Teaching in the 21st century is vastly different from teaching in the last century....even in the last twenty years.

The avalanche of knowledge necessitates we teach skills rather than content. There is so much of content available almost everywhere.More importantly we need to teach the skills necessary to retrieve knowledge in the electronic media, Textbooks are slowly becoming a thing of the past as on-line resources, e-texts, and Kindles have brought information even closer. We have to learn how to retrieve knowledge and decide scientific studies from fads We need to teach thinking skills, skills of organization,and determining what is relevant and what is not.

Students these days will not sit and listen to hour long lectures. They have such a vast  repertoire of knowledge which we as teachers need to tap into and use in our classes and seminars.

Above all, we must value students (as persons  with experience). This will encourage them to attend classes regularly if they find that their opinions are valued.

Gloria:

In having to place more focus on addressing 21st Century skills, I use technology to help in developing their communication and critical thinking skills in asynchronous online debates. I have found that once you relate the debating topic to learners previous experiences/prior readings/societal or global issues, they are very keen on participating in the debate. Their engagement levels are a lot higher than in F2F classes and they go all out (providing current research to support their arguments) to compete against their opponents. Please see attached article presented at the 2015 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning conference on the results of the study.

Many thanks,

Debra

Conference Paper Debating: A Dynamic Teaching Strategy for Motivating Student...

hello dear researchers,

i think i have made so many changes for the students of 21st century, or you can say i started teaching in this century only, but by the time i experienced so many changes from last decade... this is totally different from those days when i was a formal student... now technology has a great place.. we cannt go only with the theory only, today students ignored you if you dont have practicality or experience with your teaching.. today is an era of blended teaching where you must have to blend your theory with technology, experience, applicability, own psychological factors, ...I think while teaching you are not only a teacher,  more than that; A performer, An artist, a technologist, An actor, demonstrator, guide, friend...and so on

I found this in one article about using technology inside the classroom, please follow the link, http://www.cluteinstitute.com/ojs/index.php/JIER/article/view/6696/6771, I hope it helps.

Delacruz (2004) investigates the creative use of ICT within the classroom and how ICT can be used to  engage a class. The study found that ICT usage within the classroom is generally not being incorporated in engaging  or creative applications. Instead, the easier to use and less time consuming ICT activities tend to be used. The  author states that changes need to be made by school policy makers, as teachers are in support of change and wish to be included in change. Baylor and Richie (2002) expand on the idea of policy change. The researchers also state the importance of including teachers in policy making when regarding ICT in the classroom. Including teachers in the  design of new policies would increase the use of ICT within the classroom, as teachers understand the gaps in their teaching methods which ICT could be useful.

while teaching students of engineering, a lot of motivation is given as to why they are studying that math course . applications of the relevant concept are provided and learning the concept through a group activity along with processes is what i am presently practicing in the class.

Jayashree, many thanks for your response. Are you using group activities as something new to your teaching? If not, are you giving students more choices, more voice?

Abdel and Gouravjeet, Thank-you both as well. We often turn to technology as the way to cater to 21st century learners. Yet  I am particularly interested in how your teaching has altered with respect to who owns the learning, lecturing vs discussion, what students are required to read, global connections you make...?

Debra, Thanks for taking the time to respond. So you are giving greater focus to skills such as critical thinking. Why do you think this change has come about? Weren't these skills always needed?

Here's what I believe I am asking. How are you slowing down, tuning down and helping students select and focus on the barrage of information hitting them?  How are you making these selections? What are you bringing into focus now and why?

I find it interesting that the discussions here have such a heavy emphasis on using technology. Digital skills are only one part of the so-called 21st Century skills. My biggest challenge is to encourage my students to think for themselves. So many (not all) want to be told what to think and when rather than to take a risk and think for themselves. So I do less telling and more asking. And yes, sometimes that asking is done asynchronously online and I agree with Debra that my students generally respond really positively in online professional conversations (particularly when grades are attached! external motivation sometimes necessary). I also use more group work, but try to facilitate that with cooperative learning strategies like lotus diagrams, fish bowls, placemats and the like. 

