Classrooms for the Future

Pennsylvania Department of Education

Edward G. RendellGovernor

Gerald L. ZahorchakSecretary

Pennsylvania Students Our children will compete in a global

market. It no longer matters where workers reside.

Technological Exploration and Innovation…

facilitates constant changes to our world and how we inhabit it…

we must now redesign education to

reflect a this new human paradigm.

Give the kids a digital sandbox to play in.

Wow!!!

2003: Five exabytes of information were added

to the sum of all human knowledge (one exabyte = 2,500 x’s all US research

libraries) 0.01% was printed – all the rest

cyberspace.

They have never:Played Pac Man or PongListened to an 8-trackPurchased a vinyl albumSeen a TV with less than 100 channelsHeard “Where’s the Beef?”Or “de plane, de plane.”

They were born after:The walkmanThe Reagan eraCompact Discs had been around for a decade.

They’re Smart & Connected

And very few have any formative recollection of the 20th century

David Warlick The Landmark Project http://handouts.davidwarlick.com/

Kids Today…

Hmm…

For the first time in history our job as educators is to prepare our children for a future that we can not clearly define.

What can we do to help our students?

Classrooms for the FutureFocus: $200 Million over 3 years for “smart”

classrooms Additional money for Professional

Development

Classrooms for the Future Year 1 (2006-07)

103 Schools 79 Districts Urban, Suburban Rural schools All areas of Pennsylvania

Year 2 (2007-08) 358 Schools 304 Districts Urban, Suburban Rural schools All areas of Pennsylvania

“Smart” ClassroomsEach public high school and AVTS/CTC core

subject (English, Math, Science, Social Studies)

classroom the following:

One laptop per student desk A teacher laptop A printer/scanner Imaging software Productivity software A web cam An electronic whiteboard A computer projector Up to three digital still cameras (per eligible school) Up to five digital video cameras (per eligible school) Infrastructure (wireless network, servers) Technical support

Professional Development Support

In addition to the funding to acquire technology, infrastructure, and support, PDE will provide:

An on-site Classrooms for the Future Coach to guide –

The 9 Roles of a Coach

Resource Provider Learning Facilitator School Leader Data Coach Mentor Instructional Specialist Curriculum Specialist Classroom Supporter Catalyst for Change

www.cffcoach.org

A Coach is Not an Administrative Observer!!!

What Will You Do?

Social Studies: Create a weblog students can post the causes of

World War II. Use the weblog as theses for collaborative multimedia

presentations. Math:

Use interactive design and construction software. Standards-based approach to bridge theory and

practice.

English: Develop webquests. Support critical literacy and advanced

research skills on Langston Hughes’s poetry.

Producing digital movies Composing songs Writing narrative essays

Science: Lead students on a NASA eMission to

outmaneuver a meteorite. Analyze jet propulsion forces Analyze cargo load requirements

What Will They Do?

For students, it can be about moving

from passive listener to active learner

through contextual immersion.

For example, students might –

Other Ideas

Examine online artifacts of the anti-bellum South and then webcast discussions with anthropologists to better understand the cultural exigencies that led to slavery

Observe Martin Luther King delivering his “I Have a Dream” speech and then digitally produce a presentation that might have similar social and historical ramifications on a group of people today

So Much You Can Do

Travel underwater to discover sunken treasures of lost civilizations or the golden scales of a new species of fish through live streaming video from a research vessel

Create a ‘virtual’ universe using online Hubble Space Telescope resources and calculate the event horizon around a black hole or the lifespan of a red dwarf star

The FutureHigh School Reform

Early indicators suggest changes in student performance and perceptions, including:

Increases in – Attendance Student engagement Time spent on task Assignment completion

Decreases in – Classroom disruptions Drop-Outs Overall disciplinary actions

Overall Teacher and student attitude improvements. 

Questions?