Future of Learning

It was a bit of a struggle getting up early on the first day of the hols in order to get to the Future of Learning '18 Conference by 8.00am! The day was well worth it - brain stretching; thought-provoking and some fascinating looks at what education looks like outside a typical school setting. Organisers Cheryl Doig and Hamish Duff set the scene:    

Intro 1 - Hamish Duff

Hamish began with the notion that there has always been change, but NOW - rapid exponential change - Sci-fi like change!

What is exponential? (we've all seen those graphs...) What does that mean for the future? For education?
Teachers can be terrible at coping with change - it’s danger, how do we help teachers through this change?
Often the fear of technology has been promulgated by the media - the robots of Skynet; the dangers of AI.
We need to learn at scale - for teachers, this is a big shift in workload. Interestingly project failure largely through resistance (made me think about our work at RHS) with most traditional struggle the most

We need to have 'Intelligent optimism' - use technology to improve, not replace. to augment human work (this was a theme for the day).

Our world in data- life is getting better - mortality, literacy are actually improving worldwide.

Reimagine learning - how do we do this as well as all the compliance stuff? Who is going to do this!
- what needs to be disrupted?
- How do we support staff!?
- What is the role of an educator?

Intro 2 - Cheryl Doig

There’s no ONE future!

Framework for the day - anticipate, collaborate and activate
We live in our inner world - our physiology - the world we know. Then the world of our experiences. Outside these are the 'known world' - the things we have not experienced yet but we know exists. What we need to look to are the world of possibilities - this is stuff we may not ever of heard of....anticipation.

We need to be thinking - non-binary thinking:

We need to collaborate - and to explore outside of our own areas

Activate-
What do we want to leave with to act on?
Preferred futures - where we as teachers can be influencers
Probable futures....
Possible futures......

Keynote 1 Jason Swanson - Knowledgeworks

Jason explores the future of learning, helping stakeholders translate future insights into forward thinking visons for transforming education. Jason has explored how trends and developments such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, augmented and virtual reality might impact learning. He has authored dozens of articles and forecasts, ranging from the future of work and readiness, the future of credentials, the expansion and diversification of educator roles and the creation of learning ecosystems.) He posed lots of questions 

The future of learning - redefining readiness from the inside out.
The future is not fixed - ours to create

Profound social justice issues related to readiness for the future.

Every student should experience personalised learning so they are ready for what’s next
- policy
- Teacher practice
- Forecast future of learning - all of these should work together to anticipate change 

How has work changed since - introduction of technology in education
- ubiquitous learning
How will ready be defined in 2040?
- exponential - rates of doubling are incomprehensible to the human mind

ERA shift - we are in a defining point in history
- new social norms
- New economic systems
BUT
- the change in technology
- Pressing nature to work with the code in our devices to make sense of the world we live on

We are in the 4th industrial revolution - paradigm busting innovations - historical ones over long periods of time - these have reduced each time
- technological advancements on nano, AI, biotech etc

2 Drivers of change
- rise of smart machines - augmentation and/ displacement of human intelligence
- Decline of the full time work force access talent in the open market, globalisation creating world wide work force - structure of work will become a career mosaic

These will have HUGE impact on future lifestyles - impact on education?????

Future work characteristics 
- market driven
- Modular and recombined
- Data and market driven
- Grounded in relating - relationships will drive success
- Interwoven with learning - frequent adaptations - act of working will align with act of learning

Core social and emotional skills 
- understand self - individual skills
- Social awareness- collaboration
- self discovery
Academic skills and knowledge still important .

Education educational change 
- mastering content.
- Thinking and doing - project, inquiry
- Feeling and relating

How might we change education 
- teach and integrate social emotions
- Bring uncertainty and ambiguity - VUCA world
- Nurture aspirational visions
- Use technology AUGMENT - capability
- What is success
- Develop reflective learning practice
- Rethink teacher prep
- Broader than just 9-3 in a school

How do we navigate to change the power of the status quo? 
- need to change the traditional markers of success
- Shelf life for transferable skills is at risk

How do we prioritise PLD needs - skills vs development? 
- personalise whatt your staff needs
- 1 size fits all it’s not going to cut the mustard!

