Headmaster's Notes

"my parents know what I do and where I go and who I talk to online."

Over 25% of Elementary/Middle students responded "my parents do not know what I do online" compared to only 9% of High School students who responded in the affirmative.

Interesting and alarming considering many parents are not aware of the pitfalls of late elementary and middle grades today.  Or, if they are aware, they just believe that certain behavior will develop later in their child's life.  It is unfortunate that we, as parents, have to think of the trappings of teenage behavior at eleven and twelve years of age.  But, unfortunately, that is where society has taken us.  

As I have talked to other Heads of Schools over the years, we are consistently disheartened by issues that would be typically associated with High School students surfacing in the Middle Grades and younger.

Be aware, be active and communicate with your children.  Know where they are going online, who they are talking to online, what their facebook page looks like and be proactive.

Children Online and on their Cell Phones

Recently I read a report by Doug Fodeman and Marje Monroe.  The report presented research on Student Internet and Cell Phone Behavior.  I thought some of the findings to be interesting and very informative.

Over the next few weeks I would like to discuss their findings in this blog, but for now, here are a couple of tibits:

• 82% of all students report having Internet access in their bedroom but only 16% report having some type of web filtering software (parent control software)
• 1 out of every 10 students with a cell phone admitted to receiving "offensive or inappropriate photos or videos"
• Most popular sites for students of all ages are Facebook (62%) and YouTube (32%)
• About 1 out of 4 students reported having made a friend online whom they've never met in person.
• On average a high school junior has about 800 Facebook friends.  About a quarter of all students either have risky privacy settings (open to strangers) or don't know what their settings are.   

More discussion in upcoming postings.

What are Colleges Looking For?

Recently, I read a blog from Pat Basett.  Pat is the President of the National Association of Independent Schools.  Pat recently was asked to sit on a panel of College Presidents, including the Presidents of Georgetown and Stanford.  His blog struck me.

He posed the question to the various colleges presidents: what can our Independent Secondary Schools do better with respect to preparing our students for college?  Pat went on to say, he fully expected them to come back with a variation of his 5 "C's", Critical Thinking, Communication, Creativity, Collaboaration and Character.  And, although they acknowledge those as being important skills to develop, they were unanimous in stating the crisis in college students today is emotional maturity/resiliency.

They cited statistics such as: 30% to 40% of undergrads are on anti-depressants (some I am sure, are self medicating to deal with stress), 10% of college females are suffering from eating disorders, and finally the problem of rampant alcohol abuse on college campuses (drinking for the purpose of getting drunk).  These are sobering statisitics and facts.

It seems to me, that as important as the ABC's and Math Facts are, we should acknowledge that a child's emotional well being (happiness, confidence, maturity) is of equal or greater importance. 

 

Great Challenges to have at AFA!

Do you know how one can tell what kind of school year it is going to be?  I can usually tell from the problems that arise in the first few weeks.  Examples from this year so far:

1.  Sir, we have over twenty sailors who want to sail competitively, we need more boats.

2.  Sir, we have filled all of our female dorm rooms and we have a couple on a waiting list, where should we go from here?

3.  Sir, we have over 16 students who want to sign up for the Saturday Engineering class and we only have room for 16.

4.  Sir, we had to ease up on our football game Friday night (a 47 - 7 victory), how do we manage the high expectations for our Football team?

If these are our challenges, it looks like it might be a great year!

 

 

5th and Final NMC Horizon Report Trend - Innovation and Creativity!!!!

Innovation is being valued at the highest levels of business, and should be an essential part of education today.  The way we design learning experiences should reflect the importance of creativity.

As most people have heard one of the truths of education (through the video, Shift Happens): we are preparing kids to use technology that has not been invented yet, to solve problems that we do know are problems yet.

Creativity and Innovation - we should teach, nurture and develop those skills in our students.

 

Mobility, Mobility and Mobility

The fourth trend cited by the NMC Horizon Report discusses peoples expectations to work, learn and study whenever and wherever they want to.

Fingertip access to information will continue to be of critical importance.  The implications for informal learning are profound, as are the notions of "just in time" learning and "found" learning.  Both ways maximize the impact of learning.  Students do not only want timely access to information, they also want that same effeciency and access to their social networks that will help them to interpret and maximize that information or lesson.

Information -  anywhere, anytime.

The Digital Divide

The third point made in the NMC report states that Technology continues to affect the way we work, colloborate and communicate.

Increasingly, technology skills are critical to success in the workplace, and those who are more facile with technology will advance while those without access or skills will face difficulties.  The digital divide, once seen as a factor of wealth, is now seen as a factor of education.

As a school we must make sure our students learn the skills to enable them to have multiple careers in an ever increasingly mobile workforce.  And as time goes by, technoloy skills are becoming of critical importance.

 

 

 

Cloud Computing

The second point made in the NMC Horizon report discusses the implications of cloud computing.  What does that mean for the student, the teacher and the institution?

The acceptance of cloud-based applications are changing the way we function.  Now, it does not matter where the information is stored or what device we choose to use to access it, we just want to be able to get to it whenever or whereever we want.  Globally, we are going to become accustomed to a model of browser-based software that can work on any device or computer brand. 

This truth will make computers become appliances, and will start saving big dollars for schools and institutions.

Educators roles revisted due to the abundance of resources accessible via the Internet

The first point made by the NMC Horizon Report is a recognition that the role of an educator is changing due to the abundance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via the Internet.

Schools are now considering the value that each resource adds to a world where information is easily obtained everywhere and at anytime (thanks to mobile devices).  In such a world, it is increasingly important to mentor students in the assessment process of determinining accurate information and how best to use that information.

The role of the "teacher" is changing.....

 

Emerging Technologies and their Potential Impact on and use in Teaching and Learning

I recently read The NMC Horizon Report: 2011 K-12 Edition.  It is a publication produced by the New Media Consortium.  They examine emerging technologies impact on teaching, learning, and creative expression within the environment of pre-college education.

Over the next few weeks I will be commenting on the five trends they have cited as key drivers of technology adoptions for the period of 2011 through 2016:

1.  The abudance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via the Internet is increasingly challenging us to revisit our roles as educators.

2.  As IT support becomes more and more decentralized, the technologies we use are increasingly based not on school servers, but in the cloud.

3.  Technolgoy continues to profoundly affect the way we work, collaborate, communicate, and succeed.

4.  People expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever they want to.

5.  The perceived value of innovation and creativity is increasing.