Module 1: 

21 CENTURY EDUCATION
st

WHAT TO EXPECT 
1. Define 21 Century Education 2.
st

Describe the 21 Century  teacher

st

and the needed  innovative tools for

learning 
3. Examine the critical attributes of 
21 Century education  
st

4. Explain how 21 Century  education

st

concepts can be  integrated in the

classroom 
5. Draw relevant life lessons and 
significant values from the 
experience in practicing 21 Centuryst

education 
6. Analyze research and its 
implications on teaching learning
process 
7. 7. Prepare an evaluation 
instrument intended for 21 Centuryst

teaching-learning Ins
ert picture

PRE-DISCUSSION

The Carousel Round: In this strategy, students will generate

information  through personal ideas, thoughts and insights on
21 Century education. This  is also to determine their prior
st

knowledge on the given topic. 

Procedures: 

1. Students will form two big circles: the inner core and
outer core. 2. The inner core will rotate clockwise while the
outer core  counterclockwise upon the signal of the teacher.
When the teacher  keeps on uttering “carousel…carousel…
carousel”, students will also  keep on rotating. When he/she
says “Off”, students will stop and face  partners. 
3. The teacher will then ask questions and students share their
answers  with their partners in a given time. 
 Questions: 

A. What is your understanding of 21 Century learning? 

st

B. What digital tool do you know is it operated? 

C. What can you say about 21 Century learners? 
st

D. How do you describe technology? 

E. Are you in favor of this technological world? 
4. This will continue until the teacher has asked all the

questions at hand. LESSON OUTLINES  

This modern society is ushered in by a dramatic
technological revolution.  It is an increasingly diverse,
globalized and complex media-saturated society.  According to
Dr. Douglas Kellner, this technological revolution bears a
greater  impact on society than the transition from an oral to
print culture. 

Education prepares students for life in this world. Amidst

emerging social  issues and concerns, there is a need for
students to be able to communicate,  function and create
change personally, socially, economically and politically at  the
local, national and global levels by participating in real-life and
real-world  service learning projects. 

Emerging technologies and resulting globalization also provide

unlimited  possibilities for exciting discoveries and
developments. 

21 Century Education Context  

st

21 Century Schools. School in the 21 century focus on

st st

a project based curriculum for life that would engage students

in addressing real-world  problems and humanity concerns and
issues. 

This has become an innovation in education, from

textbook-driven,  teacher-centered, paper-and-pencil schooling
into a better understanding of the  concept of knowledge and a
new definition of the educated person. Therefore,  it makes a
new way of designing and delivering the curriculum. 

Schools will go from ‘building’ to ‘nerve centers’, with

open walls and are  roofless while connecting teachers,
students and the community to the breadth  of knowledge in
the world. 
 Teachers will transform their role from being dispensers
of information  to becoming facilitators of learning and help
students translate information into  knowledge and knowledge
into wisdom. 

Therefore, the 21 century will require knowledge

st

generation, not just  information delivery, and schools will need

to create a “culture of inquiry”. 

Learners will become adaptive to changes. In the past,

learners spent a  required amount of time in respective
courses, received passing grades and  graduated. Today,
learners are viewed in a new context. 

These changes have implications for teachers: (1)

Teachers must  discover student interest by helping them see
what and how they are learning  to prepare them for life in the
real world; (2) They must instill curiosity, which is 
fundamental to lifelong learning; (3) They must be flexible in
how they teach;  and (4) They must excite learners to become
resourceful so that they will  continue to learn outside formal
school. 

