Eğitim Her Yerde: Non-Formal Eğitim Hakkında

The Role of Active Learning in the 21st Century

The 21st century is the era of information, communication and critical thinking. It is not a luxury anymore to learn whatever we want to learn, because opportunities for learning are abundant, with the access to knowledge readily available everywhere. Thus, we are never far from resources for teaching and learning, including the vast realm of the internet! Within such an environment, it is no surprise that education extends beyond formal boundaries, including schools and curriculum.

Currently, the activities in which the learner plays an active role is quite popular. Instead of simply listening to lectures, taking notes, and memorizing information, learners now engage in the experience of having their arguments assessed while also gaining insight into the process of considering and evaluating different perspectives. Here are some activities that prioritize the learner’s thoughts, arguments, personal skills, and role in the learning environment:

🛠️ Workshops

Workshops can cover any topic. All we need are a trainer and individuals interested in a specific subject. A qualified workshop trainer acts as a facilitator, sharing their knowledge and experience without imposing their perspectives. By the end of the session, participants should depart with positive experiences such as learning something new, practicing newly acquired skills and socializing with the people with the same interests.

In the Turkish Intelligence Foundation, we are organizing workshops regularly. You can send us an e-mail from info@tzv.org.tr and learn more about our most popular workshops such as:

• “Intelligence Games Workshop”
• “Critical Thinking Workshop”
• “Awareness for Young People Workshop”

🗣️ Debate Clubs

Debate clubs are increasingly gaining popularity everyday with both high schools and universities hosting them as extracurricular activities rather than formal parts of the education system. Debate clubs are the best places for learning how to construct strong, sound arguments, and how to react to other’s arguments respectfully and logically. You can learn the definition of a valid argument in your logic class but debate clubs give the opportunity to see and construct them as the daily life arguments.

📚 Reading Groups

The benefits of reading multiply when you share your thoughts about what you read and hear other people’s thoughts. There are reading groups with or without a facilitator, and both share this precious benefit of being a part of a reading community: to gain new perspectives while broadening your horizons. Your literature class in your school may be quite illuminating but you can have more room for freedom of thought in a reading group.

🎤 Conferences

Conferences are the gatherings on a particular theme, which brings the experts and the listeners together. The atmosphere of a conference is significantly different from a class’s atmosphere, because people have a chance to communicate with the experts in a social environment. There are benefits beyond learning here, with networking being the most important. In a physics class, you may learn very well about physics but you’ll interact with the same instructor and same participants (students) every week. But in a conference on physics, you will have the chance to meet physics professors and peers from around the world.