Reading Writing Responding

Via  @hhoede  on  Twitter  I remember late last year discussing ICT with a guy I know who loves technology and he suggested to me that you need a complete vision for technology in school. Don't say, 'I wan't iPad's in Early Years or laptops in Secondary', you need to have in mind a complete vision as to what a 21st century classroom looks like, for students, for teachers, for parents, for administration, for everyone. I understood what he was saying, that when it comes to 21st century learning, it is important to have a narrative, a story to tell, a painting to show in order to provide the reason and purpose behind the call for change. The problem is that a part of me felt that every time I started imagining such a reality it simply collapsed in heap. All I could see were the road blocks, the hurdles to be jumped. For as I spoke about in my post on excuses , we so often worry about what is not possible and start there. Instead, I have decided that I...

AEU News Vol 21, Issue 4, June 2014 Here is a copy of my letter to the editor printed in the latest edition of the AEU News, responding to the recent changes to the performance and development process … I am a believer in lifelong learning and development, but I really question whether the recent changes to the performance and development process will achieve this? I worry that it will achieve the opposite if we don’t manage it locally. Instead of a climate of collegiate collaboration, this creates an aura of self-interest where ironically our prime focus is ourselves, rather than our students. John Hattie suggests that the greatest point of influence on education is teachers and that our goal should be to help improve every teacher. Yet I wonder if a process with the spectre of fear hanging over it is going to achieve this? If we really want the best then schools need to foster an environment that not only challenges teachers, but also welcomes erro...

creative commons licensed (BY-SA) flickr photo by mrkrndvs: http://flickr.com/photos/aaron_davis/14502665342 I recently got into a discussion about 1:1 devices . My argument was that we needed to be pushing for more devices in primary school as a part of the long term plan, not just in 7,8 and 9. The response I got in return was that 1:1 wasn't viable for the taken on and BYOD simply wouldn't work with our community. I didn't accept this. Fine there are some ideals which are not always ideal , but I still felt that there were better solutions than simply perpetuating the present. One of the concerns that was brought up by some other teachers in our ICT committee was that if you look at the continuum produced by the Victorian Government: Planning for 1-to-1 Learning via  FUSE   We are currently situated somewhere between the past and the present having 1:1 in secondary, but predominantly depending upon netbooks in trolleys. What was disappointin...

creative commons licensed (BY) flickr photo by mrkrndvs: http://flickr.com/photos/aaron_davis/14476927585 Someone recently asked me which educational podcasts I listen to. It got me thinking about the different podcasts and what makes them each unique. Although they all focus on education and so often incorporate some element of technology and pedagogy. What makes them each unique in my view is the voice in which they provide. By 'voice' I not only mean the perspective grasped, but also the means in which it is presented. I feel that the best way to represent these differences is through different forms of refreshments and the context created through each one. RU Connected I am not sure if it is my habit of listening to the podcast at school early in the morning or it is the style of conversation, but I always feel as if I am sitting at a cafe with +Jenny Ashby  and  +Lois Smethurst  drinking a coffee and having a chat. Wandering from one subject to the ...

creative commons licensed (BY-NC) flickr photo by mrkrndvs: http://flickr.com/photos/aaron_davis/14441599366 Recently a representative from Compass, a relatively new LMS, came and presented at my school. The presenter began with the statement, "This is what the Ultranet should have been". After he had finished and the presenter had left, I was asked for my thoughts. One of my biggest weaknesses is that I always see the positives and potentials in technology, whilst being blind to the negatives. Some of the pluses were the ability to share classroom content with students and parents, the idea that students could gain permission digitally and the possibility to publish reports through a portal with the click of a button. However, once the glimmer and gleam had waned, I started thinking about what failed with the Ultranet and why it would not simply happen again. Looking beyond the poor product provided by the Ultranet , there were also many other hiccups and hindranc...

creative commons licensed (BY) flickr photo by Billy Rowlinson: http://flickr.com/photos/billyrowlinson/3515157369 I was talking with a coordinator yesterday and I heard a word that I hadn't heard in quite a long time - proxies. A few years ago, around the same time as the introduction of 1:1 devices in the school, there was a spait of incidents involving students using proxies to access websites that would normally be blocked. The answer then was two fold:  It was explained to students the dangers of using such means in regards to viruses. Students caught lost their laptops for an extended period of time. As time passed, it stopped being an such an issue. Less and less people were being caught out. However, what this recent situation highlights is that maybe it stopped being an issue for teachers, while for students the practise simply went underground.  Whatever the exact state of play maybe, it left me searching for a better solution. For the case i...

