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Can I hack it? A reflection on designing digital solutions to authentic problems

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Written by my colleauge, Megan Tubb

I didn’t realise I’d been hacked! After 12 years of teaching highly structured units of work, I found myself teaching in a way that forced me to loosen my grip on the reins of the curriculum. What started as a small discussion with my grade 6 students about the problem of litter in our playground had grown into something so much richer.

My 11 and 12 year old students were: 

  • driving the direction of our learning.
  • thinking of digital solutions to address a real problem in their environment
  • making strong connections to the adults in our local and wider community

The kids were empowered and full of pride! Meanwhile, I was struggling with self-doubt and fear. I had been pushed right out of my comfort zone to face each day with a level of uncertainty. It was innovative. It was challenging. It was exciting.

Could I hack this new way of teaching?

As the world continues to evolve, our education system is lagging behind. We know it is our imperative to develop our students to become active adults, well-equipped to fulfil their potential and find meaningful pathways for their future. Yet for so many teachers it is too threatening to step away from complete control of the direction of learning.

There are educators who are pushing back against old paradigms. Teachers who acknowledge that the old way just isn’t good enough. These teachers know the value of 21st century learning skills. They recognise that in order to equip students with these skills, they need to take a different approach that shifts away from teacher-centred learning. It requires educators to be innovative, creative and brave enough to value students as capable and contributing citizens – key players in the act of learning.

How can we utilise these pockets of innovation within schools to generate cultures of innovation across a whole school? One possible avenue is to draw on the Stanford d School’s principles of “hacking for school improvement”.  ‘Hacking’ has the following characteristics:

  • quick and fast with a bias to act
  • a culture of prototyping (just try)
  • using what we have
  • low risk

This model acknowledges that some teachers can be reluctant to try new ways of doing things because of a need to ‘get it right’. It aims to remove this pressure by grounding innovation in low-risk experiments that value and encourage a bias towards action. According to the Stanford d School:

“Since doing beats talking about doing, we embrace jumping into new, invigorating experiences. Sure, there’s some initial discomfort, but the reward becomes clear as educators stretch beyond their comfort zone to pick up new skills and mindsets.”

By taking a leap of faith and trying something new, rather than waiting for it to be perfect or right, teachers speed up their own learning process. In adopting a fail forward approach, they use their own valuable experiences and reflections to improve the practices they have experimented with.

Leadership at Taroona Primary School saw the initial litter work I was doing with my students. They applied ‘d School’ school improvement hacks to enable, encourage and support me. My experience not only built my personal capacity in the area of authentic learning, it also served as a model for my colleagues.

Pushed by my principal, pulled by my students’ passion, I very quickly came to realise some of the benefits of bravely working in this new space.

Buy in

Students identified litter in the playground washing into the River Derwent as a problem.  The first thing that excited me was that the students were passionately connected to their learning. This created

Students installing the bird feeder they designed to keep currawongs away from rubbish bins

motivation, as they were invested in their efforts and outcomes. I realised that authentic learning is not only ideal for extending highly able students but also for students who are disengaged and difficult to motivate. There was buy in from my whole class!

Students are likely to think laterally, go left of field and dream big, rather than think something isn’t possible.

I had many projects on the go with students. Some worked, some didn’t. But what each project showed me was that with the naturally inquisitive, creative and uninhibited character of children, creatively solving real problems is a gift for teachers. Students are likely to think laterally, go left of field and dream big, rather than think something isn’t possible. And throughout all this, the significant community connections and learning that took place as a result of the journey, cemented my conviction that this was worthwhile, despite the uncertainties and challenges of working in this new way.

Digital Technologies

What also became obvious was the natural fit for digital technologies. Students intuitively considered digital solutions as part of their design-thinking approaches to problems. Our school had recently taken up the challenge of being early adopters of this curriculum area within the primary sector. It was so exciting to see digital technologies being organically applied within the authentic learning process. It brought alive our vision of ‘aligning and enhancing our current work with the digital technologies curriculum’.

