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Primary teachers in New South Wales (NSW) are this year and next integrating a new Science & Technology Curriculum. It brings with it a number of challenges and opportunities and while it has much in common with the existing curriculum, it will require some significant changes.

Our learners will never now a world where Digital Technologies are not the norm. Using solutions developed within this space and with this mindset is already their normal. Unless they are to be slaves to this technology we must also empower them to be creators of digital solutions. To do this we must begin with recognising the challenges that a curriculum built around mastery of Digital Technologies brings to our teachers and seek to understand the supports they require.

In these times of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA), in this Post Truth era, what do our children most need from their education? How do we best prepare them for their future?

Our efforts to enculturate a Growth Mindset or Mindset Awareness are not wasted but the process needs to be understood as complex and demands a multifaceted action plan if it is to produce results.

The foundational stability of schools might be our greatest strength.Getting the fundamentals right and protecting them during change efforts is essential. 

"Welcome to the official guide to technology and learning by Edudemic! This part of Edudemic is meant to offer you, the teacher, some of the best and most popular resources available today. We've combed through hundreds of resources in order to narrow down our guides into something easy to read, easy to use, and easy to share. Below are links to the guides we have made so far. They're always a work in progress so be sure to let us know if we missed something or if you have more resources you want us to call out in the guides. We're always looking for the best and most useful resources so don't be shy, share!"

If you consider the day to day life of many of our students today, you see that they have very little time that is free from some form of programmed activity. Indeed, it is increasingly the norm for families to fill their children's time with the maximum number of learning, sporting and co-curricular activities. Schools naturally are happy to facilitate this and many see the breadth of programmes that they offer as a measure of success. But is there a consequence to all this activity and constant state of engagement?

"Transformative pedagogies, encourage students to be an equal and active participant in their learning. They are not limited to being passive listeners or mere receivers of information, with instructions on how to process the same. Students are expected to consciously understand their learning, the thought processes intertwined with it, while questioning, exploring, and discovering new realms of learning. This thought process that delves into the concept of thinking, is called Metacognition. Termed by the American Psychologist John H. Flavell, in 1979, it's a combination of two words that best describe its meaning; meta - beyond and cognition - thinking. Going by this conceptualization, simply put, metacognition implies beyond thinking, or thinking about the thinking process."

Rather than expecting to be immersed in learning that shines a light on the path forward the notion of searching for driftwood that suits the learner's needs is very empowering. It requires an imagining of learning as a very active process where the learner is aware of their context, their current understanding and what they might need to move forward. It demands a conscious practice of reflection and a disposition towards taking charge of one's learning. It is a very agentic view where learning is something that you do, not something that happens to you. 

This is not a story about the evolution of the world-wide-web. It is not about an evolutionary process of learning or a desire to engage in life-long learning. It is instead about the importance of purpose and engagement as factors in our learning.

As we make plans for how we will engage our students in their learning the decisions we make become fundamental to how they will grow to understand the purposes of learning. How our learners approach the curriculum and the disciplines is fundamental to the outcomes we may achieve for them. One path will set them up to view learning as the acquisition of information the other to see it as a process of asking and exploring questions of significance through the many unique lenses.

Taken simplistically there could be a feeling that due to the complexity of large systems change becomes an uncontrollable beast with a mind of its own. 

Mere substitution is not going to help our learners maximise the affordances of technology. The challenge is to find ways by which technology can enhance learning. We can be certain that technology is not going to go away and that those who maximise the affordances that it brings are likely to gain the most from it. 

Having the right mindset is alone not sufficient for growth. I might talk the talk about a growth mindset and believe I can learn a new skill but unless I back that belief with action, it is just talk.

"In the ever-changing technological world, computer science is not only becoming more prominent in classrooms, but a staple in education. Computer science combines the principles of technology and use of computers to educate learners on both the hardware and software of computer technology. The field of computer science is exceptionally diverse, as the skill sets are in-demand across practically every industry-serving as a lucrative and stable career pathway. In addition, computer science has many facets, meaning educators can leverage various components of the field to reach students across all levels and learning abilities. With technology present in almost every classroom, educators have a greater opportunity to implement computer science lessons throughout the curriculum. This provides students with the knowledge and skills required to help follow job market trends when they graduate."

Oddly lately I have been pondering how schools responds to the question of a work life balance. Let me try to explain my thinking. I am still trying to clarify my thinking here, so please bear with me. What does it mean to achieve work life balance, and should we want to?

"Joe's teacher, Ms. Watkins, is feeling frustrated. For the fourth time today, the second grader has flatly refused to do as she asks … and it's not even lunchtime yet. The last request, that Joe put away the book he is reading and take out his math assignment, escalated until the he was on the floor screaming and kicking. Ms. Watkins has had meeting after meeting with Joe's parents, but all they can say is that Joe argues like this at home, too. Things seem to be at an impasse until the school counselor suggests Joe might be one of many students with ODD-oppositional defiant disorder."

what if our expertise is imagined or false. What if what we think is so, just ain't so. This might be more common than we care to admit, and it is worth considering the source of this difficulty and its implications. 

In our busy and highly connected lives it can be difficult to find time to slow down, to deliberately and mindfully engage in reflective contemplation. Taking the time to do so can be significant for success, creativity, mental well-being and learning and yet we seem to struggle to commit time to this valuable practice. Schools, in particular seem to offer little time for students to slow down and think, and with the busy lives students lead such time is often entirely absent.

An unavoidable element of the discourse around educational disadvantage or equality is how we define and assess equality. One definition will see this as being in equality of access to education, funding for education and/or resources. Such an approach has largely been seen in government funding models however subtle variations on this theme have resulted in significant differences in resulting policies.