Group hug!

Interesting article on the BBC website yesterday

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19476254

And the big wheel keeps on turning....

Taking stock.

After attending the two lecture days on technology enhanced learning at Sheffield Hallam, I boarded the London bound train with a heavy heart. More a digital alien than a digital visitor let alone digital resident, with the sole exception of Flip videos, everything that I had come across during the lectures was new and not at all easy to get to grips with. Having only very previously acquired an iPhone, (and only then after much persuasion) my working knowledge of blogs, google accounts, remote hosts (was that just someone who threw rubbish parties...?) and twitter was akin to my working knowledge of everyday Swahili and seemed just about as incomprehensible.

For a number of reasons explained in the Home page preamble to this assignment, I was unconvinced with regard to the types of digital technology introduced at Sheffield Hallam not because I was unaware of its burgeoning importance but because if I am brutally honest, I really wasn’t very good at it and felt it that had more downsides than up. I took pride in my aversion to certain types of communicative digital technologies, particularly twitter and social networking sites, regarding them as the remit of those with either too much time on their hands or fully paid up members of Nerdsville. I felt that because I have kept pace with developments in CAD CAM and have effectively embedded them into my teaching over the years, with very positive results, I was already an effective practitioner of digital learning.

Many hours were spent during the summer researching and investigating the various threads of technology enhanced learning and it proved to be revelatory – I needed convincing! Investigating articles such as Tech Republic’s “Preparing students for a global knowledge economy,” The 2008 Byron report on computer gaming, examples of effective practice in Bolton by Dave Mitchell and online dialogue with leading academic lights such as Steve Wheeler proved invaluable and allowed to rethink my approach and acknowledge the potential of technology enhanced learning in both a communicative and collaborative sense. Ultimately, observing my own very young children and the ease with which they handle this technology was a clincher. As they grow up with digital technology, smart screen interfaces hold no fear and their handling of electronic gadgets seems intuitive. Clearly defined parameters of use and their own boredom thresholds appear to foster an instinctive blended approach towards the use of modern technology and more traditional learning methods, i.e a good book!

Therefore, whilst not exactly evangelical about technology enhanced learning I felt that my summer endeavours had led to an important shift in perspective, an increased awareness of the bigger digital picture and its repercussions for the global economy and ultimately I was convinced that it did have a valuable role to play in the classroom.

How can technology enhanced learning benefit my pupils?

“Machines are worshipped because they are beautiful and valued because they confer power; they are hated because they are hideous and loathed because they impose slavery.” Bertrand Russell.

Having experienced a bit of an epiphany over the summer I need to very aware of the potential pitfalls of adopting too much of a scattergun approach to this intervention. It is very tempting, with my new found confidence and developing levels of skill (thanks to the “Dummies guides,”) to be over ambitious and attempt to introduce too many new initiatives, too quickly. Having tried unsuccessfully to introduce new technology such as pod casting systems in my previous school I have learnt through bitter experience, that it is absolutely vital that technology works. Even the patience of the most cooperative and accommodating of classes is stretched to the limit if things don’t work, thus early wins are a must!

I am very fortunate indeed in that School W is a unique learning environment and there are many factors in my favour: pupils who are extremely able and value learning; very positive, trusting relationships between pupils and staff; an enlightened whole school approach to the use of hand held technology and a highly supportive ICT team.

At this point it is vital to really focus on how digital technology fits into my teaching and how it can be used effectively to enhance learning rather than the other way round. Therefore, I need to reconsider the barriers to effective DT learning at School W, prioritise accordingly; implement a realistic time frame and review progress at a germane point in the term.

So, one week back and things are beginning to come together:


- helpful colleague has shown me how to create QR codes
- blogs have been set up for 6 Fifth form groups (YR 9) and seem to be going down well
- blog has been set up for my tutor groups who have responded well and thrown themselves into the limerick competition
- capital funding received for two flip cameras
- tripod ordered
- productive chat with the Head who is looking at the possibilities of using digital learning to enhance the boys' learning.


Time to get cracking on those videos!

Here comes the blog, little darlin', here comes the blog and I say, it's all right doo doo doo doo doo.....

