ICT in the Classroom

Creativity is the key ... have I said that before!

2009-07-10T17:42:00.001+10:00

Creativity is the key ... I feel like I've been saying this for ages and I'm not the only one. What is it going to take to get the world to listen and share in the freedom, progress and life that creativity brings?

'Sir Ken Robinson, a leading thinker on education, creativity and innovation, who has advised various governments and major global corporations says that most education systems around the world including Australia’s, are still modelled on the needs of the industrial age, were already narrow and are getting narrower.' from the 7:30 Report ABC.

Check the text and audio transcript out at
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2009/s2600125.htm

Looking into the crystal ball

2009-01-21T21:15:00.002+11:00

Where is technology heading in the near and not so near future?

From the http://horizon.nmc.org/wiki/2009_Shortlist

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less

Mobiles
Cloud Computing
Collaborative Environments
Paperless Publishing

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years

Geo-Everything
The Personal Web
3D Virtual Worlds
Alternative Input Devices

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Four to Five Years

Semantic-Aware Applications
3D Telepresence
Thin Screens, Flexible Interfaces
Smart Objects

It's not about technology!

2008-11-29T09:08:00.007+11:00

In 2007 I received the Microsoft Scholars Award as part of the DET and the Minister's Award for Excellence in the Intergration of Information Technology into classroom practice.

Although very humbled by the award it allowed me to conduct a study tour of the US and Canada. As part of the tour I visited many schools, universities and departments of education.

The trip allowed me to visit MIT's famous media lab from where LegoMindstorms were conceived as well as the OLPC initiative. It allowed me to visit the Alameda Community Learning centre where student centred learning has taken new meaning. The trip allowed me to visit Maine where a forward thinking governor has put laptops in the hands of every middle school student. And that is just the tip of the iceburg.

The focus question started out as 'improving learning outcomes for students from disadvantaged communities using ICTs' as the tour progressed it became apparent that to remain at this level of questioning was too simplistic. There was a bigger question out there!!

The report of my findings can be found by clicking on the links below. This is a culmination of the learning done whilst on the tour but also a lot of the learning done online with educator colleagues around the globe - living proof that the world is definitely flat.

Click on the links below to view the report.

Report part 1

Report part 2

Report part 3

Randy Pausch - achieving your childhood dreams

2008-09-30T12:57:00.001+10:00

creativity - dreams - not about technology - success is about relationships

Real life learning.

Inspiring on many levels.

Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

Visits to US school

2008-08-02T22:17:00.002+10:00

I've been back in Australia for 5 weeks and I am finally able to begin to consolidate all the learning I have done whilst on my study tour to the US and Canada. The focus of the tour was technology and its ability to impact on student learning.

The trip allowed me to visit a number of schools, departments of educations as well as a number of universities and talk with researchers, practitioners and administrators.

Some initial conclusions:

* Creativity is the key. It's where our students should be heading;

* Good teachers are good learners;

* Technology does not make bad teaching practice magically turn into good teaching practice.

I now need to write a report for the DET and Microsoft Corp. I will post the link to the final copy once it is complete.

Getting Scribefire to post to my blogger account

2008-05-19T02:54:00.001+10:00

I usually use scribefire to update by blog. Scribefire is a great firefox add on and makes blogging so much easier. Of late, though it seems to dislike my blogger password. When I go into blogger and use the same username and password I have no problems.

hmmm. I wonder what it could be?

The Adventure Begins

2008-05-18T15:30:00.001+10:00

At the end of last year I was awarded the Microsoft Scholarship. With this I was able to organise a study tour of the US and Canada to have a look at how the various schools and districts use ICT in to improve learning outcomes for students.

During the tour I will visit a range of both universities and school and school district offices.

And after a 13 hour trip I will keep this blog up to date with details of the visit.

Alameda Community Learning Centre

2008-04-23T12:24:00.002+10:00

In my search for a real environment where students are truly self regulating their behaviour I stumbled across this video about the Alameda Community Learning Centre. There is a series of 5 videos on You Tube about this learning centre.

