Schools: Current Challenges and Best Practices

I have over 20 years of experience as a biology and geography teacher in Sotunki Upper Secondary School and Sotunki Distance learning Centre in the City of Vantaa, Finland. My work orientation, nevertheless, has always been more of a philosopher of learning and school.

Straight from my early work years I found it curious, but at the same time fascinating, how the classroom reality in the school as we know it still so faithfully defended itself against the external world, which, however, was experiencing a deep reaching technological and social transition.

Recently a plausible explanation entered my mind. Learning and school are two completely separate and unrelated concepts.

The evidence is all around us. It can hardly stay undetected. Reshaping a work culture typical to school is not possible unless admitted that it is not possible. “What we cannot speak about we must consign to silence."

I have also sunk my arms deep in clay with virtual learning surroundings in Second Life.

Links

http://www.sotunki.edu.vantaa.fi

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     Vasilis Tsilivis studied Mathematics at the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Physical Sciences, at the NTUA and then received a master degree in “Mathematical Modelling in Modern Technologies and Economics".

   Since 2011, Vasilis as a Mathematician at the “ARNOS Online Education”, has provided online support & distance learning to students in higher education, throughout Greece. In 2012, ARNOS created interactive video tutorials for students of secondary education, thus teaching, without space, time or distance limits.

   In 2013, Vasilis with Mr. Ioannis P. Krokos, founder & owner of ARNOS Online Education, create “ATHENA” Ecumenical School, the first online primary school in Greece, with access to thousands of video lessons.

   ARNOS’ research team, by participating in international conferences and European actions, aims to use the imagination of the teacher, the novelty of interactive tools and creativity, as the fundamental axes for promoting the Socratic Teaching Method.

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Shafika Isaacs is an independent consultant who specialises in the role of digital technologies in improving education access, quality and equity. She has worked with UNESCO, eLearning Africa, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), the World Bank, Cisco, Intel and Microsoft.

She was formerly the founding Executive Director of SchoolNet Africa, Education Director at Mindset Network, Partner Development Lead for Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential Group in the Middle East and Africa and Senior Programme Officer for the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). 

Shafika serves on the Global Compact for Learning Research Task Team, UNESCO's Mobile Learning Policy Advisory Group, The Lewis Foundation Board of Trustees, NMC Horizon K-12 Report Advisory Board, Intel's Policy Advisory Group, ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN Steering Committee and is the Chair of SchoolNet South Africa. She has authored a number of research reports and papers related to ICT in Education in Africa.

As a recipient of the Nelson Mandela Scholarship Award, she obtained a Master of Science degree in Science and Technology Policy at the University of Sussex and an Executive MBA cum laude at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town. Shafika Isaacs served as editor of The eLearning Africa Report 2013.