Press
Many of the initiatives that I have been a part of have received some local press. You can also read some of the philosophy and vision statements that I have contributed to by reading through the documents on my school district website.
If you find yourself in a discussion about changes in education with K-12 Technology Coordinator Jonathan Redeker, the last thing you should say is “but we’ve always done it this way.”
Redeker, who was recently appointed to the Future Ready Schools (FRS) Advisory Board, recognizes that challenging the norm can be difficult, but essential – especially during these unprecedented times.
“Society is being forced to change because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. “Schools had to change their curriculum without warning. Jobs are being created that don’t exist yet. Education won’t go back to ‘normal’ and we as educators need to continually work towards growth and change.”
The immediate pivot to virtual learning was – and still remains – a struggle for many teachers, students and families. Redeker’s appointment as an FRS instructional leader has strengthened his resolve to help guide his colleagues as they continue to embrace remote instruction and search for ways to engage with their students, both in-person and virtually.
“Technology isn’t always the answer,” said Redeker. “My goal isn’t to rely solely on technology in education, but to help teachers utilize it effectively. My hope is to help inspire teachers to think about how to create better lessons that focus on project-based learning and engagement, and to use educational technology tools as a window to the world. This can have an exponential impact on our kids.”
Redeker’s role with FRS allows him to work with hundreds of colleagues from throughout the country who share his same visions. Collaboratively, they create ways to engage with educators through staff development, virtual events, webinars, case studies, podcasts, and more. In addition, FRS is a strong advocate for digital equity – the number of students without home internet is approximately 14% with up to 37% for some minority groups (according to the National Center for Education Statistics).
“FRS has a voice around the country about how to best support our students and teachers,” said Redeker. “Ultimately, this results in students who are passionate, productive and responsible members of society. We want to build personal and authentic relationships with kids. That’s where my heart is and I’m very honored and excited to work with this group.”
Based in Washington D.C., FRS supports thousands of school districts as they advance evidence-based practices and create rigorous and engaging student-centered learning environments. For more information, visit https://futureready.org.
“As educators, we need to move from ‘best practices’ to next practices,” said Redeker. “We need to inspire kids to think differently by teaching in a way that actively engages and empowers them.”
“The world is changing and educators need to rethink how we teach in order to connect with the modern student,” he said. “We often talk about teaching in order to prepare students for the future – for college and careers. But why not teach for today? Let’s inspire student passion. Students won’t learn if they aren’t interested in what they’re learning.”
There can be some negative associations with technology, mainly due to instances of online bullying and the effects of too much screen time, but Redeker wants to help people move away from the concept that technology is “bad” and show how making connections with technology can help our students to do bigger and better things.
“Educational technology allows students to see and experience people from all over the world, with different backgrounds, political beliefs and cultures,” he said. “It allows them to connect and talk to real people, which can help build empathy and compassion.”
In the end, it’s all about what you do with technology – how educators use it to teach and how students use it to learn.
“I tell my students that they need to move from being consumers to creators,” said Redeker. “Don’t just ‘consume’ technology, but use it to create and help change the world.”
Is civics having a moment?
Jonathan Redeker, who teaches social studies and serves as K-12 technology coordinator for the Goshen Central School District, sees room for a stronger focus on civics in public schools.
“We’ve seen the pendulum swing back from English and math to a focus on STEM,” or science, technology, engineering and math, Redeker said, but, he added, “we haven’t seen the same thing with civics education.”
And for Redeker, civics fosters a lot of the same skills that STEM seeks to develop, like critical thinking and problem-solving.
Making a difference
Redeker’s 12th-grade Participation in Government students are required to do a civic action project, in which they identify a problem and take action to work toward a solution.
“They’ve done amazing work,” Redeker said, including a girl who published a story explaining her decision to have her baby as a teen mother because of her pro-life values, and a boy who successfully lobbied to have the speed limit lowered on the state road where he lived.
Overall, Redeker said, his students come in passionate about issues, and eager to take action once they understand what is possible.
“When students are told, ‘You should vote,’ they don’t feel a lot changing in their world,” Redeker said. “But if you tell them, ‘Here’s how you can effect change,’ it takes it to the next level.”
Some of the staff development courses that I teach is on creating flexible learning spaces. Some teachers have embraced this and adopted the idea. This is exciting because it is also about changing pedagogy and approach to teaching and learning. The linked article explains a lot of my philosophy about rethinking teaching and learning.
I believe that students, teachers, administrators and parents all play a key role in educating students. When it comes to many of our new initiatives, parents need more support. Our school shifted to Google Suite for Education, but many adults have not in their personal and professional lives. In the 2017-2018 school year, I hosted a series of evenings to help parents get more acquainted with the Google tools. It was one of the most rewarding community outreach experiences in my career and I look forward to continuing similar outreach events.
I had a chance to speak at a number of opening day ceremonies in my school district about our technology goals. You can read about the presentation in the link above.