Ok, have had some useful and positive advice from a couple of old hands at this game (no offence intended there gentlemen) and who are actively involved in the world of e-learning so, deep breath, let's take the plunge and go public.

"Publish and be damned!"









Image by Google.

Ready, get set....GO!

Finally, after much thought and reflection I have decided on how I would like to embed a digital technology in DT teaching and learning. ( See MA assignment brief page.)Now that pretty much my whole foot is in the digital pond it is tempting to go completely nuts and set up various blogs, dropboxes, voting systems, wikispaces etc. However, bearing in mind my own level of skill such an approach could go horribly wrong and I could end up with an ostrich sized egg on my face. I need to be very focused if I am to secure some "early wins" and more importantly, help my students. For a full rationale of this task, see the separate rationale page.


I am going to produce a video library of practical demonstrations to help my pupils who have missed a lesson, lack confidence in their practical skills or simply cannot retain a set of instructions from one week to the next - a comment trait amongst 14 year olds!

The videos can be accessed via  a QR code displayed next to the relevant tool or piece of equipment and played on a smarthpone. The videos will also be available via a school host and on a workshop stand alone PC that will act as an "electronic buddy" metaphorically holding pupils' hands during the manufacturing process. QR codes are quite simply, really cool. Your smartphone becomes a magic wand as you wave it in the direciton of one of these things and it links you directly to a website, you don't even have to click on anything! Originally used in the Japanese car industry these quirky little patches of op art are popping up everywhere; on the sides of supermarket delivery vans, drinks cans and magazine articles. As every teacher knows, anything that is used in the real world as opposed to the parallel universe of one's school scores instant credibility amongst school children.





So, let the games begin......all I need know is an idiot's guide to QR codes.....anybody got one?







Images by Google.

You might as well face it, you're addicted to blogs...

This is getting a little bit addictive.....

not only has a revelatory browse through Cleveland School's blogs shown some of the possibilities for blogging in schools, but I have been brave enough to invite a couple of bloggers other than those on my course to view my efforts. It is absolutely terrifying but exhilarating to think that your work can be viewed, digested and evaluated within seconds of publication by somebody you don't know and haven't worked with.....

....it certainly makes you think carefully about what you write!

Image by Google

Ay, rail at gaming - 'tis a rich topic, and affords noble declamation.

The floodgates have partially opened and having come to the rather delayed conclusion that perhaps computer games are not responsible for all that is wrong in the world, I have had a rethink. I was also conscious that playground conversations involve the latest gaming scores, characters and updates and by not allowing access to these, I had been unintentionally denying my son the chance to interact with his peers on this particular level. Therefore, we have reached an entente cordiale and  "Angry Birds" has been downloaded onto my phone.

Cue one very happy six year old.

However, it rapidly became apparent how quickly small children develop a sense of over-entitlement when it comes to time spent gaming. After the initial onslaught and some unsavoury behaviour, boundaries had to be firmly re-established. Educational apps have been installed for some time now and are still used frequently. In addition a chess app has also been downloaded. As long as some time is spent on the educational apps, he can also play games and half an hour with Angry Birds has proved an effective reward for good behaviour. ( The removal of Angry Birds privileges an even more effective deterrent for bad behaviour!) If I am feeling very brave I have said that he can decide when he has played a game for long enough and to go and do something else. So far, so good; at the moment iPhone chess is winning in the popularity stakes and has proved the inspiration for his latest story blog. Curiously, he has not seen the connection between some of the apps and progress at school, even though apps such as Percy Parker have been  hugely beneficial to learning times tables. He simply sees them as good fun and "likes tapping the screen and the noises."

It has struck me that a flexible approach towards digital technololgy and the importance of setting parameters in a domestic situation is also applicable to a school setting. As a teacher it is my role to use a variety of technologies and approaches that are relevant to what is being learnt, that encourage and motivate my pupils and to ensure that these technologies are managed in a productive way - and at some points perhaps there may well be a chance to indulge in a bit of screen-tapping and noise-making fun!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes....turn and face the strain.

