Future Challenges in Education

Name: Samina Manzoor

Student ID: BS600387
Course Code: 8656

Assignment No 1
 1- Why safe learning environment is imperative for students'
learning? How school administration can play their role in
providing safe learning environment.

Keeping schools safe allows children to look forward to being in an encouraging

environment that promotes social and creative learning. When their basic
safety needs aren't met, children are at risk for not feeling comfortable at
school and may stop showing up, or they may remain on edge throughout the
day. Promoting school safety creates an open space for kids to explore, learn
and grow.

Keeping Children Safe at School

A safe learning environment is essential for students of all ages. Without it they
are unable to focus on learning the skills needed for a successful education and
future. When violence is part of the educational setting, all students are
affected in some way. Even though your child may not be the actual victim of
violence in school, there is a very good chance that he or she will witness violent
acts throughout the educational years. Research continues to illustrate children
who feel unsafe at school perform worse academically and are more at risk for
getting involved in drugs and delinquency.

The issue of school safety is a major concern at all levels of government, from
local to federal. School boards meet with teachers and parents to listen to their
concerns and suggest solutions. State and federal governments are taking
steps to improve school safety and law enforcement as the nation realizes the
importance of this issue and how it impacts children's futures.

Why Is School Safety Important?

When considering violence in schools, the horrific acts that occurred at

Columbine High School, Virginia Tech, and Northern Illinois University come to
mind. These incidents, and others like them, are some of the worst cases of
violence in schools. It can be difficult to think about the increase of school
violence and what that means for students.

School safety is important to protect all students and school personnel from
violence that includes:

• Assaults
• Bullying
• Victimization
 • Theft
• Classroom disorder
• Fights
• Robbery
• Use of weapons
• Sexual attacks
• Violent crime

The Need for School Safety

The following are a few of the many incidents that exemplify the need for
school safety.

A first grader from Michigan shot and killed another first grade child. A 14-year-
old student attending a school in Ohio for high achieving students shot and
killed two students and two teachers and then himself. The day before he had
been suspended because of a fight with another student.

A Philadelphia kindergartner repeatedly punched his pregnant teacher in the

stomach during an attack. A teen from Milwaukee physically assaulted his
teacher during class. A California high school student threatened to shoot
students at their school and was later taken into custody. A pregnant teacher
in Ohio was brutally attacked by a student. In Texas, a ten year old boy was set
on fire in the school playground by a group of kids. Within two years of the
Columbine High School shootings there were eight similar school attacks, each
resulting in severe injuries and death.

The crisis of violence in schools has devastating effects. All necessary steps and
precautions need to be taken to ensure the safety of all students. Zero
tolerance policies and violence prevention programs need to be instituted in
schools. Parents, schools and communities need to work together to take
measures to make their schools a safe place for everyone.

The classroom environment has a major impact on the way students of all ages
learn. Although every pupil learns in an entirely independent way, by initially
setting boundaries and standards, creating a safe and inclusive environment
and being consistent in the delivery of curricula, assessment and reflection, a
teacher can provide an optimal learning environment. Here are seven things to
consider when working towards the ideal classroom.

1. Safety and Wellbeing

Feeling safe, included, understood and successful is crucial for a young mind to
learn. If a student knows they are supported, respected and valued, they are
more likely to open themselves up to challenges. A safe environment that
promotes wellbeing can be achieved by setting boundaries, outlining standards
and expectations, communicating with students and their families, creating
independent learning plans for students with special needs, listening and
caring.

2. Healthy Risk Taking and Creativity

Students build confidence when they tackle challenges and overcome them.
Encouraging creativity in the classroom, making room for the students to grow
and take risks, and rewarding achievements can create a learning environment
where learners strive to absorb more and achieve more. Of course, where
mental health is a factor, challenges should be kept within the parameters of
the child’s comfort and willingness, but any time a student steps outside those
comfort areas and achieves, is a time for celebration and congratulations.

3. Reflection and Assessment

Assessment is an excellent gauge of how a teacher is performing, as well as

how students are achieving. Regular assessment should occur in the classroom
to ensure everyone is at the same stage and students are informed and
engaged. But assessments don’t have to be in the daunting form of a test,
assignment, project or rubric. Feedback sheets work well, online quizzes and
surveys are fun, and group tasks and orals can take away the pressure of ticks
and crosses. Mixing up tasks with a range of creative, oral, written and
multimodal assessment options can optimise the learning environment for a
variety of learning styles.

