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What does “more” mean to you?
“ … to know yourself and your story."
David Hanna, Director of University Counselling, The York School
A few years ago Microsoft partnered with the McKinsey Global institute to ask some big questions: What do today’s students need from their teachers? What do they need from their schools? How can we best address those needs? The resultant study became one of the largest of its kind, with research drawing on surveys of 2000 students and 2000 teachers across Canada, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States; an in-depth review of existing research; and interviews with 70 thought leaders, including educators, researchers, policy makers, and technologists. The goal is to find creative, effective ways of empowering students to achieve more.
“… to be bold, to come in with more questions than answers.”
Karrie Weinstock, Deputy Principal, Branksome Hall
The results were published in a joint report, The class of 2030 and life-ready learning: The technology imperative. As you might imagine, it’s an interesting, enlightening, at times arresting, read. The biggest lesson perhaps is that the answers aren’t obvious. “More” can be a slippery idea. It can be exceedingly difficult to know what students will need when the context for that need is unclear.
“ to be social beings and get along with others in a complex world.”
Hugh Burke, Headmaster, Meadowridge
We’re delighted to be partnering with Microsoft to explore how new approaches—some of which are a direct result of that study—are being brought to bear in some key Canadian educational contexts. In the coming months, we’ll visit with instructors at Bayview Glen and Appleby College. We’ll see how they’re using Surface and Office 365 products to facilitate and augment the delivery of their core programs. We’ll also explore the approach that Microsoft has taken, informed by a commitment—as evidenced by that study, as well as other initiatives—to the education market.
“… equipping our boys to take on the complex global issues of our time ….”
Naheed Bardai, Head of the Upper School, Upper Canada College
But, to launch the series, we thought we’d go directly to the well, asking educators from across the country a deceptively simple question: What does “more” mean to you? We’ve already reached out to a few of our members, and you can see in the quotes featured here what some of them have said. More responses are included in the slideshow below, which we’ll be sharing on our social media feeds in the coming weeks. (We’ve also posted it online here.) We’d love to hear from you, too. Email your responses to me and we’ll share them with our audiences online and in print, and we’ll share them with Microsoft, too.
In the meantime, watch this space. There’s more to come.
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