Cloud-trainings to improve cloud-competences of teachers. The teacher trainings should be cloud-oriented and provided through the cloud. We believe in ‘teach what you preach.’ It’s helpful to share good practices of cloud-based approaches for learners. That way the possibilities of the Cloud are visible. A good example is http://fcl.eun.org/
Cloud-based teaching is a basic skill for teachers. It’s important to evolve from skill to competence. Teachers must be present for their student both in their virtual as in their physical world. Being an iTeacher is a characteristic. Teachers must follow the clouddevelopments and continue to adjust their methods. To be able to use the cloud, teachers must be media literate and educated in information literacy.
The cloud is used by everyone, from learner to parent, to policymaker. To implement innovation successfully, it has to be achieved at each level. Innovation depends for 80% on the management. The managers must be convinced and they have to innovate first to be able to implement innovation to a team. Innovative project are often developed from “below”, but it can only be implemented if “the top” is open minded. We think that the ministry of Education should be responsible for efficient and effective measurements of the cloud and offering customized cloud-tools for education. The cloud facilitates not only knowledge transfer but also, knowledge construction and knowledge consultancy. Not only people involved in education, but everyone, on every level, must be educated to use the cloud. No one can stay behind. Education is needed for everyone in the form of lifelong learning.
The cloud connects every learning offer individualized to every personal learning environment. The cloud can respond to interests, personal learning and own development of each student. The cloud can mobilize the education system. Students do learn outside the school, the school hours. We must adapt our education to the students and their learning environment, not the other way around.
The policy situates the applicability of the Cloud in the broad sense. We need clear arrangements about cloud-based teaching between teachers, students and management about privacy, online safety, social pressure, time-management in the meaning of being 24/7 online and active, … To be able to use the cloud, we need to use other manners and be media literate. Safety instructions and safety standards are necessary.
The school provides accessibility and interconnectivity through the Cloud for each learner. Not everyone has access to the cloud. The digital gap has to be taken into account. Not only different competences can provide a gap, but also accessibility and resources. Every level of our society should be able to use the cloud. The accessibility and interconnectivity should be provided for everyone. There should be no boundaries to use the cloud, we need to include everyone and give the necessary support.
Because the Cloud is generic and changes continuously, it widens the school concept. Our education system has to be platform independent, we need to focus on sharing information through the cloud, managing our own online actions and data and estimate the big data. Collaboration between the private sector and the education sector is necessary.
Cloud and innovation go hand in hand. To integrate and use the cloud successful it has to have an open character for teachers. There has to be a pedagogical freedom in using the cloud. No boxes, out of the box thinking. Teachers must be mentors that guide the students through the information flow, they do not function as a knowledge source anymore. Teachers must let go of the manuals and checklists for students. There has to be more attention to innovation, spaces to try things out, focus on content should decrease. Innovation needs to be implemented on each level, teacher, school, management and government.