21 Century learning demands a school that excites

st

students for school.  There is a little or no discipline problem

because of strong student engagement.  Likewise, parents are
informed about positive changes in their children. As a  result,
students manifest significant improvement in basic skills of
reading,  writing, speaking, listening, researching, scientific
explorations, math,  multimedia skills and others. 
The 21 Century Curriculum. The twenty-first century
st

curriculum has  critical attributes that are interdisciplinary,

project-based and research-driven.  It is connected to local,
national and global communities, in which students may 
collaborate with people around the world in various projects.
The curriculum  also integrates higher-order thinking skills,
multiple intelligences, technology  and multimedia, multiple
literacies and authentic assessment, including  service-learning
(http://edglossary.org.21 -century-skills). 
st

The classroom is filled with self-directed students, who

work  independently and interpedently. The curriculum and
instruction are designed  imbued with the concept of
differentiation. Thus, instead of focusing on  textbook-driven or
fragmented instruction, instruction turns to be more thematic, 
projects-based and integrated with skills and competencies
purely not confined  within themselves, but are explored
through research and concept application  in projects and
outputs (http://edglossary.org/21st-century-skills). 

Learning is not confined through memorization of facts

and figures alone  but rather is connected to previous
knowledge, personal experience, interest,  talents and habits. 

The 21 Century Learning Environment. Typically, a

st

21 Century  classroom is not confined to a literal classroom

st

building but a learning  environment where students

collaborate with their peers, exchange insights,  coach and
mentor one another and share talents and skills with other
students.  Cooperative learning is also apparent, in which
students work in teams because  cooperation is given more
emphasis than competition, and collaborative  learning more
than isolated learning. They use technologies, including
Internet  systems and other platforms. 

Hence, in the process of creating a world-class 21 st

century learning  environment, building new schools and

remodeling of present school facilities  can be addressed
toward creating environmentally friendly, energy-efficient,  and
“green” schools. Inside every classroom, students shall apply
their  knowledge of research in life, which is a clear indication
of a relevant, rigorous,  21 century real-life curriculum.
st

An ideal learning environment also considers the kind of

spaces needed  by students and teachers in conducting
investigations and projects by diverse  groups for independent
work. An ideal learning environment has plenty of wall  space
and other areas for displaying student work that includes a
place where  the parents and the community can gather to
watch student performances, as  well as a place where they
can meet for discussions. 

Technology in the 21 Century Pedagogy.

st

Technologies are not ends  in themselves but these are tools

students use to create knowledge for personal  and social
change. 

21 Century learning recognizes full access to

st

technology. Therefore, a  better bandwidth of Wifi access

should be available along areas of the school  for the students
to access their files and supplement their learning inside the 
classroom. Various laboratories and learning centers are set
up in such a way  that they allow a space needed for students’
simulation and manipulative works.  All classrooms should
have televisions to watch broadcasts created by the  school
and other schools around. Other resources in the school can
also be  utilized by students in creating opportunities for their
knowledge explorations 
(http://www.21centuryschools.com/Critical_Pedagogy.htm). 

Understanding 21 Century Learners. Today’s

st

students are referred  to as “digital natives”, while educators as

“digital immigrants” (Prensky, 2001).  Most likely, digital natives
usually react, are random, holistic and non-linear.  Their
predominant senses are motion and touch. They learn through 
experience and learn differently. Digital immigrates often
reflects, are  sequential, and linear. Their predominant senses
are hearing and seeing .They  tend to intellectualize and
believe that learning is constant (Hawkins and  Graham,
1994). 

 Students’ entire lives have been immersed in the 21 Century

st

media  culture. That take in the world via the filter of computing
devices, such as  cellular phones, hand held gaming devices,
PDAs, and laptops plus the  computers, TVs, and game
console at home. 

A survey by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

found that young  people (ages 8-18) spend on electronic
media an average of six hours a day.  In addition, many are
multitasking, such as listening to music while surfing the  Web
or instant-messaging friends while playing a video game. 

The preschoolers easily navigate electronic multimedia

resources on  games, in which they learn colors, numbers,
letters, spelling, and more complex  tasks, such as mixing
basic colors to create new colors, problem-solving  activities,
and reading.
However, as Dr. Michael Wesch points out, although
today’s students  understand how to access and utilize these
tools, they use them only for  entertainment purposes. Thus,
students should be prepared and assisted to  become media
literate as they function in an online collaborative research 
based environment with the advent of researching, analyzing,
synthesizing,  critiquing, evaluating and creating new
knowledge. 

21 Century Skills outcome and the Demands in the

st

Job Market. The 21 Century skills are a set of abilities that

st

students need to develop to  succeed in the information age.

