How Should Education Respond To The Changing World? Tools

24.11.2011
How Should Education Respond
To The Changing World? Tools,
Technologies and Techniques
For Teachers
Professor
f
Steven
S
Higgins
s.e.higgins@durham.ac.uk
Overview
Background: Our rapidly changing world and changes in
education
1. A ‘toolkit’ for teachers – what does research say has
worked to improve learning?
2. Learning in school and Learning to learn
3. New digital technologies and collaborative learning
Some conclusions
Overview
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Preface
Education in Finland is very highly regarded internationally
We know a lot in England about what NOT to do
(inspection, high-stakes testing, ranking, tightly controlled
curriculum, political posturing, de-professionalisation)!
My aim is to present some contemporary thinking and
reflection from the UK to support your own analysis and
reflection
Preface
The digital revolution and the ‘information
age’
Development of information and
communications
i ti
ttechnologies
h l i (ICT
(ICTs))
In 1990
Mobile phone subscribers: 12.4 million (0.25% of
world population)
Internet users: 2.8 million (0.05% of world population)
In 2010
Mobile phone subscribers: 4 billion (67% of world
population)
Internet users: 1.8 billion (26.6% of world population)
Implications across all areas of economic and cultural
life
Background
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Some challenges
• Changing times therefore changing needs??
• Confusion between information, knowledge and wisdom
• Schooling is both for the individual learner and the
society, for the present and for the future
• Education has always evolved – we need to be aware of
the impact of change on pedagogy
• Economic conditions affect resourcing
Background
Some fallacies…
• Today’s children are ‘digital natives’ - multi-taskers who
can do many things at once, without this affecting their
performance
• In the Internet age we won’t need teachers as everything
you need to know will be online – ‘Google gurus’
• Content knowledge is not important – all we will need in
the future are transferable skills
• We need to concentrate on the future
future, the past is less
relevant in a time of rapid change
Background
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Section 1: the ‘Toolkit for Schools’
• Context
• Overview
• Findings
• Limitations
Toolkit
A toolkit - what has ‘worked’?
Summary of meta-analyses of
educational intervention research
from 1980 – 2011
Programmes and approaches
which improved learning
Structured overview and summary
Aim to support approaches which
narrow the gap for the poorest
pupils in England – funded by the
Sutton Trust
Higgins, S., Kokotsaki, D. & Coe, R. (2011) Toolkit of Strategies to Improve Learning: Summary for
schools spending the pupil premium. May 2011. Sutton Trust: London. http://bit.ly/PPtoolkit
Toolkit
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Context of the the Toolkit
• Pupils from the least affluent families given an extra £490
(€550) added to schools’
schools budgets in England
• Schools monitored on how they use the additional funds
• Some suggestions from the government:
• Create smaller classes
• Use ‘one to one tuition’ for catch up
Toolkit
Smaller classes?
Complex evidence - no clear link with class size and
ac e e e t
achievement
Experimental trials suggest
Classes need to be less than 17…
…and teachers need to change the way they teach…
…but teaching assistants not as effective
The maths
70 pupils with extra funding = 1 teacher
Toolkit
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One to one tuition
• Highly effective
• Between ½ to I hour/ day over 6 -12 weeks
• Support for class teacher to re
re-integrate
integrate
• The maths…
• 6 weeks x 5 days x 1 hour = 30 hours
• 4 days teacher time (more effective with experienced teacher)
• Approx £600 (€700)
• May work if you teach in groups of 3 and pupils in need
only require it once a year…
Toolkit
So what has and has not worked to
improve learning?
• Summary
y of research evidence
• Aggregated, comparative evidence
• Not what works, but what has worked…
• Best bets not guarantees
• Shortening the odds for success
• Identifying areas for professional enquiry
• Productive space for improvement
Toolkit
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Toolkit
Toolkit
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Toolkit
OverviewPromising
of value for money
10
May be
worth
investing
in
Effecct Size (months gain)
Feedback
Meta-cognitive
Pre-school
Peer tutoring
Homework
0
£0
Summer
schools
Parental
AfL
involvement
Learning Individualised
Sports
learning
styles
Arts
Performance
Ability grouping
pay
1-1 tutoring
ICT
Smaller
classes
After
school
Hard to
justify
£1000
Teaching
assistants
Cost per pupil
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Technical appendices
Toolkit
Consistency of effects
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Issues and limitations
• Based on meta-analysis – averages of averages
• Effect size changes with changing distributions
• Conversion to ‘months progress’ a rough estimate
• Relative to ‘normal’ practice which is culturally and
historically specific
• Not ‘what works’ but what has worked – ‘good bets’ to
support professional enquiry
• Re-application requires effective understanding of causal
mechanisms
Issues
Key messages
• Improving the quality of feedback to learners is central
• The importance of developing learners’ awareness of their
own learning
• Structural and organisational changes make little
difference
• It ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it!
