Pearson Labs

Where technology meets education

[pearsonlabs]

Originally posted on the Pearson Labs blog.

4 ways teachers can harness their expertise to help an edtech ecosystem grow

Some teachers are choosing a different pathway without leaving the profession entirely.

Merging the risk-taking of the entrepreneurial attitude and their imagination, the world ‘teacherpreneurs’ is becoming more and more hackneyed. But before creating a company, there are other steps teachers can take to allow an edtech ecosystem to thrive and develop in smarter, more efficient ways. Here we take a look at some of the ways dedicated teachers from around the world are doing this.

1. They are pursuing additional professional development to enhance their teaching and harness the power of new technologies

In New Zealand, the Mindlab has created professional development sessions designed to expose teachers to new technologies and learning methodologies that can be applied across the curriculum, to show real-world application and also so that new technologies and curriculum alignment are not antinomic. But those opportunities are not necessarily confined outside of the school building.

We can all learn from schools that have managed to integrate a strong personal and professional development from within. For example, at Korea International School (KIS) in Seongnam, the implementation of a technique dubbed the Fishbowl has been an opportunity for teachers to integrate professional development during the day, available during their prep period without taking over the whole time, and thus fitting into their schedule. The vision is to assist teachers in the development of their ability to effectively integrate technology into the curriculum for their level and subject area of instruction, through 30-minutes classes. For this usage, KIS saw the construction of a purpose built training room with glass walls, so that students could see their teachers learning every day. This encourages a culture of learning where all members of KIS are involved, not just students: the Fishbowl is a symbol for a continuous and participatory learning culture.

In France, the CRI has created the first university education program dedicated to edtech in France to train students to develop innovative ways to teach, learn and conduct scientific research in the digital society. Alumni join an organization or a startup in education, they create their own EdTech business, they start a PhD, they get the framework and the network to empower their projects – this is especially the case for people like teachers, who attend the master as an ongoing education such.

2. They are participating actively in self-organising communities

It is necessary to have systemic mechanisms for dissemination of best practices by innovative teachers.

After a successful pilot of the flipped classroom in a low-income neighborhood of Busan (South Korea), with the support of the district, mentor teachers and principal, Jung Chanpil led a national movement for classrooms to change in that direction.

The results after one semester were indeed stunning: student achievement skyrocketed. Flipped learning helped take advantage of untapped potential as well as helping those who would otherwise have been left behind, deepening the learning of advanced students who help teach those students who are struggling.

Jung Chanpil has formed a group to amplify the movement in South Korea and help teachers strengthen and share best practices. The Korean non-profit, Future Schools, with a network of more than 10,000 teachers and regular hands-on training camps, has grown organically since its inception in 2013. Most of the K-12 awards given by the Ministry of Education this year were given to people from this network. For Jung Chanpil, it’s about giving back the ownership of learning to the students. Teachers are taught new skills, from the basics of creating their own online videos (that the students will watch on Youtube) to Project Based Learning, or facilitating the renewed in-school sessions.

In the UK, Australia and beyond, TeachMeets are informal, collaborative experiences organised by educators, for educators, in order to share ideas and experiences and support each other in their professional growth. Participants volunteer to demonstrate good practice they have delivered over the past year, or discuss a product that enhances classroom practice. It’s about finding a place and time to share and expand knowledge to support teachers in the management of new activities.

3. They are working hand in hand with the developing edtech industry by collaborating closely with startups

The people making decisions (principals, superintendents or equivalent, and politicians) are rarely the ones who have to implement those decisions (teachers). Without teacher buy-in, a product is just another drain on time and resources for schools.

Through its Tech for School summit, EdSurge has been key for startups to get real-time feedback on their products in Silicon Valley and beyond. Companies are selected by a team of local educator judges to participate and demo their product.

On the other coast, iZone’s role is to support innovation with NYC schools. Their mission is to get better tools in the hands of teachers and students by connecting startups and developers directly with educators, as well as design and test new learning models, and supply schools with know-how and tools that bring promising models to scale.

4. They are becoming Edtech entrepreneurs themselves

The phrase ‘teacherpreneur’ has been coined to match a new reality. In Chile, amongst other countries, Enseña Chile alumni have gathered under the organisation CEEDUC to pool their entrepreneurial efforts in education following the two-year teaching programme. Teach for All alumni around the world have shown similar beliefs and interests and have created a pool of ambitious young graduates equipped with the tools and motivation to tackle their own education system. Come and listen to the panel on elevating the voice of teacher at Edtech Europe next week!

