Global Education Transformation [GET] … A Transformation For All Seasons …

Global Education Transformation … the delivery of the best teacher training, best OER content, and best applied-learning programs for all public school students, K-12→College→Career … It is not just a 21st Century phenomenon. It is a transformation anchored by 3 Pillars Of Education that are applicable for all seasons, for all centuries … but with particular relevance for countries in this time of international crises ….

1.2 Billion Youth join the Global Economy by 2015 … 90% of them are not prepared with the 21st Century Skills needed by the Global Economy Workforce …

With its vast complexities and the current interconnected financial, economic and political crises, the Global Economy and 21st Century Globalism have created a sense of urgency and international competitiveness not experienced by past generations. The unfortunate irony is that these 21st Century crises continue to overshadow the real opportunity that exists today: With effective business and implementation plans for transformation … and girded by existing, affordable web2 technologies … Global Education Transformation enables countries, worldwide, not only to compete, but also to excel among the Global Economy competition … now and in the future …

What is Your Country’s Education Transformation Plan …
To Deliver, Now …
the Best Educators …
the Best OER Content …
& …
the Best Students’ STEM Applied-Learning Programs …
for Every Public School, K-12→College→Career …

3 Pillars Of Education: Transformative … Transcendent … For All Seasons …

Throughout the ages, education has always depended upon 3 Pillars Of Education … the three staples required for productive learning: qualified Teachers who coach and guide their students; strong Curricula-Content; and proactive Students. And, throughout the centuries, parents, business and government leaders have all depended upon a strong education infrastructure to prepare students … the next generation leaders … with the skills needed to sustain the family, the community, and the economic and national sovereignty of the country.

What distinguishes the 21st Century from past ages is the proliferation of web2, interactive, connective technologies that have produced two related phenomena. First, the web2 technologies have created increased global competitiveness in the areas of both education and employment. Second, the same web2 technologies that created increased global competition … today … enable the delivery of the very global education transformation needed for students, businesses and countries to lead and excel among the Global Economy competition.

And that much-needed global education transformation is the delivery of the 3 Pillars Of Education, enabled by web2 technologies, for every public school, K-12→College→Career: qualified Teachers-As-Education-Coaches; strong OER Curricula-Content; and proactive Students’ STEM Applied-Learning Programs. Significantly … more than 50% of the web2 technologies that enable the delivery of global education transformation … today … are free. Click Here For “Supporting Data Technology Templates”

Education Transformation Pillar I: Teachers-As-Education Coaches …

In academia, business and government, there is an apparent consensus … the public school education model of rote learning must be modified. This model of rote learning was apparently adopted, worldwide, for teaching in public schools. Many of us, as students, knew that “old education model” … where teachers stood [or sat] and lectured to students who sat and were expected to take copious notes, memorize information and then “give it back” by “filling in blanks”, marking “true or false”, or the ever-favorite “matching of items” on tests. There were also the occasional bold assessment methods that a few teachers used, known as “essay tests”. Students still “memorized” and “gave back” information, but at least essay tests gave students an opportunity to show “more of what they knew” … .

Then, in the latter decades of the 20th Century, another component was added and apparently adopted, worldwide, to the “old rote-learning education model” … a component that time has shown to be singularly counterproductive … a component that is now referred to as “teaching-to-the-tests”: Teachers stand [or sit] as they “teach” the questions and answers obtained from previous government-mandated tests to students who sit and take copious notes. As a cumulative result, over the past 40 years, in most countries, students’ test scores have either not significantly improved or actually plummeted.

So, it is with much relief that parents, business and government leaders, worldwide, seem to concur that the Global Economy requires a new education model, a new pedagogy for learning … where teachers guide and “coach’ their students who are proactive … involved … participating learners. In other words, the 21st Century Global Economy requires a new model of transformative education where teachers are highly qualified education coaches working with curricula that enables and encourages students’ proactive learning through participation and application of knowledge.

Actually, much of the “new model of transformative education” can be traced back to the 18th Century, BCE, and 20th Century, which does not at all derogate from its importance. What is new is the global deliverability and affordability of the 3 Pillars Of Education that, together, will close painful K-12 education gaps and assure that every student, at every grade level, at every public school attains and can apply STEM-21st Century Skills with proficiency, K-12→College→Career

What, then, is a 21st Century Teacher-As-Education Coach …

… 12 Qualities Of Teachers-As-Education Coaches: Great coaches may be born, but excellence in education coaching can be acquired with practice and patience. It is both a science and an art.

