What does it mean to be future-ready in the post-Covid-19 education world? In seeking to answer this question, I found several ideas emerging for these three main audiences: teachers, districts, and students. The major focus of many sources I reviewed was teachers.
Post-Covid-19, future-ready teachers are learners, leaders, good digital citizens, collaborators, designers, facilitators, and analysts (ISTE Standards for Teachers, n.d.). The picture of the new future-ready teacher that emerged as I researched looks like a person who:
Helps students build real-world skills,
Provides personalized, student-centered learning opportunities using technology tools and by focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of individual students.
Facilitates student learning using multi-modal instruction
Fosters creativity, collaboration, communication and independence in students,
Uses emerging technology such as virtual reality, augmented reality, gamification, and artificial intelligence,
Collaborates with students, colleagues, and community members (local and global)
Teaches and models good digital citizenship,
Creates innovative learning environments and activities,
Adapts content when possible,
Uses technology and data to analyze learning, to provide feedback, and help students take ownership,
Is proactive, flexible, and reflective, and
Is a learner who regularly works to stay current, improve digital literacy skills, and to learn new techniques and tools (Kary, 2020; ISTE for Teachers, n.d.; Curtin, 2021; #EdTechHub, 2021; Harvard, 2021; Friedman, 2021; Korkmaz & Toraman, 2020; CB Insights, 2020).
Future-ready teachers also focus on developing personal connections. They consider the well-being, mental health and safety of students, and they also help students to grow in social and emotional abilities too. These skills, while not technological, can reduce emotional problems and can be as important as intelligence in determining future success (Brotto, 2018; #EdTechHub, 2021). Krokmas and Toraman (2020), provide a warning to not overlook the psychological, social, or emotional facets of learning.
Teachers cannot be future-ready on their own. The school districts they work in have to be future-ready as well. A future-ready district:
has a visionary strategic technology integration plan,
advocates for digital equity and citizenship,
empowers teachers and builds leadership within the faculty,
makes sure systems and infrastructure are put into place,
ensures current and future availability of adequate resources,
has leaders who stay current (Kary, 2020; ISTE Standards for Leaders, n.d.).
District leaders have the critical task of developing teachers by training and preparing them to use and build technology into all areas of the curriculum (Barron et al., 2021; #EdTechHub, 2021; Kary, 2020). School district leaders also need to have a plan in place to deal with drawbacks such as privacy and safety concerns, lack of equitable access, financial constraints, technology-related mental health issues, and potential misuse of technology (CB Insights, 2020; Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2021; Korkmaz & Toraman, 2020).
Students will only be future-ready if their teachers and school districts are first. In order to be future-ready, students need to become life-long learners who set their own goals and have strategies for reaching those goals. They need to be good digital citizens who manage their digital identity and guard their privacy, while understanding the permanence of their actions online. Students also need to have the ability to gather information and evaluate it, be able to communicate their thoughts in various ways, and collaborate with others to help solve problems (ISTE Standards for Students, n.d.). Students also need to be able to think critically and analytically, solve complex-problems, manage themselves, work with others, communicate well, be flexible, innovate, have initiative, and be creative. Other future-ready skills that are beneficial for students of today are leadership, technology design and programming (Carlson, 2021; Friedman, 2020).
References:
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Barron, M., Cobo, C., Munoz-Najar, A., & Sanchez Ciarrusta, I. (2021, February 18). The changing role of teachers and technologies amidst the COVID 19 pandemic: key findings from a cross-country study. World Bank Blogs. https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/changing-role-teachers-and-technologies-amidst-covid-19-pandemic-key-findings-cross#.
Brotto, G. (2018, December 27). The Future of Education Depends on Social Emotional Learning: Here's Why. EdSurge News. https://www-edsurge-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.edsurge.com/amp/news/2018-06-04-the-future-of-education-depends-on-social-emotional-learning-here-s-why.
Carlson, T. (2021, January 27). This is how we build a future-ready workforce for the post-COVID world. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/building-a-future-ready-global-workforce-post-covid/.
CB Insights. (2020, October 2). Covid & Post Pandemic Education: 6 Ways Tech Could Transform How We Teach & Learn. CB Insights Research. https://www.cbinsights.com/research/back-to-school-tech-transforming-education-learning-post-covid-19/.
Curtin, R. (2021, April 6). Reimagining Higher Education: The Post-Covid Classroom. EDUCAUSE Review. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2021/4/reimagining-higher-education-the-post-covid-classroom.
#EdTechHub. (2021, February 16). EdTech and Covid-19: 10 things you need to know. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=cOkhyBbg92k&feature=youtu.be.
Friedman, M. F. (2020, December 16). Are U.S. Schools Ready to Move from Traditional to Personalized Learning Environments? Future Ready. https://futureready.org/are-u-s-schools-ready-to-move-from-traditional-to-personalized-learning-environments/.
Friedman, M. (2021, February 16). Personalized Learning in a Post-Covid-19 World. Future Ready. https://futureready.org/personalized-learning-in-a-post-covid-19-world/.
Harvard Graduate School of Education. (2021, March 30). COVID and Education: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Future of LearningBridget Long . YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=2KlzTEl8ATo.
ISTE Standards for Coaches. ISTE. (n.d.). https://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards-for-coaches.
ISTE Standards for Educators. ISTE. (n.d.). https://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards-for-teachers.
ISTE Standards for Education Leaders. ISTE. (n.d.). https://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards-for-education-leaders.
ISTE Standards for Students. ISTE. (n.d.). https://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards-for-students.
Kary, S. (2020, July 20). We Must Take a Strategic Approach to Technology Integration. YouTube. https://youtu.be/iCY6e74Izio.
Office of Ed Tech. (2016, April 5). Growing Teachers as Leaders. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gozQhf7kayI.
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