Week 27: Contemporary Trends

'Trend' as stated in the week 27 webinar notes is a term which refers to the statistically observable change or general orientation of a general movement (Visser & Gagnon, 2005). The trend I have chosen to look at due to its relevance to my current teaching practice is 'Technology advancements and risks.'

Analyse the trend

"New technologies have change the way we communicate, work and even socialise." (OECD, 2016) With the advancements in technologies happening on a day to day basis we must prepare our students for a world that we potentially have no idea what will look like in the next ten years. A scary thought. Giving our students access to these technologies is extremely important for their growth as 21st century learners however, with this growth comes risk. The biggest risks involving our students at this stage are cyber-attacks mainly, cyber bullying.  Students see these technologies as a part of their daily routine. As stated in the article written by the OECD (2016) is discusses the number of Facebook and YouTube users being over a billion with 1 billion Facebook users access information in a single day.

How does this trend link to my practice?

Three years ago, my school implemented in one-to-one laptop programme. Along with this innovation came many hours of preparing our staff for setting up adequate programmes that would set up our students to become effective 'digital citizens.' OECD (2016) states “As adolescents and children are the most frequent users of online services and social networks, schools and teachers are increasingly faced with the challenges of educating and guiding students through the advantages and disadvantages of the virtual world.” This programme included cyber-bullying, password protection and online predators - just to name a few. These areas are an active part of our school programme. As new apps/programmes/social media become available it is important to keep our program up to date to meet the needs of our students. This trend also fits in well with our age group as they begin to feel the pressures from their peers to conform to the norms of today.

As teachers it is paramount we teach the students of today how to be effective cyber citizens. We cannot shy away from this issue anymore.

Figure 1. Trends Shaping Education 2016. (OECD, 2016, p.99)

References

OECD. (2016). Trends Shaping Education 2016. OECD Publishing, Paris.

Visser, L., & Gagnon, K. (2005). Defining “Trends” and “Issues” in Distance Education. Conversation with Donald Paul Ely Y.     Visser, L. Visser, M. Simonson & R. Amirault (Eds. de la serie), Trends and Issues in Distance Education. International Perspectives, pp.83-89