After reading Will Richardson’s book it is clear that fundamental shifts need to happen within the current education system. My first teaching position at an Inner City School in London, England I will never forget being given one pencil per child with the expectation that this was to last until Christmas. Thankfully changes have happened but we need to do more to embrace ICT and ensure that students have the skills necessary to create and navigate in this digital world.
Richardson discusses this world vision being “co- created” by educators who understand the important roles that technology and the Web have in this. He sums this up with one word- “discovery” . I feel that there are Educators in my district and in my school that are embracing this new vision and are working with students on this path of “discovery”. I do agree that there are also teachers who are not willing to review their practice. For some, the issues of outdated technology and limited access directs their decision. This issue was raised in Clifford, P., Friesen, S. & Lock, J. (2004). Coming to teaching in the 21st century: A research study conducted by the Galileo Educational Network, p. 24 with reference to Plante & Beattie (2004) findings that,
Aging of computers, obtaining copies/licenses of software, purchase and maintenance of computer technology, and training for teachers were identified as ICT challenges confronting Canadian school principals in 2003 -2004.
Here we are a decade on and these are still current issues. In my blog comment yesterday I learned from a colleague that out of 1500 computers in my district an update to Windows 7 will cause two thirds of them to become obsolete. How will teachers in my district be able to incorporate 21st Century Learning with these challenges? Not all students have acess to digital technology. This past year a theft of a digital device from the classroom that worked through the “discovered” return of the device in a restorative justice resolution highlighted this disparity that has impacted the school’s code of conduct to not allow the use of personal devices at school. Should this be the solution?
For me this dovetails into the connected self in education, as described today, whereby the cognitive dimension allows one to process experiences by making sense of them to form beliefs and attitudes that will inform classroom practice. These issues of ICT in my district have given rise to the attitudes of not embracing the “discovery” vision that Richardson describes. There needs to be more discussion between government, school boards, principals and teachers that include changing curriculum and ICT. Through discussion and more in depth professional development teachers will be in a better position to expand the connected self in education.
Wow. Isn’t it interesting to notice how education policy contributes to socio-economic disparity? I think your conclusion, that there needs to be substantive discussions amongst all stakeholders is a good one. However, if there isn’t a sophisticated understanding of what technology in society, and technology in education, actually means, the conversation is likely to follow old simplistic lines about ‘tools’, false binary oppositions (ie. face time versus screen time), and technology as progress (ie. making things more efficient). What is needed is at least one person at the table that can keep the conversation focused on the larger contexts of preparing sophisticated digital citizens, and empowering student learning to make a contribution to society, through the processes of learning. The connected self in education is also a self that is connected to community. We would be wise to take advantage of that and position students accordingly.