Connecting with a 21st Century Learner

Who am I

Michael RocheEducator, Learning Innovatorand Futurist

Director of Information TechnologyTrinity College, East Perth

Michael Rochemichael@rochelearning.comrochelearning.com@rochelearning

Who is a 21st Century Learner

Outside of school they are• Continually Connected• Highly social• Access to all knowledge• Analytical• Expect Immediate Feedback

On non school tasks they use• Communication Skills• Problem Solving • Team Building• Analyse Information Sources• Creative Thinking

Areas for possible Improvement

•Where •Why • How•What•When

WHERE

Traditional Classroom

Traditional Workspace

Contemporary Classrooms

Contemporary Workspaces

Contemporary Classroom ????

School

• Emphasis on Silence and Order• Dress Code• Reduce Individual Autonomy• Negative Reinforcement• Authoritarian Structure• Reduced Freedoms• No Input in Decision making• Set times enforced for eating

and recreation

PrisonMilitary TrainingFactory Floor

WHY

What we tell our students

Finish Year 12, Get a good Job

• Medium levels of Numeracy and Literacy• Manual Skills • Ability to follow instructions

Go to Uni get a better Job

• High Levels of Numeracy and written Literacy• Good Knowledge base• Ability to learn from set

curriculum• Note taking• Understand resource materials

However, in 2014 . . . Its just not True

• Finishing Year 12 is not enough

• Graduating university is no guarantee of getting a better job

• Our students know people you have a university degrees and who work in coffee shops

Jobs that no longer exist

• 20th Century Education prepared students for low skilled repetitive jobs• 1990’s automation of low skilled repetitive jobs

• Automation of Automotive Industry

• 2000’s offshoring of low skilled repetitive jobs• Clothing industries

• 21th Century Education prepared students for high skilled repetitive jobs• 2010’s offshoring of high skilled repetitive jobs

• Radiology • Tax Accountancy • Any Job which is repetitive

Preparing Students for Jobs that exist

No generation in history had ever been so thoroughly prepared for the Industrial Age as the current generation.

David Warlick

Should teachers be worried about job automation

If you can be replaced by technology, you should be.

Tim Wilhelmus

HOW

Richard Elmore Professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education

• Ask Year 7 teachers to keep a copy of every things they asked students to do in a box under their desk for a school term

• At the end of the term ask teachers to place items in a box representing one of the six levels of thinking of Blooms Taxonomy

80 to 85% of work that students do in classes today is focused on factual recall and low level procedural thinking.

Richard Elmore

Blooms TaxonomyCreating

Evaluating

Analysing

Applying

Understanding

Remembering

Low Order Thinking Skills

High Order Thinking Skills

Creating

Evaluating

Analysing

Applying

Understanding

Remembering

Retention Rates

Hear

Read

Audio Visual

Demonstration

Discussion Group

Personally Experience

Teach Others

5%

10%

20%

30%

50%

75%

90%

WHAT

What we teach students

•1990’s we prepared senior school students for TEE Exams•2000’s we started preparing all secondary students for

TEE Exams•Now we prepare students for • NAPLAN• ATAR

What are our good students good at

• Working individually • Following instructions• Retaining Facts• Taking Tests

What do our students need to be good at

• Knowledge Construction• Group Discussion Skills• Creative Thinking skills

• Teamwork skills

Every one is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its life believing it is stupid.

Albert Einstein

Every one is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, by year 7 it will have an educational disorder, by year 10 it will have anxiety or depression or both

WHEN

When are our students learning

School based tasks

• In class for 5 hours a day• On task for some percentage of

that• Some students doing homework

after hours• Some students actually learning

after hours

Non-school based tasks

• While their on the bus• While their parents are watching

TV• When they are chatting on

Facebook• When they are playing computer

games

Areas for possible Improvement

•Where - Dynamic Learning Environments•Why - To prepare students for life• How - Help students to realise their potential•What – Real life skills as a goal not just a add-on while covering

curriculum• When - Meet students in their world to allow for anytime

learning

WHEREDynamic Learning Spaces

• Background• David Thornburg: Four primordial cross-cultural learning environments • Campfire • Cave• Watering Hole • Mountain Top

•Works for lower primary classrooms• Secondary rooms need to be flexible

Dynamic Learning Spaces

- Students and teacher sit is a circle to discuss ideas- Personal Learning Space- Gathering spaces for students to come together- Students present and share ideas to the class

OUR PARAMETERS•Within a standard classroom• Repeatable across the school• Allow for ‘traditional’ chalk and talk setup• Cost effective

OUR PRIORITIES• Flexible desk arrangements• Choice in seating for students• No Teachers desk or chair• No designated front of room

FIRST YEAR

• 24 student desks and chairs• Crescent desks for easy grouping• Couches for alternative seating

SECOND YEAR

• Different height desks• Moveable furniture• Space to lie on the floor

THIRD YEAR• ½ Cost $3250

• Couches• Outdoor furniture

What Worked• Behaviour Management•Motivation• Relaxed Atmosphere

What Didn’t

• Relaxed Atmosphere• Not suited for all teachers• Students won’t leave

WHYTo Prepare students for Life

Learners v the Learned

In times of change, it is the learners that will inherit the earth while the learned will find themselves beautifully equipped for a world that no longer exists.