Panel 1  - Hannah Hudson, Eruera Tarena, Andy Kai Fong 

Hannah Hudson (amazing young woman)  

- student UC - future problem solving programme
- Collective future is something we should all be thinking about on a macro scale
- The problem of the subject silo - what about the space between the subjects
- The world is one big body of knowledge
- Interdisciplinary thinking is where the world’s issues will be solved
- Every NZ show understand Moore’s Law -

Eruera Tarena 
- can disruption advance equity and advancement for Maori
- Adaptive leadership
- Astronauts of their time - based on a hunch - not bound by control
- Navigators look backwards - sailing away from - what are we ready to leave behind?
- future workforce engagement stats
- Hunch -  that we will plan the future with intent
- Treaty partnership 2.0 ! What could we create together, rather than focusing on what has divided us in the past

Andy Kai Fong (inspirational leadership + social justice) 
- Kua Rite - we are ready
- Schooling must change
- Influencers - professional; societal; experiential
- the need to be increasingly human -
- Change is complex
- Reimagine learning that allows everyone to be successful
At Haeata 
- we celebrate not sort
- we connect and don’t silo
- We celebrate differences
- we celebrate dispositions
- We begin with curiosity not content
- We make it personal

Complexity of the interconnection between curriculum, pedagogy, policy, resourcing, whanau and assessment - complexity is not addressed!

Keynote 2  Faye Langdon - 21stC Skills Lab

How to get ahead in a world of AI, Algorithms, BOTs and Big Data! 

Our education system still focuses on ‘acing the test’.
There are 1 million GenZed population - we need to be creating learners that fill the gap that employers need.

21stC - our humanness is going tomorrow enable us to thrive and survive - we have an amazing human brain we need to enable and work with technology ....

Requirements for future .....
- critical thinking
- Collaboration
- Digital skills
Everyone needs to be a learner - all the time + learn unlearn relearn
Many young people’s world is a passive relationship with technology - they need to become active

The economy will be person-centred
- collaboration and teamwork
- Individuals from radically different backgrounds
- Creative economy - huge growth worldwide
- Human-oriented services
- Cybereconomy

A new quotient has been added to IQ, EQ - the AQ - adaptability quotient

Big 6 - the focus for future employment 
- analytics
- Numeracy - lot of jobs will depend on this
- Adaptability and flexibility
- Digital
- 3Cs - communication, collaboration, critical thinking
- Mobility is the new norm

Building a picture of capabilities - building a career web.... need to help students navigate a career pathway

A lot of talk about Self-directed and human-centred learning

Changes in requirements World Economic Forum 
- 181% increase in bilingual skills required
- 212% increase in Digital literacy skills required 

- 158% increase in critical thinking skills required 

- 65% increase in creativity  skills required 

Aspirational future - insights, experiences

Dark future - inequity, invasion of privacy, targeting the vulnerable - what impact do I have as an educator

The oath of non- harm for an age of big data: 

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability, the following covenant:
I will respect all people for their integrity and wisdom, understanding that they are experts in their own lives, and will gladly share with them all the benefits of my knowledge.
I will use my skills and resources to create bridges for human potential, not barriers. I will create tools that remove obstacles between resources and the people who need them.
I will not use my technical knowledge to compound the disadvantage created by historic patterns of racism, classism, able-ism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, transphobia, religious intolerance, and other forms of oppression.
I will design with history in mind. To ignore a four-century- long pattern of punishing the poor is to be complicit in the “unintended,” but terribly predictable consequences that arise when equity and good intentions are assumed as initial conditions.
I will integrate systems for the needs of people, not data. I will choose system integration as a mechanism to attain human needs, not to facilitate ubiquitous surveillance.
I will not collect data for data’s sake, nor keep it just because I can.
When informed consent and design convenience come into conflict, informed consent will always prevail.
I will design no data-based system that overturns an established legal right of the poor.
I will remember that the technologies I design are not aimed at data points, probabilities, or patterns, but at human beings.

Panel 2 Amy Fletcher, Margaret Pickering, Ed Liedenberger

Amy Fletcher - higher education - disruption the status quo 

Personalised learning when done well is essential - student at centre. 

Automation is the Voldemort the terrifying force nobody is willing to name. - Jerry Mcluskey

-EdTech solutions need to focus on personalisation.
- however most Tertiary deliver the opposite

- need for competency based models - learning can take place in a variety of institutions - needs to be transparent and transferable
- Business and education sometimes at odds. What is valued in an education system? What if there’s content that can be ‘chunked’? 

Margaret Pickering - Stickmen Media - Machines as learning partners

Delivering learning and other stuff through IT

- low barrier to entry
- Self driven
- Learning as entertainment

The challenge
- what will still be relevant
- Digital wasteland unfinished project - really high % of online courses never completed

Making the most of the learning activity
- engagement types important - preferred play type
- - competitive - killers
- - curious - explorers
- - chatty and cooperative - socialiser.
- - achievers - all the gold stars
- nurturers - build and refine

Balance between boredom and balance.
Learners still need to take responsibility for making the education.

