Sharing Good Practice
# FutureSchool : Evolution or transformation ?
By Simon Noakes
manage the data / content going in ), and also in terms of the consumer ( accessing this data / content in their personalised way ).
So schools are left with these technology silos - slowly becoming digital graveyards . The trouble is , once people give up using a system for the intention it was once brought in for - the entire platform is doomed to fail . Data becomes inconsistent and untrustworthy . The point at which the users access this information , also becomes confused , duplicated across multiple systems , and lacks data integrity . The true foundations to a sustainable and scalable technological infrastructure need to be revisited and challenged .
For this to work , a # FutureSchool needs to align technology , data / content , the environment , and human behaviour in perfect harmony . Successful technology integration is invisible . It has been weaved into the fabric of the environment and our everyday lives . It is easy to use , and easy to manage .
For hundreds of years , pedagogy has formed the core of teaching and learning . Learning outcomes and results have become the narrow view of education stakeholders that fuel the fire of league tables and grades . There are aggressive parents living out their dreams through their children , or schools delivering a cookiecutter education , so the children can leave and live lives that replicate their parent ’ s footsteps . Whilst I have nothing against the many typical ‘ professional jobs ’ out there , I do worry that education is failing our children .
Schools talk a lot about ‘ educating the whole child ’, and ‘ giving them opportunities beyond the curriculum ’ to thrive in what they are good at but are we missing the point ?
Teaching practice needs to evolve to match the changing world around us , but unfortunately we have not evolved at the required rate . Humans are lazy by design , and will revert to the easiest path , as long as it delivers an acceptable result . Technology has played a huge part in making knowledge more accessible , and when used correctly , can make learning more immersive , engaging and fun . However , these are the exceptions . Why ? Schools tend to focus on buying technology , without considering the human impact .
Technology gets wrapped up with simple labels promising to be the answer to everything ( VLE , Portal , MIS , LMS , etc .). These all invariably fail after the point of implementation , because the users have not been considered enough , nor trained adequately to make the most out of them . We must consider this both in terms of management ( someone needs to
Most importantly , we must start to put people in the centre of all our IT decisions . We must understand the innate behaviours that people have for using technology , and what they wish to consume . Schools can then deliver great user experiences .
This requires immediate transformation within schools . We are probably at the only time in history that our children know more about the technology around us , than the teachers . This is true especially when it comes to social media . We must invest in more staff training , as well as parent training events to help them support this huge change happening with the next generation of students .
If we are to educate our children for a # FutureWorld , then the # FutureSchool needs to correlate to this , and not just attempt to introduce technology into a classroom and hope that it is enough . Let ’ s start with people first !
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24 | Jan - Feb 2017 | | Class Time