Question 1

a) 21st century education, to a certain extent can’t be fully defined because it

changes constantly. It responds to the economical, technological, and societal shifts
that are happening at an ever-increasing pace. It’s an education that sets and helps
children up to succeed in a world where more than half of the jobs they’ll have over
their careers don’t even exist yet. In short, it’s an education that provides students
with the skills and competencies they need to thrive in the 21st century.
It gives students the skills they need to succeed in this new world, and helping
them grow the confidence to practice those skills. With so much information readily
available, 21st century skills focus more on making sense of that information, sharing
and using it in smart ways.

The coalition P21 (Partnership for 21st Century Learning) has identified four
‘Skills for Today’, which are creativity, critical thinking, communication and
collaboration. These are the skills integrated in a 21 st century education, and which
are important to succeed in different working environment.

b)
The Internet is seen to support a new culture of learning—i.e., learning that is
based around bottom-up principles of collective exploration, play, and innovation
rather than top-down individualized instruction (Thomas and Seely-Brown 2011).

Internet is now one of the most valuable tool for learning and teaching.
Teachers in the modern era need to be prepared to use these tools effectively.
Teachers and lecturers use the internet to give students extra resources, study
materials, educational games, and much more.Many colleges today use the 'hybrid'
model, where courses are done online. Therefore, the quality of
the educational process gets much better.

It is no doubt that in this modern era everyone prefers Google for their
queries, problems or doubts. Popular search engines like Google, Yahoo, etc. are the
topmost choice of students as they offer an easy and instant reach to the vast amount
of information in just a few seconds. Students need the internet to search for
information related to exams, curriculum, results, etc. Importance of internet in
education to the students’ means that it makes easier for them to research things, and
relearn the content taught in the school.

There are many benefits of the internet in the field of education. Some of these are:

1. Cost Effective and Affordable Education

One of the largest barriers to education is high cost. The Internet improves
the quality of education, which is one of the pillars of sustainable development of a
nation. It provides education through Videos (like youtube tutorial videos) and web
tutorials which is affordable to everyone and cost-effective. The emergence of Covid-
19 has made education through online learning much more important. It had started
efforts by the teachers to make online teaching materials through Youtube, for
example Cikgootube. There is also a huge amount of information available for every
subject. It keeps the students up to date with the latest information regarding the
subjects in which they are interested.

2. Student – Teacher and Peer Interaction

The internet has allowed students to be in constant touch with their teachers or
with other fellow classmates with the help of social media, messaging apps and chat
forums. Parents can interact as well as communicate with teachers and school
authorities about their kid’s performance in the school. Groups in WhatsApp or
Telegram application are now a must in every school or colleges. Interaction with the
like minded people on forums can also help students to explore new ideas and enrich
their knowledge.

3. Effective Teaching and Learning Tool

The Internet has become a major tool for effective teaching as well as a
learning tool. Teachers can use it as a teaching tool by posting their teaching materials
(notes and videos) on school website or forum. The learning process becomes
interesting and diverse with the use of tutorial videos and notes. Every school now has
an official website so that every persons involved in a school can go through activities
and other learning materials. Teachers can also teach with the use of animation,
powerpoint slides, and images to capture the students’ attention. Teachers can also
provide the students with extra study material and resources such as interactive
lessons, educational quiz as well as tutorials. Teachers can record their lectures and
provide it to the students for revisions which is better than reading from notes.

c) Twenty-first century learning refers to developing learning, literacy and

life skills as part of the classroom experience. Learning skills encompass critical
thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication, which have been identified as
essential for successfully adapting to modern work environments. Literacy skills,
including information, media and technology literacy, focus on understanding figures,
evaluating a source’s credibility and understanding the machines and computer
networks that we rely upon today. Life skills include flexibility, leadership, initiative,
productivity and social skills. These skills help students strategize projects, maintain
efficiency and network with others. The use of technology and internet which had
begun in universities, colleges and higher institutions had became so important that
the usage had come down to secondary schools and now to primary schools.

Twenty-first-century learning will ultimately be “learner-driven.” Our old

stories of education (factory-model, top-down, compliance-driven) are breaking down
or broken, and this is because the Internet is releasing intellectual energy that comes
from our desires as human beings to have a voice, to create, and to participate.

In primary schools, Internet are being used to deliver information to pupils and
teachers, for example:

A) Project

There are many projects that can be done by teachers based on information
from the internet. Projects that are based from concepts and skills that had been
learned in the classroom. For example, Level 2 students can search and arrange
information that can be found from the internet to do STEM projects, by making a
new innovation.

