Recently I caught up with a friend for coffee. They had just spent time wandering through a book shop and they were loaded with new novels to read. I thought, how long is it since I have read a novel, fact or fiction? Do I still read? What do I read?
Then I thought I do read. But I read in different ways.
I read the blog posts of friends. I read the twitter feeds. I link to authors who write about all sorts of things and best of all, they are telling their stories. They are all stories, real stories. In fact since I have my new HTC phone I read far more. And best of all, at he doctor or dentist I don't have to read the 2 year old magazines. I can read today's news, today's blogs and live tweets. I can link to digital story tellers.
It made me think, digital natives (young and old) do read, we just read different things and in different ways.
Showing posts with label webciting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label webciting. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Leading with a Digital School conference – Gold Coast
I have just returned from my keynote address at the Leading with a Digital School conference where the conference used the KeePad response systems for evaluations for each session and the overall conference. It was an interesting experience and there are some for’s and against for this technology.
For the conference organisers, it means that the conference evaluations and feedback are collated and readily available at the end of the conference. From my own experience, I know how time consuming this can be when undertaken manually. Often several nights work. The KeePad system also provided instant graphs in relation to questions and allowed yes and no responses as well as multiple choice responses. It does not allow for written comments to be included. There are significant time savings here.
Each of the keynote speakers were asked to incorporate three questions into their presentation and I thought this was an interesting idea to get real time data and opinions to the presenter from the audience. One of my questions was split 50 – 50 by the audience, yet the others showed a distinct preference. I think this has possibilities for presenters and how to tailor make presentations on the fly.
There are a few negatives to the response systems as a conference tool, and the first is ensuring that all response systems and signed out and of course returned and signed in.
The second is that every presenter needed to load the KeePad software on to their laptops and then undertake basic training in how to use the system. I believe that despite the training, several presenters had glitches and not all session returned the data as had hoped for.
The final session of the day collected overall conference responses; however a large number of people had left before the short after lunch session and a number of people, including myself had returned their responder at lunch time to reduce the rush to return them at the end of the day.
I think the debate is still out. While the logistics would certainly be easier in a school with smaller groups and teachers who are familiar with the system, there is still a need to have a good understanding of how often, when, with who and why we are using them. But shouldn’t we be asking the same question in relation to all technologies, netbooks, Interactive whiteboards and more.
For the conference organisers, it means that the conference evaluations and feedback are collated and readily available at the end of the conference. From my own experience, I know how time consuming this can be when undertaken manually. Often several nights work. The KeePad system also provided instant graphs in relation to questions and allowed yes and no responses as well as multiple choice responses. It does not allow for written comments to be included. There are significant time savings here.
Each of the keynote speakers were asked to incorporate three questions into their presentation and I thought this was an interesting idea to get real time data and opinions to the presenter from the audience. One of my questions was split 50 – 50 by the audience, yet the others showed a distinct preference. I think this has possibilities for presenters and how to tailor make presentations on the fly.
There are a few negatives to the response systems as a conference tool, and the first is ensuring that all response systems and signed out and of course returned and signed in.
The second is that every presenter needed to load the KeePad software on to their laptops and then undertake basic training in how to use the system. I believe that despite the training, several presenters had glitches and not all session returned the data as had hoped for.
The final session of the day collected overall conference responses; however a large number of people had left before the short after lunch session and a number of people, including myself had returned their responder at lunch time to reduce the rush to return them at the end of the day.
I think the debate is still out. While the logistics would certainly be easier in a school with smaller groups and teachers who are familiar with the system, there is still a need to have a good understanding of how often, when, with who and why we are using them. But shouldn’t we be asking the same question in relation to all technologies, netbooks, Interactive whiteboards and more.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Communities of Practice – on the fire ground
Communities of Practice, Professional Learning Networks: These terms are all the buzz in education and well connected to professional learning, however in essence these are all about communities. Communities that flourish for the common good, from those with a common interest to help others!
The CFA (Country Fire Authority) is one of the old fashion communities who have been battling against the odds for several weeks now. In my own region, we have had a double dose with Black Saturday and the week before the Boolarra fires.
How did I become a CFA volunteer? I am not sure. It just happened. I knew little about bushfires and living on acreage, I thought it was time to understand how to protect my home. I thought I would learn how to put in place a fire plan. Little did I know that it was the first step to becoming an active volunteer fire fighter, the training officer for the local brigade and a crew leader at major fires?
In our brigade and many others volunteers, come from such diverse backgrounds. There is no common factor that draws people to volunteer. We have unemployed, teachers, farmers, retired, tradesmen, professionals and many more. They never seem to notice the different demographics that bring them together. On the fire front they are one and they trust their lives to each other.
Each crew on a fire truck has a range of responsibilities. They begin with a driver who must be certified and endorsed to drive a heavy vehicle. No driver on the day means the truck cannot go out, no matter how many crew turn up. The leader on the truck is called the crew leader. They are usually the highest ranking officer on the truck at that time; however there has been a shift to certification and a new breed of crew leaders are being trained. They make the decisions and ultimately are responsible for the safety of all on the truck. Good crew leaders make decisions that involve all members on the truck. Communication is vital.
On the back of the truck is usually two other members, although the truck can take four plus crew leader and driver, if fire fighters are available. Worst case is two, a driver and leader. It depends on who’s available at the time of the fire call. The two other members often ride in the back of the truck, although newer trucks have a 4 door cabin with all members inside for added safety. Their roles are linked to the pump and hoses. One operates the pump, and the second the hose, except when lengths of hose are run out and then they both drag hoses while the driver mans the pump. Most brigade members are trained in all roles on the hoses and pumps.
In my case I often undertake any of the roles. In the last few weeks I have been crew leader, truck driver, pump man and hose man. It just depends who we have on the day. My preference is to be on the fire scene with my captain, who undertakes the role of crew leader. He has 20 years of experience in all types of fires and he looks to me with all decisions as I have the qualifications and accreditation of crew leader training which he has not had time to do. It is a good mix, and I feel very safe knowing we combine so well and put safety first.
Our priorities are.
1. Safety of fire-fighters
2. Save the lives of the public
3. Save animals and stock
4. Asset protection – homes and business
5. Put out the fire
Our training is a vital part of being a fire fighter. We don’t fear the fire, but we do respect it.
Last Saturday, Black Saturday, every fire-fighter had some fear as this was a fire that was so un predictable and so different to any we had seen.
Black Saturday
Our pagers beeped on Friday afternoon. “All brigades prepare for the worst weather conditions we have ever known.” How bad would this be, what could we expect.
First up is to make sure your fire plan at home was in place. This was so important as last weekend I had spent working night shifts at the Boolarra Fires. I knew how dry the land was and how close fire was already to my own region in Gippsland.
When warnings like this come out, you start a process of readiness. I bring out my kit bag which is always ready and make sure it has supplies in case I am out for 24 hours or more.
Boots, trousers with bracers are placed at the door for quick access. As a rural brigade, we often dress in the street, or put what-ever we can on at home and finish in the truck.
It’s a time to abstain from alcohol at dinner. Who knows when the call will come and if you have to drive the fire truck? A cold bear after a 42 degree day would be appreciated, but tomorrow is excepted to be 46 and fires can start the night before.
In the morning it’s important to hydrate and two litres of water are forced in. Then it becomes a waiting game. When will the call come? You try to make the day as normal as ever but you just know. Your own plans are in place but you know you have to make a choice to go and leave family to fight any unknown battles. You may never know if the fire is close to your home.
The pagers flashes read and wails as the first of several calls arises. We are called to help a spot fire 15 kms away. I am first at the station and open the doors, drive the truck out, call operations that the truck is ready and waiting for crew, and then finish dressing. By now we have 4 other members here are ready to go. As we all board a fire stop comes to our truck. There are already other trucks on the way and there are limited resources left in my home community. We are put on hold.
We sit about the station waiting, this time as a group. We know the fire call will come.
The Bunyip fire is 50 kms away but the wind is blowing our way. Smoke covers the sky and passed above us like a volcano. The rage we can see reminds of us such fire.
There is increased radio traffic as the Churchill fire is reported. (This fire we later find is deliberately lit). The plumbs of smoke rise like an atomic bomb, 20 kms to our east and we know there is another major fire nearby.