My experience therefore served to build personal capacity in the area of authentic learning, as well as serving as a model for my colleagues.

We know from our own experiences that teachers are dedicated and want the best for their students. It’s what drives them to turn up every day. So why then is there a reluctance to adopt a culture of innovation that welcomes authentic learning? Why aren’t all teachers using the genuine and novel problems that exist within schools and communities to provide an opportunity for students to actively contribute as citizens in their own right?

Authentic Learning is Messy

Innovative, authentic learning can be a bit like what it feels like letting your toddler have a playdate with some friends. Even though as a parent you know the benefits of free unstructured child-led play, adults can be reluctant to just let kids go. As an adult, structured activities are easier. The adult knows that the fall-out following child-led play can be messy! And the mess can be both literal and figurative. For those who like to be prepared, organised and in control, this style of learning can be challenging. While pre-teaching and scaffolds are a critical part of the journey and are a requirement for student success, the open-ended nature of authentic learning means that it is not always predictable, the progress can be slow and the outcomes are often unknown.

Like a child led playdate, authentic learning in a school setting provides genuine opportunities for creativity, collaboration, communication and innovation in a way that could never be achieved in a highly structured, adult-centred environment.

Many teachers like the comfort of having content areas mapped out for the year in neatly-defined lessons.  They may justify their reluctance to relinquish control by claiming loss of curriculum coverage. Yet the curriculum is firmly at the centre, incorporated in every aspect of the authentic learning journey. Will everything you try work? No. Will the failures be frustrating? Absolutely. The difference is, authentic learning allows the curriculum to come to life through the actions of engaged, contributing citizens who are making their mark within their school, community or beyond.

It is no longer an option to see schools as places that prepare students for “the real world”.  We ARE the real world!

Hilary Purdie and I are presenting two sessions together at the Leading a Digital School Conference being held in Melbourne at the Crown Promenade Hotel on 8, 9 and 10 August 2019. Our sessions are Bias to action – using hacks to create a culture of innovation and Pump your PL – why mindset alone is not enough for teacher transformation, please come and join us.

 

Teaching skills for an unpredictable future

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written by Adrian Camm

Globalisation and the accelerating rate of technological development provide new and unparalleled opportunities for the evolution of our species. Children entering primary school in 2019 will be young adults in 2030. What will the world look like? What career pathways will be available to them?

Experts argue that the world of 2030 will be shaped by advancements in Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing, Synthetic Biology, Biotechnology and the field of Big Data, particularly as the appliances and accessories that we wear and have in our homes gain greater tracking, storage and analytical power through the ubiquity and accessibility of next generation internet services. Automation is already forcing many industries to rethink traditional blue collar professions. The jobs that were once human endeavours are quickly changing as some jobs become obsolete and new jobs are invented.

As Artificial Intelligence applications become increasingly sophisticated, we are seeing glimpses of the inevitability that one day in the not too distant future, machines will exceed our abilities in many, many areas. Intelligent algorithms have even started to exhibit traits like creativity, traits that we once thought would solely exist in the human domain. Even the way we interact with others has changed dramatically. Everything and everyone has at once become more connected through social media and yet more isolated, as “screen time” takes away from much of our face to face communications.

The young people graduating from schools in 2030 will face some of the world’s most pressing and intractable problems: The political, environmental, economic and societal implications of global warming and climate change, the ethics and morality of our ability to genetically modify our unborn children, an increasing and ageing population that has come about through advances in medicine and increased life expectancy, dwindling natural resources and the merging and augmentation of human intelligence through the use of technology and pharmaceuticals. The call for schools to adequately prepare students for an uncertain future can be seen throughout the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s under the guise of school reform and the risk of irrelevance. Whilst the argument today largely remains the same, we have never before been in the grips of such rapid technological development. Change is now the one known against the multitude of unknowns.

