Question 1

a) 21st century education, to a certain extent can’t be fully defined because it changes
constantly. It responds to the economical, technological, and societal shifts that are happening
at an ever-increasing pace. It’s an education that sets and helps children up to succeed in a
world where more than half of the jobs they’ll have over their careers don’t even exist yet. In
short, it’s an education that provides students with the skills and competencies they need to
thrive in the 21st century.
It gives 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, 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’, which are creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration.
These are the skills integrated in a 21 st century education, and which are important to succeed
in different working environment.

b)
The Internet is seen to support a new culture of learning—i.e., learning that is based
around bottom-up principles of collective exploration, play, and innovation rather than top-
down individualized instruction (Thomas and Seely-Brown 2011).

Internet is now one of the most valuable tool for learning and teaching. Teachers in
the modern era need to be prepared to use these tools effectively. Teachers and lecturers use
the internet to give students extra resources, study materials, educational games, and much
more.Many colleges today use the 'hybrid' model, where courses are done online. Therefore,
the quality of the educational process gets much better.

It is no doubt that in this modern era everyone prefers Google for their queries,
problems or doubts. Popular search engines like Google, Yahoo, etc. are the topmost choice
of students as they offer an easy and instant reach to the vast amount of information in just a
few seconds. Students need the internet to search for information related to exams,
curriculum, results, etc. Importance of internet in education to the students’ means that it
makes easier for them to research things, and relearn the content taught in the school.

There are many benefits of the internet in the field of education. Some of these are:

1. Cost Effective and Affordable Education

One of the largest barriers to education is high cost. The Internet improves the quality
of education, which is one of the pillars of sustainable development of a nation. It provides
education through Videos (like youtube tutorial videos) and web tutorials which is affordable
to everyone and cost-effective. The emergence of Covid-19 has made education through
online learning much more important. It had started efforts by the teachers to make online
teaching materials through Youtube, for example Cikgootube. There is also a huge amount
of information available for every subject. It keeps the students up to date with the latest
information regarding the subjects in which they are interested.

2. Student – Teacher and Peer Interaction

The internet has allowed students to be in constant touch with their teachers or with
other fellow classmates with the help of social media, messaging apps and chat forums.
Parents can interact as well as communicate with teachers and school authorities about their
kid’s performance in the school. Groups in WhatsApp or Telegram application are now a
must in every school or colleges. Interaction with the like minded people on forums can also
help students to explore new ideas and enrich their knowledge.

3. Effective Teaching and Learning Tool

The Internet has become a major tool for effective teaching as well as a learning tool.
Teachers can use it as a teaching tool by posting their teaching materials (notes and videos)
on school website or forum. The learning process becomes interesting and diverse with the
use of tutorial videos and notes. Every school now has an official website so that every
persons involved in a school can go through activities and other learning materials. Teachers
can also teach with the use of animation, powerpoint slides, and images to capture the
students’ attention. Teachers can also provide the students with extra study material and
resources such as interactive lessons, educational quiz as well as tutorials. Teachers can
record their lectures and provide it to the students for revisions which is better than reading
from notes.

c) Twenty-first century learning refers to developing learning, literacy and life skills
as part of the classroom experience. Learning skills encompass critical thinking, creativity,
collaboration and communication, which have been identified as essential for successfully
adapting to modern work environments. Literacy skills, including information, media and
technology literacy, focus on understanding figures, evaluating a source’s credibility and
understanding the machines and computer networks that we rely upon today. Life skills
include flexibility, leadership, initiative, productivity and social skills. These skills help
students strategize projects, maintain efficiency and network with others. The use of
technology and internet which had begun in universities, colleges and higher institutions had
became so important that the usage had come down to secondary schools and now to primary
schools.

Twenty-first-century learning will ultimately be “learner-driven.” Our old stories of

education (factory-model, top-down, compliance-driven) are breaking down or broken, and
this is because the Internet is releasing intellectual energy that comes from our desires as
human beings to have a voice, to create, and to participate.

In primary schools, Internet are being used to deliver information to pupils and teachers, for
example:

A) Project

There are many projects that can be done by teachers based on information from the
internet. Projects that are based from concepts and skills that had been learned in the
classroom. For example, Level 2 students can search and arrange information that can be
found from the internet to do STEM projects, by making a new innovation.

