Reading Writing Responding

'Meaning of Success' by  Celestine Chua (Flickr) The other day I got some feedback about a leading teacher position that I had applied for a couple of months ago. Although I had demonstrated the elements required in my application, it was suggested that I did not provide enough evidence in regards to my competency to lead change management. This got me thinking about what change that I had been a part of. The two things that came to mind were the introduction of the Ultranet and the roll out of interactive whiteboards across the school. However, in reflecting upon both of these situations I wondered if I was successful in bringing about change and how you actually measure such success anyway. Change and Technology The Ultranet was a learning management system developed by the Victorian State Government to support staff, students and parents by providing an online space to communicate and collaborate. It was also seen as the answer to ongoing student reporting and ...

A few weeks ago, I had the great opportunity to be a part of Google Hangout for +Ed Tech Crew Episode 238 . The big question being addressed was: If you were only able to give one piece of advice to a new ICT Co-ordinator in a school, what advice would you give them. Although I have had a go at outlining my thoughts elsewhere , here are the gems offered by the wider team ... +Ashley Proud - Be relentless with whatever you do. +Mick Prest - Make sure that you are connected to a wider community. +Mel Cashen - Have both short and long term goals, don't just think about right here, right now. +Lois Smethurst - Narrow your field of focus to something that you believe is going to make a difference with. +Darren Murphy - Go and listen to people, get teachers and leadership on board +Aaron Davis  - Create a team and develop a collaborative plan. +Roland Gesthuizen - Coach the kind of learning that you want to be happening and be disruptive, facilitate t...

Johanna O'Farrell started it. She wrote an article for The Age titled ' Splashing Cash won't Fix Australia's Broken Education System '. The piece was basically a tirade against 21st century learning from the point of view of a secondary teacher. There have already been a few responses written including  +Mel Cashen 's ' Why our schools are NOT failing your children ' and +Celia Coffa 's ' Why Our Schools Are Not Failing Your Children - Another Teacher Tells '. Both of which shared their passion about why schools are not failing. Leaving the hyperbole and exclusive language aside, I would like to add my own response by unpacking a few of O'Farrell's arguments a bit further. Reading ... Books? O'Farrell states: Instead, the strategy is that children will simply learn to read and write ''by osmosis''. This is all well and good for children from families where reading is habitual. However, those from househo...

In a post I wrote a few months ago I spoke about what I called the ' hidden professional development '. That informal learning that occurs unplanned and on the fly, whether it be at lunchtime, while photocopying or even when swapping over on yard duty. Basically anywhere, anytime, simply where two or more passionate learners meet. The big question then and the question now is how do we encourage this? What structured opportunities do we provide for this? Tinkering Teachers In a fantastic discussion as a part of +Ed Tech Crew Episode 240 focusing on what it takes to be an IT co-ordinator, +Ashley Proud spoke about the demise in tinkering amongst students. Although +Mel Cashen and +Roland Gesthuizen mentioned about taking things a part, giving the conversation a more mechanical theme, I feel that tinkering is best understood as a wider curiosity into the way things work.  I believe that one of the reasons for such a drop-off belongs with teachers. Althou...

The other day I received an invite from +Darrel Branson  to participate in an episode of the +Ed Tech Crew  . The question up for discussion is: what advice would you give a new teacher just appointed as an ICT coordinator? I know that the medium is more about the meeting of the minds, I decided to clarify my own thoughts on the matter. I am sure that there are things that I may have missed, but here is my start to the discussion ... There is No 'I' in Team . The first thing that any co-ordinator in any position should do is to build a team. I am of the belief that one person has the power to bring about change, swapping one thing for another, it is through the power of a team that evolution occurs. Develop your team by engaging with those people who have some skills and expertise, find out who has some passion that you can utilise. This may not be a formal group that say meets at 8:00am every Thursday morning, rather it needs to be thought of as a group of people who you...

It was a sad day last Wednesday as the  Melton Network 21st Century Learning Team  met for the last time under the tutelage of +Alf Galea . Although Alf suggested that the network meetings may continue next year, it can be guaranteed, that with all the cuts that have taken place, it will not be to the same level and with the same sense of support. It subsequently left me reflecting on the opportunities that were gained from being a part of the group and how the implementation of various 21st century initiatives has evolved in the past five years. A New Way of Being I started working with Alf about five years ago as a part of the roll-out of the Ultranet. I had been asked to be a Lead User with Alf being the Melton Ultranet Coach, while after that Alf worked as the 21st Century Thinking and Learning Coach for the Melton Network. Although the Ultranet failed to achieve what it promised and will move into private hands at the end of the year, ...