Reading Writing Responding

In a recent post , +Peter DeWitt  debunked many of the myths associated with the take up of technology. This included such accusations as technology is just a tool, it is stupid and the Internet cannot be trusted. What this highlighted to me is that we all have an influence over the success and failure of each element of change that may occur in education and it starts with the way we choose to respond. As I have explored before , there are often so many choices that we are faced with on a day to day basis. For example, in my previous post on digital literacy, I touched on social bookmarking. There are so many options out there, whether it be Pinterest, Diigo, Delicious, Educlipper or Evernote. Clearly, each offering something that bit different, but all providing a space to share your bookmarks with others in some way or another. In addition to selecting a different application, there are also different perspectives associated with how we approach various applications...

In a post titled, ' The Importance of Modeling Positive Use of Social Media ',  +Chris Wejr suggested that schools need to do more to both model the appropriate use of social media, as well as promote more positive stories. Borrowing  +George Couros ' notion of ' digital leadership ', Wejr suggests: Much like leadership offline, students and adults can LEAD others in how they interact and treat each other online. When we put our heads in the sand and ban social media, we miss a huge opportunity to showcase and tap into digital leadership and model a positive online presence. This got me thinking about some of the other things that we may do personally online , but not necessarily model all the time in school. One such practise is that of reading and responding online. So often students are told to use tracks and be active readers, to write regular journal reflections, but this usually starts and stops at the physical book. When are students getting the...

Shared Vision by William Ferriter (Flickr) CC The new year is a great time to set new goals. I have decided to do something different this year and actually share my goals. So often we keep such things to ourselves. Maybe because others do not actually care about our goals, but also because we sometimes fear in sharing our goals that we open ourselves up to ridicule and failure. The problem with this mentality is that sometimes we are unable to really succeed, because we are unwilling to ever fail. So in the spirit of life-long learning here are my goals for 2014 ... #1 - Utilise data in a more structured manner within the classroom in order to better personalise learning There has been a real rise in education over the last few years in regards to the use of data. What has been interesting though is that often this 'data' has a tendency to be neither personal nor individual, whether it be things such as staff opinion surveys or NAPLAN results. Such data often s...

I recently got into a conversation with  +Ian Guest  in regards to the possibilities of Google Drive and GAFE after reading my listening to my review of Melbourne Google in Education Summit for +Ed Tech Crew . Although I had posted my shortened presentation that was published in the ICTEV Newsletter, I realised that I had never actually published my notes from my actual presentation at ICTEV13 - In Search of One Tool to Rule Them All . From Little Things, Big Things Grow ICT has a way of finding people. My personal background is as an English and History teacher. However, I have always had some affiliation with technology, whether it be sitting in on the ICT committee or being a part of the pilot program involving student laptops. A few years ago, an opportunity arose to teach Multimedia and Robotics to students in Years 7 and 8. My school had made a decision to teach ICT and Home Economics, instead of other more traditional technology subjects, such as...

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...

In response to the PLN Challenge that is going around at the moment, +Peter DeWitt broke with the traditional by simply posing one question,  "What inspired you this year?"  and an open invitation for anyone to answer. So here is my response: Do Extraordinary Things I think that the first thing to consider is what it actually means to be 'inspired'. The Oxford Dictionary defines inspired as: "of extraordinary quality, as if arising from some external creative impulse." I think trying to capture what is 'extraordinary quality' is a very personal thing. It makes more sense though by reasserting it in Peter's original question: "What encouraged you to do extraordinary things this year?" In many respects, I think that 'being inspired' and doing 'extraordinary things' is a way of viewing the world. A lens to look through to reflect on everything around us. Here then are some of things that encouraged me to try a...

Even though originally I thought that my blog would include a lot of 'reviews' and 'reflections' of various stories and novels, it hasn't really happened that way, but here is a first...  The Secret River by Kate Grenville tells the story of William Thornhill, a boatman who was caught stealing a load of wood and was subsequently deported, along with his wife Sal, to the New South Wales. Set at the turn of the 18th century, the novel provides a frank portrayal of life in the new colony and out in the frontier country. Unlike other writers, such as Patrick White's Voss, Peter Carey's The True History of the Kelly Gang and the various poems and stories of Barbara Baynton, Joseph Furphy and Henry Lawson, that have tried to capture a particular 18th century life in the Australian bush, Grenville brings a certain dirtiness to the story. We are taken in on every part of the the lives of Thornhills. Although there is clearly a high point in the n...