Schools play a critical role in shaping the competencies and capabilities of young people in their care. There has always been debate about the kind of skills people will need to thrive in the future. An in-depth knowledge, skillset and expertise of a particular specialization is still absolutely important, but increasingly major discoveries are happening at the interstices between disciplines and this requires depth in a specific field but also an ability and the capability to see and make connections more broadly.

Schools need to create the conditions for students to develop a disposition toward learning. These conditions must not stymie or stifle curiosity, should free children’s imaginations and enable them to be resilient in the face of adversity. The role of the teacher will still be to teach, but also to model, mentor, facilitate and assist in the development of character and emotional intelligence. Students will need help in developing a certain comfort with being uncomfortable. They will need to be put into situations where they have to make decisions in order to become skilled at making good decisions. They will need to learn how to navigate the multitude of new technologies at their disposal in safe, effective and ethical ways. If schools tailor their approach to develop students who have a sense of agency, then a variety of teaching and learning approaches must be used that are experiential, project-based and interspersed with purposeful periods of direct instruction. By creating these conditions, students will be equipped with the dispositions, tools and networks to embrace any possible future.

So, is it possible to teach skills for an unpredictable future? Yes. A breadth and depth of knowledge can be gained through a combination of explicit and implicit teaching and via opportunities for students to grapple with complex problems through inquiry. Through community service programs and local and overseas expeditions, students develop an understanding of their place in the world and how they can be leaders, giving back to others and contributing as active, productive and informed citizens. Through a focus on emotional intelligence, students learn how to recognize and regulate their emotions and how to see situations from the perspective of others. Skills like creativity, communication and critical thinking are developed in a number of ways through the experiences teachers develop for young people.

What does this look like in schools? How can this be operationalized? What are some specific examples?

Come and meet me at the Leading a Digital School Conference where I will present a Keynote and two Workshops.

See you at the conference on Thursday 8th August, 2019!

Adrian Camm.

Droning In The Classroom

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If we are to believe futurist Thomas Frey, drones will become the most disruptive technology in human history. To be fair Frey’s definition of a drone is more than the flying Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAV’s we typically think of when we talk of drones. The reality is though that drones are more than just flying cameras, they’re being used to deliver goods, fight climate change, monitor reefs, supply humanitarian aid, and take part in races.

My involvement with drones is via the statewide VCMP project which uses them to monitor coastal erosion hotspots. “The Victorian Coastal Monitoring Program aims to provide communities with information on coastal condition, change, hazards, and the expected longer-term impacts associated with climate change that will support decision making and adaptation planning.”

As a citizen scientist I’m part of a local team that uses a Phantom 4 drone, aeropoint satellite based markers and some pretty clever software that lets us measure the amount of sand that is shifted along sections of a beach. We do this by overflying sections of the local coast at around two monthly intervals and then crunch the data with the Australian Propellor software. This software allows users to draw virtual transects or plots along or across the beach to compare data across a range of dates. From this we can calculate the amount of sand movement and/or changes in the beach profile amongst other information. The software also enables users to render 3D representations of the beach.

In order to participate in the program we had to undertake some basic training in using the drone safely and efficiently. Whilst not a full remote pilots licence the training did cover off on most of the practical aspects required to get licence certification. We were also made aware of and have to comply with the Civil Aviation Safety Authorities, CASA, rules for flying sub-2kg drones.

Prior to becoming involved in this program I had purchased a couple of small entry level drones with a view to investigating if and where drones might fit within the school curriculum. Since that time a number of things have happened which have sharpened this focus.

The two major consumer drone manufacturers, DJI and Parrot have realised that the education sector is a market that could be tapped into. As a consequence both companies have adapted previous entry level models to better reflect the needs of schools. At the same time educators around the world have also been developing specialised drone options with students in mind. Most of the skills involved in learning to safely fly these entry level drones can also be applied to more sophisticated models, flying a continuous and even figure eight pattern is just as tricky with my Parrot mambo as it is with my Mavic Pro.

