Education with Byte

My Blackberry isn,t working - video

2011-11-04T14:13:00.001+10:30

Peter Simmonds and Rod Tyndall spoke at the Australian College of Educators, Education on the Square last Wednesday. A very stimulating discussion that ran out of time.

But Peter showed a video that is worth sharing. ENJOY

Microsoft’s “Productivity Future Vision”

2011-10-29T10:40:00.002+10:30

Techrepublic's Jason Hiner writes
"Think about how far smartphones have come over the past five years. In 2006, we were using bulky Palm Treos and BlackBerry devices that could barely make a phone call and pretty much just did email. Today, our smartphones have replaced digital cameras, GPS units, MP3 players, and even e-readers, newspapers, and magazines in many cases.
Just think what our smartphones will look like five to ten years from now. Microsoft has a few pie-in-the-sky ideas about that and it has conceptualized them in a new video called “Productivity Future Vision” produced by the Microsoft Office division."

Why can't Australia follow Canada instead of New York?

2011-10-24T14:47:00.001+10:30

Recently Em Prof Alan Reid spoke at the Australian College of Educators (SA branch) President's dinner. He spoke of the Federal Government's infatuation with the seriously flawed New York education system. When I saw this from the OECD I thought "Why can't Australia follow Canada instead of New York?"

In the 2009 OECD Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA), an evaluation of 15-year-old pupils in 65 countries, including the OECD countries, Canada ranked among the top ten performers in reading, mathematics and science. If such results could be attributed to a high number of academic overachievers, they would still be remarkable, but the fact that all pupils–from the highest to the lowest scorers–contributed to the results highlights the equity of the Canadian educational system, where the gap between the highest and lowest scores was one of the narrowest in any OECD country." . ... read more

Top 10 trends that will transform mobile between now and 2015

2011-10-24T09:34:00.000+10:30

TechRepublic's Jason Hiner looks at Gartner analyst Nick Jones laid out his top 10 mobile and wireless technologies to watch over the next four years
"Gartner loves its trends and users love lists as a quick way to scan and absorb important information, so Gartner analyst Nick Jones gave into requests from IT leaders and put together a list of his top 10 mobile and wireless technologies to watch over the next four years. He showed the list to attendees during his mobile state of the union presentation at Gartner Symposium 2011 this week.
Here’s what Nick had:

HTML5
NFC and “touch to act” applications such as payment
Platform independent AD tools
Location and context — indoor and outdoor
Bluetooth 4
802.11ac
M2M — cellular and Wi-Fi
Augmented reality
Multiplatform MDM
LTE

He put HTML5 at the top because he stated, “By 2015, mobile Web technologies will have advanced sufficiently such that half of the applications that in 2011 would be written as native apps will be, instead, delivered as Web apps.”

The other three themes of Nick’s list are machine-to-machine (M2M, or the “Internet of things”), location-based tools, and more robust wireless connectivity. In terms of the wireless issue, here’s a chart from his presentation that maps out what’s coming, when, and how fast it is:

Jason Hiner's take on this
The two big things that I think are missing from this top ten are 1.) the advent of business-centric app stores, and 2.) mobile data security technologies. Both of those trends will be driven by the consumerization of IT and the fact that more an more IT departments will embrace the concept of employees bringing their own devices into the enterprise. In order to allow that but still maintain corporate standards and data security, companies will need to give employees access to business apps that they can use on their devices and implement technologies that can protect sensitive corporate data when it’s being viewed, created, and manipulated on devices that the company does not control."

Quick Talk - Android Market

2011-10-16T15:58:00.002+10:30

Quick Talk - Android Market:
"
"Quick Talk was designed with a simple mission - to change the world by giving a voice to those who cannot speak for themselves. Our goal is to make it as quick as possible for you to talk. We made this app as mobile, simple, and flexible as possible, so for one small fee you can have everything you need to communicate. Don't spend your time setting up; spend your time talking!

With the increase of diagnoses of autism, down syndrome, and other special needs, there is a huge need for an assistive technology that can equip those who are non-verbal with the ability to communicate. Typical Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices and apps are either too expensive or too complicated. We have set out to change this by providing an affordable solution to everyone with access to a phone. We developed Quick Talk with the advice and guidance from parents, teachers, speech therapists, and individuals who are non-verbal to pack it full of features, while keeping simplicity and cost in mind. The outcome is a one-of-a-kind app that we believe will change many lives."

The danger of the hype | bluyonder

2011-07-26T14:24:00.003+09:30

The danger of the hype | bluyonder
Recently Greg Whitby alerted us to "the danger of the hype" in his blog. He made some interesting points about the hype distracting from teacher's core work. He uses Michael Fullan's "Without Pedagogy in the driver's seat, there is growing evidence that technology is better at driving us to distraction ...." to support his assertion.

Greg also supplies the full text of Michael's paper "Choosing the wrong drivers for whole system reform". In this he makes a number of important points that are highly relevant to our current discussions in Australia.