21st century teaching does not limit to teachers bringing in technology to the classrooms but it also includes how teachers are prepared to mentor, guide and facilitate the students who are enormously exposed to ICT world. Students today come to the classrooms with lots of prior knowledge and teachers cannot undermine their potential like in olden days. I would say as a teacher for 21st century, now my instruction is more research driven. Besides this , facilitating autonomy among students, listening to their perspective and by partnering with them in instruction in assessment are a few alteration that I have made in my teaching.

I have learned to talk far less and ask questions and follow-ups when I do. Listening has replaced the traditional the sage on stage.  I am now more of a coach and perhaps a role model.  I have found that students use technology far more creatively than I ever dreamed of.

Folks, there is no evidence that 21 century learners are different than 20 century learners. At least I have not see anything like real evidence. We have a lot of speculation about digital natives and clip thinking, but no research. It is extremely difficult to make cross-generational comparisons, because of the confounding factors. For example, in many countries we witness rapid massification of higher education, and as a consequences - kids from lower classes entering colleges. Universities are struggling to deal with their lack of preparation and cultural differences. That creates an illusion of the "new learner." But human cognition does тещ change that fast. Good teaching based on engagement, inquiry, and relationality works as well today as it did 30 years ago.

>How are you slowing down, tuning down and helping students select and focus on the barrage of information hitting them? How are you making these selections? What are you bringing into focus now and why?

Hi Gloria,

I believe that, in the time when information is more available than ever, what we have to teach our students is how to select appropriate content (not necesaril school content) in order to 'profit' from it. I would use students' personal engagement on the www in different forms: social networks, youtube, blogs, games, etc. and then bring it into a discussion. For example, I may suggest that they could participate in a particular discussion which I find interesting for a particular topic we are currently working on, watch a particular video, or visit some web page and consult and compare more resources in order to find some information. What I am suggesting is that we have to search for ways in how to stimulate learning during their every day out-of-school activities. Maybe, ask them, what is it that they are doing when they are not in school, and then talk about why they are doing that and suggest an alternative.

Best wishes,

Ana

Hi Ana,

Thank-you for your response. Can you explain a bit further what you mean by helping students select appropriate material so that thy can profit from it?

Yes, of course :)

There are many good educational materials available on-line (even youtube), posted by university professors. So I may use part(s) of them during a classroom discussion to exemplify what I consider as appropriate material. I would discuss the advantages and disadvantages of it or distinguish relevant from nonrelevant content, probably compare several resources, etc. Then suggest to the students further investigations which they would have to undertake themselves.

Students (like it or not) perceive lots of information every day. It is important to help them in forming their own opinion about certain info (not taking everything for granted), but thinking about what they have heard or read.

blaming students for poor attendance, lack of participation, motivation, neediness and self entitlement is just a reactionary response of teachers who often cannot catch up with a transition happening all the time, no matter what they bring in for learning is just merely their inquisitiveness about things happening around them i.e. technology, continuous change in gene pool, as teacher I think we have to stick to traditional model of learning that is book and way to delivering knowledge yet incorporated in that new technology...

Teaching in the 21st century is vastly different from teaching in the last century....even in the last twenty years.

The avalanche of knowledge necessitates we teach skills rather than content. There is so much of content available almost everywhere.More importantly we need to teach the skills necessary to retrieve knowledge in the electronic media, Textbooks are slowly becoming a thing of the past as on-line resources, e-texts, and Kindles have brought information even closer. We have to learn how to retrieve knowledge and decide scientific studies from fads We need to teach thinking skills, skills of organization,and determining what is relevant and what is not.

Students these days will not sit and listen to hour long lectures. They have such a vast  repertoire of knowledge which we as teachers need to tap into and use in our classes and seminars.

Above all, we must value students (as persons  with experience). This will encourage them to attend classes regularly if they find that their opinions are valued.

It is clear that the "old" methods of teaching will not work well for today's students. I am not saying that the old methods should be totally discontinued. We still need to lecture, assign readings, write papers, etc. But today's students have grown up with technology being a major part of their lives. It is "natural" to them. For that reason, teachers have to adapt to this new learning style, and incorporate technology into our classroom teaching.

There are many ways to do this, some of which were stated in previous postings. YouTube videos, produced by reliable sources, can be a great supplement to the classroom. TED Talks are another resource. The internet can be a rich source of information. Granted, we need to teach students how to filter out unreliable sources, and use only reputable ones, but I think that, given that we now live in the "digital age" , it is our responsibility as teachers to do this.

Most institutions of higher learning have digital learning platforms (D2L, Moodle, etc.). Teachers should make use of the platforms. Online discussion forums are very helpful in getting students to think critically as they answer questions in the forum, and ask questions of each other. Live chat enables students to "conference" and work together on projects, as do methods like Google Docs for sharing information. 

Other ways to utilize technology in teaching are virtual case studies, recording student presentations or other activities for them to review and critique afterward, and even producing their own videos to use as study guides or to share with other groups of students. 

Finally, I suggest "virtual office hours". As I learned from another educator, students do not always want to come in and see teachers for advice, etc. They prefer to operate in the digital world - as evidenced by their use of texting and social media. You can set up a time for "virtual" sessions through live chat, Students are more likely to take advantage of this opportunity, than face to face encounters.

It may be a little bit daunting for us to venture out into the tech world, but we all want to be able to communicate effectively with students, and to enhance their learning experience. With just a little effort, technology can help us do that.

Many thanks for your considered responses. Bonny, I am most interested in knowing what skills you teach now and how you teach those skills. How do you help students determine what is worth knowing? Shouldn't we always have been teaching skills over knowledge?

To say education must stay the same is something I can not accept. I need to change my content, my approach, my resources every year, every class. That is my role. Even if I was teaching history or mathematical concepts that have not shifted in time, I must approach them with a current and relevant lens. Nicky spoke of technology as being at the forefront of people's minds when it comes to new learning. Yet for me my teaching focus  needs to keep shifting; bringing into the light new ways of seeing the ordinary  in a sensory filled world.  

Check out Graham Nuthall's work - it's not new, but insightful and continues to be relevant ESPECIALLY to understand the relationship between teachers' activities and students' interior lives. For example,

Nuthall, G. (2005). The cultural myths and realities of classroom teaching and learning: A personal journey. The Teachers College Record, 107(5), 895-934.

Nuthall, G. (2004). Relating classroom teaching to student learning: A critical analysis of why research has failed to bridge the theory-practice gap. Harvard educational review, 74(3), 273-306.

and: 

http://www.nzcer.org.nz/nzcerpress/hidden-lives-learners

In the past 28 years, I have shifted from teaching a "skills set" to focusing more on the process of learning. The metacognitive skills are not as present in children as they were in the past. Education is becoming more about the correct answer and the correct way of approaching that answer. There is also a shift from play in the early years to academics.  This is not allowing young children to formulate their own ways of problem solving and therefor, they are not developing their metacognitive skills. This is leading to the "learned helplessness" that we are now seeing in our students. There is some great research being done in Cambridge University focusing on these ideas.

Hi Diane,

I agree. Formal Education too often concerned with the answer, rather than discovering the questions and meta-cognitive processes of their problem-solving, their thinking. Playfulness and discovery are such a vital part of learning for teachers and their students. Yet teachers (and often parents) have bought tickets to ride the education train to the end and are showing children 'the way' to ride by promoting one correct answer, promoting certainty rather than risk-taking, and preparing them for the next  ride rather than opening them to life's possibilities.

From my 16 years of teaching experience, what i could observe as shift from my past style to present is, the pedagogy.

From chalk and talk (knowledge focused) to.....

i) Situation / case analysis (environment and approach focused),

ii) Story telling (multiple approach / perspectives with direct involvement focused),

iii) Q&A based sessions (cognitive skill focused),

iv) A&Q based sessions (interrogative skill focused),

v) Simulation and role play (involvement focused),

vi) Model development / analysis (multiple intelligence focused) and 

vii) ICT (skill focusing on selection of appropriate / needed content) 

They are not only shift from my approach in teaching, but also contributed a lot for personal growth and development in my own learning process as an academician.

