Taking stock... once again!

THE 11 HOTTEST EDTECH TOPICS OF 2017 (SO FAR)

This article appeared in my facebook feed this weekend - quite timely actually as I have been reflecting on our PD and all of the ways in which we involving ourselves in new learning opportunities here at St Francis.

It is really pleasing and actually really exciting to see just how many of these topics that we are already learning and talking about here at St Francis. 

"The most compelling topics among educators who embrace technology for learning and teaching are not about the tech at all, but about the students."

I've listed the topics below with a quick comment about how we stack up here at St Francis - however the article is well worth a read. We are in a really exciting position here at St Francis - It reminds me of the video clip above and beyond... we have the chance to go above and beyond and we are well on the way!!

Reflecting on the topics... the words in bold are taken straight from the article: 

1. The Four C's of Education - 
Communication, critical thinking, collaboration and creativity will be at the forefront in 2017, particularly tools and approaches that lend themselves to collaborative learning. Here at St Francis we are aiming to design learning so that our students are practising these competencies. 

2. Redesigned learning spaces and innovative learning environments. 
“If we truly want to prepare our students for the real world, we need to put them in responsive, dynamic environments that reflect life outside a traditional classroom,” 
We are very fortunate to have these spaces already and we continue to reflect on how best to use them.

3. Digital citizenship
It’s a topic that’s been on the radar for several years, but it’s taken on new importance thanks to the ubiquitous nature of students' online lives... 
We know the importance of teaching our students to promote themselves positively online... and we also understand the importance of helping our parent community come along on this journey with us. We are currently organising a viewing of "Most Likely to Succeed" to show our parents what could be.

4. Project-, problem- and challenge-based learning
In 2017, these pedagogical frameworks will engage students in critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration and self-directed learning connected to real-life applications. 
We are focusing on project-based learning - we know that this approach to curriculum delivery will engage students in the 4 C's. Our staff are currently investigating what gold standard PBL can look like and we are developing expectations of how curriculum delivery using PBL will look like here at St Francis.

5. Maker programs and activities
The tide has turned from conversations about creating maker spaces to discussions about how to incorporate maker activities and the “maker mindset” throughout the curriculum... 
We trialled some maker space activities last year in the lunch times however we have more to learn in this area. We want to offer our students the opportunity to develop a maker mindset. More opportunities will be provided next term.

6. Professional learning models and coaching best practice
This trend is based on the recognition that ongoing, embedded professional development and support from coaches is essential for teachers and administrators to fully understand how to appropriately and thoughtfully integrate technology and technology resources. 
We have a lot of different options for teachers twitter; Book Club; Techie  , PD sessions; Collaboration meetings. Our PD sessions are built on the premise of growing the capacity of our teachers and building sustainable practice.

7. Computational thinking, coding and robotics
On deeper level, integrating coding across subject areas is one way to stimulate computational thinking. Coding – it’s the new literacy. 
Thanks to our e-learning team for getting us up to speed in this area! We have code clubs running after school and at lunchtimes for all year levels - thanks to all our teachers who have got involved with this. This is an area of new learning for me as well.

8. Augmented and virtual reality
We think 2017 just might be The Year of AR and VR in the instructional environment. 
We haven't really touched on this yet but hey we are doing quite well in all the other areas! 

9. Personalised learning
Personalised learning combines face-to-face teaching, technology-assisted instruction and collaboration to address each student’s learning style and interests for deeper learning. 
We are definitely on the right path here. We are promoting blended learning for our students and our teachers.

10. Leadership and teacher leadership
Educators are also focusing on empowering teacher leadership. 
We are trying to give opportunities for teachers to lead in different areas - we support growing leaders and to this end we want to provide opportunities for all our learners in this community.

11. ISTE Standards Best Practices https://www.iste.org/
Even though these are not New Zealand National Standards the ISTE standards for students are well worth a read. I have also given the link to their website as it is well worth looking at.

It's always good to take stock and see how far we have come. 
We are...
...choosing to be an innovative Catholic Learning Community that inspires and empowers learners to succeed.



References:

ISTE Connects, 2017:  The Hottest EdTech Topics of 2017 (So Far). retrieved from https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=865