My School of the FUTURE
VT No 311
Welcome Everyone,
I’ve written a lot about AI, creativity, technology, student engagement and student agency as you all know.
Then, in the middle of one of those conversations, I was asked:
“So how do you actually fix the education system?”
It stopped me.
I realised I’d spent a lot of time talking about the pieces, but not enough time articulating the bigger picture.
So I wrote My School of the Future. Check it out.
Because before we debate screens, AI, pedagogy or personalised learning, we need to answer a much deeper question:
What is school actually for?
I believe the answer is simple:
To develop HUMAN CAPABILITY
That’s the point.
Knowledge → Curiosity → Interests → Exploration → Agency → Human Capability
It is to expand what they can know and can discover for themselves.
ciao,
Cathy
Enough of the chat, check out the Amazing Tools & Absolutely Splendid ideas
I have to share with you in this issue, in the spirit of
EASIER, MORE PRODUCTIVE
& A WHOLE LOT MORE FUN!
Until Next Time…
PS
Virtual Teacher is.......... FREE FOREVER
Here's What's on the MENU Today
Mind Candy - mental treats, light, fun or entertaining things for the brain.
My School of the FUTURE - “So how do you actually fix the education system?”
PUNCTUATE or DIE - Sentences that have 2 meanings with different punctuation, humorous, if possible.
AI Slop vs AI SPLENDOUR - The difference between AI Slop and AI Splendour is not the technology itself. It is the intention behind the creation.
School’s Laptop Ban Success?- The irony in many of these “remove technology from classrooms” discussions is that teachers are often not rejecting technology itself. They’re rejecting terrible implementation.
Musicians Theatre - helping young Musicians to flex their musical muscles.
TO DO LIST - Make sure you do!
VT YouTube - SPHERO the AMAZING little Robot
Let's create a ripple effect of learning, sharing, and growing together.
Pass any good ideas on to colleagues, and encourage them to subscribe to VirtualTeacher for more.
MIND CANDY
My School of the FUTURE
My School of the FUTURE
The future school will not be defined by how long children should spend on screens, whether AI should be allowed,
which technologies schools should adopt or what percentage of learning should involve technology.
THESE ARE THE WRONG QUESTIONS.
The real question is:
What is school actually for?
Because before we argue about screens, AI and pedagogy, we need to answer a much deeper question:
I believe the answer is simple:
DEVELOPING HUMAN CAPABILITY
Knowledge → Curiosity → Agency → Exploration → Human Capability
Check out the full article here.
P.S. Next article will be about where to start. Surprisingly simple and easy.
PUNCTUATE or DIE
Use AI - ChatGPT or Educhat etc prompt:
ASK for 10 sentences like the one above, sentences that have 2 meanings with different punctuation, humorous if possible, for kids, with no punctuation.
Activity Steps:
Class or Small Groups: Read the list and pick 5 funny sentences. (I like small groups)
Punctuation Exercise: Add punctuation to each sentence in two different ways, creating two separate meanings.
Class Explanation: Groups explains the difference each punctuation change makes (oral or in writing).
Challenge Options:
A. Draw a Two-Picture Comic highlighting both meanings.
B. Invent a new sentence with double meanings, punctuate each, and draw or act out both versions.
C. Invent your own group challenge: (Make a stop-motion movie, write a short play, a scratch jnr project, create a meme, etc.)
Share Work: Present and discuss.
A task with increasing degrees of autonomy.
Seymour Papert
”The goal is to teach in such a way as to produce the most learning from the least teaching.”
AI Slop vs AI SPLENDOUR
I was provoked to write this after a student dismissed all AI-generated work as "AI slop."
The term has become a convenient label used by some anti-AI commentators to discredit any creative endeavour that involves AI.
The reality is much simpler.
The difference between AI Slop and AI Splendour is not the technology itself.
It is the intention behind the creation.
Check out the Slop vs Splendour Table below
There is another form of slop, it is the assumption that all AI-generated content is slop, which is just sloppy thinking.
THERE HAS A WAYS BEEN SLOP.
There are bad books, bad television shows, bad newspapers, bad social media posts, bad films, bad paintings and bad photography.
All SLOP of one form or another.
It’s never been easier to make mediocre content.
RUBBISH is RUBBISH
The tool doesn't determine the quality.
The creator does.
Some people use AI to mass-produce junk.
Others use it to amplify imagination, creativity, productivity and human expression.
