Keeping Formal

Education Relevant

EDCI 570 Group Presentation

What is the purpose of a formal education?

Does a formal education prepare a student for the “real world”?

What “skills” are students learning in a formal education that help prepare them for their lives after school?

Soft skills are important for hiring purposes. What does formal education offer in this area that online learning and free educational content do not?

Skills can be learned in many arenas of the ever-changing world of information and technology that we live in; this fact is the impetus for this discussion.

Success can be determined by a number of factors outside of performance within confines of formal education (i.e. “grit,” “determination”)

How do we keep formal education relevant?

Source: NMC Horizon Report 2014 K-12 Edition

Overview

● What is formal education?● Delivery - institution based, isolated, rigid

structure, teacher centered, and resource intensive

● Society’s expectation and needs have changed over time.

● Brief history of education

Historical & Educational Context

● 19th Century classrooms● Education in the past…

1960’s - growing concern that educational growth and economic growth were not comparable

Formal education slow to the socio-economic changes

Historical & Educational Context

Future: Redefining Education - Lifelong Learning ● Social and Economic Goals● Changes in society → changes in educationChanging the role of the teacher● Student - centered learning● Teacher’s role becoming more multifaceted ● Formal education vs. informal education in the

classroom

Historical & Educational Context

American Education. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19th, 2015; from http://orgonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/ae1.html

Tucket, A. (2013). Toward a Lifelong Learning Target for 2015. International Review of Education. 59(3). 383-397. doi:10.1007/s1159-013-9359-z

Sparking innovation, learning creativity. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19th, 2015, from http://redarchive.nmc.org/publications/2014-horizon-report-k12

Resources

● Technology is changing the world we live in. Where does technology fit in with formal education?

● Answer:

● Technology is beginning to clash with the traditional brick and mortar setting of schools. From the outside it would appear that some colleges are moving at snail's pace in regards to changing with the times. College graduates are being shown to be increasingly inept in the workforce.

What Technology Has to Do with It

● How do we keep formal education relevant?● Adapt/Change● What might this look like?● Over the coming years important developments in

educational technology for higher education will be taking place.

What Technology Has to Do with It

● What technology developments are involved?● The following six developments have been identified

as likely to “drive technology and decision making over the next five years:

● Flipped classroom● learning analytics● 3D Printing● Games and Gamification● Quantified Self● Virtual Assistants

What Technology Has to Do with It

● Flipped Classroom: What is it?● “In a flipped classroom class time is

devoted to project learning, rather than lecture.”( NMC pg. 37)

● Becoming more popular: “The learning environment transforms into a dynamic and more social space

What Technology Has to Do with It

● Learning Analytics: What is it?● “Learning analytics research uses data

analysis to inform decision made on every tier of the education systems”

● The idea is to use data to adapt instruction● Forms?● Takes place in nearly all Learning

Management Sytems.

What Technology Has to Do with It

● 3D Printing: What is it?● “3D printing refers to technologies that

construct physical object from 3D content.”

● It allows for replicas of anything to be recreated.

● One model available is the MakerBot and can be purchased for just over $2000.

What Technology Has to Do with It

● Games and Gamification: What is it?● Gamification refers to “the integration of

gaming elements, mechanics, and frameworks into non-game situations and scenarios.

● Pros: “For higher education these game-like environments transform assignments into exciting challenges, reward students dedication…”

● Ex. Digital Simulations.

What Technology Has to Do with It

● Quantified Self: What is it?● “Phenomenon of consumers being able to

closely track data that is relevant to their daily activities.”

● Ex. Fitbit, Iwatch, Whistle (for dogs)● Cons: In use with education, privacy

issues will have to be answered.

What Technology Has to Do with It

● Example products:● Flipped classroom (business school) Time-to-Adoption Horizon: One

Year or Less● Learning Analytics (Compass Learning Odyssey) Time-to-Adoption:

One Year or Less ● 3D Printing Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years

What Technology Has to Do with It

● Example products:● Games and Gamification (higher education/LMS’s) Time-to-

Adoption:Two to Three Years● Quantified Self (fitbits, Iwatch, Whistle for dogs) Time-to-Adoption:

Four to Five Years● Virtual Assistant (GPS, Smart Phones, Tvs etc...) (Time-to-Adoption:

Four to Five Years

What Technology Has to Do with It

“Practice What We Preach”● face-to-face● online● hybrid learning

“Know Thy Student”● multi-tasking is second nature● technology is an informal student skill

“It Take A Village”● create quality of community and interaction● instructor feedback in real-time● collaborative assessments

Implications for Classroom Teachers

Ohio State University’s “Hy-Flex” model● online interactive polling● lecture recording● backchannel for synchronistic communication

Student feedback ● subject more interesting● increased understanding● encouraged participation

Implications for Classroom Teachers

“You Can’t Be What You Can’t See”● South Carolina’s Education and Economic Development Act (EEDA)● 2005● Implement Career Counseling K-12 ● $25 million state mandate● $21 went to school counselors

Implications for Policy Makers

“A Longitudinal Study of Personal Pathways to Success Initiative” ● Clemson University & University of Louisville● 5 year study● 8 high schools● 3 student cohorts (class of 2009, 2011, 2014)

Results● CTE/non-CTE students felt aided by counselors● lower counselor ratios 1:300● Increased educational funding

Implications for Policy Makers

What can be done to address this?Reframe formal education as Academic development

❖ Academic development includes:

Cognitive

Social

Emotional

Motivational

Cultural

All of these contribute to optimal student development within the context of formal education

Source: Patricia A. Alexander (2010) Through Myth to Reality: Reframing

Education as Academic Development, Early Education and Development, 21:5,

633-651, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2010.497433

Actionable Solution

View education as a developmental process versus a year by year, course by course treatment of instructional content

This shifts the focus from achievement on tests to developing the overall skill set of the student in all fields as mentioned earlier

Source: Patricia A. Alexander (2010) Through Myth to Reality: Reframing

Education as Academic Development, Early Education and Development, 21:5,

633-651, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2010.497433

Actionable Solution

Formal education must integrate with informal education

Fused Learner Integration model

Fusion of Web 2.0 with formal learning

“By fusing web-based tools into a task-oriented personal learning environment, students gain control of their learning experiences” (Hall, 2009).Source: Hall, R., (2009) Toward a fusion of formal and informal learning environments: the impact of the read/write web, Electronic journal of e-learning, Vol 7(1), p. 29-40

Actionable Solution

“Schools and universities should become more like hubs of learning, within the community, capable of extending into the community...More learning needs to be done at home, in offices and kitchens, in the contexts where knowledge is deployed to solve problems and add value to people’s lives”

Source: Leadbetter, C. (2000) Living on Thin Air. The new economy, London: Penguin.

Actionable Solution