I have been invited to speak on a panel at the Education Investor Summit 2012 next week. The panel session is titled ‘The Digital Revolution, and what it means for education’. Should be fun!
I have spent the morning sketching out some core points to discuss during my slot on the panel. Its a bit of a brain dump, but would appreciate your thoughts. There are many angles I could address during this session, many of which are not covered in the points below. Its a start, though.
Is there anything you think I should prioritise or leave out? What do you consider to be the biggest impact that the digital revolution has had/will have on the education sector?
5 Core Points
A mix of economic, social and technological trends and developments have created the perfect storm to drive change in the education system. Digital sits at the heart of this.
5 core points to discuss during my panel session slot include the following:
While the use of technology in education is improving, when you look at its use in more detail, it actually shows us how far we still have to go. Outside of the classroom, students use a variety of digital devices and services. Technology and the internet is a core part of how they live their lives. Within some institutions, though, it’s like getting on an airplane. Devices are turned off for the 'duration of the flight' and its only when you get into the terminal building that you can access the outside world. A cultural change needs to take place in order to change this mind-set within education. This is vital!
The digital revolution is definitely bringing about a need for the role of the teacher to change. As a result, the role of the teacher in the digital revolution is now more important than ever. They need to act as a content curator, guide and develop opportunities for young learners to generate that emotional connection with their learning that was discussed earlier. Ultimately, tech and bad teachers has no impact and little scale, whereas tech and great teachers have the ability to both scale and help learners achieve their full potential. An exciting concept!
Gaming focuses on emotion - funny games, scary games etc - I believe that we need to get to this same place with the use of tech in education. Games offer challenge, progression, reward and personalised real-time experiences. From an educational perspective, what's not to like about this mix!
Furthermore, within gaming, failure is seen as a positive thing. Within a new game you die/fail often and improve with time until you become an expert. Why not the same in education assessment? Some changes within the way that learners are assessed definitely needs to follow to support the changes opened up by the digital revolution.
These are some pretty rough and provisional ideas, and will be fine tuning them prior to the event next week. In the meantime, though, it would be great to get your feedback.
Thanks in advance!
Tim
With any luck we will soon be into summer, when we can (normally!) rely on good weather conditions for travel into school and work. But winter 2012 again saw more extreme weather conditions. These continued to increase school closure days and education institutions suffered the effects from unforeseen absences. As well as the snowy conditions stopping teachers, staff and students getting to schools, there are also other factors that can stall learning and the running of education institutions. According to the department of education, between autumn 2010 and spring 2011, 61% of student’s absences were due to illness. To add to this 2,700,000 teaching days each year are lost through sickness.
The great thing is, there is still a way for education staff and students to communicate even if they are absent from their school, college or university. Microsoft Lync 2010 is a communication solution where you can connect anywhere, anytime. It’s a unified communication client which includes instant messaging, meetings and voice options. With management possible from all devices including PC, Mac, browser, tablets, mobile and desk phones, it means increased access and availability when students and staff are using Lync.
Lync works with SharePoint, Outlook and other office applications, so it allows students and education staff to click from within applications that they routinely use. You can also collaborate more effectively with built-in application sharing, so assignments and documents can be shared between students, staff and peers.
Interaction is easily achieved, with whole-classes and teachers being able to communicate remotely, also making distance learning easy. Students and educators can communicate at any time from any location, so flexible learning is possible. Users can choose when to communicate with controlled availability.
Here’s a summary of how your education institution can benefit from using Lync:
Connect with the right people fast
Find the right teacher, student, administrator, or staff person, and make richer connections, with new enhanced presence features, including pictures and locations.
Choose how you want to collaborate on projects
Collaborate your way, using desktop and application sharing, PowerPoint uploads, or rich whiteboarding, including the ability to copy and paste images.
Schedule and join meetings with a single click
Need to meet with other educators or students? Schedule a parent-teacher conference or staff meeting? Schedule and join meetings with a single click in Microsoft Outlook or in the meeting reminder.
Consolidate management tasks in one location
Dramatically simplify navigation with the new Silverlight-based, scenario-driven unified graphical management tool. Improve the security of your communication system using role-based Access Control (RBAC) with built-in and user-defined roles.
Extend and adapt Lync to your school’s changing needs
Embed Communicator UI elements in Word and other applications, and enhance collaboration by enabling educators and students to launch PowerPoint or other applications right from Communicator. Extend Lync access to all unified communications-enabled services from smartphones, and deliver advanced speech technology in 26 languages.