creative commons licensed (BY-NC-SA) flickr photo by mrkrndvs: http://flickr.com/photos/aaron_davis/14422391611 Yesterday I took my daughter on her first train trip into the city. She had a ball and loved every minute, but what struck me was what grabbed her attention the most. One of the most interesting things was the digital billboards. It is not that she had not been to a shopping centre before and spotted the oversized posters, but these had the extra appeal of having the sheen that comes with a digital image cycled every few seconds. She stood and watched for minutes, mesmerised. Me, I couldn't think of anything more boring, until it dawned on me, I was seeing this from the wrong perspective, this was her experience to have. So I let her be. This all kind of reminded me of the efforts to introduce change in the classroom and the experiences that such actions bring with them. At the opening day of the TL21C program , +Will Richardson  suggested identifying one th...

"Sorry, I don't have the time for that." How often do we hear that when we try and start something, organise a catchup, a get together to share. Now I am not saying that this isn't true, however I would argue that the only thing that keeps us apart in today's day and age is ourselves. As I have discussed elsewhere , we all have many connections in life, the big question is how do we nurture them all? At the opening day of the TL21C program a few weeks ago, I got chatting with +Sam Irwin . We started reminiscing about our time with the 21st Century Learning Melton Network . After sharing a few stories about the halcyon days, Sam suggested that we should get the band back together. This is something that I had mooted last year, that we should maintain the group, but had never got around to doing. So this week I decided to  finally take action. Whilst on Google+ answering various queries and questions associated with TL21C, I decided to cr...

creative commons licensed (BY-SA) flickr photo by mrkrndvs: http://flickr.com/photos/aaron_davis/14223298149 Lately, I have been writing a lot about being a connected educator. A part of this stemmed from a tweet from +Alan Thwaites , but it also comes from my involvement in the TL21C program . However, I was challenged by a colleague the other day with the question: 'what do we talk about when we have finished talking about getting connected?' At first I was confused by the question for being connected is so important, then it occurred to me that maybe I've been focussing too much on the wrong issue? It is so easy when talking about teaching and learning in the 21st century to get caught up in discussions about tools and technology. However, as I have discussed elsewhere , 21st century learning is more than just one thing. If we use the work of the team at ATC21s , it is in fact a combination of four interrelated topics: Ways of thinking. Creativity, critical t...

creative commons licensed (BY-NC-ND) flickr photo by sachman75: http://flickr.com/photos/sacharules/7431640808 I remember in Year Four Ms. Bates teaching us about how trees grew. She explained that they reach to the sun and it is for that reason that they are not always straight. I am sure there is more to it than this, but Ms. Bates story really stuck with me, maybe because of its simplicity, but I think because it completely changed the way that I looked at the world around me. Thinking about it today makes me think that learning might be the same. I remember when my wife and I moved into our house we planted a series of lilly pillies down the side of property. The thought was that they would provide some screening and a bit more privacy. Clearly we weren't going to let them grow to their potential height of 100 metres as the tag suggested that they could in their natural surroundings, rather we would mould and shape them. As a plant, they are not only hardy, but ...

creative commons licensed (BY-NC-ND) flickr photo by mrkrndvs: http://flickr.com/photos/aaron_davis/14382546023 I had the privilege the other day to hear +Will Richardson speak as the keynote for the first day of the TL21C Program. His mantra for his presentation was to leave teacherse feeling confused and uncomfortable, yet inspired. He basically spoke about the divide that is growing between learning at home and in schools. Often if we want to teach something in school today, we structure it in a way that fits our needs and structures. That is our timetables, our assessment structures, there is little room to simply fly ahead. Whereas outside of this environment, if someone wants to learn something they just immerse themselves in it, find out what they need and go ahead and learn it. Modern learning is not about being aware of everything, but about being aware of the options. The message that Richardson came back to again and again was that we need to make what we currently d...

'Nepal - Embraced by Shangrila' creative commons licensed (BY-SA) flickr photo by dhilung: http://flickr.com/photos/dhilung/3904555723 This post was originally posted on +Peter DeWitt 's Finding Common Ground blog on the 6th of January. It seems with the latest changes to the Performance and Development Process and +Will Richardson 's message in his #TL21C Keynote to change just 10% of your practise pertinent to repost it here. Recently, as a part of the Ed Tech Crew Christmas Hangout , +Darren Murphy  posed the question, what would your ideal school be? It got me wondering, what does the talk of ideals really achieve?  Often discussions about the ideal school converge with the amalgamation of a diverse range of ideas and practises. Where there is not only a wide range of technology on offer, but it is ubiquitous. Where connections are made around the world. Where students are creators of original content that is published for authentic audiences. Wh...