Voice from the Industry
Empowering Teachers, Inspiring Students in 21st Century Classrooms
Tony Cann, Founder and Former Chairman, Promethean Ltd. — Friday, August 27, 2010
A new school year is upon us and with it a fresh set of new opportunities, renewed energy, and genuine promise to reach greater academic heights and to truly inspire students. For all of us who have committed our life’s work to educating tomorrow’s citizens, each new school year is an opportunity to rethink how we can help all learners unlock their personal potential.
We all know how much technology has fundamentally changed the way we communicate, interact, and work. So it should be no surprise that our students engage more deeply in learning activities when teachers deliver content using interactive learning technologies. Furthermore, it is not surprising that when teachers consistently weave together digital content and interactive learning activities that student engagement and achievement grows. It is what students expect today in this, the third millennium.
- Teaching is no longer just the act of sharing content, concepts, and formulas. Our teachers are facilitators, leaders if you will, of “rich learning dialogues” among students who are actively engaged in classroom activities.
- Textbooks are one-dimensional, and students expect more. Collections of knowledge have evolved into a mix of learning digital assets—text, videos, podcasts, and even 3-D content.
- Classrooms in many schools encourage students to get involved. Interactive whiteboards and hand-held learner response systems present new avenues for students to participate in the lessons or classroom discussions.
Teachers also know that when they see the sparkle in their students’ eyes and fingers fly across a keypad or hand-held device to be the first to answer a question correctly, students are hooked. Hooked on learning. It is this passion, this magic, which we all strive to make possible for every student.
With so many children learning and progressing at their own pace, it is imperative that we, as industry leaders, give teachers the tools they need to expand these innovative, exciting, and successful learning experiences. Collecting data and analyzing it to adjust and modify practice is important, but it should only be seen as a means to reach our overarching goal—which is to help all students reach their highest level of learning potential.
When students have the opportunity to share their own thoughts and engage individually with their ideas, they invest in learning and participate more fully in classroom activities. As a global leader in the rapidly growing interactive learning technology marketplace, Promethean is committed to continually improving teaching and learning tools based upon an understanding of current needs and research of best practices. We are dedicated to transforming classrooms into active, digital learning dialogues where students can excel.
No one will argue that teachers today feel pressure to deliver results, boost student achievement, and improve the overall test results for America’s schools. To this end, we are continually exploring ways interactive learning technologies can provide teachers with detailed information about how well their students are learning and how much they know so that teachers can immediately customize instruction and deliver real-time differentiated instructional support to students.
Studies show that empowered teachers can support students in achieving greater academic results. In fact, in the first phase of a multi-year study of the Promethean ActivClassroom being conducted by Dr. Robert Marzano, the highest gains were in classrooms where experienced teachers confidently used the ActivClassroom for 75% to 80% of the time.
Our research and development team, many of whom are former educators, have fine-tuned and honed the components of our ActivClassroom to ensure our choices can help teachers address current instructional challenges and meet everyday needs. To transform a traditional classroom into an ActivClassroom means empowering teachers with support and interactive tools—such as an interactive whiteboard, hand-held learner response systems, and a computer with ActivInspire—so that they can create digitally rich learning experiences where assessment for learning boosts student achievement.
As simple as it sounds, students get excited when they see this new 21st century classroom, but the real transformation—an education evolution—happens when teachers deliver real-time personalized instruction (RTPI) and are able to assess students’ progression of learning as it happens.
What is Real-Time Personalized Instruction? Simply put, it is an instructional approach that enables teachers to deliver assessments during classroom activity in a way that engages students, provides instant feedback, and drives student understanding. RTPI enables the process of assessment for learning to become a reality. RTPI allows teachers to plan and respond to student needs differently by using Promethean’s learner response systems (ActivExpressions or ActivEngage) and ActivInspire. Suddenly, every student in the room has a voice. Every student can progress to the next level at a pace that suits them and every student is building 21st century skills.
When Ron Clark, founder of The Ron Clark Academy, a K-8 school located in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, first experienced RTPI, he told us that it “is probably the most exciting and revolutionary” component to our solutions. As he introduced the practice to his teaching colleagues, he reported that the system was “shockingly effective, exciting, and brilliant.” Mr. Clark liked that the system allowed him to track the process of each student and offer a very customized lesson to students who were having problems. But what he liked best was that “it places a sparkle on every student’s face” because “they love the thrill of texting their answers, and the competitive component of seeing how quickly you can answer all of the questions in each series is something that appeals to kids a great deal.”
In Mr. Clark’s 21st century classroom, he is building digital learning dialogues where students are challenging themselves and others. They are building critical thinking and collaboration skills while absorbing essential knowledge about core concepts.
No matter what seat you have at the table, the end goal for all of us is to help students—to unlock the magic of lifelong learning. Our paths to achieving this grand vision are many, but in the center are the teachers and students. In the upcoming school year, I would challenge everyone in the industry to continue to collaborate about innovative ways to support teachers.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tony Cann is the founder and first Chairman of Promethean (until July 2005). As Chairman of the Promethean group, Tony Cann was responsible for establishing and communicating the strategic direction of the company.
Tony was convinced that given the right tools, teachers could dramatically enhance the learning experience which in turn would increase the life chances of learners. This led Tony to direct the Promethean focus towards the provision of collaborative classroom solutions that enrich the teaching and learning environment.
He is also Chairman of several other private companies, a Trustee of The Ruskin Foundation, member of the Strategy Board of the Institute of Effective Education at the University of York, and Trustee of the Bowland Charitable Trust.
He has served as a Director of the University for Industry, a Governor of Nelson and Colne College, a member of the National Advisory Council for Education and Training Targets (NACETT), Chairman of the Finance and General Purposes Committee at Lancaster University, as the founding Chairman of the East Lancashire Training and Enterprise Council (ELTEC), and a founder member of the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC).
Tony was awarded the CBE for his work in education and training, and has received an Honorary Doctorate from Lancaster University.