Can you tell the difference?
Download the free PDF and decide for yourself:
AI OK? Not OK?
This is covered in Week 10 of the Free AI in Education course - Start here
School's Laptop Ban Success?
The irony in many of these “remove technology from classrooms” discussions is that teachers are often not rejecting technology itself.
They’re rejecting terrible implementation.
A lot of teachers are EXHAUSTED
EXHAUSTED by endless new initiatives.
EXHAUSTED by platforms that barely work.
EXHAUSTED by systems that create more friction than learning.
So when someone removes technology and things suddenly feel calmer and easier, it feels like relief.
But that doesn’t prove technology is the problem.
In many schools I still see:
• students doing low level drill tasks on computers
• typing practice replacing creativity
• devices that barely function
• login systems wasting 10 minutes of lesson time
• missing keys and broken hardware
• microphones and cameras disabled
• permissions and restrictions making everything harder
• digital worksheets replacing paper worksheets
That’s not innovation.
That’s administrative survival wrapped in technology.
Then people point to the TECH in frustration and say:
“See? Technology doesn’t work in schools.”
NO!
Bad implementation doesn’t work.
The world outside school is not removing technology.
AI is not disappearing.
Creative industries are not unplugging.
The workplace is not going backwards.
So the answer cannot be to freeze classrooms in time because implementation has been poor. The real problem is many schools digitised old models instead of reimagining learning.
A digital worksheet is still a worksheet.
A boring task on a laptop is still a boring task.
But when technology becomes frictionless, creative and purposeful, classrooms change completely. Students start making films, podcasts, books, music, animations, games and ideas that were impossible before.
Curiosity increases.
Agency increases.
Engagement increases.
And suddenly you don’t need stickers, rewards and behaviour systems just to keep students compliant.
The issue was never the device.
The issue was the VISION.
The problem is many schools never actually got there.
The issue was never the device.
The issue was the VISION.
POOR IMPLEMENTATION makes technology feel like a burden.
GREAT IMPLEMENTATION expands imagination, creativity, communication & HUMAN CAPABILITY.
Musicians Theatre
I had some very keen young musicians who are learning their instruments for the first time.
They had been recording their progress and have gone from playing no notes to playing many notes.
So, I created a Musicians Theatre for them to flex their musical muscles.
Using a script written for two flutes, a clarinet, a saxophone and drums, we filmed it like a stage production, a full proscenium-arch master shot with close-ups added later in the edit.
It was enormous fun.
Best of all, now they know how it’s done, the young musicians are off writing their own scripts.
Imitate. Then create.
Download the Script we used here.
CHECK THESE OUT LIST
Julius Sumner Miller The Professor Who Taught People How To Think (1962) I binge watch these videos, fascinating.
Elements of AI was created to demystify artificial intelligence and make AI literacy accessible to everyone. Free online course explaining AI concepts, capabilities, limitations and real world applications. Created by the University of Helsinki and MinnaLearn, led by Professor Teemu Roos. To Teach 1% of the Finnish population the basics of AI.
FSOFY - [fizz-off-ee] Figure Stuff Out For Yourself
SpheroKnievel This lesson was a smashing success we all had great fun and discussed gradients, inclines, angles, speed etc.
Life After Seymour Papert In 2004 I attended the Apple Conference and met Seymour Papert. His ideas have never left me. They continue to inform my thinking and reverberate through my work and vision for what education can become.
VT YOUTUBE
SPHERO - The Amazing Robot. Check out the Sphero play lists for K-6. I love this little robot. Easy to deploy no messy little bits offers drive, draw, block code and code options. Check out the Kindi kids using drive to learn sight words, check out the Robot Spheros, or one of my favourites, Sphero Knievel.
This Newsletter is not free, despite the misleading advertising above.
The Fee is now due. Each week you must help one colleague AI & technology who has less knowledge than you. HELP THAT PERSON even if you have to visit their classroom or do a little research and get back to them. Trust me, this will help a lot of people get their computer classrooms running better. OK I'm trusting you!!!
Editor: Cathy Brown cathy@virtualteacher.com.au
Before you go I have a question for you:
Would you be interested in learning more about AI and how to integrate into your teaching? Would you like more information about inservice and training?
No need to decide just yet, just email me if you'd like to start the ball rolling. cathy@virtualteacher.com.au or check out the VT AI Consultancy Page.