The promise of digital technology in education to deliver equity and transform society: who is ready?
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My presentation material for the 'Discussing the digital in democracy' symposium for the Re-imagining Education for Democracy Summit 2017.
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The promise of digital technology in education to deliver equity and transform society: who is ready?
- 1. Elke Schneider DigitalTechnologies SecondaryTeacher Somerset College QSITE Treasurer @elketeaches
- 2. QualityTeaching Accountability Evidence-based practice Digitally-rich Excellence Data-analysis Innovation Standards Student well-being Digital integration Pastoral Care Performance evidence Set & meet targets Reporting Differentiation Critical thinking Creativity Numeracy & Literacy Teacher reflection Engagement Continuous improvements Advocate for diversity Assessment Conformity = belonging
- 4. Teaching is data-driven Teaching is not a game
- 5. Students have: Access to “the entirety of human culture” (McChesney, 2013) Access to the same tools that are authentic & engaging Software tracks student progress data = easy for teacher to differentiate
- 6. Not all schools have 1 to 1 laptop programs Funding is gone, cost, devices are slow School networks are highly controlled with many security checks & Internet blocks Slow logins; unauthentic digital experience Teachers need digital pedagogy coaches Initiatives are under way to mentor teachers in the DigitalTechnologies curriculum.
- 7. One-off PD events One Size Fits All training Teachers need individualised mentoring
- 8. 1. How & why students use digital technologies 2. How & why businesses and employees use digital technologies 3. Current digital technology tools and uses 4. The Australian ICT Capability and Digital Technologies curriculum Do you really know what authentic ICT learning means? Teachers will find it difficult to develop authentic learning experiences if they don’t know:
- 9. ‘Computers are for boys, nerds and geeks’ It’s hard to argue that these stereotypes are FALSE when the IT Industry clearly has a gender imbalance If we can effectively implement the Digital Technologies curriculum, then this should change gender stereotypes and diversity in IT will be the norm.
- 10. Ball, S. J. (2003).The teacher's soul and the terrors of performativity. Journal of Education Policy, 18(2), 215-228. Malott, C. S., & Ford, D. R. (2015). Marx, capital, and education: towards a critical pedagogy of becoming. NewYork: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc. McChesney, R. W. (2013). Digital disconnect: how capitalism is turning the internet against democracy. NewYork:The New Press. Webster, R. S. (2017). Education or quality of teaching? Implications for Australian democracy. AustralianJournal ofTeacher Education, 42(9).
Editor's Notes
- - These are some of the things I HAVE TO DO or worry about everyday as a high school teacher (not a complete list!) - This photo (taken by my Year 10 IT class) is ironic because I commonly feel stressed and exhausted due to work and yet it is when I’m with my students that I am the happiest! Unfortunately, the relationships I build with my students are difficult to quantify and this data is not tracked; therefore, it does not seem valued within the ever-increasing data-driven ‘quality teaching’ focus of education. NOTE that ‘democracy’ is not on this list. I believe in the social transformation opportunity of a democratic education but in reality there is little time to ensure this is actually happening in my classroom. There is an increasingly strong argument being made that democratic education is impossible or seriously difficult to apply within the current ‘quality teaching’ initiatives that is changing our schools (Webster, 2017). The drive for ‘quality teaching’ relies strongly on evidenced-based practice with a focus on teaching performance linked to student outcomes (Ball, 2003; Webster, 2017). I hear lots of complaints from teachers about the drive to produce data. Teachers are so busy with the “overloaded curriculum”, administrative duties, student well-being, and gathering evidence data, that we actually don’t have time to promote democracy (Malott & Ford, 2015). I suspect that some teachers no longer have a clear idea of what democracy in education would look like in practice.
- I decided to create a quick 10-question survey for my colleagues. I also sent this survey to my contacts in other schools (primary, secondary, public & private). There were only 24 respondents but that is pretty good considering we’re in Term 4 and we’re all exhausted! Of the 24 respondents, 50% were unsure whether education in Australia is democratic. It would be interesting to explore this more and find out whether they don’t understand democracy or maybe democracy is confusing because it appears to be entangled with messy politics and capitalism in society. I think this 50% may highlight that democracy in education and its potential for societal transformation through critical pedagogy is no longer a driving philosophy for many teachers. Is this surprising? How can we promote democracy in education while we are focusing on gathering & teaching for narrow and limited testing data?
- Games are great at tracking the players progress and gathering data along the way. Game stats reminds me a lot of the data that we collect on students. The data is interesting and valuable in some ways; however, it tells us nothing about the player as a person. From this data we don’t know if this person is happy, extroverted, innovative, creative, caring, helpful, loving, etc.
- Technology has so much potential. If we teach our youth that a computer can be programmed to build almost anything and to solve problems, then there is so much hope for the future. The Internet gives us access to information, discussion, theories, and arguments, that could be used to develop inquiry and research skills in our students. Big social problems could be investigated and may also form the basis of a problem-solving project that requires that students create an app to help minimise the problem or build public awareness about it. It is tasks like this, by the way, that have successfully attracted girls into studying ICT. There are some schools that make Digital Technologies and BYOD a priority, while others don’t. There are disadvantaged schools, particularly in rural and remote locations, where teachers have to schedule their class for Internet time because if the whole school is online at the same time their network fails. How does this promote equity? If this problem of lack of access is especially common in disadvantaged schools, will this not widen the gap further?
- It is important to note that I have experienced this reality in both State and Private schools. The funding and cost issue is a major problem for disadvantaged State schools. In my experience at a Private school with mid-to-high social-economic status, it is not a problem of cost but a result of their BYOD ‘policy’ not being promoted (it’s not a priority). This has a major impact on teachers and results in decreased motivation to integrate Digital Technologies within their teaching. If teachers are not working in a digital manner, how can we expect them to educate in a digitally-rich way? The image is a physical mark book that some of my colleagues still use. When I asked why they used this instead of the school’s LMS markbook, the school’s reporting database, or an Excel spreadsheet, the teachers answer is always the same: “This is easier. I’ve been doing this for years.”
- Results in teachers either not implementing digital technologies at all or including ICT without really understanding. Makey Makey is a good example here; I know many Primary teachers who have used Makey Makey in learning activities and yet they don’t really understand the digital technology significance of it. They use it as a “fun” activity but don’t teach the digital technology concepts related to it. The ‘Hour of Code’ and Code.org is another example of how teachers add-on digital technologies teaching, in this case computer programming skills, but they don’t have an in-depth understanding of the computational skills. I think this is a BIG problem in implementing the Digital Technologies curriculum in schools. Code.org makes computer programming look easy, but what happens when a child loves it and wants more than just the basics? Teachers can get disillusioned quickly when students want more, ask tough questions and they can’t help them.
- - In the aim to promote equity through digital learning we should ensure that ALL teachers have digital technologies knowledge and skills. How will they get this? Teachers don’t just need digital tech tools and software PD, but they also need to learn about how students use technology. If the learning is not centred around the student, then it is less likely to engage them. - Why is authentic ICT learning important? We want to engage students and we need to work especially hard to continue to engage girls in ICT.