The Partnership for 21 Century Skills lists  three types,
st

namely: (1) Learning Skills which comprise critical thinking, 

creative thinking, collaborating, and communicating; (2)
Literacy Skills which is  composed of information literacy,
media literacy, and technology literacy; (3)  Life Skills that
include flexibility, initiative, social skills, productivity and 
leadership. These skills have always been important in an
information-based  economy. 

Likewise, skills demanded in the job market include

knowing a trade,  following directions, getting along with
others, working hard and being  professional, efficient, prompt,
honest, and fair. More so, to adapt to these jobs  in this
information age, students need to think deeply about issues,
solve  problems creativity, work in teams, communicate clearly
in many media, learn  ever-changing technologies and deal
with the influx of information. Amidst rapid  changes in the
world, industry requires students to be flexible, take the
initiative,  lead when necessary, and create something new
and useful.  

According to Partnership for 21 Century Skills (P21),

st

various industries  look for employees who can think critically,

solve problems creatively, innovate,  collaborate and
communicate. Therefore, for a perfect match between 
academe and industry demands, schools need to embed time-
tested industry 
demanded work skills in the curriculum 
(http://thoughtfullearning.com/resources/what-are-21st-century-
skills). 

The 21 Century Learning Implications. 21 Century skills

st st

are viewed  relevant to all academic areas and the skills may
be taught in a wide variety of  both in-campus and community
settings. 

Teachers should practice teaching cross-disciplinary

skills in related  courses, such as integrating research methods
in various disciplines;  articulating technical scientific concepts
in verbal, written, and graphic forms;  presenting laboratory
reports to a pool of specialists, or use emerging  technologies,
software programs and multimedia applications as an
extension  of an assigned project. 

Likewise, accrediting organizations and regulatory

bodies may require  21 century skills in the curriculum. In
st

doing so, design or adopt learning 

standards that explicitly described multi-disciplinary skills that
students should  acquire and master. 

Schools and teachers should use a variety of applied

skills, multiple  technologies, and new ways of analyzing and
 processing information, while  also thinking initiative, thinking
creativity, planning out the process, and working 
collaboratively in teams with other students. 

More so, schools may allow students to pursue

alternatives, in which  students can earn academic merits and
satisfy graduation requirements by  completing an internship,
apprenticeship or volunteer experience. It is in this  manner
that students can practice a variety of practical, career-based,
work  related and meeting the same learning standards
required of students. 

In today’s world, information and knowledge are

continuously increasing  at a certain rate that no one learns
everything about every subject. What may  appear true today
could be proven to be false tomorrow and the jobs that 
students will get after they graduate may not yet exist. For this
reason, students  need to be taught how to process, analyze
and use the information and they  need adaptable skills that
they can facts without teaching them how to use them  in real-
life settings is no longer enough. 

Schools need to adapt and develop new ways of

teaching and learning  that reflect a changing world. The
purpose of schools should be to prepare  students for success
after graduation and therefore, schools need to prioritize  the
knowledge and skills that will be in the greatest demand, such
as those  deemed to be most important by college professors
and employers. Hence,  teaching students to perform well in
school or pass the test alone is no longer  sufficient. 

Henceforth, teachers must realize and students must

understand that no  one can move toward a vision of the future
unless he/she understands the  socio-historical context of
where they now, what events led them to be where  they are,
how this can inform development of a vision for the future and
how  they want to get there. Thus, a clear articulation of the
purpose of education for  the 21 Century is the place to begin. 
st

(http://thoughfullearning.com/resources/what-are-21st-century-
skills).
A Paradigm Shift for 21 Century Education
st

Before 21 Century Education 

st
21 Century Education
st
 Insert pi 
cture

Insert
Picture

Time-based  Outcome-based

Focus: memorization of discrete  facts Focus: What students Know, Can Do 
and Are Like after all the details are 
forgotten.

