Schools of the future
July 20th, 2012 at 10:00 am by David FarrarStuff reports:
Year 9 students at a Nelson college will be required to bring their own electronic devices to school from next year, in a move the school says will “revolutionise” education.
Garin college is making the devices mandatory for students and has suggested four options with price estimates: netbooks at $300 to 500; laptops at $500 to $2000; MacBooks at $1500 to $2500; and iPads at $500 to $800.
Principal John Boyce said Garin had been researching the move for about three years, had consulted year-eight parents and was ready to take the plunge.
“I believe that if everyone has a computer, the way teachers teach and the way students will learn will be revolutionised.”
It will. I actually think you could start at Year 1.
Lessons and exercises for about 100 year nines would be delivered via a learning management system called Moodle, enabled by fast internet delivered by the Nelson Loop fibre-optic computer network system used by schools in the region.
Why we need fibre, not copper.
He said the move would lead to a “flipped curriculum”, where students would have a lot more control over their independent learning. They would read material put on Moodle by their teachers at night and come to school the next day with questions relating to what they had learned.
“Students will have all the information they need at their fingertips, so over the next few years there will be a real change in mindset. Education will no longer be about facts – it will be about students using facts, thinking, creativity and design.
“Even next year, I expect to see students deepening their understanding of what they learnt [the night before], rather than whole classes marching through material together.”
A group of about 25 student “guinea pigs” were already using electronic devices at school by choice.
“They love it. They know they’re going to be using [modern technology] for the rest of their lives, so why not start now?”
Jordan Howley, 15, said he enjoyed using his laptop because “we don’t have to concentrate so much on what the teacher is putting up on a PowerPoint when we can look at it on our own screens”.
Thinking, not repeating.
Boyce said no family would be turned away if they couldn’t afford an electronic device, with the school committed to helping families with financial constraints, possibly through sponsorship from its parish community.
Excellent.
Related posts:
- 21st century schools
- Schools using iPads
- The digital literacy and 21st century schools inquiry
- Carter complains schools spending too much helping special needs
July 20th, 2012 at 10:27 am
I placed the following link and quote in an earlier thread on schools, but it’s even more appropriate for this one. It’s a WSJ interview with a guy called Sebastian Thrun who works for Google in what basically amounts to their R&D section. Mr Thrun’s discussion about their online education experience is here, with the following quote:
Sure, it’s university, but the trend should be clear for all levels of education.
[DPF: Superb]
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 10:35 am
>They would read material put on Moodle by their teachers at night and come to school the next day with questions relating to what they had learned.
Of course they will. What kid doesn’t love homework?
>Jordan Howley, 15, said he enjoyed using his laptop because “we don’t have to concentrate so much on what the teacher is putting up on a PowerPoint when we can look at it on our own screens
Jordan may be a virtuous lad, but ignoring the teacher to mess about in class on a laptop in the guise of working sounds more fun
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 10:46 am
‘I actually think you could start at Year 1.’
Says the blogger who has no kids and knows nothing about education.
[DPF: 20 demerits]
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 10:47 am
Whilst knowing nothing about this specific college’s plans I do like that it appears to be device agnostic,
The last thing we want is e-learning turning out drones who know how to do things in MS office or another software package, but if you give them program Z they will look at you blankly…
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 10:50 am
“YesWeDid (741) Says:
July 20th, 2012 at 10:46 am
‘I actually think you could start at Year 1.’
Says the blogger who has no kids and knows nothing about education.”
Cool, so by those standards, can we negate everything done by the Clark Government? (Please, can we?!)
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 10:53 am
Year 1? I can’t trust my year-2er to keep track of a pair of shoes, never mind a bloody computer.
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 10:53 am
Sounds like someone has read the Manafesto for the Education revolution.
Yes we did I am the parent of a 7 year old and I agree with DPF it should start in year 1.
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 10:56 am
As long as tax payers don’t fund the devices – sure – great. You can imagine if the tax payer pays for these devices how many will end up at cash converters or flicked off on trademe. “I lost it miss”
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 10:57 am
anonymouse>Whilst knowing nothing about this specific college’s plans I do like that it appears to be device agnostic
Agreed. It seems to be based around a browser. But “and has suggested four options with price estimates: netbooks at $300 to 500; laptops at $500 to $2000; MacBooks at $1500 to $2500; and iPads at $500 to $800″ mentions two classes of generic device and two Apple brand names. If you’re going to mention one manufacturer’s products specifically then you should mention them all. It isn’t the job of a school to advertise a US company’s products.
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 11:07 am
Good but when will the first Te Wananga o Aotearoa style Greenlight Course scam come to light?.
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 11:12 am
possibly through sponsorship from its parish community.
Let’s hope the rabid anti-Christian fanatics on here read that bit.
