1. A Student’s View On 21st Century Learning Students in a Changing World

2. How The World is Changing Over the past few decades, technology has developed rapidly, with the upgrading of old technology and the invention of new technology. This has caused many changes to modern society. The influence of these changes on the 21st Century learner often go unnoticed, however they are increasingly present.

3. Learning in the Past In the past, students have relied upon the teacher/instructor to provide them with correct, relevant and educational knowledge. Until the late 1980’s, teachers taught to students as a group and did not address an individual’s needs. This meant that an individual’s learning was dependant on their pre-existing knowledge. Technology (Computers, Internet) had very little influence on the education process as they were limited in number and availability.

4. How These Changes Impact Learning These changes have had a large impact on modern education, in both a positive and negative way. Students are being forced to be Information and Technology literate, and students who are not as talented in this area are falling behind. Also, students from low socio-economic homes may not have access to the same technology as their counter-parts, hence hindering their learning experience. However, new technology has given students access to information which they could not attain otherwise. This allows them to expand their knowledge base to a far greater extent than in the past. Student’s are now able to hold their teachers accountable by having access to resources with which they can cross-check their learning, and also develop their own identity in the education environment to a greater extent than previously possible.

5. How a Student Must Change In order to adapt to the changing environment, a student is required to make numerous changes to their existing knowledge and their learning methods. These include but are not limited to; Learning to use a computer and navigate internet sites, adjusting their daily life to incorporate using modern technology, adjusting their learning practices (i.e. hand-writing assignments) in order to progress in their schooling, and learning to understand teaching which incorporates modern technology (i.e. Smart-boards, data-projectors, Laptop computers, Web pages etc).