What are the main roadblocks in educational tech? Which barriers tend to impede taking projects to scale in schools? What constraints slow expansion down the most? The 2017 K12 Horizon Report, after multiple rounds of Delphi voting by expert panelists, has a lot to say about the most worrisome handicaps in the educational marketplace.
In this final article in my series we will focus on six challenges that, according to members of the expert panel, greatly impair the adoption of technology in schools. Some of these threats are beatable; others are particularly difficult; and one or two are simply wicked (no one really knows yet how to solve them).
This past fall the New Media Consortium (NMC), along with the Consortium for School Networking (COSN), released their annual K12 Horizon Report. According to the NMC, the Horizon Report “charts the five-year impact of innovative practices and technologies for K–12 education (primary and secondary education) across the globe.” And this report has been around a long time. “With more than 15 years of research and publications, it can be regarded as the world’s longest running exploration of emerging technology trends and uptake in education.” The full report can be accessed here.
Dissecting this report helps not only with an understanding of the ebb and flow of the educational marketplace, but more importantly, it supplies some of the key nomenclature that will help your message resonate with educational customers, world-wide. In this case, I am suggesting each of these threats can also be viewed as an opportunity to solve a pain point for the education market. Perhaps your product can fit the bill.
Although the 2017 K12 Horizon report largely speaks for itself, in this piece I will offer a bit of translation for and connection to leaders in the large and mobile display industry. With full disclosure I must mention that I served as one of the 50+ panelists who developed this report over many months. Serving as an expert panelist for the report for the last three years, I think I can add beneficial nuance to the findings, from an insider’s perspective. Let’s take a quick look at these six recurring irritants.
Solvable Challenges (Yes, we understand these challenges and really do know how to solve them)
- Authentic Learning Experiences
- Improving Digital Literacy
Rejecting the school ‘factory’ model of education, the report suggests that old ways of doing schooling are standing in the way of progress. Learning needs to be real-world, wrapped around real tasks, not just artificially constructed ‘book’ learning. The report cites such successful examples as Samsung’s Digi Pass effort, “a five-month digital and social competencies training program aimed at primary school children in Estonia [in which] students develop real-world digital projects, such as apps.” Although solvable, designing and implementing more authentic learning experiences in schools remains a stubborn challenge because of the staying power of tradition, legacy, and nostalgia in educational practice.
Although it seems like tackling something as simple as digital literacy in schools is a no-brainer, handicaps remain plentiful. Consistent with the thinking of the educational outsider, the obvious solution is to provide more devices to students and schools. Not so fast. According to the report, defining and measuring digital literacy remains a substantive challenge. My experience in this matter is that many teachers and principals tend to perceive “digital literacy” from the lowest common denominator or select the lowest-lying fruit, so the technology use we see in schools can often be valueless or uninspiring. Anything can qualify as digital literacy, including “drill and kill” software practice or unfocused ‘exploration’ time—two of the most dissatisfying trends of our time.
According to the report, it remains “a challenge for schools to implement a comprehensive and cohesive approach to embedding it in curricula.” Well stated. Technology can either be viewed as an add-on or as a helpful tool to achieve specific learning goals. And since school curriculum is always jam-packed, with little room for ‘extras’, both teachers and principals reject any and all attempts at add-ons. If your product is to reach its potential within the education market, it must be viewed as a part of what is already being taught, not an add-on.
Difficult Challenges (Yes, we understand these challenges, but solutions remain elusive.)
- Rethinking the role of teachers
- Teaching computational thinking
When you think of it, the previous challenges (creating more authentic learning experiences and improving digital literacy) highlighted in the Horizon Report anticipate the next challenge: in both cases, teachers will need to teach differently than in the past. According to the report, “rethinking the roles of teachers entails improving teacher training and professional development.” The report cites a project in Hong Kong in which educators were trained “using interactive seminars and discussions, blended learning, online multimedia study, role-playing, and self-evaluation …“ The question follows: are the products your firm manufactures or sells accompanied with value-added services in training? If not, your battle may be an uphill effort. To my point, the Horizon Report illustrated: “After participants put their training into action to design and implement a new curriculum, they saw a statistically significant improvement …”
Teaching computational thinking in schools—aka programming or coding—was also identified as a difficult endeavor in schools, despite its current popularity. Again, since school curriculum is always jam-packed, with little room for ‘extras’, both teachers and principals tend to view this trend as an unrealistic add-on.
Wicked Challenges (the most complex that we face)
- The Achievement Gap
- Sustaining Innovation through Leadership Changes
The achievement gap is defined in the Horizon Report as “an observed disparity in academic performance among student groups, especially as defined by socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, or gender.” Such performance gaps can also find their origins in geography and access to educational resources. Not a challenge that will be soon solved, the Horizon Report at least tries to shine a spotlight on the issue. To me, this issue has both micro and macro implications. At the individual level, as an example of the penalties that accompany the achievement gap due to limited access to technology resources, see this short video called the Homework Gap:
At the macro level, consider this: according to the Horizon Report, “only 9% of rural India is connected to the internet.”
Sustaining technological innovation is also greatly impaired by the constant leadership change and undulation experienced by schools and districts. The Horizon Report suggests
Leadership vacancies or transitions can result in project delays or hinder the development and growth of programs designed to effectively meet student needs. Turnover can also render promising initiatives without a driver, especially if a clear innovation strategy is not implemented to propel sustainable change and if other participants do not feel a sense of ownership over the program.
It’s hard to keep the momentum going for technology with such constant churning and swapping of priorities. This occurs at multiple levels. A key teacher-leader transfers to another school. A principal is promoted to a central office position. A district central office champion for technology retires. A technology director moves across town to another district. A new superintendent arrives, after the last one was abruptly chased away. The results? Promised initiatives are slow-walked or replaced; the rank and file see another personnel swap coming, so they stay in their lanes, avoiding the innovation and its potential; and the business opportunities we have worked so hard on over the last year—oh well, it’s time to start over.–Len Scrogan