4. Differentiation

Students all learn differently and in a variety of ways. To get the best out of
their learning experience, and to ensure success for all, differentiating the
curriculum is vital. Varying the mode of assessment in any given task can make
all the difference to a student with specific learning needs. The option of
delivering assessment orally, rather than written or vice versa can mean a great
deal to a student’s sense of accomplishment. Modifying tasks is a good idea
when there are diverse learning styles and levels, however, it’s important not
to single a student out, so giving a variety of options for students to choose
from can alleviate the stress.

5. Encouraging Leadership and Adaptability

Leadership and responsibility gives students a sense of achievement and

accomplishment. It also allows children to see a range of leadership styles.
Awarding leadership roles in primary classes and giving awards based on merit
in secondary classrooms will go a long way in encouraging students to strive.
Make sure every student has an opportunity to become a leader. They may
choose to accept the challenge, or they may choose not to, but having the
option of working towards leadership is a valuable life skill.

6. Engagement

Engagement doesn’t just come from making things fun in the classroom. There
are many ways to engage students which will create an optimal learning
environment. Building on prior learning and student experience and interests
will create an engaged group of students ready to listen and learn.
Collaborative learning opportunities use social engagement to allow students
to thrive. Making use of humour, play and problem based learning will get
children thinking, wondering, laughing and wanting to learn.

7. Self-directed Learning

An optimal learning environment is one where students develop the skills to

set them up for life. Promoting lifelong learning is a way to engage and inspire
students, and will develop socially aware children and give them an opportunity
to become successful adults. Open ended tasks with a variety of modes of
assessments give students the opportunity to choose and experiment with
their skills. Problem-based learning and research projects where students have
to hypothesise, explore and discover will enhance critical thinking and problem
solving skills. These valuable assets will set children up for academic success as
they will learn to think on their own and make deductions, discoveries, mistakes
and breakthroughs.
 2- Specify the path through which cross and intercultural
recognition could be development in 21st century
learners.

Cross cultural or inter cultural knowledge cant be obtaied at one go or at a

glance. it’s indeed a never ending story because of immense diversity in
cultures which is the beauty of each culture. As you go into understanding the
cultural wheel you find yourself rolling and rolling with it, finding no ending
point to come out because of the vastness of knowledge that iit involves. The
cultural wheel that coils you along encompasses following aspects: Summing
up we can conclude that globalization cannot be viewed in isolation and
globalization is stable and strengthened as much as justice is strengthened.
Globalizations demands just accountability of individuals, justice in dealing with
the increasing terrorism, just and fair use of technology which is shrinking the
world day by day. It can also suggest for free trade and cultural and economic
integration. It focuses on enhanced means of communication along with
fairness in communication. The global justice calls for own and other cultures
recognition and resultantly a trade with aid to minimize poverty globally.
Globalization reflects the increasing threat to environment due to exploitation
of man and power or human and resources.

Cross and inter cultural awareness demands cultural sensitivity. Such

sensitivity urges individuals to respect, regard and value other cultures. It
enables individuals to function more effectively in other cultures by reducing
the cultural differences as and where possible. Cultural awareness instills the
trait of cultural empathy which is enhancing importance day by day. This
futuristic trait needs due consideration because of increased immigration,
international business, and globalization which offers more frequent
professional and personal interaction.

A number of theories and research publications have covered the cross and
intercultural sensitivity topics through varied angles. Dr. Milton Bennett who
was the co-founder of intercultural development research institute expresses
his believe that as the person becomes more experienced in facing cultural
differences the more that person is sensitive to cultural diversity and gains
intercultural competence. He presented a developmental model of
intercultural sensitivity which comprised of six phases as given below:

Phase1: Denial
People refuse to interact with other cultures and show least interest in
discovering cultural differences.

Phase2: Defense

People consider own culture superior and others inferior.

Phase3: Minimization

People minimize cultural differences and start believing that all cultures share
common values.

Phase4: Acceptance

People accept existence of cultural differences but may take those differences
negatively.

Phase5: Adaptation

People gain the ability to easily adapt themselves by adjusting their behavior
and style.

Phase6: Integration

Global nomads or people who live abroad for long and instinctively change
their communication styles and behavior when dealing with other cultures.

Most of the multi-cultured people pass through the lower and higher stage of
development but in some cultures cross and intercultural sensitivity has to be
developed in various ways but an attempt to develop cross cultural and inter
cultural sensitivity remains the need of the hour.
 3- Highlight some of the current needs for Curriculum
Revision. How the skills of Conflict Management can be
developed in school administrations.

Before getting into the stages of curriculum revision, let’s get an idea about
what a curriculum revision is.