Seriously, I’m not convinced technology will revolutionise learning. I mean, you look at exams for all sorts of disciplines from medicine to law to entrance exams to Oxford, Harvard etc from the late 1800′s early 1900′s and it’s unbelievable how hard they are. No way could your average doctor, Oxford entrant etc today could even hope to pass let alone get a good score. So it’s never been about technology, it’s about content and educational process and societal structures.
The content I predict will get even worse than it is now, with technology. It will be dumbed down to the n’th degree in the same way that history gets dumbed down if you watch a documentary on it rather than read a book on it.
Educational process could change but with imagination it can be changed anyway. For example, when Ken Blanchard of 1-minute manager fame worked at Harvard Business School he used to give his students the actual, real, end of year exam in the first lecture. His colleagues used to challenge him on this technique but his response was that the exam was ten times harder than any of theirs were and he was always prepared to put any of his students up against any of theirs any time.
Societal structures back in those days were obviously conducive to “drinking the smoke of the lamp” as Nostradamus once put it. They will just get worse and technology will facilitate that. It won’t cause it but it is an enabler toward worse learning conditions. I don’t quite get this overnight learning thing the teacher talks about. Why does this teacher think that these kids attitudes toward homework is going to be any different to any other kids? Why does he think these kids will prefer to spend hours and hours of their evenings on Moodle rather than playing computer games or watching telly?
I hope I’m wrong but for 50 years education has been on a downward spiral and it just gets worse and worse as people get more and more obsessed with trivia and entertainment. I don’t think it will change until you deal with that societal obsession and technology won’t help you there, instead it makes it more difficult.
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 11:29 am
+1
No doubt a number of the board are Apple acolytes. My Lenovo laptop cost a half of what my sister’s macbook (of a similar age) did and outperforms it easily.
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 11:30 am
Moodle requires teachers to increase their workload by about 50%. The idea sounds fine but its requires a lot of extra time – and what happens is that teaching in the classroom drops off in favour of playing with technology.
I cant help but think that in a few years the “next big thing” will come along and all those notebooks and laptops (why anyone would want to give their child a laptop is beyond me – heavy useless things) will be in the rubbish tin. Some schools (actually a lot) are still trying to get a decent number of PCs in the school. However it now looks like fundraising and blaming the Govt are out – its now all back on ther parents to supply technology.
The big problem with technolgy (from overhead projectors thru to the latest thingy) are that you loose your students. Whats his name (Avery I think – the ex london street liver) says that hes found that technology would ruin his presentations – the moment you introduce technology youve lost your audience. Same goes for teachers I think.
Anyway time will tell – I just hope that its not another costly short term fad.
One learns by hearing, watching, repeating, etc. The fewer the sensors used – the slower the learning.
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 11:42 am
“Education will no longer be about facts – it will be about students using facts, thinking, creativity and design”
So who in the next generation will research/prove the facts that the students of the future will be ‘using’? It’s a bit of a catchcry nowadays to say it’s not about the information itself but about students being able to access/find it – but who’s going to check the veracity/accuracy/truth of the information? Bullshit rules already in the MSM this approach I reckon could just make it worse….
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 11:47 am
Here are few other models readers may be interested in:
1. Orewa College – Started with BYOD (Bring your own device) for Year Nine students this year. Have found IPads to be much more reliable than androids, netbooks and laptops. Zero theft of any device and students have multiple secure storage points for their devices around the school to encourage physical activity during morning tea and lunch time.
2. Point England in the UK – Free wireless not only at school, but within the whole community to encourage students and their families to use technology in the home (low socio economic area where many households would not normally have internet access).
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 11:55 am
I’m not liking the idea of content being uploaded at night for kids to review. Some will be placed under a lot of pressure to review it into the later evening – not so bad for the older college kids but I’m uncomfortable with my 5yr being up past 7:30 anyway without the possibility of them having to stay up to learn just to keep up. It’s also a struggle to get them to remember to brush their teeth let alone continue to absorb information.
I would approach this kind of thing very carefully…
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 12:33 pm
Have to say that if you went and visited the new Papamoa High School you would see this in action. Looks more like a Google office than a school.
Vote:Amazing place. Inspiring almost.
July 20th, 2012 at 12:50 pm
Reid,
Agree.
It’s fine for Year 9 up, but the lower years really, really, really need to learn in a more physical way.
I read an article recently on this trend in education to make everything electronic and how it’s affecting education. And it’s not good.
Damn, I should have kept a link. It even talked about how some math teachers are sourcing old textbooks, because the way they teach concepts is much clearer, while as a lot of today’s stuff is jumbled.
All the old people and those that haven’t worked on it seem to be more taken in by technology.
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 12:55 pm
So we’ll get other taxpayers to pay for it? Sure thing Sue Bradford.
Kids don’t need encouragement to learn to use computers and various “pads”. They’ll be able to use them anyway.
