Opinion
Classroom Technology Opinion

Ministers Learn About Improvement at Scale

By Tom Vander Ark — February 01, 2013 4 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

An Education Leaders Briefing concluded the World Education Forum in London
this week. Greg Butler from Microsoft (who helped my district go 1:1 in 1996) moderated the session that I participated in with Sir Michael Barber, Chief Education Advisor at Pearson, and Microsoft education lead Anthony
Salcito.

Barber framed the great challenges of our time: There will soon be nine billion people on the planet, and for most of them to achieve a meaningful quality
of life, it will require that we create effective educational opportunities for all of them. In responding to the challenge of boosting achievement and
extending access, I heard eight themes emerge at #ELB2013.

Mission.
In his recent paper “Oceans of Innovation,” Barber reiterated his frame for the purpose of education where
knowledge, thinking, and leadership are set in a context of ethical behavior in a diverse world in the following equation:

Education = E(K+T+L)

Barber is right; good schools start with good goals. His
emphasis on demonstrated skills and leadership dispositions reflects the fact that many “students will be leaving college and creating jobs for
themselves.”

Speeding Up.
Butler noted that the rate of educational change appears to be increasing. As evidence I noted increased investment from more sources riding the mobile
device and app wave, new tools and schools producing promising results, and students, parents and teachers adopting new tools.

Digital learning is not only an opportunity to boost achievement in developed economies but the first chance in history to extend quality learning,
especially secondary learning, to young people worldwide. (On the low cost private school front, Barber’s team runs the Affordable Learning Fund and Learn
Capital supports Bridge International Academes
.)

New Models.
While there’s a thin layer of “ICT” across the U.K. and U.S., most of it layered on top of old models. A new generation of schools (including NGLC grantees) are blending online and
onsite learning, enabling new student roles, and powering improved working conditions and career opportunities for teachers. Learning online, in formal and
informal settings, is creating new school models and learning options for youth and families.

Butler asked about trends in assessment (a hot topic in England where they announced the planned replacement of GCSEs this week). While summative tests
will lag new capabilities, most assessments will shift from an event after learning to instant feedback often embedded in experiences.

Learning As a Service.
Butler noted that learning is less place bound--a shift from a place to a bundle of digital services. Barber noted the strategic shift Pearson had
undertaken “from print to digital, content to services, and the U.S. to the world.”

As Barber’s formula suggests, the ability to deploy higher order skills is key. While a lot of the edtech apps address small problems, the real
breakthroughs will be tools and schools that develop, assess, and certify higher order skills.

Butler notes that the new game is talent and countries will either be net exporters or importers.

Leadership Matters.
Country ministers play an important role in improving opportunity starting with a plan to provide access devices and broadband. Mario Franco’s leadership in Portugal is a great
example of what is possible.

Ministers also play an important role in setting expectations and certifying learning. The new opportunity for step function improvement in value is
blended secondary and low cost post-secondary options.

Where to Start.
All the speakers talked about visiting and learning from systems and schools that work well. Barber pointed to systems that have made sustained gains:
Finland, Ontario, and Singapore.

Salcito said, “start with the questions, then figure out the device.” He reviewed the Microsoft Innovative Schools 6i frame: introspection,
investigation, inclusion, innovation, implementation, and insight.

Partnerships.
Salcito said, “Partners in Learning is who we are as a company.” It’s an effort to “bring real capabilities to the problem.”

Butler leads an international association of partnership brokers. He trains communities leaders globally in partnership development.

I suggested that real progress will result from multi-sector partnership, putting the right capital to work doing the right jobs. Public leaders should
name and frame problems and invite others to invest. Foundations should promote equity and a long term view. Private partners should produce and scale
innovation.

Improvement at Scale.
Barber has been thinking about and working on improvement at scale for more than twenty years (see

Deliverology

, 2010). He regularly advises country and system heads on improvement strategies. His first word of advice is to “sustain improvement efforts” and avoid
frequent changes to the basic framework--improvement takes sustained leadership.

I suggested a two-part strategy: 1) incorporate technology into improvement efforts, and 2) launch new tech-powered models (a digital portfolio approach).

Barber urged that system heads “think in combinations; don’t think of technology separate from content or professional development” as suggested by
Fullan’s Stratosphere. In conclusion Barber urged the
ministers to “Stay open to the world.” And that’s why the room full of education ministers and staff were in London this week.

Also see:

Related Tags:

The opinions expressed in Vander Ark on Innovation are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.