"Effective drivers are those

that cause whole system improvements;
that are measurable in practice and results; and
for which a case can be made that strategy X produces result Y.

An ineffective driver, however,is one that

actually does not produce the results it seeks;
may make matters worse; and
can never have the impact it purports to produce.

There are four main ‘wrong drivers’ that have more effective matched alternatives. The pairs of

alternatives are:

accountability: using test results, and teacher appraisal, to reward or punish teachers and schools vs capacity building;
individual teacher and leadership quality: promoting individual vs group solutions;
technology: investing in and assuming that the digital world will carry the day vs instruction; and
fragmented strategies vs integrated or systemic strategies.

Although the four ‘wrong’ components have a place in reform, it is a mistake to lead with them". Countries that do will not achieve whole system reform but may move backwards relative to countries using the right drivers."

His conclusion is that:

"The solution involves using the four big effective drivers:

The learning–instruction–assessment nexus.
Social capital to build the profession.
Pedagogy matches technology.
Systemic synergy. "

I recommend that you read both the blog and the paper. Greg

Social Media Counter

2011-07-24T13:58:00.001+09:30

At the July presentation of Education on the Square, Gawain Duncan from DECS talked about the impact of Social Media on Education. He used Gary Haye's Social Media Counter to illustrate one of the points he made.

Gawaine will return for the November Education on the Square to follow some more of his ideas (Education on the Square is a joint presentation of the Australian College of Educator/ Flinders University)

THE FLIPPED CLASS: A NEW PARADIGM IN EDUCATION?

2011-07-13T11:21:00.003+09:30

Further to the ideas of the ideas of Salman Khan (Khan Academy) these teachers are flipping the idea of teaching.

Jonathan Bergann and Aaron Sams are two science teachers from Woodland Park, South Dakota who are leading a revolution in instruction called “The Flipped Class.” Stated simply, their method involves flipping what happens in the classroom with what happens at home. Rather than lecture live, they make videos for their student to watch at home. Class time is spent working with students to better understand the material covered in the videos. Their motto is, “class is for conversation, not dissemination.”

The method engages students to be independent learners. Rather than expecting all students to work at the same pace, flipping the classroom allows teachers to spend more one-on-one time with each of their students. Bergmann says, “there’s no place to hide.” Every student is assessed on an individual basis. Each student is required to ask their instructor “an interesting question.” Not every child learns in the same way -- so alternative methods of assessment are also an option.

They make it clear that videos aren’t the “magic bullet.” Videos are an answer -- not the answer. Find more info at: http://flippedclass.com/ From ISSTE see Original Article

From banning to BYO device - the inevitable shift

2011-07-05T16:34:00.002+09:30

Cathleen Norms and Elliot Soloway say out loud what many are thinking.
"In your schools, In your classrooms, you will soon allow students to use computing devices they already own. While today 99 percent of schools ban cell phones and other mobile devices from the classroom, there will be a 180-degree turnaround within four years.

This coming shift is inevitable. Why? Because banning will no longer be practical. Each and every student will have at least one mobile computing device (e.g., smartphone, media player) with them at all times. Wireless devices will be embedded in watches, in necklaces, in eyeglasses, in notebooks. school entrances would need to become more intensely guarded than an airport to enforce any sort of a ban. Parents, increasingly, will put pressure on schools to allow their children to have mobile devices. And students increasingly will say, “let me use my own tools.” Banning is not going to work."

A very interesting and timely article when there is a movement in the corporate world to encourage their workers to Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). LINK

SCORM - What's coming next?

2011-06-30T18:41:00.003+09:30

If you are managing a Learning Management System and are familiar with SCORM packages then the "ADL Future Learning Experience Project" is worth following to see the next generations.

"SCORM was built to support web-based delivery of learning content, based on initial design dating back to the late 1990s. ADL continues to support SCORM and commits to supporting SCORM compatibility in new efforts.

Learning experiences involving non-traditional electronic content, distributed content, shared learning data, team-based learning and multi-modal delivery are beyond what SCORM was architected to enable. ADL supports new work that meets distributed learning needs beyond SCORM.

The goal of this new effort is to enable learning experiences that are rich, engaging, integrated and effective. Such experiences will be

Flexible to support different pedagogies, networks and systems.
Interoperable to ensure learning experiences can span different systems
Repurpose-able to allow the design of learning experiences to evolve.
Accessible to allow for the discovery of and participation in learning experiences tailored to the learner" (ADL The Future Learning Experience Project)

Greg Whitby FACE - 2011 AWJones Oration

2011-06-13T11:32:00.009+09:30

Greg Whitby - audio only from Greg Carey on Vimeo.

