Title: Preparing education for the information society: the need for new knowledge and skills

Authors: Tjeerd Plomp

Addresses: University of Twente, Faculty of Behavioral Sciences, Postbus 217, 7500AE Enschede, The Netherlands

Abstract: This article addresses the broader question of what education is needed in an information society. It firstly presents the characteristics of the information or knowledge society, and then gives an introduction to the concept of 21st century skills. A specific model called KSAVE framework for 21st century skills is presented and discussed as an example of conceptualising these skills. In addition, some international initiatives to meet the needs of the information society are described. As new goals for education have implications for school curricula, curricular aspects and challenges related to introducing 21st century skills are further discussed at the end of the article.

Keywords: information society; knowledge society; 21st century skills; KSAVE; new knowledge; social media; curriculum; school curricula; education.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMILE.2013.051651

International Journal of Social Media and Interactive Learning Environments, 2013 Vol.1 No.1, pp.3 - 18

Received: 29 Aug 2012
Accepted: 30 Aug 2012
Published online: 28 Feb 2014 *

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