I truly believe these are the sort of schools we should be creating. Let's break down the barriers. Let's focus on learning and not on school as a structure.

Let's nurture life long learning!

TEACHING is DEAD!
LONG LIVE LEARNING!

What is twitter?

2008-04-21T10:08:00.001+10:00

I am a twitter convert. Initially sceptical I now think that Twitter is a fantastic way to collaborate with others who have the same interests as you.

Twitter is a type of microblogging i.e. blogging on a smaller scale.

You find some people who you would like to follow and everytime they post a comment on their twitter page it appears on your page.

You may start by following only 2 or 3 people and then looking at who they are following and following those people that you think are posting interesting conversation on twitter.

The following video gives a great description of twitter.

Curosity Questioning Creativity

2008-04-15T21:43:00.004+10:00

Curiosity breeds questions. Questions breed creativity.

All fits in with the idea of generation C ... the creative generation.

Some more food for thought from TED ... Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?

Does a Wii mote make an IWB?

2008-04-14T19:00:00.005+10:00

Who needs the pay top dollar for an interactive whiteboard when you can get the same results with a $40 remote control.

I discovered this guy, Johnny Lee on the net a while ago and have tried the software he has so cleverly written together with my wii remote (Yes we own a nintendo wii). Initially the whole thing was very experimental ... But now it’s being taken quite seriously by the world and Johnny Lee has been invited to TED to present his work.

The video only goes for about 5 minutes and is well worth a look

Hey while we wait for the decision makers to go through the process of identifying a supplier for interactive whiteboards we would be able to set these up in every single classroom at fraction of the cost.

At $40 a piece for the wii remotes it makes the idea of interactive whiteboards in every classroom more palatable ... Even to me ... $40 being about the right price for what is effectively another input device (instead of thousands).

will computer games take the place of books?

2008-04-12T22:12:00.001+10:00

I've just returned from the Children's Literature Festival held in the beautiful grounds of the Norman Lindsay Gallery, Faulconbridge.

Numerous authors held workshops, story reading sessions for both children and adults. They spoke about the creative process - How they come up with ideas for books, what inspires them, whoe their favourite authors are, when did they start writing, what do they do when they get writers block.

Together with my son, I spent the whole day without technology. We browsed books. Walked through the gallery gardens. The closest we got to technology was the gas barbaque that cooked our sausages for lunch.

The interesting thing about the day was the various views that these authors had about the roll of computer games in literacy. Are computer games a type of literary text?

Although I love sitting down with a great book and would be disappointed if my children and grand children missed that experience ... I started to question whether this mode of expression will ever be 'digitised' and whether the experience of a digitised text would be as rich as that of reading a good book.

With a digitised text you would be in control of the plight of the characters. Every time you read the story there would be a different ending.

This raised another question in my mind. What is the purpose of reading a book for pleasure. Is it to get into someone elses world. To empathise with another's feelings. To experience their experiences and in the process reflect and learn more about yourself?

With a digitised text would this side of reading be missed as we become the creators of the content?

At which point is there too much content out there in the ether? Will we provide ways of determining with voices get heard above others and what is quality content?

Many questions to ponder. Some may not even be answered in our lifetime. As for me I'll leave the thinking for another day and go to bed curled up with a good book for now.

Earth Hour

2008-03-30T21:47:00.001+11:00

Earth Hour has been to Sydney for yet another year.

Our home and city was plunged into darkness. We enjoyed the silence and the lack of stimulation. Made room in the mind for more thinking. Away from email and the computer in general for an hour.

Our discussion by candlelight turned to energy saving devices and whether or not there are laptops out their that are environmentally friendly, that do not contribute to the massess of e-junk we produce each year. Worth more investigation?

We even considered running a computer with a dynamo ... get a work out whilst surfing the net.

I think we are going to make Earth Hour a regular occurrence at our place.

embarking on a wiki collaboration

2008-02-23T09:23:00.001+11:00

I am finding the restrictions on website and more specifically on web 2.0 tools quite difficult to work with at the moment. I understand the need to protect our students. At the same time I believe that blocking sites is not the complete answer.