Lower order thinking in Bloom’s  Higher order thinking skills  

Taxonomy, such us knowledge and  (metacognition), such as application, 
comprehension analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Textbook-driven  Research-driven

Passive learning  Active learning

Learners work in isolation and  Learners work collaboratively with 

confined in the classroom (wall  classmates and others around the 
classroom). world (global classroom).

Teacher-centered: teacher in  dispenser of Students-centered: teacher is 

knowledge, information  and attention. facilitator/coach of students’  
learning.

Little to students freedom  Great deal of student freedom.

“Discipline” – No trust between  No “discipline problems” – Students 

educators and students. Little  and teachers have mutual respect 
students motivation and relationship as co-learners. High 
students’ motivation.

Fragmented curriculum  Integrated and Interdisciplinary 

curriculum
Grades taken from formal   Grades are based on students’ 
assessment measures entered in  the performance as evidence of learning 
class record for reporting  purposes outcome

Assessment is for marking purposes  and Assessment is important aspect of 

placed as part of lesson plan  structure instruction to gauge learning  
outcome

Low expectations. What students  High expectation that students 

receive is what they get. succeed in learning to high extent.

Teacher is judge. No one else sees  Self, peer and others serve as 
student work. Outputs are assessed  evaluators of students learning using 
using structured metrics. wide range of metrics and authentic 
assessments.

Curriculum is irrelevant and   Curriculum is connected to students’ 

meaningless to the students. interests, experiences, talents and  the
real world.

Print is the primary vehicle of  Performances, projects and multiple 

learning and assessment.  forms of media are used for learning 
and assessment.

Student diversity is ignored.  Curriculum and instruction address 

student diversity.

Students just follow orders and  Students are empowered to lead and 
instructions while listening to   initiate while creating solutions and 
teacher’s lecture. solving problems.

Literacy is the 3 R’s (reading, writing  Multiple literacies of the 21 Century 

st

and ‘rithmetic). aligned to living and working in a 

globalized new society.

Factory model, based upon the  needs Global model based upon the needs  of
of employers for the Industrial  Age of a globalized high-tech society.
the 19 century
th

(source: http://www.21stCenturyschools.com/) 

The paradigm shift from the 20 to the 21 Century, shows that the  
th st

structure and modalities of education have evolved. Students become the  

 center of teaching-learning process in the 21 Century
st

using wide array of  technological tools to assist them in

exploring knowledge and information  
needed in surviving the test of time and preparing for future
career endeavors.  Assessment has been made varied to
address multiple literacy development  in diverse context.
Teachers turn to become facilitators rather than lecturers  and
dispensers of information. As such, curriculum is designed in a
way that it  connects to life in the real world, interconnected
with other disciplines and  
reshapes the students’ holistic perspectives. 
Integrated and Global  
The Critical Attributes of 21 Century Education 
st
Interdisciplinary
classrooms 

 Education continuously changes  dramatically throughout Technologies 21 Century    st

& Multimedia Skills 

time. There is  a paradigm shift in the way teaching  and
learning is delivered. Therefore,  the 21 Century teacher
st Students Relevant,
Centeredness Rigorous,  and 
needs to  develop essential knowledge, skills  and values in  Real World 

order to cope with  these changes and address students’  Project-Based &
need (21 Century Schools, 2011).
st Creating/AdaptingResearch-Driven
to Constant Personal  and  
 Social Change, and  Lifelong
Learning  

The following are eight attributes of 21 Century education and their implications: 
st

1. Integrated and Interdisciplinary. Education in the 21 st

Century is  characterized by interfacing various disciplines

in an integrated manner  rather than compartmentalizing its
subsequent parts. This critical  attribute implies the need to
review the curriculum and create strategies  infusing
different subjects toward enhancing the learning
experiences of  students. 
2. Technologies and Multimedia. Education in the 21 st

