A New School Year
Wow is it warm! At 11:00pm last night it was 22 degrees celsius, which made for an uncomfortable sleep. All our students have settled in really well and are excited about the schooling year.
I was watching on TV3 News last night an article about how some schools are requiring students to have a laptop at school. They spoke to Pru Kelly, Principal of Wellington High School, who said that it is now compulsory for the Year 9 students to have a laptop. There are also a number of other schools that are now requiring families to own or lease laptops for school. Russell Burt of Point England Primary School said. “Our families are going to find $15 a month for each child in this programme. We’re working with WINZ and other government agencies [to help those families that can't pay the monthly $15].”
Schools such as these, I believe, are doing their students a great service by allowing the 1:1 use of computers. Just as we would not expect students to share one text book or one paint brush for every seven students, the same can be said about computers. Sure, I am not denying that they come at a great expense and yes, they can easily become very expensive typewriters, but used efficiently they really help engage students in their learning.
I am proud to say that I work in a school were we can offer 1:1 computing free of charge to our students. I support the Secondary Schools Association when they said more computers in classrooms is a good idea and that technology is increasingly becoming a necessity, not an option, and the Government will have to do more to help. They are dead right, but for a school to wait for the Ministry to do something is wasting time. Do what we did, fundraise, apply for grants, budget, plan, employ the right people, so as New Zealand children can be offered a globally connected education.
Early Childhood Education. How Much Are They Worth?
You may have noticed over the past week or so the hobbit debacle. While it is great for New Zealand to have these movies made in New Zealand, I could not help but notice the amount of people that took to the streets to voice their opinions on keeping the Hobbit in Aotearoa. I was a little disappointed that similar crowds could not attend the resent Early Childhood funding cut protests.
Now even though I do have a vested interest in this issue, having a one and a half year old boy and my lovely wife teaching at a kindy, I still am concerned about these cuts.
As reported in a recent Campbell Live TV article many early childhood centers are facing cuts of $50,000 or more. Quality teaching is important, regardless of the age of the child, and funding cuts to early childhood centres will ultimately effect schools (just like Kaimai). The Minister of Education has said that in early childhood it is fine to have 4 out of 5 teachers to be qualified. Imagine if this was stated about primary or secondary school, or about doctors!
I have also heard from the Minister that since the previous government’s introduction of the policy of 100% qualified teachers in early childhood the participation rate of children has not increased. This is a little misleading as even though the number of students may not have increased a great deal, the amount of time the children spend at centers has increased considerably.
If education is important to you, and your family, I encourage you to contact your local MP and plea for the government to stop the funding cuts to early childhood centres.
ACEL Conference Round Up
The ACEL Conference had over 200 speakers for the three days. These speakers were from countries such as the USA, South Africa, England, Singapore, Canada, China, Namibia, Australia and New Zealand. The theme for the conference was “Hosting and Harvesting: Creating the change we wish to see in the world.”
Naturally, due to the number of speakers and the limited amount of time I was only able to listen to a handful of keynotes, I took over 6000 words worth of notes and managed to summarize some of these into blogs (below).
Overall the big question is what did I learn, and how can it benefit our students? One thing I learnt was that there are some schools with way too much money! But apart from that…
The main theme that most, if not all, keynotes spoke about was that in order to prepare students for the future they need to know more than just ‘facts and figures.’ Co-operation, sharing, collaborating, problem solving, contributing, understanding, applying, were words that I heard often. It made me realize, and understand, how important New Zealand’s Key Competencies (Thinking, Using language, symbols and text, Managing self, Participating and contributing, Relating to others) are. It also made me realize that New Zealand schools really have the opportunity to be leaders in global education, if they implement the New Zealand Curriculum in the way it was designed to be used.
