Reading Writing Responding

creative commons licensed (BY-SA) flickr photo by mrkrndvs: http://flickr.com/photos/113562593@N07/13990305951 In a recent post in his Myths of Technology series, +George Couros wrote about the idea that 'technology dehumanises' . In this piece, Couros suggests that it is a misnomer that technology is anti-social and takes away from our relationships. Instead, technology actually provides the potential to amplify our relationships. Rather than technology, Couros posits that "people dehumanize one another, not technology". This got me thinking about a point +Doug Belshaw made in his book 'The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies' that digital literacies are at there heart social. In a presentation for Promethean , Peter Kent put forward that interactive whiteboards offered an opportunity to modify the way we teach and the way students learn. Instead of merely using the projector to provide information, the interactive nature of the boards all...

During the week I was asked by the principal to represent the Middle Years (5-9) on a new ICT Committee. Although the school has invested in a lot of ICT, there has been very little explicit leadership to drive it. Often ICT was the last dot point of many on the list of responsibilities allocated to various leading teachers in the school. Instead it has been driven by leadership with a little l , those staff who have a passion and interest in the area.  The first task set for the group is to develop a three year plan. Thinking about where the school might be in three years time got me reflecting how far things have evolved in the past three years. Here are just a few changes: Collaboration and the Cloud Three years ago, staff and students were dependent on the school share drives to share resources. The only way to really collaborate was through email. As I have stated elsewhere , the problem with this is that the 'original' document often gets lost in the...

This post is co-written with +Catherine Gatt . Catherine is a Primary ICT Specialist, with both Primary classroom experience, as well as a Secondary background. ... In a recent post on the Connected Principals blog, Sam LeDeaux posed the question: ' Are Educators Passionate About Their Profession? ' His basic premise was whether teacher's go to work or go to school. This is really a part of a wider debate in education about perspective and the way we see things. One other such area where this is prevalent is the great debate over the differences between the Primary and Secondary classroom. Working in a P-9 school has its benefits, including the ability to gain a valuable vantage point. However, so often with every positive there is a dark side lurking, a constant comparison about the differences in how things are done, about who works harder, about which is easier. What is disappointing is that there is often little evidence used to support these argument...

It is so easy to get caught up wanting one thing, but not necessarily wanting everything that it may bring. Take for example, the following: Want an 8 cylinder car, but don't want to pay for the increase in petrol Want to use Google Apps/Chromebook at school, but don't want to invest in quality Internet and appropriate infrastructure Want to go on a holiday, but don't want to pay for accommodation Want writing proofread, but don't want to discuss any of the changes Want students to be at the centre of learning, but still as a teacher want to have all the control Want a bigger house, but don't want to clean it or pay the increase mortgage repayments Want to have a big night, but don't want to put up with the hangover in the morning And the list goes on ...  This happens in all facets of life, where there is a discrepancy between what we want and the reality of the full situation. However, it is becoming more and more pertinent in schools. So of...

It's interesting, when you let go of the usual teacher/student hierarchy, as +Joe Mazza  has with the idea of the ' lead learner ', all else seems to slowly crumble around it. Take for example the notion of 'professional relationships'. I am not so sure which of the two words has had the biggest change. The profession to which everything has become seemingly so serious and accountable or the concept of relationships, which in the past were always so haphazard. Let me firstly look at the profession. What's in the Name? Often people say that you don't always choose your family, I think that the same thing can also be said about colleagues and clients (that is what students are, right?) This may have been different in the past where a student could have been 'expelled', where they would be shunted off to the next school and then the next school until they eventually flunked out of school. The profession of teaching has changed, subsequently h...

Moving From 1.0 to 3.0 One of the biggest challenges for the 21st Century is the move away from the notion of teacher at the centre, 'sage on a stage', in control of learning and the classroom, to the idea of the teacher as a facilitator, supporting students at the side, just as much a part of the learning process as everyone else. A chart  adapted from the work of John Moravec sums up this conundrum by splitting education up into three versions: Although there seems to be a big chasm between education 1.0 and education 3.0, the first challenge in many classrooms is to give voice and empower the different people in the classroom, moving beyond just those who seek to be heard. This inclusiveness includes teachers, not just students. In my endeavours, I have found that technology can be a great support in helping facilitate this change, particularly in an environment where students have 1 to 1 access to computers, laptops, netbooks and tablets. Below I will go throug...