Promote Learning Survival Skills Through Technology Integration in Course Design

Introduction

The term “survival skills” refers to techniques and methods that are used to sustain living in a natural environment. “Learning survival skills” are the skills needed to sustain effective and efficient learning in an environment that is conducive to learning. Wagner (2008a) describes learning survival skills as 21^st century skills that are crucial for successful graduates to survive in the job market today. The intertwined relationship between learning survival skills and 21^st century skills is demonstrated when comparing the several educational frameworks (for example: P21 Framework, Tony Wagner’s Seven Survival Skills, EnGauge Framework from Metiri/NCREL) that were designed over the last decade and realizing that both survival skills and 21st century skills are developed within these frameworks (Dede, 2010; Hanover Research, 2011; Metri Group, 2003; Wagner, 2008a). The value of learning survival skills elucidated by Wagner (2008a) and Crockett et al. (2011) reveals that students leaving school in the current era will require teaching and learning to be designed in such a way that this skill development is embedded in activities and they gain authentic experiences. A crucial part of this skill development stems from the integration of technology into learning experiences.

The exponential growth of technology development demands radical learning survival skill development sustainability to create life-long learning with technology integration (Wagner, 2008a). Technology integration in course design needs to be viewed panoramically taking into consideration the design approaches, the facilitation strategies and the student response or experience (Davies & West, 2014). This article focuses on the use of mobile technology on various levels by the learning designer, facilitator, and student, while the shared goal is to enhance learning survival skills in a constructionist approach. The constructionist approach, based on the work of Papert (1980), views learning as a process of discovering, building knowledge, and creating real-world objects based on what is already known. With this approach, students are not only engaged with real-world situations and tasks, but also learn by doing (Cocciolo, 2011; Paramaxi et al, 2013; Papert, 1980; Sirisopon & Sopeerak, 2013).

The integration of technology in course design, influences the course design and the student experience in a course. Technology plays a prominent role in education and is used in various ways (Waddell, 2015). It can be utilized for communication, distributing information, and creating artifacts to host eLearning programs, to name but a few (Frezzo, 2017; Raja & Nagasubramani, 2018). Subsequently, technology is seen as a tool that can be used to develop the sought-after learning survival skills that our students lack (Frezzo, 2017). 21st century students need skills that include the popular 4Cs for education (collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking) as well as the use of ICT for learning, self-regulation, innovation and solving real-world problems (Bray, & Tangney, 2016; C21 Canadians for 21st Century Learning & Innovation, 2012; Stauffer, 2020). The conglomeration of these skills constitutes learning survival skills.