Is your district Future Ready? Yes, I know. Loaded question.
The term Future Ready has taken on all shapes and sizes since 99 Superintendents and I were in Washington DC at the White House with President Obama Secretary Duncan back in 2014. At the time, our focus was on connectivity and access for students, along with a deep commitment by our districts to ensure students have the skills to access college and career, and educators have the resources to support learning.
Future Ready goes way beyond connectivity, apps, and one to one devices, or even BYOD for that matter.
In today's schools, being Future Ready focuses on a number of skills:
Students must be leaders in their learning. The days of sage on the stage are long gone. Students need to be at the center of their learning, driving their learning with access to technologies and assignments that both engage and challenge.
Students must have access to tools, and that means hardware and software. Much as we like to say technology is a tool, having those "tools" accessible because leaders and School Boards prioritized budgets, after gaining stakeholder buy-in, is a big start to being ready for...well....just about everything.
Skills are taught to students. Students must have the opportunities on a daily basis to practice and hone their tech skills. They must be able to transparently use technology beyond the level of "substitution" in the SAMR Model. Being able to think critically while communicating and collaborating means they can use tech to extend their learning as the tools they were designed for.
What do you think is needed for further Future Readiness?
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