B) Lesson Plans

There are so many lesson plans that are being shared from around the globe in the
internet. Teachers can search for ideas to be implemented in their classroom. Teachers
nowadays can also do their lesson plans in online website such as e-Prema if it is permitted
by their school. The days of teachers using Record Books are being numbered now.
C) Interesting and Updated Information

Everyday information are constantly changing and millions of information can be

found easily, fast and cheaply from the internet. Teachers can find information as quickly as
possible for teaching and learning in the classroom. Besides information,internet can also
provide graphics, pictures and interesting animation to be used in their teaching. YouTube
videos are also now widely used as a Set Induction to arouse the pupils interest in various
topics. Pupils meanwhile can find thousand of pictures that can be used in their homework or
for doing scrap books.

D) Sharing of Information

From the internet, teachers can communicate with other teachers to share information,
ideas or problems, for example websites such as BumiGemilang, CikguShares, academia.edu
and so much more. There are also Facebook channels discussing problems faced by teachers,
and also many Telegram groups such as Guru Pulau Pinang, Teknologi PdPc Abad ke-21 and
other groups which help thousands of teachers in Malaysia to improve their teaching and
learning in the 21st century.

E) Online Teaching and Learning

Pupils are required now to activate their Google Classroom email to enable them to
access information that are being shared by the teachers in Google Classroom. The pandemic
of Covid-19 had made this Classroom through the internet as the utmost priority. Pupil will
also use the Google Classroom id to access Google Meet that are being conducted by the
teacher for various subjects. Pupils can also store various file through the Google Drive
application which is free.
d) The spread of COVID-19 has forced millions of students and teachers to move their
communication online. The schools are closed until further notice and we have to adapt to a
new lifestyle. Teachers and administrators are working hard during lockdown trying to keep
students on track, shifting to online learning within the shortest time.
The shift to e-learning doesn’t go as smoothly as we want it to be. The situation may
be discouraging and frustrating both for teachers and students. There are many challenges
faced not only by the teachers and students, but also by the parents. Some of the challenges
faced are:

Traditional teachers

Problems as in every innovation, there were people against the introduction of ICT in
the classrooms. They were reluctant to use technology in their lessons for several reasons as,
it was easier to go on with the traditional method. Sudden huge amount of information about
ICT are causing confusion and anxiety among traditional teachers. Some are feeling that
using ICT implied training that is usually out of school timetable.

Organization of work processes & time management

Teachers have to move their classes online right away having no additional training
and extra budget. Teachers have to use numerous digital tools to deliver e-learning. Teachers
have to attend virtual schools, trying to handle the vast amount of information and decide on
the teaching strategy.Teachers also have to grade the assignments coming from different
places and give band to pupils as ‘Tahap Penguasaan’. Sometimes they stay online hours per
day to streamline the processes making online learning more efficient. And this isn’t the full
list of challenges in online teaching.

Gadgets shortage

Not every student & teacher has a personal gadget to use for online learning. Many of
them are supposed to share the laptops and computers with their parents, sisters/ brothers to
stay on track. If one household has many school going children, then they will have problems
or competition between siblings following the teaching and learning, especially if it is done
through Google Meet.

Connectivity

Millions of people around the world are experiencing technical difficulties because of
the high usage rate of online learning systems, video streaming software, & other digital
tools. Internet connection is either unstable or the current data plan is not enough to cover the
progressive e-learning needs. Students in rural area is the most affected, as the internet line is
very slow, and this makes the students become even less motivated. Teachers are also trying
to manage the bad internet connection during the online lessons.

Computer literacy

It’s hard for teachers, students, and parents to start using a learning management
system or any other digital tool out of nowhere without additional training. Pupils in primary
school are struggling because they have to depend on their parents for help. Computer
literacy has now become a must for Year 1 students, and even for kindergarten pupils, as
there are also Google Meet classes conducted by kindergarten teachers

Isolation

This rather psychological factor is still highly affecting students’ motivation and learning
progress. Being in the classroom, students got used to instant eye-to-eye communication with
each other allowing reacting together, strengthening the social skills. For many students, a
classroom has been a kind of sanctuary, which is now taken away. It’s not a surprise most of
them feel isolated an becoming scared by the pandemic.