Eric Hoffer

Skills for Success at University

• Knowledge Construction• Group Discussion Skills• Creative Thinking skills• Teamwork skills• Independent study skills

If we are telling students that we are preparing them for university and the workforce then it has to be true

Skills for Success in the Workplace

• Job Outlook , 2013• National Association of Colleges and Employers, USA

• Employability Skills 2000+• Conference Board of Canada

• 21st Century Skills and the Workplace• Gallup with Microsoft Partners in Learning

Oral Communication

Knowledge Construction

Lead

ersh

ipSelf-Regulation

Analytical Skills

Plan and Prioritise

Solve Problems

Verbal CommunicationWork in a Team

Flexibility

Team Work

Collaboration

Problem-Solving

Interpersonal Communication

Skills for Success at University

• Knowledge Construction• Group Discussion Skills• Creative Thinking• Teamwork skills• Independent study skills

If we are telling students that we are preparing them for university and the workforce then it has to be true

Skills for Success in the Workplace

• Knowledge Construction• Group Discussion Skills• Creative Thinking• Teamwork skills• Self Management Skills

HOWHelp students to realise

their potential

WHATReal life skills as a goal not just a

add-on while covering curriculum

Remembering

Blooms Taxonomy

Creating

Evaluating

Analysing

Applying

Understanding

Remembering

Creating

Evaluating

Analysing

Understanding

Applying

Low Order Thinking Skills

High Order Thinking Skills

Creativity Examples

Dr. Elad Segev, Faculty of Sciences Holon Institute of TechnologyTel Aviv

Retention Rates

Hear

Read

Audio Visual

Demonstration

Discussion Group

Personally Experience

Teach Others

5%

10%

20%

30%

50%

75%

90%

• Students are intelligent, creative, analytical and communicative learners• Propose problems which don’t have answers• Try and remove all parameters• DON’T give a suggested or minimum length• Sharing Ideas is Collaboration NOT Cheating• Ensure students can see each others work through the draft and final

stages

Giving students autonomy . . . works

• Science – Why do we have two lungs?• Numeracy – Algebra Equations exist, Huh?• English – Why ______ ______ ______ ?• Environment – Why are Blue Whales so big?• Technology – The Internet

Sample Questions without answers

• An every changing curriculum• Students as experts was an absolute necessity• Now we use this knowledge is other courses including ATAR courses

What our Game Design Course taught us

• Students as experts is an absolute necessity• For Each Topic• 3 Students each Prepare a presentation

• Students then collaborate, One student chosen to deliver • 3 Students each prepare a class handout

• Students then collaborate, one handout is created• 3 Students Evaluate the presentation and handout

• Students compare evaluations to produce a mark

• 9 Students have researched each topic• 9 Experts in the classroom

Student as Experts

• Started in 2014• Students work on 5 week projects• Students choose groups size and group members• Students choose content, and resources• Students choose project deliverables• Students choose 50% of assessment criteria• Students had to complete project management documentation

Self Organised - Project Based Learning

• A student created an analysis of shot types in men's fashion images• A student created a review of the street art around Perth, including

an interview with a well know street artist• A groups of students created a 3D virtual world of the College …….

Successes

WHATReal life skills as a goal not just a

add-on while covering curriculum

What do our students need to be good at• Knowledge Construction• Group Discussion Skills• Creative Thinking• Teamwork skills• Self Management Skills

21st Century Learner uses On non school tasks they use• Communication Skills• Problem Solving • Team Building• Analyse Information Sources• Creative Thinking

WHENMeet students in their world to

allow for anytime learning

• Electronic Learning Platforms• Over six years Trinity College tested 9 different electronic learning

platforms• We implemented three, and will soon move to a fourth• All promise the same things• Common point of failure

Why Social Networking in Learning

• Yr 12 Students

• Average time spent with Facebook per night

• Top 30% of Student users

• What do they talk about ????

• Would you talk about school work?

Facebook Student Survey

2 ½ Hours4 Hours

Don’t KnowMaybe

PROPOSAL• Provide content for students where they talk• Curriculum Resources• Expertise• Collaboration

CONCERNS• Student / Teacher communications• Teacher’s social presence• Student’s social presence• Logging / Auditing• Are we just increasing a teachers ‘on-time’

POLICIES• Only available to students in years 10,11 & 12• Teachers must create a ‘Professional’ Facebook presence• Teachers cannot ‘Friend’ students• No Teacher/Student chat• Create a Group for each Course• Only students studying a course can join the group• All communication through posts on the group wall

Inspiration• Ken Roninson

• Dr. Elad Segev, Faculty of Sciences Holon Institute of Technology, Tel Aviv• Richard Elmore

Harvard Graduate School of Education• David Thornburg, Thornburg Center• Sugata Mutra