ICT utilization in
developing 21st century
skills
Society has shifted from an economy based on commodities and
manual labor to an economy based on knowledge and highly
qualified human capital.
Teachers need to be prepared to shift jobs and to be flexible in
acquiring skills.
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills – is a joint government–
corporate organization which lists three types of skills.
A. Learning Skills
• creativity and innovation
• critical thinking and problem-solving
• communication and collaboration
B. Literacy Skills
• information literacy
• media literacy
• ICT literacy
C. Life Skills
• flexibility and adaptability
• initiative and self-direction
• social and cross-cultural skills
• productivity and accountability
• leadership and responsibility
In the international research project Assessment and Teaching of 21st
Century Skills (ATC21S). The ATC21S project resulted in 10 skills
grouped into four categories
A. Ways of Thinking
• creativity and innovation
• Critical thinking
• problem-solving, and decision-making
• learning to learn and metacognition
B. Ways of Working
• communication
• collaboration critical thinking
C. Tools for Working
• information literacy
• ICT literacy
D. Living in the World
• citizenship
• life and career skills
• personal and social responsibility
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD)
A. Information
B. Communication
C. Ethics and Social Impact
THE CORE 21st-CENTURY SKILLS
A. Technical skills
To maintain competitive advantage, teachers must be fluent in the skills and
languages of ever-changing technologies
B. Information skills
The abundance of information and data implies that teachers in nearly all sectors
of the economy must be able to search, evaluate, and organize information, often
coming from multiple sources. The quick access to a wide range of information
sources means that teachers need to recognize when information is needed and to
evaluate the reliability and relative value of information .
C. Communication skills
Communication skills are vital in the growing service sector and
concern the ability to transmit information, ensuring that the
meanings are effectively expressed by taking into account the
audience and medium.
D. Collaboration skills
Teaching is becoming more knowledge-based, interdisciplinary,
and specialized. The complexity of tasks requires students to
collaborate, as individuals cannot possess all knowledge and skills.
E. Critical thinking skills
Critical thinking broadly refers to making informed choices about
obtained information and communication by using sufficient
reflection and reasoning. It concerns the ability to think reflectively
and judge skillfully, so as to decide what information or
communication is relevant in a given context. The ability to filter the
amount of incoming data to formulate your own point of view is a key
21st-century skill.
F. Creativity skills
Creativity is related to the production of new and useful ideas on
products, services, or processes that are both novel and potentially
useful. Because student’s creativity is presented as an imperative for
long-term organizational success, it arises as a critical skill for
organizations to lead or adapt to change.
G. Problem-solving skills
Problem-solving is often conceptualized as the knowledge and skills
that are required to deal effectively with complex non-routine situations
H. Information digital skills
The information abundance caused by ICT requires skills for searching,
evaluating, and organizing information in digital environments. Information
management includes the ability to (a) clearly define information needs, (b)
identify digital information, and (c) select digital information in an effective
and efficient way
J. Communication digital skills
Individuals are able to express themselves, establish relationships, and
interact with others at any distance in time and space. ICT-based
communication is regarded as a means of generating social interactions and
strengthening social relationships.
K. Collaboration digital skills
Collaboration processes—managing interdependencies across
time to achieve a common goal—are increasingly supported by ICT.
ICT is especially useful when teams must share information and make
decisions across business and national boundaries.
L. Critical thinking digital skills
Critical thinking has been identified as being particularly
important because in a global online environment people participate
and resources are created with various intentions and competences.
M. Creative digital skills
ICT can support creativity in multiple ways, including developing ideas
and creating or realizing ideas. Digital environments allow workers to assess
various design concepts, experiences, and ideas.
N. Problem-solving digital skills
As such, students need online problem-solving skills to either formulate
the problem or find strategies to determine the best solution for a problem.
They need the skills to find multiple solutions, solve unfamiliar problems, and
transfer knowledge to new situations. ICT has become an important medium
for accessing and connecting information and, thereby, solving problems.
