http://jenniboulton.blogspot.com/

Sally-Ann used her personal story of growing up on the Gold Coast in Australia, where her parents owned a fruit and vegetable shop in a small community. She was the youngest of her family, and the first to graduate from high school. Sally shared how it was the inspiration and encouragement of different teachers she had through her schooling that provided her with the self-belief and motivation to pursue her goals, explaining how they ‘”unpacked the future” for her and “allowed her to dream”. 

This story provided an important backdrop to what Sally-Ann went on to share as she explained how, as teachers, we never know who we’re going to inspire and what they may achieve! Her message for all at the conference was clear – we have the capacity to inspire an entire generation of innovators!

Sally-Ann used stories from her previous role with Google and her current role with Cicada to illustrate the nature of innovation and how it is not something that is left to a select group of people, but is something that can be engaged in by all of us – and indeed, should be. She explained how, at Google, she was made to question herself on a daily based, and there learned the principles of innovation. Initially she considered innovation to be the domain of organisations such as Google, but came to understand deeply that in fact, innovation is something we can all engage with – both individually and collectively.

As CEO of Cicada, Sally-Ann now oversees a number of start-up companies that develop new products based on scientific discovery or meaningful engineering innovation, referred to as “deep tech” companies. These companies are challenged with solving complex problems in the world and have given Sally-Ann an insight into what a real world innovation hub looks like and how it operates, giving substance to what she believes is an argument for why we, as educators, should be pursuing project-based and problem-based learning in our work with learners. 

Illustrating the magnitude of the issues we face as communities, as society and as a planet, Sally-Anne highlighted the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and illustrated how any one of these may provide dozens of opportunities for real-world problem solving at a local level.  

Drawing from this wealth of experience, Sally-Ann offered three principles of innovation to use in whatever context we find ourselves: 

1. Good ideas can come from anywhere! It is important to recognise that innovation can emerge from the actions of individuals working alone or in groups, at home or in school – that it’s not only the prerogative of large technology companies
2. Launch and Iterate. We need to stop focusing on perfection and understand that if we do so we’ll probably never start innovating. The concept of ‘fail fast, fix fast’ is important here. We need to encourage our learners to ‘have a go’ but in so doing, provide them with the skills to actively review and reflect on what’s happening so that they can iteratively develop their ideas and solutions.
3. We is greater than me. We should be encouraging greater levels of collaboration and participation as teams – when we get into a competitive mind-set we cease being collaborators.

Sally-Ann concluded by offering three suggestions for how we, as educators, could do this as we return to our schools, kura and centres in the coming days/weeks to work with our learners:

• Find a problem to solve – this is what causes people to become passionate about learning, when the things they are addressing are authentic and meaningful to them. Reference to the SDGs was made here again for those looking for inspiration. 
• Co-create an investigation – draw on the minds and talents of many, including those in other classes and in the community. Crowd source the ideas and generate enthusiasm as problem solvers.
• Create space to give something a go – acknowledge that real innovation takes time, it requires risk taking and will involve failure.
• Closing the conference with such an inspirational view of what’s possible provided the best possible way of sending delegates off to ‘make a difference’ in their own context. It will be exciting at next year’s uLearn2020 to hear stories of what has been tried!

E te rangatira, tēnā rawa atu koe.

Liechti posed the question, How do we empower learners today and prepare them for tomorrow? He talked about how Apple is positioned at the intersection of Technology and the Liberal Arts, and provides tools for educators and students to, learn in innovative ways, using powerful technologies that can make amazing things possible. Technology is having a monumental shift on how we live (and learn), and the question that underpinned the rest of his keynote; was whether its impact is having a positive, or detrimental effect on education and society.

He talked about the shift from the ‘Industrial Age’, to the ‘Information Age’, to the ‘People Age’. In the People Age, he said, we are at the centre of the intended purpose and outcomes for technology, and we should use technologies in the service of people and humanity. The rise of automation still requires creativity, imagination, critical thinking, and analysis as key elements of being human, but how will we ensure these are taught, and a focus in our school programmes?  

Liechti reiterated that interpersonal skills will continue to grow in importance. The challenge he made to us, was how can technology support these skills, rather than act as a barrier between people? He told us that Apple has recently surveyed educators and a key theme that came through in the results; was the importance of technology and devices being connected and personal, creative and collaborative, and owned by the learner.

Another question he posed was, how can relationships deepen learning? It is interesting to consider the alignment here to the OECD 7 Principles of Learning and the influence of emotions in learning. Technology is emotionally neutral, or even bereft of emotion, according to one perspective, but it can also enhance or diminish our ability to have meaningful interactions with others. Some challenges for us to consider as educators concern, how we engender an emotional response through the use of technology - that also strengthens learning.

