ACADEMICS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Academics in the 21st Century

Taylorann Olsen
EDU 214
September 30, 2015

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How did the human race get to where we are today? Without education and technological
advances in the classroom, we may still be chiseling away at stones to learn our math facts. One
might say that technological advances over time run parallel to the evolution of academic
strategies. Unfortunately, the faster technology booms it seems the slower our teaching strategies
evolve. Bringing a student centered pedagogy into the classroom would allow greater success for
21st century students in learning, literacy, and knowledge.
Every day, students are forced to go through a monotonous routine at school called
learning. The teacher teaches a lesson, the students memorize their vocabulary, regurgitate it
on a test and then forget everything. Instead of boring students with the teaching pedagogy of the
old pen and paper decades, why not engage them by using something they know and are
interested in, such as technology?
Connecting prior knowledge to new information allows students to develop the
contextual knowledge necessary for deep, meaningful learning, and is the first step in
equipping students with the necessary critical and analytic skills necessary for
participation in society in the twenty first century (Hicks).
In order to make 21st century learning as affective as possible, it is necessary to allow students to
use technology to their greatest potential and coach them. Perhaps allowing them to use the
technology and the internet would make to urge to misuse it less likely. Students are naturally
tech-savvy these days, it is imperative that educators realize this and capitalize on it in order to
allow students to learn the most possible.
Due to teacher centered classrooms, students are unable to appreciate the lasting social
implications of an inappropriate photo on Facebook, know how to use a blog as an e-portfolio or

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a platform for advocacy, understand how to evaluate the validity of what they find when they use
a search engine(Parker). It is important to take advantage of the already set knowledge and
skills students have. Focussing on proper technology usage and allowing them to explore it, will
pave the way to more technological advances through these students. In a world with technology
everywhere, it is crucial students are literate about all of the aspects of technology because it is
their future.
Knowledge in schools is mostly limited to memorizing and regurgitation. Unfortunately,
that technique doesn't allow information to stick. Allowing students to choose what they learn
and how they learn it would make them more motivated toward their academics. An example
from Michael Russells Technology and Assesment of how we can do this is by using web quests.
In some cases, web-quests take the form of problems that require students to find and apply
information to solve. Unfortunately, he also says web quests can be misused by having kids
search for specifics facts or answers. In order for students to truly be knowledgable in their
academics they need to be able to research or learn everything they want to learn about a subject.
The key to student centered learning, literacy and knowledge is technology. The goal of
schooling is to prepare students for the real world. The real world is filled with technology, so
rather than educators keeping it to themselves, clearly they must use technology to allow
students to be more knowledgable about technology. In a high tech world, we need high tech
students thanks to 21st century academics.

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Russell, M. (2006). Technology and Assessment: The Tale of Two Interpretations. 152-152.
Hicks Introduction, Literature, And Lesson Plan pg.2
Parker, J. (n.d.). It's the Learning, Not the Technology - Jessica K. Parker - Connected Learning
Alliance. Retrieved September 30, 2015.