21st Century Learning Environments Research Articles

A soundscape study in an open plan classroom in a primary school

Advantages and disadvantages on open plan classrooms have been reported since this type of classroom was first constructed in 1970’s all over the world. A new type of open plan classroom combined with small classrooms that accommodate specific learning activities has been developed as the 21st century learning environment to foster creative, interactive learning. In this study, a new school building which has this type of open plan classroom is examined with soundscape approaches in order to investigate the acoustical environments in the building. Acoustical events occurring in the open plan classroom in a primary school were analyzed and categorized. The activities that created specific acoustical events were observed and categorized and then acoustical taxonomies were established for each space. Acoustical measurements were conducted to examine the acoustical characteristics of each acoustic event and the combinations of acoustical events in the learning spaces. In addition, the results of the observations and measurements were compared to determine the differences in the effects of room conditions on the acoustical events in both traditional and open plan classrooms in the same school. The study found that there are differences in the characteristics of the acoustical events as measured in traditional and open plan according classrooms.

Enhancing teachers' ICT capacity for the 21st century learning environment: Three cases of teacher education in Korea

<blockquote>Korean teachers are generally considered well trained to integrate ICT into their teaching since the inception of the first IT Master Plan of Korea in 1996. However, the emergence and adoption of cutting-edge technologies create demands for evolving roles and competencies of teachers in the new knowledge society. Given this changing landscape of teacher education, the purpose of this paper is to explore new educational approaches to enhance teachers' ICT capabilities in the 21st century learning environment in Korea. The literature indicates that the new roles of teachers include new media literacy skills and adaptive expertise with efficiency and innovation. From this perspective, we examined three cases: (1) learning Scratch for computational and creative thinking, (2) learning robotics as emerging technology for convergent and divergent thinking, and (3) learning by design with ICT for systems thinking. The new approaches, such as focusing on thinking skills rather than technical skills, and providing various contexts different from ordinary classroom lessons, help teachers to develop adaptive expertise. On the other hand, participants in all three cases indicated difficulties in integrating new ideas, dealing with various course activities, and understanding unfamiliar design contexts in their comprehensive projects. For further studies, it is necessary to investigate learning processes and outcomes of teachers' learning with more depth and a larger number of cases and multiple sources of data to verify the potentials and challenges of these approaches more rigorously.</blockquote><p> </p>

Building a Participatory Culture: Collaborating with Student Organizations for Twenty-first Century Library Instruction

Today’s students are critical thinkers, collaborators, and creators. They expect to participate in 21st century learning environments not as passive information consumers (think lectures), but as active contributors (think team-based problem-solving). There are opportunities for instruction librarians to collaborate directly with student-led organizations. These partnerships have the potential to increase attendance at library events and provide platforms for students to engage in richer forms of exploratory learning that incorporate 21st century skills. This article will discuss the literature surrounding library instruction collaborations, identify “Librarian – Student Organization Collaborations” as an important form of partnership, and supply specific case studies of successful library instruction events based on these collaborations.

Two-Way Mirror: Technology-Rich K–8 and Teacher Education Programs

ABSTRACT Teacher education programs must continue to find greater parallels between the experiences provided to teacher candidates and what is occurring in classrooms. In this article, we describe technology use in schools, our courses, and our students' field experiences. Specifically, we describe the results of our efforts to mirror our teacher education program with what is technologically happening in schools. By modeling technology integration in our course work (based on what we observed in schools) and by collaborating with technology-rich classrooms and teachers, we found that teacher candidates became natural users of technology in their student teaching. We also found a need to continue seeking support and resources to provide adequate access to technology, as well as the opportunity to apply what is learned. As teacher educators, we must continue to consider the role that technology plays as we strive to best prepare teachers for 21st-century learning environments.

Can instructional technology enhance the way we teach students and teachers?

THIS ARTICLE SYNTHESIZES RESEARCH on technology integration in education with specific attention to the effects of computer-mediated environments on cognitive development, technology utilization in schools, and infusing technology in pre-service teacher education. The article identifies inadequate teacher preparation as the critical factor constraining effective technology deployment in schools and summarizes main ideas for transforming teacher-education institutions into 21st Century learning environments