Our guest today is Justin Medved. He is the Director of Learning, Innovation, and Technology at The York School - a K to 12th-grade independent day school in Toronto, Canada. Justin leads the way in professional development for faculty to ensure that technology is integrated into the classroom, and 21st-century pedagogy is developed to enhance learning. The York School was the first school in Canada to implement a 1-1 laptop program, and thereby positioned itself as a tech innovator early in the game. Justin has spent more than 10 years expanding and improving the school’s tech offering. He is an Apple Distinguished Educator and a Google Certified Innovator.

In this episode, Justin articulates what it means to be a 21st-century learner/teacher/school.

He gives specific strategies for how to start from the “why” technology is needed in education to the “how” it can be implemented. 

Listen and take note of how a school can improve its value proposition and increase enrollment by embracing technology as a non-negotiable basic skill needed for the future. If you want to learn about the role of tech in schools, this conversation is not to be missed.

Quotes:

5:52 “We as an institution needed to figure out where tech belonged within the tried and tested traditions of the past; new pedagogy needed to be crafted and woven into the way our school operated.”

11:30 “The broad awareness of just how many skills are required to exist in the world today goes well beyond what a traditional education can deliver.” 

15:30 “People want confidence that the school knows where it’s going (with technology).”

23:35 “Schools are very complicated organisms. It’s so easy to come up with a change and aspire to have a change that ultimately contributes to your school’s value proposition in the market or increases enrollment, but realizing that change takes a lot of energy with a lot of stakeholders involved and its not as simple as a few Saturday PD days and some newsletters.” 

25:34 “A brave school - or a school that really ends up implementing change well doesn’t lose sight of the long-term stewardship required on some of these big initiatives.”

30:50 “The mindset you (a teacher) have to adopt is one of continuous learning; the teacher has to come to the table with a growth mindset and a willingness to ask questions, seek help, and drive towards competency.”

Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:

Seth Godin, This Is Marketing - https://seths.blog/tim/

Dr. John Paul Kotter - the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus, at the Harvard Business School, and best-selling author - https://www.kotterinc.com/8-steps-process-for-leading-change/

Grant Lichtman, nationally recognized thought leader in education and author of, “Moving the Rock: Seven Levers WE Can Press to Transform Education” -  http://www.grantlichtman.com/

Cohort 21 https://cohort21.com/

The Strategic Change Accelerator https://www.cais.ca/professional-development/strategicchangeaccelerator

The York School - https://www.yorkschool.com

Where to learn more about Justin Medved:

Twitter - https://twitter.com/jmedved

Blogs - http://medagogy.edublogs.org

Justin on Linkedin https://ca.linkedin.com/in/justinmedved