D Developing digital literacy in teachers and in the classroom
E Ethics
F Facilitating fast, critical, and effective feedback
G Generating problem-based learning situations, granny method (structure and encouragement), guide at the side
H Holistic learning: interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, transdisciplinary
I Inspiring, innovating, inventing, imagining, critical and creative thinking, logical mind, problem solving
J Job needs and the global village K Knowing your students, caring for them
L Learning to learn, lifelong learning, learning continuously, curiosity M Metacognitive skills
N Non-invasive education O Outcomes based education P Participatory learning, playing Q Questions and question generating
R Regular upgrading of course materials, reflecting on relevance S Skills in social and work-related networks
T Thinking: Critical and creative thinking, logical minds and problem solving U Uncertainty, Diachronic teaching
V Verification or how do we know students are learning?
W Willingness to learn, worth doing is hard, work engaging, interesting, motivating, passionate teaching
The years will roll on, new technologies will emerge, new problems will arise … but basic competencies must prevail. What is (most) important is the ability to comprehend, analyse, synthesise information, infer from the con- text, think and problem solve, rationalise, and be a critical thinker.—Rozhan Idrus. Nov 19, 2012.
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The following set of skills will equip students with the ability to critically select and evaluate the literature and the data they amass. Several posts express the importance of the “right” skills being imparted:
I agree that students should have the right tools to address and analyse the uncertainties … But among such tools should be the ability to ana- lyse both knowledge (and) ethically human actions arising from the use of knowledge.—Sérgio Silva. Jan 3, 2013.
The ability to ‘cut & paste’ means nothing when the (students) don’t under- stand the context and have no ability to join information together. We want them to be critical thinkers rather than rote performers. Technically this has not changed [anything]. Only the peripherals have changed. These compe- tencies are still relevant even into the next century. This is more like, ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.’ Give them the skills, they will adapt for the future…—ibid.
The next poster emphasised that students need to be given the right tools to analyse. Furthermore, they must be able to analyse not just to extract knowledge, but also to extract ethics.
Another poster suggested that analysis (of research papers) was being taught incorrectly. For example, medical students were being taught that as alpha values were not mentioned in the paper, the paper was summarily dismissed as not wor- thy of being discussed by the health-care team.—William Lester. Dec 10, 2012.
While there will always be a need for developing basic higher order thinking skills, the posters recognise the importance of teaching these skills in knowing hands with carefully selected, discipline-specific measures.
Learning is not regurgitating information, but rather transforming that informa- tion into knowledge by skilfully and critically manipulating that information.
B: Building Knowledge, Constructivism
In the 21st century, knowledge building is fostered by building a bridge from the known to the new. Yet unlike traditional knowledge acquisition, students, often in teams, are assisted to become the creators rather than merely the consumers of new knowledge.
A: Ability to Select, Analyse, Synthesise, Infer, Rationalise
We paraphrase one emphatic poster who expressed the thought: «All teachers should refuse to teach the way they were taught.»—Ramanujam Meganathan (Nov 17, 2012). He was apparently quoting Andy Hargreaves, and acknowledges that
“Critical pedagogy and Constructivist ideas are important.”
Jonathan Edwards, on the other hand, placed a stronger emphasis on the future need for teachers to understand “constructivism as an approach to the learning with digital tools”—Jonathan Edwards. Nov 15, 2012.
Ideal teachers are those who use themselves as bridges …which they invite their students to cross [over], then having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own.—Issam Sinjab.
Dec 24, 2012.
The beauty of inquiry approaches is the flexibility they permit in thinking and creating. True inquiry (or scientific practice) fosters [the] development of critical thinking” writes another poster. “Students can then apply these skills to research on the WWW, with respect (to) any specific problem set they are tasked with.—William Jackson. Dec 21, 2012.
A hallmark of inquiry-based instruction, when it is conducted properly, is that students are engaged in learning … content while engaging in investiga- tions to answer their own questions about the world. This takes care of the relevance and motivation factors. Perhaps most important, such an approach leverages the simplicity and limitlessness of episodic learning while provid- ing the thinking skills necessary for learners to be critical consumers and producers of information—Robert Landsman. Dec 14, 2012.
The world is ever changing, and teachers need to stay abreast of the cur- rent technology and allow students to infuse it as they experience new knowledge.—Elzora Watkins. Nov 15, 2012 (Our emphasis).
A language arts teacher pointed out that her students were generating their own literature. (Always our emphasis.)
Our poster pointed out:
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«I think that the practice of taking students to build knowledge from work projects, using problem solving and case studies can be a very interesting approach for a teacher in the 21st century. A very common mistake is to confuse access to information with knowledge.
The teacher’s job must be to focus on activities and pedagogy that emphasises the role of the student and the production of knowledge. In the knowledge society the transmission of knowledge has lost the importance it had in the past. Today the need is for students to get good information. They need to select and use it creatively to solve problems, create pro- jects, study a reality, understand a situation, etc. I think the concept of rescuing of Piaget thought might be a great help especially if combined with the basis of constructivism.»—
Sérgio Silva. Nov 20, 2012.
Knowledge building should be a partnership between teachers and students and students with other students and members of the wider community. Knowledge building has currency when there is an authentic task, projects, motivation and intentionality.