Liechti sees a future where the single purpose app is no longer ‘a thing’, and where 3D technologies give access to curriculum content in increasingly immersive and engaging ways. Apple predicts that augmented reality will be an important part of the education experience in the future and is already showcasing ways students can engage with artworks, museums, tourist sites and virtual classrooms.  

He talked about using immersive technologies in personalised ways that enable a learning experience for students that couldn’t happen in any other way. He gave an example of Australian aboriginal communities developing and using iBooks/interactive books in local languages and that also reflect local culture.  

Liechti described ‘adaptive systems’ as the next step from more fixed and teacher determined solutions in education. He sees human agency as a key component of effective learning and effective curriculum delivery. For example, people are already able to design their own learning path using the tools on iPads. Skills, competencies and content are equally important and learners will increasingly be able to make their own pathways through curriculum and assessment; in ways that suit their requirements. ‘Stackable credentialing’, where students get recognition that is cumulative and clearly shows what they understand and can do will also be a key feature of future learning ecosystems (CORE Ten Trend: micro-credentialing). There is a changing role of the teacher (also a CORE Ten Trend), where teachers are coaches and mentors, not just holders and distributors of knowledge; as has been the case in the past.  

An example of culturally responsive educational design can be seen here in Aotearoa. Te Akau ki Papamoa Primary School and principal Bruce Jepsen use 1:1 ipads to break down barriers to access and to address equity issues.  They utilise the native apps on iPads to enable students to manage, share and celebrate their learning over time and in culturally appropriate ways, making strong connections between home and school. 

Papamoa has been accessing quality professional learning as a key component of their journey. They are monitoring and constantly evaluating the impact of the PLD and outcomes of their student programmes in an ongoing way. We also heard about the many different accessibility opportunities, which are part of all iPads at Te Akau ki Papamoa. These are available to all students who are using the devices, not just those who may have an identified special needs issue. 

Having a focus on process and using an inquiry approach are key components of effective pedagogy and practice. Here there is an understanding that “creativity is a process not an event”. Many of the examples he shared were focused on creating an outcome that is an app. Is an app the solution to everything, to all the world's problems? We were left to wonder!

The challenge Liechti presented at the end was, How are we as educators creating the future?

Overall this was an interesting talk, showcasing Apple devices specifically as a tool to support collaboration and human engagement in our education system - specifically classroom and school programmes.  

For more reflections on Dominic's keynote see Dominic Liechti Keynote and Google doc in edSpace.

Plenary Panel Discussion: Digital Citizenship in Aotearoa New Zealand with Andrew Weaver and guests. Blogger: Helen Cooper 

Tēnei te mihi ki  ngā kaikōrero i hora i ngā whakaaro mō tēnai mea, te tuakiri matihiko.

At the plenary panel discussion, Andrew Weaver (Digital Identity), Te Aroha Grace (Nū World Ora),  Tony Eyles (Department of Internal Affairs), and Neha Khemani (Mattr Global/Spark) led uLearn19 delegates through an enriching conversation about Digital Citizenship in Aotearoa New Zealand. The opening challenges were to first consider how we treat identity in a digital world, and then to explore ‘what a uniquely NZ Aotearoa digital identity would look like’.

A huge mihi to the audience who kept a rapid pace in the flow of questions to stretch the panel, mine their thinking, which enabled a rich discussion to ensue.

The panel expressed a vision for New Zealand Aotearoa as a country where everyone can fully participate in society by confidently expressing their digital identity. Panel participants were united in their mission to make this aspiration the right of every single citizen. As the audience, we were challenged to confront our personal responsibility to contribute to this mission.

Digital Identity acknowledged that “identity means means different things to different people, but digital identity is how people are recognised online”. They strive “to create a digital identity ecosystem that enhances privacy, trust and improves access for all people in New Zealand”.  Their data indicates the 79% of New Zealanders are concerned about their digital identity. In particular that their information might be hacked, on-shared without permission, or used in ways not foreseen, and for which they did not give consent. With statistics like these, there is an urgent need to explore how best to guide, educate our learners and communities.

Barriers that sit behind these statistics include aspects such as portability, transparency, technical language, particularly the inaccessibility of ‘terms and conditions’. Consider for one moment the complexity of ‘T and Cs’  and the groups across our communities who might find these a barrier to their understanding and control of their identity and data.  

With 76% believing that they lack the education to feel in control of data and digital identity, the data provides a strong motivation for us to consider our roles and responsibilities. It also motivates us to explore the potential of digital identity as a powerful enabler for inclusion, productivity, privacy and security. Done poorly, the risk is it will have the opposite effect – distrust, exclusion, invasion, manipulation and exposure. With the stakes so high, it can be overwhelming to consider as educators what role we might play in this mission. How do we grow understanding of citizenship in the digital context, what does that mean and might it look like in our practice? How do we work towards trust, privacy, and consent in order to grow community?

