Derek's Blog

I spend a lot of time speaking to teacher groups, principal groups and others with an interest in the education of our young people in early childhood centres, schools and tertiary institutions. The topics I am asked to speak on include things such as "Educating for the 21st Century", "Visioning the future of Education" and other such grandiose titles. The common themes involve change, educational reform, pedagogical shifts etc., and generally focus on the impact of technology, societal changes, vocational changes and so on.

I've only occasionally been confronted by someone in the educational system who doesn't accept that we need to change what we're doing in our schools and how we're doing it. Generally, there is a high level of acceptance that the world is changing, and that our students need to be prepared for it in ways that are different to the traditional ways we've done things in our educational institutions.

The problem occurs, of course, in shifting these ideas from our head (our understanding of the situation) to our hands (actually doing something about it.) Some would argue that there is a third dimension that is often missed out - the heart, from which flows our sense of passion, driven by belief and a sense of vision. In visiting a large number of schools now around NZ (and overseas), plus the experience of my own five children as students at school and university, I can only say that there is a huge degree of variability in terms of how successful we (as a profession) are in realising and responding to change.

Thus it was with interest that I read this morning of a report just released by Education Sector, a national independent nonpartisan education think tank, titled Waiting To Be Won Over: Teachers Speak on the Profession, Unions and Reform. The report contains the findings of a survey of over 1000 teachers in the USA about their views on the teaching profession, teachers unions, and a host of reforms aimed at improving teacher quality. It examine teachers' opinions and attitudes toward teacher unions, teacher unionism, and a range of current district reforms, including those aimed specifically at improving teacher quality.

The survey itself asked specific questions about the work teachers do and about reform proposals that are currently being debated in the US. It also examines the views of new teachers and those who have been in the system for some time. And, when possible, the survey discerns trends by asking some identical questions from a 2003 national survey of K-12 public school teachers and comparing the responses.

While the context is the USA, the findings ring true for us in New Zealand as well - and are worth considering, particularly for those of us who are working in the area of challenging the existing paradigm and seeking to bring about changes at all levels from policy to practice. Some of the trends and findings that stood out for me...

• Concerns from teachers who feel 'locked in' to teaching, with no real options for doing something else if they feel they're past their prime. "Too many veteran teachers who are burned out stay because they do not want to walk away from the benefits and service time they have accrued."
  
• Well over half of the teachers surveyed (55 percent) say that in their district it is very difficult and time-consuming to remove clearly ineffective teachers who shouldn't be in the classroom
  
• A strong feeling that their experience of appraisal (teacher evaluation) was ineffective, not providing any worthwhile sort of feedback for growth or recognition of work well done, or in identifying and dealing with poor performance. Most saw this as just a formality.
  
• When responding to a question about what sort of school is best for students teachers were unanimous in talking about providing flexibility and dispensing with unnecessary rules and restrictions.
  

• making appraisals and teacher evaluations more rigorous and meaningful


• Providing financial incentives, including for teachers who work in 'tough' areas or poor performing schools
  
• De-emphasising the use of student test scores as a key measure of teacher performance and basis for financial rewards.
  
• Providing more time in the school day for teachers to carry out planning and preparation work as a way of attracting high quality people into the profession.

Yes - this report is useful as a benchmark or 'state of the play' - but for goodness sake, where is the innovative, "outside the box" thinking that will truly energise and refresh our whole approach to education - that will ensure we are educating students for their future - not our past??

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 9:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Sorry - but I just don't buy it.
Jane pointed me to Chitch.at, described as an educational network where teachers can share real course content, make free class pages, and develop interactive online assignments. Here's a video which explains more about it.

Now the concept of a 'lightweight', flexible way to create, post and share course content sounds appealing - but the underlying design points to a pedagogy that I have problems with. Notice the section that begins... "The Web is great - in theory!", and goes on to argue that while online environments such as blogs and wikis capture our (and our students') imaginations, they are difficult to 'teach' because we can't easily assign tasks, collect submissions or effectively grade student work etc. In other words (their words) these social web applications don't "fit" the traditional classroom.

All of this sounds like a great justification for why we might want an online environment like Chitch.at- but hang on... if these applications are (as they claim) so good at developing critical thinking, engaging student interest and creating a sense of wonder etc, shouldn't this suggest that we ought to be looking to change the nature of the "traditional classroom"??

