Hindsight is 20/20–the benefit of being behind the trends.

When I think of the future of education, I always think of a statement I hear at almost every professional development session: we are preparing students for jobs that do not exist yet. I’m sure many of you have heard the same thing. In my specific context teaching English language learners in China, an additional area of focus is introducing students to different approaches to education and learning.

My school isn’t at the cutting edge of technology, but I think that can be seen as a positive. We have the advantage of not getting caught up in trends, and the only direction go is up. I’m not going to pretend that we’ll “catch up”, so to say, but I do believe we can meet the needs of our students by taking the best past trends and incorporating it into our approach to education. We’re also lucky to be situated in the “silicon valley”of China, so there are countless opportunities to access cutting edge technology (once we’re ready!)

My vision to best prepare students for jobs that do not exist yet aligns with The New Media Consortium (2014) Horizon Report 2014 K-12 Edition solvable challenges to technology adoption: creating authentic learning opportunities (p.20). The best way, in my opinion, to foster independent, creative, critical thinking is present the learning as challenges for students to solve. Much of my current course consists of theory, short demonstrations, then hands-on practice using a single assignment for all students. This is problematic for two reasons: the assignments cannot possibly be an authentic learning opportunity for ALL students, and the software used could, quite possibly, not be used in the jobs of the future. So, I would like to see my school move toward authentic learning opportunities with open-ended requirements for what/how technology is used.

The New Media Consortium (2014) Horizon Report 2014 K-12 Edition also mentions shifting teachers’ roles to becoming mentors to students who are taking charge of their own learning (p.6). This was not a surprise to me, and I’m starting to see evidence of this even in my school which has had a typically traditional approach to education. This really is the key to my vision–as teachers, we need to step back and let the students take control.

I have been thinking about how to shift the focus to authentic learning experiences with teachers as mentors and how to help this change happen in my school. My idea is to start by shifting the focus of my IT class. I am still considering all of the details, but I would like to propose that, rather than being a stand-alone class, IT be integrated into our English and Social Studies classes. I chose these specific subjects as they are classes taught using Canadian curriculum. I see my role becoming more of a tech integration specialist. By combining the curriculums, there would be more opportunity to create authentic learning experiences. I would like to use the periods usually dedicated to IT class as a time when students could use technology while they work on projects (independently and in teams) that solve authentic problems they identify in their English and Social Studies courses. My role would shift from being a lecturer/demonstrator to mentor and coach. The benefit for the students is twofold: they can develop creative and critical thinking skills, which will, no doubt, be indispensable skills in their future careers, and it introduces them to an alternate approach to learning.

Of course, the big question is, how will I get the resources to facilitate this vision, but I think I have a solution. The maker movement is gaining traction and there are several maker spaces in Shenzhen where students can go to research and develop projects to solve various problems while using the maker space’s resources for a reasonable fee. Therefore, my school’s lack of technology may become a non-issue. Instead of spending money to purchase a lot of equipment, software, and other resources, it may make more financial sense to make use of pre-existing maker spaces–the fees paid would likely be less than purchasing a wide variety of technology and resources. We also would not be responsible for constant updates–thus softening the ill-effects of following trends

The challenges I anticipate facing upfront are largely administrative resistance. A colleague suggested that, before approaching the school administration, I try to anticipate the five issues they would have with my proposal if I presented it today, then come prepared with solutions. I think this is a good way to approach proposing a change in our approach to teaching. Another obstacle is how my colleagues will react to the change if the proposal is accepted. I find that most teachers are intimidated by technology and are reluctant to use it in their classrooms. Therefore, it may be difficult to effect large-scale change without smaller changes to test the waters and build teacher confidence. So, I’ve thought about trying to encourage a culture of sharing at my school by offering lunchtime talks/demonstrations of technology teachers could try out in their classes.

I’m optimistic and motivated, but also scared. I feel like I’m on my own on my mission to see my vision fulfilled. This brings me back to a goal from my flight path: to collaborate more. I think this will be essential as I move forward because collaboration will allow me to continue learning. It will also mean that I’m not travelling this path alone–support and guidance will be essential in evaluating how to move forward

New Media Consortium. (2014). NMC Horizon Report 2014: K-12 Edition. Retrieved from http://cdn.nmc.org/media/2014-nmc-horizon-report-k12-EN.pdf