Course Two: Transforming Education in Canterbury
This course was a special paper designed specifically for educators within the Canterbury region where there is a significant push to implement modern learning practices and pedagogy alongside the redevelopment of many school environments post-earthquake. Around 65 educators participated in the course, mostly from the primary school sector with varied roles and responsibilities from classroom teachers, middle leaders and principals through to RTLBs and other professionals connected with the sector.
‘Modern Learning Environment (MLEs)’ is probably a phrase that you have heard if you have connections with any students at schools within the region. Usually parents associate MLEs with the physical spaces of a school, large open plan areas with large numbers of students (40-120) and two to three teachers all sharing this space. However there is much more to MLEs than just the space and large numbers of students working together. Critical to this shift in thinking is the influence of technology on our learning environments and the ever increasing body of research that gives us an increasing understanding of how students actually learn and what sorts of skills they will need to have to be successful into the future. MLEs have a strong focus on developing skills that enable students to be self-directed learners with the ability to collaborate and be creative. Research today also acknowledges the social nature of learning, that is the learning that takes place through a range of social interactions and MLEs encourage schools to make wider connections within and outside of their classroom walls to facilitate multiple authentic opportunities to learn from a range of sources, not just teachers or parents.
The first assignment for the course asked us to examine an aspect of MLEs that interested us or was relevant to our context and to do a scoping exercise on this area. This scoping was done in two parts, firstly what does the research say and secondly how does our school measure up? My focus was on how blended e-learning (the integration of both face-to-face and online learning) could be used effectively within an MLE. Have a read to see how we stack up and to learn more about both MLEs and Blended E-Learning: Blended E-Learning Scoping Report
Our school has made significant investment in the area of technology integration so I thought this was a worthwhile focus area for me. You will be pleased to know that we are already doing many things that reflect modern learning practices, things such as our inquiry approach to learning, involving students in their own assessment and of course using technology being just a few examples. However I want to make sure we move ahead further with everyone on board, that means we won’t be knocking down any walls before we really ponder the influence and potential this collaborative approach to learning can have on our community. A really positive aspect of the course was that it didn’t just focus on the ‘what’ of a MLE it also explored the ‘how’ and the process of transformation alongside your community and this was really valuable. An outcome of the course was a design proposal that I was asked to create that provided a plan for introducing the transformation in my school connected to the focus in my Scoping Report. This is my design proposal: Blended Learning Design Proposal
This is at this stage very much a discussion document and as a leadership team at school we will use it as such when planning for this year.
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