"Technology is not a panacea for improving the quality of learning and teaching.” This is
the view of Greg Whitby named by The Bulletin magazine as "Australia's smartest, most
innovative and creative person working in education today."
Mr Whitby FACE delivered the 2011 AW Jones Oration in Adelaide, South Australia last
Tuesday.
The A.W. Jones Oration is the most prestigious function of South Australian Branch of the
Australian College of Educators and more than 160 leading South Australia educators heard
him challenge the current thinking about schooling in Australia today and argue the pressing
need to make schooling relevant in the lives of young people in today's world.
He believes we need a new construct for 21st century education, one that is not based on
defending ideological positions but on a rigorous understanding and application of good
theory and practice in a contemporary world. However, is not interested in schools of the
future or classrooms of tomorrow he believes the future of our schools is dependent on what
we do TODAY. He is passionate about seeing every child in our country taught by good
teachers, who not only understand the nature of their work, but the nature of today’s world.

Greg Whitby’s A.W.Jones Oration is a clarion call to politicians, administrators and the
community to be open to and supportive of the changes, which enable and empower teachers to deliver quality learning and teaching.

(The FULL TEXT of his oration is available - Greg)

Let’s use video to reinvent education: Salman Khan on TED.com

2011-06-01T11:17:00.003+09:30

Salman Khan talks about how and why he created the remarkable Khan Academy, a carefully structured series of educational videos offering complete curricula in math and, now, other subjects. He shows the power of interactive exercises — and calls for teachers to consider flipping the traditional classroom script — give students video lectures to watch at home, and do you “homework” in the classroom with the teacher available to help. (Recorded at TED2011, March 2011, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 20:27)

If you want to follow up the Khan Academy go to http://www.khanacademy.org/ The Khan Academy approach has certainly stirred the pot amongst educators (LINK - see what people said about this presentation)

10 things Russell Stannard thinks about technology

2011-05-10T09:20:00.005+09:30

Russell Stannard won a British Council Innovations Award in 2010 for his www.teachertrainingvideos.com website, as well he was awarded Outstanding Initiative in ICT award by the Times Higher Education Supplement in 2008, and the Teflnet website of the year award in 2009. On May 5 he wrote a guest piece for Ken Wilson's Blog (again well worth following).

Stannard makes 10 very interesting points that are worth following up:

1. The key to training in technology starts with the pedagogy

2. Technology is still far from being accepted.

3. In most cases a one computer to one student scenario is not desirable.

4. Technology is undermining the power of many of the large organisations that have controlled a lot of what we consider to be culture.

5. Few of us really think about how much of a technology trail we are creating. In theory, every text, email, Facebook comment, search or chat we have ever made is logged somewhere.

6. On the whole, young people are better at operating the technology but it doesn’t mean they automatically know how to use it beneficially for their learning.In fact, they often have quite blinkered views of the way that a certain technology can be exploited.

7. I really have my doubts about Interactive Whiteboards. I am not dismissing them totally but I feel that in most cases the money could be spent on other things like training teachers, getting a good broadband connection or buying three or four extra laptops for a class (IWBs cost around £2,000 and laptops around £500).

8. The hype that surrounds technology has a lot to answer for. I started to really take an interest in computers in about 1995. I was seduced by talk of video content and video conferencing on the web.But it is now sixteen years later and in truth they still don’t work the way I had imagined!!

9. I am still not convinced by Smart Phones. I know that they have a lot of capabilities, but I just think the screen sizes are too limiting.

10. Despite everything I love technology. It frustrates me, it confuses me, I battle to understand the direction it is taking, I hate all the hype that surrounds it and get fed up when the internet connection goes down. But I honestly believe that technology is going to play a big future in the lives of many young people. So is English. So if I use technology in my English classes I am in effect double preparing them for the future – and that can’t be a bad thing.

iPad as an Interactive White Board for $5 or $10

2011-05-04T14:02:00.001+09:30

At last some creative sense about real interactive whiteboards, from Wesley Fryer's blog Moving at the Speed of Creativity. He talks about using the iPad as an input device where students can truly share their input. (Thanks to Yvonne Murtagh via her shared lg21c delicious bookmarks.)

"What is a POOR deal for students as well as teachers, in many of our schools today, is a capital outlay of $3500 for an interactive white board (IWB) when those same dollars could purchase a projector or large format television AND individual mobile learning devices for teachers and students in the same class.* My experiments this evening with the Air Display ($10) application for iPad confirm what I've suspected for some time: Inexpensive mobile applications (relative to the cost of an IWB) can transform these devices INTO functional IWBs with many more benefits as well as capabilities. In this post, I'll highlight some of the applications which can do this for Apple's iPad, based on a phenomenal set of tutorial videos (over 52 minutes worth) shared recently by Tim Tyson. If you still have IWBs in your school technology plan, put your planning on hold. I'm hoping the ideas I share in this post will convince you to put those precious dollars toward iPads for students and teachers INSTEAD of an expensive device (an IWB) that will stay mounted at the front of a classroom gathering dust."
He continues to show how these programs can change interaction in the classroom. \The link to Tim Tyson's work is also worth following.