***

Not all teachers have the time and energy to become teacherpreneurs, yet the strength of some should be leveraged to enhance the teaching of many as well as the school culture overall.

***

Audrey and Svenia are the creators and travellers behind#EdtechWorldTour, a five-month tour and international field trip to learn from best practices in education innovation & map edtech clusters.

Follow their journey on Instagram and Twitter, and read their previous contributions to the Labs blog here.

[pearsonlabs]

Originally posted on the Pearson Labs blog.

Karine Allouche-Salanon leads Pearson English Business Solutions. We decided to ask Karine about disruption in education and her thoughts on where edtech is truly beneficial.

Do the same rules of disruption of business models apply to education?

I’ve had the opportunity at Pearson English Business Solutions to see how we’re changing – the way we enable our learners to express themselves in English, communicate and collaborate within their day to day jobs, and ask ourselves, how do we do that better with the use of technology?

We’ve also learned a lot – Global English (acquired by Pearson English), used to be a full e-learning platform. But one of the problems of just having e-learning was not providing the engagement level one would expect.

As our focus is on having positive outcomes for learners, we searched for new ways to leverage technology, but this time integrating more human interfaces and a human touch. It is standard to think of teachers when thinking of human interaction for education, however we found out that a larger spectrum of human interactions could support the learner through their experience. This creates a much higher level of engagement, which in return creates a much better outcome.

In our virtual groups, peer to peer pressure is a large driver of engagement. In our advisor service, a learner success specialist is just giving the right amount of motivation during the learning experience to keep the learner on track.

On top of the impact on the product, service and delivery of education, we see new players coming to the market, for example LinkedIn who acquired Lynda, creating new vertical strategies in the technology market. In the digital world, learning on its own is not self-sufficient, because other digital services are exponentially increasing the value there is for the learners. In the case of LinkedIn and Lynda, learning is linked to the outcome of finding a job, and integrated into recruitment services.

What evidence do you see that edtech is improving teaching or learning?

Digitalisation of education helps to improve learning overall. The first example, that I can say from the experience of Pearson English, is that many learners could not have access to that education without technology.

Pearson English these days is actually providing people in up to 134 countries with the same premium global quality of learning. They would’ve previously never had the opportunity to have access to that, because there are not the right teacher around them, and there is not even an ecosystem of learning resources around them. So accessibility is the first example.

The second example is about the personalisation of the learning experience. By defining the learner’s profile at the beginning, we’re already setting the first few steps of personalisation, by providing them with content for the areas of interest they expressed. Then, by capturing data about their usage of our digital platform, we can identify patterns. From those patterns we can set alerts to have remediation actions for learners in difficulty.

Last but not least, that data capture is also an enabler for human interaction. The teacher or advisor see which of the activities the learner has accomplished, which ones they had difficulty with, and assess them during the session time they have with them. They can then direct them to the right level of resources to help them to improve on the areas they need to work on.

We would not have been able to do that if we didn’t have a digital platform that gathers that information, and is also accessible for those enablers of teaching.

What trends do you see on the horizon for edtech?

A very interesting innovation I’ve seen in the digital area is with really immersive technologies. We’re most used to seeing it with big corporations, but the usage in education, specifically within Higher Education and STEM, is just amazing.

The cost of those STEM labs that you normally use for experimentation or practical learning can be in the tens of millions of dollars. Not every university can actually afford to have this. So with Oculus for instance, and leveraging gaming as a platform to create those individual experiences, you can put a learner actually doing those practical experiments into a virtual lab. So it truly enables the best to be brought to the best to learners, even if the investments are not there, which right now they generally aren’t.

And considering the current trend we’re seeing in Higher Education specifically in the US, where the price of tuition for Higher Education is going up the roof, it means that smaller Higher Education universities could create the right level of learning experiences for their students, without having to spend so much money and then raise tuition to their learners.

Because one of the key issues, even with learning a language, is practice. And many people when they are learning their language do not have the opportunity to practice, because they might not be in a country where they have the opportunity to speak with anybody who speaks that language every day.

***

Follow Karine on Twitter at @karineallouche, and find out more about Pearson English at www.globalenglish.com and @GlobalEnglish.

[pearsonlabs]

Beyond the trends: 6 critical things to keep in mind when discussing edtech products

Authors: Audrey Jarre and Svenia Busson of the #EdtechWorldTour Originally posted on Pearson Labs

From learning management to language learning, more and more startups are trying to bridge gaps and build bridges in the increasingly global education market.

However, before venturing into the edtech space, there are several issues and pain points that entrepreneurs must keep in mind in order to reinvent the learning process with the right tools and for the right purpose.

1. Learning how to learn as well as having a growth mindset is the most critical thing to develop

“In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort.”

New teaching practices are designed to help students adapt to new situations and construct original understandings more effectively. Edtech can help them achieve that by building intrinsic motivation and a growth mindset (the belief that intelligence can be developed). The concept of a growth mindset was developed by psychologist Carol Dweck and tackles the perception of the self in an educational context to change skill acquisition, learning achievements and beyond. Edtech is about creation and development of the self, not observation.

To put this in perspective, amplifying the student narrative must be a priority to understand what is at stake in edtech and how it can empower the students themselves. EdSurge recently launched their own Medium publication, EdSurge Independent, to enhance critical reflection on education and edtech products, as the student voice is often missing from the conversation.

2. Edtech is critical to renew (and not replace) higher education

The idea of the university is diversifying and expanding, complicating the higher education landscape.

MOOCs did not bury the necessity of college education, and software isn’t doing that either, although it may unbundle the college experience gradually to focus on the true added value.

What are the individual and societal benefits of pursuing higher education? Colleges and universities have access to an ever bigger set of data about the way students interact with their learning environment. The question is now to learn how to tackle the new data and insights to make the most of this peripheral vision of the learning process of students.

Sadly, the initial fascination reveals struggles with training as only 41% of colleges use data for predictive analytics: they must develop their own agenda, and be, beyond smart purchasers, thoughtful users. There is a growing need for a clearer view on those matters for educators and decision-makers alike in order to keep college education relevant and fill the capabilities gap: one must identify best practices in faculty-driven initiatives in order to make it relevant for all parties. Credentials are becoming one of the hottest topics in higher education.

3. Maker education matters outside and inside schools to move from curriculum to project-based learning

Maker education can also integrate the school curriculum and move beyond its current state of being confined to a room or hackerspace in isolation. Dependence on complex equipment is not necessary, asAlbemarle County Schools have been showing in the US. More than machine, it is about incorporating maker’s ideals (collaboration, experimentation, creation). Learning and tinkering can be done anywhere with a low budget—it is just about giving a place and time for it to happen, and ways to showcase the power of creation.

FabLab@School is a Stanford-based global network that allows a deeper reflection on those new spaces, putting cutting-edge technology for design and construction, such as 3D printers and laser cutters and robotics, into the hands of middle and high school students.

“Such labs are a place for invention, creation, discovery and sharing, a space of inquiry where everyone learns and knowledge gets integrated into personal interests and daily life.”

4. Professional development opportunities for teachers are key, come in all shapes and sizes, and can also be driven from within an existing structure

Rapid change can cause teachers to feel like “perpetual novices”. How do you incorporate playfulness in professional development to rethink its purpose, which is not about disrupting but facilitating change? In New Zealand, The Mind Lab is an inter-disciplinary learning lab offering science, creative and technology programmes for school groups and professional development for teachers. The professional development programme delivers a postgraduate certificate in Digital & Collaborative learning for New Zealand teachers—a part time qualification to build on knowledge of emerging technologies and teaching methodologies.

Moreover, innovation is the catalyser driving changes from within. In Australia, the Sydney Centre for Innovation in Learning (SCIL) is an innovation unit embedded in a K-12 school. It runs a range of programs and research projects that seek to transform educational thinking and practice both at NBCS and in the wider educational community.

Stephen Harris founded SCIL in 2005, with a vision to embed research and innovation into everyday school practice. This new paradigm which he aims to help schools moving with is one “where learning is personalised and collaborative, technology is adaptive, spaces are radically different to the traditional mindset, and a community built on positive relationships is at the core”. At the heart of the change is a profound learning culture facilitated by technology, space and pedagogy that empowers and engages students and teachers to change their practice and adapt to needs they have identified themselves.

5. Research and industry: the great divide?

Many of the existing programmes do not reflect international best practices. This is compounded by little engagement between research and industry. In France, the Lab School Network and Compas are trying to bring research outside the lab and enhance shared best practices. Many edtech networks do not fully engage with the educational expertise in the community to augment internal resources, resulting in a sub-optimal experience for entrepreneurs with few effects beyond general networking. One must take advantage of the expertise in various worlds and communities to create smarter products that take education through a scientific approach in motion, beyond common sense.