Pupil Premium Toolkit: http://bit.ly/PPtoolkit
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Part 2: Learning to learn
• Overview of the project
• Examples of approaches to develop meta-cognition
meta cognition and
feedback in classrooms
• Techniques our teachers have found useful
L2
So … what is Learning to Learn?
• Origins in popular ideas for improving learning
• Royal Society of Arts project – founding of the Campaign
for Learning
• Focus on making the process of learning explicit so as to
bring about improvement
• Professional enquiry approach to developing metacognition and feedback about learning in schools
L2
L
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Main Aims
 The relative importance of different
Learning
L
i tto L
Learn approaches
h iin raising
i i
standards
 How the adoption of Learning to Learn
approaches impacts on teacher
motivation and capacity to manage
change
 Whether,
Whether and if so how
how, Learning to Learn
approaches support the development of
confident and capable lifelong learners
L2
L
The L2L Project: Overview
Northumberland
College
Cheshire LA
(Phase 3)
Northumberland
LA
(new to Phase 4)
85 case studies from Phase 3
• 83 case studies from Phase 4
83 case studies from Phase 4
• 25 case studies from FE Project
• Annual reports written by the university team synthesising evidence across case studies
Enfield LA
•
(Phase 3)
•
Lewisham
C ll
College
Cornwall LA
(Phase 3)
•
Findings validated with Campaign for Learning, partnership teachers university colleagues
partnership teachers, university colleagues and advisory board
Published peer reviewed papers
www.campaign-for-learning.org.uk
L2
L
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A group of people
prepared to listen
to each other,
share
experiences and
act as critical
friends
A focus on
thinking about
learning;
experiences
and perceptions
of the learning
process
An emphasis
on asking
questions and
trying to find out
the answers
L2
L
Defining Learning to Learn
L2L is…a process of discovery about y
learning. It involves a set of principles and skills which, if understood and used, help learners learn more effectively and so become learners for life
become learners for life. At its heart is the belief that learning is learnable. (Higgins et al. 2007)
Learning to Learn is an approach that focuses on what happens when we learn and how we can learn more effectively. Being involved in L2L means being part of a community of enquiry that aims for a better understanding of the learning process. An L2L approach provides all learners with opportunities and tools for reflective and strategic thinking that generate talk and collaboration. This helps individuals develop skills and dispositions for successful lifelong learning that can build their motivation and enable them to take effective action to fulfil their learning goals.
L2
L
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Examples of enquiry questions:
• How do students in Learning to
Learn schools describe the story of
a learning episode?
• How do cartoon storyboards
facilitate this investigation?
L2
L
Pupil Views Templates
L2
L
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Pupil Views Templates
L2
L
Cartoon storyboard
N=212
5-16 years old
22 schools across
project
‘tell me the story of when you learned
something new’
L2
L
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Open format based on 6 boxes
L2
L
Lifelong &
lifewide
120
100
80
60
40
Primary
Secondary
20
0
Sports
Arts
School
Emotional
Life skills
Thinking
Multiple
L2
L
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Learning by trial and error
L2
L
Self talk
L2
L
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Some conclusions
• Learning to Learn
• Lifelong and lifewide
• Learning as effortful, but rewarding when
a task is achieved and learning is
successful
• Clear about process, but accepting of
complexity (ability to express this process
develops with age)
• Narrative that emphasises some
nervousness at the beginning of learning,
often involved some failure, but also
reflected strong feelings of
accomplishment when reaching their goal
L2
L
Some conclusions…
• Method
• Successfully enabled learners
to tell the narratives
surrounding a learning process
• Mixed method analysis to cope
with breadth and depth of data
• Influence of the media chosen
• Value of the visual prompt and
structure
L2
L
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L2
L
Information gathering
L2
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Metacognitive knowledge
L2
L
Recognise different learning
trajectories – using ‘fortune lines’
L2
L
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Other tools to promote reflection about
learning
• Learning logs
• Video diaries (‘Big Brother’ diary room)
• Tweeting learning highlights (140 character summaries)
• Video clips with commentary
Tools for pedagogy, enquiry and research
• 4 different types of tool:
• Scaffolds
Tools that support
learning moment to
moment
• Measures
Tools for assessing
learning
Template from Fleecefield
Primary School, Enfield
(2005 report)
Image from Lanner
Primary School,
Cornwall (2006 report)
• Lenses
s
Tools
T
l for
f generating
ti
different perspectives
• Frames
Tools for changing
interaction patterns
Image from Winsford High
Street Primary School,
Cheshire (2006 report)
Image From Leaf Lane
Infants, Cheshire (2005
report)
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Impact on teachers and teaching
• Increased motivation &
resilience
• Learning role models
• Evidence-based practice
• Professional courage
It would seem that the more you
research, the more you need to research!
