“Our internet filtering is unbreakable. We have a huge proxy array that does all the filtering. We’ve just brought that in-house and the reason we have done that is we want much tighter control over it,” said Wilson (chief information officer for the NSW education department).

To add to this lunacy it has been estimated that the system will cost an additional 245 million dollars, which is on top of the 195 million for the original laptop plan. Therefore, more money is going to be spent on filtering than will be on “real” learning resource. Not a terribly smart plan in these current economic times!!

Then to cap it all off there was this little corker from the Australian Newspaper - Australia to have a national internet filter seen only in countries like China and Iran. Why on earth would we spend tax payers money on such a system? Besides that, who decides what is appropriate and not appropriate to view? The article suggested that “Compulsory internet censorship for all Australians could ban controversial websites on euthanasia or anorexia.” Of all the things to censor, these two seemed the most “controversial”?

How do we teach young people to discern and become analytical thinkers when bureaucrats think it best to play big brother with the greatest and largest information source available? This I believe is a marvelous example of destructive technology. Learning tools that are used to play big brother instead of educator and learner.

The SOR students were studying a term of work on Ethicial issues in which they normally would learn about 5 key topics and discuss. Prior to this they had already studied theoretical ethics, much of which was to be applied to this study. The project concept was simple… Our aim was for students in groups to engage deeply into one ethical issue and then report back to the class what they discovered. With that aim in mind we set out to create some spaces for the students to express their findings and really engage in the topics. First up, I created a blog for each group where they were to blog and podcast about the issue. Each student was given a piece of stimulus material to help them think of an ethical issue they could report on. Each group then made a decision on the issue they would research and began looking for information. The second element of this was to allow the students to connect not only with each other and their teachers, but “real world experts” who could help them with their research and developing ideas. This was done over their blog, as well as a secure facebook group. The students all joined a facebook group where we could discuss the issues along with invite opinion from academic experts in relevant fields.

The project was a great success…. No that does not mean it all went perfectly according to plan. Some things worked great, some were a complete disaster. The great success was the outcomes (mostly positive) for all those involved. The potential of this project and where it can lead into the future also must be counted as a great success. Students were engaged and once pushed in the right direction achieved some great work. The assessment at the end of the unit didn’t change from the usual in class essay, but did show some great improvement by many students who normally struggle with the course content.

I will try and reflect more on this project as time permits…. However, I would like to leave you with one of the podcasts the students created after choosing the chocolate slave trade. Their stimulus material was Dr Zeus’ Horton here’s a who…. Where the repeated line is “A person is a person no matter how small.”

This podcast was a response to the movie Blood Diamond…

This podcast raised some thoughts around the issues of Genetic Engineering…

For More podcasts have a look at the students blogs…
http://www.ecsitemedia.com/sor (links on that page to each group)

Also been playing with a free app called locify. This free app locates you then links you to a list of information in that area. It shows a list of flikr pics from the area, POIs (cafes banks ATMs etc) and wikipedia articles related to the area. This final one is awesome… Imagine having all that information at your finger tips during a school field trip.

Besides the new toy I have some exciting news to share about this site… I have been offered a complete redisign for free - the plan is add some cool new features that will allow me to show more of my work and broadcast conf presentations… We also have plans to create a iPhone specific version of the site for all the iPhone users!! So stay tuned to these updates and more!!

I informed Dave where I am at the moment and he just told the audience - then added that this is what Classroom 2.0 is!!  Well put Dave - this is the way we learn best, my environment with the tools that allow anywhere anytime connection and conversation!!

I have just left a note with Dave letting him and his audience know that I will be posting a run down of a presentation I am co-presenting in 2 weeks time all about an inquiry based learning approach using social networking and multimedia.  I will have this up later today…..

Tags: NECC08, NECC, NECC2008, BrettMoller, Moller,

After watching the WWDC Keynote address I was particularly interested in the educational applications for this device. I have embedded a youtube clip of the two educational applications that have been developed. Both these applications are for higher education, but both demonstrate exactly what is possible with learning on a mobile device.

WWDC Medical Apps for iPhone Demo

While I am sure the device will open itself up to some wonderful learning applications, I think there is more to it as a learning device. The addition of GPS and high speed access anywhere anytime is truly a reliseation of what has been somewhat of a innovative educators dream for many years. I remember back when I was finishing my degree in 2001, talking about this idea of anywhere anytime learning and always being connected. We didn’t really understand that idea as wireless technologies were just not to the standard we see today. While many of these technologies have been available in similar devices for a while now - none have seemed to have been as functional and as easy to use as the iPhone.

So what will be the greatest challenge if this device is embraced as a learning device? Well probably that very thing. This device is a very open device and it allows levels of users access never really seen before. How will our schools manage this? Will we lock it down or just ban it all together? Or will we have a serious discussion on how we can create a learning culture that embraces the amazing possibilities of such a device. Gone are the days of schools being able to manage what students see at school. It is now too easy for a student with one of these devices to view and access any content they want. Therefore, it is obviously going to be something that we as educators and schools will have to embrace and decide how we will guide our students. Once again this is a school culture issue and probably another example of the desperate necessity for schools to embrace the change and begin developing ways in which they will handle such technological change.

I can see this device being used for incredible educational purposes. Having access to learning resources in your pocket, being able to connect with experts in a number of different ways all from one device. Mobile blogging has finally been demonstrated as something that will be easy to do with this device. Imagine having a group of students on a field trip all reporting back to another class at school using a device like this. I guess it is time to wait and see how these technologies are utilised and if they will be embraced.

Late addition - Second life running on the iPhone

notschool.net is an interesting initiative that is making some awesome headways in shaking up the traditional education system with some great results. I highly recommend checking out the site and having a read through some of the media coverage this initiative has received.

I have been following Al Upton’s dramas over at his blog with the closure of what was a great example of a teacher using technology to engage his learners. To read comments from his students once they were told of the closure was heartbreaking. Al has been amazing; the way in which he has accepted the decision of his superiors while still fighting for what he knows is great education. I have also spent time watching more and more colleagues receive shut down notices of some of the work they have been doing. We all experience obstacles to creating what we honestly feel are effective learning environments for our students. So as I stop and rest this term break, I have been looking for the energy to keep going. Why am I feeling so exhausted when what I see is not really exciting evidence of education making a difference?

School’s are too quickly becoming a business that operates to provide a service. They dictate a method of learning to students and in doing so seem to be destroying the very skills research is telling us are being craved in the digital age. Students are forced to conform to a system of standarised testing so that us teachers and administrators can declare that we have done our job. But whose school is it? Is the institution that we call school the business of administrators and teachers, or is it a community that truly values the needs for all involved?

Today my students all receive their progress reports. We have passed judgment on them and given them and their parents an idea of where they are at in each of their subjects. I have passed judgment and in a few weeks I will have to justify those judgments to the number of parents that will want to come and talk to me at interview night. I have no problem doing this, but I wonder what would happen if the tables were turned. Students write the progress report. In fact what would happen if we gave them the same restrictive criteria that we use on them? How would they go at justifying their judgments of school?

School should be about the students. We prepare and guide them, but we also need to seriously consider if we are truly creating an environment that is speaking into their potential. It amazes me that we continue to destroy the self-esteem of young people with learning strategies such as ability streaming and standardised testing. The most alarming trend I have noticed in recent times is the way in which schools have allowed government systems to dictate to them an education system that encourages schools to focus on exam results instead of true learning. Students have become numbers in a system that is only worried about state benchmarks and standards. Read a student blog, watch a student produced podcast and watch the progression of learning that happens in activities like this and you will begin to see what school may look like if we respected what students valued and are crying out for.

When we value students for who they are and take the pressure off them with grading systems in subjects that are boring and not engaging, we will begin to develop in them a love for learning. It is vital that they understand the value of learning early on and experience achievement much more often than they experience failure. While I believe there are many lessons to learn from failure, too many of these lessons are experienced at school and in the classroom. If we continue to expose students to failure during early school we will begin to sow thoughts of doubt and disappointment. This is not an “anti exams” sentiment, in fact I wrote about a recent article that looked at some amazing results from schools in Scandanavia. These students were toping the globe in science and maths and much of the credit was given to the way in which these schools valued students from the beginning of their schooling. If you haven’t read it, you can view it and my comments here.

School’s should belong to the students. Professional educators are there to guide but also to listen and spend the time to really begin to understand the student’s world. We have attempted to over simplify the education process and in doing so have created a system that is burning out teachers and destroying the hopes and dreams of students. Anything great requires risk…. When will a school leader be willing to take the risk and see what his/her students want out of school?

Just some holiday thoughts…. Am I taking it too far? I am happy to be corrected - or should I say enter into constructive conversation.

Like Al a colleague and I are calling for mentors for our year 12 students who are about to launch a podcasting and blogging project. They are about to start a unit on Corporate Ethics in their Study of Religion unit. This is NOT a unit looking at these issues purely from one particular religious or philosophical view. We are after experts (which includes folk with life experience) to come and join the learning journey with our students. They will be blogging and podcasting their research. Anyone keen to encourage their learning and help them with their work will be warmly welcomed. The students are really excited about this activity and can’t wait to have their voice heard.

I will be launching the website with group blogs over our holiday break. If you think you would be interested please leave a comment here. I will be updating this blog with our progress. We welcome mentors from all parts of the globe. If you know someone who is particularly interested in the area of ethics please invite them along.

More coming soon - For now it is time to rest up!!

What interested me here was the observations these American educators made about what seemed to be (by international testing standards) the leading education system on the planet. For starters, they do not start pushing academic content anywhere as early as we do here in Australia (or many other countries)

In all three countries, students start formal schooling at age seven after participating in extensive early-childhood and preschool programs focused on self-reflection and social behavior, rather than academic content. By focusing on self-reflection, students learn to become responsible for their own education.
….“the U.S. holds teachers accountable for teaching, here they hold the students accountable for learning.”

I have always questioned why we have prep aged students (5 years old) working away at desks for such a large percentage of the school day. Teachers in high school are constantly complaining that students do not take responsibility for their own education. Perhaps there is something to be said for instilling the importance of this at the beginning of a child’s schooling life. Furthermore, the article notes the importance of these early years where teachers

“encourage philosophical thought at a very young age. … Grading doesn’t happen until the high-school level, because they believe grading takes the fun out of learning. They want to inspire continuous learning.”

There is also no standardized testing, rather a focus on quality educators who encourage project based learning. All educators are very well qualified and highly regarded within society.

““My teacher” and “the teacher” are terms of respect, not only when used by the students, but also by the school leader or headmaster. The teacher is most often viewed as a mentor, someone who has both knowledge and wisdom to impart and plays a key role in preparing students for adulthood.

In Finland, for instance, teaching is one of the most highly venerated professions in the country—and only one in eight applicants to teacher-education programs are accepted. All teachers there have a master’s degree.”

The teachers in this system are free to develop more individualised learning programs for their students and are not given limitations from a over prescriptive national framework. There is also minimal filters on information services and teachers are free to have complete open access to online resources.

“Internet-content filtering in the three countries is based largely on a philosophy of student responsibility. Internet filters rarely exist on school computers, other than for protection from viruses or spam. As a school librarian in Copenhagen said, “The students understand that the computers are here for learning.”

There is so much gold in this article, it goes on to talk about their assessment and ways they develop a desire to learn in each of their students. The testing and “ranking” of students does not take place until the last couple of years of senior schooling. They don’t have constant testing throughout early schooling, they don’t take lessons during the week to “practice” for the end of schooling exams. In fact they do the opposite, yet they still top the international testing. On top of this it seems they have developed an education system where children enjoy, value and embrace opportunities to learn. When will we wake up and take notice?!?!? Too many students are stressed out of their minds or just don’t care. While we continue to stress the importance of standardised testing and “drill” students for the test - they will become more and more disengaged. It saddens me to see the piles of students standing outside a room preparing for an exam drilling each other and stressing over an examination of “stuff” that has minimal relevance to their lives and learning.

So what is it that brought about this change?

“The change occurred because teachers felt the system stifled them and hindered creativity in the classroom. One school in Helsinki, Aurinkolahti School, believes that learning should let children “have fun and know the joy of life.” Educational technology is used to create a community of learners who build knowledge together.”

When it comes to educational technology the focus is more on personal productivity than the equipment or “stuff.” There are NO Interactive Whiteboards, student response systems etc etc. They simply use the tools that help productivity and provide connectivity for learning. We don’t need the “stuff” (especially those flaming IWB’s), we just need to develop good educational programs. It is more of a philosophical discussion than it is a funding of equipment discussion. Here in Australia we are about to have schools receive funding for computers if their ratio is below a certain mark. The Government’s “educational revolution” is going to throw money at more computers and “stuff” without actually considering what it will be used for. There is no use having a bunch of computers when our system dictates the use of the equipment. Thousands of dollars worth of computer equipment and infrastructure being deployed so our students can type their WORD DOCUMENTS?!?!!?!?

Certainly recommend reading the article…. It is just a great read!! Now this would be my kind of study tour!! More to come I am sure….