Many speakers also had a theme of computers, laptops, cell phones, or the like, should not be viewed as a privilege but a right in education. But with this right comes, as always, responsibilities. There is some concern in NSW about the implementation of the one to one laptop programme for all secondary school students that began this year. One of the concerns is that every student now has a state supplied laptop but not all teachers do, nor has there been sufficient training or infrastructure put in place to cope with the thousands upon thousands of questions and problems that will arise.
One speaker quoted Socrates in regards to his concerns that the, then, newly introduced ‘writing’ approach would take away students ability to think in ancient Greece. Socrates was concerned that all students would have to do is refer to what had been written down and therefore there would be no need to remember. I guess this means that new learning tools in education have always been looked upon with some concern and suspicion (and maybe rightly so).
Many speakers spoke about using digital tools to enhance learning, not to make things look pretty. If students can use the laptops to help expand their understanding of the Key Competencies then, I believe the tools are worth while. We have students blogging and sharing their work to the world, asking their own questions about learning and searching for these answers using the internet, reflecting on their learning using web based programmes, researching and developing their own understanding within a group, communicating and receiving feedback both inside and outside the classroom, etc. One of the questions that was asked at the conference was “If a school took their computers away, would the learning look any different?” My feeling , and observations, are yes, Kaimai School would look different (and not for the better).
The conference made me realize that Kaimai School is definitely on the right track in regards to 21st Century learning. We have begun the journey of one to one computing and have made considerable progress. However, this does not mean we are there yet. But I do feel our students are using laptops to expand their understanding of education in effective ways. Our Kaimai Curriculum is based around the Key Competencies and Mark Treadwell’s work on the competencies. One of the key messages is to not let schools slip back into what they have always known and done. This is all to easy to do, the ‘stick with what I know’ is human nature. Schools need to move with the world around them, as well as be prepared for the students who are coming into their classrooms, if they are to truly prepare them to be 21st Century learners.
ACEL Conference V
Simon Breakspear is an emerging thought leader in learning, innovation and educational change. He holds a first class honours degree in Psychology from UNSW and a MSc in Comparative and International Education from the University of Oxford and is currently finishing his PhD in education system reform at the University of Cambridge as a Gates Scholar (he is also about the same age as me, so thanks for making me feel so uneducated Simon!). His talk was entitled “Building an Innovation Culture: How education leaders can harness new ideas to solve challenges and enhance learning.“
Simon spoke about how the world is changing for our students. That growth in certain job sectors that were not around twenty to thirty years ago (non routine interactive and non routine services) is occurring, that students are already using social networking sites, and that their classrooms are more diverse than ever before. I guess this made me think about a question that came out of the Paul Henry debacle, what does a ‘New Zealander’ look like? New Zealand is well on its way to a true multicultural society, schools are experiencing this now and must ensure that they prepare their students in an effective way.
Simon spoke about ‘intersection of thought.‘ This is when a school looks at what others do well and apply it to school. This is not just looking at other schools and using some of their ideas but also looking at successful people, businesses and organizations, and asking what if school was more like this. It is an interesting concept, one I had not given a lot of thought to before, but once you start thinking ‘what if school was more like this?’ it opens up a lot of possibilities. (Of course it would be great to run school as Google runs their office but at present we don’t have the Google income yet.)
Simon continued by saying that ‘innovation is about learning.‘ Schools need to have a relentless purist of doing things better. Part of doing this is through being a ‘user-driven’ school. Less teacher directed, more student and teacher directed.
In fact the word ‘innovation’ was a key theme in his talk. Simon encouraged schools to be ‘innovation incubators,’ to look at what others do well that have little resources. He also encouraged schools to be ‘innovation tribes,’ to allow experimentation and to find out what works for you. All simple stuff I guess but the key is to put it into practice to be truly innovative.
ACEL Conference IV
I have heard Mark Treadwell speak before in Tauranga and our school used his work in Whatever Next: School V2.0 to help build our school curriculum, which is based around the key competencies. Mark is always fascinating to listen to, and is able to explain complex theories in an to understand way. Mark spoke about the latest research on how the brain works, how we remember and learn, and how educators can use this knowledge to help be more effective in the classroom.
