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Reimaging Schools with ISS CHALLENGES
By John Burns
ISS Chief Innovation Officer
OVID-19 has forced schools to rethink how they operate, educators to re-imagine Parental engagement
Ctheir practice, and students to adapt and learn in new ways. Although this pandemic Many schools reported a significant increase in parent engagement during this
presents unprecedented challenges for schools, it is also an opportunity that enables us period due to accessible technology and efforts to create learning partnerships.
to reimagine and reinvent schools in ways never seen before. Suggestions included:
To scale these great practices, we recently opened our innovation management platform, • Giving parents the option of online or in person student led conferences
ISS CHALLENGES, to educators around the globe. At its core, ISS CHALLENGES allows • Regularly inviting parents to virtually join the classroom as subject matter
us to pose questions and then crowdsource ideas from the wider community. Our first experts or learning support staff
external challenge asked educators around the globe to reflect on the question, “What
new practices should schools keep or implement as a result of our experience with Learner agency
online learning?” Learning at home has shown the importance of making time for students to
asynchronously work on projects of interest to them and for all members of the
The response was tremendous. Not only did educators submit a plethora of fantastic community to share their passions. Ideas included:
ideas, but they also supported others in further developing their thinking. Many ideas • Dedicating a significant block of time every week to a student passion project
were moved through the innovation pipeline to become scalable initiatives. In the end, • Providing an a-la-carte list of STEAM, SDG or other focused challenges for
seven winners were announced.
students to pick and choose from
Perhaps even more interestingly, across the many entries, six broad themes emerged.
Here are the six action items that all schools should continue to engage with going Authentic learning
forward. Online learning demonstrated the ease and power of using technology to bring
the world into classes and open classes up to the world. Suggestions included:
• Participating in virtual field trips which are abundant and free online
• Using learning portfolios to showcase what students know and do and
encourage discourse with the wider community
Low-tech, sustainable solutions
Not everything needs to be online. Educators discovered that some of the most
meaningful learning happens off-line and beyond the formal curriculum and
schools need to make room for that. Ideas included:
• Creating urban farms. These can spring up even in apartments and high rise
living
• Introducing no-tech days to encourage physical activity and exploration of
other learning opportunities
Student-centric design
There is a clear need for schools to be redesigned to reflect students’ needs,
rather than have students accommodate the standard design of schools.
Suggestions included:
• Providing more asynchronous opportunities; for example, shift school
timetables to reflect the needs of different groups of learners
• Use social media more as a mechanism for both student engagement and
also learning showcase and reflection
Faculty support
School closures have catalyzed incredible collaboration among faculty in schools
and around the world. Ideas to keep up this positive momentum included:
• Snapshot professional learning experiences co-created by staff and shared
with other schools worldwide
• Transfer faculty onboarding and orientation to an online mode. This can be
a great pre-emptive strike before staff even join the team.
ISS will continue to launch new challenges for educators and students through
2020-21. Keep an eye on ISS.edu and #ISSedu on social media to get involved!
ISS.edu • NewsLinks, October 2020 • Page 5