Of course there are some site whose material is extremely objectionable (not just for students but for adults also) and these should definitely be blocked. There are the other sites which are somewhere in between. In a grey area.

I suggest instead of just blocking the sites lets provide our students with tools they need to be safe online. Let's empower them with knowledge instead of just censorship.

If you haven't noticed the internet is here to stay. Lets learn and teach the rules of engagement. Empower your students to make good choices.

The same way we teach about stranger danger let's do the same for the net.

ICT Literacy testing

2008-01-23T21:50:00.001+11:00

MCEETYA have released the results of the ICT Literacy testing conducted towards the end of 2005. It can be
found at http://www.mceetya.edu.au/mceetya/

The key finding is that there are differences in the extent to which students in Years 6 and 10 have the opportunity to become familiar with computers - and that this difference is founded in home computer usage and socio-economic differences. The testing also found that students use the Internet to 'look up' information rather than creating, analysing or transforming it.

To me it supports the need
to get students into those high order levels of thinking rather than simply teaching the use of the tool. … get over the handwriting lesson let’s get into writing … if you know what I mean. It also supports the idea that no matter how high tech the technology, no matter how many bells and whistles our technology has, without
a strong pedagogical basis the results will be average.

The paperless world.

2007-11-21T18:31:00.001+11:00

The paperless world is fast becoming a reality. This innovation blogged on David Warlick's blog is well worth looking at.

Livescribe is a paper-based computing platform. The website complete with animation boasts the following features:

Listen to your class lecture by just tapping on your
handwritten notes.
View & listen to your notes on your PC and search by keyword.
Email your written & audio notes to your classmates or study group.

Have a look and see what you think. Personally I want one. Saves me using all those bits of paper and writing and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting.

Technorati Tags: livescribe, e-paper, david warlick, warlick, recycling, notes

WITNESS and video

2007-11-10T14:05:00.001+11:00

Just came across the WITNESS web site. Their motto is SEE IT. FILM IT. CHANGE IT.

The power of change is in the hands of the individual. We don't know how much time we have on our journey on this Earth. We have an obligation to make a difference.

Technology once again can be used to give a voice to the voiceless. Blogs, podcasts and videos are just three ways this can be done.

Combine this with the OLPC project and you have a platform for any child to tell their story.

Pangea Day - The Power of film to unit people and strengthen understanding

2007-10-28T13:56:00.001+11:00

I've written about Pangea Day before, the wish of Jehane Noujaim to tap into the power of film in order to strengthen understanding and compassion among people.

The project is gaining momentum as we move towards Pangea Day which will be celebrated around the world on the 10 May, 2008. The website with details has been recently updated and is well worth a look at www.pangeaday.org .

This project highlights yet another way that technology has been used and will be used to destroy borders. This time the borders are not just the physical borders of cinema complexes, not even the borders of countries. This time the borders being overcome are the those placed on us by the media. Technology has allowed the general population access to the power of film --- most mobile phones these days come complete with their own inbuilt video camera allowing the bearer the ability to create their own narrative, to recount events in their life as they happen and then share these with whoever they please.

Can this be a concept we can use to empower our students and give them a voice?

K12 Online Conference 2007 - Inventing new Boundaries

2007-10-09T09:58:00.001+10:00

The pre conference key note for the k12 Online Conference 2007 is now available to listen to. The title of the keynote is "Inventing New Boundaries" given by David Warlick

It is an exciting time for educators and students - boundaries and borders are coming down. We are in a position to have some control over shaping what the schools of the future will look like.

The traditional boundaries of fences and text books, even the notion of the classroom are being challenged. David asks educators and students to be resourceful, creative and imaginative when creating new boundaries - new boundaries that are necessary in order to create the 'traction' required so as to allow us to move forward.

His themes are very much linked to my post yesterday and I consider him one of my Yodas.

This keynote is definitely well worth a listen --> "Inventing New Boundaries" given by David Warlick

New Imagery for School and Schooling: Challenging, Creating and Connecting

2007-10-08T13:13:00.001+10:00

New
imagery for schools and schooling is the title given to the upcoming ACEL conference in Sydney.