This summer, amongst the suggested reading, times tables practise et al, my six year old has been asked to keep a diary. Whilst on holiday this was fairly straightforward, he had lots to write about as he enjoyed trips to the beach, Roman villas, castles, windmills and was lashed with ice cream and over indulgent treats. Not so easy now that we are home, the Olypmics has ended and he tries to find ways to occupy himself as I bury myself in work. His motivation is waning, particularly as I make him correct spelling mistakes and nag so that his handwriting does not look like an arthritic spider dipped in ink has limped across the page.

Reflecting on what I have read in various blogs about the success of blogging in primary schools, I thought I would try an experiment. In my son's report it mentioned that he needs to practise his creative writing as he doesn't feel that he is very imaginative. He is and will quite happily babble away and make up a story whilst walking to the shops but struggles to remember what he has thought up and get it all down on paper. I tried to persuade him to hand write some stories but after the work he has put in to his diary I was met with full scale rebellion and a mutinous stares. This was one particular battle that I thought would be prudent to let him win. Rather than pulling rank and making him do it anyway (because I said so) I suggested that he created a story blog in which he chronicled the adventures of James, am imaginary friend who lives next door. I was taken back by the enthusiasm of his response. He has seen me writing my blog and wanted to join in. After setting up my old creaky laptop and a couple of hours cursing and rereading the idiot's guide, his blog home page was ready and he was sitting quite happily typing with one finger James' forays into Chess Land. ( A strange land where they are always at war and populated only by animals who are black and white, namely magpies, pandas, zebras and piebald ponies.) Progress is slow as he is unfamiliar with a keyboard, but he is making progress and he is utterly absorbed. He is intrigued by the fact that his blog could go online and people from all around the world could see it. In fact, this has been his main motivator, the excitement that another little boy living thousands of miles away whom he has never met before would be able to look at his work and make comments about it. He can't wait to publish (under careful supervision) and is bug-eyed with excitement. By setting up a blog he has learnt that you can use more than one tool to commit your thoughts to paper. Both can be exciting and engaging and both are valid.

The success of this experiment has made me consider where and how I could use blogging at school to help the pupils I teach. I will definately consider exploring ways in which blogging can help GCSE Product Design students capture their "tell the development story" thoughts before they are forgotten, something they find very difficult to do. Blogging could add an immdediacy to what they are doing and the opporuntiy to benefit from a collaborative approach between lessons.

"Curiouser and curiouser...oh Dear! What nonsense I'm talking!"

I've been having a nose through a variety of aritcles concerning the use of mobile phones in schools and the role they play in everyday low level disruption. Certain sections of the press paint a bleak view of the misuse of handheld technologies in which lessons are destroyed by students constantly texting, ringing each other or surfing the net for porn. The Chief Inspector for Ofsted, Sir Micheal Wilshaw's stance is clear....

(From the Daily Telegraph 10th May 2012:)

"Sir Michael Wilshaw, chief inspector of the education watchdog, said disruption during lesson times was often down to the use of mobiles and that the issue had to be stamped out. In an interview yesterday, the former headmaster revealed a tough new inspection regime would be introduced in schools from next term.

Under the reforms, schools risk being marked down for failing to tackle persistent interruptions such as text messaging, receiving calls and surfing the web on their phones. Referring to his decision to ban mobiles while head of the Mossbourne Academy in Hackney, east London, Sir Michael said: “It certainly cut out all that nonsense that you have in schools of these things being brought in and then a mobile phone going off in a lesson." 1

Is a blanket ban facing the issue head on and looking for creative and enriching ways to cope with digital technology or is Wilshaw merely putting his head in the sand hoping that all this horrible techie stuff will just go away and we can all go back to quills and parchment? It is interesting to note that Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education refers to Wilshaw as "my hero." One would hope that if hand held technology could be used productively during a lesson in which learners were actively engaged, there would be less inclination (and time) to send texts, make calls or surf for porn. Curiously, Sir Michael's views seem a little out of kilter with the findings of his own organisation's report in February, 2010 in which it argues that in schools getting to grips with digital technologies and pursuing holisitc whole school e-policies involving all stakeholders from consultation to fruition, pupils are learning to assess and avoid risk and use digital technology in a productive way:

"The headteacher decided not to have a coordinator for ICT. Instead, the staff accepted collective responsibility for all aspects of ICT, including e-safety. Consequently, ownership was strong and e-safety pervaded a rich ICT curriculum. Good ideas, experiences and resources were shared, and consistent practice reflected the vision which the headteacher promoted. While safety was paramount, there was a clear drive to ‘create polite online citizens’ and to provide pupils with the skills to cope with and manage risk. " 2


Steve Wheeler aptly sums it up in his blog:

"The fact is, many schools are already harnessing the creative potential of mobile phones to inspire and engage students, both inside and outside the classroom. It's also a fact that in schools where mobile phones are banned, many students continue to use them, and often for disruptive purposes. Where schools do allow mobiles as a part of their daily learning activities, the devices come out into the open, are no longer illicit, and can then be better controlled and used purposefully as a part of lessons. Which ever way we examine this issue, mobile phones are now a ubiquitous part in society, and are already playing a huge role in the culture of modern living. Simply attempting to ban them from a place young people regularly gather is an impossible task. Schools should instead consider ways that mobile devices can be used to enhance and enrich learning, for in so doing, we prepare our children for the future, instead of rooting them in the practices of the past." 3

The Department for Education fudges the issue. A Department for Education spokesman said:

“Parents should take responsibility for whether or not their children have phones in the first place. It is up to individual head teachers to decide if and when mobile phones should be used by pupils in school.” 4

However, it is clear from comments following such newspaper articles that not all agree with Wilshaw's stance. In view of the distances and sometimes multiple modes of transport used by some children to get to school, some parents regard equipping their child with a mobile phone as essential. Dispiritingly, despite signing home-school contracts there remain parents who will not support the school if their child's phone is confiscated on the grounds that their child "needs it" or, my personal favourite, "I've paid for the monthly contract." (In my own experience incidents arising from the confiscation of phones does little to nuture home school relationships and never fails to sour proceedings when one is confiscated during the lesson.)

There are those who are willing consider the possibilities of digital technology and handheld devices in schools. With regard to Wilshaw's position, one contributor comments:

"Short sighted and old fashioned, next it will be let's ban the Internet in schools?  The way we communicate and connect to the world is becoming more and more mobile, and mobiles should be allowed in the classroom if the school culture is right and teachers embrace them, we are there to educate, lets educate students the appropriate use of the devices? Mobiles can be used as learning tools and we should prepare students for the 'real' world. I think some people are missing the point and need to see the added value they bring to the classroom. There is no doubt you need policies and AUP and more importently parent support but let's move with the times you only need to look at business now to see the use of personal devices being used for work..." 5

A tweeter tweets:

"Why don't schools turn this on it's head and use mobiles to engage young people rather than banning them?" 6



Hmmmmmm.....food for thought, perhaps Sir Michael needs to explore the potential of digital technology in greater depth before proposing draconian measures?



"A perfection of means and confusion of aims, seems to be our main problem."
- Albert Einstein.



1: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/9256102/Pupils-face-classroom-mobile-phone-ban.html

2: Ofsted February 2010: The Safe Use of New Technologi

3: Learning with e's. http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=wilshaw#!/2012/05/trying-to-stop-tide.html

4: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/9256102/Pupils-face-classroom-mobile-phone-ban.html

5:

Steve Clifford 
05/13/2012 02:17 PM
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/9256102/Pupils-face-classroom-mobile-phone-ban.html

6:

kat_thorne_UK on twitter

05/15/2012 09:10 AM

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/9256102/Pupils-face-classroom-mobile-phone-ban.html

Image by Google

           

They tried to make me go to Facebook and I said "No, No,No."

I have been reading Steve Wheeler's, Dave White's and Chris Betcher's blogs with interest and have been asking myself a few soul searching questions.

I'll be honest, I did not opt to take the MA e-learning module and wouldn't have done so had the module I had hoped to study become unavailable. To be frank I would have rather have had my teeth pulled than sit through two days of e-worship.

