The 21st century learner is someone who consumes news, print, electronic, and digital media for 6.5 hours on average each day. Every day, they watch television, play video games, listen to music, record music, view, produce, and publish information online and communicate via mobile phones.
These students don't want to be constrained by conventional timelines, and they don't always want to work or learn in an office setting. Instead, they prefer making use of technology to study wherever they want and work remotely from any location. They also enjoy using the technology to complete tasks in new and different ways. Because ICT has, for the most part, always been a part of their life, our current students are naturally drawn to it. They expect it to aid their learning and fulfill their requirements. As such, they can do more with mobile phones, portable gadgets, and other wireless devices than with traditional computers.
With this new era of learners, we are met with new challenges. The students that we come into contact with nowadays are information hungry and will seek it out on their own if teachers do not deliver what they consider to be relevant. Because there is so much information readily available all the time, they do not feel the need to understand everything right away as they are aware that the answers are just a google search away.
As the world is becoming more of a digital network, and our students are becoming technological consumers, we the educators must also "change with the times". In order to effectively manage and educate students, teachers and the school system as a whole must be equipped with a prerequisite of technological resources as well as syllabi that are curated to promote a collaborative and customized learner centered approach that students can respond to positively and effectively.
Educators must have professional development and certification in ICT if technology is integrated into classrooms. To meet the demands of this digital era, I believe all educators must have at least a foundation of basic computer skills. Educational technology courses should be required for graduation in teacher education programs so that when new instructors enter school systems, they are properly prepared to integrate technology into their classrooms seamlessly. Teachers who may be considered 'experienced' should not be exempt either. School districts must give monies to train teachers in the abilities necessary to integrate ICT into their lessons, just as they do for teacher development in reading, writing, math etc.
Schools and classrooms must be equipped with ICT resources. ICT equipment for classrooms is a requirement for schools and school systems to meet the educational demands of students in the twenty-first century. Continuous technical assistance and maintenance are also necessary in addition to the hardware, software, and infrastructure. Workstations may be mounted on wheeled carts to provide access for many classrooms to share if the funds do not permit PCs for each student such as the "One Laptop Per Child" Policy in St. Lucia.
Students must also be taught relevant ICT skills. Simply, giving a laptop to a child and telling them to "figure it out" will not have the same effect as actually educating students on the best use of the PC and providing them with the necessary skills to generally function in this world we are now calling a digital village. The use of mobile technology and exposure to computers in the home/school are not always correlated with knowledge of or effective application of ICT. To guarantee that students have up-to-date and applicable skills to enter higher education institutions and function effectively in the workplace, core digital literacy needs to be taught and evaluated. By certifying students' computer abilities, teachers may make sure that everyone in the classroom is focused on learning and not stuck on simply mastering the fundamentals of ICT.
"Today’s digital kids think of ICT as something akin to oxygen; they expect it, it’s what they breathe and it’s how they live.” —Learning in a Digital Age, John Seely Brown
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