The Ahead of the Curve conference features some major players in educational research. Thomas Guskey and Doug Reeves to name a few.
For me, it’s more of the same in the area of assessment and learning and change. All good but really nothing new. As a leader in a school division I’m reminded of what is needed for change to occur. Reeves sites these 4 as the main strategies:
- Compelling Questions…trust teachers to ask good questions about what needs to be done. Answers need to address, “What’s in it for me?”
- Action Research…teacher practice improves when you implement and reflect
- Public Exposition…sharing successes
- Evidence-Based Decisions….use your own data and successes to inform next steps
The glaring omission was the referencing of technology to achieve this change. While each of these strategies lend themselves to some obvious uses of technology, I was particularly focused on number 3. Reeves talked about the power of celebration and recognition for achievement. He talked about filling trophy cases with more than athletic trophies and including science projects or other student work. I thought of this:
There’s no question that technology, when used correctly amplifies these change strategies. This is the place where digital learning concepts ought to be shared and leveraged to teachers and teacher leaders. These leaders don’t attend NECC or your local technology conference. Technology conferences have a tendency to be so tool focused that they leave out some of the powerful teaching and learning practices that are intregal for success. We need to get these two together. Dennis Richards is trying. These are great places for conversations and captive audiences. Too bad there’s a piece missing.