Learning: A Digital Renaissance (a draft)
I Music & Photography: A Digital Renaissance This century, the digital revolution in photography and music, has led to the democratisation and proliferation of human beings sharing images and sounds, experiences, knowledge and beauty. How have these two industries, with entrenched interests and well-established systems, changed so rapidly that they little resemble their former selves of a mere decade ago? I do not ask ‘why’ they... Read More
‘Shut Down The Schools!’
A new report asks a very important question in, ‘What can we learn today about the students’ aspirations, adoption and adaption of emerging technologies for learning than can help us plan for the future?’ A major national survey concluded that students were already very effectively implementing a vision of socially-based, un-tethered and digitally-rich learning on their own, in and out of school, with or without the assistance and... Read More
Pen & Paper Exams
A recent conversation with a colleague, who genuinely believes that students are more creative when they write with a pen, really made me wonder about the future of pen & paper examinations in NSW and the rest of the world. As you likely know, the students sitting the Higher School Certificate examinations in 2012 were issued with Lenovo laptops as part of the Digital Education Revolution when they were in Year 9, back in 2009. It is likely that... Read More
Social Media Revolution 2 (Refresh)
10 things 'a school' can do in preparation for 1:1 (laptops) in classrooms
This is the third post in a series. You may wish to read the first and second posts concerned with what a teacher and faculty can do in preparation for 1:1 too. 10 things ‘a school’ can do in preparation for 1:1 (laptops) in classrooms: 1. Funding- expectations of a champagne experience from a beer budget tend to fizzle when the reality sets in. The state is providing machines and some training/support but it will not be enough.... Read More
Connected?
This IBM commercial makes me think about our still very disconnected classrooms. Read More
Director General's Memo: Commonwealth-state Funding Outcomes for NSW
Dear Colleagues, State and territory governments met with the Commonwealth on the weekend to negotiate funding agreements for public schools and vocational education and training. Of course you’d have to been living on the moon to miss recent media coverage of all this, so forgive me any repetition in outlining how this is likely to affect us. In a nutshell, these new agreements will provide significant, and welcome, new resources for... Read More
'NSW pulls out of computers-for-schools program'
The term ends and one would hope for more inspirational news from our political and system leaders. The above headline is from the ABC website and I am assuming it is reporting on yesterday’s memo from the Director-General but am uncertain what it will mean for us in schools who have already been allocated money/laptops from Round 1. My school has been expecting 233 laptops and the wireless infrastructure to support these tools. Does this... Read More
Mountains to die on?
What was it like at your school? Were you a smart kid? Were the classes streamed/graded or mixed ability or some combination of both? How did your teachers teach, engage and stimulate interest in the topic or activities? What was the best thing about the way you were taught at school? What was the worst? Was student welfare evident? If you are an educator, what is it like at the school you work at now? Different? Pretty similiar? Schools play a... Read More
The squabbling continues…
NSW may scuttle computers in schools deal and way down at he bottom of the article one reads, tomorrow is the deadline for NSW to sign on to the deal. We’d just like to get started knowing where we are heading – and when. Timeline needed…now! A good blog post about the underfunding of the revolution is Australia’s Digital Revolution – Part 2 – the 1 percenta. The irony is, that even with all the funding in the... Read More
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