Replacing the Factory School with ...

“Tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.”

 (an African proverb)

Schools of the 20^th century adopted a factory model of schooling, with an assembly line for producing multiple copies of the same product.   During the first half of the 20^th century, the job market was dominated by agriculture, mining and manufacturing.  After World War II, it was driven by manufacturing that became increasingly high-tech as well as by a growing service industry.  In recent decades, jobs once available in agriculture and manufacturing have given way to a wide variety of professional, technical and service occupations. 

The rise of global connections and the recent surge of outsourcing by many industries and businesses are having a radical change in jobs.  The kinds of work opportunities our children will have in the 21^st century continue to evolve.  The factory style schoolhouse met the needs of the era, however, it falls short of the needs of the 21^st century global society.   Change and transformation are happening daily in communication, industry, workforce and recreation and the 21^st century schoolhouse will need to evolve into a new model in curriculum, instruction and assessment.  There will be many remaining jobs in the service sector because but nearly all service-producing jobs already require computer skills.  21^st century students also need to be prepared to work in emerging fields such as biotechnology, e-commerce, telecommunications and the environment.

Are schools today preparing students to effectively work and live well in a future that will continually become more and more high tech and technology dependent?  Will students have mastered the 21^st century skills that include critical thinking and problem solving, creativity and innovation, and communication and collaboration, before they leave school?  Will they be information literate, media literate, and technology literate, to name just a few kinds of new literacies required in the 21^st century? (as identified by The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills http://www.p21.org/)

Are students today being prepared for tomorrow?

 

Using Social Networking Responsibly

“If Facebook were a country, it would now be the 6^th most populous in the world.”

(Inside Facebook.com)

Social networking is all around us. It is here to stay and it is changing how we communicate, interact and learn. Our children have never known a world without digital networking. Parents need to understand what social networking is all about. A great place to start would be a website such as http://www.digizen.org/. Here teachers, parents and young people can find out about social networking. There is a glossary of terms to help you develop digital media literacy.

Social networking tools such as “Twitter” are a fact in today's society. We need to support young people to recognize and manage acceptable behaviour when using these tools. Social norms need to be established and we as parents need to educate ourselves and involve our children in determining what they should be. Our children need to be aware that when they “post” it is part of the public domain.

We, as adults also need to be aware of what we write. A recent article from The Canadian Press warns employees that their jobs could be at risk when sharing controversial statements via social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. A sportscaster, Damien Goddard, had his position terminated the day after posting tweets on his thoughts on same-sex marriage. The company did not specifically say that his Twitter comments were the cause; they only stated that he was not a right fit for their organization.

Digital users of today need to be aware of the impact of their words through social-media. What they write is not just to one person or a group of identified friends – it is out there for the world to read. As Erin Barry, a community manager for Sprouter states: “Don't put anything online that you wouldn't want plastered on a billboard with your face on it.

How far does a person's right to freedom of expression go? Is there a need for a guide to social-media users on the “do's and don'ts”? How do we best prepare our children to be responsible and discerning communicators when sending and receiving messages using social networking tools?

Born Digital - Identities

“From the perspective of a Digital Native, identity is not broken up into online and offline identities, or personal and social identities.  Because these forms of identity exist simultaneously and are so closely linked to one another, Digital Natives almost never distinguish between the online and offline versions of themselves.  They establish and communicate their identities simultaneously in the physical and digital worlds....Digital Natives change the personal information they share over the internet all the time as they change their sense of self and how they wish to portray themselves.  What it means to be a young person hasn’t changed; what has changed is the manner in which young people choose to express themselves.”

Born Digital

John Palfrey and Urs Gasser

As parents we watch our children begin to explore who they are.  Throughout life, they likely try various different “identities” on for size.  From the young “superhero” or “fashionista” to the teen “jock” or “goth”, you will watch in amazement as they invent (and reinvent) who they are.  This is not new – you probably had several identities of your own.  The difference with those born digital is that their identities are not simply those of the “private” and “social” context. (You probably have those now – your public “volunteer or work” persona and the person you are at home or with your friends.)   For digital natives, these lines are blurred (or perhaps non-existent).