Watch this recording presented by Dave Coleman, SharePoint MVP, as he gives an overview of SharePoint 2010. During this recording, Dave explores how SharePoint can address key needs within education institutions and by making use of existing licensing agreements, SharePoint can also help to remove cost from your organisation.
Yesterday’s announcement about new features to SkyDrive is great news for students and education staff. SkyDrive’s file cloud is now more accessible with the option to view and edit files from all popular desktop and mobile devices. Student files and assignments can be stored and accessed online in one easy to reach place, either from school, home or anywhere else. Students and teachers can collaborate remotely with the ability to view and edit their files using their chosen device.
For example, students can begin an assignment on a school desktop PC, upload it to SkyDrive, then go home and fetch the document using a home computer to continue the assignment. They can then share it for review (via an email link - no attachments necessary!) with teachers and fellow students. The students can use a mobile device at any location to view the document again, and fetch the document back at the school PC. So it really does enhance learning processes, allowing easy access to work and projects. A large number of files can be stored on SkyDrive with different storage options available, so historic assignments can also be found easily. Existing documents can be uploaded, and new ones created (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote) from within SkyDrive, and images can be uploaded and stored too.
Some of the new changes for SkyDrive include HTML5 and mobile apps, improved integration with Office and 3rd party apps, and a device cloud for Windows and Windows Phone. There are new storage options, apps that connect your devices to SkyDrive, and a more powerful device cloud that lets you “fetch” any file from a Windows PC. Taken together with access from popular mobile phones and a browser, you can take your SkyDrive with you anywhere, connect it to any app that works with files and folders, and get all the storage you need—making SkyDrive the most powerful personal cloud storage service available.
Here’s what’s available for use, starting now:
You can download the new SkyDrive apps now, but you might want to take a look at this video first, which gives you a glimpse of all the things you can do with the new SkyDrive.
As cloud computing services outperform current infrastructure, with 99.9 percent of uptime or better in many cases, the road to the cloud for schools looks good. Between the flexibility of the cloud and the power of onsite software, your school can map out a cloud strategy that works.
Here are some simple steps to consider if you’re thinking of cloud computing for your school:
Step 1: Justify cloud services Start by discovering how much cloud computing is already taking place in your school, and consider how your existing applications could take advantage of the cloud. Evaluate a web service or hosted application in a test or development environment. Did the service save you time or money? Use any savings to justify future endeavours.
Step 2: Budget for the cloud Consider how the cloud gives you a predictable budget and plan for IT resources. Offloading some IT functions to the cloud can free up funds to further develop services for students, teachers, faculty, staff, and parents. Know when to make your move. Some cloud strategies, such as PaaS, pay off over time, so factor in how long it might take to recoup your investment, and set expectations accordingly.
Step 3: Integrate cloud services Look for ways to integrate onsite applications and databases with cloud technologies to offer more or faster services. But make sure your data is secured in transit, not just at the ends. Think big—especially if you’re a small school. Cloud services are massively scalable. Who else might benefit? Keep other departments in the loop.
Here's some further reading in our cloud for education whitepaper:
Baby steps in to the cloud whitepaper
You may be considering adopting Google Apps in your school, college or university to balance the requirements of your messaging and collaboration infrastructure. On the surface, Google Apps may seem like acceptable replacements for products such as Microsoft Exchange Server or Microsoft Office. But many organisations have found that Google Apps cause them extra, hidden costs.
Organisations that have evaluated Google Apps have found that the projected versus actual costs of switching to Google Apps may greatly increase their total cost of ownership (TCO). In particular, these IT organisations have found that Google Apps may require costly add-on applications, even for most small and medium-sized organisations.
The report below gives detailed information to help you understand the costs associated with using Google Apps.
There are many reasons why using computer games in the classroom are a successful way for students to learn. The use of games and consoles, such as the Xbox 360, are just a natural progression of the playful learning environment.
Here are some factors that simply explain why computer games are so powerful when used in schools and education:
Play – gives intensity and involvement
Fun – gives enjoyment and pleasure
Rules – gives structure
Goals – gives motivation
Problem solving – sparks creativity
Emotion – from games that have a story
Interaction – gives social groups
Outcomes and feedback – gives learning
With these factors considered, teachers have been using games and play in their classroom for the early years ‘play based’ curriculum, as well as using the multiple-choice games and simulations that are found in many secondary schools. Games and play have been key components in education for many years, and all types of play remain incredibly important for recreation, enterprise and education.
