Contemporary Trends

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

Digital Collaboration & Leadership - Session 3

Titiro whakamuri, kokiri whakamua
Look back and reflect so we can move forward.

Eric Martini is ahead of his time.  Five or six years ago Eric worked in my classroom to introduce the idea of augmented reality and the app he used was 'Aurasma'.  We used it with students so that they could create mathematical treasure hunts.  It was a really successful and engaging programme and then I never used it again and only a couple of students went on to select it for further work. Last night the possible uses for the app came flooding back and have left me thinking clearly about where augmented reality could be incorporated within teaching and learning next term. Which left me thinking again about Eric. who now runs 'Techspace' in Greymouth: a place where children of all ages can be introduced to computer coding, augmented and virtual reality experiences, 3-D printing, and the 'internet of things'. Why am I not utilising that resource too?

Thinking about the reading on "Conditions For Classroom Technology Innovation" I was struck by how familiar the process of implementation was even though the article was approximately fifteen years old. Which also reminded me of the 'personalities' talked about last week that seem to be ever present within organisations undergoing change and innovation. There is struggle within change, challenge within change, and a need for the critical thinkers and sceptics to be vocal so that change, if it is truly innovative and effective, can be held up to the light to show the watermark of quality and legitimacy. I would be more concerned by change that occurs in a culture of apathetic resignation; that passive reluctance could clear a path for a level of evolutionary change over which there is no control and within which we are subsumed.

Digital Collaboration and Leadership Session 2

Whakatauki:
Titiro whakamuri, kokiri whakamua
Look back and reflect so we can move forward.
It is true, this is a digital world and I teach and learn within that world. And yet all of the technological skills that I have gained have been developed alongside my students, often because of them and through them.

I guess that I can wear the hat of  'early adopter'. I always saw myself undertaking a new learning challenge from the perspective of someone who saw the idea and wanted to go from A through to Z without too much fretting on the remaining 24 points of contact. I just assumed that as I arrived at destination B or C or Q I would figure it out at the time. That attitude has been pivotal to stepping into the digital classroom I teach in. I have assimilated my love of people, learning, communicating and creating into the digital world in so many aspects of my life that now it would be difficult (but not impossible) to think of working in a classroom without technology and the tools that technology allows into the classroom to support teaching and learning.  And yet I know that I have only skimmed the surface at this point.

When I reflect on the area of my 21st Century skills I would like to focus on I think that it would be to develop greater levels of student agency. It is always a delight to watch students awaken, to see them recognise within themselves innate abilities and to see new skills build increased capability and confidence.

I think that my students would agree that this is a suitable challenge for me and for them, and they would think that they could take on that challenge. They are Year 7 & 8 students in a full primary and developing student agency and leadership within the peer group could enhance their sense of self as they transition through to secondary school.