We wait for another hour and decide all members should head home grab something to eat and return. I head home (about 4 kms) and see the sky change colour from a black smoke to an orange glow. The wind is changing. I run more hoses out around my home and mops, take a few pics and then it happens.
The pager roars with a RED Alert warning. I head up the hill to the fire station, and look down into the valley. There is no fire but the smoke, the wind, and now embers and debris litter the school, falling in abundance. This is a fire storm, yet we are 40 kms from the fire front. My thoughts which I scream to myself aloud! “Oh my god”. This is the fire of fires.
I again have the truck out, lights flashing and the station locked down. The others arrive quickly and we head to town. There is one other truck available for our town and reports of spotting. We travel Code One. Lights and sirens. Cars pull of the road and you can see panic on people’s faces. Visibility is already poor. Before we arrive at our meeting point, we are deployed to a grass fire some 6 kms away. It is as though its night with a dark red glow and the town has an eyrie look. The wind blows and gust of over 100 kms an hour rip the flashing blue and red lights from the truck, pulling out screws and mountings. We have a further 4 and blinkers running.
Visibility is poor from the smoke and darkness and alert eyes in the cabin scream and a giant gum tree falls across the road. Our path is blocked, but we are ok. 20 seconds later and the truck would have been taken out, and perhaps the crew. A car arrives and we ask it to stay with its hazards light son as we call the SES.
I am driving and reverse the truck to a turning area and we look for an alternative path. By the time we find one another brigade has attended the burn and we head back to town amongst the glow. We can hear radio traffic of spot fires everywhere from the Bunyip fire. Trucks called to Drouin, Warragul Nilma and more. Everyone is out.
On a fire day like this we have no idea of what is happening elsewhere. Our radio channel only has our regions control points. We turn on ABC radio and all hang our heads as we hear of devastation and loss of life. Perhaps 8 dead. Every death in a fire no matter where is felt by a fire fighter. Little are we to know that the tally will climb above 200.
We have time for a bottle of water, before we are deployed again. This time a large lightening strike and storm has occurred south of Mt Baw Baw. The fire is moving quickly and headed towards Rawson and Erica. It’s a 35 minute drive into the mountains and when we arrive we can see the glow. DSE are deploying dozers and slip-ons into the forest, but the tow towns stand in the fires path. We have the two Erica tankers and ours to protect over 160 homes.
We set up water fill points so we can refill trucks, Then we pick the spot we expect the fire to come out. It would come through a paddock with a small plantation at the side.
The fire is no more than 15 minutes away, and the wind change occurs. A southerly. The fire shifts and moves away to the relief of all. Sometimes nature takes and sometimes nature helps. This is a good news story for us.
But the danger has not stopped. The fire heads to the tourist town of Walhalla. The town and tourists are evacuated to the old gold mine. They are escorted inside, about 200 mts in, away from heat fire and smoke. The town is in lock down and the three fire tankers arrive.
We are given clear directions. Only try to save houses and shops and businesses that are one hose length or less. The rest is un-saveable.
We set water points and watch the glow on the ridge move towards us.
Again weather proves our saviour and with all the tragedy we will hear in the coming days, this is one good news story that no one will hear. The lightening and storm activity that started this fire continues, however it also brings rain. Heavy rain hits, lasting no more than 15 minutes in our area, but enough to stop the spotting and to slow the fire to a crawl.
The 15 men, three fire trucks and a four wheel drive sigh with relief. We can mop up and contain the fire and know that we have not lost a life or property. Obviously all due to mother nature rather than our fire efforts, but this could have been another Kinglake or Callignee, with almost every home lost and a significant loss of life. Nature works in mysterious ways.
At 3:30 am our shift finished as the fire threat subsided. It had been 14 hours of the unknown for us, but in all, we were the lucky ones on the day.
We drove home rather sombre listening to the disbelief on the radio of what had happened around the state and was still happening. What kept us awake was our pager messages, asking for anyone who could assist on the morning shift.
The CFA (Country Fire Authority) is one of the old fashion communities who have been battling against the odds for several weeks now. In my own region, we have had a double dose with Black Saturday and the week before the Boolarra fires.
How did I become a CFA volunteer? I am not sure. It just happened. I knew little about bushfires and living on acreage, I thought it was time to understand how to protect my home. I thought I would learn how to put in place a fire plan. Little did I know that it was the first step to becoming an active volunteer fire fighter, the training officer for the local brigade and a crew leader at major fires?
In our brigade and many others volunteers, come from such diverse backgrounds. There is no common factor that draws people to volunteer. We have unemployed, teachers, farmers, retired, tradesmen, professionals and many more. They never seem to notice the different demographics that bring them together. On the fire front they are one and they trust their lives to each other.
Each crew on a fire truck has a range of responsibilities. They begin with a driver who must be certified and endorsed to drive a heavy vehicle. No driver on the day means the truck cannot go out, no matter how many crew turn up. The leader on the truck is called the crew leader. They are usually the highest ranking officer on the truck at that time; however there has been a shift to certification and a new breed of crew leaders are being trained. They make the decisions and ultimately are responsible for the safety of all on the truck. Good crew leaders make decisions that involve all members on the truck. Communication is vital.
On the back of the truck is usually two other members, although the truck can take four plus crew leader and driver, if fire fighters are available. Worst case is two, a driver and leader. It depends on who’s available at the time of the fire call. The two other members often ride in the back of the truck, although newer trucks have a 4 door cabin with all members inside for added safety. Their roles are linked to the pump and hoses. One operates the pump, and the second the hose, except when lengths of hose are run out and then they both drag hoses while the driver mans the pump. Most brigade members are trained in all roles on the hoses and pumps.
In my case I often undertake any of the roles. In the last few weeks I have been crew leader, truck driver, pump man and hose man. It just depends who we have on the day. My preference is to be on the fire scene with my captain, who undertakes the role of crew leader. He has 20 years of experience in all types of fires and he looks to me with all decisions as I have the qualifications and accreditation of crew leader training which he has not had time to do. It is a good mix, and I feel very safe knowing we combine so well and put safety first.
Our priorities are.
1. Safety of fire-fighters
2. Save the lives of the public
3. Save animals and stock
4. Asset protection – homes and business
5. Put out the fire
Our training is a vital part of being a fire fighter. We don’t fear the fire, but we do respect it.
Last Saturday, Black Saturday, every fire-fighter had some fear as this was a fire that was so un predictable and so different to any we had seen.
Black Saturday
Our pagers beeped on Friday afternoon. “All brigades prepare for the worst weather conditions we have ever known.” How bad would this be, what could we expect.
First up is to make sure your fire plan at home was in place. This was so important as last weekend I had spent working night shifts at the Boolarra Fires. I knew how dry the land was and how close fire was already to my own region in Gippsland.
When warnings like this come out, you start a process of readiness. I bring out my kit bag which is always ready and make sure it has supplies in case I am out for 24 hours or more.
Boots, trousers with bracers are placed at the door for quick access. As a rural brigade, we often dress in the street, or put what-ever we can on at home and finish in the truck.
It’s a time to abstain from alcohol at dinner. Who knows when the call will come and if you have to drive the fire truck? A cold bear after a 42 degree day would be appreciated, but tomorrow is excepted to be 46 and fires can start the night before.
In the morning it’s important to hydrate and two litres of water are forced in. Then it becomes a waiting game. When will the call come? You try to make the day as normal as ever but you just know. Your own plans are in place but you know you have to make a choice to go and leave family to fight any unknown battles. You may never know if the fire is close to your home.
The pagers flashes read and wails as the first of several calls arises. We are called to help a spot fire 15 kms away. I am first at the station and open the doors, drive the truck out, call operations that the truck is ready and waiting for crew, and then finish dressing. By now we have 4 other members here are ready to go. As we all board a fire stop comes to our truck. There are already other trucks on the way and there are limited resources left in my home community. We are put on hold.
We sit about the station waiting, this time as a group. We know the fire call will come.
The Bunyip fire is 50 kms away but the wind is blowing our way. Smoke covers the sky and passed above us like a volcano. The rage we can see reminds of us such fire.