My journey is far from over.
over Learning is a
very complicated and complex issuewhat works for one student does not work
for another. I am not talking here of
learning styles ... but more the social
emotional and psychological development
that individuals go through on their
learning journey. (Tutor, Northumberland
College)
The headteacher and I believe in the
importance of developing skills across the
curriculum, skills that could be developed
and used throughout life. But could young
children learn these and would they be
beneficial to their learning? (Teacher,
Hazelbury Infants, Enfield)
L2
L
Making the process of
learning explicit
• Focusing on the process of learning
• Asking questions about learning
• Sharing your thinking about potential
answers
• Supporting metacognitive development
L2
L
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Learning through research
• Learning about practice
The process of research continues to impact on my own learning
as I never stop wondering how we can develop and improve
teaching and learning
learning. Each year you are teaching and
learning alongside a whole new set of individuals and, as a
teacher, I am concerned to get it right for each and every one.
(Packmoor Primary)
• Learning about learning
This research has extended our focus on internal inspection
beyond an instrument for quality assurance towards a tool for
learning. (Jayne, Lewisham College)
• Self-awareness
The exploration with the children as to what ‘reflecting on
learning’ actually demanded of them resulted in my teaching
becoming clearer. I devised a process for them to use to
structure their reflections. This became a step-by-step process
they could use to support their thought processes: (Fleecefield
Primary)
L2
L
Key messages (2)
• Different tools and techniques can make learning
processes more explicit
• This develops learners’ sense of responsibility and
increases their repertoire of strategies for learning
• This can be supported by professional inquiry into
learning
• Professional enquiry needs support, from colleagues and
from researchers
Campaign for Learning info and reports: http://bit.ly/cfl_l2l
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Section 3: New technologies
• Digital technologies in the UK
• Exploring collaboration in the classroom
• Some preliminary findings
Digital technologies
UK is an ‘early technology adopter’
Interactive Whiteboard Uptake in Classrooms
UK (72%)
50%
Netherlands
Denmark
Australia
Classsroom IWB uptake
45%
40%
Ireland
Denmark
Netherlands
USA
35%
Australia
Portugal
30%
USA
Ireland
Mexico
Canada
25%
Portugal
New Zealand
20%
Spain
Finland
10%
Japan
5%
0%
Spain
Finland
15%
Tipping point
New Zealand
Indonesia
Brazil
Germany
Germany
China
Korea
Russia
WORLD
France
India
Turkey
Philippines
Classroom uptake Countries in Blue = 2009
Pakistan
Black = 2010
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Some assumptions
• Technology is just a tool, a complex one, but just a tool
• Pedagogy is more important than technology
• Technology should support the interaction of learners and
of the teacher
Digital technologies
Technology failure in classrooms
• Too often the answer in search of a problem
• E.g.
E g IWBs – a prospective technology
technology, but a retrospective
pedagogy
• Teacher development is essential – a ‘Trojan horse’ to
support change
• Needs systems design – integration of technology,
physical space, pedagogy, tasks and interaction
Digital technologies
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The SynergyNet lab Classroom …
Cameras
Multi-touch
interactive
whiteboard
‘Orchestration’
desk
Multi-touch
tables
Microphones
Digital technologies
The SynergyNet lab classroom
Digital technologies
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The pedagogical problem
• Designing for effective collaboration with digital resources
• Levels of classroom work
• Individual pupil
• Small group
• Whole class
• Teacher role - ‘orchestration’
Digital technologies
Classroom interaction
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Mobile teacher control…
Digital technologies
Feedback and assessment on the fly…
Digital technologies
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Shared representation
Digital technologies
Some findings
• Technology can be designed to support effective
collaboration in classrooms
• Multi-touch surfaces facilitate joint attention and shared
control in group learning
• Teacher interaction is crucial to promote more complex
thinking
• Feedback to the teacher can be designed to support
critical moments for professional judgement
SynergyNet’s digital classroom: http://tel.dur.ac.uk/synergynet/
Digital technologies
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Reflections
• Understanding the process of learning is essential to bring
about effective change
• Pupils see learning as task completion, but can be
supported in understanding their learning from a very
young age
• Building and sustaining professional communities across
phases and between researchers and teachers is
productive for learning
Conclusions
Summary: How Should Education
Respond To The Changing World?
• Enthusiastically: change is an opportunity to reflect on
•
•
•
•
what we do well and want to maintain
But cautiously: people change more slowly than societies
Meta-cognitively: maintain a focus on making learning
explicit
Collaboratively: evaluate the impact of changes on
l
learning
i as professional
f
i
l educators
d
t
Ensure learning is challenging and valued by learners
Conclusions
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Paljon kiitoksia
kysyttävää?
s.e.higgins@durham.ac.uk
Pupil Premium Toolkit: http://bit.ly/PPtoolkit
Campaign for Learning info and reports: http://bit.ly/cfl_l2l
SynergyNet’s digital classroom: http://tel.dur.ac.uk/synergynet/
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