Week 2 Discussion 1

The main aim of education is to mold responsible citizens and inculcate in them invaluable values and skills that can ensure they become responsible in future. Therefore, students should apply the knowledge they acquire in class in demanding circumstances, tackle and solve different problems that they encounter, work as a team and think critically over issues that affect them and their society in general. Top on the list of the 21st Century skills that can be used in the classroom include: practicing student-centered learning, setting up an invitational environment for learning, establishing a good computing devices and other important gadgets that can make learning easier and accessible, carrying out performance based assessment, inculcating the culture of collaborative learning in the students, and ensuring students learn and follow the laid down rules.

Technology plays a very pivotal role in developing the aforementioned requirements and skills in developing a modern classroom. It makes learning more accessible and interactive whereby students can have an opportunity to be digitally literate and learn from a wide range of information while still being able to synthesize some sense out of it. Do you think these skills are developed when students have greater autonomy in the classroom to undertake learning topics of interest, or is more directed teaching required to master these skills? Yes, I believe these skills can be best developed when students have greater autonomy in the classroom. The teacher should inculcate the culture of self-responsibility in the learners and make them have self-discipline in everything they study or undertake. With personal responsibility and self-respect, the students are able to be their can work on their own and as a group in order to achieve their common goal. In addition, with autonomy, the students are able to enhance their cognitive skills such as critical thinking, logical reasoning, and problem solving ability, creative thinking, and digital literacy and collaborate and communicate with others.

Does the mastery of twenty-first century skills require students to be intrinsically motivated, or do you think extrinsic motivators play a larger role?  Yes. The students must be intrinsically motivated so that they are able to look for information, discuss amongst themselves and work towards a common goal. However, extrinsic motivators can still play a role in ensuring the students not only acquire knowledge but also have a sense of curiosity being developed in their minds. The curiosity inculcated in the learner strengthens his mind, body and spirit hence galvanizing him or her to dig deeper and acquire more knowledge in the said subject. Nonetheless, I strongly hold the view that intrinsic motivation plays the major role because with the correct mindset and positive mental attitude, the learner can easily overcome any avoidable hurdle on his path to achieving academic excellence.

References

Trilling, B., & Fadel, C. (2009). 21st century skills: Learning for life in our times. John Wiley & Sons.Lombardi, M. M. (2007). Authentic learning for the 21st century: An overview. Educause learning initiative, 1(2007), 1-12.