B) Lesson Plans

There are so many lesson plans that are being shared from around the globe in
the internet. Teachers can search for ideas to be implemented in their classroom.
Teachers nowadays can also do their lesson plans in online website such as e-Prema if
it is permitted by their school. The days of teachers using Record Books are being
numbered now.

C) Interesting and Updated Information

Everyday information are constantly changing and millions of information can

be found easily, fast and cheaply from the internet. Teachers can find information as
quickly as possible for teaching and learning in the classroom. Besides
information,internet can also provide graphics, pictures and interesting animation to
be used in their teaching. YouTube videos are also now widely used as a Set
Induction to arouse the pupils interest in various topics. Pupils meanwhile can find
thousand of pictures that can be used in their homework or for doing scrap books.

D) Sharing of Information

From the internet, teachers can communicate with other teachers to share
information, ideas or problems, for example websites such as BumiGemilang,
CikguShares, academia.edu and so much more. There are also Facebook channels
discussing problems faced by teachers, and also many Telegram groups such as Guru
Pulau Pinang, Teknologi PdPc Abad ke-21 and other groups which help thousands of
teachers in Malaysia to improve their teaching and learning in the 21st century.

E) Online Teaching and Learning

Pupils are required now to activate their Google Classroom email to enable
them to access information that are being shared by the teachers in Google Classroom.
The pandemic of Covid-19 had made this Classroom through the internet as the
utmost priority. Pupil will also use the Google Classroom id to access Google Meet
that are being conducted by the teacher for various subjects. Pupils can also store
various file through the Google Drive application which is free.
d) The spread of COVID-19 has forced millions of students and teachers to
move their communication online. The schools are closed until further notice and we
have to adapt to a new lifestyle. Teachers and administrators are working hard during
lockdown trying to keep students on track, shifting to online learning within the
shortest time.
The shift to e-learning doesn’t go as smoothly as we want it to be. The
situation may be discouraging and frustrating both for teachers and students. There
are many challenges faced not only by the teachers and students, but also by the
parents. Some of the challenges faced are:

Traditional teachers

Problems as in every innovation, there were people against the introduction of

ICT in the classrooms. They were reluctant to use technology in their lessons for
several reasons as, it was easier to go on with the traditional method. Sudden huge
amount of information about ICT are causing confusion and anxiety among traditional
teachers. Some are feeling that using ICT implied training that is usually out of school
timetable.

Organization of work processes & time management

Teachers have to move their classes online right away having no additional
training and extra budget. Teachers have to use numerous digital tools to deliver e-
learning. Teachers have to attend virtual schools, trying to handle the vast amount of
information and decide on the teaching strategy.Teachers also have to grade the
assignments coming from different places and give band to pupils as ‘Tahap
Penguasaan’. Sometimes they stay online hours per day to streamline the processes
making online learning more efficient. And this isn’t the full list of challenges in
online teaching.
Gadgets shortage

Not every student & teacher has a personal gadget to use for online learning.
Many of them are supposed to share the laptops and computers with their parents,
sisters/ brothers to stay on track. If one household has many school going children,
then they will have problems or competition between siblings following the teaching
and learning, especially if it is done through Google Meet.

Connectivity

Millions of people around the world are experiencing technical difficulties

because of the high usage rate of online learning systems, video streaming software,
& other digital tools. Internet connection is either unstable or the current data plan is
not enough to cover the progressive e-learning needs. Students in rural area is the
most affected, as the internet line is very slow, and this makes the students become
even less motivated. Teachers are also trying to manage the bad internet connection
during the online lessons.

Computer literacy

It’s hard for teachers, students, and parents to start using a learning
management system or any other digital tool out of nowhere without additional
training. Pupils in primary school are struggling because they have to depend on their
parents for help. Computer literacy has now become a must for Year 1 students, and
even for kindergarten pupils, as there are also Google Meet classes conducted by
kindergarten teachers

Isolation

This rather psychological factor is still highly affecting students’ motivation and
learning progress. Being in the classroom, students got used to instant eye-to-eye
communication with each other allowing reacting together, strengthening the social
skills. For many students, a classroom has been a kind of sanctuary, which is now
taken away. It’s not a surprise most of them feel isolated an becoming scared by the
pandemic.

The world is changing at an alarming rate. Today’s crisis has opened the door
to new opportunities. It is giving a leading role to students, making teachers try
innovative way of teaching and it is certainly achieving new standards of online
learning. Together, we’ll certainly try harder to make a shift to e-learning and find the
most efficient approaches to digital learning.

