cc licensed flickr photo shared by canonsnapper

Earlier this week, a friend and colleague of mine asked me, “Aren’t you getting tired of 21^st century learning?” Her question, while completely innocent, threw me off-kilter. What bothered me wasn’t the fact that I have spent the last two years trying to introduce the concept of “21^st century learning” into our school and obviously find value in it, but that after two years she still sees the idea as something disposable – another educational fad. We have all witnessed the steady stream of initiatives that have come and gone over the years. Having grown up in the district that I now teach in, I even remember experiencing some of them as a student. As political tides change and new problems emerge, there is always another educational magic bullet to come to the rescue. So is 21^st century learning our current magic bullet or is it more? Is it sustainable?

To answer the question, we have to separate the concept from the image. “21^st century learning” has become a catch phrase – journal articles and conference booklets are filled with it. In reality, 21^st century learning is not a single concept, but a collection of ideas that capture the tangible spirit of optimism and change in education today. It is both exciting, and potentially overwhelming. The concept is massive – too large to be digested as a whole – and very difficult to make a reality in schools unless broken down into manageable pieces.

21^st century learning has an image problem. It has an expiration date. By associating the changing landscape of teaching and learning with the dawn of a new century, we have invariably tied the concept to a timeframe. Will we look back on 21^st century learning in the same way we do ‘80s bangs or the New Kids on the Block? We are now over a decade into the new century. Have we finally settled into this new century long enough to drop the label and get down to the messy business of real change?

One major misconception of 21^st century learning is that it is about integrating (or infusing, or whatever your phrase of preference is...) technology into classrooms. 21^st century learning is NOT about technology – it is about student learning. Technology is the medium for learning in a 21^st century classroom, not an add-on. Good teaching effectively utilizes tools, whatever the available tools are, to facilitate student learning and achievement. Technology divorced from sound pedagogy is a house of cards waiting to tumble.

So what is 21^st century learning? I have often returned to a quote from an article that Sharon Friesen wrote for the Galileo Network, in which she eloquently encapsulates the concepts underpinning 21^st century learning:

  "When teachers design authentic, academically robust work for students, focus instruction on helping students develop the competencies necessary to build on, not just consume or borrow, other people's ideas, weave assessment into the fabric of teaching and learning, and design learning that requires students to use digital technologies to think with, there is a statistically significant increase in students' intellectual engagement and achievement." (2009, p. 7)

21^st century learning is overwhelming when we constantly focus on rapidly-changing technologies out of the context of student learning. When placed in the context of sound pedagogy, technology becomes just another tool for student learning. What makes being a teacher today exciting is that the possibilities for technology to transform student learning are truly awe-inspiring. 

For the record, the colleague who inspired this blog post called me into her class today to show me the inquiry project her students were working on. They were researching and designing virtual 3D Hudson’s Bay trading posts on the computer. One of her most challenging students – who had produced very little all year - was focussed and engaged in his work for the entire class. This teacher took a chance. She gave the students the tools and the context to encourage authentic learning. It was exciting and inspiring to see. I guess she isn’t really tired of 21^st century learning after all.

Reference:

Friesen, S. (2009). Galileo Educational Network: Creating, researching, and supporting 21^st century learning. Education Canada 49(5), 7-9.