Mark asked the question why does it take about 50hrs to learn how to drive a car but about 5000 hours to learn how to read? Mark said that research has shown that no-one can think about two things at once, so how can we drive a car or multi-task? The research is showing that in the brain astrocytes automate patterns in the neutral pathway. They ‘turn thinking off’ and automate the action. This makes things more efficient as we can now think about something else as we automatically do what we are doing. Without this function the human race would not have survived. Unfortunately there are also some negative consequences with this system, one being addiction (the Astrocytes can create an automatic pathway when encountering certain drugs).
Mark said that Astrocytes map predictable patterns through concepts, eg if it is hot and I touch it I will get burnt (the concept of cause and effect). Therefore concepts are one of the quickest and most effective ways of learning. Unfortunately there are some things we learn that can’t be taught as concepts (reading for one, hence the 5000 hours of rote learning) but there are plenty of concepts that can be taught. Some of these are relatively quick to teach and to learn but Mark stressed that these concepts are built on and students need to be at the correct cognitive stage to be able to understand the concept taught. Mark said most of our curriculum is based on rote, it should be mapped around concepts.
ACEL Conference III
Day 2 of the conference bought more thought provoking speakers. Dr Allan Walker, Chair Professor of the Department of Education Admin and Policy at The Chinese University of Honk Kong, spoke on connections. He talked about how, as educators, we must make connections, disconnect then reconnect with pedagogy, practice and students. Dr Walker likened it to experienced fire fighters who approach fires with trust and mistrust about what they know to be effective, and safe, to fight the fire. I guess it is a little like when Yoda told Luke in the Empire Strikes Back, “You must unlearn what you have learned.”
Like Luke Skywalker, educators need to trust and mistrust what they know, about education, teaching, pedagogy, students and families in order to move forward and be a truly effective 21st Century teacher. Dr Walker said that educators need to look at the whole picture, what makes the student a whole person, and ask how can we ensure we don’t disconnect with established wisdom but at the same time create new wisdom.
Dr Walker also said in some schools the leaders become disconnected with the whole and are only connected with the numbers. An ‘only examination and no education’ approach. I believe it is important for school leaders to ensure they don’t fall into the trap of only the ‘three R’s” to achieve good National Standards results. We must connect to what education is about and disconnect from the all to easy numbers game.
ACEL Conference II
Bruce Dixon, Founding Director of IdeasLAB and the Anywhere and Anytime Learning Foundation spoke on ICT and where schools should head with it. His talk was entitled
“What Happened to the Revolution? Questions and Ideas Worth Exploring.”
Every now and then you get at a conference someone who you could listen to for the whole day, Bruce is one of these people. The NSW government has just implemented 1:1 computing to all secondary students in the state, and listening to Bruce it sounds as if it was done with some hast and not a lot of planning. Now I don’t know much about this, partly due to being a kiwi, and there could be a number of people that could have debated with Bruce on this issue, but he did seem to have some good points, and questions.
These questions also applied for schools. Being a school that does have 1:1 computing it did make me think about what we are doing and where we could head with the tools that we have. Bruce said, ‘The vision [ubiquitous computing] is an instrument whose music is ideas.’ ICT should not be doing the same thing differently (and usually a bit prettier), it should be about doing things differently, in different ways, to help engage students with their learning. Where, how, what and when we teach must change in order for 1:1 computing to be worthwhile and truly effective.
It was great to hear that 1:1 computing ‘is not a privilege, but is a right.’ This has been my view too, and Bruce spoke briefly about Uruguay policy that has enabled 1:1 computing for all students. He asked if we have become too focused on repositories, rubrics, portals? I must admit this challenged me a little but the more I thought about it the more I think he is right.
