ECOO BOARD OF DIRECTORS :: Blog

Not sure what I make of this, but though provoking none the less.

(maybe not a good time to post this  - right after so many have just left summer institutes where differentiated instruction seems to be the theme of the day...)

 

I read this with a few questions popping into my head; not because some group is finally realizing that something should REALLY be done about the integration of digital technologies into education, but some of the description seems somewhat narrow.  The devil will be, as usual, in the details. It will be interesting to see how "academia" reacts.

See what you think. I will try to be optimistic!

Found an interesting way of involving anyone and everyone in forging the future of education. Just thought - funny that the word forging has two almost opposite meanings?

Take a poke around HERE and see how the thoughts are going.

Some interesting statements about ICT - here is an excerpt from Findings > Survey:

• All the groups felt the least important areas for further investigation were: How might technologies help the education system respond to significant society changing events, eg pandemics, climate change, cyberterrorism, economic failure? How might the balance between state and commercial delivery of education change in the context of technological development?
• Over half of all adults from all backgrounds felt that the role of technology was to make learning fun and motivate students.

I couldn't resist adding a comment about McLuhan that might get shown later!

 

 

Just got this so spreading the request:

Hi Geoff
My name is Steve Massiah and I asked Barbara Bodkin to forward me your contact information. I am a retired principal out of Toronto and as you can see below I am currently an elementary school principal at an international school in Thailand. We have a last minute vacancy for a computer teacher or possibly Elementary School IT Coordinator (depending upon the person’s experience).

I taught in the OISE AQ program for fourteen years and remembered at times coming across teachers without positions who were upgrading their credentials. If you are aware of any computer teachers who might be interested in such a posting I would greatly appreciate you forwarding them this email.

The computer teacher is expected to :

• In consultation with the teachers create learning opportunities that allow the students to use technology in an authentic way by integrating activities into the units of inquiry.
• Assist teachers in finding ways that will enhance their teaching by integrating technology
• Model for teachers the use of technology in their classrooms
• Find sites that will help them with a particular topic
• Team-teach units that integrate technology
• Conduct workshops to further develop teacher’s knowledge
• Have input into the software and hardware purchases
• Be a liaison with the technical department
• Teach IT classes to students depending upon grade assignment
• (grade 3 – 5)

Ruamrudee is one of the top international schools in Thailand and offers a very competitive package. Air fare, housing stipend, health insurance etc. are all part of the package.
 
Geoff thank you in advance for any connections you will be able to provide.

Sincerely

Stephen W. Massiah
Elementary School Principal
Email: smassiah@rism.ac.th

Ruamrudee International School
6 Ramkhamhaeng, 184, Minburi
Bangkok, Thailand
(overseas phone) 66 2518 0320 9 ext. 255
(local phone) 02518 0320 9 ext. 255
(overseas fax) 66 2518 0844
(local fax) 02518 0844

Here is a paragraph from a July Report from Futurelab that those who are interested in Open Source may like:

Cottenham Village College in Cambridge now runs its entire online teaching, learning and home community – 1,500-1,600 users - on an open source system currently costing just £6 a month for server space. Yes, the technology will have to be ramped up as demand increases, but in the course of just one year, it has saved around £40,000 on hardware, software licences and other e-mail costs alone by using Google Apps for communications and collaborative work.

Couple this with the Formal/Informal ideas being tossed around then add the ways some people are creatively incorporating new technologies in learning and I think we live in very interesting times!

I have often noticed that all subjects have been growing so much in the last 10 yrs that someone might even imagine that if each was the only subject in the curriculum all students could still learn everything about life.

Has any subject actually REMOVED anything? Can each keep growing in a finite day? 

Here is a different perspective being tried.

 

I've had this poster/image up on a bulletin board in my office for about a year now. I had always intended to share it, as there is lots of great stuff in it to unpack and think about, but lost the bookmark to the original and couldn't find it! (when did the Internet get so big???)

Anyway, here it is in all its glory 4mb jpg glory!

http://elearningargentina.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/informal-learning.jpg

 

(source Jay Cross, "Internet Time")

Well, I have started using my new GPS and I have had some unsettling feeling about it.  I have long prided myself on my ability to recognize landmarks, remember them and use them when traveling to ensure that I don't get lost and take the best routes possible.  This navigtion ability came about from growing up in the country, where not all roads were found on the maps.  I still used maps, especially for finding back roads that would make my drive shorter or more pleasant.  So when I started using the GPS, I assumed it would be like using a road map, but I have found out I am wrong.

I started out by plotting where I was going and using the GPS to, what I felt, was blindly guide me there.  I ended up getting to my destination, but when I looked at the route the GPS took me on, it was a round-about way that I would not have taken if I used my handy map.  I went on another trip a few weeks ago to the ECOO board meetings and took a route that I used to take to my cottage.  I programmed in "via points" and off we went.  Well, wouldn't you know it we ended up in a subdivision about 2 miles from our intended destination.  On the way home we followed the route the GPS calculated and ended up taking another round-about way that I would have never have taken...GPS navigation saver...not yet!

 So I started thinking about this problem and started thinking that this technology might cause our students to lose the sense of navigation that has helped us navigate through the years.  But then I started seeing similarities with other tools when they were first introduced.  I wonder if people felt the same way when calculators were introduced?  Did they think people would lose their reasoning and mathmatical skills...I know they felt that way.  How about the computer.  Did people feel that they would "run our lives' and we would not want to do anything for ourselve?  I bet that was the case.  In both of these examples, when the initial dust settled, it is obvious both of those tools did not cause us to lose our skills, but instead enhanced them and allowe us to reach further into the future by allowing us to build on our already established skills and enhancing them with technology.

 I suspect the same will be the case with the GPS...but for now, I still check that map to see if the route is the best one to take!

 

/shawn

 

Although some of this report is Euro-centric the majority is from everywhere and anywhere in the world. It brings together things that are happening in a wide range of fields but with a focus on education which is why I find it useful.

It may be of interest if you want to try and keep up (catch up?) - do I hear "to dream the impossible dream . . . "?

Here is the May edition of the BECTA report.

A short version of the contents:

    Networking and wireless
    Multimedia (including Analysis: Handheld games consoles in education)
    Hardware (including robots in education)
    Software and internet (including ICT to improve parental engagement: towards online reporting