Needs of 21st Century Learners

The Age of Digital Learning--that is what the 21st Century IS.  No longer are students confined to "a" desk in "a" classroom with a blackboard and a teacher in front.  Instead, many classrooms have become living, breathing digital labs with students interacting online using Wikis, simulation software, collaborative document tools, video, and audio tools, and the occasional face to face discussion.  This exciting new world of education has opened multiple possibilities for engaging learners as never before.  In the "old days", students were often bored, unruly, slow to complete assignments, etc. but now are more tuned in because teachers are integrating digital tools into their assignments. How better to thoroughly engage in learning than using tools with which you are so familiar.  Today's students are known as "digital natives" because they are born into a world in which technology is the norm, not the exception.  Practically from birth,  kids are operating computers, cell phones, video games and the like!

As a teacher with a foot in both worlds (20th and 21st Centuries),  I find this new one to be ever more exciting, filled with endless possibilities for creativity, collaboration, real-world problem solving, and discovery; all tasks 21st Century learners need.  However, there are times when I long for the good old "hands-on" techniques for teaching a piece of literature or engaging in a collaborative science experiment with all of its sounds of clanking equipment, conversation, and lab smells!

If I am to meet the learning needs of my 21st Century students, I too, must become a 21st Century learner!  Engaging in my eLearning classwork has opened this world to me with a new set of "hands-on" techniques!  For these, I am truly grateful.