Category Archives: School evolution

Take Charge of Your School’s Growth

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Mal Lee and Roger Broadie

Schools, more than ever have to take charge of their own growth and evolution (Lee 2015) – Taking Charge of Your School’s Evolution – http://teacher.acer.edu.au/article/taking-charge-of-your-schools-evolution

).

Only those within each unique school setting can hope to understand the intimate workings of that school and the myriad variables – human and technological – to be addressed in growing the school.

That said the research on the digital evolution of schooling, and on the digital transformation of organisations reveals the very considerable common traits of evolving digitally based operations, and that schools globally will move through the same evolutionary stages and display at each stage a suite of common attributes.

The imperative is that each school takes operational responsibility for its growth and evolution, learns from the digital transformation research and the pathfinder school and adopts a development strategy appropriate and suit of performance indicators for it’s unique setting, mix of staff, community, shaping vision and state of digital evolution.

It is folly in 2016 for schools to wait for the educational bureaucracy to grow the school.

Sadly too many schools are still doing just that, following the management dictates of their education authority, seemingly unwilling to vary the status quo, placing the continued relevance and viability of the school at risk

Bureaucracies as an organisational form are designed to manage operations (Lipnack and Stamps, 1994). They are incapable of handling the speed and uncertainty of organisational change occasioned by the digital revolution or understanding the myriad of interconnected variables needing to be addressed as each school shapes its increasingly mature and powerful ecosystem (Helbing, 2014).

For schools to thrive and grow in a digital and networked world they have to be highly agile, responsive largely self governing organisations with a culture that embraces on-going, often uncertain change and evolution.

Governments globally have recognised that need and given most schools and principals the degree of autonomy needed to take charge of the school’s future. Yes sometimes the rhetoric is not always matched by the reality but notwithstanding it is critical each school principal works to create a culture where the school and its community – and most assuredly not the central office – shapes the way forward.

The onus is on the principal. He/she must lead.

The question you need ask has your school taken charge of its growth and is shaping its desired future? If not why not?

  • Lipnack, J & Stamps, J 1994, The age of the network: Organizing principles for the 21st century, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York.

 

 

BYOT and the Digital Evolution of Schooling

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Martin Levins and I have just released our 2016 edition of BYOT and the Digital Evolution of Schooling.

It is now available free as an e-book.

While building on our earlier 2012 publication for ACER Press on Bring Your Own Technology the new work addresses the rapid developments in the last four years and positions the move to BYOT within the wider digital evolution and transformation of schooling.

The authors’ have decided to make the work freely available to all interested globally wanting advice and direction on the key development.

It can be downloaded from the Professor Peter Twining’s EdFutures site in the UK at –  http://edfutures.net/Lee_and_Levins_2016.

Learning from the Pathfinder Schools

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[This is the third of the short blogs designed to supplement the readings for the Leading Your School’s Digital Evolution program].


Mal Lee and Roger Broadie

Any school contemplating digital evolution should at the outset seek to learn from the experiences of the pathfinder schools, those very early adopters, which have normalised the whole school use of the digital.

These pathfinders, like the pathfinder planes in the Second World War, have in many respects lit the path for others to follow.

They are to be found globally, in increasing numbers.

Most are schools, led by visionary principals that embarked on their digital evolutionary journey in the 1990’s and which after concerted intent and effort have moved to a digital operational mode and positioned the school to continue evolving at pace.

While every school, with its own mix of staff and particular context is unique all, as we discuss in later posts, have evolved in a remarkably similar way, providing later adopter schools a vital insight into the likely road ahead and the variables needing to be addressed (Lee and Broadie, 2016).

Build on their common experiences and the lessons learned.

Recognise there are schools that are developmentally years ahead of where you are at today.

Business since the mid 80’s and the pioneering work of Peters and Waterman (1982) has had a long and highly productive tradition of building on the analyses of the pathfinder organisations.

Schooling has been reluctant to follow suit, imagining all schools are basically the same, largely constant in form, with a focus on refining the traditional ways. Little is the wonder that most schools organisationally in 2016 lag digitally so far behind most other organisations and indeed societal expectations.

