Unit 1 - The 21st Century Learner
Objectives
- The participants will be able to list characteristics of the 21st century learner.
- The participants will be able to identify ways to incorporate social media platforms as a means of student creation of media
Introduction
BYOD - Bring your own device, here it comes; will you be ready?
BYOD, or "bring your own device" involves allowing students to bring their mobile technolgy into school for teaching a learning. Such a policy creates ubiquitous learning envionments affording students opportunities to learn anywhere and anytime. Added benefits include providing students with the opportunity to take responsibility for their learning and accessibility to resources outside of the classroom walls. Some advantages of a BYOD environment include:
1. Provides a big teaching arsenal for teachers, allowing students to view e-textbooks, videos, educational apps, online research, digital learning apps, etc. This type of provision allows reinforced ideas and teachings, and blends the learning. Thus, it has been named as Blended Learning.
2. Less confusion, since the student can use the device at school or at home. This will provide a major way for students to understand the apps much better, make better use of projects and make learning more fun.
3. Schools meet student's digital expectations. The current generation of students has grown up with technology and want to use it in every aspect of their daily lives — including school. They have an expectation that the same technology they use at home will be available at school.
4. Student participation increases. Students like using their personal devices, so they become engaged in whatever it is that they’re doing with them — including classwork, which becomes even more interactive when everyone has access to technology. Unlike a school-provided device, the personal device (and the desire to continue using it) goes home with the student. In this way, BYOD enables and fosters 24x7 learning.
Watch the video below which illustrates the view of several people involved in the Instructional Technology arena pertaining to BYOD policy in schools and then continue with Unit 1 by completing the learning activities below.
BYOD in Schools, here we go so get used to it.
Before we can look into how to best utilize a BYOD policy in our classroom teaching we first must understand the 21st century learner. As defined by Columbia School of Education, 21st Century students:
- prefer visual modes of communication over speech or text alone;
- tend to scan large quantities of text, rather than simply focus intently on a single text;
- expect to quickly find the answer to any question online, usually through a search engine, often without evaluating the credibility or accuracy of the source;
- place a high value on interactivity and active learning and are comfortable with self-teaching.
Studies have shown that students perform better and stay on task longer if the learning is student centered, allows for interactivity (allowing students to question and find the answer during the lesson rather than waiting for the end of a lecture), and is personalized and on a self directed basis. Students also become more engaged if the content is relevant to them. The 21st Century Learner processes information in a way that is often inconsistant with current teaching practices. Many students are bored, and therefore disengage. How can we, as educators, reach our students and enhance engagement and learning through discovery? The answer lies in understanding the way in which current students construct knowledge, the way in which their brain processes information and using the tools and methods that are compatabile with the way the 21st Century student learns. Before moving on to the activities for this module, look at the diagram above and examine the characteristics of the 21st century learner. As you read them, think about ways you can enhance your teaching to consider these traits when designing learning activities.
Learning Activities
1. Watch the video below for some thoughts on the 21st Century learner as presented by other educators. As you watch the video, think about how you would respond if interviewed. What are your thoughts about students you are currently teaching? Can you relate to any of the educators on this video. if so which ones, and why? Do you disagree with any of the opinions on the video and if so which ones and why?
Rethinking Learning, The 21st Century Learner 
2. Read an Article from Edtopia: This article discusses the 21st Century student brain and how it is shaped by information streams that contribute to how information is processed. In this article Black talks about how various social media tools allow anyone to shift from consuming media to being a media creator. She further states that giving students powerful media-authoring tools means relinquishing a degree of control, but doing so also makes it possible to help them learn in more effective ways (and tighter time frames) than ever before. After reading this article think about how you would go about using social media platforms to help students become creators of media rather than passive consumers. Include your thoughs in your discussion post for this unit.
Connecting to the 21st Century Student 
4. Post in the discussion portion of this page. 
Please read the posts of your classmates and respond to at least two of them.
Respond to those that respond to you. In your post you should:
- Introduce yourself and provide a brief professional and personal background, let's get to know each other!
- Discuss your experience with the 21st Century learner.
- Reflect upon the video and answer the questions presented in the introduction to the video.
- Reflect upon the Edutopia reading. Discuss how you might utilize social media platforms to enhance student creation and how you would go about relinguishing control.
- End your post with a question you would like answered regarding the 21st Century Learner.
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