You can view our Computer Games in Education eBook below to find out about tools and practical tips to help you understand more about using computer games in the classroom.
In August 2003, Djanogly City Academy opened its doors as one of the first of a new type of specialist, state-funded independent school. The Academy replaced the oversubscribed City Technology College (CTC) and the former Forest Comprehensive School.
At the beginning of this academic year (2011-2012), Djanogly Learning Trust was formed as a multi-academy sponsor responsible for Djanogly Northgate Academy (primary) and Djanogly City Academy (secondary), therefore providing education from foundation stage through to Year 13.
Now nearing the end of Djanogly Learning Trust’s first academic year, Jon Marshall, E-Learning Leader, gave me his view on how e-learning has addressed the skills gap for students and the surrounding community and how it will continue to grow in the education sector alongside existing traditional approaches to delivering GCSEs and A-Levels
‘’My position as the E-Learning Leader is a multifaceted role. I promote the use of a variety of e-learning software and the use of mobile technologies within teaching and learning. I organise and provide staff training and encourage the adoption of new ways to learn. Over the last year, 130 Microsoft Office Specialist certificates were awarded to our staff who had taken this exam. I am also involved with helping to reduce the digital divide and have successfully bid for grants from the E-Learning Foundation to purchase new computing equipment and Internet connections so that all students studying at our secondary academy have the chance to own a new computer at home. I also refurbish older laptops that have been replaced by new equipment so that our students and community groups have the chance to own a computer.’’ – Jon Marshall
What were the main reasons to set up Djanogly Leaning Trust?
Becoming a multi-academy trust enabled us to offer 3-19 provision and facilitates continuity of education and sharing of good practice across age phases for the benefit of both learners and teachers. Through much closer collaboration within a single employer organisation, members of staff are building on previous successful partnership working and finding new ways to ensure that a child’s transition from Year 6 to year 7 is as seamless as possible. The primary phase benefits from greater access to specialist facilities and more subject specialist staff; whilst secondary phase colleagues are able to learn more about effective cross-curricular and child-centred approaches. Also we can better resource early intervention for certain pupils at primary school, which will allow them to attain their full potential when they reach secondary education and beyond.
What type of work are they doing for students?
Djanogly Learning Trust provides a high standard of education for children and young people in the local community from reception all the way through to the sixth form. We ensure that our students leaving the secondary academy have the necessary computing skills, including those in familiar Microsoft industry standard applications, in order to meet the demands of the marketplace, be that for Higher Education or employment.
How has Djanogly had an effect on the surrounding community – parents and teachers of the students?
Djanogly Learning Trust works very closely with our local community. We provide computing courses for adults to improve their IT skills, and for those that are not employed, we provide them with a wider range of skills for their curriculum vitae. We also bring together local groups to support improvements to the way communities work together in the Hyson Green, Forest Fields, Sherwood Rise and neighbouring areas of Nottingham City so as to improve aspiration, achievement, life chances, cohesion and social capital for the people who live in the community. We achieve these aims through sharing ideas, learning from each other, working more closely, developing projects, planning events, building a directory of what is available locally, and developing volunteering opportunities.
We also bring together local groups and encourage them to communicate their ideas and events via an online blog. We foster good links with our parents using a parent portal that has been provided using Microsoft SharePoint technology to share information about timetables, attendance, results etc.
Djanogly City Academy has been awarded Investor in People status for over 10 years and was recently successful in gaining the coveted Bronze Award.. We have an allocated session for Continuous Professional Development (CPD) each week and have IT- related CPD each week for staff to up-skill to ensure that they can provide our students with the best possible education.
How has Djanogly built students’ confidence in IT?
We are fortunate to have the best facilities for our staff and students to use. Our student to computer ratio is approaching a ratio of 1:1, which is exceptionally high for any type of educational institution. Our students enjoy a higher than national average of computer ownership in their homes with over 90% of them having a computer with access to the Internet. We incorporate computing tasks into learning wherever appropriate to ensure that our students are IT literate from an early age. The access to Microsoft software and the secure network running on File Server Edition has helped both our students and staff to become confident in using software and computing facilities.
How is the skills gap of students addressed?