Tony talked about his mahi with Department of Internal Affairs, their programme of policy development, and an evolving ‘trust framework’ designed to provide a map for a digital approach that aims to enable and protect users. He described the current approach as chaotic across the community, acknowledging that there is room for more regulations to try and create more trust. What’s exciting is that this policy work is being developed from the ground up, in collaboration with community, hapū and iwi who are fully engaged in the ‘digital’ conversations. Concepts being explored include who has the right to attest to someone’s identity in digital contexts.

Neha reminded us that technology is a great enabler but only if it has a human content as an explicit driver with considerations for privacy, trust and enablement.  

Reflecting on the barriers, the impact of dominant cultures and organisations was noted by panellists, and that we need to make digital information accessible to all members of our community. For example, how can we help elders’ understanding about digital identity?  Supporting them to access and experience technology so that they are both equipped as citizens to engage with agencies, remain connected, and have opportunities to share their knowledge, identities and stories that in safe respectful ways are good possibilities. Making processes clear, transparent, and fun will help them to stay connected. We also need to rethink learning contexts and foster opportunities for the young to teach elders, empowering all. We were challenged to think about creating the contexts and conditions for one generation to learn from another.

As we contemplated our role as educators in this complex area, Te Aroha threw us a lifeline. He used a te ao Māori lens to guide us, imploring us to consider what a uniquely Aotearoa/New Zealand digital identity model might look like, and how might we draw from the powerful concepts of whakapapa, mana and taonga. He shared his fascination for identity, notions of spiritual identity, how we might begin from an emotional perspective when we consider digital identity. He asked, does digital data have a spiritual layer, might it have tapu, how do layer these dimensions across digital technology? He shared his position that our nation has been trying to love itself  for 179 years, and using that understanding as a base, how do we now create digital content that honours our whakapapa? How do respect and connect the disconnected? How do we teach the importance of respecting mana in digital environments?

So, what is our role as educators? If we are tasked with the responsibility to prepare learners as digital citizens, this also means building understanding around data security, the technology  and the risks. But how is that even possible, if we don’t feel we know anything about it? These are not insignificant challenges!

Te Aroha guided us to consider Professor Mason Durrie’s health framework “Whare Tapa Wha”, his holistic model for wellbeing.  How might frameworks such as these guide us to explore the notion of Identity as Taonga, as the key to Digital citizenship. Durrie’s philosophy presents a four-sided whare representing four basic beliefs of life: Te Taha Hinengaro (psychological health), Te Taha Wairua (spiritual health), Te Taha Tinana (physical health), and Te Taha Whānau (family health). How might these pou guide us in conversation within centres, schools, kura, and whānau to consider the importance and potential impact of digital content on these four aspects of psychological wellbeing?  Consider the concept of Tapu – at what level does this digital content exist, how might different people view it? Might digital content have Mana, does it or the person it represents have agency? Might digital content be considered in relation to Māuri, what is its life force or essence?

When guided to think about the impact of a social media post on te taha whānau, their family health, what might that look like? What strategies might they employ to consider how to pause and think about the implications a photo on Instagram might have on someone’s psychological health – te taha hinengaro?  This affirmative approach guiding learners to recognise data about us as precious, as taonga, provides a clear pathway for guiding meaningful choices, awareness, enablement and agency to make informed decisions. If we recognise our data as taonga we can guide support tamariki to value themselves, respect themselves and others, and make decisions about digital data and content that honours self, whānau, mana and wairua. Considering digital content through a te ao Māori lens means we can honour the articles of Te Tiriti.

What a powerful place to start our conversations with our tamariki and whānau!

We need to help people respect themselves if we are to help them respect their identity, and their digital identity. It’s a matter of self-sovereignty for users to have control of their data and digital identity,  and it’s the responsibility of technology to make that feasible and accessible for everyone.

We were challenged to recognise that currently it’s about dominant cultures and money but collectively, collaboratively we can change that. We need to understand New Zealand in relation to the global context. We are Aotearoa New Zealand and our strength is in our uniqueness, our recognition that language, culture and identity sit at the heart of who we are. It’s important that technology solutions are context specific, appropriate for our people and our heritages. Hence the importance of framing conversations across our communities that our digital identity is a taonga, something to be held, cherished, protected and enabled. When we share our pepeha it is with respect, when we share information online we need to offer the same respect and have conversations about tikanga, the evolving protocols fit for taonga.

We hope participants left the discussion more informed and confident to engage our kaiako, tamariki, rangatahi, whānau and communities in deep and rich conversations.

