Nov 12, 2020
Asha Alexander, Principal of The Kindergarten Starters
In this second episode we hear from Asha Alexander, principal of The Kindergarten Starters in Dubai.
“It takes a war, a climate disaster or a pandemic to force educators to actually let go what they are familiar with, and to embark on new journeys.”
“You might call me stupid or you might call me brave, to get rid of textbooks and learn in a very open way.”
“Nowadays, children can just Google anything they want to learn, what they need is a platform or an opportunity to use those skills. We want creativity, we want collaboration, we want out of the box thinking, but we’re putting them in a box.”
Time Stamps:
[2:45] What motivates Asha to embrace digital learning
[5:10] Parents initial reactions with open learning
[8:13] Teacher reactions to early stages of open learning
[12:49] Children reactions to early stages of open learning
[17:24] Synchronising online open learning during pandemic
[19:11] Children adapting open learning with devices
[22:26] Skills that children gained from primary education to their next stages of learning
[24:25] Will skills gained from open learning help students graduate at a higher academic level?
[26:43] Importance of ethics to modern technology
[29:30] Common Sense Media - Digitally literate skill
[30:11] How opening learning impacted standardized tests on children
[31:41] Will children feel challenged transiting from open learning to traditional learning?
[33:08] Asha thoughts on open learning in secondary schools
Links:
To connect with Zenna Hopson go to www.zennahopson.com