WE ARE LIVING IN THE AGE OF TECHNOLOGY: 21st CENTURY LEARNING

 #21st century learning #ELT #Technology

Technology of our daily lives seems extremely normal to us these days but there is truly more than meets the eye. We couldn’t underestimate the effect of technology on fundamental areas of our lives, such as education. The education in the 21^st century is much more different than it was in the 20^th century. There is even a new concept emerged as ‘21^st century learning’.

However, now technology is literally everywhere,
and we are engaged with it almost every minute.

Back in the 1950’s it was a such a thrill to watch TV with your
family. The best way of being in touch with the technology
and the whole world.

Like many people, when I hear the concept of ‘21^st century learning’ the skills like creativity, collaboration and communication technology literacy comes to my mind. However, life/job skills, ethical/emotional awareness, and cultural competence are also crucial skills for 21^st century learning (Kereluik et al., 2013) To be more specific, these skills are very important for language learning as learning a language means interpreting the world from a new lens with the help of the acquired language. To be even more specific, the technology integration and the most ethical ways of doing it is a vital thing in an English classroom in 21^st century. As we all know, language reflects our life and thoughts, and our lives are partly affected by the languages that we born with and choose to learn. Thus, it is impossible for us (the teacher candidates) to consider our lives (or technological lives) and language learning in disparate means.

Time changes, our educational habits too.

References

Chan, C. W. (2017). Crowded Subway Hong Kong [Photograph]. Getty Images. https://www.vox.com/2017/4/25/15408846/study-mobile-ads-crowds-purchase-subway-commuters

Deen, P. (2009). Cute Young Boy Using Computer in Nature [Photograph]. IStock by Getty Images. https://www.istockphoto.com/tr/foto%C4%9Fraf/cute-young-boy-using-computer-in-nature-gm182145764-10026562?searchscope=image%2Cfilm

Kereluik, K., Mishra, P., Fahnoe, C., & Terry, L. (2013). What knowledge is of most worth: Teacher knowledge for 21st century learning. Journal of digital learning in teacher education, 29(4), 127-140. https://doi.org/10.1080/21532974.2013.10784716