The focus here is entirely on a pedagogy of setting tasks for students to complete - presumably tasks that essentially invite students to "guess what's in the teacher's head" since the implication is that there's a specific response on which they're then graded! A clear case of the pedagogy of assessment driving the pedagogy of instruction.

In 1915 John Dewey wrote in his "Constructivist Pedagogy" that effective learning occurs when...

• Student autonomy and initiative accepted and encouraged
  
• Teacher asks open-ended questions and allows wait time for responses
  
• Higher level thinking is encouraged
  
• Students engage in dialogue with teacher and each other
  
• Students engaged in experiences that challenge hypotheses
  
• Class uses raw data primary sources, physical and interactive materials
  
• Knowledge and ideas emerge only from a situation in which learners have to draw them out of experiences that have meaning and importance to them

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 1:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Some of my work recently has been with groups of teachers and principals thinking about how they may plan for and design schools that prepare students for the future, so it was with interest that I read this publication titled Learning Technologies and Schools of the Future (pdf) published by the British Council for School Environments. The introduction sets the scene for considering the role of ICT as a part of the changing school environment:

ICT is increasingly described as the fifth utility, the point being that we pretty much cannot live, work or learn efficiently or comfortably without an ICT infrastructure. National expectations of the social role of schools are also changing; hot-housed in climate of concern about youth disaffection and family breakdown.

Discussions on the digital divide tend to be concerned with (home) access to broadband connectivity. However, if scientists are right and cognitive processes are influenced by regular creative engagement in the online environment, our schools need to address the quality of online provision they make. An aspect of tackling the digital divide will be to ensure that all young people gain access to and guidance on the use of more sophisticated tools.

The document addresses a range of ways in which schools might address these ICT issues, and canvases the role and use of VLEs, PLEs and Web2.0 technologies - as well as the impact of mobile technologies and changes in the very nature of the learning process itself (for which it provides a useful table that contrasts 20th Century Pedagogy with what it calls 21st Century ICT-enhanced pedagogy.)

For those familiar with what has been developing in this space over the past few years there's nothing particularly new in the document, but it does provide an excellent and very accessible "Big Picture" view of the issue that could usefully inform many school charters and curriculum plans.

Still on the topic of the Future of Schooling - I was also reading the question Elliot Maisie posted on his blog regarding the classroom of the future, in which he invited readers to describe what will the classroom of the future look like in 2008? The lengthy list of responses makes for some interesting reading. There's a worrying emphasis on describing the addition of a whole heap of technologies, with fewer descriptions of changes to pedagogical practice. Perhaps it's the sort of response the question invited, but it does concern me in many forums I've participated in that as soon as we begin asking about what the classroom of the future might be like we focus on the technologies that may be introduced, as if somehow these on their own are going to transform what happens. Reminds me of the introduction of video conferencing technologies into a number of NZ classrooms over recent years - in a number of contexts I've observed all that occurred was that the style and nature of teaching that was occuring in the face-to-face classrooms got transferred to the video conference environment. Further, video conferencing was regarded as the primary medium of instruction, rather than one of a mix of technologies that can be selected from to suit the pedagogical intent.

In his reply, Gregg Festa, Founding Director of the ADP Center for Teacher Preparation & Learning Technologies at Montclair State University, points to an article describing the development and use of some innovative learning spaces in his school district, and also points to a YouTube video that takes you for a tour through these spaces. While the classroom you are taken on a tour through is essentially another (rather barren) oblong box, in the commentary at least it reflects an attempt to address the diversity of teaching and learning activities that may occur within it, and the variety of technologies that may be selected from to enable that to occur.

Somehow I still think we need more fundamental discussions on the nature and purpose of schooling, its role in a 21st Century society and the needs of 21st Century learners before we get too heavily involved in imagining what the classroom of the future might look like. Perhaps the sorts of reflections and discussion that Sheryl has on her 21st Century Collaborative blog might be more useful in this regard?

In the meantime, the Learning Technologies and Schools of the Future publication will be useful in the hands of the many principals, BOTs and senior staff in schools who are wrestling with creating policies and curriculum statements that reflect the increasing use of ICTs in their school.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 8:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

In preparation for my attendance at the upcoming Digital Summit in Auckland this week I've been re-reading Don Tapscott and Anthony William's book Wikinomics which I reviewed earlier in the year.

