Continuing with the recent 2011 Horizon Report findings, this edition of PD Tips will cover another of the critical challenges schools face. These conclusions are drawn from a careful analysis of current events, papers, articles, and similar sources, as well as from the personal experience of the advisory board members in their roles as leaders in education and technology.
A key challenge is the fundamental structure of the K-12 education establishment — a.k.a. “the system.” As long as maintaining the basic elements of the existing system remains the focus of efforts to support education, there will be resistance to any profound change in practice. Learners have increasing opportunities to take their education into their own hands, and options like informal education, online education, and home-based learning are attracting students away from traditional educational settings.
If the system is to remain relevant it must adapt, but major change comes hard in education. Challenge yourself to think outside the norm to encourage new opportunities for learning. What have you done or can you try to do to help educators and students learn that strays from the traditional setting?
Resource: Johnson, L., Adams, S., and Haywood, K., (2011). The NMC Horizon Report: 2011 K-12 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.The NMC Horizon Project identifies and describes emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, research, or creative expression within education around the globe. The research behind The NMC Horizon Report: 2011 K-12 Edition is a collaboration between the New Media Consortium (www.nmc.org), theConsortium for School Networking (CoSN), and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).
PD tips courtesy of Atomic Learning