Emerging Technologies
The Affordances and Challenges Faced as a Computer Education Teacher
Guiding Documents
The Australian Curriculum
The Australian Curriculum, a guiding curriculum document developed by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), was introduced into Australian schools in 2014 (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2014). The purpose of the Australian Curriculum is to ensure all Australian students are receiving a quality and equitable education regardless of where students live or their background (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2018). The curriculum consists of eight key learning areas (KLA) including English; Mathematics; Science; Humanities and Social Sciences; The Arts; Technologies; Health and Physical Education; and Languages. Each KLA is further divided into sub-curriculums, with Technologies being split into Design and Technologies, and Digital Technologies. This website will focus on the Digital Technologies section of the Australian Curriculum for Years F-10. The Australian Curriculum rationalises the inclusion of Digital Technologies as a KLA, as “critical to the wellbeing and sustainability of the economy, the environment and society” and ACARA believe that in today’s knowledge-based, technology reliant society, students need to learn to use these technologies as tools to solve problems and further society (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2018).
The aims of the Digital Technologies curriculum are outlined below, as quoted directly from the ACARA website.
"Digital Technologies more specifically aims to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills to ensure that, individually and collaboratively, students:
- design, create, manage and evaluate sustainable and innovative digital solutions to meet and redefine current and future needs
- use computational thinking and the key concepts of abstraction; data collection, representation and interpretation; specification, algorithms and implementation to create digital solutions
- confidently use digital systems to efficiently and effectively automate the transformation of data into information and to creatively communicate ideas in a range of settings
- apply protocols and legal practices that support safe, ethical and respectful communications and collaboration with known and unknown audiences
- apply systems thinking to monitor, analyse, predict and shape the interactions within and between information systems and the impact of these systems on individuals, societies, economies and environments."
Information and Communication Technology General Capabilities
To help students develop the skills needed to succeed within a technologically sophisticated world, now and in the future, the Australian Curriculum introduced the Information Communication and Technology (ICT) General Capabilities. The ICT General Capabilities are a set of skills that teachers are required to implement across their curriculum areas, to provide students with a range of ICT experiences and real-world applications. These are: Investigating with ICT; Communicating with ICT and Creating with ICT. The general capabilities are designed to enhance students’ ability to:
- Access and manage information
- Create and present information
- Solve problems
- Make decisions
- Communicate and collaborate
- Express themselves creatively and
- Reason empirically
21st Century Skills
The Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) outlines 21st-century learners as possessing: critical and creative thinking skills; communication, collaboration, and teamwork skills; and personal and social skills. The QCAA believes these skills are highly important in today’s world as research suggests students need to possess both generic and subject-specific knowledge; and they need to be confident, lifelong learners who pursue their passions (Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority, 2017).
Source: 21st Century Skills - Preparing students for a changing world
The New Media Consortium Horizon Report
The New Media Consortium (NMC) Horizon Report explores current trends in the technology-in-education sector and makes observations in relation to both affordances and challenges facing teachers today, as well as making predictions of future practices and the affordances and challenges these may bring (Freeman, Adams, Cummins, Davis, and Hall, 2017). The NMC report is the longest-running exploration of emerging technologies in education and the 2017 report explores what 61 experts believe are the most important technological developments and the most challenging problems teachers will face over the next five years (Freeman et al., 2017). The report is split into three sections, shown in the below image, each with six important trends, challenges or developments that will impact on K-12 teaching and learning over the next five years.
Source: New Media Consortium Horizon Report 2017
Reference List
Net Generation Students
The biggest consideration a teacher must make when applying pedagogy is the audience for which they are to teach. Today’s Year 7-9 students were born between 2004 and 2007 and by the time these students were entering Year 1, the iPhone 3 was on shelves and laptops had been outselling desktop computers for over five years (Arthur, 2009). These students are part of the group coined Net Generation students, characterized by the fact they have always lived in a world where near unlimited information is instantly accessible via the world wide web (Lemley, Schumacher & Vesey, 2014). This access to unlimited information is what creates a need for a very different type of schooling than what previous generations encountered; instead of students relying on the classroom teacher for information, they prefer to gather their own information and have teachers facilitate collaborative problem solving sessions (Lemley, Schumacher & Vesey, 2014). Pletka (2007) notes that Net Generation students are accustomed to a world of choice, no longer are kids limited to befriending the person directly opposite them, instead they can choose from the hundreds of students in the school or even the millions on across the world on sites such as Facebook and Instagram. These students can choose to talk face-to-face, email, text message, video call, and instant-message anyone that want, about anything they want, at any time they choose (Pletka, 2007). These students also have access to petabytes worth of information and are constantly presented choices in their digital lives with regard to the information they consume and the way they consume it. The internet being so accessible and free provides students the opportunities to learn on their own, discover new knowledge themselves, and seek out information meaningful to them and receive this learning instantly (Pletka, 2007). Unfortunately, the instantaneous and efficient manner in which the internet presents information provides its own challenges for teachers. Students have been nurtured by the internet and technology in the way they progress through webpages, find information and interact with computers. Students are highly adept at navigating 3D video games and online ecommerce websites and often find themselves multi-tasking across multiple computer windows (Pletka, 2007). However, this has led to students lacking patience, having short attention spans and being less competent at actually discovering knowledge for themselves; everything is instantly, quickly, and algorithmically curated and shown to them, requiring very little skill on the students behalf and this can produce young students who are unable to curate their own information or solve problems through trial and error, as solutions are instantly available on the internet instead (Pletka. 2007; Lemley, Schumacher & Vesey, 2014).
