21st Century Leaders and Learners:
Triple Threat Positions for Educators in the 21st Century
I've had an interesting few weeks around the country in Texas, Florida, and Georgia. One thing is for certain in my travels and amidst the conversations about blended learning and teaching - Educators will be in a triple threat positions in terms of blended learning services in the future.
First of all, face to face courses and virtual full courses are going to be in high demand. We know that the North Carolina Virtual Public School will encompass 20,000 students this spring of 2010. Nationally the movement has grown from 40,000 in the year 2000 to over 2.3 million students served in 2009 in the k-12 market. Pre-service teachers, current teachers, and retired teachers will all have chances to provide full course instruction in many different ways for state virtual schools, home face to face districts, and via vendors. Administrators will lead this revolution, and school support services will continue to provide blended counseling and guidance as to how these environments will work for student success. State virtual schools will continue to prosper, but also we will see blended models with vendors and content providers.
Second, blended modules of instruction will become more of a norm. With North Carolina's K-12 itunes contract, the North Carolina Community College's Learning Object Repository, and with more knowledge capture each day in school districts through websites, social media networks, learning management systems (Blackboard, Moodle, Desire to Learn, etc.), Google sites and docs, Wimba, Elluminate, and others - school districts will look at how to place more content on-line and serve it to customers in many different blended contexts. For example, professional development will begin to be archived. Teacher training specifically will be downloaded more to mobile devices. And finally, students using mobile tablets and devices will not become obstacles for school boards; rather they will be seen as opportunities for learning in the very near future. Teachers who want to support virtual lessons, tutor online, and/or provide course revisions and feedback to blended modules will all have opportunities to serve students in this fashion. In addition, classrooms in face to face schools will use smart boards in new and different ways. For example, teachers from the North Carolina Virtual Public School will be brought in as teachers of record and/or to support for face to face learning courses and/or modules.
Finally, objects and learning applications will become more strategic in schools and districts via mobile devices. Students will learn on the school bus through flash cards, short videos, and tutorials over their devices before school. They will sync them to cradles and learn and share with one another what they downloaded the night before. Teachers will filter, design, facilitate, and share these objects and applications as well. Courses will be developed with a focus on designing the "killer apps" that help us all learn French, Calculus, and/or Biology. Teachers and Administrators will celebrate these students, and many of these students will be on advisory councils to inform school and district technology leadership as to solutions.
Is the future that far away? Well, today's "blended climate" is not just a triple threat position in terms of fears for educators; it is indeed a triple threat position for the educators of the future. Our business is going to have more opportunities than ever before for growth, compensation, and support among state leadership because many of the examples I referenced this week or not just happening nationally, they are also already underway in public schools in North Carolina. Time to stop thinking about a triple threat to your jobs and time to start pining for a triple threat position you could soon be in as a 21st Century Learner and Leader.
Some key references on Knowledge Management in the Future and Innovation Leadership for the Future.
Have a great week using the virtual advantage of www.ncvps.org and www.nclearnandearn.gov
Bryan
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