Page 44 - International Perspectives on Effective Teaching and Learning in Digital Education

Pedro Tadeu and Carlos Brigas

and thrive. They also mention the importance of continual professional de-
velopment for teachers to integrate and update the technologies used in
their classrooms, something very important in a life-long cycle. So ongoing
learning and development are crucial for keeping up with technological ad-
vancements. Male (16) addresses that digital technologies are a core fea-
ture of the current era, which presents the possibility for a shift from pas-
sive acquisition of someone else’s ideas to active learning experiences that
empower people to inquire, critique, create, collaborate, problem solve, and
create understanding.
These challenges highlight the complexity of the digital education land-
scape and the need for thoughtful and strategic approaches to its implemen-
tation and ongoing development. Still, many situations and concerns exist in
the Digital Education environment.
However, one certainty is that youngsters will need the most advanced and
updated tools to face the challenges of the 1st century. These skills required
for 1st-century jobs are often connected to soft skills, even though we may
not know exactly what these new jobs will entail. These soft skills are increas-
ingly important in a world where digital technologies are transforming the
workplace and how we interact with information. Male (16) notes that the
online world has redesigned communication in and outside the workplace,
and young people are now accustomed to accessing multiple open sources
of information for solutions. As a result, more collaborative technologies have
enabled the development of soft skills such as cooperation, collaboration,
and problem-solving.
Furthermore, the shift from pedagogy/andragogy (teacher-centred), to
a heutagogy approach (student-centred) – self-determined learning that
focuses on the importance of knowing how to learn – recognises that dis-
cipline-based knowledge is inappropriate for preparing for living in mod-
ern communities and workplaces. This shift emphasises the development
of a skill-based curriculum designed to deal with a rapidly changing world
(Male, 16). In the context of education, the same author suggests that the
'holy trinity' of the student vision for educational experience includes social-
ly-based and collaborative learning, which are highly valued soft skills in the
1st-century workplace.
Therefore, it is crucial to focus on developing these soft skills in education-
al settings to prepare students for the demands of the 1st-century labour
market.

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