Century makes  optimum use available Information and

Communication Technology  (ICT), as well as multimedia
to improve the teaching and learning  process, including
online applications and technology platforms. It  implies a
need to acquire and use computers and multimedia
equipment  and the design of a technology plan to enhance
learning at its best. 
3. Global Classrooms. Education in the 21 Century aims to
st

produce  global citizens by exposing students to the issues

and concerns in the  local, national and global societies.
This critical attribute implies the need  to include current
 global issues/concerns, such as peace and respect for 
cultural diversity, climate change and global warming in
classroom  discussions. 
4. Creating/Adapting to Constant Personal and Social
Change and  Lifelong Learning. Education in the 21 st

century subscribes to the belief  that learning does not end

within the four walls of the classroom. Instead,  it can take
place anywhere, anytime regardless of age. This means
that  teachers should facilitate students’ learning even
beyond academics.  Therefore, it should not end with
requirement compliance and passing  the exams but also
for transferring and applying knowledge to a new  context
or real-life situations. As such, the curriculum should be
planned  in such a way that students will continue to learn
even outside the school  for life. 
5. Student-Centered. Education in the 21 Century in focused
st

on students  as learners while addressing their needs.

Differentiated instruction is  relevant in the 21 Century
st

classrooms, where diversity factors and  issues are taken

into account and addressed when planning and  delivering
instruction, including their learning styles, interest, needs
and  abilities. 
6. 21 Century Skills. Education in the 21 Century
st st

demonstrates the  skills needed in becoming productive

members of society. Beyond  learning the basic skills of
reading, writing and numeracy, students  should also
develop life and work skills in 21 Century communities, 
st

such as critical and creative thinking, problem-solving and

decision 
making and ICT literacy and skills. Therefore, it implies
that teachers  should possess these skills first before
their students.
7. Project-Based and Research-Driven. 21 Century st

education  emphasizes data, information and evidence-

based decision-making  through student activities that
encourage active learning. This implies  the need for
knowledge and skills in research, such as self-directed 
activities, learning projects, investigatory projects,
capstones and other  research-based output. 
8. Relevant, Rigorous and Real World. Education in the 21 st

Century is  meaningful as it connects to real-life

experiences of learners. It implies  the use of current and
relevant information linked to real-life situations  and
contexts.
(http://iflex.innotech.org/GURO21/module1/l1_5.html) 
The characteristics of a 21 Century Teacher 
st

The 21 Century teaching-learning environment becomes more

st

complicated  brought by technological changes. Therefore, teachers

should be able to cope with  adapt to these changes. 

Thus, teachers must be equipped with attributes, knowledge

and skills critical  to 21 century education so that they may be able to
st

integrate them in their teaching.  21 Century teachers are

st

characterized as: 

1. Multi-literate. Teachers know how to use various

technologies in  teaching. 
2. Multi-specialist. Teachers are not only knowledgeable in the
course  subject they teach but also only knowledgeable in
the course subject  they teach but also in other areas so
that they can help the learner build  up what they gain in the
classroom and outside the school and make  sense of what
was learned. 
3. Multi-skilled. Teachers cope with the demand for widening
learning  opportunities by being skillful not just in teaching
but also on facilitating  and organizing groups and
activities. 
4. Self-directed. Teachers are responsible for various aspects
of school life  and know how to initiate action to realize the
learning goal of the students  and the educational goals of
the country, at large. 
5. Lifelong Learner. Teachers embrace the ideal that learning
never ends.  Therefore, teachers must be constantly
updated on the latest information  related to their subject
and pedagogic trends. They should also share  what they
are learning with their students and colleagues with a high 
sense of professionalism. 
6. Flexible Learner. Teachers are able to adapt to various
learning styles  and needs of the learners. They can
facilitate learner-centered teaching  with flexibility using
alternative modes of delivery. 
7. Creative Problem Solver. Teachers create innovative ideas
and effective  solutions to the arising problems in the field,
be it in the classroom, in the  school or the profession as a
whole.
8. Critical Thinker. Teachers are critical thinkers as they
encourage  students to reflect on what they have learned,
and rekindle in them the  desire to ask questions, reason
out, probe, and establish their own  knowledge and belief. 
 9. Has a passion for excellent teaching. Teachers process
passion in the  teaching profession to ensure that students
are motivated to learn under  their guidance and care. 
10.High Emotional Quotient (EQ). Teachers do not just have
the head but  also the heart to teach. Teaching is
emotionally taxing but an influential  job as it involves
interaction with human beings. (http://udyong.gov.ph) 

