TECHNOLOGY
#6 Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) The hyperconnected and free equivalent of what we used to call correspondence courses. The concept is that taught content is remixed and shared by the community of students taking part. The first MOOC (a course on Artificial Intelligence) boasted a student to staff ratio of 150,000:1 and an age participation bracket of 11 - 74 years. MOOCs mean you can ‘send your child to MIT’. For free.
The missing explanation So we understand the what and the how of educational technology, but the biggest unanswered question for many parents is the ‘why?’. Our company works with organisations to help them apply technology in a smarter way. The number one cause of organisations failing in their use of technology is that they never understood the ‘why?’ questions. “Why this? Why now? Why not that?” The application of technology dictates its overall value. To borrow a medical principle: treatment without diagnosis is malpractice. So why are so many schools opening up to
KEY SKILLS FOR THE DIGITAL ECONOMY 8 key skills needed for success in an increasingly connected society
technology in such a big way, and why now? There is a misconception among unbelievers that the goal is to replace teachers with technology. Writer and futurist Arthur C. Clarke said “a teacher that can be replaced by a machine should be” (Arthur C Clarke, 1980). I instinctively remember the school teachers that I could have replaced with access to Google.com with no detriment to my education. However, proponents of technology emphasise that they do not wish to replace teachers, they want to do something much bolder. They want to transform education and with it, the role of the teacher. If every reader of ISIS can agree on one thing, it is that young people love technology. A worry for many is that the driving force for the adoption of technology in schools is the students. Has the iPad’s unprecedented popularity in younger age brackets forced our schools to concede to their use in the classroom? Maybe, but given the penetration of these same tools and trends in the workplace, does it matter how they got into schools? It is called disruptive technology for a reason. We
need a deeper integration of technology in the classroom if the education system is to prepare students for success in a rapidly changing digital society. Where else will our young people learn how to steward technology effectively? Educationalist Sir Ken Robinson argues that little has changed in the way the West educates its students since the Victorians developed the formal education system to feed the bureaucratic machine that served the empire and the industrial revolution. The world has certainly changed considerably since those days, even if education has not. One of Robinson’s main gripes is on the ‘standardisation’ of formal education, where the goal of the system has become about teaching students how to pass an exam, rather than how to think for themselves. A much espoused philosophy of the educational technology movement is to customise the learning experience for each individual, so they can learn to teach themselves for life, and thrive in a changing environment. Educational researcher Sugata Mitra argues that, in fact, if the right environment exists, students will willingly
#1 Connect
#2 Communicate
The ability to connect with others in an authentic way when it is possible to ‘add’ friends online. Emotional intelligence is an area of huge ongoing research, with some, such as Daniel Goleman, arguing that a person’s Emotional Quotient (EQ) is more important than their IQ.
Central to the ability to connect with others is the ability to understand and be understood across multiple media. We have so many communication tools that the quality of the conversation in many platforms is diminished by the noise of crowds.
TECHNOLOGY
themselves to attract the best students. There is a danger that some schools may introduce technology without a thorough assessment of its real value. iPads in the classroom are sometimes seen as a distraction. How will we keep students away from playing Candy Crush Saga in the classroom? One iPad rollout in the US received bad press when it materialised that up to 200 students in one high-school had circumnavigated the school’s distraction blocking software, allowing unfettered access to YouTube, Facebook et al. According to Renee Hobbs of the University of Rhode Island, we need a paradigm shift on how technology is perceived, saying “children are growing up today with the iPad used as a device for entertainment. So when the iPad comes into the classroom, then there’s a shift in everybody’s thinking”. I agree. If school can’t be the place where our young people learn how to handle technology - where can be? Whilst we did not have iPads in my school, I certainly found other ways to distract myself (and others) from their work, much to the frustration of school staff. Let’s be honest,
people found that 84 percent of participants could not go 24 hours without their mobile device. A quarter of participants admitted to checking their phones every 30 minutes. Numerous studies are warning us of the potential damage excessive use of technology can cause physically, mentally and
how often did you find yourself doodling or writing notes to your classmates? The iPad is just as much a tool as the pen. The chief value of a tool is in its application - if the worker is distracted, blame him, not his tool. A more subtle, but deeper area of doubt is summarised well by writer Valerie Yue, expressing her concern that “too much reliance on technology such as the iPad could lead to children devaluing the presence of paper and pencil.” This is the most unifying concern among cynics. Thankfully, Swiss schools have not attempted a total shift to paperless learning. VFlorimont have thought carefully about the time and place for devices in-lieu of paper; sometimes paper is mandatory and other times it is down to student choice. This is a smart move that teaches students that sometimes they are better off without a screen.
Conclusion An effective educational technology strategy isn’t merely about squeezing technology into the current curriculum so students know how to use iPads. In five years’ time, tablet computers may not exist as we know them now, so it is about
socially. The ability to set healthy boundaries around technology is important as more of the world shifts online. #8 Security
With greater connectivity comes greater concern for security. Schools and parents should make it a priority to teach young people to be
teaching skills for a hyperconnected world that we can’t even imagine yet, teaching students to learn for themselves and adapt to changing workplace requirements. Without objective data, we cannot fully understand the impact of technology in the classroom. Thankfully, studies being conducted around the globe by the likes of Mitra will yield results. Meanwhile, the potential risks of technology in the classroom are closely tied to the quality of the underlying strategy. If all Swiss schools are thinking like GEMS-Academy and Florimont, they are doing a good job. The last word should be given to those at the heart of the sector - not government, not eLearning companies, but the end-users of educational technology. In their latest survey, staff and students alike at Florimont expressed a high degree of satisfaction regarding the school’s application of technology in the classroom.
aware of their ‘digital footprint’, especially on social networks. Just like a thief going through your paper recycling to build a picture of your life and movements, criminals can harvest information from online activity. We must help students to build mental filters to help them spot dangerous websites and scams.