Session will help teachers understand the perspectives and ideas of their students regarding 21st century learning and provide a roadmap for both engaging students in those discussions and re-mapping their own strategies to better address student aspirations for technology use within that education framework.

Session will provide administrators with data to use for leadership designs, case statements for advocacy for education reform and a roadmap for engaging students as key stakeholders in vison development for using technology effectively within a 21st century quality education.

What if we asked today’s students to design a new school for 21st century learners? For the past four years, the NetDay Speak Up online surveys have asked students about their ideas for designing a school for students just like themselves, the new 21st century learners. We also over the past few years have polled both parents and teachers on their viewpoints on the technology based characteristics for this new, ultimate school of the future.

While the Speak Up data provides a contextual foundation for this discussion, the real purpose of this panel discussion is to hear directly from current middle and high school students about their innovative ideas for making education more relevant, engaging and compelling for them and their peers. Educational leaders attending this session will walk away with a variety of new perspectives and ideas on how today’s students want to learn, and how they can adapt current technologies, policies, programs and implementations to address the issues raised by the students.

In this session, Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow which hosts the annual Speak Up national research project, will moderate a lively and animated discussion with 5 to 7 middle and high school students from the greater Atlanta area. Students will be recruited from schools and districts in the area that have participated in the Speak Up survey process. Special consideration will be given to recruiting students from a wide variety of socio-economic backgrounds, communities and personal technology familiarity and interests. Students will be asked to share their general ideas for the ultimate school of the future and then will be directly questioned by Ms. Evans about their views on topics such as the following within the context of designing a new school:
o Use of emerging technology tools
o Global collaborations
o Virtual learning opportunities
o 21st century skill development
o Role of the teacher
o Role of the student

While the students are sharing their innovative ideas, we will capture those ideas and populate a specially designed template, the “Ultimate School of the Future.” The template will be broadcast on the session room’s large screen for all participants to see in a real time, live environment. This interactivity of this session will provide a realistic roadmap for schools and districts interested in soliciting student input. School leadership can use the same format and template to bring their own students’ voices into the greater discussion of learning in the 21st century.

We will wrap up this session with an opportunity for participants to ask their own questions of the expert panel of 21st century learners and, as appropriate, for Ms. Evans to share the companion parent and teacher data about designing new schools from the Speak Up surveys.
Each audience member in this session will receive additional information about the Speak Up survey results and a copy of the finished Ultimate School of the Future template.

Outline

I Introduction and brainstorming warm-up activity (5 minutes)

II Moderated panel discussion with 5-7 middle and high school students (30 minutes)
• Each panelist will share their own 1 minute response to this question: If you were designing a new school for students just like you, what characteristics or features do you think would be most important for that new school?
• Moderator will pose a series of follow up questions to cover topics such as:
o Use of emerging technology tools
o Global collaborations
o Virtual learning opportunities
o 21st century skill development
o Role of the teacher
o Role of the student
• We will capture the students’ response live, use their input to populate a specially designed template for the “Ultimate School of the Future,” and share that template and the input on the screen while the students are discussing the topics.

III Moderator will put the students’ ideas in context with the data from 4 years of Speak Up survey questions on this same topic. Data will include student data as well as comparative teacher and parent ideas about the school of the future. (5 minutes)

IV Audience Question and Answer time (15 minutes)

IV Wrap Up. Each participant will receive a copy of the students’ Ultimate School of the Future template. (5 minutes)

Supporting Research

NetDay Speak Up annual reports (www.tomorrow.org) including the special report issued in 2005 which provided an indepth analysis of the new technologies students wanted invented to help future learning.

Presenter Background

Julie Evans is the CEO of the organization, Project Tomorrow (www.tomorrow.org) that was formed from the merger of NetDay, a national education technology nonprofit with a Southern California based science education nonprofit group. The mission of the new Project Tomorrow is to promote innovative, research-based uses of science, math and technology to develop critical thinking, problem solving and creativity in K-12 students. Project Tomorrow addresses that mission through national research projects, school and community based programs, online tools and resources and national advocacy. During her previous 6 year tenure as NetDay’s CEO, the organization expanded its impact specifically through several highly regarded and innovative national programs such as the NetDay AmeriCorps Bridge program, the NetDay TESS (Technology Enhances Student Success) program, the NetDayCompass.org, the NetDay Cyber Security Kit for Schools and the organization’s latest initiative, NetDay Speak Up, to collect students’ , teachers’ and parents’ views on technology & learning, 21st century education, math and science education and schools of the future. Since 2003 588,000 students and teachers have participated in the annual online Speak Up surveys and the data findings have impacted federal, state and local policies on education and technology. This long standing focus on leadership and innovation earned NetDay an EdNet Pioneer Award in 2002. The Leader-to-Leader Institute selected Ms. Evans for participation in their highly regarded Frances Hesselbein Community Innovation Fellows Program for 2003. Prior to NetDay, Ms. Evans enjoyed a very successful 17-year career in the technology for-profit sector. Ms. Evans is a graduate of Brown University and serves on the Board of Directors of Project Tomorrow, the KOCE-TV Education Advisory Council, the Childrens’ First Advisory Council and the Association of Women in Technology Council. Ms. Evans is a frequent presenter at national education conferences (including NECC, NSBA T+L conference, the annual CoSN conference, SIIA conferences and EDUCAUSE events), advisor to education and research agencies, and contributor to both print and online media on children, education, science and technology issues.

Prerequisites

None necessary

Referenced Web Links

www.netday.org/speakup