Reflective Entry - Activity 3: Contemporary trends or issues in New Zealand or internationally.

You know when…you were at school did you have a computer? I didn’t. Computers were not really heard of till I had left school. The trend was to have a colour Television and If you had a colour Television in your house you were well off.

If you had electricity in your house you were considered fortunate. When you were on the phone so were two or three other people talking at the same time. It was a party line. You would pick up the phone and then ask the operator to put you through to the people you wanted to talk with.

I used a pencil and paper and I learnt how to type at school on a manual typewriter, and took typing as a subject. It was trendier though to be able to use the electric typewriter. I also sat typing for the school certificate exams at the end of the year, and all you would hear were the keys clicking onto the ribbon and black or red text would appear on the paper. Yet I was happy with coloured pencils and felt tip pens. Oh, how things have changed.

Thirty or so years later, the trend now is digital technology. There are computers in every school and nearly every class. There are laptops, ipads, ipods, iphones wherever there is connectivity, there’s a device. TV screens have gotten bigger and bigger and smarter and 3D and are like computers too.

Phones look like TV’s, videos and can type text messages. You can see people’s faces on the screen and you can talk to one person or several people at the same time. You can even talk to people on your watch.

 Digital communication is still the trend because it helps connect people locally, nationally and internationally across the world. It has made connectivity easier through devices like the computer and smartphones, although you could still use the home landline. It has also helped connect your classroom with other classrooms in the country and even to a virtual classroom from your own home. You can even study from the comforts of your own home.

What does the future hold in the next thirty years? I do not know I only hope I’m alive, healthy and well. In addition to my well-being I think about the well-being of the next generations. In August 2012, an ERO report evaluated students with high needs in primary and secondary schools. It highlighted what the leaders and teachers typically did to help these students. I hope we’re still caring for our students regardless of the next technology boom and that these inclusive practices are still around in the future.

 “As well as caring about these students, the leaders and teachers typically:
• advocated strongly for the needs of students
• focused on adapting school systems, programmes and resources to meet the needs of the students
• were innovative in how they responded to students‟ learning needs
• had experience in working with students with diverse needs
• resourced programmes through creative problem solving
• worked effectively as teams
• had good practices in communicating with external agencies, families and whānau
• used information about students‟ strengths, interests and needs to develop and review programmes for students
• supported students well to manage transitions within and beyond the school.”

Resources:
 Evaluation-at-a-Glance-Priority-Learners-in-New-Zealand-Schools-August-2012.pdf