Week 2 - Blog Posting #4 -21st Century Skills & Lifelong Learning

"I don't think much of a man who isn't wiser today than he was yesterday." - Abraham Lincoln

     Most of my recent focus within education has been in the field of adult language acquisition. Teaching adult learners English as a second language. I found the majority of my students positive and willing to try something new even if they tended to make mistakes. Being certain that they were in a comfortable, safe environment did a lot to boost their confidence even when they mixed up their adjectives and adverbs. In 1999, I wrote an article in a Japanese magazine about the keys to learning. There were only three points that I thought were the most valid: 1. have a positive attitude, 2. don't be afraid to make mistakes, and 3. try to use your new knowledge as quickly and as frequently as you can. Now, in 2009, after watching Jeffrey Gitomer's 12.5 points to Lifelong Learning, I feel I had things right all along.
     Lifelong learning isn't about being the best and sitting on the cutting edge, it's about positive action in the attempt to learn something new everyday. For some, that means learning a new vocabulary word and using it twenty times in a day and for others it could me exploring their own city and visiting a new restaurant, trying something on the menu they've never had before. In terms of 21st century skills, I think a fresh focus on community can be applied. As collaboration and networking are the current buzzwords, who's to say that my ninety-eight year old grandmother won't drive out to Best Buy and purchase her first computer? She's said for the past six months that the only part of life she hasn't experienced is the computer revolution and she'd like to see what all the fuss is about.
     In managing my own lifelong learning, I think that the most useful tool for me has been setting up my own PLE, personal learning environment, in NetVibes. I had always gone searching for what information I needed everyday and now find it most efficient that the information comes to me. I suddenly find time to myself, and immersed in a new way of thinking, something occurs to me. Lifelong learning has increased exponentially over the years. (Field, Leicester, 2000) and now has widened to include not only the individual aspect of becoming more fulfilled as a person but benefitting society as a whole. Field and Leicester state, "The agenda conveys education for citizenship (political), seeks to widen participation (social), and emphasizes the importance of learning for economic prosperity (vocational) while recognizing the importance of individual choices and personal development (liberal)."
     What is most appealing is the thought that our lifelong learning affects the world around us. We have the ability to impact others by opening up to learning something new. It seems so simple...no, it really is that simple.  

Resources:
BuyGitomer (2008, April 2008) Life Long Learning [Video File]. Video posted to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh6yd6wfCgU 
Field, J., Leicester, M. (2000). Lifelong learning: education across the lifespan. London. RoutledgeFalmer.