ work.

 Content: Students must use their knowledge of an issue to make a decision that affects
the academic content of their work together, such as taking a stance on a topic they will
then write about, or deciding on the hypothesis they will test.
 Process: Students must plan what they will do, when to do it, what tools they will use, or
the roles and responsibilities of people on the team.

3
4

 Product: Students must make fundamental design decisions that affect the nature and
usability of their product.

Interdependent Work
Students’ work is interdependent when all students must participate in order for the team to
succeed. Too often, a group of students may share responsibility for an outcome, but in practice
the work is not divided fairly: one or two students may do all the work for the team. The
strongest learning activities on this rubric are structured to require the participation of all
students.

To meet this criterion, students must be required to produce an interdependent product (such as

a presentation that they each must share in developing and presenting) or other interdependent
outcome (such as a decision that requires information that is distributed across students).

Most interdependent work involves two levels of accountability:

 Individual accountability: each individual on the team is responsible for a task that he
or she must complete in order for the group to do its work. The role of each student on
the team is essential.
 Group accountability: the students must work together to produce the final product or
outcome. Students must negotiate and agree on the process, design, and conclusions of
their work. 

It is important that the work is structured in a way that requires students to plan together and take
the work of all team members into account so that their product or outcome is complete and fits
together. For example, if each student is responsible for a page of a presentation, and in the final
presentation the pages are simply assembled together, this is NOT considered interdependent.

The final presentation IS considered interdependent if the students’ contributions must work
together to tell a story or communicate an overarching idea; in this case, students’ individual
pages must be designed as parts of a coherent whole.

Rubric – Collaboration

1 Students are NOT required to work together in pairs or groups.

2 Students DO work together
But they DO NOT have shared responsibility
3 Students Do have shared responsibility
But they ARE NOT required to make substantive decisions together.
4 Students Do have shared responsibility
And they Do make substantive decisions together about the content, process, or
product of their work
But their work is not interdependent.
5 Students Do have shared responsibility

4
5

And they Do make substantive decisions together about the content, process, or
product of their work
And their work is interdependent.

Skilled Communication
Today we live in a connected society where the internet is providing us with multiple ways to
connect and communicate with people all over the world.  The internet and the advent of mobile
phones has revolutionised how people, of all ages, can communicate.  In 2014, it was estimated
that nearly 75% (2.1 billion) of all internet users in the world (2.8 billion) live in just 20
countries.  Another interesting fact is that estimates indicate there are over 7 billion mobile
phones in the world. Imagine that’s almost one for every person on the planet, and it has only
taken 20 years for this to happen.  
 
With recent developments, such as cloud technology and smart phones, people can now access
the internet and engage in multiple forms of communication while on the move.  Tools such as
email, text messaging and video conferencing are now prevalent in our everyday lives.  These
powerful tools provide us with new ways to communicate which are not only more effective but
also far more cost efficient.  They allow us to communicate in a variety of formats, either
asynchronously through text messages and blogs, or in real time over the phone by instant
messaging, Twitter or Skype.  All we need is a device, an internet connection and away we go. 
 
The explosion in the development of new technologies and associated tools is constantly creating
new opportunities for us to communicate with people all over the world, without ever leaving our
home or our school.  These technologies certainly have enormous potential to support skilled
communication but they are placing new demands on teachers to prepare young people to use the
tools appropriately.  
 
Unfortunately, all too often, these powerful tools are used to engage in low level “chatter”, where
people send single texts or tweets on unrelated topics.  Conversely, our young people could use
these tools for far-reaching communication to engage in deeper conversations with others about
an international issue, such as global warming or warfare. 
 
What is more, students don’t have to limit this communication to written words – they can also
include pictures, audio files or video when discussing issues with an extended community.  Such
multi-modal communication allows them to find a medium that best suits them to communicate
their message.  
 
For example, younger children might capture their reflections about their favourite story by
making an audio recording because they may not have the literary skills to capture this in
writing.  Older students might create a video to capture their understandings about a particular
play or piece of poetry and post these on a school blog for others to respond to.
 
In this way, technology allows young people to capture and to share their views with an audience
that is outside their own school environment. 

5
6

 
This gives new meaning to the notion of extending the walls of the classroom to link with the
outside world. We as educators need to consider how to design appropriate learning activities to
engage young people to become effective skilled- communicators. 

The Big Ideas – Skilled Learning

Extended communication
Extended communication is required when student must produce communication that
represents a set of connected ideas, not a single simple thought.

In written work, extended communication is the equivalent of one or more complete paragraphs
rather than a sentence or phrase. In electronic or visual media, extended communication might
take the form of a sequence of video, a podcast, or a page of a presentation that connects or
illustrates several ideas.

A single text message or tweet is NOT extended communication. If students are engaged in
electronic communication, this is ONLY considered extended communication if it produces an
outcome that requires students to connect the ideas they discussed (for example, producing
documentation of what they learned or next steps for resolving an issue that arose). The duration
of an electronic chat is not considered in evaluating extended communication.
 
