209 - Harnessing Technology for Deeper Learning

Jul 17, 2019

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Today, the Getting Smart team is speaking with Dr. Scott McLeod, an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Colorado Denver. Scott has been in the ed-tech space and an advocate for many years and is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading experts on technology in learning. Most of his work with schools and leaders across the globe have been focused on transformation for the demands of the 2000s and beyond, as well as how to adapt traditional schooling systems to a global innovation society. Scott is also the Founding Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE), which is the only university center focused on future-ready leadership needs and supporting school leaders and systems to do that work (not just teachers in the classroom.)

In today’s podcast, Scott argues for four big shifts that are transforming learning: moving from recall to more complex problem solving, doing authentic work, adding voice and choice to build student agency, and infusing technology in powerful ways. He also describes the work that he did helping schools nationally implement technology, shares his thoughts on leadership and deeper learning, and how technology can help create powerful learning experiences.

Key Takeaways:

[:15] About today’s episode.

[:49] Tom welcomes Scott to the podcast!

[:54] How did Scott become a middle school teacher in Charlotte?

[1:12] Where did Scott go to high school?

[1:20] When did Scott know he wanted to become a teacher?

[1:42] Why did Scott get his Ph.D. at Iowa?

[2:35] How has Scott’s law degree given him a unique perspective on the work he does today?

[3:24] Why has the shift from print to digital in the last (approx.) 30 years not been the huge transformation in learning Tom once thought it would be?

[5:36] Why hasn’t this shift to digital been able to create a new shared vision of learning for teachers?

[7:29] Would Scott describe this shift in education as more of a technology integration rather than a transformation?

[10:30] Scott describes the work that he did at Iowa (and internationally) to implement technology.

[13:02] Scott explains why he wrote his recently published book, Harnessing Technology for Deeper Learning. He also elaborates on what limitations he wanted to address through the book.

[16:30] Why is deeper learning taking off?

[20:50] What does the 4 Shifts Protocol look like in an elementary lesson?

[23:13] How might Scott redesign a secondary Social Studies lesson?

[25:47] How would Scott summarize Chapter 6 from his book on mind-shifts teachers need to have.

[27:01] Lightning round: Does Scott think these things are overrated or underrated? Augmented reality, automated scoring, adaptive learning, assistive technology, artificial intelligence, and anywhere-anytime learning!

[30:35] What is Scott optimistic about right now in education?

[32:12] Where to go to learn more about Scott and his work.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Scott McLeod ’s LinkedIn

Education Week ’s Technology Counts Survey

Different Schools for a Different World , by Scott McLeod and Dean Shareski