Learning styles don't exist

2011-04-21T11:18:00.000+09:30

Professor Daniel Willingham describes research showing that learning styles are a myth.
The debate is hotting up. Greg

We are Professionals, Aren't We?

2009-12-10T17:02:00.004+10:30

Will Thalheimer asks a very probing question "We are Professionals, Aren't We". His full answer can be downloaded from the link in this post, but his introduction is useful. GREG

"Last year I was asked by Michael Allen--one of our industry's most influential creators and most successful entrepreneurs--to contribute a chapter to his first e-Learning Annual, which Pfeiffer had urged him to manage and edit.

Michael introduced my chapter as follows:

"In this article, one of the learning and performance field’s leading
visionaries looks back on his twenty-two years in the field with both love
and regret, while looking forward to the future by challenging all of us in
the field who see ourselves as learning-and-performance professionals.
Dr. Thalheimer’s challenge is simple. He asks every person in the field
to understand the forces that control their thinking and influence their
decision making. It’s as if the author wants to say: the unexamined
profession is not worth having."

Download We_Are_Professionals_by_Will_Thalheimer_

I encourage you to take a look at the whole book. Michael Allen’s 2008 e-Learning Annual does a great job covering the historic and institutional foundations of the learning-technology field--with chapters from more than 20 luminaries who have been at the heart of the learning field for a long time, including folks like Thiagi, David Merrill, Allison Rossett, and Greg Kearsley, and so many more.

Here are some of my conclusions in the chapter:

Our graduate schools prepare technicians, not thoughtful scientist-practitioners who understand learning, think critically, and build wisdom over time.
We don’t measure the outcome of our work in ways that enable us to build effective feedback loops and make improvements that will lead to better learning, on-the-job performance, and business results.
The work pressures we face (for example, Internet-induced information overload and business demands for cheaper, faster results)—combined with our tendency toward professional arrogance—don’t predispose us to keep learning, to test our conjectures, to build a rich and complex knowledge base over time.
Our trade associations, magazines, and conferences provide us with information that sells, not information that necessarily tells the truth of how we should better design our products and services.
Our consultants and vendors are a large source of our information, and we tend to think uncritically about their offerings.
Learning-and-performance research is not utilized when it might provide substantial benefits.
Industry research is severely flawed, but we rely on it anyway.
Contests, awards, and best-of lists grab our attention and distort our thinking about what is most important.

Okay, those were the list of our failures. I also add a list that begs for hope for our profession." (www.willatworklearning.com)

Learn trends November 2009

2009-11-20T14:04:00.003+10:30

At this site are the recordings from the LearnTrends 2009 Convergence in Learning conference held November 17-19th, 2009. it was entirely online and features Tony Karrer, Jay Cross and George Seimens. This is well worth having on in the background while you are working. Greg

Outline:
Introduction: Convergence in Learning
Extending Learning to the Edges of Organizations
Building a Social Learning Environment
Merging Information, Learning, and Social Media
Personal Knowledge Management
The Immernet Singularity
Reinventing Organizational Learning
Breaking Down Walls
Mobile Learning: Thinking Outside the Course
Challenge of Convergence

Direct LINK

Victor - a new student in my classroom.

2009-10-22T16:34:00.003+10:30

Victor is a virtual student I use in my classroom for students who are ill at home or in hospital.

I also use him to bring guest speakers to the students without the hassle of travelling. Greg

Gen Y: They are so not interested in your learning.

2009-04-30T20:33:00.003+09:30

A very interesting look at GenY and e-learning - Greg

"Mark Harrison of Kineo recently talked in an International Telecommunications conference about the challenges and opportunities designing e-learning for Generation Y.
For many years, the e-learning industry has been saying that the younger generation coming through will not be happy with the more traditional models of training – without really doing too much to change things.
Well, that new generation has arrived and now represents a significant proportion of the workforce for many organisations out there.
The fact is that this new generation are looking for something quite different from 2 to 3 hour linear e-learning modules. That will make them very, very angry.
This new generation are looking for much, much more.
They are Generation Y." (Link to article on the Kineo website)

Those Wacky Kids - the main agent of change: Mark Pesce (Keynote - Australian College of Educators)

2009-04-20T12:45:00.005+09:30

Last week I attended the Australian College of Educators Conference in Geelong, Victoria. Mark Pesce gave an outstanding keynote that stressed that the main agent of change in educational institutions are the students.

