Mining creative and logical thinking skills.
Once our education system was not only fit for purpose, it was also the envy of the world. Now a major overhaul is required in terms of better maths and science capability, critical-thinking skills and a digital syllabus.
COMPUTERS FOR STUDENTS: For a 21st century education all students, must have access to a PC at school or at home.
DIGITAL SYLLABUS: Technology must be part of every student’s development across every subject. A digitally-enabled syllabus is paramount.
MATHS AND SCIENCE: These subjects are pivotal to the jobs of the future and if you look at the success of companies like Apple, Zynga, Google and Facebook, industries like technology and life sciences are where the exciting jobs are.
BROADBAND: It is imperative that the Government delivers on its objective of putting 100Mbps of broadband in every school in the land by 2012.
LEARNING BY ROTE: No longer sufficient to field the 21st century workforce.
THE 7 Cs: The key to 21st-century learning: critical thinking, creativity and innovation, collaboration, cross-cultural understanding, communication, computing technology, career learning.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Everyone who teaches is just as eager to learn. Digital technology must be infused with teachers’ professional development.
ONLINE RESOURCES: A single knowledge bank and collaboration centre for teachers and students across the land must be developed.
SCHOOLBOOKS AND SCHOOLBAGS: Many countries around the world are exploring putting low-cost computers like netbooks or tablet PCs into the hands of students. A clever strategy around this could revolutionise content delivery and reduce the cost of schoolbooks for parents.
To read more of ‘Talent and Education’, go to Digital 21.
www.digital21.ie – Digital 21 is a campaign to highlight the imperative of creating an action programme to secure the digital infrastructure and services upon which the success of our economy depends.