The title of this conference has raised some questions in my mind over definitions and the power that these definitions have in being impediments for change. Let me explain.

By defining a school as such, to most, this implies physical boundaries, bricks and mortar, institutions, schools bounded by fences, teachers in classroom and students at desks. If we do not radically change our perceptions of this definition schools will remained stagnant, modelled on the factories and line workers of the industrial revolution. The world has changed, schools and more precisely education needs to imitate this reality. If we don't we will have a system that will inadequately prepare students for the future. The YouTube video below highlights this.

The subtitle Challenging, Creating and Connecting is the essence of education in 2007 and beyond. Those very elements are the terms that define Classroom 2.0. No borders!

The conference has some world renowned speakers ready to impart their understandings and predictions for the future of schooling. Wish I was there!

Maybe if this conference is truly challenging, creating and connecting the organisers may consider podcasting the keynotes for those of us who can't attend but would have loved to?

Off Topic ... or is it: The War Tapes

2007-10-06T12:13:00.001+10:00

Another TED talk, this one is by Carolyn Porco (filmmaker
of The War Tapes) .… http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/171
. The project involved giving soldiers in the national guard a camera and
filming from the front line for a year. Powerful stuff.

Liberation I guess is a matter of perspective!

Is this off topic? The blog name after all is 'ICT integration in the classroom'. Well I would argue that it isn't off topic. The War Tapes film is just one example that the actual ICT tools have moved into insignificance. I didn't watch this film thinking I wonder what camera they used? I wonder how they edited the film? What font did they use? All of that faded into insignificance as I was moved by the content and the emotions that this film evoked. It was substance not the technicalities of construction that mattered.

Bringing it back to classroom ... it's the thinking and the literacy that count. Consider the skills you used when watching this film, whether you are pro the war in Iraq or against it.

The development of ICTs has made the dissemination of a message no longer bound by the 'media' but has placed the power into the hands of the people. The Net has provided the platform for discussion and debate. Allowing us to question truth and perspectives.

What do you think?

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Fly me to the moons of Saturn ... let's get over IT

2007-10-06T11:08:00.001+10:00

I've recently been listening to TED. From their website ...

"TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It
started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from
those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader."

They hold an annual conference that brings together some of the most inspiring thinkers and doers of the world. They are asked to give 18minute talks about their lives and passions.

Their most recently released talk is by Carolyn Porco. The title of her talk "Fly me to the moons of Saturn" . This the ultimate result of what our teaching and learning is all about.

The talk is inspiring in itself ... but it made me think. It made me think about the careers and jobs of the future. What are we preparing our students for. If we don't embrace ICTs as tools are we really giving our students the best chances of succeeding ... allowing them to reach for their moons, exploring worlds not yet detected.

This sort of science didn't happen because of conformist thinking, I suggest it happened because of divergent thinking. Thinking outside the norms. Taking chances and being creative. I really believe our focus should shift from integrating ICTs to pedagogy.

Let's get over it ... the tools are there ... lets just get on with the job and use them. Let's focus on the teaching. Let's focus on getting our students up the ladder of higher order thinking. They already know the technology and if they don't they'll get it quicker than the immigrants!! Let's give them access and let them loose with solid pedagogy.

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Teens make a difference in a virtual world

2007-10-03T21:09:00.001+10:00

Even Unicef has embraced the virtual world and has used it to provide a meeting place or forum for the teens of the world. Teens came together in a special under 18s space in Second life to discuss their concerns about the future.

They have used their avatars to meet and converse just as in a conference that would have been organised in the physical world, although in this instance they are not bounded by physical boundaries.

A meeting like this a number of years ago would not have been possible. The expense alone would have prevented many from attending. Is this another positive consequence of the flat world, as coined by Thomas Friedman.

You can view the website and some video info at this link ... http://www.unicef.org/adolescence/index_38145.html

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The Digital Divide

2007-09-23T19:34:00.001+10:00

It has been noted in recent years that the digital divide is growing along socio economic lines, between the have and the have nots. The George Lucas Educational Foundation's website edutopia has put some great articles and websites together on this very topic. Worth having a look http://www.edutopia.org/big-list-digital-divide.

