Teacher-Librarians

Thanks to Robyn Beyer and the organising committee of the Northern Sydney Regional Teacher-Librarian conference for kindly inviting me to present the keynote today. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The delegates were enthusiastic and treated me very kindly indeed. cc licensed ( BY NC SD ) flickr photo shared by Darcy Moore My pre-conference survey elicited a number of... Read More

Balance & Wisdom

Today’s information technologies provide instantaneous access to vast amounts of information, opening up wondrous new possibilities in education, commerce, and entertainment. But these opportunities are not without cost: the easy availability of information can turn into information overload; the presence of multiple communication sources and devices may lead to the fragmentation... Read More

Learning in Mudgee

One of the great joys of fatherhood is learning with your children, especially while travelling. We have more time to hangout, walk and talk when the usual routines are put aside for exploration of unfamiliar places. Everything is somehow new and the light different, more subtle. It is undeniably true that Time is needed for creativity to flourish. I also suspect that the joy that... Read More

Social Reading

cc licensed ( BY NC SD ) flickr photo shared by Darcy Moore Reading has always been a solitary pursuit – by definition – in my mind. I never sought membership of any kind of club that met to discuss books. The idea of attending a ‘festival’ to listen to an author, or ask them questions, seemed a little silly. Surely their thoughts and insights, knowledge... Read More

myPad

My 5 and 8 year old daughters have monopolised our iPad since we bought it in 2010. I never really used it that much but my partner, who is not at all geeky, would prise it away from the kids for email, browsing, Plants vs Zombies, ABC iView and reading the ‘newspaper’. Wikipanion is her favourite app. A couple of weeks ago, I really wanted to read my ‘book’... Read More

Ethics, Gaming and Problematic Knowledge

From a teacher’s perspective, the Quality Teaching Framework is an important professional document supporting learning in NSW schools. At a glance, for readers unfamiliar with the QTF framework, here’s an overview: I’d like to relate a recent and ongoing class conversation, related to the element of ‘problematic knowledge’, raised in dialogue with... Read More

Glass half full?

A leader is a dealer in hope. cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo shared by artfulblogger I retweeted this quote on Twitter this morning as it reflects what students need at school and we all need in life – hope. Hope that the future holds wonder, love and forgiveness. Hope that it will all be OK. Hope there will be laughter and joy. Hope the the glass is half-full! cc... Read More

iBooks Author

cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo shared by billaday The announcement of new education tools at the ‘Apple Special Event’ excites many and leaves others with a range of concerns. Here’s a guide to this Apple education initiative if you do not watch the presentation. iBooks Author is what excites me. I think Apple’s hype is justified and this tool will... Read More

Connectivism and Connective Knowledge #CCK12

Connectivism and Connective Knowledge is an open online course that over 12 weeks explores the concepts of connectivism and connective knowledge and explore their application as a framework for theories of teaching and learning. Participation is open to everyone and there are no fees or subscriptions required. Connectivism and Connective Knowledge #CCK12 is a Massive Open Online... Read More

The best of both worlds: an anecdote

I have been asked to ‘lecture’ at the University of Wollongong this year. This position gives me the privilege of working with tertiary students preparing to become English teachers. This is an exciting opportunity and while preparing, thinking about the idealistic and the pragmatic, it became evident to me that the experience of organising to teach at the university... Read More