I'm not stupid and I'm not completely out of touch. I know that we are living in "exponential times." I've watched Shift Happens on numerous occasions. In my previous school, a Technology College where I taught DT for 12 years, I dabbled with a (cumbersome) VLE, diligently entered behavioural incidents onto an e-portal system (when a quick chat with a Head of Year would have been far more effective) and explored ways of engaging learners through the use of pod voting handsets. (They didn't work.) I've listened to key note speakers outlining the future skill sets required to ensure that our pupils can compete in today's global economy, nodded sagely and agreed with them. However, to be frank, up until now I felt that I was doing absolutely fine as a DT teacher thank you very much, with a proven track record at both GCSE and A level, particularly with pupils at the extreme ends of the ability spectrum and challenging pupils. I value intellectual discourse within the classroom, engagement through lively and provocative discussion and believe firmly in the importance of independent learning as opposed to spoon feeding and "teaching to the test." I have tweaked, revamped and updated schemes of work that are underpinned by academic vigour, designed to stretch children of all abilities and even, gasp, shock, horror, go off piste and beyond the constraints of the national curriculum when the occasion demands. I'm not overly fussed about my Ofsted rating as I believe I am doing a good job (although it's nice to know that my line managers don't think I'm rubbish.) With the exception of CAD and CAM, all this has been done with nothing more than mere lip service to digital technology.

As far as mobile phones are concerned I was proud to have owned my beaten up Nokia for eight years. All I wanted it to do was to send texts and make phone calls. Plus - I was being sustainable wasn't I? By not dancing to the built in obsolescence /a cool phone = social kudos tune I was waging my own private war against the branding power of the global digital giants. Unlike those mugs queuing in the wee small hours outside the Apple store for the latest upgrade, I was not using up the earth's valuable resources and aiding and abetting the exploitation of seven years olds in  the Democratic Republic of Congo by buying stuff I didn't need. My use of digital technologies extended to the use of the Internet for the acquisition of information, the weekly shop, an annual visit to Facebook and the occasional purchase of a train ticket. "Digital Visitor" as outlined in Dave White's Tall blog 1 would have been a generous description of my digital technology use. "Digital Martian" would have been more apt.

However, the more I have read, the more I have researched and the deeper that toe gets dipped into the digital pond, the more I realise that my attitude, almost pride in my aversion to technology has been founded upon not simply a mistrust in digital technology tempered with intellectual snobbery but a deep seated and profound ignorance.

Why?

I'm not afraid of change and recognise that Design Technology is constantly evolving. I have adapted and embraced new techniques as materials and manufacturing technologies have developed. However, before I embarked on this project, as far as I was concerned, Facebook was for people who had no life, no proper mates and too much time on their hands, the constant unnecessary updating of one's phone was an indication of an insecure disposition and Xbox, Nintendo or Wii would be entering my home over my cold, dead and significantly decomposed body. As a parent of two young children, no way would mine be drawn into the horror of computer gaming, drooling goggle-eyed at a screen on which hideous scenes of violence and misogynist fantasies played out whilst their backsides simultaneously tripled in size. Oh no, they would be outside, frisking about with a rugby ball, rosy cheeked and bright eyed and not returning until tea time whilst I derived smug satisfaction from my role as a responsible parent bucking the DS Nintendo trend, immune to pester power and the marketing genius of Apple Inc. No way was I going to give into requests for expensive smartphones that would instantly make my child a "happyslapping" magnet, a target for every hoodie wearing mugger in the locality and potential online pervert lurking around imaginary cyber corners. Hysterical headlines such as "Parents horrified as most violent video game ever to launch on 'family friendly' Wii" 2  and inflammatory and even recent not-quite-so inflammatory documentaries have strenghtened my resolve that we are galloping towards hell in a digital handcart full of zombie eyed, sponge brained gadget addicts incapable of stringing a coherent sentence together and lacking the most basic of social graces. 

As a teacher, the negative aspects associated with mobile phones in schools have compounded this opinion. We are all familiar with highly unpleasant incidents arising from the misuse of digital technology in schools and it is a brave teacher that visits "ratemyteacher.com" However, in our determination to blame mobiles for poor behaviour and consequent insistence on blanket bans, we are missing the point. Bullying networks existed without any help from technology, hurtful nicknames and threats were just spread by word of mouth. School children have always sniggered behind their hands at what they consider to be the sartorial deficiencies, questionable oral hygiene, quirks, mannerisms, tics and professional capabilities of their teachers since time immemorial. Who didn't hug their sides in glorious stifled hysteria when a particularly viperous sketch of a hapless teacher, preferably with detailed annotations was passed silently from desk to desk? Unsavoury behaviour and bullying have always been with us. The difference now is that school children by means of digital technology have a potential audience far exceeding their peer group whether in the classroom or the playground and information can now be disseminated in less than a second. For teachers and schools this is extremely intimidating and this response, though perhaps shortsighted in the long run, is understandable:

"Staff have dealt with a few isolated incidents this term in which pupils have used ‘phones in a way that has been disruptive to the school community. With regard to our anti-bullying work, we have, on occasion, had to read unpleasant text messages that pupils have been sending each other and I must report that the language being used in text messages and BBM messages by children of all ages in the Senior School has been shocking. We are determined to buck the national trend in the increasing use of mobile phones and specifically will do all we can to curb the bully who wants to harass others. "

Recent letter to parents from my son's school.

However, this need not be the case. I have recently started teaching in a school where pupils are allowed to use smartphones, tablets and ipads. It has been a revelation. I would not be so naive as to suggest the bullying incidents do not happen, but from my own personal experience, these digital devices are treated as another piece of equipment, an (admittedly expensive) addition to the pencil case. They are used in a variety of ways, to take class notes, carry out extension research tasks and record assignments. As they are not forbidden there is no frisson of excitement in bringing one to school, they are merely another tool of the learning trade. It is clearly understood and accepted that phones are not to be used to make calls or text during lesson times as this would be an abuse of trust and is discourteous. In my first year at this school, not one of my lessons have been disrupted by inappropriate mobile phone use.

Numerous international press articles corroborate the view that in schools and in particular, universities, digital technology is opening up new channels of learning:

"Not only are we seeing students using smartphones to record lectures, photograph instructor notes and collaborate through cloud-based applications, but some instructors are starting to allow the Mobile Student 2.0 to research items of interest during a lecture or use Twitter to open a back channel of conversation and enhance student participation and engagement," said Dr. Federman. University of Toronto. 3

Articles also suggest that educational institutions are aware of the security risks arising from the use of handheld technology and rather than banning these devices, are exploring ways in which to protect their students:

"Child psychologist and anti-bullying expert Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said Tasmania's small size made it an ideal location to pilot the initiative, which is already being considered by the Queensland Government. Under the plan, students would be granted a licence once they demonstrated they had the skills and knowledge to use phones in a safe, smart and responsible way." 4

Further research into the effects of computer games revealed that my assumptions were based on ill founded prejudice rather than fact. The 2008 government commissioned Byron (and every mother I know puts her faith in the wisdom of Tanya Byron) report into the effects of computer games on children was particularly illuminating as were comments written by gamers responding to sensationalist articles presented in the more by ill-informed sections of the British press. It seems clear that computer gaming is not turning a generation of children into slack jawed goons but has multiple benefits:

"The internet and video games are very popular with children and young people and offer a range of opportunities for fun, learning and development." 5

Furthermore, blanket bans, the demonising of computer games and digital devices and a reticence to explore and exploit the learning potential of this technology within the classroom means that schools are missing the opportunity to educate our children in the responsible and safe use of technology. Ofsted's 2010 February report, "The safe use of new technologies" points out that schools embracing new and emergent digital technologies and adopting an holistic whole-school approach combined with effective CPD were the most effective at promoting e-safety:

"...the 21 most effective schools visited had a well-considered, active approach to keeping pupils safe when they were online and helping them to take responsibility for their safety. There was a close relationship between the provision that the schools made and the pupils’ knowledge and understanding. The training for staff was well established and the curriculum was planned and coordinated effectively. Taken together, these factors had a positive impact in terms of e-safety for pupils...... Pupils in the schools that had "managed" systems had better knowledge and undersatnding of how to stay safe than those in schools with "locked down" systems. Pupils were more vulnerable overall when schools used locked down systems because they were not given enough opportunities to learn how to assess and manage risk for themselves." 6