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what do we teach the digital natives

2007-09-18T21:34:00.001+10:00

Just read a post by John Larkin on his blog regarding the Digital Natives. He makes a very valid point and something we need to be constantly reminded of as educators.

Basically, yes our students may be more savvy with technology. It is their world and we have a responsibility to prepare them for this innovative, ever changing world. They are usually more skilled than we are so the question is what do we teach?

We can easily get caught up with teaching the skills of using technology tools and not really teach what the students really need to survive and succeed in the post digital age or the 'creative age'.

Teach creativity.

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Drape's Takes: Why Every Teacher Should Have A Google Account

2007-06-05T22:00:00.000+10:00
Go Google ... put so simply by blogger Daren Drapper ...

Drape's Takes: Why Every Teacher Should Have A Google Account

From his blog ...

A quick look at how some of Google's tools could be used to help teachers:
Earth - If you've never played with Google Earth, you should. It's uses in the classroom range from calculating distances between locations (Math) to creating tours of historical places (Social Studies) to many activities in-between.
Finance - These interactive financial charts could be used in any math, finance, or business class.
Notebook - I use it any time I'm conducting informal research on the web. Google Notebooks are also great because you can share them.
Scholar - I use it (almost) any time I'm conducting formal research on the web. Combined with JSTOR, it's usually as good as visiting the university library itself (minus the sweet smell that every library provides).
Calendar - Perfect for creating school or class calendars, they're even subscribable.
Docs & Spreadsheets - Wow. Create documents and spreadsheets without paying the fiddler. The best part about using these with your students is the collaboration features they have included: multiple people can be editing the same document at the same time (and with the Revisions tab, you can even see which student contributed what).
Picasa - Very powerful image editing program. I like to use it in connection with Flickr (check out Darren Kuropatwa's great idea for student-created Flickr Mind Maps).
SketchUp - Again, wow. This little gem would be perfect to use in a number of classes, including drafting, geometry, and art. It's used to create 3D models of anything - which can then be imported into Google Earth.
Blogger - Yep. Every teacher should blog. More on that later.
Translate - I use this to read blog posts created by others in other languages - why couldn't your students do the same?
Video & YouTube - How can you argue with free video hosting? While you definitely have to keep its educational uses in check, I'll be the first to admit that I've used YouTube with my students.
Reader - This is my RSS reader of choice. I like it because it's not stored locally - thus I can read my feeds on any campus and in any Internet-connected classroom.
Trends - I love playing with this tool. I use it with my students to convince them that what they are searching for is really not as great as they might think (as you can see, far more people are searching for sites about math than sites about Brittany Spears). On a serious note, however, with the integrated news results, this tool makes for excellent discussions about cause and effect.
Page Creator - How many of your students have ever created a web page? Google's Page Creator makes the entire process a snap (in spite of a few bugs here and there).
Time-line View (coming soon) - This tool should be a history teacher's dream come true.
So why are educational institutions trying to reinvent the wheel ... just let us use the technology that is there!

Microsoft Surface

2007-06-02T16:15:00.001+10:00

IWBs
already obsolete ???…
Have a look at Microsoft’s latest offering … http://www.microsoft.com/surface/ …
We’ve come full circle … an interface to technology with no keyboards, mouse or
buttons …
I wonder how long it will be before the flat interface (e.g. screen or board) is obsolete and is replaced by a hologram with physical attributes?
The impact on classrooms? Will we see a new style student desk in our classrooms?

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What will education look like in 10 years?

2007-05-30T19:59:00.001+10:00

What will education look like in 10 years? ... a question posed by George Siemens on 29th May

An interesting quesiton. Will changes be great? are educational institutions lagging behind societies needs? or are they being supressed by society and forced into sluggish development and change?

http://ltc.umanitoba.ca/moodle/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=147

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jabberwacky

2007-05-11T21:12:00.001+10:00

Forgot to post the link ...

http://person.jabberwacky.com/george

and the wikipedia entry ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabberwacky

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Jabberwacky

2007-05-11T21:11:00.001+10:00

According to wikipedia ...

