[Catalist] ACER: "Technology reform full of good ideas, poorly executed" [10102016]

[Michael McGarry]

Greetings CATALIST List Subscribers, especially Leon Harris,

The evidenced-based ‘recommendations’ in the ACER: Teacher: (Long Reads) article “Technology reform full of good ideas, poorly executed [in Education]” Author: Andreas Schleicher: OECD URL 1: http://www.oecd.org/edu/andreas-schleicher.htm <http://www.oecd.org/edu/andreas-schleicher.htm> and SMH URL: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/oecd-education-chief-andreas-schleicher-blasts-australias-education-system-20160313-gnhz6t.html <http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/oecd-education-chief-andreas-schleicher-blasts-australias-education-system-20160313-gnhz6t.html> and TED URL: https://www.ted.com/talks/andreas_schleicher_use_data_to_build_better_schools?language=en <https://www.ted.com/talks/andreas_schleicher_use_data_to_build_better_schools?language=en> should be studied and acted upon by all stakeholders who wish to see Computer Assisted Learning deliver significant and sustained improvement in learning outcomes for all students within Australian schools (Primary and Secondary).

Reference URL: https://www.teachermagazine.com.au <https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/>
“Students who use computers moderately at school tend to have somewhat better learning outcomes than students who use computers rarely. But students who use computers very frequently at school do a lot worse in most learning outcomes. Imagine that, the more intensively students use computers at school, the less digitally literate they seem to be, even after accounting for social background and student demographics. The PISA results also show no improvements in learning outcomes in those countries that have invested most heavily in digital technology in schools.”

“What can we make out of those results? One interpretation is that education is a largely social enterprise and that building deep, conceptual understanding and higher-order thinking will always hinge on high quality teacher-student interactions, to which technology does not automatically add.”

“Another interpretation is that we simply haven’t become good enough at the kind of pedagogies that make the most of technology; that adding 21st century technologies to 20th century teaching practices and 19th century learning environments will just dilute the effectiveness of learning.”

“If students use smartphones to copy and paste answers to prefabricated questions, it’s not going to help them become ‘smarter’. If we want students to become smarter than a smartphone, we need to think harder about learning and instruction.”

“We have seen massive increases in investment in education over the last decade, and Australia is no exception. In the OECD area you are talking about close to 40 per cent more money per student in real terms. But there has been virtually no improvement in learning outcomes, not even in the 10 top-performing PISA countries.” OECD URL 2: https://www.oecd.org/pisa/ <https://www.oecd.org/pisa/>.

For Example: Question: What significant and sustained improvement in learning outcomes was achieved by money borrowed on the bond market and spent on the 1:1 laptop programme for students in Years 9 to 12 in our Australian high schools? 

What are Teenagers doing Online?

“The PISA results also show no improvements in learning outcomes in those countries that have invested most heavily in digital technology in schools.” What can we make out of that result?

A third ‘interpretation’ of the PISA result may be rooted in” What are Teenagers doing Online?” [Out of School and at School, but hopefully not during their classes.]

URL 1: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/what-are-teens-doing-online/ <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/what-are-teens-doing-online/>
URL 2: http://www.acma.gov.au/theACMA/engage-blogs/engageblogs/Research-snapshots/Aussie-teens-online <http://www.acma.gov.au/theACMA/engage-blogs/engageblogs/Research-snapshots/Aussie-teens-online>
URL 3: http://www.mcafee.com/au/about/news/2012/q2/20120625-01.aspx <http://www.mcafee.com/au/about/news/2012/q2/20120625-01.aspx>
URL 4: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/planet-porn-20130521-2jze9.html <http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/planet-porn-20130521-2jze9.html>
WA DoE: CONNECT

WA DoE URL: http://www.det.wa.edu.au/curriculumsupport/ocs/detcms/navigation/e-schooling-services/how-to-access-connect/ <http://www.det.wa.edu.au/curriculumsupport/ocs/detcms/navigation/e-schooling-services/how-to-access-connect/>

Leon suggested on CATALIST (04112016) that: “Instead, what do we have? We have a closed Connect system, that is dependent on Oracle databases, and a continual need to update them, resulting in an elevated cost of ownership. We send the profits from most of that $25 million overseas, and that suppresses growth of endemic talent. Finally, we have an inferior product, which can only evolve at great cost, and which has a much more limited range of capabilities. [As a WA DoE Teacher, my access to CONNECT was removed most probably because I suggested that the assessment of key science conceptual understanding using RUBRIC word statements would lead to further decline in mathematics and science achievement of Australian school students as measured by OECD PISA.] Please NOTE: The Mathematics and Science Literacy PISA scores of our Australian students have continued to decline over the past decade.

MOODLE

MOODLE URL 1: https://moodle.com <https://moodle.com/>

MOODLE URL 2: https://moodle.com/hq/ <https://moodle.com/hq/> [Please read: “Our Values”.

Which WA Institutions currently use MOODLE?

Rossmoyne SHS, Mount Lawley SHS, North Metropolitan Health Service, MyCQU, Great Southern Grammar, Canning Vale College, South Regional TAFE, WA Gifted and Talented Online, and Lesmurdie SHS. [Please forgive me if the List is in error?]  

Please be reminded that my Australian Science (Year Levels 7 to 10) Interactive PDF curriculum modules can still be FREE downloaded from the "Middle Years Science" webpages on ASTA MOODLE: URL: http://moodle.asta.edu.au <http://moodle.asta.edu.au/> and not from CONNECT.

Thanks and Best Wishes,
Michael John McGarry
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