MESSAGE FOR STUDENTS

Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach. The 21^st century generation needs a new skills set to perform effectively to the common good of humanity. They need knowledge and skills that can help them in practical life. The revolutionary changes in communication have changed our educational needs. Today our syllabus encompasses academic disciplines that can make a child an expert in the use of modern technology.

Today our students want to equip themselves with innovative and logical thinking, communication, cooperation, access to useful information, cultural integration before entering the practical life.

Zahanat.com provides you the platform to gain these skills and knowledge. You can have educational information according to your grade, you can take tests and can revise them for better grades. You can contact your friends, family members and other relatives by using this platform.

You will find zahanat.com standing shoulder to shoulder with you in your quest for knowledge. This is the platform where you can gain knowledge and skills beyond the boundaries of time and space.

The 21^st century dawned with the unprecedented technological growth and information explosion. The revolutionary tools for information access changed the ways of our lives. The explosion of information is so strong that technology and tools are becoming increasingly obsolete before they hit the shelves in developing countries. Such fast paced life in 21century demands for special skills. The 21^st century skills and curriculum may differ in category and interpretation but they must include;

Innovation & Creativity:

Innovation and creativity means creating new ways of thinking to solve new problems of life by creating new products and services.

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving:

Critical thinking entails application of higher order thinking to solve an issue or problem. The thinking should have been backed up by appropriate reasoning to effectively analyze the problems. The decisions made on such critical thinking and analyzed should carry the most effective way of solving problems.

Communication

Communication means ability to communicate in an effective way in broader spectrum of forms and context with the proficient use of multimedia skills and technologies to cover a wider range of purposes.

Collaboration:

Collaboration is the ability to work with others in a respectful and effective way by creating, and sharing knowledge to bring in effective solutions through innovation.

Information Management:

One of the most soughed after demands of 21^st century skills is the ability to access, analyze, synthesize, create and share information gathered through multiple sources of communication and information dissemination.

Effective Use of Technology:

The ability to identify appropriate technology and capacity to use the technology in efficient, effective and ethical way as a tool to access, extract, organize, evaluate and share the information.

 Career and Life Skills:

 The 21^st century skills and curriculum emphasizes for the students to develop skills that can make them self-directed, independent learners, responsible workers that are able to adapt to change. They are able to manage projects, have the courage to take responsibility of their actions, lead others by example and produce desired results from a diverse workforce.

Cultural Awareness:

The journey from local to global develops with cultural competence. The cultural awareness aims at developing skills that help students to recognize and respect cultural differences while working with people from a diverse cultural and social background.

The world we are living in today seems to us a new world but for our children it is just life. While we look at the technological advancements with reverence, our children seldom find a word of praise for the most latest advancements. They need more sophistication. We are living in their world- we are living in digital era- an era of information communication technology where 93% of children between the age of 12 to 17 are online, where people load around 13 hours videos on You Tube in one minute, where majority of teens consider cell phone as necessity of life, and where Facebook could be considered the 5^th most populous country (if geography permits).

The digital life our kids are accustomed to could be described by the media around us including cell phones, mobile devices and any other such thing. The digital media is considered interactive where users create content that could become viral in seconds. Children are increasingly using this media for doing their homework, expressing their inner thoughts, socializing with family and friends, and connecting with the world around them to give it true meaning of the word- global village.

While lives of our children are being woven around the digital media, the knowledge and information they get is dubbed as digital literacy which means the ability to use technology in competent way to understand and interpret the digital content after accessing its credibility. It is the ability of children to create, research and communicate with the world around them using appropriate digital tools. Digital literacy is an essential element of media education in 21^st century where a curriculum of critical thinking and creativity is taught to students.

In digital age, digital literacy gives way to the concept of digital citizenship which means the children appreciate their responsibility for their content and actions on internet, cell phone and other digital media. The vastness and vulnerability of digital media asks for the need to develop and practice safe, legal and ethical behaviors in digital age.

The overall concept of digital literacy and citizenship demands that in the dynamic digital world, we need new comprehensions, communications skills and code of conducts to ensure the safety of our children while using the all powerful media and technology. We want to ensure that these technologies are used in a responsible and ethical way. We are well aware of the fact that digital world is the world of distant which lacks the rule of cause and effect and action and reaction that makes it vulnerable place for unethical and illegal practices.

Our children are born in the midst of technological revolution which is defining their lives in an unprecedented way. Children are spending more time in texting, chatting, watching movies and playing video games than with their parents or peers at school and at home. The digital era has placed the world in your palm that has made access to huge information, and user generated content which is going to affect our children’s physical, social and mental growth.  We as parents are walking on the thin line of perils and possibilities of digital era. The stakes are high for the reason that many of us are not well versed with new technologies to make a check on the information accessible to our children.

The 21^st century people are encompassed by an environment characterized with technology and media where they have access to an abundance of information, speedy changes and advancements in technology and ability to collaborate and contribute at a larger scale.  The 21^st century demands for a variety of functional and critical thinking skills with respect to information, media and technology.

Students need to be equipped with information literacy in order to access information efficiently and effectively and evaluate this information in a critical and competent way. Not only has this but students also needed to use this information accurately and creatively to solve in hand problems and issues. They need to be able to manage the flow of information from different sources and have a thorough understanding of the legal and ethical issues related to use of information.

The students require having comprehensive media literacy where they should be able to understand the purpose and process of media messages. They should have the ability to examine how messages are interpreted differently by different people by including or excluding personal values and point of views. They need to develop the understanding that how media can influence beliefs and behaviors. They also need to have a fundamental understanding of the issues and problems surrounding the access and use of media. The 21^st century students need to understand and utilize appropriate media tools to present the appropriate expressions and interpretations to a culturally diversified population.

The students need to develop the ability to use technology as tool for research, evaluation and communication of information using all appropriate tools to access, manage, integrate and create information in the knowledge economy.

Creativity and innovation are closely related constructs with overlapping characteristics. In essence, creativity means generation of novel but useful ideas by an individual. The innovation on the other hand is the process to capture, filter, fund, develop, modify, clarify, and implement. Creativity fuels the innovation. Hence, organizations should create such cultures where creative ideas are generated frequently and where innovation processes are utilized to realize the potential of such creative ideas.

 The world is changing in an unprecedented pace. The importance of managing creativity and innovation is becoming increasingly important in this fast paced world. The schools as organization should arrange such environment that helps students understanding creativity and innovation.  As an organization, the determinants for schools encouraging innovation and creativity are strategy, structure, support mechanisms, and behaviors. The understanding of beliefs, norms and values that play a vital role in creativity and innovation, should be inculcated into students.

 Organizational culture does impact the process of creativity and innovation. There are different processes, mechanisms and structures that help inculcating the culture of creativity and innovation.

The students in digital era of information communication technology need a platform that not only support their academic needs but also provide them opportunity for positive socializing. At www.zahanat.com, you find the platform that helps you in your academics. You can take tests at our website according to your class and curriculum. You are able to retake your tests for better understanding of the subject. At zahanat.com you can socialize with your class fellows, teachers and peers. You find learning resources according to your class. You earn certificates, awards and scholarships at   www.zahanat.com.

The 21^st century classrooms are transcending the limits of time and space. The information communication technology has made it possible for students to learn beyond geographical boundaries. In the fast paced world of today, learning is no more confined to four walls of a school.

With zahanat.com you are able to learn beyond classrooms. Zahanat.com provides you such an environment where you find yourself comfortable with the learning process. Zahanat.com is constituted with the material that is devised for your educational and personal development. When you register at zahanat.com, you become part of a community that is connected beyond the limits of classrooms.