Multi-modal
Communication is multi-modal when it includes more than one type of communication mode or
tool used to communicate a coherent message. For example, students might create a presentation
that integrates video and text, or embed a photograph into a blog post. The communication is
considered multi-modal only if the elements work together to produce a stronger message than
any one element alone.

If the learning activity offers students the opportunity to choose the tool or tools they will use to
communicate, we consider it to be a multi-modal communication opportunity.
 
Requires supporting evidence 
Communication requires supporting evidence when students must explain their ideas or
support their thesis with facts or examples.

For this rubric, a “thesis” is a claim, hypothesis, or conclusion. Students must have a thesis when
they are asked to state a point of view, make a prediction, or draw a conclusion from a set of
facts or a chain of logic. The communication requires evidence if students must describe their
reasoning or provide supporting facts or examples. The evidence should be sufficient to support
the claim that the student is making.

Communication designed for a particular audience

6
7

Students are required to design their communication for a particular audience when they
must ensure that their communication is appropriate to the specific readers, listeners, viewers, or
others with whom they are communicating. It is not sufficient for students to be communicating
to a general audience on the internet. They must have in mind a specific group with specific
needs in order to shape their communication appropriately.

When they are communicating with a particular audience, students must select the tools, content,
or style that they use to reach the audience. They might be required to consider what tools the
audience has access to or uses on a regular basis; the relevant information they must present in
order for the audience to understand their thesis; or the formality or informality of the language
they choose in order to be appropriate to the audience.

To qualify for this idea, the learning activity might specify a particular audience, or students
might be allowed to select their own audience. It is ideal, but not essential, if the communication
will actually be seen by that audience.

The requirement is that the students must develop their communication with that audience in
mind. For example, students might develop some type of presentation to teach younger students
about how to divide fractions. They will have to decide what medium to use to reach those
students (for example, a podcast), and what type of language and content the students would
relate to and understand. This satisfies the requirement even if the podcast is never used by
younger students.

Many teachers find that it is useful to specify an audience of a different age or background than
the students themselves in order to highlight the need to think about the audience for a
communication and what they will and will not understand and find interesting.

Rubric – Skilled Communication

1 Students are NOT required to produce extended or multi-modal communication
2 Students are required to produce extended communication or multi-modal
communication
But they are NOT required to provide supporting evidence OR design their work for a
particular audience
3 Students ARE required to produce extended communication or multi-modal
communication
And they ARE required to provide supporting evidence: they must explain their
ideas or support a thesis with facts or examples
OR
They ARE required to design their communication for a particular audience
BUT not both
4 Students ARE required to produce extended communication or multi-modal
communication
And they ARE required to provide evidence
AND they ARE required to design their communication for a particular audience.

7
8

Knowledge Construction
Many of our education systems were initially designed during the Industrial Revolution and they
placed a major emphasis on the teacher sharing information with their students in class.  This
model of education generally views knowledge as something that is fixed and transmissible,
placing a high value on students sitting passively absorbing information and later recalling it
either orally or in written form.  
 
However in today’s globally-connected world, will this model of education be sufficient? 

We live in a world that is constantly changing at an ever-increasing pace. In fact, we are

swimming in a sea of information. For example, every minute: 
 Facebook users share nearly 2.5 million pieces of content. 
 Twitter users tweet nearly 300,000 times.
 Instagram users post nearly 220,000 new photos.
 Email users send over 200 million messages. 

We need to ask ourselves: is knowledge something static or is it dynamic and constantly

evolving?
We also need to be able to effectively make use of this vast volume of information in order to
construct knowledge. 
 
To be able to navigate this volume of information, we need to prepare our students to have more
than just the skill of retaining and regurgitating information that others have developed.  There is
a need for schools to design learning opportunities to move beyond repetition. 
 
We often ask students to answer questions such as What? Who? How? and How Much?, when in
reality we need to move beyond these questions that typically have one right answer. 

The idea of engaging deeply and constructing knowledge is not new. However, what has
changed is the access to information. We now have instant access to information and a range of
people who can help with finding possible solutions.  
 
In addition, we also have available an ever-growing range of digital tools - often referred to as
“mind tools” - which can offer us new ways of interacting with information. These computerised
mind tools can act as repositories for ideas, resources and learning to ultimately allow a student
create an extension of their own mind.

Mind tools can extend or augment our cognition, helping us to use information in new and
exciting ways to make sense of the world we live in.

So we need to move beyond asking students questions that they already know the answer to or
that they can search for online instantly.  With the advent of internet search engines there is less

8
9

of a need for them to know lots of facts; instead we should require them to use information to
construct their own understandings and engage in purposeful meaning-making.  
 
