Week 30 - Practice - Trends influencing New Zealand or Internationally
For this reflection I have decided to use Rolfe's Model of Reflection (2001).
Step One: What? Identify one trend that is relevant to my practice.
As identified by Daggart (2014) there are five potentially disruptive emerging trends:
The impact of digital learning
The heightened demand for career readiness
The use of data analytics for decision making
The development of personal skills
The trend I have identified that is most relevant to my practice is the impact of digital learning. I am drawn to this trend through my study into flipped learning, blended learning, gamification, design thinking, 21st Century skills and student agency.
Step Two: So What? Analyze how the identified trend impacts global and New Zealand education.
From Daggett (2014) the data reveals that it is social media that students use to connect, colloborate and create content that is relevant to them. Gaming has interestingly shown a generational shift where in the past it has been high school students engaging in gaming to students in grades 6 - 8 now participating in gaming.
Currently in New Zealand (and globally) this is reflected in the participation of primary school students in the multi-player game 'Fortnite'.
This trend has an impact on the use of gamifcation in an educational context. If this is what engages our students how can we use this to support their learning - and what is the learning they are already enagged in when playing these games.
Our students are what has been termed 'Digital Natives'. The impact of this is that they expect the use of digital learning to be apart of their learning journey - in a way (from my perspective) the same way we accessed books from the library.
Step Three: What Now? Critique and evaluate practice in the context of different audiences (local, national and/or international) and their perspectives.
Daggart (2014) discusses the steps leadership is required to address the challenges of an emerging trend:
Create a culture that supports change
Create a team within the school focused on the impact of the emerging trend
Network with others to share best practices
Take risks in prototyping and iterating practices to accept emergin trend
Push trend-aligned policy
The impact of digital learning is one that cannot be ignored. Interestingly enough through my own experiences we still are faced with barriers such as financial, resistance to change, questions about the impact of device use in schools, cyber-safety, BYOD policies. In other words we seem to be having the same conversations about digital learning that we have had four or five years ago.
This is explored in the reading Paradox of Progress (2017) where the emerging global trend is that 'Technolgy is accelerating progress but causing discontinuities.' This trend discusses the divisions that this causes which I connect to financial - schools who can financially support digitial learning and those who can't.
As educators our learners will always be at the centre, therefore how are we going to ensure that all our learners have fair and equitable access to digital learning - a question that this reflection has left me pondering.
References
Daggett, B. (2014). Addressing Current and Future Challenges in Education. Retrieved from http://www.leadered.com/pdf/2014 MSC_AddressingCurrentandFutureChallenges.pdf
National Intelligence Council. (2017). Global trends: The Paradox of Progress. National Intelligence Council: US. Retrieved from https://www.dni.gov/files/images/globalTrends/documents/GT-Main-Report.pdf
Rolfe's Model of Reflection (2001)
Retrived from:
https://my.cumbria.ac.uk/media/MyCumbria/Documents/ReflectiveModelRolfe.pdf
Hi Kathy. I think your final pondering question is a very important one. The rate at which BYOD/blended learning has happened in schools has meant that the financial burden for families has been big. Ironically, it is at a time when I feel we are more aware than ever about equity for all our students. It would be an excellent sabbatical topic for a senior leader to undertake. I am sure that schools around the country would be intrested to know the different methods schools have used to overcome this ongoing issue. Thank you for your thoughtful post.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your blog. I really support what you are saying about the digital skills and competency that we need as teachers to engage students in our classrooms. I joined the Mindlab classes thinking it was to help me up-skill in computers. Boy, it was further from what I had expected. I really like the way your have structured your korero. Its easy to read and your points are clear. Well done!
ReplyDeleteHi Kathy
ReplyDeleteI am in the enviable position that the leadership at our school sees the value of all students having access to digital devices. They have spent a large amount on ensuring that all students from year 4 up have access to a Chromebook. As a lower decile school this is extremely important to ensure equity for all students. There are also schemes in place to help families purchase Chromebooks for their children. By being in a CoL that is focused on digital education the Chromebooks are then used by students as they go through to the high school. If you get a chance check out the Manaiakalani group of schools to see the amazing work they are doing in ensuring that all students have the same opportunities to use devices.