August 2010

This month, a mixture of videos and links to ICT related information. I’m very keen for us to keep pushing the boundaries with ICT in the classroom – if there is something you want to try,

• skyping an overseas school
• editing digital images and video and music
• online presentations
• blogging for children
• using knowledgenet
• e-reflections
• e-portfolios

let me know and I will give you a hand. In the meantime, let me know what you think of some of the links below:

TKI

Have you tried the new TKI website?

 

John Hattie

Professor John Hattie asks if teachers in their critical role as change agents, are too focused on the short term horizon - national standards, literacy and numeracy - when they should be focused on using literacy and numeracy to engage more students in the pursuit of learning.

David Warlick

is always worth reading – This post called Technology for 21st Century talsk about the importance of providing children with ready access to computers as opposed to dumping technology on them. Worth considering as we think about 1 to 1 laptop programmes in schools.

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/?p=2712

and part 2 ……. What ICT is going to help my children learn by helping them to become literate, resourceful, and habitual learners — engaged in a learning lifestyle?

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/?p=2706

Game Playing

Ewan McIntosh describes how in a “flexible curriculum” games can be used as a basis for creative writing and speaking, across curriculum areas, and for cross-curricular studies.

Handheld Computers

If you think inputting text into handheld devices is slow, take a look at this. Found through Derek Wenmoth’s blog:

http://blog.core-ed.net/derek/2010/08/prepare-to-change-the-way-we-write.html 

50 words a minute! This has some fairly major implications about the way we view and think about handheld devices – at school?

Core Ed’s Top Ten Trends for 2010:

Go to the web page and scroll to the bottom of the page…….

Interesting Fact:  Amazon has been selling hardback books for 15 years; it began selling its Kindle reader and the e-books to go with it less than three years ago.

Yet this past spring and early summer, Amazon sold 143 e-books for every 100 hardcover books, a gap that is widening quickly.

Food for Thought:

Reading, Libraries and Mathematics

Booktalks – Connect your class to a NZ author. Have a look at this new resource – Classes can use Skype to set up video interviews.

http://www.booktalks.org.nz/

This is a brief presentation on Libraries as the are and as they should be by an American Library expert. Provides food for thought>

 

And finally, an excellent TED talk on maths which, while it is aimed at Secondary level, discusses the importance of critical problemsolving – ie not providing answer choices. Again worth listening to.

The importance of Social Media

Why we need to take social networking seriously. An update on the statistics:

April - May 2010

Following on from Mark Treadwell’s talk on Monday, I like the post below from Doug Johnson which reaaly illustrates the point about memory…….

When a good memory works against you

Friday, April 30, 2010 at 06:51AM

I was visiting with a local Verizon telephone support person yesterday (we were both chaperones on a middle school field trip - great fun). She made an interesting comment about her job.

When someone calls with a question about his/her cell phone operations, the person providing support is expected to use a database to get the correct answer. If the support person does not go to the database but relies on memory instead, it will result in a negative performance evaluation. Things change so quickly in the field that not checking for the most recent "fix" is irresponsible.

A system that rewards good interpersonal skills and the ability to find and use information? A system in which a good memory is not only unecessary but possibly a liability?

The ability to memorize has always been a critical skill for success in traditional education. (Memorize the capitols of all the countries in Central America, the quadratic equation, today's Spanish vocabulary words, the three branches of government, the dates of World War II ... )

Are we rewarding an obsolete skill set when we give top grades to those with good memories? After all, wouldn't you want your physician, car mechanic, airline pilot, etc. checking for updates rather than relying on a good memory?

Standardised Testing – Sir Ken Robinson

Really worth a listen.

Karen:

Being part of the Schools Loop means we can access the KAREN network for resources such as these:

http://wiki.karen.net.nz/index.php/KAREN_Content

Online magazines:

Online magazines which have content relating to teaching and leaning. Perhaps this is why I need an IPad??

http://thejournal.com/home.aspx

http://www.bbcfocusmagazine.com/

Interface magazine. As you know, the print version of this magazine is well written – aimed at teachers. There is also the website which is worth visiting for links.

Water

A Short video on the reality of bottled water:

ICT March 2010

Beyond Google

This pdf has some ideas which will help you and your children move beyond the first 2 pages of Google search results. Help children make sense of the answers they are getting for their questions.

I also try to encourage children to use the tools on our search page. If they are prepared to do some thinking about where the best place is to search for information before they actually go to Google the results will be much better:

Michelle C sent me this site which I have been using with younger classes for Internet Safety.

 

Called Think U Know it also includes links to the very good New Zealand based internet safety site called Hector’s World. There are links to this site on our main page.

Did You Know 4.0. This is an update (Sept 2009) on the earlier versions. Worth looking at and thinking about the ramifications for us and the children we teach.

Now some websites for you.

For the Smartboard:

TES has a whole heap of free resources:

http://www.tes.iboard.co.uk/

And a couple of videos that are relevant to what is happening in schools today. The first one is Mark Treadwell who Steve and I heard last year. Mark describes the renaissance of the 14th-16th centuries and makes comparisons with the changing learning landscape of the 21st century.

Other videos relating to education and learning with a New Zealand focus are at EdTalks:

Finally, Don’t forget ICT PD Day on Wednesday (24th). I’ll be working extensively on Knowledgenet today but if there are other things you want to deal with there should be time for that as well.

February 2010

After a bit of a rest, the ICT Blog is back!  First up a recap of the goals for the year, then some websites you might find useful. Don’t forget to use Interface. It seems to be written for teachers by teachers and has a wealth of ICT related information and links.

I am very interested in personal learning networks and how technology can facilitate learning in this way. Spend 3 minutes watching this video and ask yourself if this isn’t a good way to learn? It throws the old homework question out the door!

Some of the sites mentioned in the video:

http://edu.glogster.com/

http://www.symbaloo.com/us/

http://www.evernote.com/

 

Sites of the Month:

Edutopia article on using video in the classroom.

Video Collections:

Maths at the Movies…….

Video Collection Site – organised into subject areas.

Smartboard videos on the Smart youtube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/SMARTClassrooms

 

Online audio editor

Supermarket maths – which queue is the quickest

Powerpoint to Youtube conversion tool – display your class powerpoints on Youtube.

 Train your brain. Set up an account and watch yourself improve! 

 

Goals for the Year (and progress from last year!)

• Provided upgraded wireless access point management ( Thanks to the parents assn.)
• Placed more content on KnowledgeNet
• Rolled out student KnowledgeNet logins and training to Year 4 to Year 6
• Implemented Parents portal to KnowledgeNet.   166 caregivers now have logins.
• Implemented online roll marking
• PAT Data entered in PCschool system
• Migrated PCSchool to stand alone server
• PCschool database changed to faster .sql software
• Provided full broadband solution for 2010
• Upgraded server software for 2010 ..
• Mobile netbook trolley for 2010
• All computer switches 1GB
• Web and mail filtering in house
• All school computers to be standardised on Windows 7 for 2010

What’s happening this year …..

• More assessment data provided to PCSchool
  • Basic facts
  • ICAS Achievements
  • Curric Levels/ national standards inf
• Use of KnowledgeNet for class planning/teaching/communication
  • Development of Parent Portal
• Continued use of KnowledgeNet or Blog for communication and publication
• Wider use of internet as a learning tool – Faster internet connection
• Extended use of PCSchool Spider as an admin tool
• Integration of Smartboards as a classroom tool
• Use of video in classroom programs