Prof.

Ed 2
BUILDING AND ENHANCING NEW LITERACIES
ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
 CHAPTER 1

21 st

CENTURY
PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION - is a formalized approach to specialized training in a
professional school through which participants acquire content knowledge and learn to
apply techniques.

21ST CENTURY - is the current century in the Anno Domini or Common Era, in accordance
with the Gregorian calendar. It began on 1 January 2001 and will end on 31 December
2100.

NEW LITERACIES - encompass ways of thinking about information and experiences,

processing with others to challenge and continuously update thinking, and
demonstrating new ideas, solutions, and understandings in the manner that best suits
the situation
CONCEPT EXPLORATION
This modern society is ushered in by a dramatic technological revolution. It is an increasingly
diverse, globalized and complex media saturated society. According to Dr. Douglas Kellner,
this technological revolution bears a greater impact on society than the transition from an
oral to print culture.
Education prepares students for life in this world. Amidst emerging social issues and
concerns, there is a need for students to be able to communicate, function and create change
personally, socially, economically and politically at the local, national and global levels by
participating in real-life and real-world service learning projects.
Emerging technologies and resulting globalization also provide unlimited possibilities for
exciting discoveries and developments.
21 CENTURY
ST

EDUCATION
CONTEXT
21ST Century Schools

Schools in the 21st century focus on a project-based curriculum for life that would engage students in addressing
real-world problems and humanity concerns and issues.
This has become an innovation in education, from textbook- driven, teacher-centered, paper-and-pencil
schooling into a better understanding of the concept of knowledge and a new definition of the educated person.
Therefore, it makes a new way of designing and delivering the curriculum.
Schools will go from 'buildings' to 'nerve centers', with open walls and are roofless while connecting teachers,
students and the community to the breadth of knowledge in the world.
Teachers will transform their role from being dispensers of information to becoming facilitators of learning and
help students translate information into knowledge and knowledge into wisdom.
Therefore, the 21st century will require knowledge generation, not just information delivery, and schools will
need to create a "culture of inquiry".
Learners will become adaptive to changes. In the past, learners spent a required amount of time in respective
courses, received passing grades and graduated. Today, learners are viewed in a new context.
21ST Century Schools
These changes have implications for teachers:
(1) Teachers must discover student interest by helping them see what and how they are learning to
prepare them for life in the real world;
(2) They must instill curiosity, which is fundamental to lifelong learning;
(3) They must be flexible in how they teach; and
(4) They must excite learners to become more resourceful so that they will continue to learn outside
formal school,

21st Century learning demands a school that excites students for school. There is a little or no
discipline problem because of strong student engagement. Likewise, parents are informed about
positive changes in their children. As a result, students manifest significant improvement in basic skills
of reading, writing, speaking, listening, researching, scientific explorations, math, multimedia skills
and others.
The 21ST Century Curriculum

The classroom is filled with self-directed students, who work independently and
interdependently. The curriculum and instruction are designed imbued with the concept of
differentiation. Thus, instead of focusing on textbook-driven or fragmented instruction,
instruction turns to be more thematic, project-based and integrated with skills and
competencies purely not confined within themselves, but are explored through research and
concept application in projects and outputs.
Learning is not confined through memorization of facts and figures alone but rather is
connected to previous knowledge, personal experience, interests, talents and habits.
The 21st Century Learning Environment

Typically, a 21 Century classroom is not confined to a literal classroom building but a learning
environment where students collaborate with their peers, exchange insights, coach and
mentor one another and share talents and skills with other students. Cooperative learning is
also apparent, in which students work in teams because cooperation is given more emphasis
than competition, and collaborative learning more than isolated learning. They use
technologies, including Internet systems and other platforms.
Hence, in the process of creating a world-class 21 century learning environment, building new
schools and remodeling of present school facilities can be addressed toward creating
environmentally friendly, energy-efficient, and "green" schools. Inside every classroom,
students shall apply their knowledge of research in life, which is a clear indication of a
relevant, rigorous, 21 century real-life curriculum.
Technology in the 21st Century Pedagogy

