Page 5 - NewsLinks October 2020_small test
P. 5

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
   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10