Zoom Conference #5

For our video this unit, my team members read the Horizon Report for K-12 2015 and I read the K-12 2014. Many of the trends were very similar for these two readings as well as being similar to what we have been reading a lot for this class. The section of the 2014 report that I read was Key Trends Accelerating Technology Adoption in Schools. These trends go in long-term, mid-term and short-term trends.

The long-term trends discussed were Intuitive Technology and Rethinking How Schools Work. These trends are seen to be long-term and will be at the forefront of adoption in 5 or more years. Intuitive technology was a very interesting one to me. Basically it is technology that is easy to interact with. Almost like it is an extension of yourself. With this technology, students will interact with technology in a natural way without much of a learning curve. This is great because there are times when you can spend a whole lesson just on how to use the technology instead of on what we are using the technology for! As technology advances, this will get easier and easier. Also the more students are interacting with technology at younger ages, the easier it will get to use technology in the classroom.

Now rethinking how schools work is one of the most important rising developments to come. More or less, schools have been the same since the beginning of the 20^th Century. Of course, the traditional model that we are in worked well for our grandparents and parents, but starting with students who grew up in the 90’s and beyond, it is becoming more and more necessary for us to consider if the traditional model is still working as well as it did in the past. My personal opinion is that the current structure of schools is limiting our students. With the technology that is available, our students should have the opportunities to reach beyond the curriculum as it is and experiment with real-world experiences. Unfortunately, many teachers resist too much use of technology for fear that it will replace them as teachers. We must be careful to never replace human interaction with technology, but also be open to allowing our students more exploration with the technology they have access to.

Trends that are defined as mid-term trends that will take about 3-4 years to be ready for adoption are Open Educational Resources and Hybrid Learning Designs. Before reading this article, I had never heard of open educational resources (OERs) before. The idea of being able to share all educational resources publically, while still giving credit to their source, is brilliant. I especially like the idea of being able to create my own textbook for a class by using several sources and pulling them into one place with the best resources for my students to really learn how to do math problems and apply them. I worry that this will never come to fruition simply because people tend to be very proud of their work and while they are willing to share it, they are not willing to let someone change it. 

Already in practice around the country is hybrid learning designs. Pretty much a synonym for blended learning, these models incorporate many different learning strategies including but not limited to use of technology, collaborative learning with peers, and small group instruction with teachers. One of the most popular models of hybrid learning is the flipped classroom. I tried to implement this model last year in my classes and found it very difficult. Due to changes in our state standards for math last year, I had very little resources for the flipped classroom and quickly became overwhelmed with having to come up with so many resources to give the students an understanding of what we were going to be doing in class before they got there. The one thing I loved about the flipped classroom was that I was not standing at the front of the room and lecturing every day and that I was able to pull small groups of students every single day.

Finally the short-term trends that were discussed in the reading and are one the horizon for 1-2 years are the favorites of what I read up on. First, rethinking the roles of teachers in the classroom is one that I think I am the most excited about. Traditionally, the teacher is the first person to expose the student to information. They tell their students what something is, how to solve problems, what to do in an experiment to get the desired results, and therefore they are the primary source for information that the students receive. Why? It has been proven through research that students of all ages learn better from doing rather than blindly copying what is given to them on the board. As a teacher, it also gets frustrating when you tell a student what seems like ten times how to do something and they still do not know how to do it. Rethinking the roles of teachers completely removes this frustration and allows students to control their own learning and how they learn information. It makes the students discover the answers rather than being told the answers. It inspires students to form habits of learning that will allow them to be life-long learners. Now that the teacher is not the primary source for information, they are able to mentor or coach students through discovery. Most teachers did not go into their career simply because they love the subject they teach, but instead because they love the students they teach. The new roles in the future for teachers allows true relationships to be made between student and teacher in an easier way than ever before.

With the new roles of teaching established, a shift to deeper learning approaches will come naturally. By creating authentic learning experiences and allow students to create and discover the content, learning goes beyond memorization and truly becomes a part of the student. Unfortunately, there are many things that I learned in my K-12 days that I cannot remember today. Facts, dates and definitions in my least favorite subjects have escaped me over the years, but there are many things I do remember. I remember researching foods from different countries in World Geography and then having to create a dish and bring it in to share with the class. I remember getting on the computers in Geometry and creating triangles and shapes with different properties. I remember calculating the trajectory and angle needed to hit my teacher with a water balloon using a launcher in Physics. I remember acting out parts of Tom Sawyer in my 7^th grade English class. These experiences throughout my schooling are the ones I remember most, and many great teachers are incorporating deeper learning experiences in their classrooms. We need to take learning to the next level by applying content to student lives and allowing them to explore what they are learning in the real-world.