In this piece from Jude Barback in the New Zealand Herald 28th November, educators discussed their opinions as visitors to the recent Bett Asia Ed Tech summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
There was a broad agreement that a teacher’s focus should be on pedagogy and enabling 21st century skills like critical thinking, collaboration and creativity. Though access to devices were important, educators were circumspect in not attributing all of 21st century learning to technology alone.
Sean Valvoi, the Principal of Opaheke School in Auckland, stated that “It’s not about the device, but the pedagogy behind the device.” This comment was echoed by Anthony Salcito, Microsoft’s vice-president global education who said “We’re not using technology to recreate an old system of education.”
At Tai Tokerau Education Trust we pride ourselves on the influence of data-driven, pedagogical platforms to attain our future focused learning goals. Whether its ‘Learn-Create-Share’ or ‘Know-Act-Reflect’…our supported schools always engage with their pedagogy of choice, before diving into the alluring screens of devices and the buzz of technology.