We want them to construct knowledge by engaging in deep learning where they have to interpret,
analyse, synthesise and evaluate information in order to construct understanding.  We want them
to use their existing knowledge and move beyond mere recall in order to generate ideas or
knowledge that is new to them.  
 
Then, once students grasp concepts and ideas in order to deepen their understandings, they need
to apply their learning in a new context.  
 
Deep understanding also means being able to make connections across and between “big ideas”.
So rather than working within single discrete subject areas – such as Mathematics, Science,
History and Languages – students should have opportunities to engage in learning across
multiple disciplines. For example, can you really understand why artists of a particular time-
period painted in a certain way or used specific techniques or materials, if you don’t have an
appreciation and understanding of the economics and the social norms of the time? 
 
By engaging in such learning, students will be better-prepared to construct knowledge
individually and in collaboration with their peers in order to make meaning and construct deep
understandings of the dynamic ever-changing world we live in.  

Many of our education systems were initially designed during the Industrial Revolution and they
placed a major emphasis on the teacher sharing information with their students in class.  This
model of education generally views knowledge as something that is fixed and transmissible,
placing a high value on students sitting passively absorbing information and later recalling it
either orally or in written form.  
 
However in today’s globally-connected world, will this model of education be sufficient? 
We live in a world that is constantly changing at an ever-increasing pace. In fact, we are
swimming in a sea of information. For example, every minute: 
 Facebook users share nearly 2.5 million pieces of content. 
 Twitter users tweet nearly 300,000 times.
 Instagram users post nearly 220,000 new photos.
 Email users send over 200 million messages. 

We need to ask ourselves: is knowledge something static or is it dynamic and constantly

evolving?
We also need to be able to effectively make use of this vast volume of information in order to
construct knowledge. 
 
To be able to navigate this volume of information, we need to prepare our students to have more
than just the skill of retaining and regurgitating information that others have developed.  There is
a need for schools to design learning opportunities to move beyond repetition. 
 

9
10

We often ask students to answer questions such as What? Who? How? and How Much?, when in
reality we need to move beyond these questions that typically have one right answer. 

The idea of engaging deeply and constructing knowledge is not new. However, what has
changed is the access to information. We now have instant access to information and a range of
people who can help with finding possible solutions.  
 
In addition, we also have available an ever-growing range of digital tools - often referred to as
“mind tools” - which can offer us new ways of interacting with information. These computerised
mind tools can act as repositories for ideas, resources and learning to ultimately allow a student
create an extension of their own mind.

Mind tools can extend or augment our cognition, helping us to use information in new and
exciting ways to make sense of the world we live in.

So we need to move beyond asking students questions that they already know the answer to or
that they can search for online instantly.  With the advent of internet search engines there is less
of a need for them to know lots of facts; instead we should require them to use information to
construct their own understandings and engage in purposeful meaning-making.  
 
We want them to construct knowledge by engaging in deep learning where they have to interpret,
analyse, synthesise and evaluate information in order to construct understanding.  We want them
to use their existing knowledge and move beyond mere recall in order to generate ideas or
knowledge that is new to them.  
 
Then, once students grasp concepts and ideas in order to deepen their understandings, they need
to apply their learning in a new context.  
 
Deep understanding also means being able to make connections across and between “big ideas”.
So rather than working within single discrete subject areas – such as Mathematics, Science,
History and Languages – students should have opportunities to engage in learning across
multiple disciplines. For example, can you really understand why artists of a particular time-
period painted in a certain way or used specific techniques or materials, if you don’t have an
appreciation and understanding of the economics and the social norms of the time? 
 
By engaging in such learning, students will be better-prepared to construct knowledge
individually and in collaboration with their peers in order to make meaning and construct deep
understandings of the dynamic ever-changing world we live in.  

The Big Ideas -Knowledge construction

Knowledge construction happens when students do more than reproduce what they have learned;
they go beyond knowledge reproduction to generate ideas and understandings that are new to
them.

10
11

The skills of knowledge construction are often considered “critical thinking.” Activities that
require knowledge construction ask students to interpret, analyse, synthesise, or evaluate
information or ideas.

 Interpretation means drawing inferences beyond the literal meaning. For example,
students might read a description of a historical period and infer why people who lived
then behaved the way they did.
 Analysis means identifying the parts of a whole and their relationships to each other. For
example, students might investigate local environmental factors to determine which are
most likely to affect migrating birds.
 Synthesis means identifying the relationships between two or more ideas. For example,
students might be required to compare and contrast perspectives from multiple sources.
 Evaluation means judging the quality, credibility, or importance of data, ideas, or events.
For example, students might read different accounts of an historical event and determine
which ones they find most credible.

If an activity asks students to practice a procedure they already know, or if the activity gives
students a set of steps to follow, the activity does NOT require knowledge construction. To
determine whether students already know a certain procedure, consider what is typically
expected of students of their age. If an activity asks students to devise a procedure themselves,
the activity DOES require knowledge construction.

