Digital Learning & Who We Really Need To Educate…

Education is the one thing in this world that the majority of people are expert on. If you think about it, the average person spends 13 years of their lives (in Australia) in our schooling systems and when it comes to a time for families to send their kids to school, they spend much of their time reflecting on their time and using their “expertise” in the education system to drive the decisions and expectations for the education of their children. As education is forever growing, developing and evolving with the times, it therefore suggests that we need to invest time in educating these parents as to the new pedagogical approaches that we as teachers are taking to assist our students, the next modern day global citizens, to be successful. We need to focus our attention to showing parents not only the value in using digital tools in the modern day classroom to enhance the learning, but how the modern day classroom has evolved from their experiences and how it is a very different place to when it was when they were at school.

I sat in a Professional Development session last week and listened to a presenter speak of how her parents didn’t understand the modern classroom, which is full of laptops and iPads. “They are used to a climate with notepads, textbooks, pencils and a teacher telling students what chapters or questions need to be done” she said. The modern day teacher knows that digital tools allow students to express their creativity, to extend their learning, to engage & apply their knowledge and to develop skills that will better prepare them for life outside of school. The one key element that is missing in this scenario is the support from families at home, but it is not their fault – they just don’t know how to provide the support that is needed because they don’t understand it.  Parents keep using their own personal experiences to drive their expectations for their children, and as these models don’t fit the modern day learning environment, we need to work to educate and change the families expectations to create holistic learning environments for students.

How do we do this? Well the simple answer would be to hold parent information evenings but let us be honest, with the challenges of modern day life it will be very difficult to get those who really need this information to come to the school to learn. We need to look at ways in which we can deliver this information to the families so that it can work around their busy lifestyles. Maybe the solution is a iTunes U course, a YouTube video or a podcast? Maybe these should work in conjunction with an information night? At this stage I’m not too sure, but either way it has become apparent to me that we need to invest time in helping to educate the parents/ guardians and to change their expectations around their children’s education so we can create holistic learning environments that support our children and encourage their development in this ever changing and fast growing digital world.

A secondary element to this discussion is the ever increasing numbers of migrants, refugees and other cultures moving to our shores. First let me say that I am the first to applaud and welcome new people & cultures to our country (particularly as my family were immigrants) and that I think the cultural diversity in Australia is one of the things that makes this one of the greatest living environments in the world, but we as teachers and educators need to take into account the natures of the cultures of the people moving here. I listened to a speaker talking about Arabic families and the issues that these communities face when sending their children to Australian schools. Putting aside the EAL (English as an Additional Language) challenges they face, the methodology of Australian education and what we are trying to teach the kids doesn’t relate to the educational experiences of these parents and in turn their own expectations for their children’s education. We need to openly and transparently discuss what our education system is trying to achieve with our local parent communities, and in turn share how we are using tools like Digital Technology to get there. We need to help all parents, but particularly the parents of children who are from Non-Australian backgrounds to understand the what the modern Australian classroom looks like, how it functions and how it is working to establish truely passionate, create and individual beings who can function in a world that is developing and growing at an amazing speed.

In summation, we need to invest time in talking with ALL parents and guardians, allowing them to ask questions, to receive answers and to gain an understanding of not only how the modern classroom has changed from their educational experiences but also how our pedagogical choices and practices are helping to equip their children with the skills and knowledge that they need to succeed in the modern world. Only if and when this occurs will we be able to establish a holistic approach to a students education, from both the school and the home environments, so they can receive the support that they need to be the best they can be.