Good Education Coaches share 12 identifiable qualities that can be acquired and applied by teachers, K-12→College→Career:
(i) Extensive core subject matter knowledge;
(ii) Continuing professional development to learn the latest developments in the core subject matter field;
(iii) Knowledge and understanding of the students who are being coached;
(iv) Ability to listen to students and other educators;
(v) Ability to motivate students and other educators;
(vi) Self-discipline;
(vii) Ability to create a disciplined environment for students to practice and apply their skills;
(viii) Ability to lead by example; and
(ix) Commitment to the education coaching process.

Added to the above list are three pedagogical traits required of good 21st Century Education Coaches:

First: A good Education Coach uses inquiry-based learning … a 21st Century version of the Socratic method of teaching … to instruct, guide and motivate students as proactive students;

Second: A good Education Coach incorporates 21st Century Skills into the school work; and

Third: A good Education Coach enables students to apply their 21st Century skills proactively to real-world issues relevant to students’ grassroots communities and to the Global Economy. This applied-learning component was practiced as early as 18th Century, BCE, clearly espoused by Dr. John Dewey in the early 20th Century and brilliantly detailed for educators throughout the latter half of the 20th Century in the venerable Bloom’s Taxonomy Learning Domains. Click here for Teachers-As-Education Coaches’ Video

… Annual Continuing Professional Development Training: Even a cursory review of the 12 qualities of Teachers-As-Education Coaches indicates that it will take training, practice and patience for teachers to become and remain strong Education Coaches. Such training, practice and patience, in turn, require annual continuing professional development for teachers … just as the legal, accounting and other professions require annual continuing professional development training for their professionals. For 21st Century transformative education, this annual continuing professional development should include both core subject matter and 21st Century Skills’ training for public school teachers, K-12→College→Career …

Such 21st Century transformative professional development training is affordable, today. From live-to-recorded, on-demand webinars -to- recorded MP3 podcasts … the broad family of web2 technologies now make on-going professional development training not only possible for teachers, but also continuous, cost-effective and on-demand to accommodate teachers’ busy schedules and sustainable for public schools, worldwide. See, “Supporting Data Technology Templates”

Education Transformation Pillar II: Strong OER Curricula-Content → 21st Century MultiMedia eLibrary …

Here, too, 21st Century Education Transformation can shine. With the amount of web2 technologies and Open Educational Resources [OER] developed by experts now available … every public school at every grade level, worldwide, can convene an online 21st Century MultiMedia eLibrary to implement the education standards mandated by their respective government(s). For 21st Century transformative education, it is important that content-curricula include online training videos, mentoring-follow up videos, and subject-matter videos prepared by experts in the STEM Education fields … many of which now exist online … to strengthen the curricula and the learning experience for students, K-12→College→Career … .

… Web2 Technologies → Team-Teaching And Individualized Learning: It is at this point that 21st Century Education Transformation really shines the brightest. With so many web2 technologies either free or cost-effectively priced, it is now possible for every teacher, at every grade level, at every public school to record “basic classroom lessons”, K-12→College. Moreover, because of the interactive web2 technologies, it is now possible for every onsite public school teacher, at every grade level, to have a cadre of expert, online Team Teachers at his/her finger tips, to use on-demand … and thereby augment, enrich and accelerate the learning experience for public school students, K-12→College→Career. See, Khan Academy

With expert Team-Teachers on demand and the ability to record basic classroom lessons … onsite public school teachers can now focus more time for all students to problem-solve as they apply substantive knowledge to real-world issues.In addition, onsite public school teachers can now devote more individualized time with students according to their respective needs. Indeed, teachers can use web2 technologies to record “customized tutorial learning modules” as needed and in response to the individual needs of different students.

… 16 Vital Science Areas: Given the importance of STEM Education to the 21st Century Global Economy, many states, regions and countries are now revising their government-mandated standards for the traditional core science and math subjects: algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, biology, chemistry and physics.

But, it is important that such government-mandated standards actually bring STEM Education into the 21st Century. And … in this Century … there are 16 areas of science that are vital to the national sovereignty and economic sustainability of all countries in the Global Economy … .