It is important to note that not all student activities that are commonly described as “research”
involve knowledge construction. If students are asked to look up information and then write a
paper that simply describes what they found, students are reproducing knowledge, but they ARE
NOT constructing knowledge.

Knowledge construction as the main requirement

The main requirement is the part of the activity that students spend the most time and effort on
and the part that educators focus on when grading. If the learning activity does not specify how
much time students should spend on each part, you may have to use your professional judgment
to estimate how long students are likely to spend on different tasks.

Apply their knowledge

Students must apply their knowledge when they use the knowledge they have constructed to
support another knowledge construction task in a new context. For example, students in a
physics class might construct knowledge about heat principles from a study of the Earth’s inner
core, and then apply what they learned to investigate the environment of Jupiter. Students in
language class might write a persuasive essay for an academic audience and then apply the
knowledge they constructed about audience-focused writing to reposition the same content for a
public newspaper article. In each case, the second knowledge construction task deepens students’
understanding of core principles because they must abstract what they learned and look at it from
a different perspective in order to apply it in a different situation.

To be considered an application of knowledge in a new context, it is not enough for the two
contexts to differ only in surface features. Students cannot respond to the new situation simply

11
12

by applying the same formula. Students must use interpretation, analysis, synthesis, or evaluation
to decide how to use what they have learned in this new context.

Interdisciplinary learning activities

Interdisciplinary learning activities have learning goals that involve content, important ideas,
or methods from different academic subjects (such as mathematics and music, or language arts
and history). Subjects that are typically taught together in your country do not count as
interdisciplinary.

For purposes of this rubric, ICT is NOT considered a separate academic subject. ICT is often
used as a tool for learning in other subjects. For example, students might build ICT skills when
they do online research for a history project. This activity is NOT considered interdisciplinary.

Rubric – Knowledge Construction

1 The learning activity does NOT require students to construct knowledge. Students can
complete the activity by reproducing information or by using familiar procedures
2 The learning activity DOES REQUIRE students to construct knowledge by
interpreting, analyzing, synthesizing, or evaluating information or ideas
But the activity’s main requirement is NOT knowledge construction.
3 The learning activity’s main requirement is knowledge construction
But the learning activity does NOT require students to apply their knowledge in a
new context.
4 The learning activity’s main requirement is knowledge construction
AND the learning activity DOES require students to apply their knowledge in a new
context
BUT the learning activity does NOT have learning goals in more than one subject
5 The learning activity’s main requirement is knowledge building
AND the learning activity DOES require students to apply their knowledge in a new
context
AND the knowledge building is interdisciplinary
The activity DOES have learning goals in more than one subject.

Self-Regulation
The industrial model of education was characterized by instilling discipline and obedience in
learning to prepare them to perform some relatively easy task over and over again. Young
people became ‘cogs’ in the wheel where discipline and reliability were the core. Within such
systems of education students were assessed to determine what they ‘lacked’ and then they were
typically ‘drilled and skilled’ to fill the gaps. Society had deemed that the content an educated
person should learn was assumed to be universal, all learners received the same curriculum, the
‘one size fits all model’, with all expected to achieve the same understanding. There was no

12
13

allowance for individual difference in this model, either in in terms of ability or in terms of how
relevant the content was to the learner. The content or knowledge was contained in the textbook
and students were expected to learn it, receive it and reproduce it’ when tested. This paradigm
placed enormous pressure on the teacher and often meant that the student was inactive and a
passive recipient of information.

In today’s world such a model is no longer appropriate. Today there is a requirement on people
in the world of work to manage themselves and engage in multidisciplinary projects with
colleagues. It is no longer enough to just obediently follow instructions and operate as a well
behaved ‘cog’ in a wheel. There is a need for the majority of workers to work in teams and to
engage in complex problem solving where they are required to take initiative and be proactive.
With such work settings there is minimal supervision, workers need to plan their work, design
products and solutions, accept feedback and then engage in a process of improvement.

As a result, 21st century learning environments need to predominantly inquiry based where
students and teachers make decisions about how they and others will spend their time in class. In
such learning environments students are actively involved in the learning process and they, along
with their teachers, construct their own knowledge. They need to be more proactive and take an
interest in their own learning.
We, as teachers, can play a key role in ensuring that our students develop self-regulation skills by
designing appropriate learning tasks. We should firstly provide them with the opportunity to
engage in learning tasks that are meaningful to them and that take place over an extended period
of time. You may find that you initially have to scaffold such activities until learners become
comfortable with managing themselves and taking control of their own learning. By doing so we
provide our students with support that allows them to transition from behaviours regulated by
others to behaviours regulated by themselves. In this way we are helping our students to take
control of their learning and to learn more about themselves as learners.

When students are engaged in self-regulation they are setting their learning goals, deciding on
the best strategies to achieve these and they are also monitoring to see if these strategies are
working. Such activities are typically cyclical with learners monitoring their progress and
having an input into decisions around who is involved; what they need to do; when it needs to be
achieved by and where they need to find a solution. In tandem with making these decisions they
are also monitoring how their progress.

