KingsTech 2022

TECHNOLOGY AND KNOWLEDGE SERVICES

KingsTech 2022

Roshan De Dilva Dean of Digital Learning and Innovation

In 2021, the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation identified seven principles for effective teacher professional development and teaching in NSW Schools. From the seven principles, the King’s Schools Digital Learning Team focused on the three:

• experimental learning. • participant driven learning, and • collaboration and collective problem solving.

To aid the development of these three chosen principles, The King’s School Institute, in conjunction with the Digital Learning Team, developed KingsTech2022. a technology-driven professional development conference that investigated experimental, student driven transdisciplinary working practices.

The conference was timely as we approached 200 years of high-quality education, but it also forced us to consider what the next 200 years of education will look like. KingsTech2022 enabled teachers to choose their own adventure, through 21 personalised sessions each hour, by looking at how technology is shaping our classrooms and how technology can further enhance the learning experience. To help guide teachers, the conference began with the award-winning educational documentary Most Likely to Succeed, which challenged the current industrial model of education. We know from history, our schooling system was developed to educate students in a homogenised, didactic framework. However, today’s industries value creativity, collaboration, and communication in their workforce.

Historically, teachers have used a range of learning activities and resources to assist learners to achieve goals. These activities have included:

• face-to-face presentations, • visual material,

• paper-based assessments, and • online research and group activities.

The documentary provocatively highlighted that computers are ubiquitous and can do many tasks faster and more efficiently than humans. Therefore, if computers write better than humans, work faster and more efficiently, then what do humans do if their muscle power is no longer valued?

To answer this question, KingsTech2022 focused on how technology can open creativity and global collaborative options to engage deep learning in the classroom. Technology giants such as Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, and Google delivered workshops to staff from Tudor House, the Preparatory and Senior School.

KingsTech 2022

CONTINUED

EdTech providers worked with teachers to create augmented reality-based tutorials that can virtually transfer students to the moon. Other workshops focused on gamification of learning. We know from research (Kim & Lee, 2015) that games can make the entire learning experience much more pleasant. They make a classroom lively and help in instant personification. Various EdTech tools, such as Minecraft, seamlessly enabled gamification to take place in the classroom to help students understand tough concepts. Teachers in the workshops acting as students believed this process of learning boosted participation, encouraged engagement, and provided a context-based learning experience.

The day also introduced aspects of blended learning that provided resources and activities for individualised, studentcentred learning. We know, for teachers, that blended learning can be a challenge. They do not feel comfortable with, nor do they fully understand, the technologies and media that their students use every day or the potential that they can offer their learners. Many teachers who have witnessed technology development have not been inculcated with its use in a school setting. Therefore, because not all teaching staff are equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to design and teach effectively in a blended environment, KingsTech2022 supported staff in the redesign of learning material, changing teaching practices and use of innovative technologies for learning. This required the provision of advice and help on curriculum design and staff development in the use of technology in lessons. At KingsTech2022, to encourage blended design, teachers could choose to undertake professional development on:

• Minecraft: Education Edition: Changing the Status Quo in the Classroom

• Designing More Integrated Learning with

Google for Education • Robotics and Automation

• Making Publications Come to Life with

Adobe Acrobat & InDesign • Video Editing on the go with Premiere

Rush

• Green Screen Technology Across the

Curriculum

• Sustainable Futures: Immersive

Technologies in the Classroom • Drone Technology and Transdisciplinary

Design • Microbiting Natural Disasters

The King’s School aims to provide staff with the best professional learning opportunities to inspire teachers to actively take part in the design, development, and implementation of challenging learning journeys for our students. KingsTech2022 provided staff with such an opportunity, enabling them to experience a student’s role in the classroom; a role that we hope made teachers see them as more than a passive observer. References

Kim, J. T., & Lee, W. H. (2015). Dynamical model for gamification of learning (DMGL). Multimedia Tools and

Applications, 74(19), 8483-8493.