QUESTION 2

In September 2015, at the United Nations Sustainable Development

Summit, Member States, including Malaysia, formally adopted the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development in New York. This agenda is a global commitment
towards a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive development, with 17 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets.

One of the 17 goals includes a new global education goal (SDG 4). SDG 4
is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong
learning opportunities for all and has seven targets and three means of
implementation.

Target 4.4, meanwhile states that by 2030, the member states can
substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills,
including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and
entrepreneurship.
In many countries, including Malaysia, education and training policies are
rapidly changing to the needs for youth and adults to improve their skills and learn
new ones. Consequently there are many efforts done to increase and diversify learning
opportunities, using Education 2030 Framework for Action with a wide range of
education and training modalities, so that all youth and adults, especially girls and
women, can acquire relevant knowledge, skills and competencies for decent work and
life.
 To achieve Goal 4 of the SDG, Malaysia has initiated several blueprints under
the 11MP Strategic Thrust 3, which are:
• Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013–2025 (MEB)
• Malaysia Education Blueprint (Higher Education) 2015–2025
• National Higher Education Strategic Plan
• Blueprint on Enculturation of Lifelong Learning for Malaysia 2011–2020

Beyond mastering work-specific skills, emphasis have been placed on

developing high-level cognitive and non-cognitive/transferable skills. With this in
mind, Malaysia had launched the Malaysia Education Blueprint spanning from
2013-2025, in line with the New Economic Model, Economic Transformation Plan
and Government Transformation Plan. This Blueprint emphasize on the development
of young Malaysians who are knowledgeable, can think creatively and critically, have
leadership skills and are able to communicate with the rest of the world. The
vocational education pathway is being strengthened and expanded to provide students
with the practical skills required to succeed in trades and other specialised
occupations.

With the new curriculum, Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah, teaching

and learning has become pupil oriented, with traditional method where teacher just
teaches had become a thing of the past. With the new curriculum, pupils are
encouraged to think critically and creatively in doing their work. Pupils are also given
freedom to express themselves with their presentation in front of class using various
21st century learning models.

From Malaysian Report 2017, under 11MP: Strategic Thrust 3, to accelerate

human capital development for an advanced nation, the focus is on cradle-to-grave
talent development and lifelong learning.

Thus the requirement for Technical and Vocational Education and

Training (TVET) in Malaysia, which is a process of education and training that
includes formal, non-formal and informal learning that prepare young people with the
knowledge and skills required in the world of work.
 The common feature of TVET as defined by UNESCO is that it involves “in
addition to general education, the study of technologies and related sciences as well as
the acquisition of practical skills, attitudes, understanding, and knowledge relating to
occupations in various sectors of economics and social life”. In TVET, young people
have the opportunity to learn from basic to advanced levels across a wide range of
institutional and work settings.

Two TVET institution had been set up in 1964 to provide skills training to
youths, which is IKBN Dusun Tua and ILP Kuala Lumpur. Now, there are over 1000
TVET institution in Malaysia of which 506 are public institutions that provides
various TVET programs for all stages of education.

TVET programmes in Malaysia are offered at certificate, diploma, and degree

levels. To meet an increasing demand for TVET workers, the government has
increased the development expenditure given to public TVET institutions from RM
1.8 billion in 2010 to RM 2.1 billion in 2014. In 2013, out of the 429,000 students
who sat for the SPM examination, 321,000 students enrolled in higher education and
training programmes, with more than 50% enrolling at TVET institutions.

Recently, The National TVET Council (MTVET) had been set up in Malaysia
to improve coordination of the country's technical and vocational education and
training (TVET) ecosystem, in an effort to ensure its route as a national agenda. Three
strategic thrusts, as well as 12 empowerment strategies have been outlined to
empower TVET as a national agenda.

Equitable access to TVET had been expanded while quality is being ensured.
Appropriate priorities and strategies are being developed to better link TVET with the
world of work, in both the formal and informal labour sectors, to improve its status, to
build learning pathways between different education streams and to facilitate the
transition between school and work.

Conclusion
 The working environment is constantly evolving. Now with the Covid-19 pandemic, it had
put all of our life in different pathways. People are struggling to make ends meet, many people are
retrenched from their job, companies have to modify the way they run their company and so much
more. It has become like only the fittest will survive. People with multiple skills are surviving after
they had been fired from their job. This is because they are using their skills creatively to make a living

by doing other things they know and make a business out of it. C ritical thinking, creativity,
collaboration and communication skills are now helping them to go further while
people with less skills are finding it hard to solve their problems. With the
government tweaking the education system, it certainly helps youths to use the skills
that they had acquired to continue their journey towards excellence.