On 31 May 2021 three trainers from 21st Century Learning led 121 K-12 teachers and leaders at the HKBUAS Wong Kam Fai Secondary and Primary School (HKBUAS) on professional learning about blended learning – and the first time since late 2019 that the whole school had gathered together for training due to the Pandemic situation.
HKBUAS is a school that is fully committed to professional development and 21st Century Learning. All teachers have completed 1 or 2 of Google Teacher and are engaged with Common Sense Media to support digital citizenship, plus they also run an annual project based learning program.
21CLI’s task was to facilitate connections between this prior knowledge, help take stock of learnings that teachers have made during fully online teaching, surface innovation that is already happening at the school and connect all this into a overarching framework for a redefined teaching and learning environment that brings the best of online learning together with face to face learning.
To equip HKBUAS teachers on this “blended” journey a series of frameworks for thinking about blended learning were introduced by ISTE Certified Trainer Peter Woodhead
- Clayton Christensen Blended Learning Models
- ISTE Standards
- SAMR & TPACK
The PD experience was itself modelling blended learning by splitting into strands where smaller groups explored a particular framework. Two of these breakout groups were led by co-facilitators Lainey Morgan (ASHK) and Mary Liao (HKIS). The teachers worked in small teams while reviewing the frameworks, connected it with their current practice, and thought about how it might apply to future teaching and learning at the school.
Additionally there was a fourth strand that worked on a “Design Challenge” that involved teachers taking a unit of their own curriculum and layering in one or more of the frameworks introduced.
Finally the teachers engaged in a gallery walk where they had the opportunity to learn from the other strands.
In their reflections teachers had numerous interesting takeaways and thoughts: How might blended learning might be used to have students take control over their own learning? What are the implications for the role of the teacher in the facilitation of learning? As well as the classic challenge of time – how to incorporate new things without compromising on existing success in traditional metrics.
21C was delighted to support this half day of professional learning time for the HKBUAS teachers and we are excited to see how the frameworks and the common language introduced will make a difference in the learning and teaching at the school.