Here the teacher plays a key role in providing ‘effective’ feedback that goes beyond simple
praise or comments such as “good job” or “great work”. The feedback they receive is critical
and aimed at helping them to achieve their learning goal.
By designing such activities, we are providing learners with opportunities to take control over
their actions and to develop a strong commitment to their learning. In this way we are helping
them to become life-long learners so they can continue to learn and grow throughout their lives.

The Big Ideas – Self Regulation

Long-term activity

13
14

A learning activity is considered long-term if students work on it for a substantive period of

time. If the learning activity is completed within a single class period, there is no time for
students to plan the process of their work nor to improve their work over multiple drafts. Length
of time is a basic prerequisite for students’ opportunity for self-regulation. 

Planning own work

Learning goals define what is to be learned in this activity and how these goals fit with prior and
future learning.

Success criteria are the factors that will be considered to determine whether the learning goals
have been met: the evidence of student progress and success in this learning activity.

When students have learning goals and associated success criteria in advance of completing
their work, it is possible for them to examine the progress and quality of their own work as they
do it. The educator might provide learning goals and associated success criteria to students, or
the class might negotiate the learning goals and success criteria together to foster more student
ownership. An understanding of these factors early in the learning activity is another important
prerequisite for students’ opportunity for self-regulation.

When students plan their own work, they make decisions about the schedule and steps they will
follow to accomplish the task. Planning their own work may involve:
 Deciding how: Students break down a complex task into simpler sub-tasks, or choose the
tools they will use.
 Deciding when: Students create a schedule for their work and setting interim deadlines.
 Deciding who: A group of students determines how to divide work among themselves.
 Deciding where: Students decide what pieces of the work will be done inside or outside of
the school building or the school day.

If a task is long-term but students are given detailed instructions and timelines, they do NOT
have the opportunity to plan their own work. Students making decisions about small aspects of
tasks does NOT qualify as planning their own work.
 
Opportunity to revise work based on feedback
Students have the opportunity to revise their work based on feedback when feedback is given
and explicitly used to improve the work before it is submitted or finalised.

Feedback may come from the educator or from peers. Students might also have the opportunity
to revise their work based on their own deliberate process of self-reflection.

Feedback can be one of the most significant influences on improving learning. Effective
feedback helps students to address the gap between current performance and performance goals.
It is more than simple praise; comments such as ‘good job’ or ‘great work’ do little to help the
student understand what constitutes great work. Effective feedback:
 Tells the student specifically what he or she is doing well and offers specific guidance to help
move their learning forward.
 Is directly connected to the learning goals and success criteria.

14
15

 Helps the student to be more aware of progress along a learning path.

 Leads to reflection and planning of next steps.

Rubrics – Self Regulation

1 The learning activity is NOT long-term
OR students do NOT have both learning goals and associated success criteria in
advance of completing their work
2 The learning activity is long term
AND students DO have learning goals and associated success criteria in advance of
completing their work
3 BUT students DO NOT have the opportunity to plan their work
4 The learning activity is long term
5 AND students DO have learning goals and associated success criteria in advance of
completing their work
6 AND students DO have the opportunity to plan their own work
7 BUT students do not have the opportunity to revise their work based on feedback

Real World Problem Solving

From finding a cure for Ebola and cancer to addressing global climate change, or to simply
ensure that we have sufficient water, food and energy for the planet, the world faces more
complex and challenging problems than ever before. Solutions to these problems are not found in
textbooks or multiple choice tests. Instead, society requires problem-solvers who can tackle such
‘hard problems’ in creative and innovative ways and who can do so as part of a multidisciplinary
team.

Similarly, the 21st century has already brought unimaginable changes to the world of work. In
our global, knowledge-based economy, the need for knowledge-workers to create new products
and services that solve real problems and meet the needs of real customers, is a major driving
force for economic growth and work in the 21st century. In our global, knowledge-based
economy, employers actively seek workers who are adept at generating and testing creative ideas
in order to solve complex problems. According to employers, the most important skills in new
recruits include, teamwork, problem-solving and innovative thinking.

The world now has a truly global financial and economic ecosystem. But since our interlinked
economies depend on both natural and human resources from around the globe, we must
continually find new ways to preserve our natural world while building more harmonious,
culturally rich, and creative societies.

One of the key roles of education is to prepare people to effectively engage with these, real-
world challenges, problems, and questions. We, as teachers, need to design learning activities
that will allow our students to develop the skills they will require to engage in problem-solving

15
16

and to be innovative thinkers. The key here is to design a learning scenario with a defined
challenge in a real world context and which requires students to innovate by implementing their
solutions, designs or ideas to audiences outside the classroom.