Dr Tanya Byron puts it in rather more human terms:

"Children and young people need to be empowered to keep themselves safe - this isn't just about a top-down approach. Children will be children - pushing boundaries and taking risks. At a public swimming pool we have gates, put up signs, have lifeguards and shallow ends, but we also teach children how to swim." 7

Further exploration of Steve Wheeler's blog reveals how digital technology, in particular blogging, can have a dramatic effect on overall literacy levels amongst primary pupils.  Wheeler explains how Dave Mitchell, the Deputy Head of Heathfield CPS, Bolton has used blogging to boost literacy in his school. In his May 14th 2011 post, Wheeler elaborates:

"Since the start of this academic year, the Year 6 blog alone has received more than 200,000 hits worldwide, and over 4000 comments from readers in over 130 countries. Such an audience (some would argue 'community') of people does wonders for the self esteem and confidence of the young bloggers. They are articulate, inventive and fully committed to blogging their way to better standards of literacy, and in the samples Dave showed, they are clearly succeeding." 8

The digital genie is here and has been well and truly out of the bottle for quite some time. Although I do not necessarily concur with Christopher Betcher's 9 searing indictment of teachers who are not yet up to speed with digital technologies, it has become increasingly clear that my previous stance is no longer appropriate for a Design Technology teacher in the 21st Century.

As a teacher I should be prepared to continuously learn, unlearn and relearn. In many respects I have, but not in the area of e-learning and the use of digital technology. Perhaps my view has been skewed slightly by previous digital experiments that despite hours of preparation, went completely wrong and just didn't work in a classroom resulting in much frustration all round.  However, technology has marched on apace and e-voting software such as Socrates has surpassed cumbersome and inefficient voting pod systems. In my experience unwieldy VLEs act as little more than electronic filing cabinets and records of students who do not bother to click on your conscientiously prepared resources. They don't engage or motivate learners and after a while, apathy and disinterest kick in.

Is is very easy to hide behind Marc Prensky's now seemingly discredited moniker "digital immigrant" and try to explain my "just not getting it" as a generational thing. This is a cop out - I'm not that old! Many of my contemporaries have happily immersed themselves in the digital world and are bemused by my reluctance to do the same. Although I did not grow up with this technology my hesitance to eplore and exploit its potential lie purely in the fact that I did not understand or crucially, value it. I was doing my job OK and had an Ofsted "outstanding" rating to prove it, so what was the problem? I was dismissive of those who enjoy social networking and was convinced that computer gaming was pretty much the root of all evil. This clearly is not the case and the evidence pointing to the potential of digital technology in both formal and informal learning environments seems irrefutable. Watching my two year old quite happily pick up my iphone (recently acquired,) open the photo album and whizz through various apps without any guidance from me whatsoever was an eye opener. Unlike me, these devices hold no fear for the children I am teaching today, they are part of their daily lives.If I am to do them justice as a teacher I need to recognise and value the role that digital technology plays in their lives and recognise the potential is has in helping them to become effective, independent learners.

As a full time working mother I have a few other things to do in the evenings, so it is unlikey that I will be a digital resident at present. I am quite content to choose not to be. Being outside indulging in some "gardening therapy" after a tough day at the chalk face will always be more appealing to me than staring at a computer screen. However, I do want to sign the digital visitor's book on a regular basis. Preferably with a flourish.

Presently, I rely still on various "idiot's guides" to metaphorically hold my hand as I struggle to become proficient in the use of blogging, tweeting and remote host storage systems. Becoming adept and confident in the use of digital technology both in and out of the classroom will be a learned process and it is vital  that I use technology that is appropriate for my school and children I teach. And that it works! It will be some time before my use of digital technology approaches "intuitive." However, my intial inability to get to grips with various digital interfaces and dashboards no longer reduces me to floods of tears. Perhaps the first steps have been taken...

                                Shift happened? 

