EMERGING TRENDS IN STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN THE 21ST CENTURY CONTEMPORARY WORLD

Abstract

Student engagement in higher education is becoming a top priority but challenging agenda item in the 21st

century of higher educational institutions. The digital natives in our classes are no more like students 20 years

ago. While major curricula reforms of this era focus on providing students with capabilities of learning new and

innovative skills and knowledge for effective living in the 21st century of swift technological revolution, educa

tors are confronted with the challenge of engaging students for effective learning to achieve this goal. Academ

ics and administrators have begun to tackle and rethink of how to enhance the engagement of students in this era

of technology where students are hooked to Facebooking, sending and receiving messages, tweeting, googling,

chatting and doing many other things while lecture is going on. This situation is subjecting teachers to new and

multiple pressures of how to keep learners focused on the classroom activities and stay connected to the lecture.

Therefore, the 21st century curriculum and teaching requires a paradigm shift in the minds of curriculum devel

opers, teachers and a shift in the ways that instruction is delivered in order to keep students engaged to promote

learners participation in the learning and teaching processes. Thus, this paper is to explore emergent curriculum

trends which have significant implications on how teachers should teach, what kind of curriculum and teaching

methodology should be in place in order to engage students so that effective teaching and learning take place.