This session was presented by Julie Young, President and Chief Executive Officer of Florida Virtual SchoolFlorida Virtual School has been growing at 40% for the past five years. This year is the first year they have added K - 5.
She started the session with this video:
The theme is that we have failed you and now we are going to work with you in your world. Students and parents are going to be hearing a lot of this in the media.
As digital natives grow up and enter the workforce and college their expectation will be different from ours. We need to understand their wants and needs because they are our future. We have to understand and embrace change.
The word change and public school don't necessarily go together. Change can be painful or thrilling. We need to pull educators along with the change because the kids need it. It's important for us to ask the hard questions and get the answers.
Here is the spread of educators:
34% Innovators - Risk Takers
14% Early Adopters - Follow the risk takers right away and provide peer pressure on others
34% Early Majority - Will eventually accept the change but won't put themselves out there for the risk
34% Late Majority - Will only make change through peer pressure
16% Laggards - Absolutely late adopters, technologically phobic.
This generation of kids is disruptive. They enjoy disruption. They don't understand adults wanting them to power down at school. Kids feel like they are only engaged 15 - 20% of the time and they just play the game to get the grades.
Unfortunately, some of us are still living this way:
The kids aren't afraid to try and make mistakes. They are tech savvy, personalizers and connected. They are sharing their lives online and making it personal. Think about the ringers on a phone. Many of us have a ring and that is it. Kids customize their rings for each caller. They want things personalized. Why not their education? They want to learn, but we need to bring that connected world to them.
No longer can we teach and kids not learn. We are in a customized learning revolution. By using a virtual school kids are reinventing themselves online. They don't have to be a class clown, afraid to ask a question and avoiding peer pressure. Many special needs kids never need assistance because they are able to be engaged and meet their own needs.
New game called Conspiracy Code teaches American History. Students will play as characters living in new future and bad guy is trying to take over world by altering history. There are clues where you have to find the piece of history that is attempting to be corrupted. Every student has to find truth from fiction about history. It's very engaging. Kids had a say in the names of the characters, how they are dressed and how they talk. In the last 6 months since they have released this in Florida Virtual School they have had amazing positive feedback.
The future is virtual...