Our starting place is understanding ourselves as citizens of Aotearoa, a small but powerful nation, learning daily how to listen and who to listen to, making policy from the ground up, so it reflects who we are and where we are from… so that we can all walk towards a future where we value our Identity as Taonga – the key to our digital citizenship.

Graphics courtesy of Andrew Weaver, Digital Identity New Zealand

Shay Wright - Te Rarawa, Ngā Ruahine, Ngāti Ruanui 

Blogger: Anahera McGregor

It is indeed a blessing to be here at uLearn19. To come and drink from the well of inspiration. To pause, to consider, to reflect on what is and what was, and to explore new ideas for how we could best flourish in our spaces of educational influence. Our tagline for this year’s conference invites us to ‘Pohewatia te āpōpō’, to reimagine learning. Our exploration of this began with our opening keynote speaker, Shay Wright.

Shay stepped onto the stage, wrapped in a beautiful kākahu, with poise and determination to share insights of what Kirirarautanga/Citizenship is in Aotearoa and across the globe. The whakatauākī ‘Titiro whakamuri, kia anga whakamua’, literally translates to ‘Look to the past to move to future’. Citizenship is the evolving story of who we are becoming, informed by where we have come from.  As citizens of Aotearoa, what do we know of our past? Which historical moments have influenced our understanding of what it might mean to belong here? Understanding citizenship, means considering the past and weaving it into our current reality. To really get us thinking, Shay presented the 1,000 educators attending uLearn with a snapshot of our “humble nation’s backstory”. We considered the New Zealand Wars, participation in the World Wars, systematic colonisation, assimilation, population decline through illnesses and a wide range of historical events that have shaped us.

These thoughts are particularly pertinent as we either mourn or celebrate 250 years of New Zealand determining what citizenship here means culturally. A brief history of New Zealand captured in one slide gave voice to stories that need to be told, “The great korowai that capes the shoulders of New Zealand”. We were also reminded that  “looking back can be confronting, forcing us to confront things that weren’t that nice, but our struggles highlight the things that bring us together”. Shay challenged the audience to recognise that “as educators, it is [we] who control the narratives we share with our tamariki”.

He encouraged us all to share our narratives so that are inspired to take action to be better citizens here in Aotearoa, and to consider our contributions as citizens of the world. Is the world, however, ready to receive our attempts to be good global citizens? Some of the  discourse that followed Greta Thunberg’s incredibly compelling and passionate speech to the United Nations was negative and extreme. What motivates such reactions? The images and captions shared during the Shay’s keynote of the responses from media ‘personalities’, and global figures here in Aotearoa and overseas made us wonder if we’ll ever ‘get there’. If we encourage students to stand up for what they believe, to share their unique perspectives and consider their responsibilities and contributions to the world as global citizens, can we also prepare them for the responses of others? Are we enablers or disablers? Shay asked “How can we make sure that children have a platform?” He encouraged us to value the voice of our children, and stated that this is where we as educators can play on the curiosity of young people. Drawing on Sir Mason Durie’s quote, “prepare people to actively participate as citizens of the world”, we were inspired to examine ways that we can potentially support this to occur and to take action to better our collective voice. 

In a nutshell, the message that reverberated throughout the uLearn was to be “global thinkers and local shakers”. To consider what we can do locally, ever mindful of the wider impact that our local shaking could have on the world. There are no boundaries, and potential is limitless. The equation was simple – feelings and actions equal citizenship. Feelings shape our actions, and how we act demonstrates our contributions as citizens.  Citizenship is as much personal as collective. Central to all, is the message to be good citizens, throughout whatever cultural lens we view the world. 

We are communities, we are states and we are nations. We are kaitiaki (guardian) citizens over the places and community values we share. Citizenship and belonging is the common unifier that brings us together to share as one. We can now go beyond borders to collectively address world issues seeking global responses to global and local challenges. In the 21st century we are more digitally connected than ever. But as Shay pointed out, this also means that disconnection from real human connection could be the biggest plague challenging us all. Balance and solutions are continually being explored as we all seek to find our place as global citizens and local shakers of the world. Think globally, act locally. 

The more we unlock the critical thinkers, the more learning comes to life. Kaiako, teachers, leaders and educators, what are we doing to unlock critical thinking in the lives and minds of our students? Shay maintains that “we can, in our daily practices, make our education system anew – to prepare our children for what is a rapidly changing world”.

To give you a taste of what people were thinking as Shay spoke, here’s a selection of tweets from the conference participants. The twitter feed was going off, that’s for sure!

@KellyMattock I ahu mai au i hea? Where do I come from? Citizenship = feelings + actions. History continues to shape our present and our citizenship today and what it means to move into the future. Fabulous keynote speaker to kick off the next three days #uLearn19

@msmams Start with knowing and appreciating our local stories

@SimonJMar Shay Wright delivered an interesting Keynote at #uLearn19 this morning, discussing citizenship and ‘developing global thinkers and local shakers’. Citizenship is a very values driven concept. Whose values are we teaching when we consider this concept?

