Different theories exist for cognition and learning, and well known theorists such as Vgotsky, Piaget and Skinner documented many of these theories. For future learning to be effective, children need to be challenged from birth to stimulate cognitive development. At school, students need to be given opportunities to construct new knowledge by building on their existing knowledge. When learning becomes a challenge and students are in their zone of proximal development, guidance to understand new knowledge (scaffolding) assists with learning. Levels of thinking and reasoning occur in different stages of development, for example the ability to reason and think hypothetically occurs in older students from about the age of eleven. Younger students are busy learning numeracy and literacy and then learning the ability to relate their thinking to personal experiences. Social interaction is necessary for cognitive development as can children benefit from the world around them, and learn from other’s thoughts and opinions. Social interaction can encourage students to learn.
Motivating students of today is an important task for teachers in a rapidly changing world. There are various theories of motivation, and teachers of today must ensure students of today are having their basic needs met so that students can reach their full potential. Goals must be made so that students are motivated to accomplish these. Students with low self-esteem need extra guidance to boost their motivation and different methods can be used to assist students to feel secure at school. Teachers in 2010 and beyond must get to know their students as individuals to find out what makes them tick.
Teachers who get to know their students will often have a better chance at managing behaviour in classrooms. Classroom management takes a lot of planning and can be a demanding task. Routine and positive learning environments are beneficial for teachers of 2010 and beyond. Children can take emotional baggage to the classroom, and not only that, our fast growing multi-cultural population also brings a diversity of behaviours, therefore, teachers must have an understanding of people in the wider community. Negative behaviours should be dealt with appropriately to ensure effective management of the classroom; this demonstrates professionalism by teachers and allows for them to stay in control. Effective classroom management is also demonstrated when a teacher exhibits an understanding of constructing knowledge.
Constructing knowledge is a challenging issue for teachers of 2010 and beyond as it is essential to meet the needs of a diversity of students. Knowledge that is constructed differs from each individual due to the unique set of experiences that the individual has previously experienced, therefore learning is an internal process influenced by the learner’s past. Instructional methods have changed greatly, no longer are traditional classroom methods solely used in schools, lessons have developed to include constructivist and group learning, enabling students to take some control of their own learning with concrete and social experiences. Future learners are multi-taskers as they learn and develop in classrooms of the 21st Century.
Advancement in technology has launched classrooms of the future into a very exciting place to be! From chalkboard and chalk to paper and pen, the future shows signs of students with laptops and virtual multimedia to assist with classroom learning. Social and cognitive development is shaped further by exposure to the Internet and multimedia. Connecting socially via communications technology can assist and motivate to learn, however, students of 2010 and beyond should be taught ethics as well as the consequence of plagiarism.