Both DJI and Mambo are developing some excellent support materials aimed specifically at the education market. Some major third party developers including Swift Playgrounds amongst others are also developing learning options. Importantly a number of these third party supports originate in Australia and are designing and providing content that fits the Australian Curriculum.

Drones provide a very practical means to develop STEAM projects. In order to best utilize drones it is important to understand the physics of flight and the various systems that combine to keep drones airborne. Designing and making drones fits perfectly within a STEAM framework bringing together science understanding within a design process that involves multiple systems. In addition to basic design work, drone kits provide the opportunity to devise, prototype and test novel uses for drones. The process of constructing drones, (and sometimes flying drones), often involves quite a lot of “trial and error” learning which provides a perfect context for building resilience and learning from failure. Even the best pilots have at least one malfunction.

The better entry level drones come with simple in-built cameras which can be employed to capture images that can be used as evidence of mission completion or as data for analysis. More sophisticated drones can be used in data gathering across the curriculum especially in geography, geology and the natural environment. LEGO connectors on entry level drones enable the addition of lightweight components which can be used to simulate real world missions. In the real world, drones are now also being used to take the place of fireworks and other lighting effects, again something that is within the scope of the classroom.

Another drone component worth considering is an FPV, or first person view camera. When paired with goggles these cameras provides students with an entree to the exciting world of drone racing and open up the many maths based explorations that are involved in this activity. Whilst flying a drone race can be full of thrills, designing courses that are challenging but realistic can be just as exciting.

A number of the entry level drones can also be controlled using code from block based through to Python and Arduino. This opens up the opportunity for students to devise, program and fly missions that mimic real world applications. If students are working with more sophisticated drones there are a number of software options available to plan and run missions. Whether using smartphones, controllers or software, flying and coding drones can be quite different to doing similar tasks using terrestrial based vehicles.

Of course with any new technology there is a cost involved and other considerations to take account of. Flying time is one of these; some entry level models typically provide 8-10 minutes of air time per 30 minute charge. With the better options users can purchase combos that have multiple batteries and spare propellers. With micro drones it’s important to understand the control range after which the drone may ‘get lost’. When looking at larger drones it’s important to consider the camera capability as well as navigation features such as collision avoidance and return to base features.

Overlaying all of these consideration is that drones are becoming increasingly available; some are available for as little as $20 from popular stores such as K-Mart. Micro-drones that fit into the palm of your hand can be purchased online again for very minimal cost. Despite the fact that these products contain flyers and instructions on safe and responsible drone use, experience suggests that these are often ignored. Schools offer an opportunity for a more structured review of these rules. Working with drones in schools also provides an opportunity to discuss and consider privacy and other issues associated with drones. Schools also provides a context for learning safe procedures; most damage to drones occurs not in flight but in packing, unpacking and transport.

Having hands-on experience with even entry level drones enables students to better consider options for the use of drones in the wider world. It can also lead to senior level students undertaking certificate level qualifications and even RePL, (remote pilot licences) as is already happening in a number of settings.

Come and meet me at the Leading a Digital School Conference where I will be facilitating hands-0n workshops around Droning in the Classroom, Augmented and Virtual Reality, Engineering Robots, Coding and Data.

Innovation and Creativity…IMO

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I don’t know about you, but I have seen this before. I have been this before. It’s an easy trap to fall into. You unwrap the bright and shiny new ‘thing’ that will transform your classroom. The solution to a problem we never knew we had. And the gateway to a whole range of new and exciting problems that didn’t exist before but now do. If only it did what we wanted it to do or even delivered some of the expected outcomes?!

Design has many names. Many ruses. So many different acronyms.  At its heart, though, it seeks to do the same thing, whatever the label. Design is about solving problems. It is about solutions. Testing solutions. Improving solutions. “Design is the link between innovation and creativity, taking thoughts and exploring the possibilities and constraints associated with products or systems, allowing designers to redefine and manage the generation of further thought through prototyping, experimentation and adaptation. It is human-centred and focuses on the needs, wants and limitations of the end user.” (IB Design Guide 2015, p. 4) Once we scratch below the surface and take away the shiny things, Design is problem solving methodology and technology is useful, only if it too, solves a problem.