For example, students could be asked to engage with a real problem that exists in their
community. In my locality, there is a problem with children accessing primary school safely as it
is a busy city centre location. Children are coming from many locations some by car, bike and
many walking. There are two entrances to the school and both have busy junctions and streets to
navigate to get there. There is a traffic warden at only one of the entrances to help with people
crossing the road to the school. The children themselves have identified this as a problem and
would like to get a traffic warden at both entrances to help them safely cross the road. But to do
this they will need to convince the City Council that there is a real need for this expense.

In this scenario, students are presented with a real world problem which has not been resolved as
of yet. They are situated within a specific, explicit context and they must use real world data to
solve the problem. In working to find a solution, students are creating, adapting, evaluating and
applying ideas. Most importantly, they are also completing this work for a specific, plausible
audience. In this way, students are learning what it feels like for actual stakeholders beyond the
classroom to hold them accountable for their work. So, whether the learning activity results in a
business plan, a set of design specifications, a presentation to the city council, or a short film,
evaluation occurs naturally over the course of the project, coming from several sources (as it
would in real life), including peers, supervisors, and clients.

Finally, this problem provided the students with an opportunity for innovation. Innovation
requires putting students’ ideas or solutions into practice in the real world or communicating
their ideas to someone outside the classroom who can implement them.

The Big Ideas – Real-world Problem solving

Problem-solving
Problem-solving involves a task with a defined challenge for the student. Problem-solving
happens when students must:
 develop a solution to a problem that is new to them OR
 complete a task that they have not been instructed how to do OR
 design a complex product that meets a set of requirements.

Learning activities that require problem-solving do NOT give students all the information they
need to complete the task or specify the whole procedure they must follow to arrive at a
solution.

Often, problem-solving tasks require students do some or all of the following:

 Investigate the parameters of the problem to guide their approach.
 Generate ideas and alternatives.

16
17

 Devise their own approach, or explore several possible procedures that might be
appropriate to the situation
 Design a coherent solution.
 Test the solution and iterate on improvements to satisfy the requirements of the problem.

To count for this rubric, problem-solving must be the learning activity’s main requirement.

Real-world problems
Real-world problems are authentic situations and needs that exist outside an academic context.
Real-world problems:
 Are experienced by real people.
For example, if students are asked to diagnose an ecological imbalance in a rainforest in Costa
Rica, they are working with a situation that affects the real people who live there.

 Have solutions for a specific, plausible audience other than the educator as grader.
For example, designing equipment to fit a small city playground could benefit the children of
the community.

 Have specific, explicit contexts.

For example, developing a plan for a community garden in a public park in their town has a
specific context; learning which vegetables grow best in which parts of one’s country does not.

 If students are using data to solve a problem, they use actual data.
For example, real scientific records of earthquakes, results of their own experiments, or first-
person accounts of an historical event, not data developed by an educator or publisher for a
lesson.

Innovation
Innovation requires putting students’ ideas or solutions into practice in the real world. For
example, it IS innovation if students design and build a community garden on the grounds of
their school; just designing the garden is NOT innovation.

In cases where students do not have the authority to implement their own ideas, it is innovation
ONLY if students convey their ideas to people outside the classroom context who can implement
them. For example, it IS innovation if students present their ideas for building a community
garden in a public park in their town to a local environmental group or to local officials, but
NOT if students design a community garden for that public park and only share their plans with
their teacher and classmates.

Innovation also benefits people other than the student; it has value beyond meeting the
requirements of a classroom exercise. The townspeople who tend the new garden in the public
park and the teenagers who attend the rewritten Shakespeare play benefit from students’ efforts,
for example.

17
18

It also counts as innovation if students create a project for a science fair or submit an original
poem to a regional poetry contest, for example, because the fair and contest are not educator-
controlled and have real audiences who are interested in and may benefit from the students’
work.

Rubrics- Real-world Problem solving and Innovation

1 The Learning activity’s main requirement is NOT problem-solving.

Students use a previously learned answer or procedure for most of the work
2 The learning activity’s main requirement IS problem-solving
BUT the problem IS NOT a real world problem.
3 The Learning activity’s main requirement IS problem-solving.
AND the problem IS a real-world problem
BUT students DO NOT innovate. They are not required to implement their ideas
in the real world, or to communicate their ideas to someone outside the academic
context who can implement them
4 The Learning activity’s main requirement IS problem-solving.
AND the problem IS a real-world problem
AND students DO innovate. They ARE required to implement their ideas in the
real world, or to communicate their ideas to someone outside the academic
context who can implement them.

Use of ICT for Learning

We live in a connected world with unprecedented access to a vast array of digital information
and experiences. The use of digital technology continues to transform how we live and work.
On-going adoption of new advances in technology has become more essential to living and
working in the 21st century. In today’s globalised, knowledge-based economies, individuals
increasingly need skills not only to intelligently consume information and ideas, but also to
design and create new information and ideas using digital technologies. Using a broad palette of
digital technologies we can engage with ideas in new and innovative ways that were not possible
before now.