1: Tallblog. Dave White:http://tallblog.conted.ox.ac.uk/

2: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1043818/Parents-horrified-violent-video-game-launch-family-friendly-Wii.html#ixzz23Ri8CQBF

3:http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1018531/mobilicity-research-suggests-smartphones-play-increasing-role-in-education

4: http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/08/12/352651_tasmania-news.html

5: Government commissioned Byron report on computer gaming 2008

6: Ofsted February 2010: "The safe use of new technologies."

7:  Government commissioned Byron report on computer gaming 2008

8: Learning with e's. Steve Wheeler: http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=dave+mitchell#!/2011/05/danger-dog-pandora-and-cast-of.html

9: Betcherblog: Chris Betcher: http://chrisbetcher.com/

Image by Google.

Can you see anything? Yes, wonderful things...

And the Oscar for the best music award goes to:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHWTLA8WecI

And the Oscar for the most recent update goes to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVQ1ULfQawk

And the Oscar for the best wind up goes to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC6o1q_eaPs&feature=fvwrel

Spectacularly rude comments to be found after most of these presentations, but particularly after the third version......what ever happened to a sense of humour?

Further insight into Karl Fischer's original 2006 PowerPoint Presentation:

http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com/

Shift happens

Images: Google

"Sure - Google stuff, but now do something with it."

I've just watched a thought provoking webcast published by TechRepublic which absolutely nails the issues facing 21st Century educators. It explains clearly how contexts have changed and continue to do so without bamboozling the viewer with educational jargon. It is particularly good at how contexts have changed and evolved over the last twenty years and:

 - how education and employment has shifted to contribution not consumption; the speakers are pretty acerbic when it comes to the failings of "teaching to the test." ( Can't fail to agree with that, how many teachers resent having to teach to the test but feel unable to break free of the restraints and expectations of a hierarchical system rooted deeply in summative performance. It would be a 
brave teacher indeed who is prepared to risk exam performance in the short 
term.) 

 - the differences between online and offline learning and the issues arising from the continuing passive nature of online education.

 - the conflict between the mastery of core skills and web-based learning - can the two co-exist as a merged approach through project based work?

Favourite quote

"...sure....Google stuff, but now do something with it..." Christopher Dawson. Contributor to ZDNet and WizIQ
   

From the website www.techrepublic.com

How Do We Prepare Students for a Global Knowledge Economy?:

"With highly technical jobs vanishing overseas, and manufacturing jobs that once dominated our economy now but a vague memory, we're left to wonder what today's students will find when they enter the job market. The answer: They will find a knowledge economy in which creativity and ingenuity reign supreme. Off-shoring programming and development is easy and often makes economic sense; off-shoring innovation isn't easy and is where our students will need to shine." Introduction to ZDNet webcast

Frailty, thy name is Blogger

Time taken to redo home page posts after deleting them by mistake: 2 hours, 21 minutes.

Things are looking up.

The blog is a foreign country, they do things diffently there.

I have just had a very interesting nose through Steve Wheeler's blog in which he gives some intriguing insights apropos of Mark Prensky's view of the digital migrant and the digital native.....it seems that it might not be quite as cut and dried as all that.

So, I shall disembark from Empire Windrush with a new found spring in my step, apparently I was here all the time....



Digital native - no instruction given



Non digital native



As flies to wanton boys are we to the (ICT)Gods, they kill us for their sport

"If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance."

Samuel Johnson

Time taken to create home page: 14 hours, 10 minutes.


Whenever I hear the words "intuitive" and "ICT" in the same sentence, the pit in the bottom of my stomach plummets to new depths. Digital technology does not come easily to all, particularly us "non-digital natives." However, as a teacher it can only be to the good to remember how it feels to struggle, be frustrated, to feel utterly stupid and to want to give up the ghost. There may well be a child sitting at the back of my classroom tomorrow feeling exactly the same way.

Welcome to my ongoing endeavours to drag myself kicking and screaming into the 21st Century; to cast aside the dry chrysalis of ignorance, to discard the pupal skin of fear and emerge shimmering and resplendent into the golden shards of digital daylight!

Well, that's the general idea....

"Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window." Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Inc.

Images by Google Images