Abstract:

Nowadays, most children are acquainted with digital technology even before they start school; however, their knowledge of technology needs to be elevated to a level of using technology for education purposes. It is important for learners to integrate digital technological knowledge into meaningful learning contexts. This paper explores how the digitalised learning pedagogies are in sync with the 21st century teaching during the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. The paper is influenced by the outbreak of Covid-19 and its impact on the education sector more especially with the shift from the predominant delivery mode of teaching, i.e. face-to-face to a blended learning approach. In response to Covid-19 outbreak in the education sector, plans were made to adopt online learning under the ‘new normal’ as there were no contact sessions allowed with students due to COVID-19 lockdown regulations. This provision aimed at ensuring that the academic year is saved and no students are left out. The adoption of digitalised pedagogies may empower student teachers to adopt appropriate pedagogies that promote blended learning for effective teaching and learning in the 21st century context. Teaching in the 21st century is predominantly the teacher’s ability to adopt innovative approaches that maximise learner engagement and collaboration through digital platforms. Thus, this paper will be guided by TPACK model because it emphasises the importance of subject content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and technological knowledge that teachers should possess. The model accentuates that for teachers to successfully adopt digitalised pedagogies they need to have a deepened understanding of the content subject, the knowledge of suitable methods to use in teaching the chosen topic, and the knowledge of appropriate technological tools one can adopt when teaching. Through the use of google forms and online journals from Blackboard Collaborate Ultra, 20 final year student teachers will be selected to share their experiences of online learning during the Covid-19 and their level of preparedness for the world of work. Although this paper focusses on the digitalised pedagogical approaches during the unprecedented time of Covid-19, the paper intends to forecast the innovative pedagogies that can be adopted during and beyond Covid-19 pandemic. The lessons that may be learned from this paper may inform the teacher educators about the appropriate pedagogical approaches to adopt in preparing student teachers for the 21st century teaching. The findings may reveal better strategies to be adopted to transform and fortify teacher education programmes to ensure that student teachers have acquired necessary skills that prepare them for the 21st century teaching even beyond Covid-19.

Keywords:

21st century skills, Blended learning, COVID-19 pandemic, Digital learning, Innovation, Pedagogy, Online learning, Teacher education.