-century education: A cyber-tooth curriculum?

It is often assumed that the advent of digital technologies requires fundamental change to the curriculum and to the teaching and learning approaches used in schools around the world to educate this generation of “digital natives” or the “net generation”. This article analyses the concepts of 21 st -century skills and critical thinking to understand how these aspects of learning might contribute to a 21 st -century education. The author argues that although both critical thinking and 21 st -century skills are indeed necessary in a curriculum for a 21 st century education, they are not sufficient, even in combination. The role of knowledge, and an understanding of differing cultural perspectives and values, indicates that education should also fit local contexts in a global world and meet the specific needs of students in diverse cultures, as well as the particular technical and historical demands of the 21 st century in relation to digital skills.