Kotebe University of Education

College of Educational Science

Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies
 Course Title
Instructional Design and Educational Technology
 Chapter Three: Exploring 21st Century Learning

Specific Contents
1. Meaning of 21st Century Learning
2. Frameworks of 21st Century Learning
3. Teacher Use of Technology and Media
4. Student Use of Technology and Media
5. The Concept of Digital and Media Literacy in the
Area of Education
6. The Classroom Continuum: Traditional to Digital
 1. Meaning of 21st Century Learning

• 21st Century Learning refers to an educational

approach that aims to prepare students with the
skills, knowledge, and competencies needed to
thrive (succeed) in the rapidly changing world of
the 21st century.
• It acknowledges that traditional education models,
which often focused on rote memorization and
standardized testing, may no longer be sufficient
to meet the demands of the modern world.
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• 21st Century Learning emphasizes the
development of critical thinking, problem-
solving skills, creativity, collaboration,
communication, digital literacy, and adaptability.
• It recognizes the importance of equipping
students with a broad range of skills that go
beyond academic knowledge, including
interpersonal skills, cultural competency, and an
understanding of global issues.
 Key elements of 21st Century Learning
include:
• Core Subjects: While traditional subjects like math,
science, language arts, and social studies remain
important, there is a greater emphasis on integrating
them with real-world applications and interdisciplinary
approaches.
• Digital Literacy: Students are taught how to effectively
and responsibly use technology for learning,
communication, and information retrieval (recovery)
(repossession). This includes skills such as information
literacy, media literacy, and digital citizenship.
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• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving: Students
are encouraged to think critically, analyze
information, evaluate evidence, and solve complex
problems. They learn how to approach challenges
creatively and develop innovative solutions.
• Collaboration and Communication: Students engage
in collaborative projects, teamwork, and effective
communication skills. They learn how to work in
diverse groups, share ideas, listen actively, and
express themselves clearly.
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• Creativity and Innovation: Students are
encouraged to think creatively, explore new
ideas, and take risks. They are given
opportunities to express their creativity
through various mediums, such as art, music,
writing, and technology.
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• Global Awareness: Students develop an understanding
of global issues, cultures, and perspectives. They
learn to appreciate diversity, understand different
worldviews, and become responsible global citizens.

• Adaptability and Lifelong Learning: Students learn

how to adapt to change, embrace new technologies,
and continue learning throughout their lives. They
develop skills and attitudes that enable them to thrive
in an ever-evolving world.
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• 21st Century Learning is often facilitated through learner-
centered pedagogies, such as project-based learning,
inquiry-based learning, and personalized learning. These
approaches prioritize active engagement, student agency,
and authentic, real-world experiences.
• Overall, the goal of 21st Century Learning is to prepare
students for success in the complex, interconnected, and
rapidly changing world they will inherit, equipping them
with the skills and mindset needed to navigate challenges,
seize opportunities, and contribute positively to society.
 2. Frameworks of 21st Century Learning

• Schools must move to include not only a focus

on mastery of key subjects, but also promote
understanding of academic content at much
higher levels by weaving 21st century
interdisciplinary themes into key subjects:
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GLOBAL AWARENESS
• Use 21st century skills to understand and address
global issues
• Learn from and working collaboratively with
individuals representing diverse cultures, religions,
and lifestyles in a spirit of mutual respect and open
dialogue in personal, work, and community contexts
• Understand other nations and cultures, including
the use of non-English languages
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FINANCIAL, ECONOMIC, BUSINESS,AND
ENTREPRENEURIAL LITERACY

 Know how to make appropriate personal economic

choices
 Understand the role of the economy in society
 Use entrepreneurial skills to enhance workplace
productivity and career options
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CIVIC LITERACY

Participate effectively in civic life through knowing

how to stay informed and understanding governmental
processes
 Exercise the rights and obligations of citizenship at
local, state, national, and global levels
 Understand the local and global implications of civic
decisions
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HEALTH LITERACY
 Obtain, interpret, and understand basic health information and
services and using such information and services in ways that
enhance health
 Understand preventive physical and mental health measures,
including proper diet, nutrition, exercise, risk avoidance, and stress
reduction
 Use available information to make appropriate health-related
decisions
 Establish and monitor personal and family health goals
 Understand national and international public health and safety issues
ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY

 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the environment and

the circumstances and conditions affecting it, particularly as relates to
air, climate, land, food, energy, water, and ecosystems
 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of society’s impact on
the natural world (e.g., population growth, population development,
resource consumption rate, etc.)
 Investigate and analyze environmental issues, and make accurate
conclusions about effective solutions
 Take individual and collective action towards addressing
environmental challenges (e.g., participating in global actions,
designing solutions that inspire action on environmental issues)
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CREATIVITY and INNOVATION

Think Creativity
Use a wide range of idea-creation techniques (such as
brainstorming)
Create new and worthwhile ideas (both incremental
and radical concepts)
Elaborate, refine, analyze, and evaluate their own
ideas in order to improve and maximize creative
efforts
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WORK CREATIVELY WITH OTHERS

 Develop, implement, and communicate new ideas to others

effectively
 Be open and responsive to new and diverse perspectives;
incorporate group input and feedback into the work
 Demonstrate originality and inventiveness in work and
understand the real-world limits to adopting new ideas
 View failure as an opportunity to learn; understand that creativity
and innovation is a long-term, cyclical process of small successes
and frequent mistakes
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IMPLEMENT INNOVATIONS
Act on creative ideas to make a tangible and
useful contribution to the field in which the
innovation will occur
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CRITICAL THINING and PROBLEM SOLVING
REASON EFFECTIVELY
Use various types of reasoning (inductive,
deductive, etc.) as appropriate to the situation
 Use systems thinking
 Analyze how parts of a whole interact with each
other to produce overall outcomes in complex
systems
 Make judgments and decisions
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 Effectively analyze and evaluate evidence, arguments,

claims, and beliefs
 Analyze and evaluate major alternative points of view
 Synthesize and make connections between information
and arguments
 Interpret information and draw conclusions based on the
best analysis
 Reflect critically on learning experiences and processes
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SOLVE PROBLEMS
Solve different kinds of non-familiar problems
in both conventional and innovative ways
Identify and ask significant questions that
clarify various points of view and lead to
better solutions
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COMMUNICATION and COLLABRATION

COMMUNICATE CLEARLY
Articulate thoughts and ideas effectively using oral,
written, and nonverbal communication skills in a
variety of forms and contexts
 Listen effectively to decipher meaning, including
knowledge, values, attitudes, and intentions
 Use communication for a range of purposes (e.g. to
inform, instruct, motivate, and persuade)
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Utilize multiple media and technologies, and
know how to judge their effectiveness a
priority as well as assess their impact
 Communicate effectively in diverse
environments (including multi-lingual)
Collaborate with others
 Demonstrate ability to work effectively and
respectfully with diverse teams
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Exercise flexibility and willingness to be
helpful in making necessary compromises to
accomplish a common goal
 Assume shared responsibility for
collaborative work, and value the individual
contributions made by each team member
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Information, Media, and Technology Skills

People in the 21st century live in a technology and media-driven
environment, marked by various characteristics, including:
1) access to an abundance of information,
2) rapid changes in technology tools, and
3) the ability to collaborate and make individual contributions
on an unprecedented scale.
Effective citizens and workers of the 21st century must be able to
exhibit a range of functional and critical thinking skills related to
information, media, and technology.
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INFORATION LITERACY
ACCESS AND EVALUATE INFORMATION
 Access information efficiently (time) and effectively (sources)
 Evaluate information critically and competently
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USE AND MANAGE INFORMATION

 Use information accurately and creatively for the issue or
problem at hand
 Manage the flow of information from a wide variety of
sources
 Apply a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues
surrounding the access and use of information
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MEDIA LITERACY
Analyze Media
• Understand both how and why media messages are
constructed, and for what purposes
• Examine how individuals interpret messages differently,
how values and points of view are included or excluded,
and how media can influence beliefs and behaviors
• Apply a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal
issues surrounding the access and use of media
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• CREATE MEDIA PRODUCTS
• Understand and utilize the most appropriate
media creation tools, characteristics, and
conventions
• Understand and effectively utilize the most
appropriate expressions and interpretations in
diverse, multi-cultural environments
• ICT (Information, Communications, and
Technology) literacy
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• APPLY TECHNOLOGY EFFECTIVELY
• Use technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate,
and communicate information
• Use digital technologies (computers, PDAs, media players,
GPS, etc.), communication/networking tools and social
networks appropriately to access, manage, integrate,
evaluate, and create information to successfully function in
a knowledge economy
• Apply a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal
issues surrounding the access and use of information
technologies
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LIFE and CAREER SKILLS
• Today’s life and work environments require far
more than thinking skills and content
knowledge. The ability to navigate the
complex life and work environments in the
globally competitive information age requires
students to pay rigorous attention to
developing adequate life and career skills
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• FELEXIBELITY and ADAPALIT

