Counting on the Future Nicole Graham EDU505 Dr. Kaiser

Educational Organization  Focus: 7-12 mathematics classrooms in the ER9 school district  Consists of 2 middle schools in Easton & Redding, Connecticut and 1 regional high school  High socio-economic status within community  Contains 3 Boards of Education with 3 budgets o Poses problems for maintaining consistent technology

Mission Statement & Performance  “To nurture and inspire all students to realize their potential and to become self-sustaining, contributing members of a diverse, continuously changing society” (Maintain Excellence, Manage Costs, 2009)  State standardized test results: o Middle school scores are at 94 th percentile o Decrease in high school scores to 85 th percentile (Connecticut State Department of Education, 2011)

Educational Technology Trends  Young people’s incorporations of Web 2.0 technologies into their lives o Schools are responsible for bringing outside technology into the classroom  Challenges to the pedagogical role and professional development of teachers and other enablers of learning o Has the ability to “ignite student passions” (Iiyoshi & Kumar, 2008) o Without professional development, teachers will use new technology with older teaching styles (Becta, 2008)

Economic, Budgetary & Public Policy Trends  Pattern Recognition o Schools create “educational ecosystems” o Students create “learning footprints” o Collaboration abounds (World of Learning, 2012 )  Sequestration of Federal Education Programs o 1.2 Trillion dollars cut in the next 10 years (National Education Association, 2012) o History shows no improvement in funds once cut (Betts, Hartman & Oxholm, 2009)

Demographic Trends  Increase in elderly population o Population of those over age 65 rose from 8.1%in 1950 to 12.8% by 2009 o The elderly population is forecasted to reach 20.2% by the year 2050 (Shrestha & Heisler, 2011)  Increased demand for post-secondary education o By 2015, 2 million more students will be attending college by 2015 o Many students are non-traditional o Competitiveness of college will increase (Ross-Gordon, 2011)

Futuring Techniques  Futuring can help to overcome education’s lag behind technology  Scenarios provide the opportunity to brainstorm situations and practice responses (Mietzner & Reger, 2005) o Pros: ability to visualize and adapt to many possible futures, promotes collaboration o Cons: requires breadth of knowledge on topic, task is time consuming, tends to lack creativity (Mietzner & Reger, 2005)

Scanning Review multiple sources for trends Observational and research- based Scan Analyze results to monitor how trends relate to the future Analyze Develop scenarios based on where change is likely to occur Scenario (Sobrero, 2004)

Vision 2017  Tablet computing and game-based learning will be fully implemented throughout all of ER9 by 2017 o At least one iPad cart for each grade level present in each school in the district o Math department will research and include at least one game- based learning system for the middle school level and one for the high school level  Tablets are ideal due to their versatility  Game-based learning expands on the usefulness of tablets and promotes problem solving

Challenges & Opportunities  Challenges o Sequestering of federal funds will limit technology budget o Growing elderly population will not be supportive of education o Teachers do not know how to use technology o Need to share technology fairly o Need to upkeep and maintain technology & software  Opportunities o Build a technology network o Continuity of technology within district o Ability to reimage concepts o devise innovative and transformative actions (Danaher et al., 2010). o Increased opportunity to attend college

In Preparation  Develop technology budget  Math specialists attend workshops and report discoveries  Create community awareness regarding changes and needs  Professional development to educate staff  Form technology department

Call to Action  Professional development for the staff must come first o Teachers must understand the current state of the district and where it intends to go in the future  Form technology committee with representatives from each school in the district as well as math department heads and at least one technology department member o Group in charge of: Designing staff professional development days Organizing feedback from staff members regarding on-going progress throughout the school year Monitoring how teachers are implementing the technology in their own classrooms

References Becta. (2008). Analysis of emerging trends affecting the use of technology in education. Retrieved from rid _1/courses/EDU /EDU _ImportedContent_ /MasterCourseEDU505_ ImportedContent_ /MasterCourseEDU505_Impor tedContent_ /MasterCourseEDU505_ImportedCo ntent_ /Unit%204/Unit%204%20%20%20Trends% 20%26%20Forecasts/embedded%281%29%281%29/Analysis%20of %20Emerging%20Trends%20Research%20Report.pdf Betts, K., Hartman, K., & Oxholm, C. (2009). Re-examining & repositioning higher education: Twenty economic and demographic factors driving online and blended program enrollments. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 13(4), 6.

References Connecticut State Department of Education. (2011). Strategic school profile : Regional school district 09. Retrieved from Region9-SSP pdf Danaher, P.A., Yi, R., Parry, L., & Harreveld, R.E. (2010). Futuring sustainable Australian teacher education through recent doctoral dissertations: A thematic analysis of alternative scenarios. ATEA 2010 Australian Teacher Education Association Conference, 1-8. Iiyoshi, T, & Kumar, V. (2008). Opening up education: The collective advancement of education through open technology, open content, and open knowledge. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

References Maintain excellence, manage costs. (2009). Retrieved from tionToReddingBOF swf Mietzner, D., & Reger, G. (2005). Advantages and disadvantagesof scenario approaches for strategic foresight. Int. J. Technology Intelligence and Planning, 1(2), Ross-Gordon, J. M. (2011). Research on adult learners: Supporting the needs of a student population that is no longer nontraditional. Peer Review, 13(1),

References Shrestha, L.B. & Heisler, E.J. (2011). The changing demographic profile of the United States. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from  Sobrero, P. M. (2004). The steps for futuring. Journal of Extension, 42(3). Retrieved from

References World of Learning (2012). The 2020 Forecast: Creating the Future of Learning. Retrieved from