Transforming Technology Curriculum: Staying Ahead of the Curve

Andrew MalcolmJill Robert

Pascal Robert

Overview

Medium-sized Independent School

(about 1350 students)

Established, but growing technology program

(5 part-time faculty members teaching 28

sections of 13 courses)

Bring your own device school

Why the change?

Traditional Tech Classes focus on Applications

Skills did not transfer to new versions of software or

even between units in some cases

Problems with student engagement

Classes needed to adjust to accommodate multiple

teachers (used to be just 1 teacher per grade level)

Human Intuitive Perspective of Technological Advancement in Thirty Years

d!*A billion times more advanced!

*theemergingfuture.com

Reimagining The Curriculum

Philosophy shift

Goals first, then technology solutions

In class - not extra

Modules self-led, exploratory,

project-based

4 C's of 21st century education

From: Partnership for 21st Century Learning (link)

T6 Digital LiteracyBuilt from a traditional course

‘Computer bootcamp’

Online citizenship

Lead-into media with movie making project

Lessons’ introductions also online

T7 Media Literacy

Storytelling

Visualizing data

Mass communication

Lead-in to Comp Sci with coding project

T8 Computer Science Principles

What is Computing

Digital Information

The Internet

Intro to Coding

Intro to Engineering

Our Curriculum at a glanceT6 - Digital Literacy

● School Systems

● Digital Organization

● Productivity (Word

Processing, Spreadsheets,

Presentations, Surveys,

Websites, Block coding)

● Digital Citizenship (Digital

Footprint, My Digital Life, Scams

& Schemes, Cyberbullying, My

contribution, Safe online Talk…)

T7 - Media Literacy

● Storytelling (embedding

information in narrative,

podcasting)

● Evaluating Information

(gathering data,

understanding bias, data

visualization)

● Digital Images (visual

storytelling, image

manipulation)

● Animation (storyboarding,

block-coding)

T8 - Computer Science Principles

● Computing (History, Software,

Hardware, Future)

● Digital Information (Storing and

processing, Number systems, images,

colors)

● The Internet (Hardware,

addressing, routing, protocols,

impacts)

● Web Design (HTML/CSS)

● Intro to Coding (Blend of blocks

and written code)

Redesign Considerations

Diverse student skill levels

Going fully digital

Scheduling challenges

Organizing modules for prerequisite skills

Oversight of the curriculum - “Who’s the boss?” of

particular modules/courses

Grading and planning load for each teacher

How is this futureproof?

Little investment in software and platforms

More energy poured into developing skills and

understanding concepts

Modularized content can be easily repackaged,

reordered, and replaced

Teachers can focus on problem-solving skills instead

of teaching the solutions

Focus on skills means teachers don’t have to be

experts in software to teach the modules

Once the course is developed, it does not need to

be taught by a CS teacher

What’s next for us?Mastery-Based Learning

Gamified, Quest-Based Learning Environment

Fostering “Soft Skills” - Patience, “Grit”,

Problem-Solving, Self-advocacy, and Organization

Our Favorite Free Tech Sites● Code HS

● MIT App Inventor

● Common Sense Media

● Google Apps/Drive

● Nearpod

● Scratch

● Piktochart

● Gimp

● Audacity

● Khan Academy

● Quizlet

● Code.org

● Code Combat

● Content Management (Edmodo…)

Open source and free solutions

Typical other tools our students have access to (Apple and MS natives tools, Office)

Favorite Resources of Attendees (1)

Favorite Resources of Attendees (2)