Learning & Teaching Innovations R&D
Turkey
by Prof. Dr. Meltem Huri Baturay
Do you believe that the new-generation learners need information to be transferred to them in form of information bombardment? Can they experience difficulties accessing information when required? Isn’t it a fact that they have access to more information than we do?
Fixed by experience, these learners access information whenever they require it – with all the tech at their disposal, but if certain skills are not developed, it isn’t possible for them to survive in today’s business world. However, some educational institutions and educators still seem to ignore this and continue to educate with yesterday’s methods and old curricula in a world where global risks, trends, and challenges are changing. Another mistake is the idea that exposing these learners to novel technologies means that we innovatively teach them. As much as we need the technology, we also need tailored pedagogy.
Indeed, there is no longer a need to question the options of increasing today’s learners’ knowledge or developing skills. It is 21st-century skills that will prepare them for the future and the new world. It is vital for them to develop critical thinking, communication skills, creativity, problem-solving, teamwork, and social skills as well as information literacy, technology skills, and digital/media literacy as the internet has dramatically increased access to knowledge.
They should be guided on how to access the correct information, how to learn and use what they learned effectively, especially in novel situations, and how to solve problems, think critically, work collaboratively in teams and communicate. This would be more valuable.
These learners need to learn as well as learn to process and analyze large amounts of information. As Schleicher states in his prologue in “Four-Dimensional Education”, written by Fadel, Bialik and Trilling (2015) “Education is not teaching people something; it is about making sure that individuals develop a reliable compass and the navigation skills to find their way through an increasingly uncertain, volatile, and ambiguous world as what we teach today will probably not last for a lifetime in this rapidly changing world”.
Only individuals who maximize their capabilities with elevated concentrations of social and civic participation, health, lifestyle, well-being, labor in high-quality occupations, productive capacity, environmental balance, and so forth, will survive. In the book, “Four-Dimensional Education”, Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills for OECD states, “Learners should be prepared for a world in which they will need to collaborate with people of diverse cultural origins and appreciate different ideas, perspectives, and values; a world in which people need to decide how to trust and collaborate across such differences; and a world in which their lives will be affected by issues that transcend national boundaries.” (Fadel, Bialik, & Trilling, 2015). Education can be a powerful tool for survival, but the competencies to meet these challenges must be taught consistently and effectively.
Reference
Fadel, C., Bialik, M., & Trilling, B., (2015). Four-Dimensional Education: The competencies learners need to succeed.
Center for Curriculum Redesign.