OECD'S Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) Millennium Learners (NML) project the publication "Connected Minds: Technology and Today's Learners"
2. Connected Minds
This publication Connected Minds: Technology and Today's Learners was
authored by Francesc Pedró. It was produced by the OECD’s Centre for
Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) with support from the
MacArthur Foundation.
2
3. New Millennium Learners
Final report of the OECD’s New Millennium Learners (NML) project from
2007 to 2010 www.oecd.org/edu/nml also included an activity on ICT and
Initial Teacher Training.
Other NML publications:
Are the New Millennium Learners Making the Grade?: Technology Use
NML Project
and Educational Performance in PISA 2006 (2010).
Inspired by Technology; Driven by Pedagogy: A Systemic Approach to
Technology-Based School Innovations (2010).
Assessing the Effects of ICT in Education: Indicators, criteria and
benchmarks for international comparisons (2009).
3
4. Outline of book contents
Introduction. Why connectedness matters
1. How connectedness is shaping the economy and society
2. How relevant connectedness is for young people
3. Contrasting views about the digital generation
Connected Minds
4. What are the effects of attachment to digital media and
connectivity?
5. Are learners’ expectations changing?
6. Emerging issues for education
7. Key findings
8. Implications for educational policy, research and practice.
4
5. Connectedness?
It’s not about the technology, but it’s all about
connectedness! Devices and gadgets are less important
than the ability to be connected.
Connectedness is the capacity to benefit from
Connectedness?
connectivity for personal, social, work or economic
purposes.
Seizing the opportunities that connectedness offers.
This is having an impact on all areas of human activity.
5
6. Why Connect?
Global Friends : Facebook Stories Map
Immigration is a strong link that bind these people
making new connections and maintaining old friendships.
Why connect?
Overwhelming trends found is the strong ties that
remains between nations that have linguistic, cultural and
economical ties.
Economic links, through trade or investment, are strong
predictors of country connectedness.
6
7. Education opportunities
Education has an important role to equip individuals with the
skills to exploit the opportunities that the knowledge economy
and society offers.
Challenges for schools and teachers to better integrate the
Education
new digital media and the resulting innovative social practices
into the daily experience of schooling.
Opportunities to help learners to make the most out of
connectedness, enabling teachers to improve their skills
7
8. So what about skills?
Failure to transform a given talent into a set of valuable
skills has negative consequence for individual wellbeing
and economic performance.
It is important to acquire a range of generic
skills, including good foundation skills in literacy and
numeracy, but also communication skills and the ability
Skills
to cope with technology-rich environments.
New technologies mean new skills for new jobs, and that
requires us to rethink learning.
Education is for life, not just the classroom.
8
9. Skills
OECD Skills Strategy - http://skills.oecd.org/
Ireland Ireland's skills snapshot
6 Key Skills of the Junior Cycle embedded into subjects:
Managing Myself
Staying Well
Skills
Communications
Being Creative
Working with Others
Managing Information and Thinking.
9
10. Internet access by place, EU27:
Percentage of total individuals
% Access from home Access from work Access from school
100
90
Internet access by age
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74
Source: OECD Internet Economy Outlook 2012 - OECD Publishing. doi: 10.1787/9789264086463-graph54-en
10
11. Percentage of students who reported that they
did the following activities at home for leisure at
least once a week, OECD average-28
100
Percentage of students
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Play one-player games
Play collaborative online gamese-mail
Use Chat on line
Download music, films, games maintain a personal website, weblog orcomm
Browse the Internet for fun or software fromonline forums, virtual blog
Publish and Participate in the Internet
Source: OECD PISA 2009 Database, Table VI.5.15 Statlinks: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932435435
11
12. Percentage of students who reported that they
did the following activities at school at least once
a week, OECD average-29
OECD average
40
Percentage of students
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Chat on line at school Browse the Internet or browse material from the school'sdrilling, suchat schoolschoollanguage learninga school computer
Use e-mail at school upload for schoolwork work on the school'swebsite
Download, Post Practice Play simulations as for foreign computers foron or mathematics
and website Do individual homework group work and commu
Use
Source: OECD PISA 2009 Database, Table VI.5.17. Statlinks: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932435435
12
13. Internet users who created a web page,
2011 or latest available year
Percentage of Internet users
40
2011 2007
% of Internet users
30
20
16
10
0
Source: OECD ICT database and Eurostat Community Survey on ICT usage in households and by individuals, May 2012
13
14. Key Findings
Public debate is needed about youth, education and connectedness
with an agenda that is informed by evidence.
At increasingly early age already benefit from connectedness.
What matters is what young people do while connected
Key Findings
Students want technology to improve teaching and
learning, not to change it radically.
Educators and policy makers should look at young people’s
current practices as a source of inspiration.
Need to pay attention to the learners’ voices.
14
15. Key Findings
Stereotypes implicitly assert that all young people are the
same with regard to technology, which is far from being true.
For the purposes of improving teaching and learning in
formal education, it is the diversity of students and
Key Findings
situations that matters most.
The skills that young people develop by themselves with
regard to technology do not necessarily help them to
maximise their learning opportunities.
Impact on learners is extremely complex and multisided so
more empirical research is needed.
15
17. Implications for policy makers
Curriculum reform, teacher training, professional development
and assessments
Uneven digital skills – international inventory of required skills
and an agreed framework for digital literacy
Implications
Maximizes learning opportunities for innovation ways to help
students benefit from connectivity
More and better possibilities to improve the learning experience
and outcomes of learners
Equity issues for students to have access, ensure digital exclusion
does not compound social exclusion
17
18. Implications for educational
institutions and teachers
Progressively integrate the new digital media and the resulting
innovative social practices into the daily experience of schooling.
Integrate connectedness into the teaching skills, particularly those
supported with or enhanced by connectedness, with subject-related
skills and assess them.
Implications
• Help learners develop more digital and information skills as it is so
often mistakenly assumed that the young generations possess these
naturally.
• Strengthen information literacy which is vital in order to improve
the educational use of connectedness.
18
19. Implications for parents
• Parents need to assume responsibility in this sphere and their
involvement is valuable.
• Kids value parents guidance, support and interest
• Targeting parents with awareness raising message and resources is
a priority
Implications
• Safe use of connectedness requires particular attention
• Support to kids is important with guidance to maximize the
opportunities offered by connectedness and cope with the risks
• No kid left behind –> no digital orphans
• Dedicated channels provided by government for parental support -
to avoid saturation of schools and teachers - when families with
limited by technology awareness need advice.
19
20. Implications for research
Need more investment in empirical research especially in learning
benefits and rewards of experience.
Research on the realities of how younger and older generations
learn through and engage in technology
Support potential for education in relation to emerging
Implications
technologies
Monitor the effects on connectedness has on
learners, supplementing surveys with observational activities and
social applications and improving via experimental research to
understand the conditions on how technology can make learning
more enjoyable, convenient and productive.
Provide policy makers and practitioners with empirically
supported evidence about what works and how to scale it up.
20
21. Thank you!
www.oecd.org/education
www.oecd.org/edu/ceri
Email: ceri.contact@oecd.org
oecdeducationtoday.blogspot.com
Follow us on:
Twitter Youtube Slideshare
@OECD_Edu @EduContact @OECDEDU
21