School culture in the 21st century
For students to be truly successful they need school culture to reflect these values (Freeman et al., 2017). The NMC (2017) report postulates that for schools to sustain innovation they must transform the school culture to “reflect the agile and collaborative mindsets learners will need to thrive in today’s world.” (p. 12). This begins with schools reinventing their mission statements and philosphies of teaching to prioritise learners and adopt to emerging technologies and theories of learning (Freeman et al., 2017). The NMC (2017) also suggests that school culture include students in innovative initiatives and leadership roles where they work to apply entrepreneurship skills to solve problems in the local community. However, this can be difficult in schools with high turnover rates or leadership that is unwilling to challenge the status quo (Freeman et al., 2017). Jann Robinson, from St Luke's Grammar School, believes culture is the most important aspect of a school, "without it you cannot achieve the things you want" (Robinson, 2017). Robinson (2017) also believes that it is important to ensure that teachers are embracing and demonstrated the schools values and mission at all times, and recommends schools only hire teachers who will strengthen and enhance the culture of the school. The NMC Horizon Report (2017) further supports this concept, advocating for schools to recruit and retain teachers and leaders that are comfortable and eager to pioneer new systems.
"Although not easy to define, mission and purpose trigger intangible forces that inspire teachers to teach, school leaders to lead, children to learn, and parents and the community to have confidence and faith in their school." (p. 70, Deal & Kent, 2016).
It is for this very reason that the NMC report finds school culture, and the need to change it, such an important aspect of a successful technology adapation within the educational context. The NMC Horizon Report cites the fact that high acheiving education systems are guided by agile, student-centric learning approaches, where critical, creative and inventive thinking are supported and championed.
Coding as a Literacy
It has become an undeniable truth that in todays world, an increasing number of jobs require some form of coding literacy, whether that means actually understanding code, or understanding the underlying problem-solving principles, all students need to be literate in this area (Freeman et al., 2017; Harris, 2017). Many of the biggest and most influential innovations from the last 30 years have been built by people with the skills to code the future (Dodd, 2014). Microsoft has arguably had one of the largest impacts on the last 30 years of any company. In 2016 Windows 10 was running on over 400 million computers, and Microsoft Office 365 owned 56% of the office suite market share in 2018 (Foley, 2016; Soni, 2018). Microsoft’s founder, Bill Gates, has remained one of the worlds richest men for over two decades, and at the age of 13 Bill Gates was writing software programs (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019). It is people like Gates who have changed the world over the last 30 years, and more recent industry titans such as Mark Zuckerberg, continue to prove that coding literacy is an integral part of building a better future. It is for this reason that students should all develop coding literacy, regardless of whether they want to be coders, lawyers, engineers, mechanics or dancers. Coding literacy is about more than learning how to write code and generate programs though, as Heggart (2014) points out, programming encourages exploration, creativity, investigation, hypothesising and problem solving as well as develops fundamental analytical thinking skills, which are sorely needed in todays data-driven world. For Computer Education professionals like myself, teaching students to code has become much more accessible and streamlined over the last decade. Teachers now have access to learning environments such as scratch, Minecraft education, code.org and codepen.io which all allow the teacher and students to efficiently begin their coding education journey. In addition to being able to work collaboratively with students during class on code through these tools, sites such as Youtube and The Learning Place, allow teachers to upload tutorials and other guides to help students continue learning from home which is a huge affordance when you want to run a flipped-classroom approach where the students begin their learning journey at home. Unfortunately, coding literacy is also a challenge facing many teachers across Australia. There is a dire shortage of qualified teachers who can correctly teach programming to students, and when students do finally receive a qualified teacher it is often late into their secondary schooling (Dodd, 2014). Students often receive poor coding education because teachers themselves are poor coders, and they are uninvolved and uninspired in teaching coding (Heggart, 2014).
