Science, technology, innovation and change, and their widespread integration into society, are changing 21st century teaching and learning. Schools and universities are making the most of the advantages they bring.
Books are no longer limited to hard copy editions, whiteboards and markers have replaced the blackboard and chalk, and smartphones have all but superseded face-to-face interaction.
The first tablets, held by Moses, had fairly limited features: they outlined the 10 Commandments, for a defined group. Today’s constantly upgraded tablets – iPads and the rest – claim to do just about everything, and connect individuals to a digital global community.
Artificial intelligence (AI) devices are used to grade students’ work. Chatbots replace human teacher assistants and communicate with students, who don’t always know they are talking to machines.
Australian students are encouraged to embrace and prepare for a future that looks vastly different from the reality they experience today – a future dependent on science, technology, innovation and change.
It’s a story that’s been told before.
On 26 January 1788, those who landed in Port Jackson with the First Fleet also faced, and embraced, a future life vastly different from the one they had known in Europe. Their future, too, depended on science, technology, innovation and change.
Volunteer scientist Lieutenant William Dawes was among those who arrived with the First Fleet. He kept Australia’s first weather journal, which covered the period 14 September 1788 to 6 December 1791.
From the first weeks, it was obvious settlers would need new knowledge and have to make rapid changes in terms of land use and agricultural innovation, in unfamiliar territory.
Sacrifice, opportunity and forgiveness; integration, resilience and global influence began with the arrival of the First Fleet.
The future is always a new territory.
Schools and universities today are making the most of the advantages science, technology, innovation and change bring.
Will history forgive them for thinking that it all began in the 21st century?
Copyright © Cheryl Lacey 2019
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Cheryl Lacey is an educationist and advocate of agitating change in Australian education to face global challenges facing Australia and Australians.
If you would like to learn more about the outcomes achieved by educational leaders and teams who have worked with me, contact me at cheryl@cheryllacey.com or visit www.cheryllacey.com
