21st Century Educator

Start of a new school year and an exciting year ahead with our 1 to 1 roll out mid year and our staff moving along on our computer journey.  Mind you, I hate calling it the “computer journey” – rather it be referred to as our learning journey – but hey you can’t win them all.

So first blog of the year….  Not sure if you have heard, but here in Australia we have recently had our elected representation (Federal government) launch their brand new fancy education website www.myschool.edu.au It was the brain child of our deputy Prime Minister and Education minister Ms Julia Gillard.  This site is worth a look – it basically gives everybody access to the standardised testing scores of each school in the country, allowing anyone to compare schools.  Our Government believes this will help parents make the right choice of school for their children and will help schools compare themselves to similar schools and learn from them.

So to start the year I thought I would post a letter I would like to send to our Deputy leader and receive some feedback before sending it.  I would like to thank some twitter friends for their thoughts on this topic.  Please read my draft letter and comment.  I will send this off in the coming weeks.

Dear Ms Gillard,

I would like to thank you and your Government for the recent launch of the MySchool website.  This resource has helped me as an educator and a parent realise that I live in a nation that thankfully has access to important statistics that can help me make educated decisions about where I work and where my child should go to school.  Your efforts to provide us with information of this nature will surely help citizens of our nation make one of the most important decisions parents everywhere will face.

The genius that has been displayed with this concept must NOT stop here Ms Gillard.  I would like to suggest that the Government continue moving forward with this concept while they are on such a great run.  Please consider my proposal for the MyMP.gov.au website.  Think about it Ms Gillard, you could provide a resource that helps me as a concerned citizen and voter understand my local member of parliament and so many other politicians in our nation.  I would like to have access to you and your colleagues academic transcripts, your attendance in parliament, your average number of bad hair days, fashion disasters and most importantly the number of babies kissed in shopping malls during the most recent campaign.

I believe this level of in depth analysis of our members of parliament will provide as valuable criteria for making a decision of representation as the myschool site does for choice of school.  Just like the myschool site, the myMP site would help citizens make decisions by looking for the schools that had more green than pink in the key.  You see I don’t want to be represented in the parliament by just anybody.  Voting is quite a tough decision and it would make life so much easier if we just had a resource that was so nicely colour coded to help make this decision.

Your commitment to providing such an in depth analysis should continue.  All of life’s decisions should be able to be made by simply looking at a colour coded chart of such in-depth statistics.  In fact why don’t we select two days every year where every citizen sits a test that measures their understanding of what their local MP is doing to improve our society.  Furthermore, just like the suggestion from the creators of MySchool, if any MP’s are shown to be performing poorly through these tests they could “learn” from other MP’s that are doing better even if they were opposite sides of politics.  Just because you are seen as opposition doesn’t mean you won’t help each other learn?!?!

Ms Gillard you must continue providing information like this to our nation.  I look forward to hearing you and your colleagues thoughts on this proposal.

Regards,

Concerned Citizen

So why not give me a few thoughts to add to the letter after taking some time to look over the myschool.edu.au website.  Oh and for those who don’t know our genius of a deputy and education minister….  Why not have a look at this clip I found of her.

Before the mid Semester break I did a presentation at a parent night about social networking. There was the usual discussion about safety, the appropriate amount of time using them and if they are worthwhile. However, what came across as I was presenting this and preparing it (1 hour before parents arrived) was the fact that allowing social networking sites at school and using them for educational purposes means we must change the way we teach and assess. Stupid old me started a trend with my film and media class of allowing social networking for school purposes. This started off harmlessly enough with the beginning of a class group page.

After the class page students started using some initiative and created Facebook pages, youtube accounts and twitter feeds to manage their group assignments. All of these pages/groups invited me to be a part of it so I could add thoughts and advice along the way. However, the exciting thing here for me was when students started adding experts in the particular fields to the groups. What is that I hear you say – There are experts on topics more knowledgeable than me – The teacher?!?! You must be mad!! (Sarcastic tone there ladies and gents!!)

So far so good – All I had to do was encourage the collaboration with tools the students were already fans of and we began engaging students. Next I got a little smart and thought I would challenge the students to develop any means possible to engage the largest network of experts to help them with their personal documentary projects. One student started a facebook page and started inviting the experts… Well as luck had it his documentary topic is all about technological change in society and how schooling has not kept up with the rapid change. However, the interesting thing here is that the apparent experts he is engaging are fellow students. With some encouragement these students are beginning to see the value of connecting through these social technologies.

But the real mind shift came when the following was found on facebook 2 days out from our class exam last term. After encouraging students to us social network sites to help with ideas for assignmnets, I didn’t realise they would use the same site to help them work out what was coming in the exam. One student decided he would use Facebook to contact some of my past students at my old school. He had success, and in fact ended up asking the right questions of the right people from my previous class.

I had informed my students that the exam would include a few essay questions that would ask their opinion on different quotes from various film makers. This student finds some of the quotes from class notes and begins posting them to some of my past students to see if he can get any idea as to what is coming up in the exam.

I found the posts at this stage and had a decision to make… Do I put a stop to this or do I encourage the initiative to crowd source. Is this cheating? Or is this an example of why traditional assessment must change?

I believe the best lesson here is that we must change our methods if we are going to embrace new technologies in our classroom. Furthermore, it is clear to me that when a teacher encourages students to use the technology they will embrace the opportunity and run with it. Watching students develop in this space is just awesome!! They demonstrate a true desire to learn when it is relevant and challenging. I am sure there will be more to come here!!

Spent some time over the past few months thinking through iPhone projects we can work on in our school next year. Over time I have collated the apps that I think are making my life as an educator more effective and efficient. This is a list I want to build on as I discover more useful applications. The list is not a list of “educational” apps, it is more a list of apps that help me in my daily life as a teacher. This is in no particular order just a random collection of thoughts over the past few months.

1) Calendar… Sounds boring but it is a life saver. Once you have this puppy linked to your exchange server at school or iCal server there is no missing meetings and appointments. I have had phones and PDA’s in the past with similar features but they have never worked. The key with this app is it’s ability to sync with the calendar services on your school network. Meeting requests, reminders and appointments all just push through seamlessly without me doing anything special!!

2) Tweetie… So not everyone is a twitter freak like me, but the usefulness of this app and the twitter service is amazing me more and more each day. The ability to crowd source so quickly and easily absolutely anywhere is a lifesaver for me each week. Free assistance on any issue from using advanced editing software to teacher recommendations on particular software or class activities!! All of this depends on you creating a network of worthwhile friends and colleagues, but once you achieve that there are some awesome advantages to an app that gives you quick and easy access to a wealth of knowledge!! Starting next term I am starting a project with 1 class to follow the a twitter feed of class information (more on that as it develops). (My twitter name is brett_moller)

3) Ping… Oh ping is an amazing push messaging service that I can see going nuts. Best of all it is free to download and free to use (basically). Push messages is just like sending an SMS to your iPhone buddies without the crazy telco charges. Push messages work over wifi or cellular. Each message is around 2Kb of data so there is no going over your data limit, unless you send 1000’s of messages a month. I see this as a great way for teachers and students to communicate. So far I have used this more as a social tool – but as more and more colleagues are on board I can see this becoming a great tool for connecting and communicating. (My Ping handle is Molski)

4) In the same category as ping would be AIM (iChat client) and Skype. The potential of these apps as collaboration and communication tools is great, however, we have had some interesting technical obstacles to get skype working 100% within our school network. While I was in Hong Kong earlier this year I participated in a conference call to a meeting back at school with skype on my iPhone. I was on the ferry on my way to a school visit off the main island, connected to the free wifi on the Hong Kong ferries participating in a meeting back home in Australia.

5) Evernote… Oh my this is an amazing tool that is so simple yet so powerful. Evernote is a great note taking app that syncs to your account which can be accessed via iPhone, web or desktop. Finally all my meeting notes, class notes, assessment of oral presentations are all synced, backed up and easy to access. Your notes can be private or made public. This is a great tool as it also allows me to share notes from class discussions with students on a public page. My evernote feed for my Film class is in our class LMS page and often contains text notes from class discussions, copies of workflows, even basic voice notes and pictures can be shared their also.

6) iDisk… For all you mobile me buffs iDisk on the iphone is a must have. Simple access to all my documents and important files on my phone is just so useful!! I can’t remember the number of times I have been in meetings where someone has questioned something and I have been able to clarify with direct access anywhere to my important files and folders (obviously I have all my work documents on my iDisk)

7) OmniFocus… Expensive but well worth it for the disorganised and very busy teacher. I have struggled for so long to manage projects and basic tasks. With this app you can easily setup projects and tasks that need to be completed with basic steps and reminders. The app has a desktop companion which synchronises with your iPhone. For me this is the best productivity app I have ever used. I like the way it lays out projects and lets you setup and schedule tasks.

iExpensit… This is a great app for keeping track of departmental budgets. With different budgets that I take care of it is great to have something that helps me keep track of what is and isn’t spent. Always good to keep your school accounts staff happy with you!! I would love to see a expense app or budget app the synced to a web service so it could be shared amongst other staff. Any suggestions?

9) Wikipedia.. At your fingertips anywhere this is just priceless!!

10) Voice Recorder… I am constantly using class discussion and debate in my classes to help students form deeper meaning and understanding of issues. The ease of voice recorder to capture those priceless conversations is just an awesome thing!! Often I grab a conversation and with minimal mucking around I have the file on my computer submitting to our podcast server. Next step for me would be podcast capture for the iPhone!! App to capture and submit media to your podcast server!!!

After reading the most recent Promethean newsletter to teachers here in Australia (I read it in a moment of boredom or procrastination), I was amazed to see such outrageous claims that demonstrate nothing more than a second rate marketing team trying to spin a popular message to educators. The article claimed that using IWB’s would reduce teacher stress and give us more time to spend with our families!! At first I chuckled and dismissed it as another attempt to market to dumb teachers, but then after further consideration I was quite offended by such a suggestion. Someone claiming that technology would reduce my stress and make my job easier is insulting my intelligence and dedication as a professional.

Folk who read this blog know my personal and professional opinions on IWB’s and if you follow me on Twitter you may have noticed my new # tag – #IWBcircus…. Must we be inendated by insulting and pathetic attempts from technology companies. Anyone who tries to tell me that I should use technology to make my job “easier” is assuming that I am in this profession for myself. You certainly don’t enter teaching for the money and you most certainly do not decide that teaching is a menial task that should be “simplified” by some device. It completely disregards the years of study and constant up-skilling by professional teachers to make sure they are engaging their students and making a difference in their lives.

Besides the second rate marketing attempt at dumb teachers – I was amazed that this company has found people who are now declaring that technology like “Student response” systems are making a difference in student learning outcomes. Are we really trying to convince folk that turning the classroom into the set of “Who wants to be a millionare” will really engage and benefit students? I do not understand how well educated colleauges will fall for this rubbish!!

I have quoted much of the work done over at “Educational Insanity” – in particular the critique of a recent research project funded by Promethean. This morning I sent it to some of my staff who have been keen on IWB’s in their area of teaching as a way of starting a good conversation as to how we would use these devices if they were ever purchased. Much of the response I got back was along the lines of it just being another tool and how it must be good as “so many teachers” are using them and love them!! This also started a great conversation on if we could not have the same arguments for any peice of technology, and if we should just ditch the lot of it and go back to the “good ol’ days.” Surely there are credible critiques on all educational technology research?!?!?!

Thought I would post part of my email responses to these folk…

My argument is simple – just because someone likes teaching with it doesn’t mean it is educationally beneficial. Number 1 argument is putting the technology in the hands of the learner – not only the teacher. Their world is these skills…. An IWB is a replacement for chalk and talk – if someone uses it in another way that is engaging and demonstrating educational value for the $$ spent then that is great…. But I am yet to see it – I have visited the schools that promethium say are their schools of “excellence” (in fact I worked at one!!) and their excellence is judged on how many $$ the school spent with the company!! (I make this judgment purely on observations on how it changed teaching and learning outcomes).

