Rethinking How School Works &
Technology is accelerating progress but causing discontinuities.
Whakatauki:
Ka huri te moana, ka noho tonu.
The ocean changes and yet stays the same.
Communication & Coding
The accelerating changes within technology; accessibility, application and implementation within the classroom, is the trend that strikes a chord with me. The recent release of the draft Digital Technologies document by the New Zealand Ministry of Education (2017), promoting computer coding as an integral element in the classroom, highlighted again the gasping rush of breath as our government recognises the inevitability of a digital future that is unfolding faster than we can keep pace.
To be or not to be left out of the loop? That is the imponderable question. Learning the language of algorithms and empowering our populace through an understanding of the principles and structures of computer coding should be a core curriculum subject. It is a common language within all countries and as such it may become a key in future communication, human to humans, between humans and machines, between artificial intelligences (A.I.) and humans, and inevitably machine to machine, A.I. to A.I. We cannot know the future pace of change within technology as much of it will be developed by technologies themselves. There is every possibility that even if students learn coding, the coding of this decade could look like the Dead Sea scrolls within ten years. Languages may well be developed by A.I. as a way to communicate exclusively between themselves. I recognise a Rosetta Stone when I see binary code and despite the development of technologic languages that may evolve, even linguists need a common reference point.
Limitations of Technology
The limitations of technology within a classroom setting are those posed by infrastructure, classroom practice and the technology itself. Providing equitable access, (one of the issues identified in the 2016 OECD report, Trends Shaping Education) to digital tools can be difficult however in my own school we are part a Manaiakalani Outreach programme. Through this programme a number of schools have been able to establish an educational trust, Toki Pounamu, that underwrites the costs of digital tools within classrooms. These laptops are bulk bought, have ongoing technical support, and are either paid for in full or paid off by whanau so that they are owned by the students.
The updated and upgraded infrastructure within my school setting has put paid to earlier dissonance around slow processing and interrupted connectivity. An expectation that students will be equipped for their digital world has been supported by whanau and management. This support has resulted in ongoing skill building workshops/toolkits for teachers. The practice in the classroom
The goal of advancing learning through a digital platform has been very successful to date. The amount of learning for teachers such as myself who come from a paper based teaching background to working within a digital environment has been akin to moving from the abacus to the calculator in the space of a day! Now I would not willingly choose to relinquish the affordances of a digital classroom. I have a lot more to learn and, as it ever was, there will be no arrival point in the learning but at least I have glimpsed the train stations as they hurtle past and I have moved a few students forward with me and waved many on as they leave me in their wake.
References:
MInistry of Education, (2017)Digital Technologies /Hangarau Matahako, Wellington, New Zealand
OECD (2016), Trends Shaping Education 2016, OECD Publishing, Paris.
Retrieved from Mindlab2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/trends_edu-2016-en
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