There are a number of contemporary issues in New Zealand that are impacting on our education system. Many of these issues are similar to those of other countries all over the world.
Some of these issues include:
Some of these issues include:
- Socio-economic status – poverty, living conditions, decile ratings (America’s Healthy and Hunger-Free Kids Act)
- Charter schools and IES (Investing in Educational Success)
- Standardised Assessment and National Standards (similar to the UK’s Standard Achievement Tests)
- Collaboration
CORE Education has highlighted what they believe to be the top trends for 2015 in education:
However, a quick google search of current trends in education on a global scale will result in a comprehensive list (unsurprisingly with a strong emphasis around digital technologies), which include:
- inquiry based learning
- students teaching teachers
- use of internet and social media as a teaching tool
- design thinking
- gamification
- flipped classrooms
- coding
- 3d printing
- augmented reality
Whilst all of the mentioned issues within education have a significant impact on my teaching practice and professional community, these issues are dealt with regularly. With that in mind, I have decided to focus on the current digital trends and the way that they are currently (or can potentially) influence my teaching practice and professional community.
These 3 key trends are:
The school that I currently teach in has a decile 1 rating. The socio-economic background of many of the students in my class is low. In order for the students at my school to have access to equal opportunities in education, our community has worked hard to provide digital devices as a tool for learning.
Access to digital devices and global connectedness is advantageous as it empowers students to learn and grow. They become intrinsically motivated by following their passions and what they want to learn about. This in turn also links to collaboration. As students can connect with others, they can also collaborate and share their ideas with others all over the globe, through tools such as google docs.
Students in my class all have their own blogs, as well as us having a class blog. Individual blogs allow opportunities for students to learn, then create and share their learning with a wider audience. Knowing that students have an authentic global audience motivates many students to create quality work which can be commented on by not only their teacher and peers in the classroom, but also can be accessed by an audience at a national and international level.
One of the challenges that the professional community faces is financial. Fortunately, for me, there are people in the cluster assigned to this role which frees me up to focus on my students and teaching.
Other challenges that have arisen through this trend is the increased accessibility of the world, and therefore the extreme importance of ensuring that students are cybersafe. Whilst connecting with people all over the world is advantageous in terms of learning, there are also many dangers. Therefore, to combat this, a cybersafety curriculum is taught in conjunction with the use of digital technologies.
So where to next with global connectedness:
- continue blogging and responding to comments - within the school, Ako Hiko cluster, New Zealand and internationally
- access social media: using skype and twitter to become more connected with a global audience
Our school has recently been offered a 3D printer. This is an amazing opportunity for our students as it will engage, motivate and excite them! I am excited as I consider individuals in my class who I know are fascinated with technology, but who struggle with traditional subjects such as maths and writing. The excitement of the 3D printer will allow for the integration of curriculum areas - for example reading about 3D printers, writing instructions for programming the printer, not to mention the mathematics! This will benefit students as they will be motivated to learn as their interest is sparked by the printer.
The maker culture will allows students to look at design development and creation of models. Rich collaborative challenges could be pitched to students, meaning the 3D printer will allow opportunities for trial and error, alongside developing students’ problem solving abilities as they ask questions and reflect on their learning.
Not only would collaboration take place between students at school, but this could also be extended to staff as teachers develop their confidence and ideas around how to best utilise the technology. As well as extending the collaboration with students and staff at other schools, both in New Zealand, and overseas.
Another advantage of the maker culture is that it can be problem solving based, and linked to student driven projects, such as genius hour. These projects also allow an excellent opportunity for collaboration.
This is a new adventure for myself and our students (that will be embarked upon in term 3), and I’m sure it will be a learning curve for the staff also. With that in mind, some of the challenges (and the solutions!) could be:
- Getting staff on board with using the new technology - guiding teachers how to use the technology and collaborating with them to integrate technology and programming with other curriculum areas. Having the students see the printer in action could also encourage their teachers to take the plunge!
- Troubleshooting technical issues - students could be the leaders here and research or even collaborate with other students to find solutions.
Educators know that not all students learn the same way. I am constantly looking for ways to best cater to the learning needs of my students. Blended learning could be one possible way of exploring this. With many of my students now taking home their devices, lessons could be easily differentiated and instruction personalised.
Blended learning allows for individual learning needs to be catered for and for students to progress at their own rate. By providing face-to-face interactions and digital content that is engaging and challenging, students will be focused and interested in what they are learning. Blended learning allows for creativity and divergent thinking through real world problems alongside a problem solving based approach.
While there are many advantages to this trend, some of the challenges are:
- not all students take home their devices - time could be allocated for students to watch videos, perhaps before school.
- EVERYONE needs to be accountable - a culture of accountability would need to be established for this trend to be successful in my classroom. This would take a fair amount of time to set up.
There are a lot of trends that I could pick up and trial, and this point, these are the areas I will be looking out for the remainder of 2015. I have learnt that while its important to give things a go, it's just as equally important to not overwhelm yourself and attempt to change your teaching practice overnight!
References:
CORE Education. (n.d). CORE Education's Ten Trends 2015. Retrieve from http://www.core-ed.org/thought-leadership/ten-trends
May Road School. (2014). Room 13 @ May Road School. Retrieved from http://mrspercy13.blogspot.co.nz/
Reed, K. (2014). The Knewton Blog: Student Centred Learning: Creating a Culture of Accountability. Retrieved from http://www.knewton.com/blog/ed-tech/student-driven-learning-creating-culture-accountability/
The Learning Accelerator. (2014). What is blended learning? (short). Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/89546618
The White House. (2010). President Obama Signs Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 Into Law. Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/12/13/president-obama-signs-healthy-hunger-free-kids-act-2010-law
SATsguide (n.d) Just ask...SATsguide.co.uk Retrieved from http://www.satsguide.co.uk/what_are_sats.htm
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