Did you know that 90% of the world's data was created in the last 2 years? Neither did I until last night. But apparently the world is moving quite quickly, and technology advancements are a key driver in this rapid river of change and discovery (mixing metaphors here but I think the idea is clear enough)!
This week we are considering a broader, international context with regards to not just the world around us but how it affects education on a global, national and local context. The trends on a global scale are both fascinating and terrifying, with a future that feels completely inevitable but also incredibly unclear. Coming from an ILE (innovative learning environment) where my students are 1:1 with devices, and the teachers are learning about how to best teach our students to be 21st Century learners I wanted to focus on the trend of technology and its rate of accelerated progress. This trend is both a blessing and a challenge in terms of providing so many new and innovative opportunities both in an out of the classroom, but also in terms of pushing teachers to remain constantly skilled and informed on the latest technological trends and advancements (tricky when you barely have time to keep up with your Facebook feed).
Technology is a huge part of my students' life. They were specifically chosen to be in our ILE because of the way in which they enjoyed learning digitally, and their learning each day takes place in a digital context. Through Mindlab I have begun to question the way in which I use technology in the classroom, using the ITL rubrics as a helpful tool to assess the authenticity of this integration for student learning. Part of supporting my students to be 21st Century learners means not just showing them the latest technological trends (which become outdated within months) but instead using the current innovations to try and facilitate their development as thoughtful, creative, collaborative, problem solvers.
The National Intelligence Council (2017) discusses the trend of technology advancement and its dual nature of both accelerating progress whilst causing divisions and threats for society. The OECD (2016) puts this into an educational context, discussing the need for teachers and students to become critical consumers of digital technology and online information. Within New Zealand one of the effects of this trend has been the issues around supply for students. Schools have used methods such as BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) which can then lead to issues for students who are not in a position to bring any device for use. Our school is one where devices are provided for students, however at this stage most classrooms are limited to a few chromebooks or iPads. This can create a digital divide even within our school between the classrooms that are 1:1 and those that are not.
Another aspect of this trend of increasing technological progress is dealing with issues around cyber safety and security - including concerns from whanau and community. Within our school we have approached these issues by not only discussing risks with students and ensuring they have a clear understanding, but also inviting whanau into our school for an informal event where they were able to both pose questions as well as hear more about how we use these digital advancements safely in the classroom.
One last consideration is how our curriculum fits with the changes that are happening at so quick a pace. Luckily our New Zealand curriculum has very recently added a digital technologies area that is to be implemented in every classroom, from year 1 to year 10, from the beginning of next year, 2018 (Ministry of Education, 2017). The focus here is to help students become more than just users of the new digital advancements in technology, and instead foster their abilities to become creators in this world that we can not prepare for.
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| Me trying to figure out how to get the technology to work with 52 kids waiting... |
Technology is a huge part of my students' life. They were specifically chosen to be in our ILE because of the way in which they enjoyed learning digitally, and their learning each day takes place in a digital context. Through Mindlab I have begun to question the way in which I use technology in the classroom, using the ITL rubrics as a helpful tool to assess the authenticity of this integration for student learning. Part of supporting my students to be 21st Century learners means not just showing them the latest technological trends (which become outdated within months) but instead using the current innovations to try and facilitate their development as thoughtful, creative, collaborative, problem solvers.
One last consideration is how our curriculum fits with the changes that are happening at so quick a pace. Luckily our New Zealand curriculum has very recently added a digital technologies area that is to be implemented in every classroom, from year 1 to year 10, from the beginning of next year, 2018 (Ministry of Education, 2017). The focus here is to help students become more than just users of the new digital advancements in technology, and instead foster their abilities to become creators in this world that we can not prepare for.
This has been a huge learning event for us this year. When we look back at it, I am surprised at how well it has gone. I am surprised because we have dramatically reinvented how we teach in our class.
ReplyDeleteThe digital revolution is here and it is hard to think of how we are going to exist within this environment when it is changing so rapidly.