• Adapt to Change
• Adapt to varied roles, job responsibilities,
schedules, and contexts
• Work effectively in a climate of ambiguity
and changing priorities
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• BE FLEXIBLE
• Incorporate feedback effectively
• Deal positively with praise, setbacks, and
criticism
• Understand, negotiate, and balance diverse
views and beliefs to reach workable solutions,
particularly in multi-cultural environments
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• INITIATIVE and SELF-DIRECCTION
• Manage Goals and Time
• Set goals with tangible and intangible success
criteria
• Balance tactical (short-term) and strategic
(long-term) goals
• Utilize time and manage workload efficiently
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• Work Independently
• Monitor, define, prioritize, and complete tasks without direct
oversight
• Be self-directed learners
• Go beyond basic mastery of skills and/or curriculum to explore
and expand one’s own learning and opportunities to gain
expertise
• Demonstrate initiative to advance skill levels towards a
professional level
• Demonstrate commitment to learning as a lifelong process
• Reflect critically on past experiences in order to inform future
progress
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• SOCIAL and CROSS-CULTURAL SKILL
• Interact with others
• Know when it is appropriate to listen and
when to speak
• Conduct themselves in a respectable,
professional manner
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• Work Effectively in Diverse Teams
• Respect cultural differences and work
effectively with people from a range of social
and cultural backgrounds
• Respond open-mindedly to different ideas and
values
• Leverage social and cultural differences to
create new ideas and increase both innovation
and quality of work
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• PRODUCTIVITY and ACCOUNTABILITY
• Manage Projects
• Set and meet goals, even in the face of
obstacles and competing pressures
• Prioritize, plan, and manage work to achieve
the intended result
 3.Teacher Use of Technology and Media

• STAGES of EMBEDDING TECHNOLOGY

a. Familiarization: a teacher is becoming increasingly aware of ICT, and
may have attended some trainings, but rarely (and often reluctantly) tries to
use it in their classroom teaching
b. Utilization: a teacher becomes increasingly aware of the benefits of
technology, and begins to incorporate it into teaching, often ‘replacing’
former activities with ICT alternatives. This begins to have beneficial effect
on teaching and learning, although use remains fragile and the teacher is
often set back, for example by technical difficulties.
c. Integration: a teacher is becoming increasingly familiar with appropriate
use of ICT, and can integrate it into many aspects of their ongoing teaching.
Teaching and learning begins to be very significantly enhanced.
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d. Reorientation: the potential of the ICT is now
exploited to move into new areas and approaches that
could not easily be replicated by more ‘traditional’
means. Teaching and Learning begins to be
significantly transformed.
e. Evolution: the developmental and creative
possibilities of the ICT are being fully explored. ICT
use can grow and develop in response to the needs of
the learner and the consequent teaching implications.
Teaching and learning is very significantly transformed.
 4.Student Use of Technology and Media

• It is important to consider how students will receive

technology when implementing it into the classroom. When
students perceive that the attributes of a given technology
are engaging and beneficial to their learning, they are likely
to adopt that technology and use it to enhance their
understanding of course content. Some features that make
technology more appealing to students are flexibility,
accessibility, ease-of-use and overall engagement. Students
also believe that technology facilitates a greater
understanding of course content, contributes to higher
academic achievement and better prepares them for the
technology-dependent workforce.
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3.1. The Impact of Technology on Student Engagement

• Student motivation and engagement in learning is enhanced by
the implementation of instructional technology. More
specifically, technology engages students behaviorally (more
effort and time spent participating in learning activities);
emotionally (positively impacting attitudes and interests
towards learning); and cognitively (mental investment to
comprehend content). Whether technology is integrated during
class time or after school hours, students are given more
opportunities to interact with instructors, collaborate with peers
and engage themselves in the learning process.
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• 3.2.The Impact of Technology on Academic Success