"I feel like not learning how to program would be like not learning how to read. You know, the future would just be closed to me."
This video quickly summarises the way many of todays biggest names in tech feel about coding literacy; it is highly important.
Coding As Literacy : Metalithikum IV Book Cover Image by Vera Bühlmann, , Ludger Hovestadt, , and Vahid Moosavi
Science, Technology, Engineering, Art+ and Mathematics - STEAM
Within the field of STEAM learning, the goal is for students to explore and share knowledge, formulate answers to questions, and creatively design solutions to problems, all through an inquiry-based learning approach (Freeman et al., 2017). Weaving art, design and humanities into STEM learning allows students to build interpretive and creative skills, and express their knowledge in unique, creative ways (Freeman et al., 2017). One of the biggest affordances this integration of multi-disciplinary subjects can have for a Mathematics teacher is that it encourages students to engage with mathematics content in new ways. Freeman et al. (2017) reports that when students created drama representations of an equation they came to better understand the mathematics of it. When schools aren’t afraid to mix and match disciplines and provide students with the freedom to learn through inquiry, students can be given real-world tasks such as designing a persuasive website about climate change, and they are able to bring together scientific knowledge, persuasive writing, creativity, empathy, coding skills and visual arts skills, and work collaboratively with their peers to explore, unpack, and express new knowledge (Freeman et al., 2017). STEAM learning is effective in these scenarios because it allows students to achieve the highest levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy as they create apps, websites, posters or drama pieces; analyse and evaluate knowledge from various sources, and also analyse and evaluate the overall problem; and students are able to understand and apply their prior knowledge and new knowledge to solve these STEAM problems. Where a student learning an equation in mathematics would normally only engage with remember, understand and possibly apply, when the students discussed earlier created drama sequences for the equation they were able to analyse their knowledge through organisation and relating, and they were able to create a new piece of art to help them better understand the content.
Source: Vanderbilt University
Makerspaces
Makerspaces are learning spaces that allow students to experience hands-on learning through technologies such as 3D printers, laser cutters and animation software (Freeman et al., 2017). These technologies can be utilised within the classroom environment to allow students to 3D model and print material parts for their robots they are programming in Digital Technologies, or 3D print different dice to explore the statistical differences when they are rolled during a Mathematics class. In subjects such as science, students may be tasked with designing a sustainable, emission-free house, and with new makerspaces they can take their designs and turn them into real-world models. This deeper engagement with learning can foster stronger engagement with the curriculum and the real-world (Freeman et al., 2017). Proper implementation of makerspaces requires these spaces to become integral parts of the curriculum and the classroom; using a makerspace isn’t enough, students must be involved in critical and creative thinking processes, collaboration, and project-based learning (Freeman et al., 2017). One of the issues facing students in 21st century classrooms which attempt to implement makerspaces is that educators can often confuse tinkering for proper making and engineering (Froschauer, 2018). Heroman (2016) defines tinkering as learning about the properties of materials and the capabilities of tools, but this form of learning doesn’t move past the first two levels of Bloom’s, understanding and remembering. Proper makerspaces allow students to create something that serves a purpose or solves a problem (Froschauer, 2018).
In Singapore the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) runs a programme for secondary schools called Lab on Wheels (pictured below), where students across Singapore are provided with the opportunity to tinker and engineer products in these portable Makerspaces which contain technology such as 3D Printers, laser cutters and virtual reality gadgets (Infocomm Media Development Authority, 2017).
