LEARNING SKILLS FOR 21ST CENTURY

 

LEARNING SKILLS FOR 21^ST CENTURY

What are 21st century skills?

q The 21st century skills are a set of abilities that students need to develop in order to succeed in the information age. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills lists three types:

Learning Skills

ü Critical Thinking

ü Creative Thinking

ü Collaborating

ü Communicating

Literacy Skills

ü Information Literacy

ü Media Literacy

ü Technology Literacy

Life Skills

ü Flexibility

ü Initiative

ü Social Skills

ü Productivity

ü Leadership

LEARNING SKILLS

1.CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS:

Ø  Critical thinking is focused careful analysis of something to better understand it.

Ø  When people speak of “Left brain” activity they are usually referring to critical thinking. 

Ø  This is convergent thinking. It assesses the worth and validity of something existent.

Ø   It involves precise, persistent, objective analysis. When teachers try to get several learners to think convergently, they try to help them develop common understanding.

Critical thinking is variously defined as:

1. “The process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information to reach an answer or conclusion “.
2. “Disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence “.
3. “Reasonable, reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do “.
4. “Includes a commitment to using reason in the formulation of our beliefs “    

Students in a Critical Skills Classroom:

1. Frequently work as learning teams and groups.
2. Actively solve academic problems, scenarios, and real-world problems.
3. Make public presentations and exhibitions of their learning.
4. Systematically reflect on what they are doing and learning
5. Focus on standards of quality for their work.
6. Take shared responsibility and ownership of their learning and for the classroom community.

Teachers in a Critical Skills Classroom:

Ø  Model, guide, coach and support the learning process

Ø  Design learning activities that are carefully connected and built on one another.

7         Critical Skills That Predict Success

1.Reading.

2.Inquiry.

3. Flexible thinking and the use of evidence.

4. Conversation.

5. Collaboration.

6. Engagement.

7. Well-being.

2. CREATIVE SKILLS

Ø  All of us possess creative abilities Every one of us are in a unique creation.

Ø  That is why the degree of possession of creative ability is not uniform.

Definition

1. According to Drevdal- “Creativity is the capacity of a person to produce compositions, products or ideas which are essentially new or novel and previously unknown to the producer”.
2. Herbert Fox: “Creative process in any thinking process solves a problem in an original and useful way”.
3. Burner: “Newness, Surprise and originality is creativity”.

Nature and Characteristics of creativity

1. Creativity is a quite broad generic term.
2. Creativity is universal.
3. Creativity is also a function of one’s environment.
4. Any creative expression is the source of joy and satisfaction for the creator.
5. Creativity begins, processes and ends with an affinity for something.
6. Creativity is always purposeful and results in appropriateness.
7. The pathway to creativity involves risks, daring and persistence.
8. Creativity is different from intelligence.

Characteristics of Creative Children

1. More tolerance towards opposition.
2. They are neat and have self-actualization ability.
3. Not afraid of alien, abstract objects and thoughts.
4. Apt to work instantly.
5. They have thought flow.

Ways of Fostering Creativity

1. Provide self-initiated non-authoritarian learning
2. Encourage over-learning
3. Promote intellectual flexibility.
4. Make more use of the questioning techniques.
5. Provide opportunity to manipulate materials, ideas, concepts and tools.
6. Encourage them to consider problem as a whole.
7. Helping on individual to increase his motivation power, brainstorming ability and vision of thinking beyond problems.
8. Provide informal and free atmosphere.
9. Give more importance to the creative process rather than creation.

3. COLLABORATIVE SKILLS

Ø  Collaborative skills are the behaviors that help two or more people to work together and function well in the process.

Ø  Teachers can train their students in the skills of collaboration so they will be able to accomplish group tasks.

Ø  Collaboration is the act of working together for a common goal. 

Ø  The Partnership for 21st Century Skills says that mastering collaboration skills requires the ability to work effectively with diverse teams.

Ø  It also requires the ability to "be helpful and make necessary compromises to accomplish a common goal."

The benefits of Collaboration

1.Solving problems and examining the big picture:

Ø  Collaboration results in together a significant amount of talent, including professionals across a wide range of skills and knowledge.

Ø  This allows you to benefit from a variety of perspectives. When you can leverage multiple peoples’ expertise, you will likely solve problems faster and drive better outcomes long-term.

