Page 89 - Education in a Digital World

76 National Policymaking

attached to ‘key’ or ‘core’ skills, which include a working knowledge of digital
technology. Such rhetoric can be seen as part of a larger discursive construction of
the new ‘model’ workers considered necessary to meet the demands of the global
knowledge economy. In this respect many governments have been explicit in their
focus on the new ‘high’ skills requirements of the global economy. Technology-
orientated education systems are thereby seen as supporting the development of the
‘workforce flexibility’ needed to counter the threat of a global labour market:
“For students, using these real-world tools creates learning opportunities that allow
them to grapple with real-world problems – opportunities that prepare them to be
more productive members of a globally competitive workforce” (US Department of
Education 2010, p.vii).
Over time, such justifications have developed around themes of using
technology-based education as a way of addressing governments’ perceived needs
for future workforces with creative, innovative, critical, and active intellectual skills.
Echoing the ‘twenty-first-century skills’ agenda outlined in Chapter 3, the policy
agendas of Singapore, Chile and the US all reflect a set of similar intentions for
technology-enhanced forms of flexible learning:

We are looking deeper at how ICT enables our students to develop important
twenty-first century competencies that are essential for their future. More
time will be devoted in the curriculum to develop skills like self-directed and
collaborative learning over the next five years.
(Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State, Singapore Ministry of Education 2010)

An important role of ICT inside a school is that of providing a new framework
that can foster a revision and an improvement of teaching and learning prac-
tices to create more effective learning environments and improve life-long
learning skills among students … new learning strategies in which students
can be more actively involved in learning, as opposed to being simply passive
information receivers. Collaborative, project-based and self-paced learning
are just a few alternatives largely documented and particularly appropriate to
use when ICT are present.
(Chilean Ministry of Education 2011)

Whether the domain is English language, arts, mathematics, sciences, social
studies, history, art, or music, twenty-first century competencies and expertise
such as critical thinking, complex problem solving, collaboration, and multimedia
communication should be woven into all content areas. These competencies
are necessary to become expert learners, which we all must be if we are to
adapt to our rapidly changing world over the course of our lives, and that
involves developing deep understanding within specific content areas and
making the connections between them.
(US Educational Technology Plan 2010, p.vi)