Student skills are assessed throughout their time at Djanogly and ICT is a compulsory curriculum subject. The access to extensive computer equipment and training allows our staff to feel confident with delivery of all aspects of ICT and thus helps students bridge the skills gap to ensure that they have the necessary skills in order to get the best from their education here. We have implemented an online system in SharePoint so that staff can request one-to-one ICT training, including in-class support for them to use and try out new technologies with their students. Also we are fortunate to have Multimedia Specialists who help with delivering more technical aspects of ICT and regularly help the students learn how to create Apps, gaming design, 3-D environments, high quality video and audio productions.
What actions and teaching advice have been put in place in order that students get the most from e-learning?
We have an in-house e-learning centre (called the Beta Centre) that teachers can book students into so that they can benefit from the Multimedia Specialists’ expertise and the latest specification computing facilities. Teachers are encouraged to continually improve their ICT skills as having teachers with a higher level of skills allows their knowledge and expertise to be transferred to their students. We also encourage our students to be independent learners and provide learning opportunities that extend past the teaching that takes place in the classroom.
Has ITA helped?
The MS IT Academy has proven really valuable for members of staff wanting to improve their IT skills and hence become more effective and efficient within their roles, be they teaching staff wanting to improve their ICT skills so that they can pass on their knowledge to our students, learning support staff seeking new ways to facilitate individuals’ progress, or other support staff involved mostly with administrative functions.
Having the opportunity to study a huge range of Microsoft technologies using e-learning gives users the flexibility to do so at a time and place to suit them. It is not always convenient to allocate a fixed time per week so this model of learning is more suitable for the majority of people. Also, providing students with the opportunity to learn skills that will make them more employable is really beneficial for them. With the job market being so competitive, having additional industry standard skills can set you apart from the rest of the other school leavers.
How do you feel e-learning will grow in the education sector? Is this something more schools should look at other than the existing traditional approaches to delivering GCSEs and A-Levels?
E-learning is becoming more prevalent within all sectors of education, which is due to the support that it provides within the classroom and the obvious advantages it provides to students wanting to learn independently, and interdependently. Students can now access the Internet from a variety of different devices and as the Internet is the natural medium of providing e-learning then many different opportunities can be provided to students, thus ensuring that they receive the best possible education.
All schools will inevitably adopt e-learning as a way to support their current offering of qualifications but it is unlikely to replace their qualifications.
Michael Gove has catalysed a revamping of the current ICT qualifications, replacing them with a flexible curriculum, to include computer science, from September 2012. The MS IT Academy will help ensure that both students and staff here at Djanogly Learning Trust’s secondary Academy are fully supported with up-to-date and relevant learning materials to help ensure that this transition phase happens smoothly and to the benefit of our students.
Guest post from Gerald Haigh, freelance writer. Gerald writes regularly for the Microsoft blog(s).
Do you think all the attention being given to systems, types of schools, local authorities, inspection regimes, exam structures and the rest, is a distraction from what really matters, which is what our young people are learning in and beyond the classroom?
When I suggested as much to a friend, he directed me to this paper, published towards the end of last year by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) . As my friend pointed out, the fact that it attracted relatively little notice in this country when it came out actually makes my point. ‘We’ve all been far too busy arguing about academies and free schools to read a paper about learning,’ he said.
And sure enough, this really is a solid read, 80 pages plus, on the urgent need for patterns of learning to change if young people across Europe are to survive, and more importantly to thrive, in a largely unpredictable and scary future .
‘This report,’ it says, ‘Aims to identify, understand and visualise major changes to learning in the future.’
The key, say the report’s authors, lies with personalisation, collaboration and informalisation. It’s acknowledged that these aren’t new ideas, but now they have to move centre-stage, and become guiding principles for the whole of life-wide and lifelong learning – ‘A central learning paradigm…shaped by the ubiquity of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)’
The aim is to produce citizens who are, ‘..lifelong learners who flexibly respond to change, are able to pro-actively develop their competences and thrive in collaborative learning and working environment.’
And so, ‘Problem-solving, reflection, creativity, critical thinking, learning to learn, risk-taking, collaboration and entrepreneurship will become key competencies for a successful life in the European society of the future.’