There is increased radio traffic as the Churchill fire is reported. (This fire we later find is deliberately lit). The plumbs of smoke rise like an atomic bomb, 20 kms to our east and we know there is another major fire nearby.
We wait for another hour and decide all members should head home grab something to eat and return. I head home (about 4 kms) and see the sky change colour from a black smoke to an orange glow. The wind is changing. I run more hoses out around my home and mops, take a few pics and then it happens.
The pager roars with a RED Alert warning. I head up the hill to the fire station, and look down into the valley. There is no fire but the smoke, the wind, and now embers and debris litter the school, falling in abundance. This is a fire storm, yet we are 40 kms from the fire front. My thoughts which I scream to myself aloud! “Oh my god”. This is the fire of fires.
I again have the truck out, lights flashing and the station locked down. The others arrive quickly and we head to town. There is one other truck available for our town and reports of spotting. We travel Code One. Lights and sirens. Cars pull of the road and you can see panic on people’s faces. Visibility is already poor. Before we arrive at our meeting point, we are deployed to a grass fire some 6 kms away. It is as though its night with a dark red glow and the town has an eyrie look. The wind blows and gust of over 100 kms an hour rip the flashing blue and red lights from the truck, pulling out screws and mountings. We have a further 4 and blinkers running.
Visibility is poor from the smoke and darkness and alert eyes in the cabin scream and a giant gum tree falls across the road. Our path is blocked, but we are ok. 20 seconds later and the truck would have been taken out, and perhaps the crew. A car arrives and we ask it to stay with its hazards light son as we call the SES.
I am driving and reverse the truck to a turning area and we look for an alternative path. By the time we find one another brigade has attended the burn and we head back to town amongst the glow. We can hear radio traffic of spot fires everywhere from the Bunyip fire. Trucks called to Drouin, Warragul Nilma and more. Everyone is out.
On a fire day like this we have no idea of what is happening elsewhere. Our radio channel only has our regions control points. We turn on ABC radio and all hang our heads as we hear of devastation and loss of life. Perhaps 8 dead. Every death in a fire no matter where is felt by a fire fighter. Little are we to know that the tally will climb above 200.
We have time for a bottle of water, before we are deployed again. This time a large lightening strike and storm has occurred south of Mt Baw Baw. The fire is moving quickly and headed towards Rawson and Erica. It’s a 35 minute drive into the mountains and when we arrive we can see the glow. DSE are deploying dozers and slip-ons into the forest, but the tow towns stand in the fires path. We have the two Erica tankers and ours to protect over 160 homes.
We set up water fill points so we can refill trucks, Then we pick the spot we expect the fire to come out. It would come through a paddock with a small plantation at the side.
The fire is no more than 15 minutes away, and the wind change occurs. A southerly. The fire shifts and moves away to the relief of all. Sometimes nature takes and sometimes nature helps. This is a good news story for us.
But the danger has not stopped. The fire heads to the tourist town of Walhalla. The town and tourists are evacuated to the old gold mine. They are escorted inside, about 200 mts in, away from heat fire and smoke. The town is in lock down and the three fire tankers arrive.
We are given clear directions. Only try to save houses and shops and businesses that are one hose length or less. The rest is un-saveable.
We set water points and watch the glow on the ridge move towards us.
Again weather proves our saviour and with all the tragedy we will hear in the coming days, this is one good news story that no one will hear. The lightening and storm activity that started this fire continues, however it also brings rain. Heavy rain hits, lasting no more than 15 minutes in our area, but enough to stop the spotting and to slow the fire to a crawl.
The 15 men, three fire trucks and a four wheel drive sigh with relief. We can mop up and contain the fire and know that we have not lost a life or property. Obviously all due to mother nature rather than our fire efforts, but this could have been another Kinglake or Callignee, with almost every home lost and a significant loss of life. Nature works in mysterious ways.
At 3:30 am our shift finished as the fire threat subsided. It had been 14 hours of the unknown for us, but in all, we were the lucky ones on the day.
We drove home rather sombre listening to the disbelief on the radio of what had happened around the state and was still happening. What kept us awake was our pager messages, asking for anyone who could assist on the morning shift.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Identity Theft – Identity Fraud
This week I was fortunate to be a presenter at the IRR national Fraud Conference. My session was on Identity Theft of Children and I think I provided a view of what the future holds for children whose identity is stolen, or those who have the skills and knowledge to create identity theft in the future.
Presenters and delegates were from many of the banks, and large companies who have dedicated e-security and fraud investigators. There was also a large presence from the Australian Federal Police and state police groups.
What stood out to me was how wide spread and how common identity fraud is. In many cases police have contacted those who have been scammed, yet many do not believe the police or the bank and still send large amounts of money to places like Nigeria. Nigeria is the number one country where these scams originate from and the concern is that soon, Nigeria will have a high speed free internet connection available to anyone, so expect a significant rise in identity fraud and scams.
Many of the criminals from Nigeria who have been caught often say that Australian’s are the most gullible of any country on the net, thus they target out country as often as possible.
Many of the credit cards involved scams by Asian groups who have skimmed credit cards. Never let your card out of sight when paying at a restaurant. Other areas of risk are providing credit card numbers to companies who run online gambling sites. Card numbers are often skimmed from these sites.
Another growing area is the use of innocent citizens to launder money through e-bay purchases or passing on money to an account for a 10% fee.
There were several case studies provided by police, which were fascinating, however due to confidentiality I am unable to provide the details on my blog. However it is fair to say that the amount of evidence that has to be collected and cross referenced is enormous and in some cases 2 or more police officers have spent two or more years, just putting together the evidence. Sometimes up to 5,000 documents.
One of the emerging areas of identity theft is from letterboxes. Utility statements (gas and power) are often stolen from letter boxes, falsifies and used at evidence for 100 point identification checks. More recently credit cards have been stolen from letter boxes, activated and used illegally. The advice was that everyone with a letter box should have a padlock on it.
When criminals are interviewed about crimes that use technology they say there are three reasons why they do it
• It is the easiest crime to commit
• It is the hardest crime to detect
• It has the lowest sentences if caught
Identity Fraud has created new victims. Those who have had their identity stolen and family members of victims, as sometimes it can take years to clear your name or families name and to get your credit rating back.
Presenters and delegates were from many of the banks, and large companies who have dedicated e-security and fraud investigators. There was also a large presence from the Australian Federal Police and state police groups.
What stood out to me was how wide spread and how common identity fraud is. In many cases police have contacted those who have been scammed, yet many do not believe the police or the bank and still send large amounts of money to places like Nigeria. Nigeria is the number one country where these scams originate from and the concern is that soon, Nigeria will have a high speed free internet connection available to anyone, so expect a significant rise in identity fraud and scams.
Many of the criminals from Nigeria who have been caught often say that Australian’s are the most gullible of any country on the net, thus they target out country as often as possible.
Many of the credit cards involved scams by Asian groups who have skimmed credit cards. Never let your card out of sight when paying at a restaurant. Other areas of risk are providing credit card numbers to companies who run online gambling sites. Card numbers are often skimmed from these sites.
Another growing area is the use of innocent citizens to launder money through e-bay purchases or passing on money to an account for a 10% fee.
There were several case studies provided by police, which were fascinating, however due to confidentiality I am unable to provide the details on my blog. However it is fair to say that the amount of evidence that has to be collected and cross referenced is enormous and in some cases 2 or more police officers have spent two or more years, just putting together the evidence. Sometimes up to 5,000 documents.
One of the emerging areas of identity theft is from letterboxes. Utility statements (gas and power) are often stolen from letter boxes, falsifies and used at evidence for 100 point identification checks. More recently credit cards have been stolen from letter boxes, activated and used illegally. The advice was that everyone with a letter box should have a padlock on it.
When criminals are interviewed about crimes that use technology they say there are three reasons why they do it
• It is the easiest crime to commit
• It is the hardest crime to detect
• It has the lowest sentences if caught
Identity Fraud has created new victims. Those who have had their identity stolen and family members of victims, as sometimes it can take years to clear your name or families name and to get your credit rating back.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Teacher PD in ICT. Australia come on! NZ is leaving us behind
How long is it since I have blogged? Far too long. My busy schedule has made it difficult, combined with dealing with personal tragedy. Not a great mix.
But time to try to put my fingers to the keyboard as I spend another day of my weekend commuting for an early start interstate on Monday.