Though  a pedagogical approach is used to embrace  the newly recruited student from high school into a university, the approach tends to differ when I am handling a student who has spent 3 years in the university. In this regard I consider using an andragocial approach, a constructivist approach. Yes indeed there is a massive shift from the pedagogical approaches to andragogical approaches. The advent of technology discourages student from participating especially under pedagogical approaches. In that case the student finds technological approaches exciting rather than the traditional conventional means.  Interactive approaches , presentations, group discussions, workshops, industrial visits, case studies etc are phasing out the chalk board  approaches of the teacher that places a teacher as a ring leader rather than a facilitator.  My perception is that students are not a blank slate who awaits for the teacher to fill them with data each day until such a boring orthodoxy is over : maybe in 5 years. This assumption which is a reality to me, also transforms with new generations emerging. I would conclude that though I am young in the teaching profession I have indeed seen a dramatic change from our institutions that forced change in me. I make sure that my students are learners and whatever that is on the curriculum must be transformed into knowledge. I and my students work as a team. However there are circumstances where I overlap the two approaches: pedagogical and andragogical approaches 

Analysing dales' cone of learning theory the best outcome inficator is when students can teach others, sharing n teamwork. As for that we need to embark more on group work as sharing basis. Another new shift of learning us from constructivisme to connectivism, so using IT new media will enhance both understanding. Tq

Dear Gloria!

My teaching has indeed altered during the past 15 years. First I was a secondary school teacher for about 10 years. During this time I learned that inquiry and autonomy-orientation positively influent my teaching endeavors as well as the motivation of my students. Later, I changed my profession and became a professor. I used this new role for a deeper reflection of my collected experiences and created the Theory of Inquiry Learning Arrangements (TILA). This Approach embraces a theoretical grounding for autonomy-supportive inquiry learning with pupils and students of every age.

Well, I suggest, that inquiry could be a promising paradigm for 21st century education.

Please have a look at my profile on researchgate or visit the following links. I would be very interested in your estimation about the capability of this approach from your point of view.

http://journal.ph-noe.ac.at/index.php/resource/article/view/187/267

http://www.schulpaedagogik-heute.de/SHHeft12/02_Forschung/02_03.pdf

Kind regards,

Johannes

Dear Johannes,

I found your Theory of Inquiry Learning Arrangements, as a promising current and future direction. From experience, my years creating Inquiry Based Learning at the tertiary level and student autonomy to be extremely effective. Yet, if it's a once only experience and other lecturers resort to a far more traditional lecture/tutorial model, I wonder about its ability to transfer to the heats and minds of your students when they become teachers. What have you found? Has any longitudinal research been undertaken post graduation? Have you received any resistance?

To everyone who has responded, thank-you.You are still writing about big picture ideas and while important I am immensely interested in the small changes you have made in the moments of teaching, in the fragments from the whole ideas to its parts. How are you bringing new ideas into focus? How are you selecting what students should read, should experience? Why? How are you learning to listen to students' voices and spring from them? How, in small ways are you encouraging your students to take risks, to roam in possibilities?

A small change I have done in my classroom that has made a large impact is student portfolios.  The students all own their own "folder" in their google drive. I push out a "reflection slide" for the lesson. This includes open answer questions about the strategies they used, how they did, how they could do better and a goal for next week. The students grade their own lesson. I provide feedback as to their assessment of their performance. The kids love this!  It also has brought a different dynamic to our relationships as I am no longer the "judge" recording grades that they are working for, but a coach or mentor helping them become self-reliant as they do their own formative assessment. The score I put on their report card is one that we decide on together. It is usually an average of their scores and an additional score I assign based on their assessment practices.  I have found that the kids are more ready to take risks when there is not a "right answer".  Again, it is back to what the focus is on.... their developing learning skills or achieving that "A".

Changes that are peculiar 21st century demand that teaching becomes more practical, relating your classroom activities to real life situations. I have learnt, over time, that my teaching should be void of so many abstract ideas and I have been able to achieve it irrespective of what the content is. This has helped to make my classes very interesting to the extent that no student wishes to mis out.

As an educator, I see significant changes taking place on integrating a number of important skills across the curriculum, including ICT, problem solving, inquiry, reflection on learning, numeracy, language skills (reading, writing, communication), creating.    

My teaching hasn't inherently changed, thought my responsibilities beyond the classroom has grown- in great and challenging ways.  The most exciting shift for me is curriculum (for the most part!) that allows me to make the material hands on and relevant to my students' education and professional futures.  Growth mindset, maker mentality, design thinking..all are examples of ways to out this new knowledge to valuable use, now and in the future.