Definition: A curriculum is a master plan for selecting content and organizing

learning experiences for the purpose of changing and developing learners’
behaviours and insights.

In the present, curriculum is also known as education, a curriculum is broadly

defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational
process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction,
or to a view of the student’s experiences in terms of the educator’s or school’s
instructional goals. In a 2003 study, curriculum was referred to as a set of
learning goals articulated across grades that outline the intended mathematics
content and process goals at particular points in time throughout the K–12
school program. Curriculum may incorporate the planned interaction of pupils
with instructional content, materials, resources, and processes for evaluating
the attainment of educational objectives. Curriculum is split into several
categories like the explicit, the implicit, the excluded, and the extracurricular.
Let’s talk about the need for a curriculum revision before the stages of
curriculum revision.

Need For Revision In Curriculum

Restructure the curriculum according to the needs, interests or abilities of the

learner. To eliminate unnecessary units, teaching methods and contents. To
introduce latest and updated methods of teaching and content, new
knowledge and practices. To add or delete the number of teaching hours of
instruction. To correlate between the student’s theory courses and learning
practices. To select learning experiences based on the objectives rather than
on the service needs of the society The students themselves receive little or no
experience in assuming responsibilities or in making choices, everything is
decided for them by the teacher or the administrator.

Based on the review, questions arise. While several primary research questions
were develop, an overview of noteworthy areas include the following:
➢ What determined the success of the curriculum revision processes?
➢ Were there specific factors that had a significant impact on whether or
not the revision project was successful?
➢ Did teachers have strong views on the process of curriculum revision
processes?
➢ Did teacher attitudes and/or backgrounds have an impact on the success
or failure of curriculum revision procedures?
➢ Did the revision procedures have an influence?
➢ What effect did pre-service training have on the revision process?
➢ Could the stages of curriculum revision be identified and generalized to
other programs?
➢ How do we teach students of all ages and developmental levels
strategies like 'win-win' negotiation, mediation skills, and violence
prevention? Conflict management is the skill set and concepts for
understanding how to prevent, manage, and resolve competing needs
and interests without resorting to violence.
➢ Even teachers, administrators, school staff, and families can benefit from
school or district wide implementation of a conflict management training
program. Let's unpack some of the details of how conflict management
works.
➢ Four Models of Conflict Management
➢ Research indicates some successful models for conflict management
based on the target audience, setting, or format of the training
programs. Consider Maggie, a first year teacher who hopes to insert
conflict management strategies into her instruction.
➢ Curriculum Infusion - skills for finding solutions are incorporated into the
daily curriculum
➢ Maggie makes references to ways a particular historical incident could
have gone differently and asks students to provide examples of problem
solving skills that might have averted war.
➢ Mediation Programs (including Peer, Truancy, and Special Education
mediation) - targeted work with a neutral third party
➢ Maggie has two students who are constantly bickering with each other
and being very competitive. She discusses their behavior with them
together and helps them talk through their differences.
➢ Classroom Strategies - conflict management is classroom management
in the Peaceable Classroom Model
➢ Maggie uses the Peaceable Classroom model that provides a framework
for her classroom management strategy incorporating class rules and
policies to keep interactions peaceful.
➢ Comprehensive Approach to Conflict Management - the Peaceable
School Model as a large scale change in school culture
➢ Maggie has such great success with her program that the administration
has asked her to help train the other teachers, staff, and students. They
invite her to speak to the school board about her strategies to help
create substantive change in the district.
 4- Highlight the forces that affect the curriculum
development process.
It seems necessary to discover the nature of forces, which influence curriculum
planning. There are number of such forces that affect the curriculum.

Historical Precedent and Tradition Curriculum improvement is usually a

change in accepted practice or it may be called developments worked out
within the existing structure. The existing programmes in use may be useful
until plans are made to change existing conditions.

Cultural Patterns and Social Aims There is no doubt that the cultural patterns
and value system of the society are influential in shaping the curriculum. There
is not much difference in the nature of learning and the psychological and
mental development of boys and girls from one nation to another but the social
settings, in which education takes place vary remarkably.

Educational Philosophy, Research and Experimentation Philosophical

decisions affect curriculum decisions became they represent a choice of values.
The purposes, goals and methods of education are based upon a philosophy
of education and they play a major role in planning learning experiences and
other important curriculum decisions. In these days a research point of view is
given consideration in the formulation of philosophical concepts and in making
decisions for planning instructional programme of children. The extensive
research done in the field of child development and learning process has
provided educators a base for curriculum improvement. Similarly, further
research will continue influencing curriculum planning. In the same way
experimentation and trying out of promising practices, are essential aspects of
curriculum development. Certainly progress comes through tryout of new
ideas and new practices.

