Monday, June 1, 2009

NZ schools face a 'Tech' flight

I came across this post on Drapes Take that struck a chord over my morning coffee. He quotes some research from 2000 that shows the importance of school administrators and leadership 'modeling' effective use of technology for school's to really move effectively in a tech direction.
I made this comment - something I think will be a REAL issue for schools in the next 10 years. What will be the flow on effects of a 'Tech Flight' in NZ?

"I would absolutely agree with the comments above and the post. In New Zealand we're seeing schools with a strong tech direction, and then some with one computer in the corner of class rooms not even connected to the net!
We had something called 'white flight' a decade ago where affluent families left less affluent schools for private ones. I'm predicting a 'tech flight' of younger, progressive teachers leaving these 'regressive' schools in favour of ones with a tech postive administration. I know I would never join a school that wasn't on the digital move.
This will only create an even bigger gap as these regressive schools with 20th Century administrators and teachers (and there MANY of them around) become even more entrenched. What is the solution? The best remedy at the moment are parents - putting pressure on their community's schools to provide education in and for a digital world!"

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