The notable exceptions are those schools that have identified the likely impact of the digital revolution, who have learnt from the digital transformation of business and society, and who have striven to take on board those lessons in their own evolution.

It is appreciated one has always to be cautious in drawing upon the work of early adopters but more than a decade on since the initial schools globally moved to a digital operational mode, and after years of noting the strong parallels between the digital masters in industry and schooling the authors would strongly urge your school look hard at the digital evolution of the pathfinder schools as you plan your journey.

Seek if you can to visit such schools, to saviour their culture and appreciate the plethora of interconnected human and technological variables all have successfully addressed in their journey.

Peters. T.J and Waterman, R.H. (1982) In Search of Excellence. NY HarperCollins

 

Schools Have to Go Digital to Remain Viable 2.0

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This is the first of the 2016 series of short blogs on the digital evolution of schooling.  All posts in the series relate to the 10 Week Digital Leadership Programs.

Mal Lee and Roger Broadie

Schools in the developed world have to go digital if they are to remain viable (Lee and Broadie, 2015).

In the same way as the digital masters in industry are showing the way forward and are employing highly efficient and increasingly productive digitally based ecosystems to heighten their productivity and to win the custom so too are the pathfinder schools globally.

Indeed it is now apparent the traditional, much loved but highly inefficient, inflexible paper based school has as much chance of competing against a digital school as the local bookseller has against its online competition. Like the bookseller it might take a few years, but in time the viability of paper based schools will be increasingly tested.

In a world where the young and their parents – the clients of the school – have normalised the everyday, 24/7/365 use of the digital and have ever rising expectations of the technology it is already clear increasingly they will choose, when available those digital schools that meet or exceed their educational, cultural and digital expectations.

Schools can opt to continue operating within the paper based paradigm, unilaterally deciding what is educationally appropriate, focussing on paper based external exams, banning the use of the students’ digital technologies, daily lagging ever further behind both society’s rising digital expectations and the pathfinder schools astute all pervasive use of the digital but each day they do they take themselves further out of the game.

Where the traditional insular paper based mode of schooling has after a hundred plus years maximised its potential the digital, socially networked mode of schooling is just beginning to tap its immense potential and to markedly enhance its productivity.

The digital evolution of the pathfinder schools, and their adoption of increasingly integrated, mature, powerful and agile digitally based ecosystems has highlighted not only their immense potential and their ready facility to realise that potential but also the very considerable structural limitations and inefficiencies of the traditional mode of schooling. Where the former is structurally and culturally highly agile and equipped to accommodate rapid on-going change and evolution the latter is structurally inflexible, and change and risk adverse. Even well led elementary schools will take approximately five years of concerted effort to reach the Digital Normalisation stage.

Sit down and compare the educational, cultural, social, economic benefits, and the likely productivity of a paper based and digital school and it obvious why all schools will have to go digital to have a hope of remaining viable.

Ask yourself the simple question, to which would you send your children?

 

Digital Evolutionary Journey Blogs

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This year Roger and I will post, near on each week, a short post on an aspect of the digital evolution of schooling.

The series will discuss the myriad of interconnected variables schools embarking on a digital evolutionary journey will need to address.

The posts are designed to supplement the 10 week school leadership programs that we’ll both be conducting in 2016.

Many of the posts will be digests of fuller research papers but some, such as that on Digital Darwinism and Schooling, will seek to highlight particularly pertinent aspects of the digital evolutionary journey.

Leading Your School’s Digital Evolution

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A10-week program for school leaders globally

If you want to lead your school’s digital evolution this is the program for you.

Work directly with two of the world’s leaders in the shaping of your school’s strategy.

The schools that have normalised the whole school use of the digital are discovering enormous educational, social and economic benefits.

By creating digitally based, tightly integrated, increasingly mature and higher order ecosystems those schools are positioning themselves to thrive, to sustain their viability and to continually provide an apt quality education in a rapidly evolving world.

Analysis of the pathfinder schools worldwide reveals the common threads all schools wishing to ‘change their business model’ will need to address if they are to succeed.

The course will address threads, particularly as they apply to your unique situation.

The more critical of those variables is having a head, a principal and in essence a ‘chief digital officer’ willing and able of leading the school’s digital evolution, well versed in the suite of human and technological factors to be addressed.

