21st Century Learning and Education Technologies

The article by Lombardi (Authentic Learning for 21st Century) and by Rodgers et.al. (Teaching the 21st Century learner) seem to suggest the same thing - Changes in society needs revamping of current teaching practices. But does this mean that we need to incorporate technology in our teaching methods and this will make it 21st century teaching? 


Having said that, it is also true that traditional teaching practices have been around for centuries and therefore cannot be totally disregarded. As with all generations, the new generation is different but not because they know technology more than us, as suggested by Marc Pernsky, but because they interact with the world differently due to the technology around them. Teaching Practices required in the 21st century should utilize the best practices of traditional teaching, while inventing new practices that would help students to be successful in their new world. Authentic learning, that blends real word experience in teaching methods, can happen with or without technology. Technology can aid in situations where real world experience is difficult to provide due to several constraints.


We expect technology to be more natural to 21st century learners because they use it everyday. However, classroom expereince shows otherwise. When students are given new tasks to do using a new technology tool, they are anxious more than curious! When students were asked to use Diigo in their project to bookmark their resources, they approached the online tool in a very cautious way. I had similar experience when I used capzels and teambox. The digital navtives did not seem very comfortable with new technology as was expected. It may that using technology tools in a formal setting makes them more careful and cautious! For the use of all these tools, students had to be convinced of the purpose of using these tools and that it's not being simply incorporated to add a new dimension of challenge for them!


The new generation is different. Students expect to learn relevant things. They evaluate the significance and relevance of everything they are learning. When they don't see the relevance of what they are learning, they are not paying attention! Trouble is, that sometimes they come with a preconceived notion that what they are studying is not important for them because it is a liberal studies course or because they don't plan to build websites in the future etc. Another challenge is that many times students don't know or realize the significance of what they are learning even though we keep reiterating it over and over again. And so we need to design our lessons, activities and assessments in a such a way that students are motivated to learn in the belief that learning happens in an engaged learning environment.  


I agree with Siemens that the distinction between digital natives and digital immigrants is not a very valid one simply because I don't see the new generation to be more technically savvy that me or many other "digital immigrants" that I know. I however do believe that the new generation needs to be taught differently because the workplace demands are different. Students themselves are changing in the way they have less focus and attention span and technology may be more to blame than a reason for the cure. This however does not mean that by simply using technology tools we can motivate students to learn. Like with anything new they are being taught they need to be convinced and  motivated to accept what is being taught. Technology in classrooms is not a magical formula that can make students engaged. 


Students need compelling reasons to learn what we want to teach them. Merely incorporating technology in the teaching process is not a compelling reason. Education technology must be used in learning only if it adds value to the learning and students need to be convinced that it will add value to their learning as well!