Rollo Carpenter has created 'George' -  a Jabberwacky, a chatterbot created by British programmer Rollo Carpenter.
Its stated aim is to “simulate natural human chat in an interesting,
entertaining and humorous manner”. It is an early attempt at creating
an artificial intelligence through human interaction.

Go online and chat
with George. Don't be surprised if you enjoy your chat; George has already
won a few prizes for ‘the most convincing human interaction'. And this
chatterbot is only getting better. The more people talk to him, the better he
gets at conversation – just like us humans really.

Interesting, hmmm.

Not sure how comfortable I feel talking to a virtual 'friend' ... the technology, thought and design is fantastic though!

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The Encyclopedia of Life

2007-05-10T20:02:00.001+10:00

A bit like wikipedia for the Earths species.

An electronic page for each species of organism on Earth available everywhere by single access on command.

Check the Video out ... sounds like a great project ... http://www.eol.org/home.html.

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Lego MMO

2007-05-06T12:52:00.001+10:00

Lego are making a massively multiplayer online game.

http://www.lego.com/mmog/

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Cite U Like

2007-03-24T17:31:00.001+11:00

The new generation of internet, ‘Web 2.0’ really highlights the direction the net is taking. No longer is it a read only web, where you go to research and find information. Instead the strengths of the web have become its read-write
nature, allowing collaboration between people who are geographically distant. Wikis,
page flakes and google apps are just some of the applications that let you do
this.

Net citizens are finding many ways to take advantage of this collaborative benefit, one such site is http://www.citeulike.org/.

From the site ... CiteULike is a free service to help academics to share, store, and organise the academic papers they are reading.
When you see a paper on the web that interests you, you can click one button and have it added to your personal library. CiteULike automatically extracts the citation details, so there's no need to type them in yourself. It all works
from within your web browser. There's no need to install any special software. Because your library is stored on the server,
you can access it from any computer. You can share your library with others,
and find out who is reading the same papers as you. In turn, this can help you discover literature which is relevant to your field but you may not have known about.

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Scribe fire

2007-03-18T17:16:00.001+11:00

I'm just testing out this new plug in for Firefox. It lets you blog from any window whlst on the net. You don't have to log in to your blog site.

Let's see how the settings work.

Here goes!

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the $100 laptop

2007-03-17T09:52:00.000+11:00
Just listened to a TED talk by Nicholas Negroponte regarding his 1 laptop per child initiative. Makes for interesting listening.

http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=n_negroponte

His motivations and vision are truly inspiring.

Negroponte's initial comments on schooling really sum up the benefits ICTs bring to education ... up to the age of around 5 we learn by interacting with our environment. We then attend a formalised education system where things change and we expect students to start learning by reading a book or being told how to do something. Is this the most effective and truly empowering method of learning?? ICTs are able to provide experiential learning being driven by the learner.

He uses the example of learning to walk. You don't read a book or get told how to walk and then learn to walk. You learn to walk by actually trying it out and interacting with your environment. So what makes us think that a traditional classroom will produce a generation of really creative thinkers. ICTs take off where traditional teaching method stop allowing the student to get into the 'thinking zone' much more easily.

IWB for all schools announced

2007-03-17T09:39:00.000+11:00
According to an article in today's SMH ... Under a new initiative all NSW schools will be given an IWB.

The positives:
The new boards will come with video-conferencing facilities so that students will be able to connect to other schools and join in classes at remote locations.
There are plans to increase band width to schools
See the complete article in today SMH
http://www.smh.com.au/news/schools/classroom-revolution-as-schools-connected-to-world
/2007/03/16/1173722745511.html

... my question is when will these boards be backlit so you don't have to dodge your shadow??

... who will provide training so they don't just get used as glorified whiteboards?

... do we really need an IWB, can't you get the same benefits by increasing bandwidth, using a webcam and a projector and all at a fraction of the cost.

