WIS Students at 2018 21st Century Learning Conference

On the 19-20 January, over 550 teachers from 35 countries attended tenth 21st Century Learning Conference at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai. The biggest tech conference in the entire Asia-Pacific region discussed the integration of technology in the classroom, with the themes of, but not limited to Data in Education, STEAM, Student Voice, Leadership & Coaching, Digitally Powered Classrooms.

The conference invited Digital Leaders from leading international schools across Hong Kong, including WIS, to provide a student’s point of view on the discussed topics. Since this is the second year of the Student Digital leader program at West Island school, this was a huge boost and opportunity for the WIS digital leaders.

“It was a great honour for us to be invited to the conference”, said the WIS Digital Leader Tanushree Banerjee. “Never before had I been given the platform to express my views to such a vast audience.”

Over the two days, over a hundred people gave presentations and speeches. All of them were fascinating, and one of them was the VEX robotics workshop, which introduced us to using the VEX IQ robot building system, programmed easily using Scratch. The presenter, Mr Rolly Maiquez, explained the connections between robotics and STEM Education & Design, and the benefits of learning using buildable, programmable robots with motors and sensors.

The educators’ expertise had us all wowed. However, listening wasn’t our only task. We also had to sit on student panels, along with four to six other students. The first one was titled “The Secret Lives of Teenagers”. Adults asked us about profanity on social media, our view on the overuse of social media, our choice for preferred social media platforms, and other related subjects. “Everyone contributed insightful observations and justified opinions. Next to them, I felt like a toddler trying to keep up with their older siblings. The panel only lasted for an hour, yet it felt like a day. Despite being nervous while it was happening, after the panel ended I realised it was actually a great experience to have, as I can now be more confident in my abilities to speak in front of a large group of people,” says Patsy Ng, one of the WIS Digital Leaders.

The panel on “What Are Schools Not Doing That They Should Be” was extremely entertaining and action packed. The panel brought up very real issues regarding the use of technology in schools. In spite of the advance in technology, students still feel bored and stifled within the confines of a school. The use of digital technologies has become mere “box ticking” for schools, but aren’t being use to their full potential. Several students brought up very innovative solutions to the problems discussed on the panel. Many creative ideas about the use of technology were also discussed at length. There was a hot debate on the effectiveness of the new grading systems and assessment policies using technology.

The “Digital Leadership” student panel comprised of seven student digital leaders from international schools across Shanghai and Hong Kong. The students explained the structures in their schools for digital leadership. With new technologies being introduced to the classroom, even teachers are failing to keep up. Thus, it has become crucial for schools to have Digital Leaders – student representatives who guide both teachers and students about the use of technology so that it is used to its full potential. Each school’s digital leadership team explained how they had a positive impact on the school community by assisting peers and teachers and promoting digital literacy.

This conference was a once in a lifetime experience. Never before had we been exposed to so many ideas and ways in which education could be transformed. The panel discussions were very thought provoking, and challenged us to think about solutions to real life problems. The inclusion of student voice through the three student panels was also very effective – after all, who would understand the problems faced by students better than students?

“The student panels were a huge success – the student representatives were very thought provoking and answered questions from the audience very frankly and reasonable,” says Dana Watts, one of the organisers of the conference.

We would love to express our voice through more student panels and even keynotes in the future.

Patsy Ng and Tanushree Banerjee