@maurieabraham Shay Wright answered the question re how young people would change school system in his kōrero about authentic PBL

@Charlottedj Shay Wright kicking off #uLearn19 - woke me up from my holiday and got me thinking

@schottchrisNZ Excellent and thought-provoking keynote about global citizenship with distinctive Aotearoa flavour by Shay Wright of @tewharehukahuka. What a powerful #socialenterprise.

This, along with frustratingly fickle wifi, meant that when Chromebooks came out at a cheaper price point we gravitated towards them. We rolled out 1:1 Chromebooks in the Year 5/6 classes and 1:2 in Years 3 and 4. We slowly made our network more robust and things seemed to be going well. However what started to happen was the staff, myself included, started using the Chromebooks simply as a substitute for pen and paper without really trying to extend ourselves.

Somewhere along the way I attended a few Apple events and it was one in particular that started me back along the iPad path. Abdul Chohan was in NZ for ULearn and there was also a session arranged for him to speak in Auckland before he left. His main message of portability v mobility struck home and I started to see the possibilities. What also impressed was the research and robust pedagogy behind what he was presenting, especially around engagement, experience and extending learning.

A particular analogy stuck with me. Abdul talked about how the device is like water coming out of a tap, it is what you see. However it only works because of all the plumbing behind the wall that you can't see. Likewise the device is only effective with the right pedagogy, thought and 'plumbing' behind it. Inspiring and challenging stuff.

Another factor, in my opinion, was that Apple had really stepped up their game in relation to education friendly apps and a curriculum that gives teachers ideas of how to use it effectively. I was keen to try them and I was able to set up my class and the class I share a space with to trial iPads in a 1:1 setting.

I loved it! The flexibility, creativity and seamless integration across apps made it very engaging and opened the door to many possibilities. I really enjoy thinking of a lesson and then thinking 'how can I make this more interesting, challenging, or deliver in a different way?' The iPad gives me the platform to do this.

The updates in Pages and Keynote along with the Everyone Can Create initiative have transformed how learning happens in my class and I love experimenting and trying new things. I believe the students have too. A byproduct that I am most pleased about is the effect on the students. As we were growing together, trying, failing and retrying they became more resilient and more willing to try new things. When presented with a challenge at the beginning of the year you could see the trepidation and doubt on their faces. Fast forward to the end of the year and faced with a challenge that attitude changed to a shrug of the shoulders and a "Ok let's give this a go."

The process wasn't necessarily smooth and we did have teething issues which I will write about in another post some time. In the meantime we have rolled out 1:1 iPads in the Year 4 classes with the intention of doing the same with the rest of the Year 5/6 classes next year. 

The iPad has exceeded my expectations and is an amazing platform with which to teach, create, grow and learn. In fact in talking with the other teacher in the trial we often mention how hard it would be to go back to not having iPads. 

The underpinning message throughout the keynote was the need to focus on and respect the learner, with his or her particular needs, strengths, abilities and ambitions, and to understand this as the key to a truly learner-centred approach in education. With subtle wit and humour, Pasi shared his own experience as a maths teacher who once wanted to be a mathematician. Teasing this out, he described the stereotypical view of a maths teacher that has established itself in the minds of students, and the disservice we do to the field of mathematics – or any discipline for that matter – when we allow the focus on the content or the discipline to become more important than the learner. In the learners’ experience their interests will typically traverse multiple disciplines and be more holistic, integrated and ‘linked’.  This focus on the learner and the learner’s perspective is pivotal in building a successful, future-focused approach to schooling.

The Warning

The warning Pasi gave us is simple, and is tied in made explicit in the title of the keynote: if we don’t lead with small data we’ll be led by big data.

The problem is that education policymakers around the world are now reforming their education systems through correlations based on Big Data from their own national student assessments systems and international education data bases without adequately understanding the details that make a difference in schools.

(https://pasisahlberg.com/next-big-thing-education-small-data/)

By ‘big data’ he is talking about all forms of assessment and achievement data that is currently being collected and collated at a national and international level, sifted, sorted and represented back in the form of statistics and trends upon which large scale decisions are made about curriculum, policy and resourcing. We know this well in New Zealand with the recent experience with National Standards and the pre-occupation with OECD data that appears to cause immediate swings in what is deemed to be important.

Pasi’s key warning here is “Don't confuse correlation with causation”. Just because the data can be construed to reveal certain patterns or trends doesn’t make it true in the context of a specific student or school. To illustrate his point he used a combination of OECD data and national data on the amount of ice cream consumed to "prove" that ice cream consumption positively affects education scores!

