"Let their voice be heard" - learner led change in services for schools

1. "Let their voice be heard" - learner led change in services for schools Doug Dickinson Educational ICT consultant (UK)

2. From BETT 2007 • The alarming difference in the ICT experience available to young people in and out of schools was highlighted at the BETT 2007 educational technology show by Annika Small, chief executive of ICT research hothouse Futurelab. • While she welcomed the internet's move to "talkies" (multimedia and broadband) and the growth of online "community and collaboration on a scale never seen before", she warned: "2006 was particularly significant is that the disconnect between young people’s lives outside school and their educational experiences grew – and quite dramatically in some quarters".

3. School’s out … ‘The current generation of decision-makers – from politicians to teachers – see the world from a very different perspective to the generation of young people who do not remember life without the instant answers of the internet or the immediate communication of mobile phones.’ Demos – Their Space – Education for a digital generation

4. ‘It is these decision-makers who shape the way that digital technologies are used in the system and who set them up to limit their use and role in everyday life.’ Demos – Their Space – Education for a digital generation

5. Demos report The report points out the difference in young peoples' experiences of web 2.0 versus what they get in school. ... "plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose" ...

6. Two key change agents are emerging rapidly: • The sense that traditional structures which define where and how learning takes place are no longer sufficient • timetables – lessons – classrooms • Redefining the ‘New Basics’ for education • And we need to ask, ‘How will these influence the direction of the ICT Strategy?’

7. Is this as it should be? ‘Instead of starting from the physical, you need to start with the program you know you need to have. Then you can see how your existing structure won’t let you do that. And then you do work to make physical changes’ Dr Betty Despenza-Green, Director, National High School Initiative

8. Moral Panic .V. Technological determination • Web 1.0 – Web 2.0 • Ownership • The democratization of learning where time, place and access is determined by the crowd

9. UK University • Infrastucture • Evolved • Elastoplast • Fit for purpose • When • Clients • RSS

10. Web 2.0 – 3.0 and beyond • Not just: • Google • Skype • Youtube • blogger • pbwiki • del.icio.us • diigo • flickr • myspace • Breeze • http://momb.socio-kybernetics.net/section/list

11. Filter buster Students already have numerous ways of bypassing the systems we have created for them: http://www.shambles.net/pages/learning/ict/filterbust/

12. Clients/Students? • The student voice is beginning to see that they have the power (technology has begun to give them that) to make dramatic changes in the way that they learn • If the institutional infrastructure provided does not recognise this, the chances are, it will be bypassed

13. ‘Exploiting and Protecting the Network’ • 'Exploiting and Protecting the Network Best Practice Guide' is published by UCISA (Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association). Now in its third edition, this takes into account the further growth in network use since the last version, changes in legislation, and changes in the allowable uses of the JANET and regional networks. It aims to help institutions to protect themselves against dangers whilst making full and appropriate use of their network. • You can download the guidance from UCISA.

14. ‘To what extent has the potential wide diversity of users of the learning space been identified? How fully are the different users and stakeholders in the proposed learning space involved in shaping and informing the design process? How far are they able to set as well as respond to design directions?’ Tim Rudd, Carolyn Gifford, Jo Morrison, Keri Facer, What if … - Re-imagining Learning Spaces, (London, Futurelab 2006)

15. ‘To what extent does the design of new learning spaces take account of how learners are already using digital technologies for learning and life? To what extent do designs for ‘future schools’ allow for the creation of flexible, distributed and connected learning communities?’ Tim Rudd, Carolyn Gifford, Jo Morrison, Keri Facer, What if … - Re-imagining Learning Spaces, (London, Futurelab 2006)

16. English Schools Federation,Hong Kong

17. The world is on the move … we must move too, or be left behind • The ‘we’ here is the institution • ‘We’ will be left behind by a next generation of open thinkers who recognise the technology for what it is – a gateway • So who should be the ‘gate-keepers’ ?

18. Perhaps …We need to start by asking ‘ what if things could be very, very different …?’ Tim Rudd, Carolyn Gifford, Jo Morrison, Keri Facer, What if … - Re-imagining Learning Spaces, (London, Futurelab 2006)

19. References • Hannah Green & Celia Hannon, Their Space, Education for a digital age ( London, Demos 2007). • Demos http://www.demos.co.uk/ • Tim Rudd, Fiona Colligan, Rajay Naik, Learner voice ( London, Futurelab 2006) • Despenza-Green, B. Director, National High School Initiative at the Small Schools Workshop based at the University of Illinois at Chicago, quoted in ‘Innovative School Design for Small Learning Communities’. www.essentialschools.org/cs/resources/view/ces_res/208 • Tim Rudd, Carolyn Gifford, Jo Morrison, Keri Facer, What if … - Re-imagining Learning Spaces, (London, Futurelab 2006) • Building Schools for the Future, http://www.bsf.gov.uk/ • Ucisa, Exploiting and protecting the network – Edition 3 , (Oxford 2006) http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/resources/bestpractice/exploiting_network/agree/ExploitingtheNetworkGuide.pdf • James Surowiecki , The Wisdom of Crowds, (London, Anchor, 2005) • Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point, ( London, Abacus, 2000) • Thomas L. Friedman , The World is Flat, (London, Penguin, 2006) • Malcolm Gladwell, Blink, (London, Penguin, 2005)

20. Contact me doug@dougdickinson.co.uk Or add to my blog or wiki at www.dougdickinson.co.uk