Education in a Digital Society

1
Education in a Digital Society

• Understanding of Context, Approaches and
  Challenges

2
The goal and challenge of general education

• Prepare students to meet and master the
  challenges of life together with others
• Qualify the individual to take care of own life,
  including a surplus and will to support others
• Qualify for a productive life and preparedness
  for occupations yet not know (Norw. Curr.
  Guidelines 97)

3
To Understand - Two different approaches

• Analysis (of experiences)
• Linear, slow developments
• based on previous experiences, evolutionary more
  effective use and/or better quality
• Utilise images
• Rapid development leaps, innovations
• explore rather than examine different use
• experimental approach create new use

4
A dialectic model of education (Fägerlind, I.
and Saha, L. J. (1989)
5
A model of society Daun, H. (1998)
6
A digital society

• From a industrial society - electricity
• stable structures
• national economy
• national cultures
• educated for life
• local labour market
• tourism for elite
• long term plans

• To networking society - digital information
• flows of information
• global economy
• global cultures
• lifelong education
• global labour market
• mobility for all
• change - open plans

7
A digital society

• Global village - mixing real and virtual people
• New social networks, codes and cultures
• To master information flow - power position
• Explosion of knowledge (eroding structures)
• The medium is the message
• New occupations and trades - erosion of old
• Mastery of change - lifelong learning

8
Rapid and radical changes challenging education

• Nothing is harder to notice or adapt to than
  rapid cultural change ...
• Resist grasping it our organisation/underlying
  cultures resist responding to it.
• Fundamental to rethink our educational ideals
  (Katz and Denti 1996)

9
Education needs revitalisation

• Institutional transformation is required for our
  society to revitalize its commitment to the ideal
  of universal education
• that each person should be educated to his or her
  fullest potential (Katz and Denti 1996 261-262
  The Road to Nowhere Begins With Where We Are
  Rethinking the Future of American Education.
  Interchange (Volume 27 Nos.3-4).

10
Imagining to enhance understanding

• Concepts of organisations is a product of the
  mechanical age.
• Now that we are living in an electronic age, new
  organising principles are necessary.
• The ideas presented here help us to make the
  transition and meet the challenges of this new
  reality (Morgan 1997 378, in Images of
  Organisation)

11
Concept of schools

• The concept of our school is products of
  mechanical age
• A digital society has/needs, new organisation
  principles
• Schools in transition need new, challenging
  images
• Metaphors introduced to read situations,
  visionary leadership

12
Applying Metaphors

• Metaphors always offer limited focus
• also create ways of not seeing
• Utilising metaphors open ended approach
• explorative/not conclusive, discussion
• Metaphors are used both for explorative
  understanding and leadership purposes to create
  new methods and organisations

13
Metaphors within Education

• Bureaucratic school system
• rules and regulations, hierarchy, formal, ...
• Industrial school organisation
• mass schooling rational, cohort organisation
• national curriculum standard textbooks
• certified teachers loyal civil servants
• standard, certifying exams
• hierarchical organisation

14
Industrial School - Metaphor

• Based on machine models focusing
• effectiveness, rationality
• goals and objectives achievement
• detailed plans/organise/control, control, ..
• Hierarchical leadership
• laws, regulations, supervision, innovations
• Ideal model in a stabile environment

15
Environmental School

• School in a natural system, an organism
• Surrounding society, set of complex (sub)systems
• Human management including cultural aspects
• Schools change and are changed by environments

16
Schools as Learning Organisations

• brain metaphor, holographic designs
• ability to think, learn, self-reflection
• Focus on accommodation to new society
• Relevant for rapidly changing society
• School is the brain, not body or limps

17
From School Factories to Learning Environments

• Schooling based on bureaucratic and industrial
  models
• Need for changes acknowledged Reforms
• Top-down approaches have dominated, even if
  experiments are encouraged
• A mix of industrial, organic and cultural models
• Rear mirror approach, not intended

18
Educational institutions and systems tend to

• Stick to old models, methods and content rear
  mirror approach
• Society needs reproduction, same kind, no real
  change, or slow change
• BUT Society changes rapidly/ competencies
  knowledge explosion and social erosion
• IF schools dont change explode or replaced

19
From teaching to learning approach

• teaching plan, present, explain, correct
• learning student in charge, responsible, active
  and accountable
• learning environment and open access to
  information and knowledge
• learning styles, individual focus
• reflect on own learning, personal curriculum

20
From teaching to learning

• To teacher as professional
• Organiser of learning environment, team member
• individual curriculum
• learning to learn, master learning methods and
  tools
• responsible students
• global environment environment

• From teacher as civil servant
• Master of classroom
• follow national curriculum, textbook
• teach reading, writing, arithmetic and subjects
• order and discipline
• local/national

21
A New School?

• Innovations encouraged ICT projects
• PILOT (Project of Innovation, Learning,
  Organisation and Technology)
• Learn to use ICT
• Use ICT to learn (ICT intertwine knowledge,
  methods)
• Develop learning resources (software, Internet)
• Global villages new learning environments

