In virtually every corner of our
current lives technology has not only shown up but has made profound changes in
the way we do things. In banking, for
instance, deposits and withdrawals, balances, tracking of checks and on and on;
just about every process is done through the application of ever more complex
and efficient technologies.
The field of medicine, similarly has been transformed by the development and adoption of technology. Not only are records kept digitally, but diagnoses are made through instruments that increasingly are showing up in their latest and best version as digital. Serious medicine can no longer be done without a host of complex imaging and measuring processes that are done digitally. The vast record keeping of patient status, pharmaceuticals dispenses and tracked, schedule, billing and more are all digital, as well.
The field of medicine, similarly has been transformed by the development and adoption of technology. Not only are records kept digitally, but diagnoses are made through instruments that increasingly are showing up in their latest and best version as digital. Serious medicine can no longer be done without a host of complex imaging and measuring processes that are done digitally. The vast record keeping of patient status, pharmaceuticals dispenses and tracked, schedule, billing and more are all digital, as well.
The
business of education, not just the support dimensions, like record keeping,
purchasing, and scheduling, but the core business of teaching and learning have
become digital. There is a vast array of content suitable or specifically
created for instruction available in accessible digital form. And there is an
equally vast array of instructional tools and resources to use in the work of
teaching and learning already developed and available. Still, schools that have
gone ‘all in’ on technology and that have transformed themselves through their
adoption of it from traditional classroom to contemporary digital learning
environment are in the minority. Most schools are in transition and their
progress lies along a continuum of adoption.
Fast
forward to the not too distant future and we will see the following situation
globally in the area of Education, along with one of 2 scenarios being true of
every school. We are entering an educational era that can be well described as
the Digital Shift. The following will be important characteristics of this era:
1) Best Instructional Practices will be those that rely heavily on digital resources. Best Practices are those practices that the field considers the best ways to achieve important goals. In a very real sense they define the field and provide direction and guidance for those looking to improve their performance. We are in an era now in which best practices involve Digital and truly cannot be practically implemented without it.
1) Best Instructional Practices will be those that rely heavily on digital resources. Best Practices are those practices that the field considers the best ways to achieve important goals. In a very real sense they define the field and provide direction and guidance for those looking to improve their performance. We are in an era now in which best practices involve Digital and truly cannot be practically implemented without it.
2)
Similarly, Best of Breed Instructional Resources are digital resources. The best tools and instruments needed
for teaching and learning are digital. It’s not their digital identity that
makes them best. Rather, the technology is what enables them to function so
well as they support Best Practices.
3)
Virtually all aspects of School Housekeeping are digital. Everything from student ID cards to student records, to
attendance, communications between educators and between educators and parents,
purchasing, scheduling, budgeting, and a very long list of other essential
support items are all now digital.
4)
An EXPANDED SCHOOL PLATFORM: The
traditional platform for school; typically 160 (or slightly more) days a year,
8:40am – 3:00pm (or similar schedule), instructional activities only rarely
extending beyond the 4 walls of the school building, student access to only a
small group of teachers or others who deliver or support learning experiences,
students grouped in classes of (roughly) 30 – managed by a single teacher and
held in an isolated classroom space, with students required to conform to
behavioral norms that support instruction in that traditional configuration and
resulting set of conditions, will be expanded.
Who and What Will Change and How?
With Best Practices and Best Resources ACROSS the Curriculum redefining themselves as digital, soon virtually all school employees, particularly teachers and those who supervise and support them in their teaching, will have to become deeply engaged in conducting their work digitally. This will include newcomers to the field and those who've been on the job for a good while, but who have managed to ignore or resist the change to digital.
For schools that have been conducting themselves as organizations that anticipate this change, in other words steadily building capacity to handle this challenge, things will escalate manageably.
For others that have been oblivious, in denial, or procrastinating intentionally, the change will be difficult with much scrambling to catch up to do. In the field of Education, one that is often a moving target in terms of professional preparation, schools that have been deferring preparation for the coming change will have to struggle greatly to what will be a new and all defining square one!
The current staffing of a great many schools and districts is not sufficient to step in as the velocity and depth of the change increase. Yes, schools have School Technologist, often in the role of tech support person (overwhelmingly focused on the acquisition and maintenance of hardware and other digital resources and training other staff in the mechanical/operational aspects of using them) or the Computer or Technology Class teacher. These folks, though, are not charged with or aware of the need to hone a very global understanding of the uses of technology in a school. Even if they are, on occasion, directed to coach other members of the teaching staff in specific technology uses, they are not prepared to take on the massive task of supporting a full staff in the very broad shift to a largely, exclusive commitment to doing things digitally.
The same is true for district level tech coaches, who, while they may have experience in working with targeted segments of the district teaching staff, have not had the opportunity to wrap their brains around, and develop their understandings and skills to handle the full depth and breadth of skills and knowledge that will be needed to move fully into a digital platform in our schools.
