forward thinking in technology and learning

This is one of those topics which is extremely politically incorrect. You risk being stoned to death for even suggesting the things I will here. But, for those people who wish to disagree based solely on habit and tradition, I ask you to read first and at least consider the argument.
Today’s schools are not necessarily failing, but they’re certainly struggling. Part of that struggle is between the traditional of school mentality and the new 21rst Century style of education. We continue to base our current and even future models of education on what we experienced as students. While there are some elements of education that are timeless, the implementations can, and should change as time goes on.
Let’s first define traditional curriculum. What I mean by that is the standard math, science, history, language core subjects with all other subjects’ area being considered elective. The Core subjects are basically required subjects for the entire 12 years of schooling. By 21rst Century curriculum I mean a fresh look at what we teach, what elements about that we teach, how often we meet, and how we delivery content.
Assuming we can agree that the goal of school is to prepare students for the world around them. Prepare them to not only function, but be active contributors and leaders, and make the world a place better than it was when they got it.
As we ask ourselves what subjects need to be taught as core subjects, we need to step out of our comfort zone, and ask some different questions: What is it we are trying to expose our students to; what subject areas are important to teach, how do we get that learning to best take place, what structure should the yearly, weekly, and daily academic calendar and schedule look like. What skillsets and concepts allow for students coming from our school to best contribute to the world they will entering in a few short years. Are we designing curriculum based on trying to prepare students to be participants or leaders in that world.

So, let’s consider an interesting way of looking at curriculum design.
In many areas, students study history for 11(or even 12) of the required 12 years of primary and secondary school. We might ask ourselves if there is an opportunity in there to reduce the time, but increase the quality of content. Students study English all 12 years. We might ask ourselves if what we are trying to accomplish in English takes 12 years. I think we all agree the duration of a class is not what determines its effectiveness.
I think there is a way to ask different questions when we create curriculum that flips traditional education on its end. Instead of telling subject areas “here is a year, fill it with content in your area”….we ask each department “what are your goals for your subject area in Lower School, Middle School, and Upper School and how much time to do need in order to accomplish that. And we ask that of every subject areas that are offered. What we will find is there is actually plenty of time during the course of an educational career to fit in all subjects that we deem valuable. The idea of core subjects or elective classes ceases to exist as we declare all classes’ core classes. In other words, if you spend time in a class, then you may correctly assume that is will be valuable, rigorous, engaging, and worthy of both the teachers and students time. Such mentality virtually eliminates busy work and useless homework assignments because there is simply not time to do them.
Such an approach would mean we completely overhaul our traditional schedule. The idea of quarters and semesters and summer break simply don’t fit into this model. The idea of basing our education system on a farming schedule must cease. The world we are in now values what a person knows more so than what a person can do. That is a dramatic shift from previous generations where the skills and abilities a person possesses determines there worth. There is a fine balance between the two. The tools of the world now are multi-media, multi-tasking, and cross-curricular in nature. To solve the complex problems of our generation now, people must be able to be in command of the tools, both digital and physical, know how to build new tools with those tools, and be able to look at the problem from low level and high level as well as from different perspectives. It will also most likely involve working with a group of people in unison to reach a common goal Seldom is the solution going to be simply to tighten the screw or make one simple adjustment.
I ask you: Does our current design of school, curriculum, and schedule prepare our students for the world?

When we design (or re-design) schools, we do not want to work from the top down, we want to work from the bottom up. We want to design curriculum by asking the right questions FIRST. How many classes, how much time, what frequency, what schedule allows us to implement our curriculum in the way we want it, how much break time, how much homework, what kind of technology,how and where does the mission statement fit, etc

Instead of the obstacles..… such as cafeteria restrictions, bell systems, bus schedules, traffic patterns, break times, graduation requirements, grade level requirements, software limitations, number of classrooms and teachers, number of students, possible conflicts, even financial considerations……… being identified FIRST, we define what we are trying to accomplish, and we identify what we are not willing to negotiate on, and we simply make the obstacles work around our curricular requirements, not vice versa.

By defining and setting that priority list, it allows any meetings, conversations, discussions, and decisions to be filtered much more effectively. So often when fundamental discussions are discussed between faculty, we tend to get bogged down with incidentals, off topics tangents, and side tracked conversations. Even discussions about implementation can get in the way of making fundamental policy and curricular decisions.

