Continuing on with Professor Stephen Heppell’s talk on 21st Century learning at the State Library of Victoria on Monday 10th November, Stephen outlined the 21st Century as ‘people centric’ where ‘helping people help each other’ is leading to the mass social construction of knowledge. People adding entries and editing Wikipedia, creating content in LibraryThing, YouTube, Flickr and the like (my examples) means that we (and our students) ‘are in a world we haven’t met before’. Stephen says ‘it’s time for schools to run, not follow’.

A recent UK survey by Ipsos asked students how they were currently learning in school. The responses were something like:

1. Copying from books or the whiteboard (approximately 50% of respondents).
2. Taking notes from a long teacher talk (approximately 30% of respondents).
3. Copying from the Internet (approximately 20% of respondents).

When asked how they would like to learn, the responses were:

1. Learning in groups.
2. Learn by doing practical things.
3. Learning with friends.
4. Learn by using a computer.

When asked what they would like their teachers to be able to do, they responded:

1. Edit a Wikipedia entry.
2. Upload a video to YouTube and make a comment.
3. Subscribe to a podcast.
4. Manage groups in Flickr (and be able to spell Flickr).
5. Select a safe online payment site.
6. Turn mobile phone predictive text on/off.

Certainly food for thought, not only for teachers but also for school administrators. For a recording of Stephen’s session with Victoria’s Department of Education and Early Childhood Development’s Knowledge Bank, click here.

To read more about what Stephen has been involved in, his thoughts and projects, please follow these links:

• Stephen’s phone blog
• The learnometer project
• eViva project
• Learning 2016 video
• Centre for excellence in media practice