The more concerning warning came when considering how technology may be viewed as providing a solution to meeting the demand for mass-personalisation. The argument presented is compelling – if 75% of education spending is on people, and we could reduce a third of the "people" by using artificial intelligence (AI) in education this would present an attractive proposition for budget-conscious politicians. But what will it mean for educating students as a whole person?

To illustrate that this is a very real and current concern, Pasi used the illustration of alt-school – a network of progressive schools in the USA. These schools advertise themselves as being completed learner-centred, providing learning that is self-driven, competency-based, personalized, socially embedded, and open-walled. It sounds like the ideal scenario – highly personalised pathways for individual students, powered by a sophisticated AI that is monitoring each student’s every move using a series of cameras throughout the environment, and monitoring their every keystroke and response to online content and instruction.

There’s no doubt this approach works, and produces students capable of passing exams and demonstrating their gains in learning – but what’s missing? Where are the relationships with others? Engagement in play? Interactions with people? Development of empathy and other affective qualities that may best serve the future of humanity?

A key question here is to ask, “if it is truly personalised learning by the AI, where is the child's voice? How can it be personalised if the child does not have some form of input?”

So the challenge is around just how seriously we take this possible future – and not to simply cast it aside as a ‘pipe dream’ that is the work of science fiction, because after all, ‘technology will never replace a teacher!”

The call to action

The call for action directs attention directly on those of us working with learners in schools – the teachers. Pasi challenged us to trust our raw instincts, to be amongst what is happening, not just observing from a distance. This will require a greater degree of professional trust is the key to the small data conundrum.

In Finland, trust is for us the full trust and freedom for our schools and teachers, believing that they can develop goals, teaching standards and content appropriate for their children. The trust is instilled deeply in our culture; it is not a single behavior in a particular situation.

(https://pasisahlberg.com/interview-teachers-need-a-sense-of-mission-empathy-and-leadership/)

Small data is what we gather when noticing the small stuff that is occurring in the specific context of the classroom or individual student learning, and will make a difference to the big picture when we combine what we observe with our professional wisdom. Pasi’s point is that this ‘small data’ reveals patterns and insights that the ‘big data’ with its statistical trends and correlations can never do.

Pasi’s call for action is that we discover together, at the local level, the power of collective professional wisdom. It is the little things we do as teachers with our learners that makes the difference.  This resonates well in the NZ context where we’ve valued Overall Teacher Judgements (OTJs) as a part of the assessment process – but if we’re to be serious about taking up Pasi’s challenge, we will need to become even more serious about ensuring we build our professional capacity even further – and deeper – so that we can be even more secure and confident about the ‘professional wisdom’ that we are able to bring to bear on the observations we make.

To achieve this Pasi recognised the need for educators and government agencies to work collectively to find ways to reduce teacher workload, support special education, fund public schools better and use student voice to design learning.

The three key take-aways that Pasi left us with were:

 

1. Build a trust-based professionalism - trust colleagues, bosses, children – and this will include building trust within the community too, with parents and future employers etc.
2. Build professional wisdom as evidence – we need to give greater priority again to our professional reading, participation in professional associations and in-school professional learning groups (PLGs) where our professional knowledge can be challenged and honed.
3. Lead with Small Data - if you don’t make this a priority, you WILL be led by big data!

While in Japan, Walsh shared his thinking around Masayoshi Son’s ability to raise hundreds of millions of dollars by starting his thinking 15-20 yrs into the future, and simply working backwards to see what support and infrastructure would be needed to make that future a reality. He then goes to find those companies to invest in and if they don’t exist, he creates them! You see, what Masayoshi does differently is that he looks at the people needed to create a distant dream, not the technology. And so, Walsh surmises, we needn’t be looking at the current crop of Millennials to make predictions about education in the next 12-15 years, as by then, they will be “as old and as miserable as the rest of us!” The people we should be looking, Walsh describes as the most terrifying generation we’ve ever encountered, are eight year olds!

Why are eight year olds so different?

The way our current crop of primary aged students interact with technology is vastly different to the generation previous to them. Walsh points out that this digitally native group of users develops an almost intrinsic understanding of the algorithmic framework that drives interactions from an impossibly young age. It’s this genuine difference in the way they interact with technology that Walsh believes will lead to a very different way of thinking around the way we connect with and explore knowledge.

It’s not the screen that’s interesting, it’s the experiences and the way technology has interacted with it. YouTube has changed the way an entire generation watches TV. Every experience children have now has been customised and hyper-individualised by the data collected by social media. Children now are at the beginning of a true algorithmic society, a social credit score based society. Terrified yet? The currency and fabric of daily life is fast becoming driven by data, artificial intelligence, algorithms and machine learning. Computers themselves are constantly adapting, writing their own code and programming, no longer reliant on the dinosaurs of the MS-DOS prompt generation.

