What are your kids browsing at school?
The Government has ambitious plans to make the digital economy centre stage by 2025. But are our schools ready? asks Scott Noakes.
It’s startling to realise that in the not too distant future, an estimated 65 per cent of primary school aged children will be employed in jobs that don’t even exist yet, and in industries that have yet to be developed.
Technology has reached a price performance tipping point, where computing power is both so powerful and affordable that the opportunities for job creation are almost limitless. This is such an exciting time.
With technology changing so fast, our education system needs to adapt and New Zealand is leading the way. The Digital Technologies and Hangarau Matihiko curriculum is in the process of being rolled out across all New Zealand schools.
It aims to equip all school students to participate, create, and thrive in this fastevolving digital world.
This new curriculum explores how technology works, teaching how to use that knowledge to solve problems.
At the end of year 10, all young people should be digitally capable – able to use and create digital technologies to solve problems, and to give them an advantage whatever pathway they choose.
By building digital capabilities, the intention is to create an education system that joins classrooms and the world of work in a way that is relevant.
While this curriculum rollout is already in process, we need to ask – ‘‘are schools prepared?’’ Cyber safety and keeping students on-task while online are two of the main concerns for many school leaders.
With digital technology shaping the modern learning environment, teachers are increasingly dealing with a range of issues including digital distraction in the classroom.
Closing the digital divide and equipping our digital natives for the future of work means making sure we have the right foundations to succeed.
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programmes are now popular in many schools as they are both cost effective, and prevent a school over-investing in technology that can rapidly become outdated. There can, however, be challenges with cyber safety on schoolmandated devices moving between school and home.
A recent study of more than 260 schools throughout New Zealand showed that one third of high school students have attempted to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) at school to bypass their school internet filtering system.
Students can choose from more than
200 free VPNs in the app store, and easily download one to their device.
They can then be on school wifi, but have unrestricted online access, including to content or platforms the school may consider inappropriate.
The rapid uptake of 3G/4G smartphones also means more students are able to sidestep school internet policies altogether by using their own data plans, and even ‘‘hotspot’’ school devices – effectively removing them from school network restrictions.
It’s important to be clear about what we want to achieve for a digital New Zealand, including the Government’s vision that ‘‘all New Zealanders are thriving in a digital world.’’
Clare Curran, Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media, and Government Digital Services, told the recent Digital Nations
2030 conference that government wanted to close the digital divides in our society by 2020.
Curran says she wants everyone to have the chance to share in the opportunities digital is creating, and feel comfortable and safe operating online.
Her vision includes ICT being the second largest contributor to GDP in New Zealand by 2025.
Digital divides have costs in the form of wider social deprivation, the risk of lower educational attainment, and fewer opportunities to realise potential.
Curran would like all New Zealanders to be prepared for the future of work, with the digital economy centre stage.
Age appropriate guidelines and boundaries around internet use are essential for the development of good digital citizenship, and for the overall success of the new school curriculum. Schools are in a period of digital transformation, and need to support their teaching staff through this transitional period.
Creating a culture of visibility and accountability around internet use is important to both support the success of the modern learning environment, and to keep the temptations of digital distraction at bay.
The recently published World Economic Forum report on global competitiveness ranks New Zealand highly in many of the 12 identified pillars, including the ninth pillar of Technological Readiness.
A globally competitive country is one that is productive with increasing growth and income levels, and technology can underpin much of this growth. The vision of New Zealand being future-focused, where technology is the driver of a thriving, agile, intelligent, compassionate digital nation that leaves no-one out, is ambitious. Let’s make sure it becomes reality, with schools leading the way.