EduTech: 5 Characteristics Of 21st Century Learners (Regarding Technology)

Hello visitors, in this post you will find my thoughts about the 21st century learners.

Nowadays, most of students have access to technological devices that, in our time, we did not have. Somehow, these gadgets actually affect their performance in their academic life. Let us see five of the features that make them distinct from us.

1- Fearless of making mistakes-
Thanks to video games, children know that they can try something over and over again without feeling ashamed of that. This is an invaluable development for us as teachers. Now, we do not spend time in asking students to try it one more time because they instantly feel compelled to do it. Thus, it will be very usual for us to see them participating voluntarily.

2- Multitasking-
Undoubtedly, this has become a new skill for 21st century learners. These days they are able to do their homework, chat with friends, watch a movie, send a text message, and many other things at the same time. As teachers we perceive this in our classrooms, and we often feel insecure because they are not paying attention to us. In fact, they are paying attention to other things as well. One way of availing this characteristic is involving them in tasks which demand the use of their five senses. You will see that the results are outstanding.

3- Creative-
Once I heard someone saying 'schools kill imagination' and it rang a bell in my head. How many times we ask our students expecting one and only one possible answer? We need to keep in mind that their brains are wired differently than ours. If we were taught in a linear way, they do not have to go through the same track. Encourage them to think outside the box, foster their creativity in your lessons by bringing incomplete stories or logic games. In this manner, they will exploit their most powerful resource, imagination.

4- Collaborative-
It is not uncommon for us to come across with students who are reluctant to work with their classmates. However, once again, thanks to video games, working in groups is not a big deal anymore. By using a Task-Based Learning approach in our lessons, we will be having them pursuing the same goal, as they do in video games. This will benefit both students and the learning environment.

5- Self-Directed-
Although autonomous learners have always existed, this is becoming more popular among 21st century learners. This is because technology forces them, somehow, to create their own strategies in order to achieve a desired result. As a consequence, in their academic life they also decide which learning strategy suits best the situation, and then, they execute it. This is why, we should let them learn in their way, not in ours. An excellent tip I can give is to include different learning styles in your class, so they can learn the same thing but in a personalized manner.