"The minute you  joined Facebook, your kids left!” 

Adaptive Learning

The reason adaptive and machine learning has so much potential is because it allows us to truly take the world’s knowledge, understand an individual’s needs and to personalise and tailor it to algorithmic, logical perfection. Students of tomorrow have the opportunity to be taken along their own learning journey, at their own pace and scale, for vastly reduced sums of money. As Walsh points out, this is not to say human teachers are not important, just that we are entering an age whereby content and opportunity can be delivered in a scaled way, that has previously been inconceivable. And we’re going to need it! Walsh continues on to share that the skills, knowledge and understandings required to function successfully in an algorithmic age are not being taught in today’s schools. As we stand at a precipice, faced with the landscape of tomorrow’s society, how can teaching knowledge and skills of yesterday, prepare leaders and learners of tomorrow? We need to start by articulating what those skills might be…

Automation of Industry

When farm jobs started to decline during automation, the westernised education system began to evolve. Many smart and forward thinking people realised the need to invest in new forms of education in order to prepare people for the future. Technology doesn’t destroy jobs, it simply changes them. It’s not always a straightforward process and often the realisation takes a little time. Sometimes enabling technology, even though it can be hugely disruptive, can actually increase the number of people employed in an industry. Take ATMs for example. Some bank tellers lost their jobs, however because paying the number of people who worked as tellers reduced, it meant that more branches could be opened- thus increasing the number of people working for the banks!

It’s becoming a case of looking at the type of people that will thrive in an environment that focuses on both the world of people as well as having a strong understanding of how to leverage data and apply it. Computational thinking is not about teaching children to code, it’s about how to leverage technology to break a problem down and find a strategy to automate its solution. Thinking about the future, this gives students the ability to both understand the essence of a problem as well as a knowledge of the tools and processes to combat it.

Key Skills for the next generation

As we see the rise of this hybrid approach, the understanding of the problem and the data to solve it using computer science and technology, we need to teach the next generation to be more comfortable with ambiguity. We are in danger of preparing students for a world that has become obsolete by the time they leave education. The CEO of Netflix looks for employees that can exercise “good judgement in ambiguous situations.” This is harder than it sounds. As we leave a structured education system that has exams and allocated time, hierarchy and structure, and they walk into a world that has huge unknown, how can we make sure they cope. How do we teach students to process unpredictability and handle ambiguity?

Another element we need to help learners become aware of is the power of machine thinking and artificial intelligence. Here Walsh sites Deep Blue (an AI) beating world Chess Master Gary Kasparov. Reflecting on this event, it became clear that the computer was not trying to beat the world’s greatest human chess player by a substantial margin, it was simply trying to do the very minimum to win by just one point. What this means is that we need to understand how a computer ‘sees’ the world and problem solving. A computer will conserve resources, not try to focus on the end goal and winning big. A computer will work out the simplest way to win and this way is often not an approach that a human will see, let alone take.

The final element we need to take into account is to teach students to centre themselves, find the right moral compass and make good ethical judgements. Here Walsh suggests that perhaps studying computing is not the best way forward, but the studying of philosophy in order to help build decision making capacity using a strong moral compass. This is not about following the laws of a land, it’s about following the laws of trust, set by humans. As the debates around privacy and our data continue to rage, we are entering a time where understanding the tech is important, but understanding underlying motivations and human behaviour is even more valuable.

“The algorithmic age is an opportunity to embrace new and exciting ways of thinking...”

Q&A with Mike

• Are our experiences within the digital economy going to get wider and bigger?

It’s impossible to not participate in the future. It may become impossible to get a bank loan or go a

bout daily efforts as you’ll have no transparency and digital value. With kids, we have about 9-10yrs where people shelter them from tech. If we don’t teach them how to function appropriately and effectively, then how can we expect them to function?

• How can we avoid programmer bias being transferred to AI?

This is important. We need to interrogate the code that is produced. How was the data collected? Are they discriminatory? There’s a need to have well educated teachers and others so they can be part of the discussion.

• Small data: The rights, the voice and the individual. How do we as teachers ensure that the rights of our children are at the forefront?

People assume it’s a binary thing. They think it’s either about human interest or corporation driven outcomes. I see it as a combination. As we scale up good education into remote communities or for larger class sizes, it should be a partnership. Everyone is at a different rate of learning and we can leverage small or big data to find what someone knows and unlock their potential.

• Teachers in the future: They need to be informed, discerning, questioning and listening. So what might it actually look like?

Teachers need to be as good as the tech they use. I don’t believe classrooms will disappear. The power of humans together is incredibly. People working from home is beginning to end because their best ideas come from the old school analogue way of being face to face. In 10-20 yrs we won’t have virtual classes. If anything the tech will be less visible. It’s the data that sits behind it that will really shape the system.