I'd like to quote some parts from the introduction that have caused me to think again about a digital divide that is appearing in our education system.

Throughout our history corporations have organised themselves according to strict hierarchical lines of authority... While hierarchies are not vanishing, profound changes in the nature of technology, demographics, and the global economy are giving rise to powerful new models of production based on community, collaboration, and self-organisation, rather than on hierarchy and control.

Small companies are encouraging, rather than fighting, the heaving growth of massive online communities - many of which emerged from the fringes of the Web to attract tens of millions of participants overnight.... Indeed, as a growing number of firms see the benefits of mass collaboration, this new way of organisaing will eventually displace the traditional corporate structures as the economy's primary engine of wealth creation.

Companies that engage with these exploding Web-enabled communities are already discovering the true dividends of collective capability and genius."

These comments are not simply the suppositions of a couple of digital optimists. They are based on the evidence of several large scale research projects costing several millions of dollars and involving a number of the world's most successful commercial companies.

But what has all this got to do with education? In a sense our education system is simply a large-scale corporate body, focused on outcomes, growth and wealth creation. It is also an example of bureacracy that is extremely hierarchical - like all government departments. So what is happening in our education system to embrace or adopt these new forms of online technology, and to participate in and engage with others in these Web-enabled communities?

Well, on the plus side is the example of the massive amount of collaborative effort that went into the co-construction of the new NZ Curriculum - reportedly around 15,000 teachers contributed their time, knowledge and collective wisdom to the development of this document - all within an online environment. It will be interesting now to see if the same level of collaborative effort and sharing will be facilitated to assist with the implementation of the document and the professional development of teachers to do this as the teacher unions quite rightly point out will be necessary.

Of course, this is arguably an example of an online community that has been constructed and managed within the bounds of the hierarchy itself , and while I see a real benefit in this sort of participation, it only goes so far in enabling the development of a deep understanding of the power and transformational potential of these online social networking tools and environments. Within the MoE, as with most government departments here and overseas, staff are discouraged from (according to some, not allowed to) having their own blog or wiki where they can express thoughts and ideas as a part of the broader social network. In some cases this even applies to leaving comments on other people's blogs etc. The concern is that the opinions shared may not reflect the view of the government department, and may place the department at risk if it is read widely and interpreted as policy for instance.

At a recent Educational Leader's Summit I was asked to speak about the impact of these technologies on our education system for just a few minutes. It became evident that among the group of around 100 educational leaders present, only a handful professed knowledge of the sorts of things I was referring to, and even less actually had a blog, flickr or del.icio.us account of their own. An online community was established where participants in the event could go to review presentations and to actively participate in the discussions following the event. To date less than 10% of those who attended have activated their account.

This is in stark contrast with the hundreds of teachers attending the ULearn conference held recently who have returned to visit the conference website, and the many dozens who have expressed their ideas and 'new learnings' from the conference on their personal websites or wikis.

Reflecting again on the Wikinomics quotes, I have a concern about the impact of these web-based technologies within our education system. Sure, there are dozens of new examples appearing weekly of these technologies being employed by classroom teachers to achieve some wonderful learning experiences for and with students - but all too often I also hear stories about firewalls preventing access, and students not allowed to participate in activities using these tools.

My concern really is that it appears to me that the very people in our education system who should be experiencing these technologies in an ongoing and profound way aren't. These are the various leaders, decision makers and policy developers who work at the school and national level. Their experience of what is happening in these communities must be based on more than reading about it in the media, or briefly visiting a site - they should be immersed in the experience and involved in reflecting critically (as a part of a community) on that experience and the value they see arising from it.

Sadly I don't see this happening. As a result, we have policy decisions made in ignorance. Safety decisions made through fear. And decisions affecting learning dominated by concerns about risk mitigation.

I fear we have a way to go yet before we see education systems as systems realise the benefits outlined in Wikinomics. Oh well, we can live in hope....

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 11:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

In an email this morning Mark Treadwell alerted me to the release of this document from the US (PDF download here). The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills are leadership organizations that have come together on this national imperative with a unified vision, agenda and action principles for stakeholders. Together, they represent dozens of leading U.S. companies and organizations, six leadership states, education technology directors in all 50 states, 85,000 education technology professionals and 3.2 million educators throughout the country.