The world is changing at an alarming rate. Today’s crisis has opened the door to new
opportunities. It is giving a leading role to students, making teachers try innovative way of
teaching and it is certainly achieving new standards of online learning. Together, we’ll
certainly try harder to make a shift to e-learning and find the most efficient approaches to
digital learning.

QUESTION 2

In September 2015, at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit,

Member States, including Malaysia, formally adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development in New York. This agenda is a global commitment towards a more
sustainable, resilient and inclusive development, with 17 Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) and 169 targets.

One of the 17 goals includes a new global education goal (SDG 4). SDG 4 is to
ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning
opportunities for all and has seven targets and three means of implementation.

Target 4.4, meanwhile states that by 2030, the member states can substantially
increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical
and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.
In many countries, including Malaysia, education and training policies are rapidly
changing to the needs for youth and adults to improve their skills and learn new ones.
Consequently there are many efforts done to increase and diversify learning opportunities,
using Education 2030 Framework for Action with a wide range of education and training
modalities, so that all youth and adults, especially girls and women, can acquire relevant
knowledge, skills and competencies for decent work and life.

To achieve Goal 4 of the SDG, Malaysia has initiated several blueprints under the
11MP Strategic Thrust 3, which are:
• Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013–2025 (MEB)
• Malaysia Education Blueprint (Higher Education) 2015–2025
• National Higher Education Strategic Plan
• Blueprint on Enculturation of Lifelong Learning for Malaysia 2011–2020
 Beyond mastering work-specific skills, emphasis have been placed on developing
high-level cognitive and non-cognitive/transferable skills. With this in mind, Malaysia had
launched the Malaysia Education Blueprint spanning from 2013-2025, in line with the
New Economic Model, Economic Transformation Plan and Government Transformation
Plan. This Blueprint emphasize on the development of young Malaysians who are
knowledgeable, can think creatively and critically, have leadership skills and are able to
communicate with the rest of the world. The vocational education pathway is being
strengthened and expanded to provide students with the practical skills required to succeed in
trades and other specialised occupations.

With the new curriculum, Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah, teaching and
learning has become pupil oriented, with traditional method where teacher just teaches had
become a thing of the past. With the new curriculum, pupils are encouraged to think critically
and creatively in doing their work. Pupils are also given freedom to express themselves with
their presentation in front of class using various 21st century learning models.

From Malaysian Report 2017, under 11MP: Strategic Thrust 3, to accelerate human
capital development for an advanced nation, the focus is on cradle-to-grave talent
development and lifelong learning.

Thus the requirement for Technical and Vocational Education and Training
(TVET) in Malaysia, which is a process of education and training that includes formal, non-
formal and informal learning that prepare young people with the knowledge and skills
required in the world of work.
The common feature of TVET as defined by UNESCO is that it involves “in addition
to general education, the study of technologies and related sciences as well as the acquisition
of practical skills, attitudes, understanding, and knowledge relating to occupations in various
sectors of economics and social life”. In TVET, young people have the opportunity to learn
from basic to advanced levels across a wide range of institutional and work settings.

Two TVET institution had been set up in 1964 to provide skills training to youths,
which is IKBN Dusun Tua and ILP Kuala Lumpur. Now, there are over 1000 TVET
institution in Malaysia of which 506 are public institutions that provides various TVET
programs for all stages of education.
 TVET programmes in Malaysia are offered at certificate, diploma, and degree levels.
To meet an increasing demand for TVET workers, the government has increased the
development expenditure given to public TVET institutions from RM 1.8 billion in 2010 to
RM 2.1 billion in 2014. In 2013, out of the 429,000 students who sat for the SPM
examination, 321,000 students enrolled in higher education and training programmes, with
more than 50% enrolling at TVET institutions.

Recently, The National TVET Council (MTVET) had been set up in Malaysia to
improve coordination of the country's technical and vocational education and training
(TVET) ecosystem, in an effort to ensure its route as a national agenda. Three strategic
thrusts, as well as 12 empowerment strategies have been outlined to empower TVET as a
national agenda.

Equitable access to TVET had been expanded while quality is being ensured.
Appropriate priorities and strategies are being developed to better link TVET with the world
of work, in both the formal and informal labour sectors, to improve its status, to build
learning pathways between different education streams and to facilitate the transition between
school and work.