"A spectre is haunting the classroom, the spectre of change. Nearly a century of institutional forms, initiated at the height of the Industrial Era, will change irrevocably over the next decade. The change is already well underway, but this change is not being led by teachers, administrators, parents or politicians. Coming from the ground up, the true agents of change are the students within the educational system. Within just the last five years, both power and control have swung so quickly and so completely in their favor that it’s all any of us can do to keep up. We live in an interregnum, between the shift in power and its full actualization: These wacky kids don’t yet realize how powerful they are......." (Mark Pesce, Keynote for the Digital Fair of the Australian College of Educators, Geelong Grammar School, 16 April 2009)
This is a very interesting and thought provoking talk, and well worth spending an hour with it. GREG

Learning Mangement Systems enter 3D

2009-04-20T11:45:00.004+09:30

Back in December 2008 I flagged the possibility offered by ExitReality in providing a 3D viewing experience without reliance on the traditional 3D worlds. Now they appear to have moved to the next stage of using the free internet plugin to allow the viewing of popular Learning Mangement Systems in 3D.
"With the integration of Moodle and Blackboard to the 3D web, virtual learning and training in genuine 3D is now available within a structured 3D learning management system.“Imagine a student walking past the heritage-listed buildings of Melbourne University looking for the theatre hosting his second-year Micro Economics lecture. On walking through the doorway of his chosen building, an administrator asks him to type in his student number and name to confirm his student status,” said Mr Stefanic. "The student is immediately teleported to a large 200-seat auditorium, where other student avatars sit in attendance from all over the world. The auditorium streams live video featuring a lecturer who presents from her office in Los Angeles. The student listens to the whole seminar from his student digs in Singapore. Welcome to the world of 3D education and the 3D internet." (from Exit reality MEDIA RELEASE 20 April 2009)

The website is http://www.moodle3d.org/.
While still in development, the potential for collaboration and cooperation is becoming a reality. GREG

ICT for the Non-Specialist - Virtual Worlds

2009-01-13T16:00:00.005+10:30

This is an outstanding video that explores the use of Virtual worlds in a number of English School, from Teacher.TV. Greg

Synopsis
The potential of using virtual worlds in education is explored by both teachers and pupils in this programme.
After joining the Schome project, which investigates how education can work with virtual environments, assistant head Mike Adams is able to investigate the educational benefits of virtual world Second Life.
Pupils at John Hanson School Community School, Andover, also show how they use software to build within virtual worlds.
Steve Thompson from the University of Teeside then works with pupils at Freebrough SE College, Cleveland, as part of a Second Life project to virtually redesign and rebuild Cleveland's Skinningrove Jetty.
Steve also leads a training session for those working in education who want to explore Second Life's benefits for collaborative learning. Head of maths Helen Perkins describes what she sees as the educational benefits of using virtual worlds with pupils in the classroom.

To find out more about Schome Park go to http://www.schome.ac.uk/wiki/Schome_Park

Exit Reality - 3D and Collaborative web experience

2008-12-23T14:56:00.006+10:30

"The Entire Web is now in 3D! ExitReality is a free Internet plug-in that allows you to visit every web page in 3D.

Start viewing YouTube videos in a 3D virtual cinema! Meet people watching the same videos, and chat with them.

Turn your 2D website into an online virtual world. Decorate your virtual world with 3D objects. Use the Search engine to find new virtual worlds to explore.

All your favourite Social Network pages, such as MySpace and Facebook are now 3D apartments, that you can decorate and invite your friends to visit. Or visit a friends apartment and take copies of their cool decorations for your own space." (from YouTube.com)

This the promise with Exit Reality, while not the final this is a cutting edge concept that has great potential in collaborative and cooperative environments. The exitReality platform allows the possibility for organisations to deliver 3D training and collaboration from their own website. GREG

Travels With Tom: Workplace-Related Places in Second Life

2008-12-05T15:45:00.002+10:30

From Tom Werner (Brandon Hall)
"This presentation is about workplace-related places in Second Life, as well as some advantages and disadvantages of Second Life for workplace learning."

A very interesting set of slides - Greg

Travels With Tom: Workplace-Related Places in Second Life

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: travelswithtom tomwerner)

Mega trends in emerging learning technologies

2008-10-09T08:54:00.009+10:30

Megatrends in Technology - Canberra

View more presentations from Greg Carey.

These slides were part of my presentation at the Australian Council for Computers in Education Conference in Canberra, October 2008. This is my abstract, a paper based on my notes will be available from the conference website now.

Is the future of teaching and learning; Developing COLLECTIVE knowledge - through the CONNECTION of people - in 3Dimensions?

This presentation looks at the reality of predictions from the New Media Consortium in the 5 years from 2004 to 2008.and the three mega trends that have emerge. These trends indicate new forms of Scholarship, Socialization and Interaction that reflects the new learning theories developed by George Seimans (2004) and others. It is a future that is offered by virtual worlds and large scale multiuser gaming environments.

Second Life is but one example of a virtual world that despite all its adverse publicity offers a possible glimpse into the future where Learning Management Systems, such as Moodle are integrated into a virtual world to produce a new entity, SLOODLE. The result is not so much a hybrid system but a glimpse of new and emerging pedagogical and methodological approaches in education, with its own new set of challenges.

Evidence that teaching is not a profession

2008-07-30T09:58:00.007+09:30

A posting from Steven Downes OL weekly made me revisit one of my hobby horses:

teaching is not a profession, it is a service industry with some professionals working in it.