For 21st Century transformative education that enables students and countries to compete and excel among the Global Economy competition, the standards for STEM Education taught in public schools must include traditional core science and math subjects applied to the 16 vital science areas …

Education Transformation Pillar III: Transformative STEM Applied-Learning Programs For All Students, K-12→College→Career …

During the first decade of the 21st Century, an increasing number of governments and multinational organizations in both industrialized and developing countries restructured their academic focus. Government policies and investments in STEM research and development grew and continue to do so, today. The growth in the science, technology and engineering fields is projected to increase during the next 20-30 years. As a result, worldwide, STEM subjects receive top priorities from business and government leaders in the development of knowledge-based economies, K-12→College→Career.

… Global Importance Of STEM Education – Globally Mobile Workforce: The continued globalization of STEM Education is reflected by the growing international mobility of the science and engineering workforce. Employers of multinational businesses offer qualified, international STEM talent a globalized workforce environment. And, large -to-even mid-sized businesses are willing to outsource STEM work to international workforce talent.

Thus, there are real benefits for university and college graduates who choose to major in one or more of the STEM fields. The benefits include higher entry-level salaries; excellent, long-term, global career prospects; and international mobility opportunities for education and career choices.

However, according to a 2007 report of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], the first decade of the 21st Century saw a 50% decline in the number of qualified university graduates in chemistry, mathematics and physics, worldwide. Indeed … even today … more than 50% of all incoming university freshmen students are not prepared for the rigors and challenges of university STEM course work. And, more than $2.0 billion are spent each year, worldwide, on remedial training in reading and math for incoming university/college freshmen.

… Global STEM Workforce Competitors: Countries, worldwide, must now view STEM education and workforce opportunities from a global perspective. As a result of globalization and increasing global competition, there is a pool of qualified STEM talent from the world market, especially Asia and other emerging countries, ready to challenge the dominance of industrialized nations in the fields of science, technology and engineering.

In the emerging market economies, the number of university STEM graduates is accelerating much faster than in the industrialized countries. An increasing number of the world’s STEM graduates are from Brazil, China and India. In terms of university STEM degrees, 41% of all new degrees are awarded in science and engineering in China, 22% in the UK, and 13 % in the United States.

The gaps in students’ STEM Education–21st Century Skills preparedness are therefore growing not only within most of the countries of the world, but also between and among those countries that are now excelling among the Global Economy competition and most of the world’s countries that are scrambling, nervously, to catch up …

The gaps can close, and they can close relatively quickly. For 21st Century transformative education that closes painful, costly education gaps … all 3 Pillars Of Education [not 2 out of 3] are required … today and for the future: qualified Teachers-As-Education-Coaches; strong OER Curricula-Content; and proactive Students’ STEM Applied-Learning Programs … .

… Transformative STEM Applied-Learning Programs: Applied learning has always been important for students of all ages. From apprenticeships dating back to the 18th Century, BCE, through the 20th Century teachings of Dr. John Dewey and Dr. Benjamin Bloom … learning-by-doing has been vital for adapting theory and traditional practices to the contexts and requirements of new eras. Never has this been more important than in STEM Education for countries, worldwide, to be able to compete and excel among the Global Economy competition.

In the real world, members of the science, engineering, technology and other professions collaborate to produce work products that seamlessly integrate STEM components. This is evident from turning on a light switch to starting a computer, an iPad, or a smart phone. 21st Century transformative education requires an integrated, applied-learning approach to STEM Education that parallels the real world workforce … where public schools provide an environment for students to collaborate with their peers, locally and worldwide, as they proactively apply information researched to real-world science and engineering issues and produce real-world work products that seamlessly integrate their STEM knowledge …

Integrated, applied-learning approaches to STEM Education are important and well documented. Research shows that students’ interests in STEM subjects increases as the result of applied-learning that engages learners in collaborative work where they solve actual problems and build real-world work products with solutions to real issues. Integrated STEM applied-learning increases literacy in reading, communication, science and math. It is integrated STEM applied-learning that will develop the next generation of leading scientists, engineers, technologists, mathematicians, educators and executives who have the critical thinking and innovation skills needed to sustain local and national economies and understand the complexities of the Global Economy …

But, 21st Century transformative education is not a “10-minute quick fix” … it is not a “fast-food drive through” … it is not a one-time deal … and, if it is to be sustainable, 21st Century education transformation cannot be dependent upon grant funding …

… For 21st Century Global Education Transformation, anchored by all 3 Pillars Of Education, is a process deliverable … today … for all public schools, worldwide … a transformation applicable now and for all seasons, K-12→College→Career …