Common 21 Century Technology Tools for Learning 

st

As teacher for the 21 Century, no one can escape from

st

the reality that  we are now in a borderless society. It is,

therefore, important that that we should  know different
technology tools for learning to respond to the needs of 21
st

Century learners’ and the demands of the times. The following

are common 21 Century technology tools.  
st

1. Affinity Groups. These are groups or communities that unite

individuals  with common interest. Electronic spaces extend
the range of possibilities  for such groups. 
2. Blogs. Web logs or “blogs” are interactive websites, often
open to the  public that can include Web links, photographs
and audio and video  elements. 
3. E-portfolio. It refers to student’s works that are generate,
selected,  organized, stored and revised digitally. Often,
electronic portfolios are  accessible to multiple audiences
and can be moved from one site to  another easily. It can
document the process of learning, promote  integrative
thinking, display final work, and/or provide a space for 
reflective learning. 
4. Hypertext. These are electronic texts that provide multiple
links and allow  users to trace ideas in immediate and
idiosyncratic directions.  Hypermedia adds sound, video,
animation, and/or virtual reality  environments to the user’s
choices.  
5. Podcast. These are digitalized audio files that are stored on
the Internet  and downloaded to listeners’ computers or
most likely to MP3 players.  The term “podcast” comes from
iPod, the popular MP3 player. 
6. Web 2.0. This refers to a second generation of Web-based
communities  that demonstrate the participatory literacies
that students need for the  21 -century. 
st

7. Myspace (http://www.Myspace.com). It is social networking

website that  offers an interactive user-submitted network of
friends, personal profiles,  blogs, groups, photos, music and
videos internationally. Students can 
 rate professors, discuss books, and connect with high
school and college  classmates here. 
8. Second life (http://wwwsecondlife.com). It is an Internet-
based 3-D  virtual world that uses avatars (digital
representations) to explore,  Socialize, participate in
individual or group activities, create and trade  items (virtual
property) and services. 
9. Semantic Web. It is an extension of the current Web that
puts data into  a common format so that instead of humans
working with individual  search engines (e.g., Google, Ask
Jeeves) to locate information, the  search engines
themselves feed into a single mechanism that provides  this
searching on its own. Sometimes called Web 3.0, this
technology  enables integration of virtually all kinds of
information for more efficient  and comprehensive retrieval. 
10.Webkinz (http://www.webkinz.com). It is an Internet
simulation wherein  children learn pet care and other skills. 
11.Wiki. It refers to software that fosters collaboration and
communication  online. Wikis enable students to create,
comment upon, and revise  collaborative projects. One of
the most prominent is Wikipedia 
(http://www.wikipedia.org), an online multilingual free-
content  encyclopedia, which has 7.9 million articles in 253
languages. 
12.Youtube (http://www.Youtube.com). It is a popular website
for video  sharing where users can upload, view and share
video footage, including  movie clips, TV clips, and music
videos, even students-produced videos. 
13.Google Docs. It allows students to collaborate with other
people and the  document materials that need to be
complied, processed, transacted  and analyzed. 
14.Prezi. It allows individuals to use pre-made, creative
presentation  templates. 
15.Easybib. It allows individuals to generate citations in any
given format. 16.Social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter,
Edmodo, Schoology,  Instagram, etc.). These are means to
communicate and share ideas  among users. 
17.Smartboards and audience response systems. These are
replacement  for traditional chalkboard or whiteboards in
classrooms. 
18.ReadWriteThink.org. (www.readwritethink.org). It is a
repository of  standards-based literacy lessons that offer
teachers instructional ideas  for Internet integration. 
19.WebQuest Page (www.webquest.org). It provides
Webquests on an  array of topics across content areas with
a template for creating one’s  own. 
20.Literacy Web (http://www.literacy.uconn.edu). It is an online
portal that  includes a large number of new literacy’s
resource for new literacies for  teachers.
(http://cnets.iste.org/teachers/t_glossary.html#t)