Restructuring of educational systems in the digital age from a co-evolutionary perspective

There have been repeated calls for restructuring of schooling to take advantage of information and communication technologies (ICT). This article recognizes an increasing range of radical restructuring resulting from the co-evolution of education and digital technologies in school systems and related activity in the global ecosystem. Research of previously innovative schools that did not sustain their innovative strategies with ICT has also helped to clarify relevant factors including the importance of leadership. Davis' co-evolutionary framework is illustrated with case studies of sustained transformation enabled by blended and online learning in New Zealand and the USA. Transformations include decoupling of the roles of a class teacher, plus decoupling of the services provided by a single school into provision by networked organizations, including a virtual school and web-based services. The diversity of transformed educational ecosystems is linked to local and regional variations in culture and conditions. The article concludes that teachers in a range of roles will remain the keystone species of K-12 education also in the 21st century and recommends that this co-evolutionary framework is applied globally to increase equitable provision.

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