Week 30:Contemporary trends in New Zealand or internationally.
CISC 8100
Week 30 - Activity 6: Contemporary trends in New Zealand or internationally.
Task: Create a reflective entry where first I analyse a trend that is influencing or shaping NZ or international education that is relevant to my practice.
What?
The main trend that I see as being influential both nationally and internationally is the impact of digital learning in education. Digital learning has taken education and the world by storm and the changes in technologies in workspaces is constantly changing as is the expectation for our learners to be prepared to work in this environment.
What relevance does this have to my practice? The emergence of the digital age has developed an urgency for all teachers including myself to make sure they are able to implement the programmes needed to develop skills and a learning culture that will set them up for success. The face of teaching has changed, classrooms are no longer isolated and learning can and does occur anywhere anytime.
So What?
One of my Mind Lab colleagues mentioned education needs to be responsive to technology and my internal response to this was that while that would be the ideal, much of what I’ve seen at a local primary level is that New Zealand Schools are barely keeping up with providing the technology at a fast enough pace let alone with the exponential changes occurring in the digital world. It is also noticeable not all schools are equal in what they can offer their students nor their roll out of the new Digital Technologies Curriculum.
While many NZ schools have ‘scrambled’ to move forward by bringing in aspects of this not so new technology by introducing coding, robotics, blogging and more recently using
platforms for flipped or personalised learning such as Hapara. Many are still catching up with introducing the learning culture and digital citizenship needed to embed these new practices while others are using digital devices as a substitution for replacing worksheets.
Many teachers have raced to stay ahead of their students and many are frightened by suddenly arriving in a place of being the learner.
In my own school’s practice Hapara is into its second year of use and we have only recently been able to purchase Chrome books for the senior class at an almost 1:2 ratio. Long term planning is essential to ensure we keep up with upgrading technology. With the physical technology comes the teaching pedagogy, learner agency and digital citizenship that must be built alongside it. In the junior school we are using iPads and half a dozen Chrome Books. Having time to explore the possibilities open to us takes time and an openness to develop new pedagogy and skills.
Teachers open to risk taking and self-motivated in their own learning are helping to move the growth in knowledge and the behaviours needed to be 21st Century Learners but are we truly keeping up with the pace of change needed to work in the world?
Daggett (2014) says our students don’t use devices in school despite being “digital natives,” and while making changes in schools is essential the data above shows the disparity or lag between students using mobile digital devices at school and in the real world. Students are engaging on platforms which we need to harness and make use of in their learning.
What Now?
School leadership needs to ensure the strength of their long term vision is sustainable and has the ability to move where technology takes us by growing a culture that is not resistant to change. Adequate tools to use and professional development needs to continue to be provided to ensure equity for teachers and students. Governance bodies need to assist with removing barriers to digital learning such as cost and supply as well as ensuring robust policies provide solutions for related issues like; cyber safety and cyber bullying.
Longitudinal research also needs to be in place to monitor the as yet unknown impact of long term device use. All of these things can be achieved by collaboration nationally and globally.
References:
Source: Daggett, B. (2014). Addressing Current and Future Challenges in Education. Retrieved from http://www.leadered.com/pdf/2014MSC_AddressingCurrentandFutureChallenges.pdf
CORE Education (2018) Ten Trends 2018. Retrieved on 7 July 2018 from http://core-ed.org/assets/Uploads/Ten-Trends-14May2018.pdf Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D. and Jasper, M. (2001). Critical reflection in nursing and the helping professions: a user’s guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Week 30 - Activity 6: Contemporary trends in New Zealand or internationally.
Task: Create a reflective entry where first I analyse a trend that is influencing or shaping NZ or international education that is relevant to my practice.
What?
The main trend that I see as being influential both nationally and internationally is the impact of digital learning in education. Digital learning has taken education and the world by storm and the changes in technologies in workspaces is constantly changing as is the expectation for our learners to be prepared to work in this environment.
What relevance does this have to my practice? The emergence of the digital age has developed an urgency for all teachers including myself to make sure they are able to implement the programmes needed to develop skills and a learning culture that will set them up for success. The face of teaching has changed, classrooms are no longer isolated and learning can and does occur anywhere anytime.
So What?
One of my Mind Lab colleagues mentioned education needs to be responsive to technology and my internal response to this was that while that would be the ideal, much of what I’ve seen at a local primary level is that New Zealand Schools are barely keeping up with providing the technology at a fast enough pace let alone with the exponential changes occurring in the digital world. It is also noticeable not all schools are equal in what they can offer their students nor their roll out of the new Digital Technologies Curriculum.
While many NZ schools have ‘scrambled’ to move forward by bringing in aspects of this not so new technology by introducing coding, robotics, blogging and more recently using
platforms for flipped or personalised learning such as Hapara. Many are still catching up with introducing the learning culture and digital citizenship needed to embed these new practices while others are using digital devices as a substitution for replacing worksheets.
Many teachers have raced to stay ahead of their students and many are frightened by suddenly arriving in a place of being the learner.
In my own school’s practice Hapara is into its second year of use and we have only recently been able to purchase Chrome books for the senior class at an almost 1:2 ratio. Long term planning is essential to ensure we keep up with upgrading technology. With the physical technology comes the teaching pedagogy, learner agency and digital citizenship that must be built alongside it. In the junior school we are using iPads and half a dozen Chrome Books. Having time to explore the possibilities open to us takes time and an openness to develop new pedagogy and skills.
Teachers open to risk taking and self-motivated in their own learning are helping to move the growth in knowledge and the behaviours needed to be 21st Century Learners but are we truly keeping up with the pace of change needed to work in the world?
Daggett (2014) says our students don’t use devices in school despite being “digital natives,” and while making changes in schools is essential the data above shows the disparity or lag between students using mobile digital devices at school and in the real world. Students are engaging on platforms which we need to harness and make use of in their learning.
What Now?
School leadership needs to ensure the strength of their long term vision is sustainable and has the ability to move where technology takes us by growing a culture that is not resistant to change. Adequate tools to use and professional development needs to continue to be provided to ensure equity for teachers and students. Governance bodies need to assist with removing barriers to digital learning such as cost and supply as well as ensuring robust policies provide solutions for related issues like; cyber safety and cyber bullying.
Longitudinal research also needs to be in place to monitor the as yet unknown impact of long term device use. All of these things can be achieved by collaboration nationally and globally.
References:
Source: Daggett, B. (2014). Addressing Current and Future Challenges in Education. Retrieved from http://www.leadered.com/pdf/2014MSC_AddressingCurrentandFutureChallenges.pdf
CORE Education (2018) Ten Trends 2018. Retrieved on 7 July 2018 from http://core-ed.org/assets/Uploads/Ten-Trends-14May2018.pdf Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D. and Jasper, M. (2001). Critical reflection in nursing and the helping professions: a user’s guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
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