Technologies are not ends in themselves but these are tools students use to create knowledge
for personal and social change.
21 Century learning recognizes full access to technology. Therefore, a better bandwidth of
Wifi access should be available along areas of the school for the students to access their files
and supplement their learning inside the classroom. Various laboratories and learning centers
are set up in such a way that they allow a space needed for students' simulation and
manipulative works. All classrooms should have televisions to watch broadcasts created by
the school and other schools around. Other resources in the school can also be utilized by
students in creating opportunities for their knowledge explorations.
Understanding 21ST Century Learners

Students' entire lives have been immersed in the 21 Century media culture. They take in the world via the
filter of computing devices, such as cellular phones, hand held gaming devices, PDAs, and laptops plus the
computers, TVs, and game console at home.
A survey by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation found that young people (ages 8-18) spend on electronic
media an average of six hours a day. In addition, many are multitasking, such as listening to music while surfing
the Web or instant-messaging friends while playing a video game.
The preschoolers easily navigate electronic multimedia resources on games, in which they learn colors,
numbers, letters, spelling, and more complex tasks, such as mixing basic colors to create new colors, problem-
solving activities, and reading.
However, as Dr. Michael Wesch points out, although today's students understand how to access and utilize
these tools, they use them only for entertainment purposes. Thus, students should be prepared and assisted to
become media literate as they function in an online collaborative research-based environment with the advent
of researching, analyzing, synthesizing, critiquing, evaluating and creating new knowledge.
21st Century Skills Outcome and the Demands in the Job Market.