Make no assumptions, know your learners and engage them .!

Ed Liebenberger - Jade Software
- Humans crave connection
- Shared experiences last for life
- AI is tapping into key aspects of human connection - touch, facial expression

Feedback - generates data - creates patterns - modifies behaviours.
- Netflix - preferences

Data used to improve student experiences - enabling conversations.

Accuracy of voice recognition- exponential improvement.

Keynote 3 James Hay - Virtual Medical Coaching

Because fantastic education doesn’t just happen


Tonnes of data - how do we make use data in education? What do they come in knowing?

- Adaptive learning development tools - most sophisticated tool for building adaptive and personalised learning.
-  Big data platform - ongoing access to their data - compared to class average - detailed analytics and insights

- Advanced assessments- evidence based assessment; credible statistics; personalised experiences - machines can make the situations more complex
- Retention strategies - continual reminders of content and assessment - feedback to teachers as well - through gamification 

- Live assessment tools - gauge what stud nets need to know and need to be assessed on - students get to the same point but not in the same way and at the same time.
- Being able to assess knowledge gaps - and fills them

Adaptive digital learning -  Unique to each student - imagine if NCEA was designed like this 

Panel 4 Micro Credentials and Block Change (or where I learned a new language and my head hurt...) 

Matt Carter Otago Polytech

MicroCredentials
- valuing personal learning
- Edubits - I see poissibilities for blended Polytech courses here
- small meaningful packages of skills that may include soft skills
- assessable competencies
- Digital badges of competency -
- could be a course; skills learnt at work; application at work;
- individualised pathway


Sam Mann - self determined education
- process of learning - heutology
- Masters of Professional Practice
- Bachelor of Leadership for Change - I want to make a difference

Andrew Masters - block chain guru
- how do we scale learning in an exponential world?
- Convergence of technology at present
- Reduction in the price of acquiring knowledge
- Trust - value of the qualification from trusted institutions -  will it hold value
- it the job going to exist?
Power is shifting - decentralisation.
-- what if anyone could be a teacher in any Subject?
- what if the teacher could give out the qualification/microcredentials
- a digital ledger of qualifications - accessible to all - open public
global

What if - 
Professional Standards - can be shifted to MC
Professional learning- reinforcing lifelong learning - not lip-service - take ongoing learning seriously

Mindblowing : Soul Machines - Dr Elinor Swery

Machines as learning partners: @soulmachines who have created a virtual nervous system that has emotional intelligence is designed to bridge the machine and man to communicate effectively. 

Takeaway thoughts

- where were the teacher training institutions in the conversation?

- school MUST change 

- the model MUST evolve

Just reading - Creative Schools by Sir Ken

Reading books by leading educational researcher and thinker Sir Ken Robinson, is almost as good as listening to him speak in the flesh! He writes as he talks - in a voice that is engaging, passionate, humorous. A voice  which offers the  definitive reasons for why there needs to be a revolution in the way we deliver education - NOW.

I'm halfway through his latest tome - Creative Schools - revolutionizing education from the ground up - but it would be fair to say, that in me he's preaching to the converted, but I wanted to share two sections here.

'Opportunities for change exist within every school, even where the emphasis on high stakes testing has become extreme. Schools often do things simply because they've always done them. The culture of any school includes the habits and systems that the people in it act out every day. Many of these habits are voluntary rather than mandated - teaching by age groups for example, or making every period the same length, using belss to signal the beginning and end of periods, having every students facing the same direction with the teacher at the front of the room, teaching math only in math class and history in history class and so on.' pg57

My current school is grappling with a number of these 'habits and systems'  (which as Sir Ken, so rightly states are voluntary) right now, as we try to work through a process of change management - curriculum, pedagogy and spaces are on the agenda. We are lucky enough to have contact with NZ educators  who are leading the revolution in their schools - because it's what is best for the learners. I hope we are brave enough to learn from them.

Sir Ken's teachings around 'personalisation' are straightforward - in every aspect of life, personalisation is apparent. But as he says  -

'..it has yet to take root in education. This is ironic, because it is in education that personalisation is most urgently needed. So what does that mean? It means: 

• recognising that intelligence is diverse and multifaceted
• enabling students to pursue their particular interests and strengths
• adapting a schedule to different rates at which students learn
• assessing students in ways that support their personal progress and achievement ' pg 83

I believe we need to be brave and follow what we know is our moral purpose - and make the revolution happen. 

Authentic and Courageous

Both of these words are in my thoughts after reflecting on some of the schools I visited in Australia. However these two words are as, if not more, relevant, in two NZ schools that I have a keen interest in - Alfriston College and Hobsonville Point Secondary School.