In addition, through using these digital technologies, we can connect with and build relationships
with a wider network of people. This enables us to understand our world in a deeper way
through engaging with a multitude of perspectives. Because it is only by engaging with and
being challenged by others that we begin to truly understand ourselves and the world we live in.

Given the extensive use young people make of digital technologies in their world outside of the
classroom, we need to ensure that they can understand and use these technologies in powerful
ways to learn and make sense of the world they live in. While digital technologies are becoming
increasingly common in classrooms and learning environments, they are often used to present or
consume information rather than to transform learning experiences. What we need to do is
design learning experiences so that young people develop the skills not only to evaluate and

18
19

analysis information and ideas, but also to design and create new information and ideas using a
wide range of digital technologies.

Many educational systems refer to digital technologies as ‘ICT’ so this is the term we will use as
it is what many educators are most familiar with. For clarity when we use the term “ICT” this
encompasses the full range of available digital tools, both hardware and software. By “hardware”
we mean computers and related electronic devices such as tablets and notebooks, e-readers,
smart phones, personal digital assistants, camcorders, graphing calculators, and electronic
whiteboards. With regards to software, this includes everything from an Internet browser and
multimedia development tools to engineering applications, social media, and collaborative
editing platforms.

ICT is a powerful tool to promote and support a wide range of what are often referred to as 21st
century skills What we as educators need to think carefully about when designing learning
experiences is how students use ICT and whether it is used in powerful ways to solve complex
problems, construct knowledge or to design knowledge-based products. We also need to think
how ICT can help learners collaborate in ways that were not possible before, or to communicate
through new mediums of expression.

The Big Ideas – Use of ICT for Learning

Student use of ICT

Student use of ICT happens when students use ICT directly to complete all or part of the learning
activity. The educator’s use of ICT to present materials to students does not count as student use:
it is important that students have control over the ICT use themselves.

Some educators’ use of ICT can enhance their teaching significantly: for example, educators can
show simulations that make difficult content easier for students to visualise. However, this rubric
focuses only on how the learning activity requires students to use ICT in their learning.

This rubric looks at the opportunities students have to use ICT. It is considered ICT use if the
students are required to use ICT or can use ICT to complete an activity.
 
Use of ICT to support knowledge construction
Knowledge construction occurs when students generate ideas and understandings that are new
to them, through interpretation, analysis, synthesis, or evaluation. This rubric examines
whether the learning activity requires that students use ICT in ways that support knowledge
construction, either directly or indirectly.

ICT supports knowledge construction when:

 Students use ICT directly for the knowledge-construction part of a learning activity. For
example, students use a computer to analyse scientific information.
 Students use ICT to indirectly support knowledge construction, by using ICT to complete
one step of an activity, and then using information from that step in the knowledge-

19
20

construction part of the activity. For example, students might search for terms related to
current events on Twitter and then analyse people’s responses offline. The information
they found on Twitter supported their analysis, so we say that ICT use supported
knowledge construction.

The knowledge construction supported by ICT must be about the learning goals of the activity:
learning to use the ICT does not qualify. For example, students might learn about PowerPoint as
they create a presentation for history class. But to be considered knowledge construction using
ICT, it is essential that the use of PowerPoint helped them to deepen their interpretation,
analysis, synthesis, or evaluation of historical ideas, not just to deepen their knowledge on how
to use the tool.

Evaluation of Internet resources related to the learning goals is also considered knowledge
construction. Some learning activities are designed to help students become intelligent, ethical
users of Internet resources rather than passive consumers of the information. For example,
students might be required to find several sources on a topic and evaluate their credibility before
they select which information to rely on.

ICT required for knowledge construction

ICT is required for the knowledge construction when it allows students to do knowledge
construction activities that would be impossible or impractical without the use of the ICT. For
example, students might be asked to communicate with students in another country over a period
of two weeks to research the impact of a recent drought on their community. In this case, email
enables students to construct knowledge that they could not construct without ICT because
mailing physical letters would be impractical in this short a time. The use of email is required for
constructing this knowledge.

Many activities that require knowledge construction can also be done without ICT. For example,
students may be asked to find information about the beaks of a variety of bird species with
different diets and develop categories of different types of beaks. If students use the Internet for
this activity, they are constructing knowledge, but ICT is not required: they would be able to
achieve the same learning goals without ICT by using printed books in a library.
Designers of ICT products
Students are designers of ICT products when they create ICT products that others can use.
For example, if students record a podcast and make it available on the internet, they are creating
an ICT product others could use. The product lasts beyond the learning activity and can be used
or enjoyed by an outside audience.

When students act as designers, ICT is supporting their real-world problem-solving and
innovation. Students must have an authentic audience in mind, such as a community that needs
the information their podcast will provide, or younger students who will learn about disease
prevention from the simulation students are building. In their design, students must attend to the
needs and preferences of that audience. Ideally, but not necessarily, the product might actually be
used by the intended audience. Students who create a product with no particular audience in
mind do not qualify as designers under this definition.