In support of this is the blind following of "myths of learning" that are still followed even though they have been proven to be poor scholarship. In Donald Taylor's presentation he resurrects:

"There's an old maxim in training:
You remember 10% of what you read

You remember 20% of what you hear

You remember 30% of what you see

You remember 90% of what you do
It's easily remembered. It's widely repeated.

It's completely wrong." LINK

This was proven by Will Thalheimer (2006) to be very poor scholarship by a number of writers who misinterpreted and misrepresented earlier work. The full discussion is well worth reading.

"People do NOT remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they see, 30% of what they hear, etc. That information, and similar pronouncements are fraudulent. Moreover, general statements on the effectiveness of learning methods are not credible---learning results depend on too many variables to enable such precision. Unfortunately, this bogus information has been floating around our field for decades, crafted by many different authors and presented in many different configurations, including bastardizations of Dale's Cone. The rest of this article offers more detail." LINK

This in itself is a strong indicator of the need for a greater emphasis on scholarship amongst teachers and the need to develop evidence based practice.
Greg

Using a PDA to help students with Asperger Syndrome

2008-07-15T13:25:00.002+09:30

A commercial tool that shows the uses of a PDA for those with Asperger Syndrome.
"www.SymTrend.com provides self-monitoring e-Diaries, graphic progress charts, and coaching tools for Aspergers Syndrome and other personal, medical, psychological, and special education issues. Use the e-Diaries online or on handheld computers for symptom tracking and treatment evaluation and to learn how stressors affect how you feel. Use the coaching tools to organize your schedule, belongings, and work tasks. Use the reminders to access strategies for coping with stressful situations. E-Diaries are also available for Autism, ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, Brain Injury, Seizure Disorders, PMS, Cancer and Menopause or you can customize your own."
The questions are: What does the use of a PDA add to the educational experience for students? and What does it add to pen and paper recording?

Greg

Mark Wesch integrating emerging technologies

2008-07-02T14:00:00.003+09:30

"Dubbed “the explainer” by popular geek publication Wired because of his viral YouTube video that summarizes Web 2.0 in under five minutes, cultural anthropologist Michael Wesch brought his Web 2.0 wisdom to the University of Manitoba on June 17 (LINK).

During his presentation, the Kansas State University professor breaks down his attempts to integrate Facebook, Netvibes, Diigo, Google Apps, Jott, Twitter, and other emerging technologies to create an education portal of the future.

“It’s basically an ongoing experiment to create a portal for me and my students to work online,” he explains. “We tried every social media application you can think of. Some worked, some didn’t.” (summary from the Link)

A vibrant and exciting look at the possibilities of learning and social networking tools in Higher Education - Greg

The impact of interactive whiteboards

2008-05-28T13:37:00.002+09:30

"As part of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies, IWBs have been made widely available as a pedagogic tool for promoting interactive whole class teaching. In order to investigate their impact, the project looked specifically at the interactive styles used by a national sample of primary teachers. A total of 184 lessons were observed over a two‐year period. Using a computerised observation schedule, teachers were observed in literacy and numeracy lessons, with and without an IWB. The findings suggest that IWBs appear to be having some impact on the discourse moves used in whole class teaching, but this impact is not as extensive as that claimed by the advocates of IWBs."
Follow this LINK

This is part of the abstract from

The impact of interactive whiteboards on teacher–pupil interaction in the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies
Smith, F; Hardman, F; Higgins, S: British Educational Research Journal,Volume 32, Number 3, June 2006, pp. 443-457(15)

This supports some of my thinking
Greg

Smartboards could put education back 100 years

2008-05-25T21:38:00.002+09:30

I have very strong feelings about the current proliferation of smart boards in the classroom.

I have been quoted elsewhere as saying that whiteboards have the potential to turn back education in schools about 100 years.

All the examples I have seen do not demonstrate any pedagogy or methodology that could not be replicated with a blackboard and chalk.

All example I have seen have students sitting in front of the teacher out the front "teaching" with selected students asked to come out and "interact". This reinforces the role of the teacher as the "sage on the stage and not the guide on the side" (Rogers 1964). Little different to the use of blackboards in the early 1900's and continued through the 20thC.

I have seen one example from one company rep that gives me heart, but no one I know is talking about using them in conjunction with a Learning Management System such as Moodle (all the systems I've seen are content management systems only).

Given the price of a full installed system as around $10,000, I would argue that much greater change to the pedagogy and methodology could be made through the purchase of 20 x $500 laptops (such as the Asus eeePC and using an Open Source Learning Management System such as Moodle.

I am very concerned that the present thrust that is promoting the use of interactive whiteboards as the next big revolution will encourage teachers to return to a technological version of chalk and talk.

