Francis Valentine- Mind Lab

Last year I completed my certificate in Digital Technology and Collaboration through Mind Lab here in Christchurch. Often I had watched videos fronted by the founder of Mind Lab - Francis Valentine. I often saw her on the news and thought it would be great to one day hear her talk. That opportunity turned up last week. Her talk was in our new school hall and replaced our staff meeting for the week. Probably the first thing that struck me was how genuine and real she was. She mostly talked off the cuff and she was very engaging. Francis’ s message was very clear from the beginning- we must incorporate digital technology into our classrooms and change the way we teach and think if we are to educate the students of the future effectively. The 21st century skills are different to the 20th century skills we used to teach and the types of jobs we are preparing our children in our classes for look very different and to some extent- haven’t even been thought of yet.


It is important to note that technology should only ever be a tool to make learning engaging, aide communication and stay connected.

We are in a position where we need to prepare children for a global world. The effect the world has on us is much bigger than the effect that we have on the world because NZ is so small making up only .33% of the world economy.

One of the arguments for supporting technology is the fact that things like Fortnight and some gaming can have a negative effect on our young people so the question remains- How can we support technology when it has potential to cause us problems? The use of technology requires common sense and as parents, and to a lesser extent educators, we need to know when it is time to switch off the technology.

Some would say that it is a sad state of affairs that we are facing a future of the old “analogue” jobs of today will soon be replaced with digital technology- robots and drones etc

It feels a bit like the human touch will soon be surplus to requirements. In their ever changing world our children need to be resilient, flexible, communicative, problem solvers, team players etc if they want to be successful in the future.

One of the things that I often talk about and think about is the fact that children of today do not need to really retain information or wait to find out anything they need to know these days. Everything is at their fingertips and most importantly they can get almost any information their heart desires instantly. Children of today don’t so much need to know the answers but they need to know the solution.

Never has there been a time of such rapid change in the technological world and the analogue world for that matter- it is our job as educators to prepare our students to feel confident in the face of change and be able to adapt to new technologies. It is a case of what worked for me in my education, won’t work for the children of today- the world is very different.

We need to ensure that we are not preparing our children for a world that used to exist, but doesn’t anymore- we need to prepare them for the world in which we are living today and we need to look to the future.





If I am honest, I came away from this talk feeling ever so slightly scared for the future of education and the future my kids. I have since thought about this and have decide I am a bit scared of the unknown! I believe we are heading into uncharted territory and for the most part it is exciting if not a little scary.