22
Examples of ICT use

• Lower primary school
• my own curriculum - student counselling
• No classes, but basic groups (different ages)
• Project/theme learning - public presentation
• Lower secondary - hhtp//www.godoy.no/
• Internet based learning environment
• Internet based exam

23
Leadership Promoting Change!

• Basic analysis society/student needs -
  educational consequences
• Remove old attractors
• regulations, routines, timetables, textbooks,
  blackboards, definitions - answers etc.
• Introduce new attractors
• Digital resources, project methods (presents
  results), support system ICT, reward
  innovations, redundancy groups, suggest

24
Basic ICT Teacher Training in Norway

• Programme for 44.000 teachers
• Different bidders, competing for contracts
• Basic ICT (knowledge, tools)
• Combine with other educational programmes
• School owners responsibilities access to
  computers, internet, time (paid), support
• School leader motivate/support/teams
• Support mentors, physical, internet

25
ICT training programmes

• School is signing on team of teachers, not
  individually
• Headmaster responsible - budgetary/organising
• Differentiated according to previous computer
  competence
• 1 Getting started, e-maill, browsers, Window-98,
  search machines, attachments
• 2 Choose an in depth programme ...

26
ICT training programmes

• 2 choose focus text, spreadsheet, picture/sound
• text basic, edit/format, tables,
  picture/illustration, document types
• spreadsheet everyday usage, class tour,
  present data, ...
• Picture digital camera, sound/picture, scanning,
  Power-point

27
Teacher programmes and students learning

• Students should learn to use same programmes as
  teachers
• Students can follow same programmes
• Lower primary students use text, spreadsheet,
  picture (camera, scanning) for their
  presentations within ordinary learning programme
• An example

28
Skulen vår - Our school

• Skjong barneskule er ein 1-4 klasse skule på
  Valderøy.
• Her er vi 82 elevar, 10 lærarar og 6 assistentar.
• På skulen vår er vi med å brettar mjølkekartongar
  fordi

29
Kua - the cow

• Eg er lei meg for no må eg selgast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
  
• Ton. 3 klasse
• Mjølka i mjølkekartongane kjem i frå kua
• Jim Andre. 2 klasse

30
Mjølk på skulen - Milk at school

• Eg har mjølk på skulen. Det er godt!
• Kristoffer S.1 klasse
• Dette er Fredrik. Han liker ikkje mjølk. Mjølk
  er sunt. Eg heiter Ole Petter er 6 år
• Ole Petter. 1 klasse

31
Bretting i 3.klasse - Folding in 3rd.
grade

• I tredje klasse går brettinga rett i dass. Tredje
  klasse gidd rett og slett ikkje å brette
  mjølkekartongar. Eg syns tredje klasse er litt
  late i grunn!
• Fredrik. 3 klasse

32
Resirkulering - Recirculation

• På Skjong skule resirkulerer vi. Å resirkulere er
  å bruke om igjen.
• Tom Erik. 2 klasse
• Det er ikkje berre mjølkekartongar som blir
  sendt i retur.
• Colin. 1 klasse

33
Når dei blir tomme... When they become empty
...

• På skolen drikk vi seksti mjølkekartongar kvar
  dag. Vi sender dei i retur til Bingsa når dei er
  tomme.
• Sondre. 2 klasse
• Skjong skule får inn 9000 mjølk per år
• Øyvind. 4 klasse
• MJØLK ER SUNT. MJØLK ER GODT. MJØLK ER
  MILJØVENLEG!
• Steffen. 1 klasse

34
Kva skjer? What happens?

• Når vi har drukke opp mjølka bretter vi den,
  legg den i posar og sender den i retur til
  returfabrikken.
• Thomas 4 klasse

35
Norsk returkartong - Norwegian returncarton

• Mjølkekartongar blir til nytt papir når vi sender
  det i retur til kartongfabrikken.
• Det er bra at norsk returkartong tek i mot
  mjølkekartongar for viss ikkje ville kanskje
  søpla blitt fort full.
• Tkomas. 4 klasse

36
RETURKARTONG - Returncarton

• I åtte år har norske forbrukarar brettet
  drikkekartongar fordi det er bra for miljøet.
  Klarer man å sjå heilskapen på temaet knytta til
  returordninga vil man se at dette er riktig og
  fornuftig bruk av ressursane Andreas F.M. 1
  klasse

37
Heilt til slutt.. Finally ...

• Mjølk er sunt året rundt!
• Kristoffer S. 1 klasse
• Av mjølk blir ein stor og sterk!
• Philip 4 klasse
• Ein sparar miljøet for mykje ved å returnere
  mjølkekartongane!
• Thomas 3 klasse

38
Experiences of success when

• System and leadership responsibility
• programme, access to ICT, time, support
• Training related to daily practice
• Integrated to subject learning (working life)
• Early classroom practice, student involvement
• Part of ordinary curriculum - learning
• Part of ordinary exams