Linda,

I would suggest your teaching has changed by allowing students a far more Hands-On approach. Is this a whole school approach? If so, how are you working together as teachers? If not, how are you helping your students move from being told what to do, to discovering and acting upon what they need to do?

As a tertiary teacher I find it hard, if not impossible, to work to "best practice" as discussed here given the institutional limitations of ever decreasing course contact hours and increasing workloads. Technology and blended learning has great potential to address this but it requires a fairly large time commitment of a "non-digital native" to master and keep up with the almost daily development of technology. Alas, this commitment to developing 21st century teaching does not show in the workloads and I'm afraid that most of my weekend is taken up by ad hoc marking, moderating and  emails reassuring panicky students. Perhaps it would provide a basis for study leave - just kidding.

Hi Sorrel,

I understand your sentiments. When a school or department commits to new ways of learning they must provide staff with the time and the means to develop new ideas in collaboration with others. They must be given support. It is far easier to make changes over time when all staff are working toward similar goals.

Yet it is not technology that I inquire about, new programs, large shifts but rather the subtle differences in how you approach your discipline, the information you now provide, the greater ownership you give to students. Have you altered or created new assessment tasks asking for greater critical reflection and the integration and defence of ideas?

Dear Gloria!

Thank you very much for your response. Concerning your questions ... . Well, I could collect promising data from research on the learning concepts (tertiary education) AuRELIA and CrEEd. These concepts are theoretically linked to the TILA (Theory of Inquiry Learning Arrangements). The data unterpin e.g. effects on self-efficacy, inquiry habit of mind, and motivation. Unfortunately, the concerning publications (especially publications concerning research and transfer into practice of CrEEd) are written in German language.

Nevertheless, I am currently working on an English language anthology (reverence book; working title: "Research and Reflections on the Theory of Inquiry Learning Arrangements"), thogether with 15 Austrian scientists. Once finished, it will include the theory of TILA, AuRELIA, and CrEEd, as well as several research papers dealing with the question about efficacy of the conceptual approaches. It will also include examples of practice.

If you agree, I will send you a notification, as soon as the book is published (expected date of publication: September 2016; Kassel University Press). The book will also be available as a download. I suppose that this book could help answering some of your further questions.

Thanks a lot for your interest!

With kind regards,

Johannes

Advances in information and communication technologies (ICT) have changed teaching and learning (T&L) experiences and opportunities in considerable ways, yet T&L interactions in the ICT-enabled 21st century environment have not been ideal. In an era where there is increasing emphasis on contemporary competencies, there is an urgent need for relevant modes of measurements that can evaluate and advance the outcomes of T&L appropriately.

http://tlc.unisim.edu.sg/research/AdvSoTL-2/hornmun_laura.html

Teaching is different now because students do not do so well with lots of theories but grade much better with hands-on approach teaching method. 

Harshvardhan,

It would be difficult to disagree with your attention to an emotionally safe learning environment but I have cause to wonder if this has altered because of 21st century learners. Have you given this greater attention? If so, can you explain what lead you to this change and what you have put in place? 

The most significant change for me has been providing more group activities during class time.  I have focused on communication and leadership problem/solution types of scenarios that support overall course learning objectives. 

I think successful efforts are being made by all the stakeholders in this field. However, at higher education level, I have experienced that teacher can try their best to groom learners (of course teachers themselves)  for 21st century skills as learners are experiencing these skills in other fields. "Poor attendance, lack of participation, motivation, neediness and self entitlement" are temporary resultant of the teaching learning situations so they can be controlled by effective teachers/ guides/ collaborators/ enablers very soon.

In a subject like MATHEMATICS, the analytical skills need to be stressed and  although there is so much content on the internet, if the concepts are emphasised through active learning methods than it can be a good learning experience.

You might want to read about a huge shift

http://chronicle.com/article/MIT-Dean-Takes-Leave-to-Start/235121?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elq=57d24c950f1847ca9cf3c487267eed11&elqCampaignId=2336&elqaid=7720&elqat=1&elqTrackId=368d61b29da6435db83a21b300c3f5fc

Dear Gloria,

I would be a bit bold to suggest students have gallantly stepped into the 21st century while some lecturers have chosen to stay in the 20th century. No wonder the class is boring and students choose to stay away.