A critique of the methodology is actually a critique and questioning of the educational levels and benefits. The research methodology is called into question – hence indicating that any claim of educational benefit must be questioned and further investigated.

As for the bring back the “good ol’ days,” No one can successfully argue that post chalk n talk fails to improve education levels or outcomes. The research is there and quite convincing – 1 to 1 laptop programs have stood the test of time and are making a change in student engagement…. Are they giving our kids a better shot at the standardised test system? No – probably not – in fact it could be argued we are disadvantaging them. If you want that type of education find a school that will teach you the test and you will get a good result at the end of school. You maybe completely illiterate in the commercial reality of a connected world but you would have got a good school exit mark!!

IF someone wants to send me research on 1 to 1 or a critique of the research I would love to see it!! IWB research fails when it tries to justify test results improving due to the implementation. Teachers will love IWB’s because it ticks the box for them that says they must use ICT’s – It Keeps the bosses happy, but at the end of the day they are still teaching chalk and talk!! No one jumped up and down and told us that changing all the chalk boards in the school to whiteboards back in the 80’s and 90’s was going to improve test results!! Maybe someone should have done some research? Because whiteboards were so much nicer and fancier than those smelly old chalk boards!!

The debate as to if 1 to 1 is a worthwhile pursuit in our schools has been taken to our newspapers with one of our country’s apparent “leading” edtech authors writing in with articles like this
http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/maralynparker/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/dear_maralyn/

I highly recommend you read this article and then see what you think of my thoughts on the post…. So much more to come!!!!

A response to this is going to require a very fine glass of red before I can fathom the words to possibly describe how obscure some of these thoughts are…

Some good points here but many are followed with some absurd claims!! Are you serious when you state….

“Personal computers, desktops and laptops are as the name indicates intended for personal use and not classroom teaching. They are not, and never will be an appropriate technology for teaching a whole class.”

You have just ignored some of the finest research done in the last 25 years into educational technology (eg papert)

I want a device in the hands of the learner at all times – not a device that is used by so many to simply continue teaching in the archaic methods of the past. If we really want to think “out of the box” destroy the 4 walls of the classroom and replace it with open spaces that have students working in a variety of different situations and with different groups of people…. Destroy structures that stream by age, get rid of the almighty standardised test and it’s authority on what students know and don’t know or perhaps create stronger links for schools to industry. Why spend money on devices that still rely on the classroom being the core place of teaching and learning…. The true digital work place is not in a fixed place – it is the world of wireless connectivity, where learning happens regardless of where I am! The digital world is not a place that plays homage to a concept like the “timetable” it is a place where flexibility is key and being adaptive and creative is what dictates success and achievement!!

It is these reasons why I agree with you that this sudden infusion of funding is not being well thought through and limited planning was put in place as to the best way to implement for the best educational outcomes.

Continuing the conversation…

Brett

So I tweeted this morning about a report I just found on IWB research – “IWB biz funds “education” report on IWB effectiveness I am now reviewing my health – not doc – I am fit healthy and not addicted to coffee!”

3 ways to start a great day – 1) Lots of smiles from your 5month old (who sleeps through the whole night) 2) A great tripple shot Latte and 3) Marvelous true educational critique of those who are turning our classrooms into a circus!!

So I am not going to say more than… This is a must read –
Read and Enjoy – Or be educated!!

Once you have read this check out this Ted video – for less than 1% of the price of an IWB you can “edutain” your kids!!

After a visit 2 weeks ago from Apple Distinguished Educator Gayle Berthiaume – My students have appeared in an article she wrote for scholastic.

Have a read….

http://blogs.scholastic.com/tech_tutors/2009/05/technology-in-an-australian-classroom.html#more

It has been a week since the Apple Education leadership summit. I have had little time to sit back and reflect as I was straight back to work this week when I returned. What an amazing event though, it was filled with quality presentations and incredible opportunities to network. I was particularly interested in the opening statement at the event from one of the Apple staff. He quite casually stated from the begining that it was a obvious shame that it takes a computer company to put on quality professional development and learning for educators. This has stuck with me for some time now and has made me wonder why it is that our education system is waiting for a computer company to bring us all together to discuss the ever changing world of education. Why does it take a computer company to declare that it is time that we have systemic change in education? I guess the cynic may believe that it is a clever marketing ploy to sell stuff. Well it is true that there is marketing genius behind an event like this, however, there has to be something said for a computer company that invests heavily in a sector that isn’t going to bring the greatest return. There seems to be a genuine understanding from Apple when it comes to the everyday struggles educational institutions face. They get the challenges and see where it is change must occur for the betterment of teaching and learning. This conference was not about computers, it wasn’t even about ipods or any other gadget. It was about education – quality teaching and learning. As I have often said – a good education conference will often leave you with more questions than answers. Questions that you know you need to answer in your own time when you return back to your school.

The clever marketing behind the Apple machine in the education market is not about nice conferences where they make teachers feel good. To me it is in the way in which they clearly display that education matters and that it matters so much that the people they employ to run the education business know about and are passionate about education. I must admit my first reaction to the program when I saw a keynote from the Apple VP John Couch was that this was just going to be an impressive sales pitch. However, I quickly realised how wrong my first impression was. In fact John’s story is quite incredible. Someone who had been at Apple for some years, obviously doing well for himself, retires and becomes principal of a financially bankrupt and failing high school? His presentation looked at Leadership through Vision. Something that he believes brought success to the school he was involved with as well as the success of the Apple business he returned to build.

The keynote from John clearly communicated a very exciting message from Apple. Apple are about partnering with educators and their institutions to help build truly exciting and engaged learning communities. This message was further brought across through the other keynote presenters who all had a clear message that they were truly passionate about. Stephen Heppel was an inspiration, demonstrating exactly what is possible when we take time to think about the basic layout of a learning space. Tom Kelley from Ideo was a truly entertaining presenter who inspired me to think of innovation in a completely different light. Finishing off with someone I regard as a wonderful friend – Marco Torres, with his inspirational presentation “Quite, Complain or Innovate.” To top it all off the break out sessions were also very well organised and full of great ideas.

However, one thing struck me more than any other conference I have attended before. This conference had fascinating conversations happening, mostly facilitated by twitter. Simply by tagging all tweets with #hksummit, we suddenly had an amazing conversation that is still continuing today. The richness of the conversation and the content shared is truly remarkable. It is a conversation that is recorded and easy to follow. The value in this conference was found in so many places, however, the greatest treasure is in the conversations and the network that is built.

Throughout the conference I have noted down what others had to say…. Here are some links to other blogs from the conference….
http://mscofino.edublogs.org/2009/05/03/apple-does-it-again/
http://www.levins.net/users/martin/weblog/
Video Reflections

There is so much more to say – but being a media teacher I will probably best say it through visuals… Stay tuned for a video reflection.

Here in Hong Kong at the Canadian International school for the Apple Leadership Summit. So far an excellent conference – I will be putting notes together for the blog… But for now check out my friend Martin Levins, who is blogging live…. http://www.levins.net/users/martin/weblog/5b423/Apple_Leadership_Hong_Kong.html

The greatest thing about being a teacher is that not any two days will ever be the same. There is always variety in the day. None more so than my day today. I started today with a 6:30am flash meeting call to discuss the Second Life education project skoolaborate. In the call there are at least 10 other teachers from all corners of the globe. We talk through some of the issues with our project and come together to solve different problems that we have been having. Vision is cast for the way forward and each person involved is on the edge of their seat, knowing that we are pioneering something that has never been done before. In this online meeting I see in front of me teachers who are willing to take a risk to better educational outcomes. The conference ends and I quickly add “to do” items to a productivity app which syncs to all my computers and iPhone. I start thinking about possibilities and begin changing the plan for the day. I have to get my kids into this virtual world and start trying new things. So more about that adventure later in the day.

