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GOAL: All learners will have engaging and empowering learning experiences in both formal and informal settings that prepare them to be active, creative, knowledgeable, and ethical participants in our globally connected society.183
Future Ready Learning 2016
Right now, many schools are racing out to purchase devices, or expecting parents/caregivers to provide them, without having clarity surrounding what the purpose of the device is. Tablet devices do have significant advantages over a small laptop regarding its battery life and its general resilience in the classroom environment, but there are also drawbacks. Tablets are designed specifically to be personal devices, and as a result, they are not always designed for sharing information collaboratively, even though this is possible if tools such as Google docs, sites, drive and a range of other tools are enabled.
The use of personal technology is a very powerful asset for learners and educators alike. As mentioned previously technology is often cast into classrooms for all the wrong reasons, without any real plan about how this new learning tool will improve the education outcomes that the school may, or may not have, identified. The implementation of technology must be accompanied by a technology plan that is detailed and focussed on improving specific learning outcomes.
The use of phone and tablet based devices certainly has a place in the junior part of the primary school where a significant portion of the learning surrounding literacy requires large amounts of rote learning. Tragically, it is also true that most of the mathematics that is taught is learned via rote processes and this should never be the case.L184 There is a broad range of apps that provide learners with very engaging ways of learning and remembering the underlying rote processes that support building early literacy and some emergent aspects of numeracy.
Educators can also get very precious about the brand of technology that should be purchased. The choice of the brand should be driven by the software applications and the ease of use of the software and the device itself. The software also needs to provide sufficient feedback and feed- forward processes ‘Just-In-Time’ and facilitate effective formative assessment procedures, preferably via integrated cloud applications.
Electronic textbooks may have a role to play in some courses, but caution is advised if you are considering moving down this path. It is easy to fall into the trap of using new technology to enable the same outcome as was required in the previous century. Again, this can become the classical case of adding a lot of expense, looking cool, but not ending up with positive learning outcomes.
Internet Safety
In regards to internet safety, NetSafe185 is an excellent online resource for keeping learners safe. Educators can make use of this resource to develop a deep understanding of the nature of the internet and how learners of different ages can be made aware of the raft of safety issues they are exposed to when they are accessing the internet.
It is also imperative that parents/caregivers also understand these issues. Putting these safety guidelines in place and ensuring their compliance is both an ethical and moral responsibility of the school. This is not merely a ‘nice to have’, but rather, it is an essential part of learners developing their competency to make use of the internet in a way that is safe.
183 US Department of Education. (2016). Future Ready Learning: Reimagining the Role of Technology in Education. 2016 National Education Technology Plan. Retrieved from http://tech.ed.gov/files/2015/12/NETP16.pdf Accessed March 2016
184 The L reflects the fact that mathematics should be taught through a conceptual lens; learners should build and understand the underlying concepts of mathematics. Mathematics is a conceptual language built into the very essence of the universe and to reduce it to a series of rote learned exercises immediately makes it tedious and boring rather than beautiful and intriguing. Sadly, this approach is rarely achieved in classrooms - at any level.
185 NZ Ministry of Education. (2016) Netsafe. Retrieved from http://www.netsafe.org.nz