They assert that It's time to focus on what students need to learn--and on how to create a 21st century education system that delivers results. In a digital world, no organization can achieve results without incorporating technology into every aspect of its everyday practices. It's time for schools to maximize the impact of technology as well.

The document is a relatively short, easily digestible read, with plenty of summarised points and useful diagrams. It provides another timely piece of contextual reading to accompany the new curriculum document released yesterday. Its content reflects a lot of what has been emerging from many quarters of the debate in NZ (the Knowledge Wave, Digital Summit etc), and provides some compelling arguments for the pivotal role of technology in our future education system.

This will be a useful backgrounder also for the NZ Secondary Futures project when they come to examine their fifth and final theme on the Role of Technology.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 9:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
(For the full lyrics see Guy Fawkes Night)

It's Guy Fawkes day - yay! (not!) But it's got me thinking - what are the parallels between Guy Fawkes Day and our education system? None you say - well think in this...

• Both have their origins centuries ago, with the real reasons for their beginnings and relevance to our modern day able to be articulated by but a few in our society.


• Both have since been shrouded with traditions and customary practices that further distance us from these origins.


• Difficulties have been experienced along the way in both cases as some of these customs and traditions confront changes in societal thinking and behaviour, resulting in cosmetic 'tweaking' of the conditions under which these customs and traditions may be observed and practised.


• In both cases we observe strong public reaction at any suggestion of significant change to these customs and traditions (despite there being repeated cases of events that threaten the safety and well-being of citizens)


• In both cases examples can be found of safe, well managed and enjoyable practices, which are frequently used to defend the continuation of the customs and traditions at a system wide level.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Seems like an age since I blogged - and it has been. Truth is I was struck down by a pretty vicious virus that had me on my back for almost a fortnight, and since then I've bee struggling to catch up!

Prior to the virus episode, I had the opportunity to attend the Education Leaders' Forum (ELF) at Terrace Downs

One of the speakers there was Nicola Meek who leads the secretariat supporting the Guardians of Secondary Futures speaking about the work of this project in creating a vision for secondary education in NZ in twenty year's time. This project is advancing steadily, with two strategic papers released already, Students First and Inspiring Teachers, with a third one on Impact on Society to be released shortly. A feature of this work is the extent to which teachers have been engaged and involved in the discussions leading to the development of these papers.

Prior to her presentation we had a presentation from an inspiring group of students from Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti, a co-educational state school with a special character designation located in the centre of Christchurch. These young people inspired the group with their explanations of what school means for them, how they are given the opportunity to negotiate their own curriculum and learning pathways etc. They explained how they operated in a very personalised and very online world, making innovative use of a range of social networking and web2.0 applications - several were running their own business combining an interest in computer graphics, music and dance!

Inevitably there was mention made about the need to somehow include student voice in all of the deliberations around the future of secondary education (and of education in general). While I fully endorse this notion, there are two underpinning assumptions that seem to surface in these discussions that I find myself questionning. The first is that students aren't currently expressing their ideas and opinions, and secondly, that the forums they ought to be doing this in are the ones set up by the adults (ex-20th century learners!)

Now while a presentation like the one we heard from the Unlimited students at the ELF has undoubted value and significance, I think we may be missing something. You see, it seems to me that now, more than ever before, students do have a voice, and are finding all sorts of ways of expressing their thoughts, ideas and opinions on a range of topics and issues - and in a range of forums and media (including YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, blogs, wikis and a variety of other social networking software). The problem as I see it is that we (the 20th century learners) just aren't connecting with it, and are not sure how to engage with or interact with it when we do 'stumble' across it. Now granted, not everything you find in these environments is constructive or useful even, but if you take a moment to check out an international project like TakingITGlobal you'll soon find thousands of young people giving expression to their thoughts and ideas in very practical ways. TIG is an online community that connects youth to find inspiration, access information, get involved, and take action in their local and global communities. It's the world's most popular online community for young people interested in making a difference, with hundreds of thousands of unique visitors each month. It was started by Michael Furdyk who we've had out here to NZ on a few occasions now to speak at our ULearn and Learning@School conferences.