The school day starts and I stand at a door waiting for a group of my year 9 students. They walk to me with down turned faces – Hang on you guys I have just had this awesome meeting that is exciting me about some innovative changes to education… How dare they be sad and miserable!! Then I realise what it is – they are lining up for a practice testing day for a series of Year 9 Standardised tests in a months time. Oh so innovation starts the day but reality smacks me in the face. I am in somewhat of a confused state as I line my students up in alphabetical order and make sure they have a HB pencil and a rubber. I am thinking – Only if the bureaucrats that push these tests saw what I saw this morning!!

I leave my students as they start their test and head off to a prep period. First up I search for Gary Stager’s thoughts on standardised testing – Ah Gary will give me some perspective on this and make me feel ok about my disappointment in what I just witnessed… Here it is www.pencilsdown.org – Perhaps I will start an Australian version!?!? So I twitter – “Students practicing for standaridised tests today. Greatest abomination in ed. Can’t wait 2c the stir when I don’t allow my boy 2 sit them!”

I quickly spent some time catching up on mailing lists and receiving answers to questions I had about some software. Of course I “Pay it forward” by helping a few other folk with issues I can solve. Finish that task off making a few controversial comments on issues people are discussing…. Stir the pot a bit and engage in some critical thinking about my much loved profession.

I left the emails there and went off to a committee meeting to discuss the technical progress our IT team are making on our systems. All positive talk and some great problems solved. Walk back to my classroom determined to finish the day on a positive.

Rainy lunch time… so students want to get into the computer lab. In come my students ready to do something that just topped my day off on a high….

Students at MLC Sydney who were advanced users of Second Life offer me and my students a tour of Skoolaborate and a basic tutorial on how to work in Second life. Myself and 1 other student log in and begin a tour – gradually more and more students in the class want to be a part of this (remember this is lunch time). I drop out of the tour and get 5 more students “in world” for the first time. I sit back and just watch with great joy. My students are now collaborating with students at MLC in Sydney, as well as students in Canada and the USA. This is interesting stuff – they are suddenly glued to problem solving their way through this virtual world. Ben one of my more enthusiastic students wants to start chatting with everyone in world – the voice chat isn’t working…. He doesn’t give up…. He begins a tutorial with the students at the other end on how to setup a skype conference call. So now they are all chatting away like they are next to each other at school. The lesson continues in world – “Hey great idea on the skype conference Ben” I hear on of the girls from MLC say. Ben replies with “No worries, now back to how to build buildings.” The collaboration continues…. More and more students are getting on board and working out how to interact in this world. I walk past another one of my students who is starting to build pyrimads, while another is looking at a virtual movie hall someone made. I hear a yell “Hey sir!!! Let’s have our movie night in world later this year!!” My response – sure thing but you have to organise it mate – “Sir, of course I will – like you know how to do this stuff!!”

At this point I am seeing the potential just flow out of this project…. Other teachers walk in watching my students work away – Ben has to head to his next class, but he is too excited about what he is learning…. Runs to his teacher and negotiates a deal so he can stay working with the students in Sydney. He comes back to the room and doesn’t leave for another 2 hours. Never before have I seen a group of 15 year olds get so excited about a problem solving activity. These students were engaged in high level thinking and problem solving – REAL WORLD STUFF, for over 3 hours straight!! Only reason we stopped was because I needed to get home!

So I am now finishing this crazy day reflecting and posting…. I have just received an email from a student….

“Dear Sir,
Today was awesome. Can’t wait to get to school tomorrow and do this again. I am thinking of asking my history teacher if I could build a replica of the Egytian landscape in Second life as a part of my assignment. What do you think?”

Ah yes the day finishes as it started…. Innovation and excitement followed with reality smacking me again – Unfortunately, this student probably can’t do this for his assignment as it wouldn’t fit under the “appropriate assessment task” criteria for a senior subject. However, we continue to fight the good fight…..

Wow what a day!!

Massive thanks to the Westley Field and Students at MLC Sydney!! Thanks for taking us along on this journey. Just over 2 months ago my students had never experienced a class where they had access to computers every lesson – let alone this type of activity!