“Why?” before “What?” If I had a mantra, it would be this. ‘Why’ am I doing this has to come before the ‘what’ do I need to make it happen. I cannot solve a problem without knowing what I am trying to solve.

I see Innovation as the output of creativity. The product of creativity. If creativity is the noun…then the act of this creativity finds its place through innovative thinking and doing. At times we blame lack of resources on our ability to innovate when in fact it’s the constraints that inspire innovation. It is not about what I have, but what I do not have that inspires innovation. And this drives our learning. To be innovative sometimes we need to limit what we have, what we get and what we give. We challenge our students to think. When you break that down. Challenging students to think shouldn’t be outside the realms of what we do, but it often is. And here is the response.

The five cogs of innovation

“Tell me how to do it?” is the cry of the student who is stuck.

“Well I could. Or you could just try something different. Have a go at solving the problem yourself. It doesn’t matter if you get it wrong. You just need to attempt something different to what you have already done.”

And at times they do. While others will not even budge. Fear of getting it wrong has been smashed into them so many times that the thought of not getting it right the first time overrides any natural curiosity. Some students would prefer getting in trouble for not trying, not even attempting to get it right, because its beats the shame of getting it wrong. And that says something about our schools. Our system.

Something needs to change.

Innovation as a classroom subject pushes our students to think they can, rather than believe they cannot and then asks them to attempt things they may not have otherwise tried to do. And the results are things we could not have imagined. Every class is different. New leaders emerge. Students in control of what they learn and how they learn. Our dream is students develop a mindset that they will attempt anything. No matter what they have been told in the past and no matter what others might think they can do. It’s the mindset I want our Design teachers to have. To take risks. To be different. To try something outrageous. And who knows what might happen?

Looking forward to talking more about this at the Leading a Digital School Conference….. And moving forward together.

Matt Zarb

Reference:

IB Design Guide © International Baccalaureate Organization, 2015

Innovation in Action (Rapid Prototyping)

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Rapid Prototyping……Moving from our presentation on Teaching Innovation to the practical of Innovation in the Classroom, cuts into many areas.  As teachers and students, it can be difficult to cram these into a crowded curriculum and assess them against standards. Innovation as a concept requires measurement of some concepts and ideals that are difficult to quantify in the short term and difficult to measure against sensible / meaningful grades.

Some of these ideas include collaboration, creative problem solving, communication, critical thinking.  Wrapping these in the broader social ideals of global citizenship, entrepreneurial literacy, environmental awareness and ethics we start to provide a very broad place to operate within, one where we can focus on what students do; actions here are important.

In our workshop, Innovation in Action, at the Leading a Digital School Conference 2019 we will unpack some of these, as well as how to introduce students in a process of evolutionary innovation that follows a framework that fits into any problem solving methodology.

  1. What problem are we solving

    • why and who – we observe the the world and ask questions

  2. How can we solve this problem

    • what tools / skills and resources  do we have that might help, what do we need.
    • What are we actually going to do to solve the problem.
    • This is often the ideation stage.

  3. Plan and build

    • Prototype the solution

  4. Test and Evaluate

    • Did our solution work? (If not we can re-prototype)
    • How do we know it worked? (testing)
    • Did we deliver the product / service we said we were going to?

These fit most problem solving methodologies and are flexible enough to be adapted.

Our workshop will take attendees through a rapid version of this, where you will be expected to look at the world, discover a problem, come up with a solution, prototype the solution, and evaluate the solution.

We will use peer evaluation and presentation of solutions to evaluate this and most people will be able to take their prototype away with them.

Our workshop can be scaled and can be adapted to most year levels, and we provide concrete examples of differentiation.  What we won’t talk about is how we assess this, to find out why we don’t formally assess Innovation in Action, you will need to attend our presentation on Teaching Innovation.

Jon Roberts and Matt Zarb