The way I see it is that the future of education lies in hearing the voices of a wide range of stakeholders, including students, parents, community leaders, teachers and potential employers etc. The challenge is finding forums and venues for these ideas, concerns and opinions to be expressed openly and without judgement. In this regard I feel we need to be looking to our 21st Century Learners to provide the lead!

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In thinking about what schools might be like in the future it's imperative that we ask our students! They are the ones whose freshness of vision, and currency of experience in the existing system we can learn a lot from.

It's been nearly 15 years now since the original New Zealand Curriculum Framework was released, providing the structure and guidelines for what is taught in NZ schools. A couple of years ago the NZ Ministry of Education embarked on a process of consultation with teachers, principals and other educators as part of the "NZ Curriculum Project", leading to the development of a revised and updated curriculum framework.

One of the lesser visited part of the website set up to support this project is a section that reports on feedback from students who were asked for their thoughts about the future of schooling, with questions including:

1. Thinking about the future and the things you would most like to do, imagine yourself as a successful person. What is a successful person?
   
2. What's your favourite subject and why?
   
3. What helps you learn? What advice would you give to teachers?

Their responses are insightful, for instance, on the topic of technology:

Technology featured significantly in students' views of the future. Many perceived the advancement of technology as negative, especially in terms of making people "lazier". One student commented: "With technology, it seems as if things are automatically done for you... you won't go the extra mile to do things for yourself." Another said: "...the Magic Pen ... will tend to switch people's brains off during class because it can download the information given during a lesson. Students and/or people won't have work they produced themselves."

• "To have a really good job you need to have a good education."
  
• "No school, no job."
  
• "I think to be happy you have to be successful. To be successful you have to go hard at school."
  
• "School goes past very quickly. You need to make the most of it, be motivated to set goals and achieve them; take opportunities ... it might be your only chance."

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 1:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Sheryl Nassbaum-Beach has started a new discussion over on the TechLearn blog, titled Virtual Communities as a Canvas for Educational Reform. She poses the following questions at the start of her article:

How do we promote the knowledge, skills and sense of urgency for 21st Century teaching and learning among all teachers in our schools? How do we come to the place we are willing to change ??? to risk change ??? to meet the obvious need for better alignment between "school as we know it" and the needs of 21st Century learners?

The traditional view of communities as groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly (loosely taken from Wenger) leads to a strengthening and affirmation of these ideas and practices, forging a community identity and sense of belonging and purpose etc. BUT, as Wenger also points out, after a while , such communities can become very intro-spective and protective of their identity, leading to a resistance to change. This is where I see the virtual world, in particular the web2.0 technologies, creating some great opportunities.

At the 2004 NECC conference Malcolm Gladwell spoke about the importance of the 'mavens' and 'connectors' in the emerging world - noting the importance of people with the ability to make links between ideas and people, and who are good at 'gathering' up important pieces of the puzzle and making sense of them. Wenger refers to the idea of "boundary workers" - those who work in the boundaries between established communities - asserting that these are the people who are essentially change agents, refreshing and introducing new ideas to the communities they move between.

In the Web2.0-enabled online environments we now inhabit, those who are the mavens and connectors, many of whom are also boundary workers, are provided with a range of tools and opportunities that make it easier and more effective to carry out these roles. An RSS aggregator, for instance, enables a single person to monitor and contribute to a wide range of communities in a fraction of the time it may have taken previously.

So - I see these two distinct advantages of virtual communities:

1. linking people with common purpose and practice in a way that they can support each other and grow in depth in their understandings and practice, and

2. enabling connections and sharing ideas across and between communities, leading to transformation of ideas and understandings, and eventually practice.

If you have a moment, visit Sheryl's post and see what other thoughts are being shared in response to what she has written.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 3:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

A few years ago when I was worked as the eLearning manager at NZ's Correspondence School it became very clear to me that the offerings of the Correspondence School were relevant not just to those who were unable to attend a traditional school, but to anyone within our education system. It didn't require an Einstein intelligence to figure this out - around 50% of the school's 20,000 students were in fact already attending traditional secondary schools, using TCS courses to supplement the limited subject offerings of what was available to students in their own school. The transition into an eLearning environment, I thought, provided a wonderful opportunity to not simply supplement our existing school system, but to transform it!

