21st Century learners

1. 21st
century learners
Heather Greaves – Oturu School –
Snippets from my readings so far.
Implications for
practice
Differences for 21st
century students Key drivers of change Change in thinking in
our practice.
Challenges
Need to be innovators, designers,
creators, not passive consumers.
Ubiquity = the pervasiveness of
digital technologies.
Anywhere, anytime, any
pace, any device learning
Has 3 drivers:
1. Increase in personally-
owned internet-capable
mobile devices.
2. Availability of wireless
connectivity.
3. Cloud applications and
cloud storage –
opportunity to connect
from multiple devices in
multiple locations.
Need to teach digital
competencies.
Students need the
knowledge,
capabilities and
values to participate
fully and safely in a
digital world.
School: BYOD
strategies and
policies.
Teachers: Eliminate
Curriculum
resources and
professional
development for
teachers.

2. homework – replace
with learning in any
location.
Encourage use of
personal devices
across all curriculum
areas.
Apply knowledge to solve complex
problems. Able to create new
knowledge. Essential to have
specialised knowledge and higher order
thinking skills.
Agency –
‘the power to act’ –
informed/empowered/enabled
learners
Features of Agency:
1. Agency involves the
learner’s initiative or self-
regulation. They must
have a personal sense of
agency – a belief that
what they do will make a
difference to their
learning. Teachers and
schools create
intentionally create
contexts and
environments where the
learners can be actively
involved in agentic
learning.
2. Agency is interdependent
– learners must be aware
that their decisions and
actions have
consequences and will
consider these when
exercising agency.
3. Agency includes an
awareness of the
responsibility of actions
and decisions on the
environment and on
others.
Encourage learners to
be agentic
Adopt appropriate
pedagogical
approaches by teachers
and school.
Include learners in
making decisions about
the curriculum –
making choices about
what they are learning
as well as how and
why.
Student voice - more
engaged and authentic
ways to interact with
their learning
Flexible
personalised
learning
Teachers move
from deliverer of
curriculum to co-
constructor and
experienced
learner.
Model appropriate
values and
attitudes as a
digital learner

3. Connectedness –
‘edgeless’ education, connected
minds.
A sense of being part of
something that is bigger than
oneself.
School: participate in
local clusters and
networks.
Strong links with
community groups
and other agencies.
Teachers: Active in
personal learning
networks for
personal professional
development.
Use digital
technologies to
connect with groups
and experts outside
the class.
Equitable access to
modern learning
tools.
Library as a hub for
digital learning.
More homes
having access to
internet.
Sharing of
curriculum content
Using GAFE across
the school
Ideas from www.innovationunit.org
Learning Futures Schools:
School as Learning Commons - transforming school to a place where teachers, students and community share responsibility, share authority and all gain a
benefit.
School as base-camp – a base-camp for learning rather than a final destination and sole source of knowledge - thinking and being like a scientist,
geographer, artist, entrepreneur etc.
Extended Learning Relationships – peer to peer, student to teacher, parents and community – at any time, any place, with a wide range of mentors, coaches
and experts.
Project-based learning – students design, plan and carry out extended projects, produce a publicly exhibited output (product, presentation or publication).
Innovation unit ideas to cater for 21st
century learners:
 Open up lessons: flexible personalised learning, Individual learning plans, flipped classrooms
 Think outside the classroom box: modern learning spaces, learning any place, any time.
 Get personal: giving different kinds of feedback, project based learning.
 Tap into students’ digital expertise: to support independent and inquiry-based learning and peer collaboration, integration of school into students’

4. lives.
 Get real with projects: students create numerous drafts, there are frequent opportunities to critique each other’s work, the finished product is
publicly exhibited.
 Expect and help students to be teachers: helping students work alongside teachers, playing a more active part in their o wn learning and that of their
peers.
 Help and expect teachers to be students: teachers learning, evaluating and reflecting on their practice, collaborating with other teachers and
professionals, cultivating a culture of learning for students to emulate.
 Measure what matters: we need to make sure students have experienced and mastered the skills they need in the future in a context that accurately
reflects what is happening out of school. The best assessment is continuous – 21st
century skills are not easily measured.
 Work with families, not just children: strengthening relationships between schools, parents and communities enhances student engagement.
 Power to the student: Student voice – giving students real power over strategic decisions – shift from them being passive recipients of learning to
being partners in learning.