TheFlippedScientist

As part of the #EdbookNZ challenge for connected educators month 2016 , I have been kindly asked by @vanschaijik to blog about a topic in education. This year the topic is b uzz words in teaching. I encourage comments that disrupt what I have written, which you can do in the comments section. So after much thought, I have chosen the buzzword of 'adaptive technologies' to see how it really stacks up against my most favourite of words - evidence . Our world is experiencing an evolution in adaptive technologies. Adaptive technologies are systems that adapt to us as individuals. Such systems are ubiquitous like using the smartphone app Didi Chuxing to hail a cab here in China. So with the spread of adaptive technologies, it is not surprising that they are increasingly found in education. At present, the standard classroom is still like the one below, the teacher sta...

I have watched with great interests the proposed changes to the New Zealand Education Act , in particular, the development of COOL (Communities of Online Learning).  Being a child of the 80s, I was an avid watcher of After School with the catchphrase of "keep cool till after school". It appears now that one keep cool and now not even go to school. How things are changing. The general proposal appears to be that any registered and approved school, tertiary education provider or a body corporate that has been approved by the accreditation regime, will be able to be a COOL. The argument being that these changes will increase the education options for learners. This will allow learners able to choose from a greater number of education providers and have increased access to more subjects and teaching expertise. The most controversial feature of the change appears to be that students enrolled in COOLs may not be required to physically attend sc...

Ni Hao and greetings from my new home for the next 12 months, China! I have negated the Chinese internet firewall at least for the time being so am able to follow the #edchatnz16 conference via twitter from Rotatuna Junior High School in Hamilton. One of the sessions I managed to see through the wonders of constant tweets from Annemarie Hyde was by Rosemary Hipkins on the future of education. One of the key aspects of major global trends in education outlined by Rosemary was that digitisation and this was linked to innovation. I have only been in China for less than a week and I have been amazed by the embracing of technology by the ordinary (though admittedly middle class) Chinese citizen. From a hip young teenager skateboarding along the streets to an 80-year-old pensioner taking the metro and helping me with my new Chinese smartphone apps. It was not so much the reality that everyone had smartphones, but how digital technologies were being used in innova...

Two recent developments in New Zealand in the digital world may not on the surface appear to be connected, but connections can sometimes not be what they seem. Last week, our Minister of Education, Hekia Parata announced that digtial technology would be added to the education curriculum.  Ms Parata stating: "The information technology sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in New Zealand, with a demand for skilled graduates. This step will support young people to develop skills, confidence and interest in digital technologies," However, these changes will lead to digital technology being taught as a non-academic vocational subject alongside woodwork.     Rather than integrating digital technologies into all aspects of the curriculum, students      will continue to be educationally disadvantaged and under-skilled for changes in society they will encounter. We should be incorporating...