Textbooks of as Curriculum Determinants In some elementary schools the

textbooks for the academic areas of instruction to a large extent, determine the
scope and sequence of the curriculum and the nature of learning experiences.
It is mostly true in case of Pakistan where a single textbook approach is adopted
and the teachers do riot use the course of study planned for their guidance.

Administrative Structure and Organization The nature of school

organization and the type of administrative structure, in which the programme
is carried out, markedly influence the curriculum as a whole. The centralized
administrative structure in Pakistan has its strong effects on curriculum
construction and implementation. Certain other agencies an
 5- Discuss the concept of e-testing and its importance in the
era of technological advancement.
E-testing is a rapidly growing area of e-assessment involving the delivery of
examinations and assessments on screen, either using local systems or web-
based systems.

An e-test is any test that replicates or replaces paper based tests with a
computer screen, also referred to as on-screen tests. This involves the transfer
of paper tests to computer with little or no change to their appearance on
paper. Any one qualification may employ one or any combination of methods
to take e-testing to the computer screen.

This may include variations that could not be easily replicated on paper, such
as video or audio clips, and animated quizzes. Further possibilities for e-testing
include the use of full ICT interactivity. This often uses ‘virtual situations’
requiring the candidate to process information to arrive at the required
solution.

E-testing arrangements have been well developed by some awarding bodies.

Centres should refer to any specific guidelines produced by awarding bodies
by whom they are approved (or intend to become approved) to offer e-testing,
as well as using the resources offered in the toolkit.

In many educational online programs, we love many things about online

learning, but oftentimes assessment is not one of those things! There is often
concern about accuracy, validity, security, integrity, and quality of online
assessment. Yet, computer-based testing offers so many benefits to online
learners, instructors, and programs, mainly in terms of administration, grading,
and scale that they deserve a much closer look. As part of a multi-post series
on assessment, this article makes a push for why you may want to embrace
(more) computer-based/online testing.

1. Multiple-Test Administrations

Learners can take multiple, short, reliable assessments administered

throughout the life of an e-learning program. The data gathered from these
assessments can be correlated with national or regional standards so that
learners can be measured on these standards. Data gathered over time—
longitudinal data—can be used by online programs and instructors to identify
trends and for program improvement. These data can also be easily exported
from most LMSs into a database where they can be analyzed for evaluation and
research purposes.
2. Dynamic And Individualized Assessments

Tests can be personalized and tailored to individual students. The level of

difficulty of each question can be modulated depending on the learner’s
previous responses. (For more information on this, see this article on computer
adaptive testing). Assessments can be further individualized by using programs
like Skype or FaceTime which allow the instructor to reach out and offer
individual oral assessments to students or by using Recap or FlipGrid which
allow students to share ideas, questions, etc.

3. Immediate Grading

Select-response tests (like multiple choice or True/False) can be scored

instantly, allowing learners to instantly see how they did on an assessment and
online instructors to make real-time instructional changes based on
assessment evidence. This immediate grading frees up instructors to focus on
feedback, which is critical for learning and is also time consuming. Online
instructors —or the assessment itself, depending on its design—can help and
guide learners on what they need to do in order to improve. A simple example
of this is Quizmaker in Articulate 360 which allows for substantive feedback and
allows the course designer to redirect students who have done poorly to a
specific slide or set of resources.

4. Helps With Open-Ended Assessments

As any instructor knows, open-ended assessments (like portfolios or projects)

that use rubrics are extremely time-consuming to grade. Simple rubric
extensions, like Orange Slice or Google Sheets add-ons, automates scoring of
rubrics and communication to students. This allows instructors to spend more
time on feedback to students.

5. Feedback

Voice feedback tools, like Kaizena, allows instructors to provide voice feedback
which makes feedback both easier for the teacher and more personalized for
the learner.

In particular, video-based feedback can provide students with individualized

and personalized feedback on performance. Because (once you get the hang
of it) video feedback is faster to create (by the instructor) and review (by the
learner), it can provide rich, qualitative information on student performance
and do so in a caring and personalized way.
6. Vertically And Horizontally Aligned Assessments

Tests can be vertically aligned—anchored to test the same core knowledge at

increasing levels of difficulty (criterion-based testing). They can also be
horizontally aligned— scored in such a way that learners can be compared
against one another (norm-referenced), which is critical for sorting and
choosing students for teaching posts, scholarships, and so forth. Using
computer-based testing, raw test scores could be given phase wise[1] or as a
total (Williams, 1999). Learners can receive a letter grade or percentile score to
determine their relative position vis-à-vis other learners.