20
21

Rubric – Use of ICT for Learning

1 Students do NOT have the opportunity to use ICT for this learning activity.
2 Students use ICT to learn or practice basic skills or reproduce information.
They are NOT constructing knowledge.
3 Students use ICT to support knowledge construction.
BUT they could construct the same knowledge without using ICT.
4 Students use ICT to support knowledge construction.
AND ICT is required for constructing this knowledge
BUT students do NOT create an ICT product for authentic users.
5 Students use ICT to support knowledge construction.
AND ICT is required for constructing this knowledge
AND students do create an ICT product for authentic users.

Embedding 21CLD in Practice

To prepare our students to live, learn and work in the 21st century, we need to develop a range of
skills and competencies in addition to core subject-matter knowledge. Think about the courses
you have engaged with so far – what skills or competencies do you think are necessary to plan
and design learning opportunities for, so that your students can develop these particular skills?

As we recap on the skills identified in the 21CLD courses – think to yourself which skills are
particularly important for the group of students you are currently interacting with. Different
student groups will have varying needs - so how can you design learning opportunities to take
account of this?
As we recap briefly on what is involved in each dimension, think to yourself what skills you
might focus on and why?

These are the key questions we need to ask:

Are students required to share responsibility and make substantive decisions

Collaboration
with other people?
Is their work interdependent?

Knowledge Are students required to construct and apply knowledge?

Construction Is that knowledge interdisciplinary?

Real-world
Does the learning activity require solving authentic, real-world problems?
Problem-solving and
Are students’ solutions implemented in the real world?
Innovation

Self-Regulation Is the learning activity long-term? Do students plan and assess their own
work, and revise their work based on feedback?

21
22

Are students passive consumers of ICT, active users, or designers of an ICT

Use of ICT for Learning
product for an authentic audience?

Are students required to communicate their own ideas regarding a concept or

issue?
Skilled Communication
Must their communication be supported with evidence and designed with a
particular audience in mind?

21st century skills

Microsoft Educator Community

The Microsoft Educator Community site is designed to help educators grow professional careers,
collaborate with others, and prepare students for their technology-infused future. Within the
community you will be able to access CPD to help advance your classroom, go on global
adventures, and connect with others around the world. It is also the place to find ongoing 21CLD
discussion and resource sharing.
Online: education.microsoft.com

ITL Research
As part of Microsoft’s commitment to education transformation, its Partners in Learning
Program initiated the Innovative Teaching and Learning (ITL) Research project to contribute
information and policy insights on where and how effective education transformation is taking
place around the world. You can find and share research, reports and conference presentations
based on the ITL Research data.
Online: https://education.microsoft.com/GetTrained/ITL-Research

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

P21's mission is to serve as catalyst for 21st century learning to build collaborative partnerships
among education, business, community and government leaders so that all learners acquire the
knowledge and skills they need to thrive in a world where change is constant and learning never
stops.
Online: http://www.p21.org/

21CLD Perspectives
21CLD Case Study at St Mary's Primary School
Hear Emily Wooldridge from Expanding Learning Horizons, and Brad Fuller, St Mary's Primary
School discuss how you can improve educational outcomes and equip students with the tools
required for work and life in the 21st Century.
Online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlswLuum-00

Donna Pearson - Quinns Beach PS

Example of collaboration using Mindcraft

22
23

Online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lth238RfMI0

Cinemathlaya to Microsoft's 21CLD

A learning Activity called “Cinemathlaya: Making Films. Incorporating Mathematics”,
pioneered at Pangasinan National High School, was recognized by the Microsoft Corporation. It
is of great privilege to be selected as one of the Microsoft Innovative Experts in the world. How
can a student understand the concept of Math if it lacks its real world applications?
Online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TECRNuWOD98

What does innovative teaching mean to you?

Educators discuss the principles behind 21st Century Learning Design and the benefits of the
21CLD approach. Brought to you by Microsoft Partners in Learning and the Pearson
Foundation. Online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz2nWwqoQ1o

Continuing the Practice

This series of courses has introduced you to 21st century learning design, outlined the 21st
Century skills and provided an opportunity for you to analyse and 'code' learning activities using
the 21CLD rubrics. We hope that you are now in a position to design and implement 21CLD in
your classroom and school. Now it is over to you.

Remember, you will still have access to the 21CLD course discussion area on the Microsoft
Educator Community where educators from around the world continue to engage and share your
21CLD practice and experience. We encourage you to continue sharing great learning activities
on the Microsoft Educator Community.

While this series of courses has been largely self-directed, we do provide a range of face-to-face,
online tutorials and blended delivery models. If your school region or district is interested in
exploring these delivery options, you can contact 21cld@h2.ie or your regional Microsoft
Education contact.

23