How learning is morphing into the future

During this holiday time I have had some time to read the paper, blogs and tweets. It seems to me there are some common threads coming from the information that I have been reading. The Australian Schools that have students receiving top marks all have similiar things in common. 1) They use technology and embrace it as a learning and communication tool. 2) They share knowledge and experience. 3) They have great teachers who are dedicated to learning.

1) They use technology: One of the schools I read about offers their senior courses part time school, part time online. Some of their students are in representative sport or involved in theater. Their students have training times and practicing schedules so they cannot always attend classes. These students study around their other commitments. What a commitment to learning. 


2) Sharing Knowledge: The most common theme about successful learning was about sharing. Students shared their work with everyone. The poorer students were bought up by the stronger students and the overall success of the student group was high. Sharing on a digital platform to a real audience made learning relevant.(e.g blogs and Twitter) Teachers shared frequently with other teachers and conversed with video chat or meetings. There became this sense of comradeship between educators.

3) Commitment to learning: I know you would think this is obvious but as teaching is one of the oldest professions it must move with the times. The iGeneration clearly learns differently to previous generations. The teachers who are switched on to using technology to learn are winning over this generation. There has always been a keen interest by researchers about the different ways that boys and girls learn. They need to start again now we have a new generation and see how best to equip boys and girls of this new generation and not treat them the same.


I listened to a very interesting talk by Sir Ken Robinson http://www.teachthought.com/?p=2164 who really sums all these ideas together. 

The adult learning sector really looks at catering a learning package to the needs of the individual. How can teachers do this on a large scale when they have so many students? It seems to me the best teachers are not just using class time to teach and encourage their students but are using technology to continue learning outside set school hours. Not homework, home learning. There is a balance between work and home and it is up to each individual to set those boundaries for what works at school and what works at home. 


Some food for thought.......


Until next week,
K