Anyone who’s used Moodle/Blackboard etc. through tertiary training knows that it’s just tons of out-of-date stuff, and a barren unused forum that a few nerds might try, then forget about.
But if they want to blow parents’ money on this crap, and the parents are happy for it, then I don’t really care. Don’t come crying to the taxpayer when your iPad’s out of date and you don’t have the cool one any more.
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 1:00 pm
My kids have no interest in pens and paper and unfortunately school results are showing this, rightly or wrongly they have been exposed to game machines and computers since they wanted to touch them.
School is just about obsolete apart from learning some social skills.
Did an essay with my son the other night and he showed me that the entire curriculum with sample answers for NCEA is on-line, everything.
This just about makes teachers obsolete , great move.
And don’t worry about the cost someone will step in and develop a cheap notebook or prices will tumble, I am envious what kids have at their finger tips today and the machinery they will ghet to play with
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 2:00 pm
I am sure a society with no teachers is just what we need.
We could also dispose of doctors and nurses to ensure disease no longer exists.
Once that is complete, you can stop all crime by having no police.
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 2:08 pm
Young kids can use laptops etc in the classroom but you really need college age kids to be able to implement the “flipped curiculum”** especially %%motivated%% college kids. And it really works best with problem based coursework e.g. maths, physics etc, rather than essay, writing type coursework.
(** the view lectures at home, do problems at school version)
However, there is still a use for them in classrooms that don’t implement the “flipped curriculum”.
FYI Here is a video about an American teacher using the flipped curriculum and she gives access to her lecture videos
Vote:http://www.thedailyriff.com/articles/the-best-way-to-reach-each-student-private-school-flips-learning-547.php
July 20th, 2012 at 2:50 pm
I am a Huge fan of this idea
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 3:33 pm
I think this way of learning is going to be a disaster for many students particularly the very young. It will all ‘end in tears’ I think. As has been said so many times “get back to the Basics”
The long tail of under achievement is never going to be solved with computers.
Those disadvantaged children need routine, routine, routine and a very understanding teacher.
A very interesting article in The Press newspaper today (Perspective section)… headed DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS AT RISK by Jim Traue the former chief librarian of the Alexander Turnbull Library.
Don’t get me wrong …..computers are a wonderful resource, but, not a the expense of hands on practical tuition.
I have read a very interesting article by a teacher in the USA
Vote:http://www.memoriapress.com/articles/real-hands-on-learning.html Oh, for my children to be under her care!
July 20th, 2012 at 3:34 pm
I’m not convinced this is a good idea, at least not until high school perhaps. In my career in IT I have often observed enthusiasm for a technology causing a lack of objectivity regarding its practical usefulness. I have young children and I am not saying prevent access but at a young age children must be schooled in the basics of reading, writing and numerical concepts – whether technology helps is debatable.
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 5:22 pm
I think this way of learning is going to be a disaster for many students, particularly the very young. I feel certain it will all ‘end in tears.’
Vote:As has been said many times, children need to be taught the Basics. Don’t get me wrong, I think computers are a wonderful teaching tool in some instances, but not at the expense of hands on practical tuition.
The 20% of under archievement is not going to be solved with computers. Those students need routine in their lives and a very understanding teacher.
There is a very interesting article in this morning’s Press…. headed DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS AT RISK submitted by Jim Traue former chief librarian of the Alexander Turnbull Library. A very thought provoking article.
Also, I recently read an article by a teacher in the USA
http://www.memoriapress.com/articles/real-hands-on-learning.html
July 20th, 2012 at 7:28 pm
The querty keyboard has been around for 100 plus years. Its about to go.
The designer of our new key board points out that new generations will never use one. Scary.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/7259006/New-keyboard-layout-easy-as-ABC
Vote:July 20th, 2012 at 11:02 pm
Tom Hunter: This is great isn’t it? Udacity is an awesome model. I have an active interest in the democratizing of education, particularly anything that supports P2P and breaks the near stranglehold of academics on approved sources of knowledge
TawnyOwl says:
Yeah, the same cry when up when that new fandangled pencil-thing was introduced.
Vote:July 21st, 2012 at 9:45 am
Hamnida (16) Says:
July 20th, 2012 at 2:00 pm
I am sure a society with no teachers is just what we need.
We could also dispose of doctors and nurses to ensure disease no longer exists…………………………….
No no, just teachers
Vote:July 21st, 2012 at 1:25 pm
I saw an item in the news the other night where Matakana School on the edges of Auckland said that to connect to ultrafast broadband would cost up to $12,000 a month versus their current copper broadband cost of some hundreds a month…
That seems a lot…
Vote:July 21st, 2012 at 5:39 pm
Pauleastbay (2,472) – Sounds like a neolib’s utopia, an uneducated society.
I think the reality is society needs teachers to teach, doctors and nurses to heal, and police to police.
Vote: