I am lucky to work with a great team of people who are willing to share their ideas and their wisdom with me. Today we spent some time discussing personal and professional use of web 2.0 tools. We need to consider what the potential risks are to teachers and students of using social networking sites such as Facebook as a professional tool for communicating with students. Some searching on the web turned up links to some excellent resources, tagged and shared through delicious of course. The teachers we work with are enthusiastic about engaging kids and Facebook type sites have appeal, but teachers are open to some risk if they are communicating one to one in any private space with students. THere are age barriers to students using facebook as well. The whole issue expands out to what teachers can put on their own private Facebook page, the risk of “friending” students and exstudents, and the need for parental involvement and permission in working in virtual spaces with students.
It was a great discussion, now we are working on collating it in a Google ap for presentation to others, to me the face to face discussion is really valuable, but so is the opportunity to keep the collaboration going in cyberspace.
I have neglected my blog. I have lots of excuses including a wonderful travelling holiday but I really have to get back to it again. Excuses aside, I sometimes think I am still struggling to put my thoughts and experiences up on the web in this blog, I have this internal editor /critic who constantly asks if anyone would really want to read it. However, I have discovered some great comments on the blog and that has inspired me to get back to it so thanks to those who have made the blog more interactive.
I had the chance to visit Marist at Parramatta today, ( thanks to Mick Prest who organised a visit for interested educators ). I was really impressed with the Project Based Learning program for Yr 9 and 10 students. They have found that having teams of teachers working in a technology rich space is having a positive effect on the teachers and the students. I hope to get back there to see more but a couple of features struck me, with 2 teachers you can have small group tutorials, the students have collaboration tools such as wall mounted LCD screens for the groups and this works well, all students use laptops and the program is delivered by face to face teaching and by using the Learning Management System so the boys are far more independent in their learning.
It is always a great experience to go and see this type of educational innovation which is based in contemporary pedagogy and is in real practice in a school. I am always interested in finding these examples and learning from them.
There is a wide smile on my face whenever I check in to the wiki for the Web 2.o for Sydney CEO teachers course. The response has been fantastic, overwhelming and inspiring, ( that’s probably enough adverbs for one post). We have over 700 teachers enrolled through the CEO data base. We had hoped to get about 150 so this is beyond our wildest dreams. The best part has been reading the blogs and being able to share the learning journey with so many great teachers, many are tentative when they start module one but are flying and enjoying it within a few weeks. We are now also getting some really interesting contributions to the wiki, particularly the final reflection about using the learning of the course.
I was nodding my head reading many of the comments about how people enjoyed the flexibility of the course, having it on line allowing everyone ot work in their own way and in their own time. Having the wiki can give a sense of support and community and help overcome the feeling of isolation.
Helen is doing much of the course management and follow up and Jean has been doing all the enrollment and emails so I have to credit them with the success of the course but it is the teachers finding the time in a very crowded week, to work through each module and explore new possibilities who are really showing the potential of eLearning.
I am picking up some requests for the next course, I have to say we will need to think and plan and find the time to create another course but I think it would be a worthwhile contribution to our CEO Sydney Learning Community. All volunteers please take a step forward!
Well, the conference has come to a close leaving me feeling rather drained of all thought and energy. THere are so many people, ideas, presentations etc it is quite overwhelming. It was great to catch up with a group of Australians some of whom I know, who are here as a group of Apple Distinguished Educators, with organisation at the conference through Annie Agnew at Apple. I think there is a lot of thinking to do about conferences and their role in the future, I am not sure the one size fits all or choose your own adventure ( stream) has a lot of life left. It is quite fractured with people tweeting, blogging, and creating on line content during the conference, while others are here going to keynotes, formal sessions etc. Perhaps we need to do some more virtual connecting before arriving, and then take the opportunity for a lot more face to face networking. I found the program so big it is hard to navigate.
Having said that, I have had a great opportunity to meet and talk to many people, see exhibitors products and try to get a feel if there is any big new thing on the horizen. The answer I think is, no big developments in hardware or software but a growing interest in the area of Digital Citizenship and what that means in terms of students and teachers interaction with Web 2.0 tools. There were a lot of Virtual Learning Management systems and lots of people developing products for Smartboards but that is really just further development of existing trends. However there is more focus now on the higher order thinking and deep learning with technology. This theme ran through from Malcolm Gladwells opening keynote to many of the sessions I attended, such as the Spatial Analysis using Google Maps and GIS tools.The key is mastery, analysis and deep thinking, we have to move beyond visualisation, which computers do very well with their graphics capability, and expect more high order thinking from learners.
Tomorrow I will be seeing some of Washington, you could spend a month here and still find museums, exhibitions and history highlights to see, it is heaven for a history hack like me.
Its 4pm and I am feeling the pace, too much to see and do and too many people I want to talk to at once. Some highlights of today, included the debate, especially the speech by Gary StagerPhDProfessor from Pepperdine University. The debate was lost of course, not many want to see an end to physical schools, I just want to rip out the insides and remove the boxes, most agree we need blended physical and virtual learning. Good points about the need for schools to offer access to technology to disadvantaged students and community for extended hours. An interesting session on developing student spatial skills using Google Earth and GIS, particularly emphasising the need for analysis, not just visualisation. The iPod touch session demonstrated a University of Georgia project using iPod Touch in maths teaching. A visit to the exhibitors hall is stunning, Sydney Easter Show on steroids. There are 500 stands and they have lots of space and toys to play with. The pink cadillac complete with Elvis impersonator is a big hit. Spent some time at the Atomic Learning stand and also at Study Wiz, their Learning Management System is impressive.
Met up with Sue Waters from Edublogs, first time for me that tweeting has worked, we were both in the bloggers lounge at the same time so I was able to find her. She has offered input and assistance for our teachers doing blogs as part of Web 2.0 course, very generous of her.
There is an entire hall running poster sessions all day, some great demonstrations of projects and Web 2.0 tools like wikis. Am about to join up with Annie Agnew and the Apple Distinguished Educators group from Australia for some intense networking.
Just as well tomorrow is the last day, I can’t keep going at this pace indefinitely. A great place to be but no time to think.
I’m writing this in the ballroom of the Washington convention centre waiting for the start of the Tues morning keynote, a debate “That bricks and mortar schools are detrimental to the future of education”. There is a clicker on each chair ( 5,000 chairs in here) so we are voting on our initial position for or against, then we’ll vote again after the debate to see if they have changed our mind. I’m voting against, I believe in the potential of schools to provide a face to face and social environment to build community. Lets see if I change my mind.
The conference is in full swing with over 18,000 delegates from 60+ countries. The International reception yesterday was a chance to meet people from everywhere, including schools in India, Malaysia and NZ.
This is the last NECC conference! From now on it will be renamed the ISTE conference, they explain it is about much more than computers now.
Keynote from Malcolm Gladwell was a great example of a well crafted speech, used a metaphor ( Fleetwood Mac) and wove through it the elements necessary for learning. His main points ( without his entertaining delivery) are that mastery takes effort, ( at least 10,000 hours), therefore it is an attitude of being willing to make the effort, rather than ability , which make the difference, that we learn more by compensating for our weaknesses than by capitilising on our strengths and that self reliance is the key. His third point was the we learn best by trial and error in a zig zag learning path, not a linear movement of success to success. I haven’t read his books but they are now on my list, he is an interesting thinker.
My presentation is done and was well received. I can now relax but I was asked to get the keynote up on the NECC website as well as the paper so I will try to do that today. I am relieved and thankful for all the help from everyone, it included slides from Mary Bancks, photos from Helen Christou, keynote presentation polish from my lovely daughter Claire and much help from many others. A special thanks due to husband Brian who helped, supported, and workded the crowd for me.
Today I have a full day planned, have just heard Tom Carroll in a session on the future of teaching in the 21st century, excellent thinking about the need for teaching to move to a team and collegial activitiy, think about medicine, from the solo, know all hero like Dr Kildare to the team of Greys Anatomy, from Perry Mason to Boston Legal ( whole legal team), from single teacher in isolation in a classroom to … single teacher in isolation in a classroom. We need to team up people, if we are going to retain young teachers.
The NECC09 Conference is kicking off and I have been today to register etc. Running smoothly with lots of volunteers doing the ground work, a good chance to buy ISTE publications and not have to pay for shipping. Good news, ISTE books will be available directly in Australia soon. In the meantime I have stocked up and will be bringing home 5 with me, (can’t carry any more ), so those who know me can borrow when ready. I bought the “1 to 1 Learning” book with Mary Bancks in mind but am looking forward to reading it too.I also have “Beyond Harware ” by C Modersh, “Digital Citizenship in Schools” by Ribble and Bailey, ” Web 2.0 New Tools New Schools” by g Solomen and Transforming Classroom Practice ” by Borthwick and Pierson.
My presentation on Designing Learning Spaces for 21st Century Learners is as ready as it will ever be, I have focussed on images identifying features as outlined in the MCEETYA Learning Spaces Framework and have also included some of the work of Pofessor Ken Fisher. I have 4 case studies to complete the presentation including St Christopher’s at Holsworthy, Monte Sant Angelo, Our Lady Queen of Peace and Corpus Christi at Oak Flats. I have also included some shots ( not very good quality ) of Immanuel College at Novar Gardens in SA, because that is where I got a lot of ideas from for the Catherine McAuley Wing at Monte.
Wahington is an amazing city, I have studied a lot of USA history and so it is fascinating to see the monuments and the locations of such important events. We have been to the Lincoln Memorial and the wonderful exhibition below the main hall where there is a dispay and video of all the civil rights demonstrations at the Memorial, including the I Have a Dream speech. The nearby memorial to the Korea War is very moving , a sculpture of a platoon in battle gear on patrol, the faces are brilliantly expressive. so many museums and art galleries, and so little time, Brian will have to see them for me, I am really looking forward to the conference tomorrow.
I have just been sent a link to some great resources for Web 2.0. ( thanks to David from Monte) It is perfect for the Web 2.0 for Sydney CEO teachers course but of course now i don’t know how to find the best spot for it on the course so we can make use of it and share it. Just when you think you have finished… of course nothing is ever finished in the Web world, it changes and new things are available every day.
I have just been reading some of the blogs on the Web 2.0 for Sydney CEO Teachers course. They are terrific reading, relating what happens in classrooms, good and bad experiences, but overwhelmingly wanting to share good things and ideas. This is better than we had hoped for. I like to leave a comment to encourage new bloggers to keep going, there is nothing like an audience to give you a reason to blog. I am finding that there is a wide range of settings for making comments, the Blogger platform can be set to only allow people with a Google account to comment. This is frustrating. I have located a good blog discussing this and showing how it can be set to allow anonymous comments. I know that is a risk but you can add a disclaimer to your blog which says anyone can comment.