Hobsonville Point is in its' second year of 'life' and the staff are planning for what the curriculum might look like for their students in 2016 - with their first Year 11 cohort. I follow both the blogs of Principal - Maurie Abraham and DP Learning Technologies - Claire Amos. Recent dicsussions have been around the value of the Level 1 NCEA qualification - and if and how it fits the school's and community's vision and its' aspirational learner profile. Courageous conversations are taking place - 

'Last week Claire and I hosted the 13 Year 11 students and their parents and laid out our plans on how they would be prepared to achieve NCEA L2, as a minimum qualification, without devoting their Year 11 Year to the pointless pursuit of dozens of credits which only serves to take their focus off deep learning and understanding.' Maurie

All Level six, seven and eight modules will be designed with opportunities for students to be assessed against Level One, Two or Three Achievement Standards which are clearly signalled alongside learning outcomes and rubrics. Where appropriate, modules will assess learners at Level One and Two or Level Two and Three so that learners can be assessed at the level appropriate for them. Modules offered will be a mixture of single or integrated learning (when integration will facilitate deeper more connected learning). Modules in the latter part of the year will be designed to ensure learners are being prepared for required external standards to provide opportunities for gaining Merit and Excellent endorsement.
Claire

I will follow the continuing journey with interest.

Alfriston College is at the opposite geographical extreme of the Auckland isthmus to HPPS. It is also 10 years older. AC's vision for 'independent learners' has always been embedded in the schools 10 'Independent Learning Qualities' (ILQs). But this year AP Karyn White and a team of 20 staff (T20) have taken a courageous leap into a fully authentic and integrated approach to their Yr 9 Foundation curriculum. 

Yr 9 students are combined in their whanau (house groups) where pastoral amd curriculum are closely linked. No streaming or 'banding'. 900 minutes of a 1500 minute week are in these groups. 4 teachers are timetabled for these sessions. That is the end of the formal plan in the timetable - the rest follows below -

• Is an integrated curriculum delivering the core learning areas (English, Maths, Science, Social Studies, andHealth and PE) with emphasis on the development of a core set of learning dispositions and skills ultimately transferable to learning in the senior school and beyond.
• Is based around a learner's place in and connection to their world view which will include their own whakapapa and heritage, Alfriston College, Manurewa, Auckland, New Zealand, Earth, the Universe and the future.
• Is delivered by a small, consistent, connected team of learning leaders - the Authentic Learning Team.
• Is a time and place where and individual's learning goals and learning pathways are co-constructed, recorded and used to track and review progress. These are available 24/7 and accessible to parents and whanau via the internet.
• Is a programme of learning that builds on learners' capacities to be connected, confident, competent learners of good character with a zest for learning.  AC Website

Following the T20 2015 learning journey on Twitter will be inspring I'm sure. Hopefully I will get to take a group of teachers to see this Foundation Programme in action.

Kia kaha

Choose your own adventure - Australian Science and Mathematics School

The Australian Science and Mathematics School (ASMS) is focussed on providing a vibrant, future focussed curriculum for students who have a passion for Science and Mathematics. 390 students through Yr 10-12 (our 11-13) choose and pursue their own adventure in open plan, flexible, colourful and unbelievably quiet spaces. 80% of the students go onto tertiary studies.

Pillars and coloured seating are used to delineate individual spaces within the whole - the pastoral teams have 'team areas' for Learning Studies - the pastoral care curriculum. Purple seating designated non assigned areas in all spaces.  The design will look familiar to those of us who have visited Albany Senior College, Ormiston or HPSS, as ASMS hosts many visiting educators. Part of their school 'brief' is to 'support educators in changing their practice,vimproving student learning.' 

Two students to me in a tour of the school, which covers two floors and an aviation lab in the adjoining Flinders University Campus. As I mentioned earlier, one of the things I noticed was the 'quietness' of the space during the learning times. During recess and lunchtime, the noise level rose considerably. Another thing was that the teacher spaces were fully open to the student spaces, unlike the models we have seen in NZ. If needed, there were rooms where quiet conversations could take place. 

the green team teacher space 

The curriculum is divided into Yr10/11 and Yr12. Unlike us, Australia has only one level of national examinations, in the final year of school. Which makes the system very high stakes. However, this affords a deal of flexibility in the two years prior to this. I guess this was the school with the curriculum that most resonated with me - not just the integrated thematic approach to Yr 10/11. but also the formalised pastoral care curriculum. 