2. Inspiring self-analysis:  

Ø  Working collaboratively can help you become more aware of your strengths as well as your weaknesses.

Ø  This will help you leverage your best skills, and identify which areas you may need assistance from people with different expertise.

Ø  As a result, you and your teammates can work better together to fill in competency gaps.

3. Teaching and learning: 

Ø  You learn things from other team members every time you come together to collaborate.

Ø   An organization that values collaboration encourages constant teaching and learning.

Ø   Employees feel secure knowing the workplace values opportunities to grow and develop, and you will also feel motivated to expand your skillset outside your current job duties.

 

4. Increasing efficiency:

Ø  It’s easier to work together to complete projects and meet deadlines when you have the support of your team. 

Ø   Multiple people working together can divide tasks in a way that leverages each individual’s greatest strengths.

HOW TO IMPROVE COLLABORATION SKILLS?

1.Set clear goals and objectives.

2.Communicate your intentions.

3.Listen and learn to compromise.

4.Overcome challenges and solve problems without assigning blame.

5.Be open-minded.

6.Celebrate collaboration and the successes it brings.

4. COMMUNICATION

    Communication is a continuous or two-way process of reaching mutual understanding, in which participants not only exchange (encode-decode) information, news, ideas and feelings but also create and share meaning.

      “Communication is simply the act of transferring information from one place to another.”

     In general, communication is a means of connecting people or places. In business, it is a key function of management an organization cannot operate without communication between levels, departments and employees.
Components of Communication Process

1.Context: -

Ø  Communication is affected by the context in which it takes place. This context may be physical, social, chronological or cultural.

Ø  Every communication proceeds with context. The sender chooses the message to communicate within a context.

2. Sender / Encoder: -

Ø  Sender / Encoder are a person who sends the message.

Ø  A sender makes use of symbols (words or graphic or visual aids) to convey the message and produce the required response.

Ø  Sender may be an individual or a group or an organization.

3. Message: -

Ø  Message is a key idea that the sender wants to communicate. It is a sign that elicits the response of recipient.

Ø   Communication process begins with deciding about the message to be conveyed.

Ø  It must be ensured that the main objective of the message is clear.

4. Medium: -

Ø  Medium is a means used to exchange / transmit the message.

Ø  The sender must choose an appropriate medium for transmitting the message else the message might not be conveyed to the desired recipients.

Ø  The choice of appropriate medium of communication is essential for making the message effective and correctly.

q  This choice of communication medium varies depending upon the features of communication.

Ø   Written medium is chosen when a message has to be conveyed to a small group of people.

Ø   while an oral medium is chosen when spontaneous feedback is required from the recipient as misunderstandings are cleared then and there.

5. Recipient / Decoder: -

Ø  Recipient / Decoder are a person for whom the message is intended / aimed / targeted.

Ø   The degree to which the decoder understands the message is dependent upon various factors such as knowledge of recipient, their responsiveness to the message, and the reliance of encoder on decoder.

6. Feedback: -

Ø   Feedback is the main component of communication process as it permits the sender to analyze the efficacy of the message.

Ø   It helps the sender in confirming the correct interpretation of message by the decoder.

Ø  Feedback may be verbal or non-verbal. It may take written form also in form of memos, reports, etc.
Importance of Communication Skills for Students

1. People turn innovative and creative.
2. Organizational as well as personal Growth take place.
3. Good team building becomes obvious.
4. Good communication gives a voice to all.
5. Better communicators have better marriages.
6. Highly skilled communicators make more money.
7. Good communicators have higher self-esteem.
8. Build a successful family unit.
9. Most important skill for people entering the workforce.
10. It is among the top traits of successful entrepreneurs.

11. Aid in development of leadership skills.

12. Helps people to become more critical of the media.

13. The communicatory ability to speak gives you the tools to participate in society.    

14. Good communication with parents determines child’s level of self-esteem, achievement, and  

       better overall health.

Improving Communication skills in Students

1. Watch films that model conversation skills.
2. Use technology.
3. Reinforce active listening.
4. Offer group presentations and assignments.
5. Ask open-ended questions.
6. Use tasks and activities that foster critical thinking.
7. Offer reflective learning opportunities.