The 21st century workplace is innovative, fair, and competitive, allowing flexibility in how, when, and where work is done. It attracts talent and remains globally competitive. The 21st century learner possesses creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking skills (the "4Cs") needed to succeed in today's technological world. In contrast, the traditional workplace strictly regulates hours and structure, while traditional learners are passive and tech-averse, learning only in the classroom. The 21st century learner is better equipped than the traditional learner for today's changing environment.

1. Describe the 21st Century Work Place and the 21st Century Learner. How do they differ
with the classical workplace and learner?
In the 21st Century workplace there is an increase in the utilization of computer and
scientific technology has been noticeable. Creating new ideas and marketing those ideas to
consumers around the world resulted to an increase in the economy globally.
The 21st Century workplace characteristics according to Central Valley Human Resource
Management Association is:
1) INNOVATIVE: This provides employers and employees the flexibility to address how, when
and where work is accomplished and allows for the design of employee benefit programs that
attract and retain employees, while managing the fiscal realities of modern business.
2) FAIR: The 21st Century Workplace provides fair employment practices in hiring, training and
compensation, regardless of non-job-related characteristics, and encourages practices that meet the
goals of the organization and the needs of its employees; and
3) COMPETITIVE: The 21st Century Workplace gives employers the ability to attract, recruit,
hire and train talent, as needed, to remain competitive in a global economy.
In addition, the 21st Century learners will have to acquire a set of skills and adopt certain
characteristics in order to become successful in 21st Century society. According to National
Education Association, (2012) the learner should acquire the 4C’s to be able to be successful in
the 21st century.
The first C is Creativity, 21st century learner need to be able to think and work creatively
with others and also implement innovation in their everyday lives. This means that students need
to be capable of developing creative solutions to the many problems and challenges that they may
face and that the 21st century brings.
The second Cis Collaboration, the world children are growing up in today is a world where
collaboration and teamwork is essential. Due to the increasing improvement of technology and
economic globalization, these skills are now absolutely necessary, without them students would
not succeed in modern society. Effective collaboration requires learner to learn to respect each
other’s differences and use their different personalities.
The third C is Communication, the ability to communicate effectively is an essential
ingredient in any successful collaboration between individuals. Learners need to have the ability
to present their ideas articulately through a range of oral, written and non-verbal communication
platforms. In order to become an effective communicator, learners must first learn to listen
effectively. Listening effectively will aid in the development of communication. Using
communication in a group context will enable learners to teach one another, sharing skills and
knowledge to develop the group’s overall intelligence.
Collaboration and communication need to be developed on a daily basis in order to prepare
learners for the reality of today’s society. The 21st Century learners in essence cannot survive in
today’s world without these two absolutely essential skill sets, the ability to communicate and
collaborate effectively drives creativity and innovation; skills which modern society demands and
practices globally on a daily basis.
The fourth C is Critical Thinking which is always accompanied by problem solving. In a
constantly changing world, learners need the ability to think critically and solve any problem which
may occur in their lives. Constant technological advancements mean that students need to be
prepared to adapt to any change and continue to perform at their potential, both in their education
and future employment. To be able to adapt to change effectively, students need to have the ability

2. to make connections between information and arguments, interpret information to draw
conclusions and reflect critically on learning experiences and processes.
The 21st century society is constantly evolving, as a result individual learner need to have
the ability to become lifelong learners in order to adapt to changes and succeed in modern society.
The distinction of the traditional workplace or office according to Business.com is a place
where employees congregate Monday through Friday for 40+ hours per week to produce work for
a company or institution. Companies with traditional workplace cultures are often organizational,
and on the bright side, this can mean that they benefit from stability, structured communication,
central authority and decision-making, and consistency. Within such companies or institutions,
there is a certain level of professionalism when it comes to work hours, personal space, and work-
related responsibilities and communications.
In contrast with the 21st Century learner, a traditional learner is text centered where they
greatly focus on text media (books, essays, academic literature, etc.). Traditional learner is also
passive or theory based they rely too much on the lesson’s content and theories/concepts, without
feedback being expected from the learner during the discussion. Their learning usually takes place
within the classroom setting. Moreover, they are techno-phobic or ignorant to use modern
technologies/innovations in other words computer-illiterate. But they are independent in terms of
learning because learning is mostly text centered, the student tends to learn by him/herself. They
are competitive as well, traditional learners tend to unsurpassed other students’ performance.
In summary, the 21st Century workplace allows the employees to be more innovative,
globally competitive and fair regardless of non-job-related characteristics while traditional
workplace follow strict guidelines from the number of hours per week to number of days of work.
Traditional workplace follows an organizational structure in which decision-making is centralized.
While the 21st Century learners are equipped with the skills of 4C’s that is creativity,
collaboration, communication and critical thinking which is necessary to be successful in this
modern technological world, whereas, the traditional learners are passive and learns only inside
the classroom and also they are techno-phobic, they will have a hard time blending in the fast
changing environment. So, the 21st Century learners have more advantage than the traditional
learners when it comes to dealing in this modern world.
References
National Education Association, (2012). Preparing 21st Century Students for a Global Society: An
Educator’s Guide to the “Four C’s”. Retrieved from: http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/A-
Guide-to-Four-Cs.pdf
https://www.business.com/articles/jason-richmond-traditional-and-nontraditional-workplace