7. Value-Added Growth Measures

Tests measure individual growth over time, so programs are able to benchmark
where learners should be at the end of the year based on tests from the
beginning of the year. All of these data can be analyzed using statistical
software packages so online programs can track learner growth over time.

8. Uncover Student Thinking

Games and branching scenarios can help instructors “uncover” student

thinking and measure more higher-order thinking skills. By having learners play
content-focused digital learning games and using “think aloud” protocols to
explain their game-based decisions and rationale for such decisions, online
program designers can design future learning experiences and assessments
based that target specific learner competencies.

9. Engaging

The use of quiz-based video programs (like Edupuzzle), videos and video-
notation tools and branching scenarios can make assessments more engaging
than standard multiple-choice or essay tests. Branching scenarios, in particular,
add a game-like feel to assessment, making assessment engaging and
interactive and help learners learn from mistakes. Virtual reality can “immerse”
students in an environment that seems real and both assesses and guides
students through decisions and their consequences.

10. Analytics For The Instructor And Learner

Back-end data from LMSs, such as the number of log-ins, time on task, and
number of discussion posts, can be linked to hard assessment data such as
examinations or performance-based data to provide a fuller assessment of a
learner’s effort and progress in an online course. Additionally, “student-facing”
analytics can help learners track progress and performance more easily and
get notifications about assignment due dates and “early warnings” if they are
in danger of failing. Diagnostics can enable students to focus on areas of
weakness before a final assessment. Instructors can also use analytics to assess
the quality and usefulness of course resources, the percentage of assessment
items students answer correctly, and track student participation, thus
prompting the instructor to intervene.

11. Greater Amount Of Test Items

This is particularly important for high-stakes assessments that determine

whether or not a learner graduates, moves to the next level, or receives
certification. For such critical assessments, more test items are necessary than
for low-stakes assessments. Computer-based assessments, because they draw
from a back-end database of test items, typically comprise more test items than
fixed paper-and-pencil exams.

12. Help Learners With Disabilities

If computer-based assessments are universally designed, they may form less

of a physical impediment to test taking than is the case with paper-based tests.
For example, screen readers, magnification tools, and text-to-voice or voice-to-
text applications can help learners with visual, auditory, and motor
impairments; learners with dyslexia; and learners who simply need more time
to complete a test.

13. Incorporate Other Types Of Technology

Computer-based or online assessments offer a wealth of authentic assessment

opportunities for online learners, both synchronous and asynchronous, Web-
based and non-Web-based, and multiple platforms (phone, tablet, and laptop).
For instance, learners can create electronic portfolios, digital representations,
and collections of their work in an online-based course. They can upload
images, create videos ad podcasts, dashboards, spreadsheets within a Learning
Management System or upload from other programs to the learning
management system. Online discussions and social media conversations can
be a rich source of assessment data.

14. Improves Writing

Extensive writing via word processing or a digital writing tool—in which learners
put forth a thesis statement, support their idea with evidence and supporting
ideas, and come to a conclusion—has been shown to be better than writing by
hand if learners go through the complete writing cycle of drafting, editing,
revising, and rewriting (Warschauer, 2009). Developing blogs, wikis, and
websites, particularly with hyperlinked resources, can demonstrate learners’
understanding of an issue, their appreciation of its complexity, and their
knowledge of appropriate resources that address this issue. Audio- and Web-
conferencing tools allow learners to present information to one another and
the instructor and to engage in debates about a particular teaching-related or
content-based issue.

15. Can Secure Testing

Cheating, in online and computer-based testing, is always a concern but there

are a number of programs that make CBT safer than it has been, and in many
cases, safer than paper-and-pencil testing. Plagiarism checkers, like Turnitin,
Safe Exam Browser, Respondus, DyKnow, and Chrome browser testing apps
like Edulastic can also help to lock down browsers and make cheating more
difficult. Note that some may only work with Chromebooks.

Technology Is Not A Panacea...

Computer-based assessments are not a panacea. Assessment is a tool to

measure student learning. Like any tool, its use is specific to its intended
outcome. If not used appropriately, it will produce a poor measure or product.
Nor are assessment tools co-equal in for measuring every skill or intended
learning outcome. Technology offers several benefits once we’ve designed our
assessments, but good assessments depend ultimately on appropriate use and
design so they measure what they are intended to measure.