For set periods of the day the Yr 10/11 students work in mixed groupings on 'central studies'. Over the two years they cover 8 broad themes, which focus on real world problems and include 'new sciences.' The slide below is from a presentation shared with me by Andy Stone, one of the schools Deputy Principals - showing the broad themes for the Central Studies courses. 

 Each topic has a 'Fertile Q' - which is then worked on collaboratively by a group of up to 12 teachers. Most are involved facilitating central studies, but Languages, Drama and Music are addressed in 'Adventure Space Time'. The question drives ;the feel' of the unit - then the teachers will decide how the specific aspects of curriculum delivery will be addressed or approached. There is responsibility for curriculum checkpoints and assessment checkpoints within the group. Teams are built around expertise and who would work well together - a balance is created between who creates what work and between teachers' individual contexts and delivery.

Below is an example of a 'fertile question' and the curriculum contexts that evolved from it.

The Fertile Question

The disciplines that sit underneath the fertile question are essential for mapping the curriculum. The 4 central studies are designed so that the essential elements of Science and Maths are covered across the two years. This programme was not designed overnight - Andy mentioned that it had taken a number of years to get these programmes 'right'. One of the key benefits, apart from student engagement, was the time saved working in teams, the willingness of staff to share - but also be prepared to see things change. Understanding by Design (Jay McTighe) provides the framework for unit design, and all documents refer to this planning framework One of the big shifts is that assessment also needs to be interdisciplinary as well. He asked the question - if the kids are learning, do the need to be assessed all the time? I must say that most of the schools I visited were aghast at the fact we had a 3 year examination system.

Central studies form only part of a Yr 10/11 timetable -Adventure Space Time (individual - choose your own adventure topics) and Learning Studies Groups, make up the rest of the timetable. 

Learning Studies Group is the formalised pastoral care programme. The students are divided into 4 teams (designated by colour). Each group had no more than 18 students, and one tutor, and a team leader. An overall Learning Studies Leader coordinator developed the programme in conjunction with the 4 team leaders. Term 1's programme was about making ASMS 'work for me'. These sessions were 40 minutes a day. As well as the structured programme helped monitor and map each students individual curriculum plans  linking to their academic . Sometimes the groups regrouped into Yr levels. Term 2's programme revolves around the neurosciences. Lots of planning time was provided to ensure that this programme ran smoothly. 

Toby and Sion, my student tour guides, talked extremely passionately about their time at ASMS - but it was not all rose tinted glasses! Interestingly the commented on the things they'd like changed in the labs! More sink spaces, as it was annoying to have to wait to wash gear! They felt that they could be a lot more independent at complete work stations. 

I wonder if we have asked our students about this! Both students were taking Psychology as a major - but as ASMS (and I presume South Australia, it sits under the Science, not Humanities umbrella. They reiterated a number of times, that what they valued the most, was the fact that there were no boundaries to what you wanted to learn. An 'innovation space' on both the timetable and in a physical space, allowed students to follow a personalised project - for which funding was available, if required. They also liked the fact that formative assessment work was not compulsory - as students were at different stages - if you needed to do it, you did. They saw this as ultimate differentiation!

For me the innovative curriulum design; collaborative team teaching approach and the focus on Learning Coach model of pastoral and academic care were the key. Obviously the building and learning spaces were impressive. Part of the school's founding philosophy is that they are tasked with providing professional learning opportunities for their own staff, local staff, regional staff and international staff, like myself. 

Thanks ASMS team for your time and willingness to share ideas and resources. 

A brief introduction to the future of learning ....

Change - for most of us change is subtle and sneaky.

What does the future hold for our children? We have no context for the rapid development that they are facing. 

How do learn to live in this age of fast paced changed? 

We have to deal with the reality of now BUT we also have to focus on what is the near future.

Thinking in future tense .

Teachers need to think from the future back - teachers are driven by the here and now. But we how do  get them ready for the future? 

What will learning look like in 2027?

- learning will happen in anywhere anytime ( not 2x4x6) - student teacher classroom do not have to be same place, same time

- learning will not be confined to a single time 

- just in time vs just in case - shadow model of education 

- learning will not be confined to a single teacher  - infowhelm - all aspects of the community need to be involved in them

- learning will not be confined to human teachers - it's not either or - how they support each other 

- not just confined to paper based information 

- not confined to memorisation 

- from specialist to generalist

What are you measuring and not measuring in your classroom?

- learning will not be confined to linear learning - start anywhere, follow own cognitive pattern

- learning will not be confined to the intellectual elite - new illiterates

- learning will not be confined to a separate subject area 

How do we get from here 2015 - 2027?

Erick Hoffer 

"In times of change learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists"

Margaret Mead - Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. 

Helen Keller - The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.