Imagine a world in which every single person is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge (Collective Cognition). This is not something that we are predicting by looking into the crystal ball. This is happening right now. The current trend is to move all information into the web and provide access to people. This trend is called Cloud Computing.
How does it affect education?
First of all, we are getting access to a vast sum of knowledge at our finger tips all the time. That sounds great! At the same time, it changes the way we teach in schools. No longer is content recall important in schools. Instead, we need to help students build the following skills:
- the way we access knowledge,
- the ability to assess the usefulness and validity of information,
- the capacity to collaborate/share knowledge &
- the ability to communicate them effectively through online/offline means,
This redefines “Personal Knowledge” and one would realize that it is no longer what you know but it depends on how well you are connected to information. In turn, schools, which are the traditional torch bearers in creating knowledge, have to redefine themselves.
Source: AALF
How can we achieve this in schools?
Some of the key areas of change are: providing the ability to intelligently search resources for meaningful information, (like we search the books that we need on Amazon); making learning in school as transparent as learning out of school; allowing students to collaborate seamlessly anytime anywhere; and formatively assessing students’ strengths & weaknesses instantly, so it has an immediate impact on their learning. To achieve this, we need to provide technology access 24/7, offer digital learning spaces to create, collaborate & communicate, refine the educational delivery and to assess student skills using technology to obtain authentic and immediate results.
ISD is making good strides in this area and is bringing changes in infrastructure & resources, educational delivery and assessment. ISD has provided access to technology to students through classroom computers, a laptop cart and fixed labs and is phasing in the tablet program next year. Tools like Smart boards, projectors, document cameras, digital voice recorders etc., have been added to make educational delivery more authentic. Focus, a platform for home-school collaboration and Moodle, a learning management system are ISD’s digital spaces. More and more teachers are using technology in their classrooms and are supported by Tech integration specialists. Specific professional development efforts are undertaken to refine the educational delivery. MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) testing is used to formatively assess students three times a year and the tests provide immediate feedback to teachers, so it can be used to support the student learning.
In a nutshell, Education 2.0 is entirely different than what we as parents had years ago. The shift that happens now is a paradigm shift – it needs a completely different outlook and approach to understand and pursue.
More to come…. Keep reading!
