Then and now..changes in the education landscape .

In the past, students who had to do research for their projects would simply do so by poring through books and journals at the library. The scope of their research was a lot narrower then. These days, we are not talking about just being information literate but this literacy has evolved and is now made up of pieces of a bigger multi-literacy puzzle. Students need to be able to do the very basic - read and write, students need to possess skills to search for information, students need to be digital literate to navigate the mountain of information in the online world and to do this, and there is a need to be IT literate. This is indeed quite a tall order, compared to the old days!

The students of today are digital natives, having grown up in a world where not having a laptop, internet access, mobile phone, iPod would be unimaginable. Students live in a digital world and make use of Web 2.0 technologies primarily for social networking.

The challenge for educators is to level up their knowledge of Web 2.0 technologies, embrace and harness the power of these Web 2.0 technologies as a new resource for teaching and learning. We have to adapt our teaching pedagogy to be attuned to the rapidly-evolving learning styles of students. Ignoring these changes would inevitably create a digital divide between educators and students – the battle is lost even before we begin. We have to learn new ways to engage our students and help them learn in environments and ways that they are already comfortable and familiar with. The challenge is to help students use Web 2.0 as naturally in their studies, as in their social lives.

In fact, many schools have already started doing this early on in the education system. Many secondary schools in Singapore begun using Web 2.0 technologies in their teaching (See http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/parliamentary-replies/2009/09/information-and-communications.php); to force students to go one step back to a print literacy dominant environment would lead to a disconnect with the students. We need to capitalise on Web 2.0 technologies to develop a learning skill set which is expected of the 21st century workforce – communication, collaboration, networking, creativity, leadership and technology proficiency. At the same time, we will also need to address the downside of such technologies, for example, the cut-and-paste mentality and failure to attribute information or, the lack of ability to critically evaluate information and form their own opinions about an issue.

Educators need to be convinced that the students’ profile (their disposition - a strong sense of belonging to online communities and learning preferences for sharing and participation) and the environment has changed irrevocably. Even the government has started using social networking to engage the youth (see http://www.ssc.gov.sg/publish/Corporate/en/news/media_releases/2009/1st_asian_youth_games0.html and to garner feedback from citizens (http://app.reach.gov.sg/reach/default.aspx). Charitable organisations have also jumped on the bandwagon. See http://www.clicktoaid.com, where organisations like the Community Development Council are using Web2.0 to raise funds for charity, or http://www.give.sg.
Indeed, there is an urgent need to respond to these waves of change accordingly. It requires lecturers to learn to “let go” and come to terms with the fact that there are many ways in which students learn these days… not just from the pearls of wisdom from the lecturer’s mouth anymore.

Content is no longer king – students are capable of learning beyond what lecturers tell them and what books write about. Open-source materials and online universities have diminished the attractiveness of higher education and made content from credible sources readily accessible (for example, http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm ). Lecturers need to be digital literate to guide students to the relevant sources; the tutor takes on a facilitator role more now, than ever before. Of course, it would be erroneous to assume that technology has to be used for technology’s sake - merely adopted wholesale for window-dressing purposes and an end in itself. Technology must be seen as a possible tool for providing a more relevant, enriching and challenging learning experience for students, whilst recognising the fact that face-to-face contact with students is still vital for adding a personal element to learning.