A parents' guide to common sense education in Alberta /

The author of this study has worked independently and the opinions expressed are therefore their own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the board of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. [...] Advocates of this approach say that the rapid increase in the amount of information and its easy accessibility via the Internet make it impractical for students to focus on the acquisition of knowledge. [...] This is why 21st Century Learning recommends reducing the amount of content in the curriculum, increasing the amount of “personalized” instruction and making technology available in classrooms.6 John Kershaw, president of C21 Canada, recently noted that Alberta was “leading the country on the 21st Century Learning movement.”7 Clearly, the Alberta government has invested heavily in the 21st Century [...] In contrast with such an atomistic and static conception of objectives the aim here is to set forth dynamic objectives inherently related to life as a process and therefore to natural and useful learning.11 A consistent theme of the 21st Century Learning movement, in general, and Alberta’s “Inspiring Education” initiative, in particular, is that the world is changing faster than ever and education [...] In the introduction to his book, he says: The role of the constructivist teacher is claimed to be more of facilitation to provide opportunities for individual students to acquire knowledge and construct meaning through their own activities, and through discussion, reflection and the sharing of ideas with other learners with minimal corrective intervention.