In New itslearning Webinar, Educational Thought Leader Alan November Discusses the Use of Change Management to Empower Learning
Boston, MA (PRWEB) March 02, 2016 -- On February 23, world-renowned education leader Alan November challenged a global audience to change their pedagogical approaches in his second webinar sponsored by itslearning . Titled “Change Management: Putting Pedagogy in the Driver’s Seat,” the one-hour webinar explored ways to create a culture in which students feel an increasing responsibility for managing their own learning and acquire the information and global communication skills required in the modern world.
“I am convinced that we need students in staff development,” November declared. “I have a very hard time understanding how we can help teachers manage the tools that we do have to teach them if we’re not engaging kids in staff development. I think third graders should lead workshops on how to use Minecraft.”
November also stated that leaders need to empower teachers to relinquish control of the learning process and help students take charge of their own learning. He cited the example of the new teacher evaluation system that Texas is currently piloting, which includes assessing whether students own their learning.
Among the other topics that November discussed were actions to be taken in order to ensure that modern students are successful in school and beyond:
● Using the first five days of school to set the right culture and expectations for the whole year,
● Substituting the word “involve” for “solve” to spur children into becoming creative problem designers,
● Making self-assessment and global empathy the priority skills to be cultivated in students,
● Prioritizing teachers’ quality of feedback to student work,
● Developing skills by focusing on honing one at a time, and
● Setting measurable academic goals when introducing new tools in order to ensure concrete results.
Before November began the question-and-answer section of the webinar, Lisa Dubernard, itslearning’s U.S. director of educational strategy, shared stories about districts around the country that are strategically abandoning some of their platforms and aligning others while putting pedagogy at the forefront. Among the examples she cited was the Dekalb County School System, which wanted students to participate in the development of the curriculum and so had them create and peer assess via the itslearning platform. Another example Dubernard shared was Forsyth City Schools, which uses the platform to allow students to interact on a global level.
The “Change Management: Putting Pedagogy in the Driver’s Seat” webinar is available for viewing at no cost at http://www.itslearning.net/change-management-putting-pedagogy-in-the-drivers-seat.
About itslearning
Designed for teachers and how they want to teach, itslearning is a cloud-based learning platform used by millions of teachers, students, administration staff and parents around the world. It can be found at all levels of education, from primary schools to universities, helping teachers make education more inspiring and valuable for today’s students. Established in 1999, itslearning is headquartered in Bergen, Norway, and has offices in multiple locations around the world. For more information, visit http://www.itslearning.net.
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Charlotte Andrist, Nickel Communications, http://www.nickelcommpr.com, +1 (770) 310-5244, [email protected]
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