Source: Infocomm Development Authority
Robotics in the classroom
Further to makerspaces, robotics is another affordance being appreciated by teachers across Australia currently, with Lego EV3 and Arduino projects becoming major term-long learning experiences. Robotics furthers the educational goals of coding literacy whilst simultaneously providing students with a fuller experience than simply coding, as students are exposed to risk assessment, teamwork, and real-world global issues and they build problem-solving skills and resilience (Freeman et al., 2017). Unfortunately, according to Bellas et al. (2018), one of the major challenges facing Technologies teachers in the use of robotics, is that the robotics kits and resources available to most public schools have simple sensors, basic communication capabilities and low computing power. These limitations can result in teachers struggling to develop authentic, real-world problems that students can actively solve using the available hardware (Bellas et al., 2018). Current Australian Digital Technologies teachers are able to find simple real-world applications for robotics in Junior Secondary classrooms as a result of students not currently possessing any prior programming knowledge. However, over the next five years as students enter Year 7 having already completed basic robotics and programming courses in their primary years, the simple robotics lessons that inexpensive robotics kits offer will provide no new authentic learning experiences (Bellas et al., 2018). Further to this, the way in which teachers implement robotics is often through teacher-led challenges, involving building a pre-defined robot to satisfy or solve a predefined problem that often fails to involve students in higher-order thinking and creative thinking skills (Samuels & Poppa, 2017). This results in students becoming familiar with following instructions and rewriting or re-engineering code, however, when given a freedom to solve their own problems and create their own designs, these students struggled (Samuels & Poppa, 2017). This is limited, however, by the simple robotics kits and highly predefined designs available from kits like the LEGO EV3 robots. In the next five years, Digital Technologies and STEAM teachers are likely to experience advances in the variety and complexity of robotics kits as technology becomes cheaper and easier to produce which will allow teachers to implement Robotics in an effective, student-centric classroom environment where both design and engineering principles are explored fully.
Virtual Reality in real education
One of the major technologies that the NMC Horizon Report, and other research publications, believe will play an important role in future classrooms is Virtual Reality (VR), which engages students in classroom content by transporting them to virtual worlds where they can explore geographical phenomena, experiment with dangerous chemicals, move through the blood streams of a human body, and countless other experiences (Freeman et al., 2017; Makransky & Lilleholt, 2018). Virtual Reality, in combination with Augmented Reality, which overlays virtual objects onto the real world, are set to expand learning opportunities for all students, across all subjects. Whilst the benefits of allowing students to explore Ancient Egypt or walk on the moon are obvious—they engage with an authentic learning experience and can actively participate in the environment—it can often be less obvious how VR could be an affordance in a Junior Secondary Mathematics class (Farley, 2016). Al-Azawei, Baiee, & Mohammed (2019) found that a successful implementation of VR for assessment resulted in higher engagement and scores on formative and summative tests. Having students complete a four-page test covering the last month of content results in bored, disengaged students and even the students who do well find it tedious (Xu & Ke, 2016). However, if students are able to don a VR headset and explore a virtual world while answering questions, it can result in higher engagement and achievement during these tests, and provides valuable feedback to the teacher on the misconceptions and weaknesses students have (Al-Azawei, Baiee & Mohammed, 2019).
References
Al-Azawei, Baiee, & Mohammed (2016). Learners’ Experience Towards e-Assessment Tools:A Comparative Study on
Virtual Reality and Moodle Quiz. American Journal of Distance Education, 354-370.
Arthur, C. (2009, October 28). How laptops took over the world. Retrieved from The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/oct/28/laptops-sales-desktop-computers
Britannica, E. (2019, March 8). Bill Gates. Retrieved from Encylopedia Britannica:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bill-Gates
Deal, T. E., & Peterson, K. D. (2016). Myth, Vision, and Values: Identifying a School’s Soul. In T. E. Deal, & K. D. Peterson,
Shaping School Culture (pp. 66-80). John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.
Foley, M. J. (2016, September 26). Microsoft: Windows 10 now on 400 million devices. Retrieved from Zdnet:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-windows-10-now-on-400-million-devices/
Froschauer, L. (2018). Making Sense of Makerspaces. Science and Children, 5.
Harris, R. (2017). How Free Code Camp has attracted 1 million students and harnessed coding education for nonprofits.
Retrieved from Techcrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/11/how-free-code-camp-has-attracted-1-million-students-and-harnessed-coding-education-for-non-rofits/
Heroman, C. (2018). Making & Tinkering With STEM: Solving Design Challenges With Young Children. Science and Children, 18.
Lemley, J. B., Schumacher, G., & Vesey, W. (2014, June). What Learning Environments Best Address 21st-Century Students'
Perceived Needs at the Secondary Level of Instruction? National Association of Secondary School Principals. , pp. 101-125.
Pletka, B. (2007). Educating Net Generation Students: How to Engage Students in the 21st Century. Santa Monica Press.
Samuels, P., & Poppa, S. (2017). Developing Extended Real and Virtual Robotics Enhancement Classes with Years 10-13.
Robotics in Education.
Soni, V. (2018, June 1). Over half of organizations have now deployed Office 365, while G Suite adoption seems to have
slowed to a halt: Bitglass report. Retrieved from Wire19: https://wire19.com/over-half-of-organizations-have-now-deployed-office-365/
Soykan, F., & Kanbul, S. (2018). Analysing K12 Students’ Self-Efficacy Regarding Coding Education. Nicosia: Near East Unversity.