• Are humans learning to think less for themselves therefore teaching ourselves to becoming less intelligent?

In many ways we don’t have the same memories because we have google! We live in times when we don’t even need to remember phone numbers. Tech has become an extension of our memory and perception. Does it makes us stupid? I think it’s changed us. It should allow us to extend ourselves.

• As someone who travels world as a global nomad- where do you think the patterns around where people live lie? Will travel decrease because of tech?

It feels like we’re going backwards. How did we lose Concord? Even with tech, our ability to see more digitally makes us want to see it more physically. I hope it will make people want to see more. Autonomous cars, flying cars and drones, all will change how we interact and how we design where we learn. We need to remember not to forget what it means to keep in touch and be human.

Let your story be heard in the heavens,

and your mana be restored to the land

(2018, O’Regan)

Kia piki taku rau huia ki ngā tihi tapu o taku pae a Tararua,

e rere whakarunga ki te ūpoko o taku ika tapu,

Kia whiti atu rā i Te Moana o Raukawa ki te tauihu o te waka a Māui, ki te tauranga o Uruao,

Kia hōkai ake rā i ngā tapuwae o Rākaihautū,

tau atu rā ki ngā pākihi whakatekateka o Waitaha,

Kia hiki aku mata ki tō wehi, ki tō tapu Aoraki e tū mai rā,

otirā ki tō mana e hora iho nā e Tahu e!

Ka mihi, ka tangi ki a koutou katoa rā kua riro rā ki ngā hawaiki. Ka tautoko ake i ngā kupu mōteatea mōu Matiaha Tiramōrehu, otirā ngā kupu mihi, ngā kupu tangi, e koro e, moe mai rā. Ko tō reo ki te rangi, ko tō mana ki te whenua! Kāti rā.

Ko Tahu, ko koe e Hana. Ka mahana te ngākau, ka pūhana mai te wairua! Ka hotuhotu te ngākau, ka maurirere te wairua! Nāu e Hana!

Ko te momo i a koe Tiramōrehu, tohunga whakairo i te kupu ki te arero, ki te pepa, pou ranga i ōna tira, pou whakatō kākano ki ōna uri whakaheke, heke, heke, heke ki ō mokopuna te hāpai ake nei i ō wawata! Erangi ka hotuhotu ki ō tini mokopuna e kōtiti nei, e kuare nei i ngā kōrero mōu, auē te mamae e! Ka huri rātou ki hea? Mā wai rātou e tauawhi? Mā te mōteatea ō kōrero e whakakanohi mai, e whakaringaringa mai i te Tahu o āpōpō! E kore tō reo e ngū, e kore hoki e ngaro!

He hae roa, he ngau kino i te korenga o ngā kōrero o ō tātou tīpuna i kōrero i ō tātou kura. Ko ngā pānga tōnui ka taka mai ki ngā whakatipuranga e kīa ana, he tangata hākinakina, he tangata māngere, he tangata katakata, he tangata kēnge, he tangata mauhere, aha atu, aha atu. Pēnā i tāu i mea mai, ‘they know they (stereotypes) exist when they are followed around a dairy…...have to process verbal abuse for speaking Māori to each other’ (2018, O’Regan).

Heoi anō ko tāu pū, kia tika mai, kia pai mai te ao, he whakapapa, he pūmanawa, he pūkenga o tēnei iwi taketake mai i ngā kāwai rangatira. ‘We can be the generation that made the change. We can reclaim our story and help our people understand it’ (2018, O’Regan). I ēnei kupu āu, ka tū te ihi, ka tū te wana, ko wai rā te tamaiti kei mua i a koe, ko Tahu, ko Te Rautāwhiri.

Ko au, ka whakataukī ake i āu kupu akiaki, i āu kupu whakatūpato, i āu kupu whakaaraara ki te ao mātauranga, otirā ki te ao e noho nei tātou kia aro pū ki te tamaiti me ōna kōrero whakapapa, arā he tāonga, he kākano.

E Hana ko tō reo i rāngona ki te rangi, ko tō mana i horahia ki te whenua, e te tuahine - mauriora!

1. O’Regan, H (2018, Oct) Te reo ki te raki, tō mana ki te whenua. Paper presented at the Aotearoa New Zealand CORE Education uLearn Conference, Auckland, New Zealand.

1. O’Regan, H (2018, Oct) Te reo ki te raki, tō mana ki te whenua. Paper presented at the Aotearoa New Zealand CORE Education uLearn Conference, Auckland, New Zealand. - Images 1-3
2. Tāwhiwhirangi, K (2018, Oct) ULearn18 Keynote Speaker - Image 4

Blog post by Hohepa Isaac-Sharland