The may be a place for interactive whiteboards but not at the expense of a full and detailed discussion of pedagogy and methodology, and a firm understanding of "teaching is but an illusion - only learning is real"

Greg

Open Professional Development

2008-03-12T11:01:00.002+10:30

A look at the Open PD movement where teachers from around the world join together to develop their own Professional Development.

A good Primer about the use of SecondLife in Education

2008-03-02T22:04:00.001+10:30

"An overview of educational uses of Second Life including educational locations, tools, and learning archetypes that are applicable to Second Life."

The Changing Nature of Knowledge

2008-03-02T21:52:00.003+10:30

"George Siemens explains his view on the changed nature of knowledge and his learning theory of Connectivism." This emerging theory has much to add to the digital revolution policy discussion in Australia at the moment.
There are a number of very interesting related videos that come up when this finishes. They are well worth looking at.

E:Learning and Activity Theory

2008-03-02T21:26:00.003+10:30

Ian Robertson (from RMIT) "looks at the potential of Activity Theory as a theoretical framework for exploring the changes that occur when e-learning is integrated into teachers practice." - His YouTube videos are worth subscribing to.

Virtual Schools on the rise

2008-03-02T21:06:00.005+10:30

A staggering number of students are already enrolled in "virtual schools" the US. Is it a glimpse to the future?

"Students are given more opportunities as virtual schools continue to increase in popularity. Online learning allows flexibility for those students with disabilities, while at the same time, allowing those gifted students the ability to move at a much faster rate of speed. WebProNews has the latest statistics as well as exclusive interviews with North American Council for Online Learning President, Susan Patrick and Todd Hitchcock of Florida Virtual School. For all the details, tune it to WebProNews"

Selecting a Learning Management System

2008-01-23T11:46:00.001+10:30

Many schools are grappling with the selection of a Learning Management System (often referred to as a VLE -Virtual Learning Environment in the United Kingdom). This 15 minute video is very helpful. LINK

"Director of e-learning at Queen Elizabeth School, Mark McNulty provides a frank appraisal of what's involved in rolling out a new learning platform.

Mark has been working with a VLE for over two years. In this programme, he analyses the problems of converting reluctant colleagues and the pressing need to get the right IT support.

His candid approach helps ICT staff and leadership teams face the tough decisions they will need to make when choosing and then implementing a learning platform.

This program also looks in detail at the debate around open source, free software and packages provided by the big commercial suppliers."

It is also worth checking out the comments underneath - Greg

A 5 minute introduction to a number of virtual worlds

2008-01-08T10:43:00.000+10:30

"Learn all about virtual worlds in under 5 minutes. A professionally produced short movie giving you an insightful tour of online virtual worlds including Second Life, Them.com and World Of Warcraft "
An interesting introduction even though it is more than 12 months old and many things have moved on.

How an American teacher uses Skype to include a student who is confined to home.

2007-12-27T13:46:00.000+10:30

A wonderful vidcast from teachertube.com that shows how a class can include a girl who is confined to home because of leukemia using Skype. They show how simple it is.
"Vidcast about how we include a 4th grade student in our classroom that cannot come to school because she has leukemia - we demonstrate how we use Skype video-conferencing software and a web cam to make it work." From Sparks, Nevada, United States.

Abbot and Costello 7 X 13 = 28

2007-12-27T13:39:00.000+10:30

This is without doubt one of my favourite skits. It can be great fun in the classroom.

George Siemans

2007-12-24T14:11:00.001+10:30

Canadian, George Siemans, talks of a new philosophy of education - "Connectivism" where "content is a conduit for conversation". A challenging presentation.
His website is www.connectivism.ca

Promoting self-regulated learning in web-based learning environments (2007)

2007-12-24T13:18:00.000+10:30

Promoting self-regulated learning in web-based learning environments (2007)

Narciss, Susanne; Proske, Antje; Koerndle, Hermann

This article deals with the support of self-regulated learning in web-based environment. Its specific focus is on specific and general meta-cognitive strategies which are necessary to promote students’ self-regulated learning. Self-regulated learning is defined as a “learning situation in which learniners, in addition to setting their learning objectives, plan, conduct, regulate and evaluate the learning process independently” (p. 1128).
Review by Taiga Brahm, SCIL - Swiss Centre for Innovations in Learning, University of St.Gallen, Switzerland. From: elearning-reviews.org

From the K12online conference 2007 via Stephen’s Downe’s OL daily

2007-12-24T13:13:00.000+10:30

For decades, education has been an easy institution to define. It consisted of a set of accepted literacy skills, a definable body of knowledge, and the pedagogies for teaching those skills to willing students who were arranged in straight rows. Today, for the first time in decades (in generations of teachers), we are facing the challenge of changing our notions about teaching and learning to adapt to a rapidly changing world. We are struggling to rethink what it is to be educated, to reinvent the classroom, and redefine what it is to be a teacher and a student. There is much that has changed, and for much of it, we have responded to by attempting to ignore, filter, or to block it out.

