Connecting with a 21st Century Learner

Practical Examples from the Classroom

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

Who is a 21st Century Learner

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

Possible Areas for Improvement

• Physical and Regulatory Environment• Preparing Students for the Workplace• Instructional Methods•Making Connections• Student Autonomy

Physical and Regulatory Environment

Traditional Classroom

Traditional Workspace

Contemporary Classrooms

Contemporary Workspaces

Contemporary Classroom ????

School

• Authoritarian Structure• Reduce Individual Autonomy• Reduced Freedoms• Negative Reinforcement• Emphasis on Silence and Order

PrisonMilitary TrainingFactory Floor

Preparing Students for the Workplace

What we tell our studentsGraduate High School, Get a good Job

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

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

• Graduating High School 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• Financial • Any Job which is repetitive

Should educators be worried about job automation

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

Tim Wilhelmus

Instructional Methods

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%

Coupling Bloom’s Taxonomy with the Learning Pyramid

• Asking students to remember facts from what they have read or heard would be the least effective instructional practice

• Getting students to analyse resources, create content and deliver it to the class, whilst class mates evaluate, all in a collaborative setting would be one of the best instructional practices to adopt

Richard Elmore Professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education

• Ask Grade 7 teachers to keep a copy of everything they asked students to do throughout a school term

• At the end of the term he asked 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

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

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

Making Connections

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

Physical EnvironmentDynamic Learning Spaces

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

•Works for lower elementary classrooms• High School 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

To 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

Meet 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 last 2 years of high school• 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

Student Autonomy . . . Works

Remembering

Blooms Taxonomy

Creating

Evaluating

Analysing

Applying

Understanding

Remembering

Creating

Evaluating

Analysing

Understanding

Applying

Low Order Thinking Skills

High Order Thinking Skills

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 maximum length• Sharing Ideas is Collaboration NOT Cheating• Ensure students can see each others work through the draft and final

stages

Giving students autonomy . . . works

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