The Internet is still in it’s infancy, and we are still doing a lot of the same things but in a slightly different way. Bruce got me thinking about students setting up social networks with other students from around the world sharing ideas, thoughts, opinions and questions. Using the computers to communicate with ‘experts’ to help understanding, using not only communication tools such as Twitter, blogs and email, but thinking beyond these and looking for different communication tools and ideas.
Bruce asked us to reflect on what 1:1 computing should look like in 5 years; how are the students and teachers using it, how has it changed pedagogy, re-imagining what’s possible in technology-rich learning environments. We need to be more ambitious in seeking answers to what technology makes possible for schools, for learners and for teachers.
All this is exciting and challenging stuff, but even the longest journey begins with the first steps. I feel that at Kaimai we have made those first few steps, it is now time to start moving down the road with our ICT programme.
ACEL Conference 2010
Valerie Hannon, from the Innovation Unit in the UK, was the first Keynote speaker at this year’s ACEL Conference. Her keynote was entitled, “Learning Innovation: Responding to the Global Imperative.” Hannon spoke about the changing demography of the work force. More people will be retiring than ever before with the lowest retiree to worker ratio ever (this is due to the baby boomers getting a little long in the tooth!). Hannon posed the question, how will this affect schools?
Hannon spoke about globalisation and how that for the first time ever students can contribute to learning, instantly and globally. Their thoughts and opinions, questions, answer, knowledge and skills can be shared all around the world with relative ease and just about anywhere.
Hannon also spoke about the fact that the world can not go on doing what they are doing without any thought for the environment. It is accepted that all the world can not live and consume like the western world. So the question was posed, how can we prepare our students to be globally and environmentally prepared?
Key Competencies need to be taught in order for our students to be successful citizens. The model of “capitalism” will change and become broader. The one winner ‘crushing the competition’ philosophy will need to change. Collaboration and doing things better, smarter and differently is what will be valued. Out-sourcing work will not be only for manufacturing but for the skill of creativity.
The teacher ‘pours the information in’ and students ‘regurgitate the information out’ will not longer work. Students need to feel, and know, that they are part of their learning experiences. They also need to know that their teachers are learners too. Hannon argues that both teachers and learners need to learn together through something such as an inquiry model. We have begun this part of the 21st Century via our WALTs (We Are Learning To…), through unpacking of the Key Competencies, the development of our inquiry model and the beginning of student websites and blogs to globally share their work.
I guess with all the focus on National Standards schools can easily forget about the bigger picture, which is creating a life long learner that will be globally aware and ready for the challenges that were outlined by Hannon. My belief is that if New Zealand schools implement the New Zealand Curriculum in a sound way through effective pedagogical practice our students should be well on their way to being a successful 21st Century citizen.
Entrepreneurial Kids?!!
Today I briefly visited Room 3 in our Learning Centre and was so glad I did. The students have been busy this term preparing an item to sell at our Calf Club next term. Their teacher, Ms Sperring, has called it Dragons’ Den (after the tv programme). Students have to design, produce and sell their product, and hopefully make a profit.
The three students that I had the pleasure of watching presented to such a high standard they would leave many of the people that have appeared on the programme Dragons’ Den feeling ashamed. The girls had set up their presentation to show off their products in a most effective way, knew their overhead costs, had a sound understanding of the market for their product which was set at a reasonable prize and had additional information in the form of pamphlets.
All the other students listened very carefully to the proposal, and to true Dragon fashion, asked difficult, thought provoking questions. Watching this unfold is the reason I get such a buzz from teaching.
iWorks Update
Apple has just released an iWorks update that could be quite useful for students (and budding writers). You can now publish a Pages document as an ePub. This is the file type that is used to make electronic books for things such as iPads, Kindles, etc. What students can now do is create a story, publish it as an ePub then place it on the net for others to read. They could also place it on something like iTunes, which makes it really easy for others to download onto devices such as the iPhone or iTouch. By doing this we can create a very real, authentic, writing experience for our students. Very exciting!!!!
Clustrmaps