The 21st Century skills are a set of abilities that students need to develop to succeed in the information
age. The Partnership for 21 Century Skills lists three types, namely:
(1) Learning Skills which comprise critical thinking, creative thinking, collaborating, and
communicating;
(2) Literacy Skills which is composed of information literacy, media literacy, and technology literacy; and
(3) Life Skills that include flexibility, initiative, social skills, productivity and leadership. These skills have
always been important in an information-based economy.
Likewise, skills demanded in the job market include knowing a trade, following directions, getting along
with others, working hard and being professional, efficient, prompt, honest, and fair. More so, to adapt
to these jobs in this information age, students need to think deeply about issues, solve problems
creatively, work in teams, communicate clearly in many media, learn ever-changing technologies and
deal with the influx of information. Amidst rapid changes in the world, industry requires students to be
flexible, take the initiative, lead when necessary, and create something new and useful.
The 21ST Century Learning Implications
Schools and teachers should use a variety of applied skills, multiple technologies, and new ways of analyzing and
processing information, while also taking initiative, thinking creatively, planning out the process, and working
collaboratively in teams with other students.
More so, schools may allow students to pursue alternatives, in which students can earn academic merits and
satisfy graduation requirements by completing an internship, apprenticeship or volunteer experience. It is in this
manner that students can practice a variety of practical, career-based, work-related skills and values while equally
completing the academic coursework and meeting the same learning standards required of students.
Schools need to adapt and develop new ways of teaching and learning that reflect a changing world. The purpose
of school should be to prepare students for success after graduation and therefore, schools need to prioritize the
knowledge and skills that will be in the greatest demand, such as those deemed to be most important by college
professors and employers.
Hence, teaching students to perform well in school or pass the test alone is no longer sufficient. Henceforth,
teachers must realize and students must understand that no one can move toward a vision of the future unless
he/she understands the socio-historical context of where they are now, what events led them to be where they
are, how this can inform development of a vision for the future and how they want to get there. Thus, a clear
articulation of the purpose of education for the 21st Century is the place to begin.
A Paradigm Shift for 21st Century Education
Before 21st Century Education 21st Century Education
Time-based Outcome-based
Textbook-driven Research-driven
Passive learning Active learning
Learners work in isolation and confined in the Learners work collaboratively with classmates and
classroom (walled classroom) others around the world (global classroom)
Teacher-centered: teacher is dispenser of Student-centered: teacher is facilitator/ coach of
knowledge, information and attention students’ learning
Grades taken from formal assessment measures Grades are based on students’ performance as
entered in the class record for reporting purposes. evidence of learning outcome.
Students just follow orders and instructions while Students are empowered to lead and initiate while
listening to teacher’s lecture. creating solutions and solving problems.
The paradigm shift from the 20th to the 21st Century, shows that the structure and modalities of
education have evolved. Students become the center of teaching-learning process in the 21st Century using
wide array of technological tools to assist them in exploring knowledge and information needed in surviving
the test of time and preparing for future career endeavors. Assessment has been made varied to address
multiple literacy development in diverse contexts. Teachers turn to become facilitators rather than lecturers
and dispensers of information. As such, curriculum is designed in a way that it connects to life in the real
world, interconnected with other disciplines and reshapes the students' holistic perspectives.
The Critical Attributes of 21" Century Education
Education continuously changes dramatically throughout time. There is a
paradigm shift in the way teaching and learning is delivered. Therefore, the 21st
Century teacher needs to develop essential knowledge, skills and values in order
to cope with these changes and address students' need. (21st Century Schools,
2011).
THE FOLLOWING ARE EIGHT ATTRIBUTES OF 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS:
1. Integrated and Interdisciplinary. Education in the 21 Century is characterized by interfacing various
disciplines in an integrated manner rather than compartmentalizing its subsequent parts. This critical attribute
implies the need to review the curriculum and create strategies infusing different subjects toward enhancing the
learning experiences of students.
2. Technologies and Multimedia. Education in the 21 Century makes optimum use of available Information and
Communication Technology (ICT), as well as multimedia to improve the teaching and learning process, including
online applications and technology platforms. It implies a need to acquire and use computers and multimedia
equipment and the design of a technology plan to enhance learning at its best.
3. Global Classrooms. Education in the 21 Century aims to produce global citizens by exposing students to the
issues and concerns in the local, national and global societies. This critical attribute implies the need to include
current global issues/ concerns, such as peace and respect for cultural diversity, climate change and global
warming in classroom discussions.
4. Creating/Adapting to Constant Personal and Social Change and Lifelong Learning. Education in the 21st
Century subscribes to the belief that learning does not end within the four walls of the classroom. Instead, it can
take place anywhere, anytime regardless of age. This means that teachers should facilitate students' learning
even beyond academics. Therefore, it should not end with requirement compliance. and passing the exams, but
also for transferring and applying knowledge to a new context or real-life situations. As such, the curriculum
should be planned in such a way that students will continue to learn even outside the school for life.
The following are eight attributes of 21st Century education and their implications:
5. Student-Centered. Education in the 21st Century is focused on students as learners while addressing their
needs. Differentiated instruction is relevant in the 21st Century classrooms, where diversity factors and issues
are taken into account and addressed when planning and delivering instruction, including their learning styles,
interests, needs and abilities.
6. 21 Century Skills. Education in the 21st Century demonstrates the skills needed in becoming productive
members of society. Beyond learning the basic skills of reading, writing and numeracy, students should also
develop life and work skills in 21st Century communities, such as critical and creative thinking, problem-solving
and decision-making and ICT literacy and skills. Therefore, it implies that teachers should possess these skills