6. We must analyse the vested interests of algorithms and understand them to embrace personalisation

Personalisation is the delivery of the right content at the right time. Whilst analytics can have a significant downside by mechanising the learning experience, they may enhance the current education quality in overcrowded classes. The key question now is to pinpoint what it truly takes into account (past answers, or interests?) and how it integrates within the brick-and-mortar, given the variety of school structures and timetables, from 365 day per year lab schools to classical models.

“Once something is algorithmically sorted, it is not about conversation but consumption” (Rob Horning). If algorithmic edtech brings instruction and assessment that is more efficient and personalised, we may wonder about efficiency as a goal as well as the values and vested interests reflected in the algorithms. Personalisation works by building specific profiles about us: disruption/revolution, if we do not worry about it accordingly, it may re-create power relations that are already in place, as well as worry technophobe parents.

***

Edtech goes way beyond investment trends. Despite the recent drop in funding, we must focus on building the right products rather than a plethora of pre-packaged add-ons that make the space noisier every day.

The next several decades will alter the current work-life balance and make us perpetual learners. We must not be fooled by the “employability narrative” (George Siemens), whose effect would be to prepare our children for the workforce, when they should be prepared to respond critically and constructively to change.

Audrey and Svenia are the creators and travellers behind#EdtechWorldTour, a five-month tour and international field trip to learn from best practices in education innovation & map edtech clusters.

Follow their journey on Instagram and Twitter, and read their previous contributions to the Labs blog here.

[pearsonlabs]

Adaptive learning is an enormously promising field. Educators worldwide are using adaptive tools to change their practice. The tools are growing and gaining acceptance in classrooms. I see adaptive tools in use almost every time I visit schools.

The tools, however, are not a panacea. For several reasons, it’s unlikely that a single tool will ever be able to take over a student’s education and direct them to every single thing they should do. Nor is it likely that we would want it to, as a critical part of education is building student agency – helping students own their learning, make decisions, become lifelong learners, and develop their metacognitive skills.

A critical part of education is also developing students’ ability to interact and work with others – from the teachers who guide them and spark their interests and passions to their peers with whom they work, learn, and teach. Learning is ultimately a social experience, as it builds people into more mature social actors able to participate in civic society and lead productive lives.

But adaptive learning is a powerful force to make those pursuits more effective and efficient. Additionally, this technology can accelerate our knowledge of what learning experiences work best, for which students, in which circumstances, so that educators can adapt to a reality in which they can help all children find their passions and reach their fullest potential.

Michael B. Horn introduces Decoding Adaptive, a new report by EdSurge, supported by Pearson.

Photo credit: Christof Van Der Walt

[pearsonlabs]

“To me, activating that creative potential of every human being is what technology can offer, and that’s why technology education is so important.”  – Elizabeth Gould, CodeX

When Audrey and Svenia of the Edtech World Tour were in South Africa, they asked the innovators and teachers that they met what edtech means to them. They’ve put together this lovely video full of some great answers – have a watch and see what you agree or disagree with!

[pearsonlabs]

We’re publishing a new publication by world renowned writer and speaker Charles Leadbeater on 1st June, which explores how learning happens in a number of schools around the world and proposes ‘a new common sense’ for education. So we would love to invite you to the beautiful and historic ​Royal Institution in London for a talk by Leadbeater, on what he believes ‘Dynamic Learning’ is and what it could mean for the future of education, teaching and learning.​

Find all the details and sign up for your free ticket over on Eventbrite, and if you aren’t in London on 1st June you should still sign up, as we will send you a link to the live stream of the event.

[pearsonlabs]

This week I have been thinking a lot about the importance of choice. As Westerners we often take choice for granted and forget that in many places choice is a luxury—especially in the developing world. I recently had the good fortune to visit SPARK Bramley.

Jana Sweeny talks about the importance of choice for parents in developing countries, and above SPARK parent Olga Masingi explains why she chooses SPARK for her son.

[pearsonlabs]

Speech recognition is one way artificial intelligence is already integrated into our lives. In our latest blog post on Labs, we take a look at what AI is, the basics of how it works, and how it can be used to create smarter digital tools for learning and education.

[pearsonlabs]

We hear a lot about the ‘classroom of the future’, but what did people in the past envisage the classrooms of today would look like?

