In September of this year I was fortunate enough to attend the Sixth National Leading a Digital School Conference on the Gold Coast. (Guess it helped that I live there!) The keynote speakers on the first two days were Ian Jukes and Tony Ryan; very different but equally engaging presenters. Both spoke of the impact of “disruptive innovation” but at the time I didn’t appreciate the full implications of this term … that particular epiphany happened earlier this week.
What do I see in the future?
Photo Credit: youlovatt.com
The reality is that digital devices are now disrupting education as much as they are enhancing it. I like to think of myself as an early adopter; certainly I was the first teacher at my school to use an iPad in the classroom. However, I’m still surrounded by a large number of teachers who operate their classroom in the same fashion that they did twenty or more years ago … same product, very different customers! Now, back to the epiphany. My first step towards understanding came when I read the following tweet from Jeff Goldstein.
“How dare society force a child to sit in a classroom chair for seven hours and define what the child must find curious.”
The following day I read three separate articles which all made reference to the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) project carried out in Ethiopia. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, here are the key deatails:
* A number of solar charged Motorola tablets were dropped off in two isolated Ethiopian villages with a very high illiteracy rate. Within minutes, young children had powered these up and within days they were using a large number of the included apps. Most astonishingly, after just a few weeks, the children had figured out how to “hack” and had removed various built-in restrictions.
* Though a very limited trial, this project suggests that “…young children have innate technology-related learning abilities that most adults patently lack.” (Andrew Stokes, “ICT: the age factor” in Issue 31 of Loud and Clear, November 2012) Those monitoring the project also witnessed children as young as 4 engaged in spontaneous collaboration as they solved “problems” with the tablets.
Peru has its own OLPC factories which have produced over one million units for the children of that nation.
Photo Credit: inhabitat.com
WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS?
I think there is one very obvious implication; children now have at their disposal devices which can enable them to learn largely unassisted. This can only lead to wider implications; implications that I’m sure you’ve read elsewhere … but here goes, choose your own imagined future.
1. Schools see the necessity to rethink age groupings and class structure. As a consequence children of varying ages are increasingly grouped together in order to allow greater collaboration and peer teaching.
2. Students demand assessment that is connected to the real world and as a result we see a rapid shift towards greater project based and community learning.
3. Governments accept that, as Sir Ken Robinson claims, “schools are killing creativity.” As a direct result they close large numbers of poorly attended “bricks and mortar” schools. At the same time, online universities are catering for huge numbers of “underage undergraduates.”
4. Being highly proficient with a whole range of (yet to be invented) devices, students as young as 10 begin specific on the job training for their first career.
5. The United Nations officially announces the “death of the teaching profession.” Thousands of teachers must eke out a living by selling 99 cent ebooks via their blog. (Now, there’s a retirement plan!)
Yes, this post has been deliberately provocative at times … and I’ve gone for (and hopefully gained) a few cheap laughs. However, I would welcome your comments and contributions. What does your crystal ball tell you about the future of education as we charge headlong into the next decade?
Great post. Less “cheap laugh” material than you think (in my opinion). I hadn’t heard about the Ethiopian project but have heard about the “hole in the wall” projects in India – almost identical idea and results.
Here are my random reactions:
1. I struggle to understand why we are so afraid of technology. Last week I told a room full of my peers that it is as if we are digging a hole with a shovel when there is a backhoe sitting right there. We don’t want to use the backhoe because someone might get hurt. I could write three more paragraphs to make it an extended metaphor, but you get the idea. The truth is that we are scared: of parents, of failure, of succeeding spectacularly, of letting go of the way it’s been for so long.
As to the future, I think it is extremely easy to predict and was one of your choices. If we refuse to adapt, we will become obsolete – soon. The last remaining barrier to a mass exodus to online (primary and secondary schools) is the willingness of top flight universities to accept those transcripts. When that hurdle is cleared, the end of brick and mortar public schools as a viable option is at hand.
In my opinion, almost the entire apple cart balances on one issue (which you also touched on): classroom assessment. I believe that a collective “mastery” of this one (massively complex and difficult) issue has a greater potential for transformative change than any other.
So… we are acting like we believe all these things at my school. BTW, that’s not the royal we just cause I’m the principal: I have a great faculty who “get it” and are willing and eager to learn even when they struggle with the details.
Great post again. Keep the faith and keep being the voice of reason: you never know when folks will start listening or when the culture changes radically (for the better) around you!
Thank you Andrew for your detailed and encouraging comments; I’m particularly drawn to your suggestion that one of the greatest fears is “succeeding spectacularly.” I’m also convinced that it is universities that are holding all the cards when it comes to the future. Unfortunately the Australian teaching force is top heavy with people (like myself) in the 50+ years age bracket … lots of teaching experience but largely closed minds when it comes to embracing change. Of course many of them will retire within the next few years … but by then it could, conceivably, be too late to remedy years of indifference.
Rest assured, I will continue the “good fight” because I don’t want to be consigned to flogging ebooks just yet!
Sincere thanks for your ongoing interest.
Hi Simon,
Great post. Here are a few of my thoughts.
I first heard about ‘disruptive innovation’ last year during my studies. I too contemplated its meaning and of course implications for learning.
Technology brings so many opportunities to the classroom, which we can no longer ignore. Of course, technology does not always disrupt positively, but is it not the role of the teacher? To facilitate the creation of an environment, which encourages meaningful integration and disruption?
I believe the issue is not the technology itself but the culture surrounding its use. Classroom culture must evolve with the innovations of our time. This relies heavily on teacher mindsets not their date of birth.
Melissa
Hi Melissa … thanks for taking the time to post your comments. I agree that “culture” is the key and at the moment I’m battling to transform the culture of the school in which I’m working. I’ve decided that the best method will be to “exhibit best practice” in all that I do in 2013. A lot of the older teachers in my school (…and I’m one of them … older that is!) have a totally negative mindset towards technology. Used to think they lacked skills till George C. suggested it was the mindset they lacked. Anyhow, thanks again and all the best in finding the perfect school in 2013.
I’m keen to keep reading and commenting upon your posts.
Simon @connectedtchr
A great post, thank you. I’d also heard of the Indian project but not the Ethiopian one.
When I went to the EduTech conference in Sydney in May, a student panel was asked if teachers were needed still needed with all this technology at student’s disposal. Part of their response was that you couldn’t form a relationship with a computer. Teachers will always be needed, they just might need to rethink how they ‘teach’ – if that’s what they actually need to do. Maybe they also need to ‘learn’.
Hi Mel and thanks for taking the time to both read and reply to this post. I can only agree that there will always be the need for teachers to bring a touch of “humanity” to schools. However, I’m sure the time has also arrived to be the “guide by the side” rather than the “sage on the stage.” Unfortunately I’m currently teaching at SAGE High.(lol) Particularly like your last sentence; I’m teaching a group of younger students next year (for 2 or 3 subjects) and I intend to promote myself to students and parents as “Chief Learner.” Thanks again for your contribution.
Simon