One of the things we as teachers can do to help make our classes as powerful as they can be is to consider varying the way in which we deliver and evaluate our class content, assignments, homework, and projects.
Rarely In the real world are the problems we solve ever simple. Rarely are they ever about doing one small simple thing in this way or that way to fix it. In other words, our students will need confidence in solving problems from a variety of perspectives, including a variety of technologies, and through a variety of techniques and skills. Some of the things they try will be objective(if I do this in this way, we will be able to determine immediately whether it worked or not) and some will subjective (if we experiment with this approach, we can see the effect it has and evaluate if it is something worth continuing or adjusting.) We as innovative teachers should model that as best as we can.
The best way we can do that is to make sure that our students get exposure to a wide variety of experiences in relation to our specific subject areas. Make sure your class is not the same thing day in and day out. Make sure the way you introduce a topic changes throughout the year. Make sure you do projects which vary in the skills needed to accomplish them, vary in the ways to solve them, vary in difficulty, vary the types of technology they use, and vary in how long they last. Make sure your homework assignments are different. Sometimes they can be simple worksheets; other times word problems; other times they make their own questions; sometimes they interview someone; sometimes they teach their parents something, maybe they watch a video and respond to a discussion question; take a photo of something; lead a chat room discussion with fellow students; research a topic and respond to something. Some days your kids can be working quietly as their desks, other days they can be out of their seats working together. Your kids should be doing small individual class assignments as well as large group projects; one day and multi-day out-of-class assignments as well. Allow them to enjoy thinking about your subject area outside of your class.
When you test, make sure your test differently each time. Isn’t that a better way of evaluating anyway? That variation in evaluation methods allows student who have different styles of learning, retaining information, presenting information, and communication can also be forced to expand their own horizon’s and develop a wider set of skills…which in the end builds confidence. And as a teacher, it gives you a better chance to really evaluate both your lessons and your students ; the variations in evaluation allow your students to show you in different ways how they are “getting it.”
We’ve got to ensure that our students get exposed to multi-media, cross curricular, multi-learning style, multi-skillset, and multi-energy styles of classroom experiences. It’s not enough that the only time they run or move around is n PE class. It’s not enough that the only time they create something is in Art class. Change it up. Let them engage in your area from a variety of perspectives. Let them see your subject area from a variety of angles and let them interact and think about your area with different parts of their brain.
By doing this, you allow for a deeper engagement for the students with your subject area. And isn’t that the goal after all? It’s not about knowing a formula or a definition…it’s about developing of love of learning.

The British model of education (by which we are modeled along with the farmers yearly harvest and planting schedule) is a long outdated model that does not really make sense in today’s society. For example, the idea that classes such as Health, Physical Education, Art, Music, even computer technology are “elective” classes baffles me. There might even be an argument that some of those classes have MORE value today than some of the traditional core courses. Perhaps we do not necessarily need 12 years of English or History, which would open up time to include these. We must come to an agreement that any class offered at school is as valuable as another. The rigor must be a given and the value to the world must be clear. Graduation requirements must alter dramatically to reflect that. We need to allow more classes to be dual credit between departments, so students are encouraged, not limited, by the schedule. We must get out of the absurd 8:05-8:55 is English, 9:10-9:55 is Science mentality and let curriculum, schedule, talents, grading, and offerings be truly cross-curricular. Science and Math are not separate subjects. English and Art are not separate subjects. Science, Math, and English are as much Computing Science as they are anything else. So, we are talking about a world that completely overhauls the way we look at education, approach learning, teach students, grade performance, and harnesses the raw energy of the student instead of squashing it. Students are not motivated by the questions at the end of the chapter. They are not motivated by a test of random definitions or multiple choice text bank quizzes. What can motivate them is the skills that they will learn and the accomplishment they will feel when the present their multimedia presentation to the rest of the class or a professional panel, which involved elements from every one of their classes. Students of all ages and all levels can be motivated by projects which requires collaboration, problem solving, computation, thought, creativity, perseverance, rigor, research, time, and effort . To allow for a meaningful teaching experience and more, this must be what we do in our schools day in day out all years long.

One of the technologies which I’ve really got my eye on is the Kinect. It has been marketed as the high tech video gamer cool gadget but in fact the educator in me sees so much more.  Especially I see a huge value in the elementary and middle grades for active learning.  Just off the top of my head,  I see students learning geometric shapes in the air with their hands;  I see students putting things together (i.e. building virtual things) perhaps 2 oxygen molecules and a hydrogen molecule might be grabbed out of a collection of molecules to form water; I see music students composing music interactively; I see history students moving armies around on a battle field to see how it plays out. Dr.  Medina(Brain rules) confirms that the research backs up the premise that students learn better when active….so why do we sit them in seats 7 hours per day? And for you advanced folks there is an advanced application just waiting to be incorporated into games, applications, tutorials, video..whatever….be careful..this is going to blow you away

I am still slowly coming back to earth after having been selected as one of nine teachers selected at the Microsoft Innovators Forum(in Seattle in late July) to represent the United States at the Global Forum.  Over 70 countries will send their best and most innovative teachers to spend 4 days in Washington DC in November. It promises to be another world class event with lots of collegiality,  learning, sharing of ideas, working together, and even competition.

Having spent 3 days in Seattle at the U.S. Innovators Forum, I was blown away by the exceptional high quality of every aspect of the event. I cannot even imagine how Microsoft will top themselves….but then again…I am sure they will.

I was excited and honored to have been selected as one of 100 teachers to receive an invitation to one of the most incredible, world class, invigorating experiences I have been involved with in my educational and professional career.  It was a fantastic event full of energy, creativity, and ideas as some of the best teachers from all across the country worked and played together. We heard from 2 keynotes ( John Medina “Brain Rules“, and Jane McGonigal “Reality is Broken.” ) Two excellent speakers and two excellent books. Teachers presenting their projects (on which they were selected by) as well as spending time working with small groups in our Seattle “Learning Excursions”. As you would imagine, we ate in style. I remember thinking “Wow!” as I ate fresh sushi atop the Needle Tower one night and the next enjoyed steak while looking out over the harbor. Microsoft has made it clear that they are eager to connect with innovative teachers across the United States and the world. And their commitment is exemplified in events like this, but if you start to look deeper, you see their commitment everywhere. Their Partners in Learning initiative is going strong. http://youtu.be/uVP7JjqIiik.

What was truly amazing was interacting with 100 fellow colleagues who are right there in the trenches with you. Hearing about their projects, classes, and schools was music to my ears!  These were teachers who did not stop at the first no; did not stop at good…but continued on to great; did not let a few bumps along the way stop them…..they were hear because they made things happen. And that is what it takes to be an innovative teacher. Join us.

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