Karen Kator – Director of the Office of Educational Technology, US Dept. Of Education
US Dept. Education: Technology plan published in November is called “Learning: Powered by Technology”
This book is available online at: http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010
How are we thinking of technology in the context of the US education system? How do we create education systems so we regain a bunch of time for play and interesting contextualized environments inside schools?
Dangers of being ‘strapped’ to technology and making it define who we are. Are we just talking about big tech or are we talking about a playground where we can discover what’s best about ourselves?
Obama in state of the union focused on innovation, education and infrastructure. These things used to power up the nation. Now we have a situation that we have an incredible amount of inequity. Schools missing 50% of our kids or more - a quarter or kids drop out of high school. 30 – 40% of kids who do go on to post-secondary need remedial help.
++ Digital Media & Opportunity ++
Social Media tools really powered up the opportunity for people to co-ordinate their efforts in Egypt this February. Provided ways to tell stories that we might not otherwise of heard. Tsunami in Japan had people publishing posts, photos, videos everywhere immediately. This offered also the opportunity the hope in the midst of destruction.
Superbowl this year was touted as transition between old and new media. This year, ads were not just ads but needed to figure out how they stretched the time? Used commercial for movie ‘Rio’ as example as how they tied in an Angry Birds promotion. Thinking about the ‘before, during, and after’ of advertising.
Decora Eagles is another example of digital media opportunities – it’s a live webcam that shows an eagle’s nest – it’s on 24 hours.
These kinds of opportunities can really the change the ways we think about powerful learning.
++ Learners of the 21st Century ++
Quest to Learn (school in NYC)
Designed to support digital lives of young people and their capacity for learning.
++ Mobility ++
- 24 hour access
- only have had tablets for one year and look at impact
- social interactions everywhere for learning – not just twitter, but things like epicurious, the strobist (lighting)
- proliferation of powerful, highly produced digital content is changing everything.
++ Big Data ++
Big data we think about today is location data. In education we have not begun to touch the opportunities for thinking about how we use data and help us help students learn better. We are at this transition between a print based classroom and a digital learning environment. Called it a ‘digital inflection point’.
This digital media is beyond interation it is a ‘guiding interface’. It doesn’t mean we ditch learning from people or books, but that we have a new opportunity to design and develop powerful learning environments. Focus of control can shift from teacher to the student.
++ Learning ++
How can we personalize the learning environment? With the internet we can bring in a long tail of interest. In some schools, they outgrow their library very quickly. Need ability for fluid research and analysis as they go.
How do we create an environment that is a universal design for learning? A book is inherently disabled - it can't read for you etc. Digital environments can scaffold lessons, provide greater access to content and demonstrate and help understand content in a variety of ways. Eg games have a perfect place in this world order.
The opportunity to create an environment that merges formal and informal learning. How do we give this credence inside of school?
++ Assessment++
Measuring what matters. Measuring the full range of standards. Embedded into opportunity of what students are having to learn. Sees games as one giant assessment engine.
Opportunity to create persistent learning records that STUDENTS OWN. Family have the copy and rights to that persistent learning record.
++ Teaching Environment ++
Technology used to augment human performance. Helps crunch data, connects them to what they need, when they need it, scaffolds students. Help them better connect to each other. Right now in schools, teachers are limited and not powered with the best technologies. We want tech to 'power up' the role of teachers.
++ Infrastructure ++
24/7, community wide, more access points. Devices come and go, but where can students get access to the tools and resources they need?
Print to Digital - how do we make sure that what we do is productive as possible for students.
What's killing education is the seat time to competency - everything is measured in the time you spend, rather than focusing on competence-based learning.
+ The Future of Learning ++
lifelong - preschool - k12 - postsecondary - career - life
Formal - informal - in school - out of school
multiple pathways - multiple instructors
multiple devices - multiple environments - multiple sources
Learner centered.
++ Learning Position System ++
Can we create something instead of a GPS with a map - take those things off and have learning progressions from numeration, calculus etc. Could you create a map that maps out all of mathematics? Where are you in the whole scheme of mathematics? How do we create this notion of a Learning Positioning System?
Dept of Education is improving access, creating more transparency, focusing on the people on hte ground, investing in rapid improvement.
No comments:
Post a Comment