Through this program you will:

  • Review the strategic direction of your school in the light of the digital changes happening in society and your school’s community.
  • Understand the key developmental threads that need to be pursued in parallel, putting these into the context of your national education system and curriculum.
  • Be able to quickly identify your school’s evolutionary position and the likely path ahead
  • Create a big picture, three-year development plan for your school’s evolution.
  • Plan professional development approaches you use to grow and empower your staff and community.
  • Practice assessing the likely and real impact on learning and return-on-investment of technology acquisitions.

In 2016 Mal Lee will run two 10 week programs, particularly to fit the southern school year and Roger Broadie, will conduct two to particularly suit the northern school year. That said with the courses being conducted online select that which is convenient to you.

Roger Broadie

First program – January 11th to March 18th
Fourth program – September 12th to November 18th
Program

Mal Lee

Second program – April 26 to July 4
Third program – July 18 to September 26

The program will build on the pioneering work of Mal Lee and Roger Broadie, that is captured in their:

  • Taxonomy of School Evolutionary Stages
  • suite of studies and articles they’ve written up on virtually every aspect of digital schooling
  • contribution to the identification of the key elements to the digital evolution of schools globally.

They will connect you with the insights of pathfinder schools in many parts of the world, to enable you to plan your strategic approach and staff development.

The program involves a mixture of individual and group Skype sessions, individual activities, group discussions online and reference to key resources to aid your understanding and to use with your staff.

Conscious of how ‘time poor’ are all school leaders and the importance of ‘just in time’ on the job personal development each program will be directed to creating an apt implementation strategy for your school, and providing each participant the wherewithal to conduct a comprehensive, inexpensive ‘in house’ staff development program.

Moreover the program will be highly focused with a specific outcomes set for each of the 10 weeks.

While each program will of necessity be tailored to the particular group all will in general terms address the following critical aspects of digital schooling.

Introduction

Digital transformation of organisations
Client expectations
Evolution of complex adaptive systems
Digital evolution of schooling – evolutionary continuum
Positioning the school
Readiness

Taking charge of own growth
Role of Principal
Role of CDO
Steering group/champions
Human challenge
Strategy

Organisational transformation
Focus on desired totality – not the parts
Shaping educational and digital vision
C21 education for digital and networked society
Playing the old and new games
Tightening nexus between mission and deployment of resources
Big picture development strategy
Accommodating planned linear and natural non-linear growth
Optimising intended and unintended benefits
Equity and cognitive readiness
Shaping the Digital Ecosystem

Shaping desired evolving integrated higher order digital ecosystem and networked school community
47 key variables
From insular, constant, loosely coupled to networked, ever evolving, tightly integrated 24/7/365
Digital and network infrastructure
Role of school website and digitally based operations
Personal digital technologies
Culture/ecology

Culture of change/risk taking/start up nature
Empowering and supporting the professionals
Independent teachers free to take risks and fly
Respect, trust, recognise contribution and empower – students, homes, community
Home – school – community collaboration
Learning and teaching

Learner centred collaborative teaching
Ecosystem that simultaneously addresses all the variables that enhance each child’s learning
Recognition and merging of 24/7/365 learning and teaching
Normalised near invisible all pervasive use of the digital
Productivity and effectiveness

Digitised operations
Taking advantage of digital data
Multi-functional, multi-purpose operations
Efficiency, economies, synergies
Automation
Pooled resourcing – social, material and unexpected
Making the dollar go further
Integrated marketing and genuine immersive experiences
Attracting the clientele
Digital schools growing digital communities\
Participation

They will 15 places in each ten-week program.

They are open to any existing or aspiring school leaders anywhere in the networked world. Those first 15 in will be given the places, the later placed in reserve for the next programs.

That said it is strongly advised you seek a place only if at least a critical mass of your teachers (65% – 75%) of your teachers are naturally using a variety of digital technologies in their everyday teaching.

The program cost is US$ 2000 for the 10-weeks. Roger Broadie is based in the UK and will invoice UK participants $2000 plus UK VAT, participants in other countries will be invoiced $2000 with no VAT added. Mal Lee works out of Australia where there is the requirement to pay a GST (goods and services tax) of 10%.

