| What is School 2.0? | |
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School 2.0 is a brainstorming tool designed to help schools, districts and communities develop a common education vision for the future and to explore how that vision can be supported by technology. School 2.0 provides a "big picture" perspective that provides a common point of entry for all community stakeholders to participate in this important conversation. While School 2.0 depicts a variety of education and management scenarios which utilize technology, the examples, information and ideas included in it are designed to serve as prompts for discussion and should not be construed as a recommendation of any particular technology or scenario. Rather, School 2.0 is purposely a sketch and a work in progress. It is designed this way to facilitate community discussions and preparations for their short and long term educational and management goals. |
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| Why is it called ‘School 2.0’? | |
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The name ‘School 2.0’ was chosen to encourage a discussion about the ‘next generation of school’ that can be supported by an integrated technology infrastructure. We believe that schools must transform in order to meet the multiple challenges of the 21st century: accountability, student engagement and achievement, and economic competitiveness. By encouraging a discussion of community-based ‘next generation’ schools, we hope communities will be inspired to think creatively about teaching, learning and management and then explore ways that technology can help meet those goals.
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| How do I use School 2.0? | ||
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 The People Wheel is a reminder that a discussion about a community’s educational goals should include many stakeholders. Find ways to include representatives from across your community in your School 2.0 discussions. Student success in today’s rapidly changing global economy requires the collaboration of school, home
and community. Technology can
provide a powerful platform for the
educational needs of the 21st
century. Creating the learning
ecosystem of the future needs
everyone’s participation.
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 The Learning Ecosystem is at the heart of the conversation, about the future of schooling and the goal of School 2.0. This is where teaching, learning, instruction and assessment take place and where school management, planning, staffing and design come together to create the next generation of school. In School 2.0, the learning ecosystem includes not just a school building, but the combination of home, school and community that collaborates to bring the wider world into day to day instruction and provide a rich array of learning opportunities.
The learning ecosystem illustrated in School 2.0 includes some examples of learning opportunities that may be of interest to members of your community. Some may be things already in place or under discussion in your area, others may be new or a significant departure from the way your school operates today.
The ideas included here are not designed in any way to recommend, or even comprehensivly list, all of the possible ways that your school may want to innovate to reach its goals. There are literally hundreds of other experiences and opportunities that can be included in a ‘learning ecosystem’, and we encourage your planning team to brainstorm those that are most important and relevant to the needs and goals of your community.
Once you have a list of ideas generated, it may be helpful to work together to prioritize ideas and organize them into short and long term goals.
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 The Horizontal Technology Layers are where the technology that enables education goals comes into the discussion. Technology is not the focus of School 2.0, but it can enable educational institutions to connect across traditional boundaries, bringing the world into the classroom and engaging parents and community members as critical partners in the learning experience. It can also support data driven decision making, formative assessment and real time reporting of student progress, linked to digital content and online delivery. It can also help streamline administrative tasks allowing increased attention to individual student needs.
The power of this technology however is when it is implemented systemically; when there is a clear plan that includes both instructional and administrative systems; when systems are linked together and when the purchase and allocation of technology resources is based on instructional or management need. The Technology Layers include software applications, interoperable data, network infrastructure and hardware devices. Click on these links to see some broad groupings and basic definitions for these areas that may help bridge the gap between stakeholders with technical and non-technical backgrounds.
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 The Supporting Elements are also critical to the success of School 2.0. A successful systemic approach to technology involves not just the technology itself, but the environment in which it is integrated as well as the ongoing support that sustains the initiative. Performance Driven Administration, Leadership and Collaboration, Technical Support and a commitment to Continuous Improvement are critical elements to creating the next generation educational institution. Your planning process will benefit from discussing ways to address these critical components. Included with this kit are several examples of how these Elements impact various stakeholders.
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 Planning and Implementation is where the ideas, goals, technology tools and supporting elements decided upon by the community are organized into a practical and well documented plan. The real power of this technology can be accomplished through a systematic approach, where a clear plan is in place that includes both instructional and administrative systems that are linked together to meet important instructional and management needs. Getting stakeholder buy-in up front helps to build broad based support for the plan, but clear articulation and communication of both progress and challenges is critical to success. Periodic updates to the plan are also important as the situation changes or as goals are met and new ones need to be established. | ||
You may want to begin your local discussions by exploring the teaching, learning and management examples included in the picture. How might these elements be part of your vision for what schools in your community can provide? You can use the Process Areas to help generate ideas and to explore additional topics that may help expand your discussion and add in other ideas that are important to your stakeholders. Using, whiteboards, flipcharts, sticky notes and other brainstorming tools can help you generate the ideas that are important to your community.