This presentation, by 30+ year educator, author, and technologist,
David Warlick, will explore some of these changes and challenges and
arrange them as a set of converging conditions that might just help us
to redefine and retool the 21st century classroom.

Certainly worth a look - Greg

To facilitate or to teach from Leigh Blackall

2007-12-24T13:09:00.001+10:30

Leigh Blackall talks about the dilema that many people face am I a techer or a facilitator? what’s the difference? and most importantly does it matter?

“The biggest challenge I am finding is the expectation for a teacher or
instructor while everyone talks about a facilitator. I don’t think someone can
be both, primarily because a teacher inherits a significant amount of power and
traditional roles that counter act the more neutral and passive presence of a
facilitator. This post will be a series of thoughts about this tension, and some
ideas on how I can better manage my attempts at online learning community
facilitation.” LINK

Online textbooks: the future of learning? - Chris Moran, SanDiego Union-Tribune

2007-12-24T13:07:00.000+10:30

From Educational Technology

Montgomery High School teacher Gerald French thought his students would have a better shot at learning biology if he gave them a password to learn it online instead of from a book. He was supposed to do it with one class, but he did it with four, and when county Office of Education inspectors visited his classroom in August, they couldn’t see evidence that the students with the passwords also had computers and Internet accounts. So the Sweetwater Union High School District ordered French to issue books to everyone. The inspectors are just starting to see the use of online books in the 124 schools they’re visiting countywide this year, and school districts are still figuring out how to prove that students who say they have electronic access
really do.

Online textbooks: the future of learning? - Chris Moran, SanDiego Union-Tribune

Project Based Learning

2007-12-24T13:06:00.000+10:30

An interesting article from techLEARNING that reminds us that technology is but a tool and that the pedagogy/mehtodology is a more important consideration. LINK

"Project Based Learning is one way of using technology that can harness the unique qualities of the technology we have available in abundance in our schools today. What can a computer do that a pencil cannot do?It can open the walls of the classroom and connect people from distant locations.It makes ollaboration anytime and anywhere simple and affordable.It can keep track of data when it gets too much for a person to write or to think about and help to analyze that data which provides for some deeper thinking.It can make the editing process feel successful rather than frustrating.It can even the playing field or students with disabilities.Are you using your classroom technology for these things? If not here are some tips to help you start. Now is the time (in the northern hemisphere) as you have the summer to think about what you want to do next year."

Leadership and learning: Facilitating self-directed learning in enterprises

2007-12-24T13:05:00.000+10:30

Ingrid Schönwald reviews this interesting p[aer that links with Leigh Blackall’s recent musings.

Self-directed learning (SDL) is a key element in many
concepts of eLearning. This article explores the role of the leader in
facilitating workforce development in terms of employees’ self-directedness for
learning. The authors refer to the conceptualisation of self-directed learning
of Brockett and Hiemstra (1991) differentiating between the external
instructional process in which the learner assumes responsibility for their
learning process and the internal desire for assuming responsibility for
learning.

Empirical research was conducted across twelve companies in Australia to
explore the views that learning leaders in organizations have towards the
development of self-directedness in employees. The sample of companies in the
study derived through the professional networks of the researchers. The selected
companies had all some experience with self-directed learning but varied in
terms of size, location, industry sectors and business structure.The data
collection was based on semi-structured interviews with learning and development
(L&D) managers. The structure of the interviews referred to a range of
strategies identified at theoretical level by former studies of Smith
(2001): LINK

Laptops pass writing test

2007-12-24T13:04:00.000+10:30

Posted in by Greg Carey on the October 30th, 2007

A study completed by the Maine (USA) Education Policy Research Institute at the University of Southern Maine confirmed what educators have already observed for some time — the laptop program, which put computers in the hands of seventh- and eighth-grade students throughout the state beginning in 2002, is helping make them better writers. LINK
An interesting article even though it is a a local newspaper editorial.

e-learning samples

2007-12-24T13:03:00.000+10:30

This page links to samples of interactive graphics, simulations, and other materials that could give you ideas for your own projects. LINK
A very interesting page that comes via Stephen’s OLdaily

The Copyright Kitchen

2007-12-24T12:56:00.000+10:30

If you are unsure about Copyright (who isn’t), this site will help Australia educators walk the copyright tightrope.

The Copyright Kitchen is a resource for those working in vocational education and training (VET) who deal with copyright issues in their day-to-day work. It breaks up copyright information into categories built around who you are, where you work and the task at hand. To get started, select from one of the categories listed on the left and start browsing. http://copyrightkitchen.flexiblelearning.net.au/main.php

Gerry White - how did we get to Web2.0

2006-11-13T22:39:00.000+10:30

Gerry White is CEO of Education.au
More presentations from this seminar can be found at www.educationau.edu.au

Web1.0 teachers in a Web2.0 world

2006-11-13T22:09:00.000+10:30

An edited Geek!ed podcast.
Well worth a visit at http://coverpage.pcs.k12.mi.us/geeked/