Unfortunately, at a time of increasing scrutiny into costs etc., the opportunity for transformation was lost to those on the conservative side of the fence - and so we go on building new old schools, some with exciting new architectures, but more of the same happening on the inside - not because there isn't a will or desire to change that too, but because the time-pace constraints that are inherent in the physicality of schools dictate much of what follows - timetables, subject silos, attendance registers etc.

An article in the Independent over the weekend caught my eye - titled 'No more school as council opens 'learning centres', it describes a bold decision by the Knowsley Council in Merseyside to close all eleven of its existing secondary schools and replace them with learning centres.

The style of learning will be completely different. The new centres will open from 7am until 10pm in both term-time and what used to be known as the school holidays. At weekends, they will open from 9am to 8pm.

Youngsters will not be taught in formal classes, nor will they stick to a rigid timetable; instead they will work online at their own speeds on programmes that are tailor-made to match their interests.

Children will be able to study haircare, beauty therapy, leisure and tourism, and engineering as well as the more traditional academic subjects.

They will be given their day's assignments in groups of 120 in the morning before dispersing to internet cafe-style zones in the learning centres to carry them out.

The 21,000 youngsters of secondary education age in Knowsley will also be able to access their learning programmes from home.

Of course, the challenge now will be to find the innovative providers of learning that will be made available in this online environment, to ensure that what they end up with is more than simply a 'delivery channel' for lots of online content, reinforcing a transmission model of education similar to many classrooms, but now available within a different timeframe.

The one thing that does concern me about the Knowsley decision, however, is that it's become an 'all or nothing' approach, so this will become the only way for secondary students to complete their schooling. It will be interesting to see how well they can stave off the pressure, that I'm sure will come, which may led to their study centres simply becoming traditional schools again - with longer opening hours!

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I've been spending a lot of time over the past few weeks re-visiting issues relating to CORE's Ten trends, and thinking at a strategic level of where we're moving to in our education system, so this morning was delighted to receive an email from The KnowledgeWorks Foundation telling me about their Map of Future Forces Affecting Education.

It's an interactive map that matches six categories of "change drivers" with five key areas of activity where major trends are revealed from different perspectives. Within this matrix are a range of click-able 'hotspots', 'dilemmas' and 'trends', each of which is linked to a discussion forum where readers are adding their own perspectives, thoughts and opinions.

The map itself is a usefully organised collection of the trends and patterns that are familiar to most who live and breathe in this sort of world - but its the way each links to the discussion forums that I found particularly useful as a way of developing some depth to the debates and discussions. What I am still looking for is some sort of rationale as to why some of the trends/hotspots etc are positioned where they are.

That aside, I found browsing the various hotspots and trends very interesting, and there are a number of links from the side bar that are worth exploring, including reference to a video resource titled "Schools Designed for Learning" that I'd like to pursue.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

This new report just out makes for challenging reading. Although based in the US experience, the principles that are discussed are applicable in other contexts.

For those whose interest is in outcomes, the report identifies that the small body of research focused on the effectiveness of K???12 virtual schooling programs supports findings of similar studies on virtual courses in higher education which have found "no significant difference" in student performance in online courses versus traditional face-to-face learning.

But the report goes on to show that in K???12 education, the Internet is enabling deep structural changes. In each case, new organizations are developing alternative management structures, distribution methods, and work models.

The report compares the way that virtual schooling is driving transforming changes in public education with the way Apple's iTunes has changed the music industry.

Where successful, virtual schooling demonstrates that innovative reforms can be readily integrated into the public school system. As a result, it is increasingly important to understand both the innovations that are emerging from online schooling and their potential to leverage reform on a far larger scale in public education.

It has long been my contention that the introduction of online/distance learning options such as what is happening in the NZ video conferencing clusters has the potential to do far more than simply cater for the needs of students in rural schools where some subjects may not be available. This report is certainly worth considering in the NZ context with the numbers of schools that are now participating in the Virtual Learning here. The section on policy recommendations in particular is worth considering in terms of how some of these might be generalised outside the US context.

Laboratories of Reform: Virtual High Schools and Innovation in Public Education (259K) [download]

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Having had my interest piqued at Gillian Heald's presentation the other night I've been reading a little more about the Next Practice model of school reform being promoted and used by the Innovation Unit in the UK.

