Contemporary Issue or Trend. Mind Lab Activity 3

In her Edutopia post “ 5 Future Trends That Will Impact the Learning Ecosystem “ (2016), Andrea Savery poses that the diversification of school formats to be one of the biggest changes that digital technology will bring about for education. She explains that “ What began as a "bring­your­own­device" (BYOD) movement may well evolve into a "create­your­own­ school" movement in the next decade as new intermediaries, learning agents, parents and learners collaborate to weave vibrant value webs for teaching and learning.”

This trend immediately jumped at me for several reasons. First, the ability to connect using digital technology beyond the classroom walls is already part of my teaching practice. Last term our class Skyped another class and we have been part of the NZ Read Aloud community, learning with and alongside several other junior classes. Secondly, the government's latest introduction of a provision for COOLs (Communities of Online Learning) in the Education (Update) Amendment Bill (2016), and the current debate has brought this trend into a reality within our national context. Lastly, my class (and myself) has been part of a free MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) offered by Stanford University’s mathematics education department with great results.

In their report “Supporting future­ oriented learning and teaching: A New Zealand perspective,” Bolstad, Gilbert, McDowall,Bull, Boyd & Hipkins, (2012) explain how differing clusters of what is currently being debated as future­ focused learning will involve the ‘unbundling’ of current educational structures and praxis to help create a system that delivers more personalised learning and caters for a diverse range of educational needs through a variety of educational resources thus changing the role of educators. At the same time, the emerging structures of education will need to be responsive to the needs of a community. This is also mirrored in the OECD report Schooling Redesigned:Towards Innovative Learning Systems (Istance, D. 2015), where the study on Innovative Learning Environments from across the OECD demonstrated that best practice was achieved by local educational systems creating innovative interventions that would suit their particular learner’s needs.

Locally through theEducation (Update) Amendment Bill (2016), the Ministry of Education has created the opportunity for online educators to become active resources for the new educational environment. Having taken advantage of online course providers such as Stanford University to support my students’ learning programme, I saw clear benefits of adding this resource. My students are learning about mathematical growth mindset and have gained great confidence in tackling maths problem solving. The programme has led to improvement for students who had a negative attitude to maths and has significantly improved achievement levels.

But accessing online content is not the panacea for personalised learning. An article in local news explained that “Documents obtained by Labour reveal concerns by Treasury officials that there were "risks" if students already under­ achieving at school signed up to online learning.” (Moir, J., 2016) The largest provider for online charter school in the US has had abysmal academic results that equated to “ a student losing 72 days of learning in reading and 180 days of learning in math, based on a 180­ day school year.” Primary and high school age students are simply not equipped with the self­regulation to be left to learn alone, especially those who need extra expert teaching support. Whether this is because we have not enabled their learning of skills needed to make the most of this new learning system is a necessary consideration.

Access to online learning has considerably shifted the educational landscape and has created excellent opportunities for students such as myself and my class, currently accessing learning online. The challenge is, as always, tailoring this new educational opportunity to create meaningful educational advantages for students.




References:
Bolstad, R., Gilbert, J., McDowall, S., Bull, A., Boyd, S., & Hipkins, R. (2012).Supporting future­oriented learning & teaching: A New Zealand perspective. Wellington: Ministry of Education.
Istance, D. (2015). Schooling Redesigned: Towards Innovative Learning Systems. OECD Publishing. 2, rue Andre Pascal, F­75775 Paris Cedex 16, France.

MOIR, J. (2016). Treasury issues warning over risks of online schools in NZ. New Zealand Herald retrieved from http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/84836787/treasury­warned­online­schools­could­be­a­parking­space­for­kids­ atrisk­of­failing

Saveri, A. (2013). 5 Future Trends That Will Impact the Learning Ecosystem. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/5­shifts­regenerating­learning­ ecosystem­andrea­saveri