To register email either Mal Lee – mallee@icloud.com or Roger Broadie – roger@broadieassociates.co.uk – and they will invoice you. Please state which program you are registering for.

Interested colleagues.

If you have colleagues who would benefit from involvement in the program attached is a PDF they can download.

PDF Promo – Leading Your School’s Digital Ev…

24/7/365 Schooling: The Implications

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Mal Lee and Roger Broadie

While Roger and I have made mention in our writings on the digital evolution of schooling of the shift to an increasingly 24/7/365 mode of schooling until now we’ve not paused and specifically addressed its form, nor vitally the many and profound implications for schools, education authorities, teacher educators, governments and indeed society in general.

The attached article does both.

Unwittingly most associated with schooling work on the assumption it is a constant, that organisationally it will continue as it has for the last 50 to 60 years and for some reason will not be impacted by the digital revolution.

In 2015 one still sees globally few politicians, academics or school leaders commenting on the many and profound implications that flow the evolution occurring in schooling.

All see it in industry and discuss the profound implications, but not at yet in schooling.

The national teaching standards, such as those used across Australia in teacher appraisal, recruitment and increasingly in the payment of teachers, are for example based on a paper based mode of schooling that is constant in form, which is assumed will be in place for years and which is highly risk adverse, insular and strongly hierarchical.

Many of the attributes promoted are antithetical to those valued and deemed as essential in a 24/7/365 mode of schooling.

That said the standards are but one of the myriad of current school related practises that will be markedly impacted by the emergence of the 24/7/365 mode of schooling attached.

24-7-365 Schooling

Schools Have to Go Digital to Remain Viable

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Mal Lee

The cover article in this month’s Educational Technology Solutions is one by me that contends all schools have to go digital to remain viable.

A copy of that article is attached or can be got from the Educational Technology Solutions website.

Interestingly in presenting to three groups of school leaders in the past two weeks no one has questioned the suggestion.

Rather the immediate focus has been what does our school have to do.

Why Schools Have to Go Digital

Invitation to Join Digital Evolution of Schooling Google Group

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Roger Broadie, Martin Levins and Mal Lee have created a new a new forum – using Google groups – for those globally interested in advancing, researching and analysing the digital evolution and transformation of schooling.

We are looking at

  • those leading the way in the pathfinder schools
  • those monitoring and researching their moves
  • the education decision and policy makers shaping future schooling and
  • leaders at all levels within later adopter schools wanting to create the desired ever evolving digital school ecosystem.

It is appreciated there are many excellent forums that examine the use of digital technologies in schooling. There is no desire to replicate them.

The focus of most is however the micro usage of the digital technology within existing school structures and operational parameters.

Few, if any, address the digital evolution or transformation of schooling or its parallels with the evolution and transformation of other digital organisations.

Indeed there is in 2015 remarkably few forums supporting individual schools and their leaders undergo the desired digital evolution and transformation.

This new group will focus on the macro impact of the digital on the changing nature of schooling, on schools as complex adaptive systems, ever evolving, ever transforming, creating increasingly integrated and networked digital ecosystems that address the 24/7/365 holistic education of each child.

The desire is to use the collective wisdom of the forum get a better appreciation of the on-going impact of the digital revolution on schooling.

The desire is also to use a global platform like Google groups that allows for the in-depth discussion of an increasing complex scenario where our understanding of the new is limited.

The group is open to all interested, anywhere in the networked world that are playing a lead role – at any level – in the digital evolution and transformation of school ecosystems.

If you or a colleague would like to receive an invitation to join email Mal Lee – mallee@icloud.com or Martin Levins – mlevins@as.edu.au or Roger Broadie – roger@broadieassociates.co.uk.

Alternatively you can post to this group, send email to digital-evolution-of-schooling@googlegroups.com

 

 

 

Strategy not Technology Drives Digital Transformation

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The MIT Sloan Management Review in – its 2015 research report – on ‘Strategy not Technology Drives Digital Transformation’ is well worth downloading and analysing.

Go to – http://sloanreview.mit.edu/projects/strategy-drives-digital-transformation/

While drawing on the developments within industry it is highly applicable to the digital evolution and transformation of schools.