I came across a presentation on the application of Next Practice methodology to system reform at the 2007 given by Valerie Hannon, Director of Strategy for The Innovation Unit, and David Jackson that they gave at a meeting of the American Educational Research Association, recently held in Chicago. (PDF download).

The following quote explains well the difference between Next Practice and Best Practice which we tend to hear so much about):

There is a lot of research focused on best practice, but I focus on Next Practice. Next Practice by definition has three problems: firstly it is future-oriented; secondly, no single institution or company is an exemplar of everything that you think will happen; and third, next practice is about amplifying weak signals, connecting the dots. Next Practice is disciplined imagination.???
CK Prahalad, University of Michigan

The other thing that appeals to me is the strong links I see between the Next Practice approach and the Appreciative Inquiry methodology which I'm very attracted to. I'm sure we're going to see more of this in the NZ context over the coming months/years.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I had the pleasure this evening of attending a meeting hosted by Gillian Heald, one of the guardians of the NZ Secondary Futures project. Around 30 secondary teachers, student teachers and others interested in secondary education gathered for an update on where things have developed to with the project, and to consider the two main themes that have emerged and are being focused on as a priority, Students First and Inspiring Teachers.

This project has been running for four years now, and it was interesting to get a first hand update on how things are going and what is emerging. Many things rang true for me in terms of what was presented, and the discussions reinforced what a multi-faceted job we have to do if we're to succeed in reforming the way we provide a secondary education for our you.

I was very interested to be introduced to the work of Valerie Hannon, the Director of Strategy in The Innovations Unit (a UK organisation tasked with promoting innovation to improve education) and her work on Next Practice in System Leadership - I can see I'll be doing some more reading in this area.

Gillian's comment about NZers being "change wary and change weary" also rang bells with me - she reinforced the fact that the SFP isn't looking at promoting another "Tomorrow's Schools" scale of change to our school system, but is seeking to bring about widespread change that is neither "top down" nor "bottom up" - but is achieved through engaging all stakeholders - parents, students, teachers, Ministry of Education, ERO, teacher unions, employers etc - in the dialogue around change leading to the implementation of various ideas and initiatives that will build an understanding of what the future of secondary schooling will be. Judging from the case studies on the SFP website, it would appear that there are already a number of schools and communities doing just that!

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

More from Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at the launch of the International Smart School Conference 2007 being held in Kuala Lumpur as I write.

In his opening address to the conference the Deputy PM has called for a review of non-ICT promoting curriculum, saying

"We can equip our schools and train teachers with ICT. But at the end of the day, if the curriculum is still examination focused, and geared towards memorisation and reproduction of facts and figures, our objectives will not be met

Gone are the days for rote learning or spoon feeding in classrooms, of regurgitating textbook chapters to fill up pages of examination answer books.

The emphasis in today's learning culture must be on thinking, the use of the mind to find solutions to emerging problems. Students must be taught the means through which they can maximise their creativity and capacity for innovation,"

(Story from The Star Online

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 6:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I spent the day today in a school here in Perak, Malaysia, interviewing a teacher about his experiences in using ICT with his senior physics class. Until just a few weeks ago this teacher had not used ICT at all with his class, and was very skeptical about whether ICT had any contribution at all to make to the subject of Physics. After a little coaxing from his in-school ICT facilitator, he decided to try using the internet to access resources to support his work with his senior physics class.

This resulted in him finding a site with short video clips of crash impact tests on cars, that he was able to use (along with some other sites) with his students. The impact of this on him and his students (I also interviewed two of them) was profound. He is now a convert to the idea that ICT may indeed have something to offer the area of physics, and is now exploring the use of computer-based simulations to bring the static images in his physics text books to life!

Quite a turnaround in just two weeks. Now his challenge will be to get enough access to the school's two computer labs for his students, and to ensure that he doesn't get distracted from meeting the school and department of education's requirements in terms of curriculum coverage and examination preparation for his students.

The work I've been involved with in Malaysia in the past couple of weeks has made me very aware that we must be focusing on change at two levels in order to achieve a truly "Smart School". These are:

1. Teacher beliefs and behaviours - as exemplified by the physics teacher above. This experience has shifted both his pre-conceived ideas about ICT and his subject area, and has changed (albeit in a small way) some of his behaviours as a teacher. Because such beliefs and behaviours take a long time to develop and embed, they will also take a long time to change!
   
