FreshAz Education New Zealand
Winner of
the DEANZ AWARD
Distance Education Association New Zealand,
by what's now known as the:
Education Disrupted?
For too long now, no matter which sector, or age group - meeting the gate keeper is a common theme.
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When inviting schools to take on the collaborative, global 'community' like programmes we had online, invariably we got the 'come back to us in 5 years' line 'we're not ready for that yet'...
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16 years on, since the first experience of that - I've yet to see the level of 'online' interactive reality, that there could be. Aside from what FreshAz has dared do, little else has move much.
In a world where knowledge is a mouse click away, the role of the educator really hasn't changed - it needs to.
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For years, future focused educators worldwide have been talking about the need to rethink how we educate future generations.
Now might just be the disruption that the sector needs to get everyone rethinking how we educate, and question what needs to be taught - in light of just what 'are we' preparing our students for. So what's to consider?
Personalised
With a digitised style we have the advantage of providing more students with real-time feedback now. It also means that personalised learning can be rolled out at a far greater scale than with traditional methods.
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Adaptive learning is now far more possible - but only if we take full advantage of our online scope now. It's all in the design of what we present to our students.
Adaptive
With adaptive learning, we can interact with learners, to gather info on their performance. We're then better able to tailor their content - to suit their reality.
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I'm no fan, whatsoever, of Long Term Plans or Unit Plans - they're teacher directed systems - not at all conducive really, to what individuals need - just what the principal wants to see - of 30 years ago..
Retentive
“Adaptive learning is very good at speeding up information acquisition and lengthening retention, as well as individualising learning to help learners see where they have difficulty,” says Peter K Bol, Harvard’s vice provost for advances in learning.
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Remote learning, done well, helps students become better learners by developing their higher order cognitive skills such as problem solving and critical thinking. It means learning as you do in life - not the classroom.
Rich lessons
Old school, remotely accessed learning restricts learners to the inside of a box, to a screen, working for the teacher. Rich, remotely accessed schooling's a major mix of:
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online & offline time
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live & independent lessons
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smart & agile designs
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student led designs & input
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student led innovative output
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1:1 & 1:Many
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scenario based learning
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interactive apps
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personally assigned work
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co-constructed group work
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and global partnerships etc...
Homeschooling
During this COVID-19 phase, we're not homeschooling - we're Crisis Schooling.
Those who Homeschool do by choice, backed by time spent researching, resourcing and partnering with other like minds and interested parties.
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Homeschool educators are willingly devoting all the time needed to support each of their children.
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...and they're not stuck at home, so how we 'do school' in COVID-19, needs TLC - big time.
Crisis Schooling
With COVID-19, many adults at home are working, remotely too. To juggle 'schooling' also, is a massive ask. The terms Online Learning and Homeschooling - be it delivered online, or a picked-up 'pack' is a different beast than anyone's faced since World War II.
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Be Kind - as teachers putting learning together, we need to be mindful of being just that - to 'yourself' first - barely resourced nor trained, since remote learning and classroom life differ in style - hugely so.