21st century students want to share their ideas, they want to participate and be noticed, and they are more daring to challenge views and comments. On that note, lecturers should not lecture them (in fact they should not be called lecturers, teachers is a better term as you have written), give them learning activities for them to contribute their ideas, to discuss with their peers and to collaborate in group project; get them to explore possibilities and to challenge established facts. 

Reward them for their meta-cognitive skills, reward them for their participation in the learning process. Do not focus just on the product but the process leading to the product. Once we as teachers change the way we teach them and the way we assess them, I am positive they will appreciate our effort and be grateful for our inputs in their learning journey.

Thank you.

Chan

Dear Chan,

I would be very grateful if you could  demonstrate how you are changing your teaching to adjust to new learners? Just provide one example. Do you still lecture? If not, how do you manage this shift?

Dear Gloria,

I designed learning activities for my students in our face-to-face workshop. For instance, role playing 

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Universities around the world Malaysia included, are progressively moving towards student centred teaching. In our recently launched Malaysia Education Blueprint (Higher Education) the focus is also on student centred teaching. There is some resistant from students, lecturers and even parents but university management is generally for it. 

Select among your group members to play the role of student, lecturer, parents and university management. In your respective role, give us your views on student centred instructional strategies, in particular, how it affects

 · Students’ learning

·  Job opportunities

My students discussed among themselves on which role to play and how it is related to learning and job opportunities. After the preparation time, they acted out the roles in the classroom. Then it was followed by open discussions with students from the other groups and myself. They argued and had fun challenging each other. Eventually, I had to step in to come up with a consensus. Of course this learning activity has to achieve the following learning outcomes:

 ·  Discuss the context for higher education teaching and learning in Southeast Asia

·  Explain student learning as the primary objective of teaching

Each group of students has different learning activities to achieve the prescribed learning outcomes. Some of these outcomes may overlap with activities from the other groups.

Occasionally, these workshop discussions were extended to online forum for further deliberations. They enjoyed this mode of learning and I supported them with reading materials (online and offline) and constructive feedback.

Thank you.

Chan

Thanks so much and so good to hear that the tide is turning. It is sometimes so hard to enact change as teachers and administrators can get set in their ways. It sounds as if you are making real inroads. Congratulations!

The teaching experience for me is a daily learning experience- getting acquainted with new methods, especially in a subject like mathematics for engineering students- the visual approach is more motivating for the students then simply explaining another concept group seminars make them work in teams to come up with the necessary explanation and doing it differently with all the resources that are available.

Leverage techs, apps n learning techs tools to enhance learning n knowledge acqusition amongst students.

Moving away from delivering knowledge between brick n motars.

Practice assessment by moving away from just paper n pencil. Embarking into performance based n alternatives assessment.

In particular a shift that has occurred is in using social media and texting as a means of communication for students. I have coauthored a piece on the use of texting with Whatsapp to support language learning if you're interested to read more, Article Texting to Motivate Language Learning: WhatsApp Group Chats ...

I think 21st century learner are forcing us to engage in a deep pedagogical rethink around notions that have traditionally been perpetuated in teaching but rarely questioned and redefined, particularly what is 'engagement'. I see colleagues battling with participation grades, attendance grades, banning technology, refusing to post course notes for fear the lecture hall will empty out, etc. The essential question behind these erratic moves to 'control' and gauge learner engagement is: what is deep learning, how is engagement genuinely measurable, how can we redesign pedagogy to optimize engagement in a world where many things are competing for our learners' interest. It's not 'side' question as we sometimes seem to feel or a temporary problem that needs debugging. I think 21st century learners are finally pushing us in HE towards the first genuine constructivist look at our practices. It's an acid test that will completely overhaul things and it is high time it occurred.

Since students differ, their needs vary as well. However, the main need, in any field, lies in gaining knowledge (which is also of different types), that we need to transmit/convey in interesting, simple (mentioning not many other adjectives) methods/techniques. This demands a good preparation in terms of content and pedagogical knowledge(s).

In most educational levels, the focus has been given to develop students' critical thinking, which in return and effect helps students in dealing with their academic and personal issues. In this sense, providing students with real-life examples/activities is an effective way for realizing the effectiveness of the teaching-learning process. Being friendly (but not a friend) with students is important in motivating them further towards the realization of learning/teaching objectives!