I thought I should reflect on Ulearn08. I was fortunate enough to be an invited speaker to the Ulearn08 conference in Christchurch New Zealand to deliver a presentation “Web 2.0, how exciting learning has become.”
The conference attracted over 1,700 delegates and provided a great smorgasbord of keynotes, spotlights and workshops. The planning was enormous and everything seemed to flow extremely well. There was a significant trade show with strong support from the corporate sector to enhance the use of technology in schools.
Will Richardson and Sheryl Naussbaum-Beach provided the opening keynote and as always inspired the audience with a focus on Professional Learning Communities and the part they play in education. It was a strong theme as the use of twitter through the conference seemed to highlight the power of professional learning communities amongst educators. I will blog about Twitter and my thoughts in the next few days.
There were many Australian’s like myself providing spotlight sessions with our New Zealand friends. Many were practicing teachers who were sharing their journey. There was also a strong presence of early childhood educators, which highlights how early the use of technology has shifted to a much younger sector in education.
What stood out to me was how well New Zealand was doing in the integration of technology in education. I look back ten years ago in Australia, when the Victorian Education Department was seen as the world leader. We were one of the first to provide every teacher with a laptop; we followed this up with a state-wide Wide Area Network to enable high speed internet access to all schools. All documentations was moved online, Technical support was provided to schools and much, much more. More recently the department invested in leading schools and now are working towards the Ultranet (although its already several years behind schedule).
So why is it that New Zealand teachers are far more skilled in the use of ICT, far more skilled in the integration and use of ICT in the classroom and far more knowledgeable in what ICT can do? In my workshops (I ran 4 workshops in addition to my spotlight,) I was continually surprised at the ICT skill level and knowledge of the average teacher. Most were blogging and using a range of web 2.0 tools, however my experience in Australia would indicate that a smaller percentage are at this level and we still have teachers who are excited because they used power point for the first time (technology that is more than 15 years old in education).
Why is this so? Because New Zealand has invested in the most important area of ICT. Teacher professional development. They have provided significant funds to cluster to run professional development over three year periods. Twice this year I have been to NZ to work with clusters who are using their funding in innovative ways. I am talking about significant funds. In many case more than a million dollars. Many clusters have put in specialist coaches and run a range of PD programs, one on one support and regional conferences. Putting money into PD instead of equipment and hardware as Australia has done has made a significant difference.
I look at ULearn08 with 1,700 participants and reflect on Australia’s peak ICT conference (ACEC) which a week earlier drew less than 600 people for a country 4 times or more larger.
I look at the ICT programs being run in Australia and it is now school based or run by subject associations. The regional and state based events seem to be in the minority.
Australia, let’s look at ourselves and look at where we are headed. Significant money is being spent on ICT professional development and learning programs in NZ, Singapore, Honk Kong, and now India and China.
Yet in Australia, we keep investing in hardware. How many Interactive Whiteboards have we put into schools without training our teachers?
Yes we have our innovators and visionaries who are doing great things in many schools; however the average teacher is falling well behind what is happening internationally.
It is time to invest and invest in new ways. Let’s get our teachers up to speed and then think about what resources we need.
We were the leader. We were the best. Our top educators and being poached, our top visionaries are being recognised more and more abroad, yet not locally. It is time for change in teacher professional development in Australia. Let’s get back to where we once were. Let’s Sho w the world again.
But time to try to put my fingers to the keyboard as I spend another day of my weekend commuting for an early start interstate on Monday.
I thought I should reflect on Ulearn08. I was fortunate enough to be an invited speaker to the Ulearn08 conference in Christchurch New Zealand to deliver a presentation “Web 2.0, how exciting learning has become.”
The conference attracted over 1,700 delegates and provided a great smorgasbord of keynotes, spotlights and workshops. The planning was enormous and everything seemed to flow extremely well. There was a significant trade show with strong support from the corporate sector to enhance the use of technology in schools.
Will Richardson and Sheryl Naussbaum-Beach provided the opening keynote and as always inspired the audience with a focus on Professional Learning Communities and the part they play in education. It was a strong theme as the use of twitter through the conference seemed to highlight the power of professional learning communities amongst educators. I will blog about Twitter and my thoughts in the next few days.
There were many Australian’s like myself providing spotlight sessions with our New Zealand friends. Many were practicing teachers who were sharing their journey. There was also a strong presence of early childhood educators, which highlights how early the use of technology has shifted to a much younger sector in education.
What stood out to me was how well New Zealand was doing in the integration of technology in education. I look back ten years ago in Australia, when the Victorian Education Department was seen as the world leader. We were one of the first to provide every teacher with a laptop; we followed this up with a state-wide Wide Area Network to enable high speed internet access to all schools. All documentations was moved online, Technical support was provided to schools and much, much more. More recently the department invested in leading schools and now are working towards the Ultranet (although its already several years behind schedule).
So why is it that New Zealand teachers are far more skilled in the use of ICT, far more skilled in the integration and use of ICT in the classroom and far more knowledgeable in what ICT can do? In my workshops (I ran 4 workshops in addition to my spotlight,) I was continually surprised at the ICT skill level and knowledge of the average teacher. Most were blogging and using a range of web 2.0 tools, however my experience in Australia would indicate that a smaller percentage are at this level and we still have teachers who are excited because they used power point for the first time (technology that is more than 15 years old in education).
Why is this so? Because New Zealand has invested in the most important area of ICT. Teacher professional development. They have provided significant funds to cluster to run professional development over three year periods. Twice this year I have been to NZ to work with clusters who are using their funding in innovative ways. I am talking about significant funds. In many case more than a million dollars. Many clusters have put in specialist coaches and run a range of PD programs, one on one support and regional conferences. Putting money into PD instead of equipment and hardware as Australia has done has made a significant difference.
I look at ULearn08 with 1,700 participants and reflect on Australia’s peak ICT conference (ACEC) which a week earlier drew less than 600 people for a country 4 times or more larger.
I look at the ICT programs being run in Australia and it is now school based or run by subject associations. The regional and state based events seem to be in the minority.
Australia, let’s look at ourselves and look at where we are headed. Significant money is being spent on ICT professional development and learning programs in NZ, Singapore, Honk Kong, and now India and China.
Yet in Australia, we keep investing in hardware. How many Interactive Whiteboards have we put into schools without training our teachers?
Yes we have our innovators and visionaries who are doing great things in many schools; however the average teacher is falling well behind what is happening internationally.
It is time to invest and invest in new ways. Let’s get our teachers up to speed and then think about what resources we need.
We were the leader. We were the best. Our top educators and being poached, our top visionaries are being recognised more and more abroad, yet not locally. It is time for change in teacher professional development in Australia. Let’s get back to where we once were. Let’s Sho w the world again.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Ulearn08
Goanimate - Looking forward to Ulearn08. I am running a workshop which has goanimate as one of the web 2.0 softwares. Thanks to Betina Sho who found this site.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Apple Store - Sydney
Last week I was working in Sydney and had the opportunity to visit the new Sydney Apple store, the first of its kind in Australia.
There were three floors of Apple, Apple, Apple with the lots of products to try.
The first floor was the full range of notebooks with every model available to ty or test. There were also several i-Macs and gaming stations.
The second floor was portable devices and every type of ipod was available to try.
The third and top floor has several dedicated training areas where you can book a one on one personal training session. Near by is the pro lab where you can join a 4 week class on specialist programs such as final cut pro.
There is also a genius bench where you can bring your apple product in and have a specialist work through any problems or functions you are having problems with. Time is restricted to about 20 minute maximum and again you can pre-book a genius on line.
All of these can be booked online.
Another feature is Youth workshops and you can also book a school night for students, teachers and parents.
More information on the Apple Sydney store web site.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Star Trek and the collective
Have you ever watched StarTrek? Many of us who have a passion for ICT used to thrive on the latest gadgets and what our future might be. It was always the unknown and I guess much of it is coming true.Many of the StarTrek ideas have become reality. The notebook computer, lasers, the universal translators is almost complete and I have to say the hollo deck is not far from the Wii.
So after a month of non posting on blogger, what made me find time to talk about StarTrek? Well it’s actually Twitter that I want to talk about as I have been following a number of educators who are having the debate, where would Twitter fit into education. I am a sceptic and have yet to be convinced, even after following someone like Steve Whitaker for some time. I now know what TV shows he watches, the food he eats and what he does when he is bored. Hardly educational. I have watched my friend Kathy Schrock grapple with the education use of Twitter as well, while Will Richardson and David Warlick are heavy users and sing it’s praises.
This week I was presenting at the ICTEV conference and in my second session on “The World of Google”, I had several delegates, who much to my amusement seemed more focused on Twitter than my talk.
On closer observation I realised that they were actually very engaged in what was happening in the room and had a very strong network of friends Australia wide who were also technology and education enthusiasts. For many of this network of friends, Melbourne was too far to travel to attend a one day conference, so they linked up, real time using Twitter.
This week I was presenting at the ICTEV conference and in my second session on “The World of Google”, I had several delegates, who much to my amusement seemed more focused on Twitter than my talk.
On closer observation I realised that they were actually very engaged in what was happening in the room and had a very strong network of friends Australia wide who were also technology and education enthusiasts. For many of this network of friends, Melbourne was too far to travel to attend a one day conference, so they linked up, real time using Twitter.
So my workshop was full with 25 participants, however another 20 or more were all over Australia, actively connecting to each hyperlink or web site I mentioned and just as involved and engaged as those in the room. In many cases they asked questions which were redirected by their friends in the room to me. All using Twitter.
I thought to myself. This is just like the collective in StarTrek. It’s how the Borg worked. They were connected at all times, no matter where they were.
So Twitter now has my tick of approval. I have two new followers in Jo and Sheila and I will have to post more often. www.twitter.com/ausgreg
I guess this is also why kids are so drawn to new technologies. They like to be connected at all times. Why are kids so connected and the users in my session using Twitter? Because they have built networks to assist and learn from each other and they value their network members, the conversations, the communication and friendship this brings.
So why do we not have this in all our classrooms?
Monday, April 7, 2008
Healthy Education
This week I was fortunate to be invited as one of the keynote speakers for the Blackboards and Bandaids conference in Brisbane. The conference is attended by welfare educators and has a range of Health and well being presenters on a variety of topics.
The Mater Children’s Hospital have conducted the conference for the past four years as part of the Mater Children Hospital School program.
I was privileged to have a short tour of the school after my keynote and workshop and visited classrooms for junior, middle and senior students. Computers are a big part of their education and the classrooms look similar to those in a normal school, only smaller for less numbers. Some students are short term, however for some; their illness necessitates a long stay. In many cases classes are conducted in the wards as some children are not well enough to leave their beds.
As I passed the emergency waiting room it was sad to see so many young children waiting to be seen by doctors, with anxious parents beside them. It made me reflect how lucky many families are to have healthy children but more important, what a wonderful job this hospital based school does. It means that most children at the hospital can feel that part of their life is still normal and that they are part of a school community, which for young children who are dealing with an illness is a very important to their coping mechanism.
Spare a thought for another wonderful part of education that we don’t often get to see.
The Mater Children’s Hospital have conducted the conference for the past four years as part of the Mater Children Hospital School program.
I was privileged to have a short tour of the school after my keynote and workshop and visited classrooms for junior, middle and senior students. Computers are a big part of their education and the classrooms look similar to those in a normal school, only smaller for less numbers. Some students are short term, however for some; their illness necessitates a long stay. In many cases classes are conducted in the wards as some children are not well enough to leave their beds.
As I passed the emergency waiting room it was sad to see so many young children waiting to be seen by doctors, with anxious parents beside them. It made me reflect how lucky many families are to have healthy children but more important, what a wonderful job this hospital based school does. It means that most children at the hospital can feel that part of their life is still normal and that they are part of a school community, which for young children who are dealing with an illness is a very important to their coping mechanism.
Spare a thought for another wonderful part of education that we don’t often get to see.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Changing classrooms in new Zealand
This week I returned to New Zealand to deliver the keynote address at the Mana-Ota-Tikei ICT Cluster conference held at Manawatu College in Foxton.
The cluster has four secondary schools who are part of a technology initiative to increase and enhance the use of technology in their schools. Allan Webb is the program co-ordinator and coaching facilitator as well as being the conference organiser for this cluster. I have to thank Allan for his hospitality on my trip as well as attention to detail to ensure the conference went well. It was a pleasure to work with him.
There was a good use of technology throughout the cluster and I found most of the teachers found the keynote full of exciting possibilities. A few may have been confronted, however as I explained during the keynote, this is a smorgasbord of technology being shown and the task at hand is to find the one that can enhance teaching and learning in their own classroom. For some, I think they found four of five things.
The day before the conference, I ran a full day workshop on podcasting and digital storytelling. It was a great group of teachers and it didn’t take long before they were all producing professional podcasts.
Attending the conference was Margaret McLeod and Angela Page from Core Education Ltd. Core is involved education research and development and are responsible for organising a lot of the professional learning programs in schools in new Zealand.
During dinner we were chatting about technology and how New Zealand often looked to the state of Victoria in Australia as the bench mark for innovation in Technology as a system.
I can see why. They have provided every teacher in state schools with a laptop for over 9 years now, which are replaced every three years, they have provided all Microsoft applications free to all schools, they have installed wireless to every classroom for teacher laptops, placed computer technicians in every school, installed a centralised administration system to all schools, and now high speed internet access to all schools. Coming soon is Ultranet, a state-wide learning management and document management system that will be provide central access, school access, teacher access, parent and student access. To assist this major implementation they have employed 50 Ultranet coaches.
But what I see missing and what New Zealand has done very well is teacher professional development in ICT. In Victoria, the ICT delivery is left to subject associations or internal training at schools. It is many years since the department ran a state conference and the few regions that run ICT conferences have optional attendance, with only the converted attending. Providing teachers and schools with resources is important, however if we don’t work with teachers to assist them with the pedagogical change that facilitates learning with new technologies, then not much will happen in the classrooms.
New Zealand has provided clusters with 3 year grants to run whole school (cluster) based professional learning using ICT as well as providing funds to employ staff to work as peer mentors and coaches in schools. Allan Webb, the conference co-ordinator works in 3 schools, rotating through each school and provide school wide support as well as one-on-one assistance. It’s the personal one-on-one where Allan sees the greatest gains. The conferences and workshops provide teachers with the vision and inspiration to use the technology, however the making it happen stuff really works because they have the follow up support with people like Allan in each cluster.
Australia might have more individual innovators because they have access to the technology, but I think New Zealand are further down the track in relation to real change in the classroom as a whole.
Having fun in Animoto - Click to find out more
How webciting!!!
Friday, March 21, 2008
ICT in Marlborough, New Zealand
ICT is alive and well in New Zealand. I have just spent two delightful days working with educators in Blenheim as part of the Marlborough Technology in Education Cluster. The cluster is made up of staff from two schools, Marlborough Girls College and Marlborough Boys College.
The two schools had a Teacher Only Day (TOD) to enhance the use of technology. What I found interesting was that many of the workshops on the PD day focused around technologies that children use in every-day life. For many teachers it was a chance to understand and try these technologies. While some of the session involved the use of Learning Objects, Inspiration and other classroom related software there was a strong focus on student technology.
One session focused on cell phones and learning how student text with cell phones, how to use calendars, upload images etc using the cell phone. Another focused on Flickr and how to put photos on line, while the use of iPods’ and how to find and download music was also a feature.
Teachers also had the chance to learn about Skype and how to communicate with family and friends using this low cost or free resource.
There was certainly a buzz around the schools, who jointly hosted sessions. Lunch was at the girls college and the opening keynote and closing drinks at the boy’s college, ensuring that there was no bias for locations.
The evening before over 40 educators turned up to a pre conference workshop that I delivered on the “World of Google” There was significant interest on how the different applications could be used in classrooms.
On the PD day, I delivered a keynote called “Webciting – What all the hype about web 2.0”. This was a chance to inform educators about the shift from web 1.0 to web 2.0 as well as share a range of new technologies being used in education. I followed this with reference to professional learning for educators and how the model is changing and then finished with some international research and of course some "wow" factor with some of the technologies of the future.
My first workshop focused on digital storytelling and it was great to see how excited many of the staff were who had not used this process before. Of particular note was the PE staff who are going to change the face of theory lessons with a whole range of multimedia. My second session was on web 2.0 tools, toonadoo, bubbl.us, freewebs, igoogle and more. Again there was a buzz in the room and at the end of the day, when all other sessions had finished, my group wanted to keep going. How webciting!
I also have to thank my hosts Sandy and Giles, who co-ordinated the conference from their respective schools. They were fantastic and the hospitality and the offers to go out of their way to look after me where greatly appreciated. From bbq dinners and take away, to chauffeuring me to and from the airport and school. Nothing was too much trouble, even though they had the weight of organising the event on their shoulders. Thank you.
So where are they headed. Certainly there was a good level of understanding of technology by teachers. There are the usual number of champions that I see in schools, however there was a far greater general ICT awareness and skill level as a whole staff, than in general.
With Sandy and Giles leading the way, I will expect to see some great educational outcomes coming from this school district.
(Photo: Blenheim District as my plane departed)
The two schools had a Teacher Only Day (TOD) to enhance the use of technology. What I found interesting was that many of the workshops on the PD day focused around technologies that children use in every-day life. For many teachers it was a chance to understand and try these technologies. While some of the session involved the use of Learning Objects, Inspiration and other classroom related software there was a strong focus on student technology.
One session focused on cell phones and learning how student text with cell phones, how to use calendars, upload images etc using the cell phone. Another focused on Flickr and how to put photos on line, while the use of iPods’ and how to find and download music was also a feature.
Teachers also had the chance to learn about Skype and how to communicate with family and friends using this low cost or free resource.
There was certainly a buzz around the schools, who jointly hosted sessions. Lunch was at the girls college and the opening keynote and closing drinks at the boy’s college, ensuring that there was no bias for locations.
The evening before over 40 educators turned up to a pre conference workshop that I delivered on the “World of Google” There was significant interest on how the different applications could be used in classrooms.
On the PD day, I delivered a keynote called “Webciting – What all the hype about web 2.0”. This was a chance to inform educators about the shift from web 1.0 to web 2.0 as well as share a range of new technologies being used in education. I followed this with reference to professional learning for educators and how the model is changing and then finished with some international research and of course some "wow" factor with some of the technologies of the future.
My first workshop focused on digital storytelling and it was great to see how excited many of the staff were who had not used this process before. Of particular note was the PE staff who are going to change the face of theory lessons with a whole range of multimedia. My second session was on web 2.0 tools, toonadoo, bubbl.us, freewebs, igoogle and more. Again there was a buzz in the room and at the end of the day, when all other sessions had finished, my group wanted to keep going. How webciting!
I also have to thank my hosts Sandy and Giles, who co-ordinated the conference from their respective schools. They were fantastic and the hospitality and the offers to go out of their way to look after me where greatly appreciated. From bbq dinners and take away, to chauffeuring me to and from the airport and school. Nothing was too much trouble, even though they had the weight of organising the event on their shoulders. Thank you.
So where are they headed. Certainly there was a good level of understanding of technology by teachers. There are the usual number of champions that I see in schools, however there was a far greater general ICT awareness and skill level as a whole staff, than in general.
With Sandy and Giles leading the way, I will expect to see some great educational outcomes coming from this school district.
(Photo: Blenheim District as my plane departed)Sunday, February 3, 2008
Classrooms of the Future
I was just reading an article on Schools of the Future and thought I had to have my say.
Classrooms of the future. How many forums have I been on to discuss this? We need classrooms with access to technology, flexible usage, maybe open plans, modular to allow for the unknown.
What I do see is that children will learn anywhere provided they are motivated and engaged. If we look at technology, for those children with access, learning happens 24/7. There are no classrooms to teach how to upload to Youtube, how to build the best myspace page, yet children lean. They learn through their own networks and being connected.
I think what is sometimes the issue is that we need to teach some of the key foundations in English and Mathematics and to do this we need two learning models. One which has a more open learning mode such as project work which may be based in a non traditional classroom setting, with a focus on challenging the thinking of children; however the other is still traditional in many ways as children need structure, especially around the 11 to 14 yr age group.
They need teacher guidance and need to have structure so that the basics they learn can be used in everyday life and form the basic structures for different types of learning. They need access to a teacher who has a personal interest and not in an open plan room with 100 or so other students. They have individual needs and need a strong structure in place relating to their personal learning. And while children are connected all the time, and I love technology, we have to remember there are times when learning is not done on an ipod, laptop or technology device.
Let’s build schools that allow innovation and learning to take place in many different ways, but let’s also remember we have to also teach key competencies and skills that are age appropriate each year. Schools of tomorrow should have options for learning, traditional and non traditional, however we need to try to understand what belongs in which. I still think the key is not the school of the future, but the teacher of the future.
Classrooms of the future. How many forums have I been on to discuss this? We need classrooms with access to technology, flexible usage, maybe open plans, modular to allow for the unknown.
What I do see is that children will learn anywhere provided they are motivated and engaged. If we look at technology, for those children with access, learning happens 24/7. There are no classrooms to teach how to upload to Youtube, how to build the best myspace page, yet children lean. They learn through their own networks and being connected.
I think what is sometimes the issue is that we need to teach some of the key foundations in English and Mathematics and to do this we need two learning models. One which has a more open learning mode such as project work which may be based in a non traditional classroom setting, with a focus on challenging the thinking of children; however the other is still traditional in many ways as children need structure, especially around the 11 to 14 yr age group.
They need teacher guidance and need to have structure so that the basics they learn can be used in everyday life and form the basic structures for different types of learning. They need access to a teacher who has a personal interest and not in an open plan room with 100 or so other students. They have individual needs and need a strong structure in place relating to their personal learning. And while children are connected all the time, and I love technology, we have to remember there are times when learning is not done on an ipod, laptop or technology device.
Let’s build schools that allow innovation and learning to take place in many different ways, but let’s also remember we have to also teach key competencies and skills that are age appropriate each year. Schools of tomorrow should have options for learning, traditional and non traditional, however we need to try to understand what belongs in which. I still think the key is not the school of the future, but the teacher of the future.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Computers for all yr 9 ,10, 11,and 12 students in Australia
The new Federal Government in Australia have promised to provide a computer for every year 9, 10, 11 and 12 students in schools throughout Australia. This is part of a plan to make Australia the clever country and to ensure students have access to 21st century tools.
These students who are already living with 21st century technology will now have even greater access in schools. However this is not an easy process to put in place and has many barriers that need to be worked through. Almost all of these barriers are achievable but they will require a cost as the support, infrastructure and teaching and learning requirements are not a quick fix.
The idea is to be commended as we know from most technology conferences that one on one computing is seen as the best model for the use of technology. Shared computers have a place, however this is usually for collaborative work, and while we are encouraging this in schools, students still need personalised learning.
It is still unclear how the Governments model will work, however I believe it is different to the notebook programs that are in so many private schools.
These students who are already living with 21st century technology will now have even greater access in schools. However this is not an easy process to put in place and has many barriers that need to be worked through. Almost all of these barriers are achievable but they will require a cost as the support, infrastructure and teaching and learning requirements are not a quick fix.
The idea is to be commended as we know from most technology conferences that one on one computing is seen as the best model for the use of technology. Shared computers have a place, however this is usually for collaborative work, and while we are encouraging this in schools, students still need personalised learning.
It is still unclear how the Governments model will work, however I believe it is different to the notebook programs that are in so many private schools.
Why does the notebook program work so well in private schools?
- Students have ownership of the technology
- The school controls the notebook image that is rolled out. This also ensure greater control over legal software
- Parents pay a higher premium to ensure they notebooks have extended warranties and insurance
- Schools have additional technical support resources for repairs and notebooks servicing and rollouts
So how will a notebook for each student in state schools and non notebook schools work?
Putting a desktop in every classroom is impossible. Classrooms are not big enough and have not been designed for this purpose, so I think this is out.
Notebooks are the only way, however my understanding is that the computers will be schools based and not for home usage. This will control much of the copyright and illegal software issues.
However the first issue will be technical support. A high school of 1,000 students with a ratio of 1 to 5 computers will current have 200 computers and one to two EFT (Equivalent Full Time) technical support people. Pluse 80 staff laptops.