Incorporating the use of several technological applications allows for students to
participate in higher-order thinking, enhance communication, engage in
collaborative problem-solving activities and discussions, critically reflect on
content and expand digital competencies. Studies have compared differences in
academic achievement between students who have been taught with technological
enhancement (i.e. lecture recordings and podcasts) and those who been taught
without it. The results demonstrated that students who learned academic content
in the technology enhanced classroom outperformed those who learned the
content without technology. Performance was greater in the intervention group in
all objectively graded assessments which include papers, midterm/final exam
scores and individual assignments. Other research has demonstrated that
implementing technology into the classroom enhances student motivation to
understand and complete tasks.
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3.3.Increased collaboration
• Collaboration can be aided by educational technology. Teachers
can communicate with students during lessons, but students can
also interact with one another. Students collaborate to solve
problems through online classes and educational games.
• Students can share their ideas and thoughts and encourage one
another in collaborative activities. Simultaneously, technology
allows for one-on-one interaction with teachers. Students can
ask questions about the classroom and receive additional
assistance with the difficult-to-understand subject matter.
Students can upload homework from home, and teachers can
access and view submitted assignments on their devices.
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3.4.Better communication
• Students can use technology to connect with people in
their classrooms and around the world. Learning how to
collaborate on projects using digital tools prepares
students for almost any career. Connecting with students
across the globe promotes cultural learning and actually
teaches how to collaborate with people who are
different from them. While the internet can be an
unpleasant place full of hate at times, it can provide a
tremendous sense of community and support when used
wisely.
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3.5.Personalized learning opportunities
• Students can plan their time and learn at a convenient time for them. They can
also pursue subjects and courses outside of their course curriculum to broaden
their knowledge.
• Technology enables continuous access to information and knowledge. Classes
can be completed entirely online using a laptop or mobile device. Learning that
is hybrid combines the use of technology from almost anywhere with regular in-
person classroom sessions. It is possible to use technology to tailor learning
plans for each student in both scenarios. Lessons can be designed based on
student interests and strengths.
• Another advantage is that students can learn at their own pace. Students can
rewatch videos in the lesson plan when they need to review class material to
better understand key concepts. In addition, teachers can use the data generated
by these online activities to see which students struggled with certain subjects
and offer extra help and support.
 5.The Concept of Digital and Media
Literacy in the Area of Education
• Digital and media motivates students and that
makes them a means to reach today's learners.
Our students today have digital and media needs:
a. They need knowledge and guidance in using
digital and media effectively,
b. They need to know how to evaluate the multitude
of digital and media messages they receive, and
c. They need the integrity and ethical center to be
good citizens in their use of digital and media.
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"A Process Model for Digital and Media Literacy."
I. ACCESS: According to Hobbs, "access" is the
first step in digital and media literacy. It involves
"finding and sharing appropriate and relevant
information using media texts and technology tools.
Students need to be able to effectively locate and
identify relevant information to the task or issue
with which they are engaged. To do that, they need
access competencies.
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II. ANALYZE: This second step Hobbs points to involves "using critical thinking
to analyze message purpose, target audience, quality, veracity, credibility, point of
view, and potential effects or consequences of messages." In other words, students
need to be able examine the messages and information they receive from digital
and media and analyze for the common components of rhetoric and
communication. This competency makes students effective consumers as well as
conveyors of digital and media messaging.
III. CREATE: The third step involves "composing or generating content using
creativity and confidence in self-expression, with awareness of purpose, audience,
and composition techniques into the world of digital and media." Students need to
be able to not only effectively consume information, they also need to be able to
be effective content creators in digital and media. In the 21st century, with all the
myriads of digital tools available, those who excel are content generators, so our
students need this competency as well.
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• IV. REFLECT: Reflecting involves examining the

impact of media messages and technology tools on our
thinking and actions in daily life. It also involves
"applying social responsibility and ethical principles to
our own identity, communication behavior, and
conduct." Students need to reflect on the digital and
media messages they send and think about the effects of
these on their lives. This skill of reflection helps our
students become humane consumers and creators of
digital and media content.
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V. ACT: The fifth and final step or competency is "working
individually or collaboratively to share knowledge and solve
problems in the family, the workplace, and the community." It
means participating in local and global communities. According to
Hobbs, this step involves getting students in the classroom
connected to the world, providing support for their leadership
development and collaboration, and developing integrity and
accountability as they take their place as global citizens. Students
need to engage in using digital and media in solving problems and
at the same time take advantage of global connectivity. Because
the 21st century world is a much smaller place, our students need
to be able to "act" using their digital and media skills.
 6. The Classroom Continuum: Traditional to Digital

