C21 Learning

A good discussion running on David Warwicks  blog on what is 21s Century learning. Dipping his toe into a muddy puddle, he has offered some succinct points, being careful not discount 20th century practise of- listening, watching, remembering, his following points grow out of these dimensions: questioning your learning experience, engaging your information environment, proving (and disproving) what you find, Constructing (inventing) new learning and knowledge teaching others what you have learned being respected for the power of your learning, and being responsible for your learning and its outcomes. David goes onto say the students will engage with their information environment to learn through questioning, experimentation, discovery, and construction. Graham Wegner’s podcast adds a nice commentary to teaching C21st learning.  Also, as Howard Gardner  advances in “Five Minds for the Future,” there are 5 important 21st century minds: 1. The Disciplinary Mind — the mastery of major schools of thought (including science, mathematics, and history) and of at least one professional craft. 2. The Synthesizing Mind — the ability to integrate ideas from different disciplines or spheres into a coherent whole and to communicate that integration to others. 3. The Creating Mind — the capacity to uncover and clarify new problems, questions and phenomena. 4. The Respectful Mind — awareness of and appreciation for differences among human beings and human groups. 5. The Ethical Mind — fulfillment of one’s responsibilities as a worker and as a citizen. It’s the engaging /synthesising and ethical dimensions I think are the newest and most challenging dimensions to C21 learning. From my own and now my children’s experience, group and collaborative learning doesn’t come easily. How do we teach values such as trust and sharing when every kid knows at the end of the day we are competing for university and work places in an increasingly cut throat environment.Another challenge are the consequences of recognising what constitutes learning and where learning occurs; the dimensions between formal and informal learning, and the relationship of knowledge and the individual including the role of the teacher.