FM Update 23 October 2023

The second of two items for my Kiwi readers as they begin their week.

FutureMakers Newsletter 23 October 2022 I’ve just arrived back in NZ after a fabulous week in Palm Springs attending the Aurora Institute Symposium. In my previous newsletter I shared a number of things that had impressed me from the conference, and I continue those thoughts in this newsletter having had the benefit of a bit of time to think on the plane home. I thought I’d send this out today as it is a public holiday here in NZ and may provide some of my NZ readers an opportunity to catch up on a bit of professional reading 🙂 In this newsletter… Stories of Innovation and Transformation Agency by Design A Story of Transformation The AI Powered School AI Toolkit for Educators Stories of Innovation and Transformation The overarching theme throughout the Aurora event were stories if innovation and transformation in the education system. The key thing being emphasised by so many of the speakers is that our current system was ‘designed’, so we need to ‘re-design’ it – in other words, be intentional about how we do this. Good examples of this happening was in the work of the UrbanAssembly, and in EQ2 Initiative with schools in New Mexico, the work of SpringPoint Schools and Big Picture Schools. Many other stories are captured in Transcend Education’s Innovative Models Exchange. In the final plenary of the conference featuring a panel of educators from Westminster Public Schools and Lindsay Unified School District we heard some powerful stories of system transformation within a school district. The quote below resonated with me as I listed to what these educators had to say… “Low expectations of learners for any reason is malpractice.” Agency by Design In case you missed it in my previous emails, our new book, Agency By Design: An Educator’s Playbook, is available free to download from the Aurora Institute website. Since its release at the Aurora conference there has been a steady stream of downloads and interest from educators and schools. The book is downloadable as an interactive PDF, allowing you to add your own notes as you read – and you can download the entire book or simply the chapter(s) you may want to focus on at the time. Please let others know about this free resource, and, of course, we’d love to get your feedback on how helpful it is in your context. A story of transformation The First Class is a movie that tells the story of Crosstown High School, located it Memphis. It was screened on the second night of the Aurora Institute Symposium. The movie illustrates what’s possible when community comes together to create real change. The project is lead by the XQ Institute, an organisation dedicated to rethinking the high school experience so that every student graduates ready to succeed in life. You can view the trailer here – but need to apply to arrange a screening for your school or community. A search of videos on Youtube about Crosstown High will also provide some good insights into the sorts of things they have been doing. The AI Powered School My copy of The AI Powered School by Gabriel Rshaid finally arrived and I read it on my trip back from the US. For anyone looking to orient themselves with the world of AI and the ways it might be used in education this is a really useful. Each chapter been written in the form of a workbook, providing questions for personal reflection and guidance on how to go about planning for the classroom, including sample lesson plans. Gabriel is both a “techno-optimist” and a “techno-realist”, and raises valid concerns about the potential pitfalls and dangers of AI that our learners must be made aware of, alongside ideas for how to harness these AI tools to enable more powerful learning experiences. It’s obviously a book that has been written in haste, and would benefit from some careful editing and layout attention, but despite that, it provides a really valuable ‘entry point’ for educators seeking to increase their understanding about the role of AI in education. AI Toolkit of Educators Here’s another useful resource for educators looking incorporate AI tools in their work. The AI Toolkit of Educators (21 page PDF) has been created and distributed along with the launch of a new LinkedIn group, AI for Teachers. Inside this resource you’ll find a carefully curated list of a number of AI tools suitable for educators to use – classified under admin, research and teaching and learning. The list itself is evidence of how expansive these tools are and how rapidly they are emerging and impacting our lives and work. But wait, there’s more… At FutureMakers we use a range of forums to curate good ideas and resources. Check out the following… Derek’s Blog – regular posts available on the FutureMakers website Previous newsletters – access all of the previous editions of the FutureMakers newsletter from this one place Resilient Schools Online Community – brought to you in partnership with Transcend My slideshows from recent presentations curated on SlideShare Modern Learning Practice – a curated set of links on Scoop.It Hybrid Learning – a collection of resources on the FutureMakers website Learner Agency – another collection of resources on the FutureMakers website If you’ve enjoyed reading this newsletter please feel free to forward it to others to read, or better yet, ask them to become a FutureMakers subscriber so they will receive their own updates delivered to their mailbox. I’m always interested to hear your feedback or ideas about what you’d like to see included in future newsletters – please use the link below to email me with your suggestions. Email Derek

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