Until quite recently, there were two distinct methods of

delivering educational courses:
• a. in-person, on-campus teaching, in both schools
and post-secondary educational institutions
• b. fully distance, where students did not come to
campus but studied generally at home.
Now, however, with the development of online and
digital learning, there is a wide variety of ways in
which to study. Indeed there is a continuum of
technology-based learning:
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5.1.Classroom teaching
• This is teaching where no technology at all is
used, which is very rare these days. Indeed it
could be argued that desks, blackboards, and
classrooms are just one form of technology.
However, that technology was pre-digital.
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• 5.2.Digital classroom aids
This is technology used as classroom aids;
typical examples are the use of an overhead
projector or a video shown in a classroom, or
Power point slides and/or clickers in a lecture.
These digital technologies enhance the
traditional teaching method but do not change it
(substitution or augmentation, in the SAMRT
model).
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5.3.Blended learning
Blended learning encompasses a wide variety of designs:
 the use of a learning management system to support
classroom teaching, for storing learning materials, providing
a course schedule of topics, for online discussion, and for
submitting student assignments, but teaching is still
delivered mainly through classroom sessions;
 the use of lecture capture for flipped classrooms, where
students watch the lecture via streamed video then come to
class for discussion or other work.
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 alternating or parallel modes: one semester face-to-face on
campus and two semesters online; in the school system, most
courses are on campus but students take can take some courses
online;
 hybrid or flexible learning: requiring the redesign of teaching so
that students can do the majority of their learning online, coming
to campus only for very specific face-to-face teaching, such as
labs or hands-on practical work, that cannot be done satisfactorily
online;
 hyflex learning: students are given choice in how they participate
in the course and engage with material in the mode that works
best for them over the course and from session to session.
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5.4.Hybrid learning
• There is an important development within blended learning that
deserves special mention, and that is the total re-design of campus-based
classes that takes greater advantage of the potential of technology, which
we call hybrid learning, with online learning combined with focused
small group face-to-face interactions or mixing online and physical lab
experiences. In such designs, the amount of face-to-face contact time is
usually reduced, for instance from three classes a week to one, to allow
more time for students to study online, or the time instructors spend in
class presenting material is reduced, with the content available online
and instructors using their time supporting students’ learning in class. In
hybrid learning the whole learning experience is re-designed, with a
transformation of teaching on campus built around the use of
technology.
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5.5.HyFlex learning
• This is a recent development. A HyFlex class makes class meetings and materials
available so that students can access them online or in-person, during or after class
sessions. All students, regardless of the path taken, should achieve the same learning
objectives. In HyFlex courses, students can choose from one of three participation
paths:
 participate in face-to-face synchronous class sessions in-person (in a classroom)
 participate in face-to-face class sessions via video conference (e.g., Zoom)
 participate fully asynchronously via an LMS or other asynchronous technology
5.6. Summary
Thus ‘blended learning’ can mean minimal rethinking or redesign of classroom
teaching, such as the use of classroom aids, or complete redesign as in flexibly
designed courses, which aim to identify the unique pedagogical characteristics of
face-to-face teaching, with online learning providing flexible access for the rest of
the learning.
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5.7.(Fully) online learning
Fully online learning, with no classroom or on-campus
teaching, is one form of distance education, including:
 courses for credit, which will usually cover the same
content, skills and assessment as a campus-based
version, but are available only to students admitted to a
program;
 non-credit courses offered only online, such as courses
for continuing professional education;
 fully open courses, such as MOOCs.
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• 5.8.A rapidly evolving phenomenon
• These forms of education, once considered somewhat
esoteric and out of the mainstream of conventional
education, were increasingly taking on greater
significance and in some cases becoming mainstream
themselves, before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. The
pandemic has merely accelerated these trends.
• As teachers and instructors become more familiar and
confident with online learning and new technologies,
there will be more innovation in integrating online and
face-to-face teaching.
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• New forms of blended, hybrid and online learning
will emerge over time, as instructors, teachers and
institutional managers continue to experiment to
increase enrolments, improve learning outcomes,
and provide greater flexibility for students and
instructors. However, what is clear is that the
introduction of digital technologies is having a
profound effect on not only the delivery but also
the design of teaching and learning.
THANK YOU