2009 Horizon Report: The K12 Edition

Critical Challenges

The K-12 Advisory Board also identified critical challenges facing schools as they seek to integrate new technologies into the established structures of teaching and learning environments. To develop the list of over thirty challenges facing schools today, the Advisory Board reviewed current events, papers, articles, and similar sources, ultimately ranking the five challenges below as those most likely to affect teaching, learning, and creativity in the K-12 arena over the next five years.

• There is a growing need for formal instruction in key new skills, including information literacy, visual literacy, and technological literacy. New skills are required of students in writing and communication, different from those of even a few years ago. Students and teachers both are finding it necessary to be technologically adept, to be able to collaborate on a global scale and to understand content and media design. Issues of assessment and integration of new literacies across the curriculum, and of teacher training, are complicated by the overarching need for a fuller understanding of what constitutes new literacy skills.
• Students are different, but educational practice and the material that supports it is changing only slowly. Schools are still using materials developed to teach the students of decades ago, but today's students are actually very different in the way they think and work. Schools need to adapt to current student needs and identify new learning models that are engaging to younger generations. Many education professionals feel that a shift to a more learner-centered model focused on the development of individual potential instead of the imposition of a body of knowledge would lead to deeper and more sustained learning across the curriculum. To support such a change, both teaching practice and the tools used in the classroom must adapt. Assessment has also not kept pace with new modes of working, and must change along with teaching methods, tools, and materials.
• Learning that incorporates real life experiences is not occurring enough and is undervalued when it does take place. This challenge is an important one in K-12 schools, because it results in a lack of engagement in learning on the part of students who are seeking some connection between their own lives and their experience in school. Use of technology tools that are already familiar to students, project-based learning practices that incorporate real-life experiences, and mentoring from community members are a few practices that support increased engagement. Practices like these may help retain students in school and prepare them for further education, careers, and citizenship in a way that traditional practices are failing to do.
• There is a growing recognition that new technologies must be adopted and used as an everyday part of classroom activities, but effecting this change is difficult. Technology tools that are part of everyday life for many students and working professionals should be seen as core tools of the teaching profession that teachers are required to master as any professional would master the tools of his or her trade. However, making such a profound shift in a well-established system is a difficult challenge. Professional development, intellectual interactions with peers, adequate training, and preparation time — all scarce resources for teachers — are necessary in abundance for such a shift to take place.
• A key challenge is the fundamental structure of the K-12 education establishment. As long as maintaining the basic elements of the existing system remains the focus of efforts to support education, there will be resistance to any profound change in practice. Learners have increasing opportunities to take their education into their own hands, and options like informal education, online education, and home-based learning are attracting students away from traditional educational settings. If the system is to remain relevant it must adapt, but major change comes hard in education.

These trends and challenges reflect the impact of emerging technologies and practices on our lives. They demonstrate the change that is taking place in the way we communicate, access information, and connect with peers and colleagues. Taken as a whole, they frame the conversation around the potential impacts of the six technologies and practices described in this special edition of the Horizon Report.