first before their students.
7. Project-Based and Research-Driven. 21st Century education emphasizes data, information and evidence-
based decision- making through student activities that encourage active learning. This implies the need for
knowledge and skills in research, such as self-directed activities, learning projects, investigatory projects,
capstones and other research-based output.
8. Relevant, Rigorous and Real World. Education in the 21s Century is meaningful as it connects to real-life
experiences of leaners. It implies the use of current and relevant information linked to real-life situations and
contexts.
The Characteristics of a 21st Century Teacher
The 21st Century teaching-learning environment becomes more complicated brought by
technological changes. Therefore, teachers should be able to cope with and adapt to these changes.
Thus, teachers must be equipped with attributes, knowledge and skills critical to 21 century
education so that they may be able to integrate them in their teaching. 21st Century teachers are
characterized as:
1. Multi-literate. Teachers know how to use various technologies in teaching.
2. Multi-specialist. Teachers are not only knowledgeable in the course subject they teach but also in
other areas so that they can help the learner build up what they gain in the classroom and outside the
school and make sense of what was learned.
3. Multi-skilled. Teachers cope with the demand for widening learning opportunities by being skillful
not just in teaching but also in facilitating and organizing groups and activities.
4. Self-directed. Teachers are responsible for various aspects of school life and know how to initiate
action to realize the learning goals of the students and the educational goals of the country, at large.
5. Lifelong learner. Teachers embrace the ideal that learning never ends. Therefore, teachers must be
constantly updated on the latest information related to their subject and pedagogic trends. They should
also share what they are learning with their students and colleagues with a high sense of
professionalism.
6. Flexible. Teachers are able to adapt to various learning styles and needs of the learners. They can
facilitate learner-centered teaching with flexibility using alternative modes of delivery.
7. Creative problem solver. Teachers create innovative ideas and effective solutions to the arising
problems in the field, be it in the classroom, in the school or the profession as a whole.
8. Critical thinker. Teachers are critical thinkers as they encourage students to reflect on what they have
learned, and rekindle in them the desire to ask questions, reason out, probe, and establish their own
knowledge and belief.
9. Has a passion for excellent teaching. Teachers possess passion in the teaching profession to ensure
that students are motivated to learn under their guidance and care.
10. High Emotional Quotient (EQ). Teachers do not just have the head but also the heart to teach.
Teaching is emotionally taxing but an influential job as it involves interaction with human beings.
Common 21 Century Technology Tools for Learning
As teacher for the 21 Century, no one can escape from the reality that we are now in a borderless society. It
is, therefore, important that we should know different technology tools for learning to respond to the needs of 21
Century learners' and the demands of the times. The following are common 21 Century technology tools.
1. Affinity Groups. These are groups or communities that unite individuals with common interests. Electronic spaces
extend the range of possibilities for such groups.
2. Blogs. Web logs or "blogs" are interactive websites, often open to the public that can include Web links,
photographs and audio and video elements.
3. E-portfolio. It refers to student's works that are generated, selected, organized, stored and revised digitally. Often,
electronic portfolios are accessible to multiple audiences and can be moved from one site to another easily. It can
document the process of learning, promote integrative thinking, display final work, and/or provide a space for
reflective learning.
4. Hypertext. These are electronic texts that provide multiple links and allow users to trace ideas in immediate and
idiosyncratic directions. Hypermedia adds sound, video, animation, and/or virtual reality environments to the user's
choices.
5. Podcasts. These are digitalized audio files that are stored on the Internet and downloaded to listeners' computers or
most likely to MP3 players. The term "podcast" comes from iPod, the popular MP3 player.
6. Web 2.0. This refers to a second generation of Web-based communities that demonstrate the participatory literacies
that students need for the 21st-century.
7. Myspace (http://www.Myspace.com). It is a social networking website that offers an interactive user-submitted
network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos internationally. Students can rate
professors, discuss books, and connect with high school and college classmates here.
8. Second Life (http://www.secondlife.com). It is an Internet-based 3-D virtual world that uses avatars (digital
representations) to explore, socialize, participate in individual or group activities, create and trade items (virtual
property) and services.
9. Semantic Web. It is an extension of the current Web that puts data into a common format so that instead of humans
working with individual search engines (e.g., Google, Ask Jeeves) to locate information, the search engines themselves
feed into a single mechanism that provides this searching on its own. Sometimes called Web 3.0, this technology enables
integration of virtually all kinds of information for more efficient and comprehensive retrieval.
10. Webkinz (http://www.webkinz.com). It is an Internet simulation wherein children learn pet care and other skills.
11. Wiki. It refers to software that fosters collaboration and communication online. Wikis enable students to create,
comment upon, and revise collaborative projects. One of the most prominent is Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org),
an online multilingual free-content encyclopedia, which has 7.9 million articles in 253 languages.
12. Youtube (http://www.Youtube.com). It is a popular website for video sharing where users can upload, view and
share video footage, including movie clips, TV clips, and music videos, even student-produced videos.
13. Google Docs. It allows students to collaborate with other people and the document
materials that need to be compiled, processed, transacted and analyzed.
14. Prezi. It allows individuals to use pre-made, creative presentation templates.
15. Easybib. It allows individuals to generate citations in any given format.
16. Social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Edmodo, Schoology, Instagram, etc.). These are
means to communicate and share ideas among users.
17. Smartboards and audience response systems. These are replacement for traditional
chalkboards or whiteboards in classrooms.
18. ReadWrite Think.org. (www.readwritethink.org). It is a repository of standards-based
literacy lessons that offer teachers instructional ideas for Internet integration.
19. WebQuest Page (www.webquest.org). It provides Web quests on an array of topics across
content areas with a template for creating one's own.
20. Literacy Web (http://www.literacy.uconn.edu). It is an online portal that includes a large
number of new literacy's resources for new literacies for teachers.