2. System and infrastructure issues, including curriculum, assessment, ICT access, timetables, class size etc.

An effective professional development, and change management process must embrace and address both of these dimensions.

While I have been working here in Perak, some of my New Zealand colleagues have been attending the International Smart Schools Conference in Kuala Lumpur. In his opening address at the conference the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, addressed this very issue in a rather hard hitting speech in which he made calls for massive change to the school system in Malaysia. In particular, he emphasised the need to do better in relation to the use of ICT, saying "They are called smart schools. But, apart from computers, there is little that is smart about them."- and calling for a massive change in the "processes and procedures" entrenched in the school system.

Of course Najib is not alone with these concerns. Around the globe education and political leaders are expressing concern at the lack of any real change in terms of how ICT is being used (or not as the case may be) in schools. Many are questioning whether the vast amounts of money being spent are worth it, while others are suggesting punitive approaches for schools and teachers who aren't (in their opinion) moving fast enough.

I'm sure we haven't heard the last of the Smart School reform ideas here in Malaysia, and I can imagine we must be due for some similar posturing soon in New Zealand, given that there's a general election coming up. I do remain optimistic, however, as I reflect on the experience today with my physics teaching friend, and his two students, that change is achievable provided the two dimensions I referred to earlier are addressed equally in any professional development effort.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 3:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=268691876&size=l

Following on from my last post on School2.0 etc, I read with interest Stephen Downes post titled To The School or Classroom 2.0 Advocates in which he responds to some questions from Christian Long.

I rather like Stephen's responses to Christian's list of questions. They resonate with my understandings of the whole school/class2.0 discussion. This is emphasised in one point he makes;

I have commented in the past, and I reiterate the point here, that from my perspective the predominate use of the term 'School 2.0' has been to promote a view of learning that is traditionalist, rather than oriented to the future, one that seeks to preserve the existing trappings of education, most notably, schools. We hear a lot of language like "the fact is, schools are here to stay," but there is in my mind no fact of the matter, certainly not in the time-frame of 25-30 years.

The other thing that I find often find inhibits our thinking about the future of schools and schooling is the extent to which the discussion dwells on the physical structures we call schools, and the systems and processes that we use to operate them, instead of a focusing on the nature of teaching and learning as being the things that need to change most markedly as we look to the future. When you look at things from that perspective then things like buildings, timetables etc can be viewed from the perspective of how well they enable or inhibit effective teaching and learning practices.

With this in mind I was interested to read Phil Brown's Student Self-Directed Learning blog entry titled What makes a good learner? in which he poses the question then summarises a number of factors suggested in a paper from NREL. It's my contention that if we begin by looking at the list suggested by Phil, and considering what sorts of environments and support would be required to enable this sort of learning to take place, then our perspective on what the future of schools and schooling might be might be very different.

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 11:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I've just been listening again to Evangeline Stefanakis and Helen Barrett at the CORE Breakfast session, speaking about the use of ePortfolios and the ways in which these can support the goals of personalising learning. While the idea of personalising learning sounds good in principle, there are many ways in which the idea may be manifest in practice. All of these require that we confront our existing ideas and understandings about schools, teaching and classroom practice.

The frame above is from a 9 minute video that comes from the The Consortium for School Networking's 21th annual conference that kicked off March 28 in San Francisco. It features Chris Dede offering some thoughts on personalising learning and the challenges it brings. Chris interviews two speakers who are working to create personalised learning experiences for students:

• Jean Johnson, the project director of NotSchool.net, and
  
• Jack Dale, the superintendant of the Fairfax County Public School district where they are implementing an Individualised Learning Plan for every student!

The clip contributes some useful thoughts to the Personalising Learning discussion - I particularly appreciated the latter part where the panel engage in discussion around some of the issues about implementing a personalised approach within the existing school system. Dede's final comment is worth noting - he points out that the major issue is with breaking down the social and political barriers - pointing out that technology will only ever take us part of the way towards the personalised learning dream.

A final point - although I was pointed to this clip through a link on personalising learning - the actual title of the session refers to individualised instruction - obviously the nomenclature issue is still to be resolved!

Posted by Derek Wenmoth at 9:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)