I smell an election!

Interactive Whiteboards

2007-03-04T15:04:00.000+11:00
Just as I was beginning to warm to interactive whiteboards I saw this video … http://www.readme.com.au/flash.html .
I think we are really missing the point with the IWB technology … I don’t think that filling in a cloze passage on an interactive whiteboard (or in front of a computer screen for that matter) is going to improve student literacy more than students using the good old pencil and paper.

… I liked the line about the ‘black line masters that are fully reproducible’ … this just makes me SO excited ;)

There has to be a better way to use IWBs or am I missing something?

Digital natives and Digital Immigrants

2006-11-05T19:37:00.001+11:00
Digital natives and Digital Immigrants
Been reading Marc Pransky's work. He is an advocate for complex game use in education.

Pransky also refers to digital immigrants and digital natives. Our students are digital natives. Most of us are digital immigrants.

No matter how hard we try, we will still speak with an accent.

This brings me to think about our role as educators. This thinking supports the shift from teacher directed methods of teaching and the role of the teacher as facilitator. The teacher is no longer the all knowing expert ... but may be the all knowing learner!

I recently heard a podcast which declared ... "Teaching is dead. Long live learning!"

The successful teacher will be the one who continually learns, thus improving their practice and what they can offer their students.

What is Computer Literacy?

2006-05-25T21:52:00.000+10:00
This is just one of the questions I am currently pondering.

As educators what are we trying to achieve when it comes to computer literacy?

I know computer literacy should not be tied to a particular group of software products. How is this overcome when we are bound to a particular type of operating systems and tools.

At the moment I believe that what I am trying to achieve with classes is a change in mindset. I guess I want my students to see the computer and other information technologies as tools to be governed not objects which govern themselves.

Technology and the KLAs

2006-04-25T20:00:00.000+10:00
Should ICT be a separate KLA?

I noticed that in QLD Science is a separate KLA to Technology. Does this Technology KLA refer to ICT type technology or is it equivalent to the Technology part of the Science and Technology KLA in NSW? I will need to research this further.

Either way this has made me think again about whether there is any value in ICT being considered a separate KLA. I can see arguements for and against.

As a separate KLA ICT skills will be nutted out and a core list of skills developed. On the other hand technology is advancing at such a rapid rate that such a core skill base may be easily rendered obsolete.

As a separate KLA ICT would just add to the teacher workload - would we really reap the benefits which ICTs can bring to our lessons if it is separated?

ICTs can create more engaging lessons. I have read research (I will try to find the reference) which indicates students in the US from low SES areas show increased engagement when technology is used in lesson delivery.

The way students use technology is not removed from the rest of their lives. For example, students would use the internet to play games or send messages or search for information. The ICT skill of using the net is imbedded in the purpose for its use. Being removed the skill has no meaning.

Students use a word processor to type a report - the skill is not removed from the English KLA - in fact such a report may be the presentation of results from a HSIE research project or a Science and Tech experiment.

It would be interesting to research whether or not the use of ICT can be linked to improvments in literacy directly - i.e. not only through engagment? Are students reading and writing skills improving because they are using technology? I'll leave that for another post.

What do others think ... How is ICT presented in your state? Does it work?

Creating to Learn: Has technology fulfilled its promise in your classroom

2006-04-22T20:13:00.000+10:00
This is an article reproduced from Jamie McKenzie Web-based "ZINE" and authored by Jacqueline Keane. Have a read and let me know what you think?

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Creating to Learn:
Has technology fulfilled its promise in your classroom?
“Anyone? … Anyone?”
I'm sure all of us have experienced something like that scene with Ferris Bueller's teacher-staring out at a collage of blank faces, hoping for a student to show some interest, some spark of understanding, or (should we dare even think it?) some insight. As Ferris's teacher used old-fashioned “talk and chalk” at the front of his classroom, his students drifted farther and farther away. No wonder Ferris wanted to take a day off.

We all laugh at this scene, but we need to ask ourselves: What are we doing so differently now?