This is not necessarily a bad development but it is sometimes a confusing concept for parents (and likely teachers and other adults in our children’s lives).  We may struggle to understand why our children share so much information online and worry that they are not safe because of this.  While this fear is warranted, it’s not always so easy to figure out what the appropriate response is.  The reality is that locking down our children’s use of digital media is probably not a good idea (or even truly a sustainable solution).  It drives their online usage underground and removes the opportunity for us to actually debrief about what they are doing, sharing, learning, and experiencing.  Because our children are perhaps unaware and not capable of determining a safe or appropriate level of sharing identity online, it is important that we as parents understand the various tools (facebook, twitter, myspace, live journal, club penguin, etc) enough to be able to ask the right questions to help coach our children as they experiment with identity and what that means in a digitally connected age.

Google yourself...google your children...what do you find?  What digital networks are your children involved in?  Do you understand them?  What questions do you have about how these networks work and how to help your children understand the implications of what identities they share online?

For a great explanation of Born Digital – Identities please see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvrbgKDEii0  (Maybe watch it with your children as a conversation starter...)

Born Digital

You see them everywhere.  The teenage girl with the ipod…the whiz kid summer intern in your office who knows what to do when your email client crashes…the eight-year-old who can beat you at any video game…and types faster than you.

All of them are “Digital Natives.” They were all born after 1980…major aspects of their lives – social interactions, friendships, civic activities – are mediated by digital technologies.  And they’ve never known any other way of life.

Born Digital

John Palfrey & Urs Gasser

Recently 21^st Century Parent presented a keynote address to a large audience of parents.  The topic was parent involvement in public education.  The reality is that as our learners are changing, parent involvement will also need to change.  Maybe you recognize your kids in the quote above.  Some of you will recognize yourselves (the first generation of children born to digital natives is now in elementary school), but for most of us – we are still “digital immigrants”.  So what does this mean for our kids?  What does this mean for parent involvement?

This is Part 1 of a series about what is unique and wonderful (and sometime scary and concerning) about the world of digital natives.  21^st Century Learning is an opportunity to change education for the future – to make it more appropriate for those born digital.  We believe parent involvement is crucial in the development of this new education model.  But in order to be involved, we need to understand the unique, wonderful (and sometimes scary and concerning) complexities of raising this digital generation.

But this is more than a one-way information opportunity.  As parents we need to have continued dialogue about what this means for us, for our kids, and for our schools.  21^st Century Parent looks forward to dialogue (digital and otherwise) as we explore what it means to be “Born Digital”.

Education is a Three-Legged Stool

John Abbott (President of the 21^st Century Initiative in the United Kingdom)  uses this metaphor to describe the strength of an educational system where parents, community and school are represented by one leg of the stool.  All legs have the same length and can balance on any surface.   

Michael Fullan also refers to the “power of three” when he describes the untapped impact of teachers, parents and students working together to improve student performance.  Most parents do not want to run the school but they do want their children to do better. Research shows that the more involved parents are in their child’s education, the greater the educational impact.

Parents need to be involved with their schools.  Students need to be part of the decision making. The educational system is complex and increasingly so as technology advances and educators look for meaningful ways to tap into this ever expanding world.  The “Power of Three”, where parents, students and teachers align themselves towards a common goal has potential beyond our current understanding.

What common goals could we impact with the “Power of Three”?

Building an Plan for 21st Century Education

After listening to British Columbia Minister of Education, George Abbott, at last weekend’s BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils conference, it’s clear that 21^st Century Education is a primary focus. There also seems to be a realization that simply recognizing that change is necessary is not enough.  To paraphrase Minister Abbott when asked if the legislation will be amended to reflect the new paradigm…”You can’t just build a master plan with the stroke of a pen, educational reform has to be done in the real world.” 

Many parents at the conference expressed both an interest and a hesitation regarding what 21^st Century Education will actually look like as it is implemented.  The Ministry answer seems to be “We don’t quite know yet.”  While that may seem frustrating to some, it’s exciting news around here…it means that the decisions haven’t been made, that the dialogue is still flowing, and that parents can still be involved in the development of this very important vision in education.

The scholarship application essay topic for the BC School Superintendents’ Association poses an interesting question for our grads.  We believe it’s equally important for parents to answer…

"Personalized Learning in the 21st Century. How should schools address the learning needs of students for the next generation?" 

21st Century Learners

“We currently have a 19^th century curriculum, 20^th century buildings, and 21^st century learners.” (Bruce Wellman)

As digital natives (those born after 1980) are now the students in our schools, more and more countries are recognizing that we need to change the way we offer education, the way we encourage our children to learn, and the way we support that learning.  As parents, we are uniquely aware of how our kids learn and what they need for support.  It is critical that we continue to partner with schools, teachers, principals, and other parents to support our 21^st century learners.

What skills and tools do you need as a parent to support your children in the current learning environment?