Over on the Labs blog we explore these visions, from the 1900s to the 1990s.

[pearsonlabs]

Preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s workplace

Globally, 70 million young people under 25 are unemployed, and paradoxically, 40% of employers say they struggle to fill job vacancies with skilled workers. In the developing world, where populations are growing fast, the issue of unemployment and the skills gap is even more pronounced. Read about how the Pearson Affordable Learning Fund invests in startups that seek to address this issue.

Students at APEC Schools - photo by Owen Henkel

[pearsonlabs]

For resource-poor communities, and rural settings when education systems are not meeting societal demand, rapidly-evolving technology is opening doors. South Africa has been embracing technologies to expand educational curricula, to increase efficiency and quality alike. ICT is not only changing education, it is shaping it within a new mould.

Edtech World Tour’s Audrey and Svenia, talking about how South Africa uses mobile learning to increase opportunities for all, now on the Pearson Labs blog.

[pearsonlabs]

“Mixed reality is the merging of real world and virtual worlds to produce a new environment where physical and digital objects can coexist and interact.”

“The virtuality continuum (Paul Milgram, 1995) is useful for putting mixed reality technologies in perspective. The VC is a spectrum that encompasses environments ranging from the completely physical world to the completely virtual world.

“While the boundaries between these five subsections of mixed reality are themselves not clearly defined, I will use them to detail examples of educational applications.”

Denis Hurley of Pearson’s Future Technologies team explains the differences between augmented virtuality and virtual reality, and everything in between, and looks at the benefits for education.

[pearsonlabs]

“What we need is a degree of specificity about AIEd that allows us to assess, invest, plan, deliver, and test. This is what this paper offers – a useful primer on AIEd and a compelling argument about what it can offer learning.

“From what AI is and how AIEd-driven learning systems are built, onto its potential role in addressing the profound issue of robots and machines taking over more and more current jobs, it covers a vital range of topics with ease and elegance. It is also a good read, with entertaining references from PacMan and Stephen Hawking, sci-fi and ancient philosophy. And, yes, it is understandable to a non-technical reader!”

Sir Michael Barber, forward for Intelligence Unleashed: An argument for AI in education, a new paper from UCL’s London Knowledge Lab and Pearson’s Open Ideas team

[pearsonlabs]

Lisa Maurer, research manager in Pearson’s Research & Innovation Network, was invited to give a Google Tech Talk at the Mountain View campus. The focus of the talk was fundamental Learner Experience (LX) design principles, which when implemented well, can promote more effective and efficient learning.

The discussion included evidence-based learning design principles, and usability guidelines, which are part of a comprehensive research-based approach to learning design. A set of heuristics which set the stage for making a measurable impact on learning were presented, and the intersection between instructional design, user experience research and participatory design was explored.

[pearsonlabs]

“While there are other forms, athletic biosyncing is the most common one today. I have moved on from the Nike+ and now wear an OMSignalbiometric shirt during workouts. This “smart” shirt accurately tracks my pulse and breathing rate. I also wear an Apple Watch to track the distance and pace of my runs, as I once did with my Nike+, but now far more accurately.

“I began using these devices in earnest approximately four months ago. Without much conscious thought, I began changing my exercise routines: slowing down as soon as I saw my heart rate go too high and sticking to regular long distances on a weekly basis. Within a short time, I found myself in the best physical shape of my life. This is an example of successful biosyncing: when a human enters into a mostly automatic reactive state.”

Denis Hurley, Director of Pearson’s Future Technologies team

Source: Biosyncing: Symbiotic Communication Between the Virtual & Physical Worlds

[pearsonlabs]

“Technology is my assistant - I am the expert specialist, I am the one that can still guide the student in the right direction - but I am using technology as a tool to assist me so I can do my job even better.” Mia Beyleveld, lecturer at Midrand Graduate Institute.

[pearsonlabs]

The continued progress of AI thus poses a new framework for thinking about the relevance of education. It would be a mistake to spend too much time focusing narrowly on skills and content areas that are quickly being sidelined by technology. In other words, in a world where computers are taking more and more of the jobs, what is it that humans most need to learn? It probably isn't primarily memorizing facts or figures, or simple rules for problem solving.

What Artificial Intelligence Could Mean For Education - article by Anya Kamenetz on NPR interviewing Pearson’s Laurie Forcier, co-author of a new report Intelligence Unleashed: An argument for AI in Education.