The Future of Educational Computing

Imagine the classroom of the future. All students have a laptop, all textbooks
are interactive and immersive, all teachers have access to rich data on
student achievement.

Is this a fantasy … or is it already almost a reality?

The Magellan project in Portugal to give each student a tool for 21st century
learning has world-wide visibility. Other projects such as the Maine Learning
Technology initiative – supplying a laptop for each middle and high school
student in the US state of Maine – are also bright lights in educational
technology.

Via projects like these, we are learning what it takes to make technology in
schools work: for students, for teachers, and for the economy of tomorrow.

Let’s take a brief step into the classroom of the future. What do we see?

The digital learning “life cycle”

A teacher creates a lesson based on materials provided by the Ministry of
Education and available for download on a server. She adds a few local
details, a Flash animation she found online, and a chapter of a digital
textbook.

When students enter the classroom, lesson resources are automatically

downloaded to each of their laptops. As the teacher introduces the lesson,
students answer quick one or two question quizzes that give her instant
feedback on what they understand – or don’t.

After the introduction, students gather in small groups to discuss and apply
their new insights. They work on shared documents, collaborating to produce
presentations that can be simultaneously edited by each of them on their
individual computers.

That evening, students each take their own laptop home. They open the
lesson resources their teacher provided, and read the chapter in the
textbook. The textbook was automatically downloaded to their PCs at the
beginning of the semester, and includes audio clips, Flash animations, and
short movies that illustrate and explain the concepts. The textbook also
includes interactive exercises that students must complete to demonstrate
their knowledge.

The next morning when students enter the classroom, data automatically
flows from their laptops to the teacher: what they studied, how long they
read, what questions they answered, and their scores. Graphs and charts of
student comprehension are automatically created for the teacher, and she
can instantly see which students are ready to move on to the next lesson,
and which need some extra help on the current topic.

Based on scores on the in-class quiz the previous day as well as students’
results on the interactive exercises completed at home, the teacher then
assigns new lessons. Students who understand the current topic receive
more advanced material; students who do not receive a different lesson on
the same topic.

The teacher manages this on her laptop, and then asks students to work in
small groups that are automatically assigned based on appropriate mixes of
knowledge and ability. As students work quietly, she acts as a coach, moving
from group to group to give quick, focused feedback or input as students
require.

Since the teacher is receiving constant daily feedback on students’ learning in

the form of simple visual graphs, she can proactively target any weaknesses.
For some, she provides extra coaching and teaching. Others may require
tutoring, assignment to a study group, or intervention with a parent. None
will be surprised at the end of a term with a failing grade.

At the end of the semester, data from all of students’ learning (not just tests
or exams) is automatically collated and graphed, allowing the teacher to
assign a grade that accurately reflects each student’s learning and growth,
knowledge and effort.

The challenge and opportunity

This, some may say, is a great vision … but far from reality. And reality is a
little less amenable to change than we might like.

But what makes technology in schools so hard? Why is it that supplying

millions of euros of technology to students does not instantly increase
achievement? Well, big ships are hard to turn, and large institutions do not
change overnight. Moving from a 19th century factory model of education –
students in, citizen-workers out – to a 21st century model focusing on
learning, evaluation, synthesis, and creation skills is a major change.

Most educators are willing to do what it takes to prepare students for a future
in the knowledge economy. But it takes support at all levels for meaningful,
lasting change to happen. And the critical steps are those taken before any
laptops enter the classroom.

The first step is develop a clear vision: what are the goals and what is the
plan that will achieve them? A recent study of multiple laptop projects found
that committed leaders who did thorough planning before purchasing any
technology were key to success1.

1
Educational Outcomes and Research from 1:1 Computing Settings. Bebell, D., and
O’Dwiyer, L. 2010.
But just as important is early and committed involvement of teachers.
Nothing will change a teacher’s world as much as moving from traditional
education to 1:1 computing … so it is little wonder that without teacher
support, educational technology fails. The same study states that teachers
play an essential role: in fact, that the responsibility for actually
implementing the use of technology falls to teachers.

School systems that achieve success with educational technology also often
find that their methods of teaching and learning change, moving from
lecture-style teaching to project or problem-based learning: learning that is
focused on real-world issues and forces students to bring multiple
competencies (math, language, geography, etc) to bear on a single multi-
faceted issue.

Given the changes teachers need to make, and that fact that they are critical
to success, plenty of time for professional development and training before
the laptops arrive is critical. Ongoing coaching and resources for teachers are
also highly correlated with successful projects.

So it’s not simple: it’s not just a matter of signing a check and dropping
technology on school desks.

But the pioneers, including Magellan, have shown the path to success. And
the opportunity is to transform learning into something that all students
enjoy, and to make school a launching pad for careers and innovation and
success.

The needs right now

We are no longer at the beginning of the revolution. The rebels of
educational technology are starting to be the leaders. But what is needed
now? What are the next steps?

Integrated tools
Today, teacher PCs are not talking to student PCs simply and easily,
communicating what students need, delivering lessons, collating results.
Student planning tools don’t integrate with teacher assignments. Textbooks
do not have interactive quizzes and tests built-in. Digital reading software
doesn’t report back to teachers or parents on what students have done.
Why? These tools need to talk.

Simple computer management

In a school with 1500 laptops, or a district with 15,000 … how can schools
possibly manage? Schools need to be able to enable or disable software.
Districts need to be able to push updates to computers. Teachers need the
ability to customize a learning environment on their students’ computers. All
of this needs to be possible with a computer science degree.

Next-generation digital textbooks

Textbooks need to be digital. But they need to be more than simply digital
copies of dead-tree versions. Textbooks need to come alive: to integrate rich
media where and when appropriate. Textbooks also need to be integrated: to
know what teachers have assigned and to be able to measure and
communicate student progress. Textbooks need to be connected: to link to
resources, communities, and knowledge outside their digital pages on the
web.

Friction-free digital distribution

Textbooks, software, and learning objects of all kinds need simple and
friction-free distribution … so that schools can assign software and textbooks
to students class by class as required, and it just happens. No wizardry, no
technical genius needed: just a simple graphical distribution system that
gives teachers the power to supply whatever is needed to students.

The classroom of the future is closer than you think

The Magellan project has given students in Portugal the tools they need.
Other projects around the world are following. Teachers are developing
pedagogy for the proper use and implementation of educational technology.
And software developers and technology companies are providing the tools
the connect, to analyze, to empower, to enable.

The classroom of the future … could it be here tomorrow? It is only as far

away as our imagination and vision allow.

Brief bio
John Koetsier is COO of EasyBits Software, a company partnering with Intel
to improve computers in schools. He is finishing a master’s degree in
educational technology, plays ice hockey, and lives in Canada. Connect with
him on LinkedIn or Twitter.