Developing Learner Skills in the 21st Century (original) (raw)

2016, Teaching with Team Projects in Higher Education

Developing learners' academic and business skills for the 21st century is critical to their current and future prospects in this time of economic haziness. If left unchecked, unchallenged or dormant a void in skill sets will limit learners' competitiveness and diminish the standing they could have on the world's stage of accomplishments. On the other hand, needed skills can be developed and honed through practice (soft and hard skills), maximizing the virtual environment, peer review, and feedback. Being aware of what is absent in learner development is important for practitioners and academes as they create and advance programs that support the development of knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies for learners. Requests for continuous learning are constant challenges at the college and university levels, as well as within work environments as learners push for information to advance themselves and their careers. As learners continue to focus on infusing 21 st century education and technologies into their knowledge bases, educators and trainers must combine the thinking of education and business communities to develop visions and action plans designed to ensure success at the academic level and within the workforce. This chapter will review a case study that highlights sound practice for developing knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies for individual learners, as well as teams. Practitioners and academes can use this model. The framework of this development lies in andragogy, technology, and constructivism. Today's educational requirements need not only instructors with robust subject matter knowledge, skills, and abilities, the requirements also need competitive products (Pyzdek, 2003) such as development programs. Learners' skills can be developed in the 21st century using team projects to provide opportunities, getting learners to recognize skill development opportunities, and reflecting on continuous learning and self-development. These team project opportunities, recognition of skill development opportunities, and continuous learning will help learners widen their social, thinking, management, and information skills. In 2013 a group of adult learners were challenged to enhance their teaching skills at a time when teaching assistantships were not readily available. Thinking out of the box, a team of academes modified an original practice model to aid learners in developing their teaching and delivery skills.