It seems that our “technologically advanced” classrooms aren't much different from Ferris's boring economics class. We have “integrated” technology into our classrooms-by simply tacking it on. We now have students take online quizzes, assign them slide presentations rather than paper-based reports. We use PowerPoint slides to present our lectures, instead of chalk and blackboards. So how does that make us much different than Ferris's teacher?

We unthinkingly automated our tasks, and our students followed our lead. When assigned a research project, they quickly find Web pages on the Internet, cut and paste information onto their slides, and then spend the remainder of class time playing with colors and animations. They are no more engaged with the curricular topic than they were before the computers arrived, perhaps even less so.

So what do we do? We need to start asking ourselves more challenging questions when it comes to the implementation of instructional technology-not just “So how do I use this?”
Is technology the end or the means?
We should be exploring questions like these:
Why, even though I am using computers in my classroom, am I still failing to get the results that are expected by my administration?
Why do I have to re-teach material that students were supposed to learn while working on their “computer projects”?
What does a curriculum design that utilizes instructional technology in a meaningful way look like?
By addressing these essential questions, we can avoid the fate of Ferris' teacher-always waiting for our students to show some sign of life as we drone forward in our curriculum.

Used thoughtfully, instructional technology is a powerful active-learning tool that enables us to efficiently discover, analyze, and share information. We now have access to new and tantalizing ways to cover the curriculum. We can have our students demonstrate their knowledge in a variety of forms, like databases, spreadsheets, original graphics, web pages, publications, podcasts, and blogs. Even more importantly, we can do all this while encouraging our students to think for themselves and develop skills that are lasting and practical.

To do this, however, we need a new method-a road map that will show us how to use technology in a way that teach students universal skills and the curriculum. And now such a method exists.

Creating to Learn
Creating to Learn is designed to help our students gain a deeper understanding of the curriculum by having them actively participate with the subject matter. (No more students nodding off in the back of the room.) It inspires them to really think about the subject matter, enabling them to respond to both standardized and open-ended critical-thinking questions with genuine knowledge and insight. With this method, the technology component isn't a side project; it is an integral tool that adds horsepower to the process, it simply enables students to be more efficient and produce higher quality work. It emphasizes the curricular concepts rather than the technology tools-recognizing that technology is a means, not an end-learning becomes more meaningful and lasting.

This is a long way from Ferris Bueller's classroom. With Creating to Learn, each student is working toward a specific goal-not a multiple-choice test to be filled in haphazardly, but a knowledge product, an original project that demonstrates the student's personal experience and growth, and an authentic reflection of the students' earned knowledge.
I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
Confuscious
The act of creating is what reinforces the curricular concepts for our students. The process can be explained in terms of CIDE, an acronym for the four phases: Concept, Investigation, Design, and Execution.
(Keane, 2006)

In this framework, students are not asked to cut and paste, regurgitate facts, or “learn by osmosis.” To create a knowledge product, they must think, cultivate their understanding, constantly reevaluate the material, and build a foundation of knowledge substantial enough for them to impart that knowledge to others. Simply put, to effectively communicate a topic to someone else requires an authentic understanding of the topic. Combine this learning with sound technological practices, plenty of room for individual creativity and you've got it … a recipe for enduring learning. Guessing between A, B, C, and D just doesn't cut it anymore.
The Creating to Learn method and the CIDE process are presented in the book Internet-Based Student Research: Creating to Learn with a Step-By-Step Approach (Linworth, 2006). With its user-friendly illustrated text, we can learn how to bring our best teaching practices to life with the effective use of instructional technology.

And maybe, just maybe, our students will stop wanting to take a day off.

References

Keane, Jacqueline. Internet Based Student Research: Creating to Learn with a Step-By-Step Approach, Grades 5-12. Worthington: Linworth, 2006.

© 2006 Jacqueline Keane, all rights reserved.

In the beginning ...

2006-04-22T18:05:00.001+10:00
As you can see this is the first post on the blog. I intend to share any 'light bulb' moments I have regarding the integration of ICT into student learning.

I would like to share thoughts on things that worked and those that didn't in my teaching.