Learning 2.0 is an annual educational technology conference for Asian international schools, held this year at UWC in Singapore from 10-12 October, 2013.
This year’s conference had a particular focus on “Design Thinking” and “Maker Culture”, and as part of SSIS’ commitment to providing teachers with Professional Development opportunities, a few faculty members from our school were sent to this event.
After 3 days of intense and purposeful discussion at Learning 2.013, I have come away with an overwhelming sense that all those changes in the educational landscape that we’ve been predicting in the last decade or so, are up to us. And we teachers are the change agents.
At SSIS we understand that education is at the crossroads and technology has opened up new possibilities, both for teachers and students alike. Its pervasiveness is changing how we learn and, by fostering Professional Development in these areas, SSIS is making sure that teachers are trained in how to use technology in a way that augments, rather than distracts students from lessons. It is predicted that in the decades to follow, a majority of students will work in jobs that still don’t exist, so at SSIS we want to make sure that our students get ready for a drastically different learning environment.
One of the highlights at the Learning 2.013 conference was the final keynote by Jeff Utecht, a renowned speaker, educator, and consultant in information technology who showed the Google video about moonshot thinking. (If you haven’t seen it, I encourage you to watch it. It is well worth the almost four minutes.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uaquGZKx_0
“Moonshots live in the grey area between audacious technology and pure science fiction. Instead of a mere 10% gain, a moonshot aims for a 10x improvement over what currently exists. The combination of a huge problem, a radical solution to that problem, and the breakthrough technology that just might make that solution possible, is the essence of a moonshot.”
This is it! Moonshot thinking builds on passion, but goes beyond that recognizing that only by choosing to be bothered by problems that don’t seem to be easily solved and committing to working towards solutions. “People can set their minds to magical, seemingly possible ideas and bring them to reality. That sets people on fire and makes them think about things that were impossible are actually accomplishable.”
At SSIS, we do encourage students to embrace this way of thinking. If we successfully ignite this passion in all our students and embrace Moonshot Thinking, the possibilities are endless.