The proposition ahead seems to be, therefore, will the school/district experience this profound change as a challenging, yet inspiring Digital Shift or will they scramble to keep from drowning in what will be sustained EdTech Tsunami bearing down on them?
Who and What Will Change and How?
With Best Practices and Best Resources ACROSS the Curriculum redefining themselves as digital, soon virtually all school employees, particularly teachers and those who supervise and support them in their teaching, will have to become deeply engaged in conducting their work digitally. This will include newcomers to the field and those who've been on the job for a good while, but who have managed to ignore or resist the change to digital.
For schools that have been conducting themselves as organizations that anticipate this change, in other words steadily building capacity to handle this challenge, things will escalate manageably.
For others that have been oblivious, in denial, or procrastinating intentionally, the change will be difficult with much scrambling to catch up to do. In the field of Education, one that is often a moving target in terms of professional preparation, schools that have been deferring preparation for the coming change will have to struggle greatly to what will be a new and all defining square one!
The current staffing of a great many schools and districts is not sufficient to step in as the velocity and depth of the change increase. Yes, schools have School Technologist, often in the role of tech support person (overwhelmingly focused on the acquisition and maintenance of hardware and other digital resources and training other staff in the mechanical/operational aspects of using them) or the Computer or Technology Class teacher. These folks, though, are not charged with or aware of the need to hone a very global understanding of the uses of technology in a school. Even if they are, on occasion, directed to coach other members of the teaching staff in specific technology uses, they are not prepared to take on the massive task of supporting a full staff in the very broad shift to a largely, exclusive commitment to doing things digitally.
The same is true for district level tech coaches, who, while they may have experience in working with targeted segments of the district teaching staff, have not had the opportunity to wrap their brains around, and develop their understandings and skills to handle the full depth and breadth of skills and knowledge that will be needed to move fully into a digital platform in our schools.
The proposition ahead seems to be, therefore, will the school/district experience this profound change as a challenging, yet inspiring Digital Shift or will they scramble to keep from drowning in what will be sustained EdTech Tsunami bearing down on them?
For schools that seemingly must, all
of a sudden, greatly increase the level of
technology they use in conducting instruction – who find themselves in a
situation in which the professional development they need is best accessed online
– in which providing student access to learning opportunities beyond the four
walls of the classroom and the 6 and ½ hours a day spent inside the school
building has become the standard – in which parents have rightly come to expect
a steady, rich stream of information about their child and the goings on of the
school… and a good number of other areas that will be primarily done on a
digital platform, the period of transition will, indeed be very challenging.
The good news is that being conscious of the nature and above all, the
extent of the coming Digital Shift will help school communities from experiencing it
as a Tsunami.
Additional Note: A common and understandable response to the above is the funding issue. An analysis of this situation would take at least another full article. However, funding has long been a reason stated for keeping school technology use shallow and limited. Some questions and concepts, therefore:
Schools traditionally consider that technology is an extra, an add on. Consequently, these communities set up an "either/or" narrative as their understanding. But is this a good, clear understanding?
- Must a school choose between technology OR traditional, hard copy materials? Must a school purchase expensive hard copy textbooks AND connected devices for students? Might not the school purchase for instance, Chromebooks and then opt for free or low cost digital Social Studies content online. The cost currently of a Chromebook is approaching that of some textbooks and certainly that of 2 new text books. This is just one possible reorganizing of budgetary thinking that would allow for schools to modernize their platform. There are numerous others and a short online search will turn up articles that explain.
- Another consideration often voiced is that many students don't have internet access at home. If the rationale for moving to a digital platform is increased hours of access to materials for students, then this is indeed an important consideration. However here, too, there are numerous items online that explain how some districts have decided to address this without ignoring their budgetary considerations.
Additional Note: A common and understandable response to the above is the funding issue. An analysis of this situation would take at least another full article. However, funding has long been a reason stated for keeping school technology use shallow and limited. Some questions and concepts, therefore:
Schools traditionally consider that technology is an extra, an add on. Consequently, these communities set up an "either/or" narrative as their understanding. But is this a good, clear understanding?
- Must a school choose between technology OR traditional, hard copy materials? Must a school purchase expensive hard copy textbooks AND connected devices for students? Might not the school purchase for instance, Chromebooks and then opt for free or low cost digital Social Studies content online. The cost currently of a Chromebook is approaching that of some textbooks and certainly that of 2 new text books. This is just one possible reorganizing of budgetary thinking that would allow for schools to modernize their platform. There are numerous others and a short online search will turn up articles that explain.
- Another consideration often voiced is that many students don't have internet access at home. If the rationale for moving to a digital platform is increased hours of access to materials for students, then this is indeed an important consideration. However here, too, there are numerous items online that explain how some districts have decided to address this without ignoring their budgetary considerations.
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