As a rule I seldom add words to an infographic and simply let the visual do what is was designed to do—communicate the message. But I think it is important to put a qualifier on the notion of “new styles of K-12 teaching” being presented through this well made visual. While schools should be applauded for finally making the move to using educational technology we must also be very aware that most of the uptake of these digital resources falls into the very traditional realms of assessment, content delivery and monitoring and control of students.
Moving tests online do not change the fact that we are still reinforcing the damaging test culture that dominates K-12 and the horrible practice of teaching to the test. Digital textbooks may lighten a students load physically but using the network to deliver information just makes the practice of dumping content on students and pumping them to regurgitate it on an test all the more efficient. It is wonderful that teachers are using video content but moving to youtube over traditional video tape or DVD is just a more efficient way to deliver teacher centric content. There should be greater emphasis on the learner using video to create their own content making the learning experience active and dynamic.
On the positive note the infographic does show that the notion of going deeper with students in the flipped classroom is starting to gain some traction. However, hasn’t it always been the responsibility of the learner to cover the material outside of class and be prepared to explore it deeply face2face? Social media is also gaining traction and this is one area that has the potential to move education. Our species has always been highly social and once you allow learners the chance to exploit this intrinsic ability and to collaborate and communicate effectively in the learning process this may be one key factor that will bring about the most significant change in K-12.