Again, we’ve heard that before. What’s new here is the sense of urgency. Educators at every level are called on to respond both to individual learners’ needs and to fast changing requirements from the labour market. The inevitable conclusion that almost everything we assume about schools -- which skills are important, how they’re learned and taught, where, when and by whom, and how they’re assessed – will have to change. Along the way, there are big challenges which include tackling multicultural integration, reducing early dropout, fostering individual talent, promoting fluent transition from education to work, helping re-entrance to the labour market for the long-term unemployed, and providing career-long opportunities for updating skills and competencies.
That’s just a taste of a paper which puts up a wide-ranging, cogently argued case for a Europe-wide rethink not just of what future education might look like, but of what it will necessarily have to become. And, of course, at the heart of it as a driver, facilitator, motivator, there’s ICT.
The Report specifically mentions some ICT applications and possibilities, including targeted online courses, recognition of informal learning, flexible time schedules, online networks and collaborative tools (including peer to peer and intergenerational models), virtual learning environments, games and simulations.
So after I’d read the paper once, I went through it again, thinking this time about the technologies that we have available in today’s schools and other learning institutions here in UK, and wondering whether we’re anywhere near being ready to surf this particular zeitgeist.
The quick answer is that the major global and national technology developers and suppliers, of which Microsoft is a prime example, are entirely in tune with the JRC message. The growth of cloud services, ‘anytime, anywhere learning’, personal devices, games-based learning, advanced tools for communication and collaboration all ensure that UK education ought to be well equipped to step up to the plate.
All that’s necessary is the right mindset. And there, as Hamlet said when his own train of thought hit the buffers, is the rub.
Because for a long time, perhaps understandably, all of us, from government to lecture theatre to classroom, have stayed in our comfort zones, working the way we know so well, and regarding ICT as teacher’s little helper. That’s how we were taught to use it after all, when computers first arrived in school.
‘Think of it as just another tool,’ our new IT advisers said, ‘Like a blackboard or the library.’
So that’s what we did, and technology became absorbed into a style of working that had, in all essentials, been around for a century. We believed ourselves to be at the cutting edge through discovering that, for example –
Electronic registration is a lot better than paper registers for tracking attendance and catching truants.
Online pupil data improves on traditional reports.
Whiteboards are an improvement on blackboards.
Management information systems improve, well, er, management information.
Learning platforms are more convenient to handle than textbooks and folders of work.
Games enliven lessons.
Personal devices ease the pressure on the computer suite.
‘Anytime/anywhere’ learning means an overlap between homework and schoolwork.
In other words, we treated ICT as one useful tool of choice in appropriate circumstances, and failing to notice that it had the potential to become the very environment in which we live and work.
Well, maybe that’s unjust, and you will hasten to say I’m describing the Eighties and Nineties, and you’re way ahead. And of course there really are exciting things happening, as Microsoft’s Innovative Teachers’ Network shows us, to say nothing of the schools we showcase here on these blogs. Here, we’ve seen Oldham College rejigging its whole management structure to take advantage of the collaborative possibilities offered by SharePoint and Project Manager, http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ukfe/archive/2011/05/24/the-oldham-college-improves-its-efficiency-with-microsoft-sharepoint.aspx ,universities using Lync 2010 to transform the way they engage with students, and, very recently Cadoxton primary realising that its new MultiPoint Server network implies a rethink of the whole curriculum.
The JRC report, though, sees quite a lot further than that. Its emphasis on ‘lifelong’ and ‘life-wide’ learning actually challenges the very notion of what we mean by words like ‘classroom’, and ‘lesson’, even ‘school’ itself. In fact the Report suggests that currently emerging technologies – including ‘cloud’ – imply
‘a seamless education continuum that is centred on the student not the institution.’
Is any of this even on the radar for other than a far sighted few? Do the schools that embrace cloud technology see it as a good and cost-effective way of receiving an efficient ICT service, or are they looking to a time not so far off when the technology will enable them to become something entirely new and different – ‘flexible, open and adaptive infrastructures , which engage all citizens….’?
And if not, then why not? Is it because, as I suggested at the start, we’re thinking too hard about top-down structures and not hard enough about what learning is, what it’s for, where it’s going?
The great thing about these blogs, mind you, is that if I’m wrong about this, you’ll be pretty quick to let us know.
Its been a busy week on the blog. With 10 posts this week, its easy to miss the odd piece of content here and there. We are committed to continue sharing content on the blog with the same frequency, so thought it might be useful to produce a weekly summary post. A perfect accompaniment to the Sunday papers over a leisurely breakfast!
Hope you have enjoyed this weeks posts. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!