With the new model, we could expect a school to have 720 computers, 1 for every yr 9, 10, 11 and 12 (approximately 650 computers) and a ratio of 1 to 5 for year 7 and 8 (70 computers) plus 80 staff laptops. This would require an additional 2 to 4 technician per school.
Perhaps a preloaded national image for every machine may be a solution, which would have to have a Novell, Windows and Lynx build as well as a negotiated national license for software. This may reduce technical support, however it may not work where schools want to customise computer images. Each state and education sector also has different requirements for student use. (e.g. Ultranet in Victoria)
Next we will have to invest in teacher professional development. While we know many teachers are using technology, not many have had classes where every student in every class has access to a notebook. This will require some pedagogical change for many teachers, and while some may have trained in how to use technology, always connected in the classroom is very different.
Infrastructure is the other cost. Internet connection and network connectivity, power for notebooks, additional costs of internet usage, additional printers etc.
We need to find a model that does not charge schools to connect or use the internet. Australia is one of the few countries where internet is not free to schools.
Additional printers may be met by school funds, however it is the hard wiring that has the greatest cost. How do we enable electricity and internet in all classes?
On a recent international study tour, I saw a system that worked extremely well in this area. It also reduced technical support needs as well. It has a high set up cost, however it did provide significant savings long term.
It involved the use of notebook lockers in schools. Students put their notebooks into these lockers each evening and at lunch time, where they were connected to electricity and the school network. A radio frequency disk on a key ring or lanyard was used by students to open their lockers.
Students would connect the notebook in their lockers to electricity overnight which would charge the notebook with enough electricity to run the first 4 hours of the day. At lunch time they would put the notebooks back into the lockers where they would be semi recharged with enough electricity to finish the last 2 hours of the day. In the evening the notebooks were connected to the network and in sleep mode, with lids closed, they could be woken up for software and virus updates, patches and images could be installed. In some cases notebooks were reimaged at night, leaving a student partition untouched which contained student work.
The locker system would detect when notebooks were in lockers and provide a report at the end of the day on any student notebooks that were not returned. These students would lose access to their notebook long term, which deterred students from not following the school policy.
This system provided a cable free school for notebooks, with all network access via wireless and electricity provided through twice daily recharges.
The costs would be high to start with as lockers, electricity, network access and security would have to be funded in the initial build, along with an extended wireless network, however the saving would be significant long term with classrooms requiring little change apart from wireless points and technical support/images/damages reduced due to the locker system and the control the school has over the technology.
Food for thought and Interesting times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, December 6, 2007
staying safe online
This week I spent two days working with girls at an Australian school, working through issues relating to internet safety.
It is interesting to see how many students under 14 have social networking sites. About 95% with 100% using MSN messenger (windows live).
Myspace is still the most popular social networking site, followed by Bebo, however Facebook is challenging both sites when it comes to senior classes.
It is always interesting to finish my presentations and ask for questions. This week and all other weeks are met with similar responses. To begin, no one wants to ask a question, but eventually one student does. This is like opening the floodgates, and hands pop up from everywhere. The students have genuine concerns and often want to share an event that has happened to them online.
There is always someone who has a bad experience and wants to share it with others, while some students are unsure if they are being deceived and want further clarification. Often they ask, do you think this is risky, should I worry about this person I am talking to, who should I report an issue to. I usually have 1 out of every 100 students come up and ask for advice as they now recognise that someone they chat to is quite possibly an adult and they have given out all their personal information.
I have found children very good at protecting themselves online, however the hard part is to make the concerns real so that children put in place safe practices. Once children are aware and its real, they make very sensible decisions.
Let’s hope that students can educate each other within their own networks as they have the ability to reach out to far more than adults can reach.
It is interesting to see how many students under 14 have social networking sites. About 95% with 100% using MSN messenger (windows live).
Myspace is still the most popular social networking site, followed by Bebo, however Facebook is challenging both sites when it comes to senior classes.
It is always interesting to finish my presentations and ask for questions. This week and all other weeks are met with similar responses. To begin, no one wants to ask a question, but eventually one student does. This is like opening the floodgates, and hands pop up from everywhere. The students have genuine concerns and often want to share an event that has happened to them online.
There is always someone who has a bad experience and wants to share it with others, while some students are unsure if they are being deceived and want further clarification. Often they ask, do you think this is risky, should I worry about this person I am talking to, who should I report an issue to. I usually have 1 out of every 100 students come up and ask for advice as they now recognise that someone they chat to is quite possibly an adult and they have given out all their personal information.
I have found children very good at protecting themselves online, however the hard part is to make the concerns real so that children put in place safe practices. Once children are aware and its real, they make very sensible decisions.
Let’s hope that students can educate each other within their own networks as they have the ability to reach out to far more than adults can reach.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Who do I believe? Where can I get good advice?
Who do I believe? Where can I get good advice? How often do I hear this. Just last week I had to principals and a manager from an ICT cluster asked me the very same questions.
They were after independent advice on ICT purchases and planning and could never get an answer as everyone has a vested interest in some product.
To begin with, I am often asked. Which is the best interactive whiteboard. Promethean! Smartboard! Teamboard! How can you tell which is the best. Most consultants have a lean to a particular board as they know someone or have the chance to get commission or favours for their referrals.
I guess that makes me a little different. I do know someone that sells IWB’s, however I know someone that sells every different brand. When asked recently which board I preferred, I had to refer to the current election and say I was like a swing voter. My opinion changes as new features are developed.
I think the Teamboard is a great entry level board. They are slowly developing online resources and the boards have a much lower entry price. Sales and support is very good.
Smartboard has always had an advantage for me, as it allows children to touch and feel the board. To my way of thinking, children using the interactive whiteboard is where engagement happens. As my good friend Gary Stager has often said, “I think we have moved back to the dark ages of chalk and talk. Engaged teachers at the front of the class using the IWB, while students watch on with boredom glued to their face”. I see this all too often. There are times when teachers need to demonstrate using the board, but it should not become a screen for a data projector. It’s touching the board above the use of a pen enhances this experience for children.
But I did say I was a swing voter and the new ACTIVarena from Promethean has just jumped ahead for me. Built using technology similar to the I-phone and I-touch. For me, this is where real collaboration occurs. When students can use this technology to work together, to create, to interact and share ideas. This is exciting collaboration.
The technology will keep changing and my preference will move with it. The main thing I suggest with IWB’s is to purchase them with the built on projector and boom arm. Promethean and Smartboard both supply these and they reduce shadows, movement (out of sync) and much more.
Where do we get good advice? Should we have labs, should we disperse computers, should we have laptops and trolleys, should we be a laptop program? I could argue for and against all of these concepts. Each school is different and the vision, leadership, technical support, funding models, professional development needs, staff skill level, and classroom designs will be a key factor. Too often we have principals or administrators making decisions without really being informed about the best way to use technology and how children really use technology.
With children fully immersed in technology, this is not a time for schools to be playing games with children’s education. No wonder the disconnect with technology often occurs when students arrive at school. Engaged curriculum needs engaging learning environments.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Why block so many great educational web sites
As some of you know, my work involves the delivery of Internet Safety Awareness Programs all over Australia. In my other life, I am a great advocate for Web 2.0 technologies and their use in education.
I can argue the case for both sides, for and against.
So I thought I should share a few of my thoughts and observations.
The innovators and early adopters in teaching have moved to Web 2.0 tools just as quickly as students have. They see great value in these technologies and are keen to integrate them into their classrooms. These are the teachers you meet at most technology in education conferences.
Many have are using blogs, wikis, and podcasts in the classroom and playing with more.
There is also a small group of teachers who are beginning to look at ways that they can use mobile (cell) phones for education purposes in the classroom. Perhaps this will be the future, when students provide the technology for schools, especially in state education.
We must remember that these are the early adopters and most other educators have still not heard of web 2.0 or if they have, do not understand it or have not dabbled with it.
The early adopters are voicing significant concern at the moment about their ability to use web 2.0 tools in the classroom.
In many schools, school districts and at state levels there is an increasing reaction to the use of these web sites by blocking them. This is the easiest option.
The first to be blocked was myspace, then bebo and other social networking sites.
Then came google images, flickr and youtube.
There is a small number of students who used these sites in inappropriate ways, however for many, it has become the world that they live in. They update their social networking sites on a regular basis and become connected each night when the log on to their own personal community.
The VELs (Victorian Essential Learning’s) standards that have been introduced into Victoria schools have the same ICT outcomes as similar standards in Tasmania and Queensland, with Western Australia to follow suit.
Students are expected to:
· Create Digital Portfolios
· Collaborate using blogs, email etc
· Present information to others
· Manipulate information on web sites and in presentations
· Test and evaluate web sites
· Manage files and desktops
These are the skills we are expecting children to display and demonstrate in schools. Most students are already achieving well above these levels at home, yet they are given basic technology tasks in schools that match teacher comfort zones. Even more of a concern is that these students are publishing content for a global audience, yet coming to school and creating content for one. Their teacher!
In fact many cannot even showcase their ability to their teachers as the sites they use at home are blocked in their schools.
At the Navcon 2007 conference recently held in Gosford, NSW, Australia, I continually heard the frustration from teachers.
The new web 2.0 technologies, blogs and wikis are being blocked more and more. PBwikis and wikispaces are the two most common sites for students to work in a collaborative on line manner, yet many schools or sectors are now blocking these to go with youtube and myspace.
Youtube has some of the best video footage available yet it is often blocked at the state level. We also want students to publish to a global audience, however too often this is not possible due to restricted access to web 2.0.
Some teachers tell me that they are not even telling their school leaders or technology administrators about the innovation in their classrooms, for fear the web 2.0 sites they are using will be blocked the next day.
I think it’s time for education bodies to come up to speed on web 2.0 and the positive impact it can have in classrooms. Yes there are risks to children who use these sites in an inappropriate way and if anyone should know about this it’s me, however we need to start educating children about their responsibilities as digital citizens.
We cannot expect students to use technologies in schools and homes without informing and educating them about how to keep safe on the internet and how to ingrain responsible use of the technology. Students who are immersed in this technology have to understand that they have a moral responsibility to use this technology wisely. They are the digital natives and need to develop their own code of conduct. For many, this cannot be done without the help of educators.
This is our role.
Too often the easiest outcome is to block, ban or remove the access. Web 2.0 provides low cost, easy access to technologies that will be a large part of every child’s future. Schools, Districts, Education Sectors!!!!!!! Come up to speed. This is the new world of technology. Students who use the technologies are meeting most of the learning outcomes we set for children. Unfortunately, most of this is occurring at home and can only be achieved at home.
I can argue the case for both sides, for and against.
So I thought I should share a few of my thoughts and observations.
The innovators and early adopters in teaching have moved to Web 2.0 tools just as quickly as students have. They see great value in these technologies and are keen to integrate them into their classrooms. These are the teachers you meet at most technology in education conferences.
Many have are using blogs, wikis, and podcasts in the classroom and playing with more.
There is also a small group of teachers who are beginning to look at ways that they can use mobile (cell) phones for education purposes in the classroom. Perhaps this will be the future, when students provide the technology for schools, especially in state education.
We must remember that these are the early adopters and most other educators have still not heard of web 2.0 or if they have, do not understand it or have not dabbled with it.
The early adopters are voicing significant concern at the moment about their ability to use web 2.0 tools in the classroom.
In many schools, school districts and at state levels there is an increasing reaction to the use of these web sites by blocking them. This is the easiest option.
The first to be blocked was myspace, then bebo and other social networking sites.
Then came google images, flickr and youtube.
There is a small number of students who used these sites in inappropriate ways, however for many, it has become the world that they live in. They update their social networking sites on a regular basis and become connected each night when the log on to their own personal community.
The VELs (Victorian Essential Learning’s) standards that have been introduced into Victoria schools have the same ICT outcomes as similar standards in Tasmania and Queensland, with Western Australia to follow suit.
Students are expected to:
· Create Digital Portfolios
· Collaborate using blogs, email etc
· Present information to others
· Manipulate information on web sites and in presentations
· Test and evaluate web sites
· Manage files and desktops
These are the skills we are expecting children to display and demonstrate in schools. Most students are already achieving well above these levels at home, yet they are given basic technology tasks in schools that match teacher comfort zones. Even more of a concern is that these students are publishing content for a global audience, yet coming to school and creating content for one. Their teacher!
In fact many cannot even showcase their ability to their teachers as the sites they use at home are blocked in their schools.
At the Navcon 2007 conference recently held in Gosford, NSW, Australia, I continually heard the frustration from teachers.
The new web 2.0 technologies, blogs and wikis are being blocked more and more. PBwikis and wikispaces are the two most common sites for students to work in a collaborative on line manner, yet many schools or sectors are now blocking these to go with youtube and myspace.
Youtube has some of the best video footage available yet it is often blocked at the state level. We also want students to publish to a global audience, however too often this is not possible due to restricted access to web 2.0.
Some teachers tell me that they are not even telling their school leaders or technology administrators about the innovation in their classrooms, for fear the web 2.0 sites they are using will be blocked the next day.
I think it’s time for education bodies to come up to speed on web 2.0 and the positive impact it can have in classrooms. Yes there are risks to children who use these sites in an inappropriate way and if anyone should know about this it’s me, however we need to start educating children about their responsibilities as digital citizens.
We cannot expect students to use technologies in schools and homes without informing and educating them about how to keep safe on the internet and how to ingrain responsible use of the technology. Students who are immersed in this technology have to understand that they have a moral responsibility to use this technology wisely. They are the digital natives and need to develop their own code of conduct. For many, this cannot be done without the help of educators.
This is our role.
Too often the easiest outcome is to block, ban or remove the access. Web 2.0 provides low cost, easy access to technologies that will be a large part of every child’s future. Schools, Districts, Education Sectors!!!!!!! Come up to speed. This is the new world of technology. Students who use the technologies are meeting most of the learning outcomes we set for children. Unfortunately, most of this is occurring at home and can only be achieved at home.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Navcon 2007
Ok, Ok. I am at Navcon 2007 and have just conducted a session on web 2.0 and in particular how I subscribe to Blogs using Google Reader. I was talking about Blogfluenza and how every one is blogging and realised I was a Bluker (reading blogs but not commenting or adding to the community). But then again, with my on-going travel there is little free time to blog.
Rather than spend time focusing on the conference, I thought I would reflect on some of my observations.
Firstly the range of knowledge at the conference is again so diverse. We have some of the leaders in the use of new and emerging technologies in our groups, however we also have many who have never heard of Web 2.0.
The most popular themes are blogging, podcasting, RSS feeds, animation and wikis.
There is some reference to some of the newer web 2.0 sites, but not a lot.
Keynote speakers were:
Dr Yoram Harpaz - Beit Berl Teachers College, Isreal
Leigh Blackall - Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand
Dr Adam Lefstein - Oxford University, United Kingdom
One of the interesting delegates I meet at lunch was John Larkin from StJosephs Catholic High School. John is a great fan of Jaiku, a mini blog program with a social messagging feature.
Oh my apologies to Kathy Schrock, as I have used her blog Kaffeeklatsch, as the sample to sign everyone up in my work shop using google reader.
Links to web sites and videos shown in my spotlight and workshops can be found here. Greg's Navcon2k7 Workshops.
Rather than spend time focusing on the conference, I thought I would reflect on some of my observations.
Firstly the range of knowledge at the conference is again so diverse. We have some of the leaders in the use of new and emerging technologies in our groups, however we also have many who have never heard of Web 2.0.
The most popular themes are blogging, podcasting, RSS feeds, animation and wikis.
There is some reference to some of the newer web 2.0 sites, but not a lot.
Keynote speakers were:
Dr Yoram Harpaz - Beit Berl Teachers College, Isreal
Leigh Blackall - Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand
Dr Adam Lefstein - Oxford University, United Kingdom
One of the interesting delegates I meet at lunch was John Larkin from StJosephs Catholic High School. John is a great fan of Jaiku, a mini blog program with a social messagging feature.
Oh my apologies to Kathy Schrock, as I have used her blog Kaffeeklatsch, as the sample to sign everyone up in my work shop using google reader.
Links to web sites and videos shown in my spotlight and workshops can be found here. Greg's Navcon2k7 Workshops.
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