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ISTE 2012 #05 – Day 2 Keynote

A very entertaining and thought provoking keynote by Dr Yong Zhao on Defining High Quality Education. He likened  Educational reform to a G PS taking us along an unknown route. Knowing the destination critical to how you get there.

The big question he asked was: Where are we going with education? The answer will most certainly not be found with standardised testing, being highly critical of such programs : USA’s No Child Left Behind and Australia’s NAPLAN.

He then took aim at PISA – countries with high test scores also produce low creativity and low levels of student confidence which was concerning as confidence underpins creativity and innovation.

He challenged us to reflect on what is it that really matters and to reflect on creativity – it  can’t be taught but it can be killed.

In the current age of Globalisation and in its future we will have to be not good but great and certainly not mass producers.

His final comment was to reassure us all that test scores do not reflect your teaching ability, your students’ future or your school’s capabilities.

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