Essential Elements of the 21st Century Classroom

Our world has changed drastically over the past decade, with emphasis on new skills and processes that have evolved in today’s leading industries. Today’s students are in need of a new approach to education and those who are not on this train to success will be left in the dust of others. This calls for all teachers to at least be informed and up to date with the needs of our 21st century learners and finding ways to transform the classroom to meet their needs.

We cannot assume that students will become 21st century learners on their own. They need ongoing learning opportunities that challenge them to utilize 21st century fluencies and integrate the six dimensions of 21st century learning. These dimensions include:

• ·      Collaboration
• ·      Knowledge - construction
• ·      The use of ICT for learning
• ·      Self-regulation
• ·      Real-world problem-solving and innovation
• ·      Skilled communication

Of these six dimensions I believe that collaboration, self-regulation, and real-world problem-solving and innovation to be the essential elements of the 21st classroom.

In the real world we are rarely if not ever asked to work independently to come up with an answer to a problem, or to create or develop a new design to help reduce the amount of time spent on a single task. Instead we are asked to work with the people in our team or department to come up with a solution. Why is this? Because overtime we have learned that if we brainstorm as a group more often than not will result in a more creative and effective result. That is because we can build off of each other’s thoughts and ideas to be able to reach our goal. Makes sense right? Therefore, these skills are needed to be introduced and developed from an early age in order for them to be perfected by the time these students reach the workforce. Our 21st century students will need to learn the basics of collaboration when addressing real world problems in order to understand that their peers are just as valuable resource as an iPad is. Teaching students the essence of collaboration also entails that everyone in the group will have a specific role that can repeatedly change over time. So these students will need to have the opportunity to develop their skills at every role. Essentially these roles help develop self regulation skills within students as they begin to monitor, track, and reflect on their progress. These roles can be, but are not limited to; leader, note taker, time keeper, task manager, resource organizer, summarizer etc. These roles are easy to see that they transfer to real life jobs in today’s world. This makes learning more meaningful and worthwhile as students can see the relation to the real-world context and the reasoning behind their education. This is so that our students can become responsible, cultural, global citizens who are accountable for their own learning. Evidently, creating lifelong learners ready for the 21st century workforce.