This morning I attended the Ministry of Education’s Learning Without Limits seminar in Christchurch. Around 100 principals, teachers, BOT members and other interested parties came to hear Douglas Harre and Marg McLeod from the Ministry of Education share an update on the progress being made towards the government’s plan for ultra-fast broadband in schools. The basis of the vision is:

• 97% NZ schools (99.7% of students) will have access to UFB (100megabits/second) by 2016
• 3% remote schools will have access to fast broadband (10Mbps) by other means eg.satellite or point-to-point wireless
• Crown Fibre Holdings (CFH) and Local Fibre Companies (LFCs) are connecting urban schools, MED and rural broadband providers are connecting rural schools.
• $150 million investment signalled to prepare schools for the rollout
• $1.5 billion investment overall

A key part of what the Ministry of Education is doing is through the Schools Network Upgrade Project (SNUP) which aims to make schools fibre ready over six years. Key points about the SNUP programme are:

• Provides subsidised upgrades to internal data and electrical cabling infrastructure
• 473 schools have been upgraded since 2006 ($18m)
• 100 more schools underway ($22m)
• 80 % costs for state /68% for state integrated funded by MoE
• Further 239 announced by Minister to start in Sept/Oct ($48m)
• By end of 2011 approx 1/3 of schools will have been upgraded

The presentation also canvased activity in the area of laptops for teachers, capability building and resource provision before providing an update on the development of the proposal for a National Education Network (NEN) across the country. Not a lot of detail on this as it seems that there’s still a lot to sort out – but the NEN trial is currently going ahead with an extended trial of up to 200 schools until June 2011.

All in all a useful meeting – the first of a series that will be held throughout New Zealand. I’m a fan of open information sharing, and the more we can have of this sort of thing the better – providing an opportunity for people hear details directly from those working in the area, and also to have the opportunity to ask questions and seek clarifications in an open forum.

Some years ago now a colleague of mine and I put an idea to a potential funder to develop an online timeline for people to contribute photographs and stories that could be tagged to specific locations – linked to collections in museums. The proposal wasn’t successful and so our idea languished. So it was with interest I explored HistoryPin today, after the link was sent to me by Malcolm. Created in partnership with Google, HistoryPin allows anyone to contribute photographs and stories, linked to a specific location, building up a visual history book. Viewers can search for and explore the stories related to a certain location, and using the time slider, can find stories in that location in different times in history. HistoryPin also links with StreetView images so that comparisons can be made between historical views of locations and how they look now. As the resources on this build up I can imagine it being a really valuable reference for the classroom.

In an unfortunately titled article in a recent edition of the Examiner Lenn Millbower comments on claims that internet conditioned learners will change how we deliver instruction. Much as I loathe the whole concept of delivering instruction as a description of what our education system is all about, I did bring myself to read the article and found myself pondering two key points in it:

What is the response from teachers generally, and our education researchers and policy makers in particular, to the observations of Social psychologist Dr Aleks Krotoski quoted in the article;

”It seems pretty clear that, for good or ill, the younger generation is being remoulded by the web. Facebook’s feedback loops are revolutionising how they relate. There is empirical evidence now that information overload and associative thinking may be reshaping how they think. For many, this seems to be a bleak prospect – young people bouncing and flitting between a thoughtless, throwaway virtual world.”

Questions this prompts me to consider include…

What are we doing in our classrooms on a daily/weekly basis, using action research or reflecting on action methods, to test these assumptions and claims?

If they prove true, what are the implications of them for how we design learning for the future?

Are these behaviours that we simply need to adapt to and accommodate, or are they things we need to be strategically and intentionally countering in the pedagogical design of our lessions?

Millbower concludes his article with a similarly tough challenge for teachers:

Distilled down to its essence, we learning professionals have two choices.

1. Deliver old style, long and detailed lectures, provide copious reading assignments, and expect focused attention on you; or …
2. Replace lectures with mysteries and problems to be solved, replace reading assignments with topics to be researched via the Internet, and replace focused attention with texting and other social interactions.

We may not want to pick the second option—it will certainly make our professional lives harder—but our choices are adaptation or decreasing relevance. We better make the choice before our learners make it for us.

In my work I make regular use of the internet and Web2.0 technologies on a daily basis, and have regular contact with teachers around the world who are doing so in their classrooms. This article is a timely reminder that we need to be mindful of the boiling frog anecdote, and commit some time to researching the ways in which the use of the internet is shaping our learning behaviour.

Today I presented CORE’s ten trends for 2010 to an audience of around 400 delegates at the Learning@School conference in Rotorua. The ten trends are a collection of themes and issues that have been identified by CORE staff as trends in education that we imagine will impact on the work of teachers and leaders in early childhood centres, schools, and tertiary institutions in NZ in the coming year. While our focus is on the bigger picture of education, there is a focus on trends associated with the use of ICTs in education, reflecting the fact that we are living in a world where nearly everything we do has a digital dimension.

I’ve had a long time interest in using the online environment as a vehicle for promoting debate and engagement in critical issues.

Recently I was invited by Bryan Orme to take a look at CreateDebate, a website he and his colleagues have created to promote discussion and critical thinking in the classroom.

It’s an interesting looking concept – so I’ve created a simple debate based on the theme and issues in my previous blog post and invite anyone to add their thoughts – both pro and con – to the debate.

I’ve titled the debate “blended, virtual and mobile learning should replace face-to-face instruction” Take a look, add your thoughts and send me any feedback on what you think of the usefulness of the site.

I was alerted to this article in this morning’s NZHerald by Toni Twiss (via Twitter) who is quoted in it. Toni has a passion for using mobile technologies for learning, and has done some excellent research in this area.

The article describes two “m-learning” programmes at Orakei Primary School in Auckland, one called Mobile Maori Learning that provides podcast lessons for playback via mobile phone, and the other called Mobile Learning for Boys that includes an online digital reading clinic to focus on improving reading comprehension, spelling and writing skills of students.

It’s encouraging to see these sorts of initiatives developing in our schools, with the exploratory use of emerging technologies to address authentic learning needs.

As I read the way the article was reported, however, I couldn’t help feel that there’s still an over-emphasis on the technology, and not enough on the pedagogical rationale for using it (which I’m sure is there!). The impression can easily emerge that the secret is in the use of the technology, not in the careful structuring and pedagogical intent of the activity that it is being used for.

In my role I see lots of technologies being used in all sorts of creative and inventive ways to support teaching and learning in classrooms – some of which is contributing in genuinely new and creative opportunities for learning, and some which is simply substituting new technology with old (eg some instances of interactive whiteboards replacing OHPs). The difference is not the technology – but the pedagogical intent.

I frequently hear that use of technology supports personalised learning (as quoted in this article) – a view that I have lots of agreement with, but only as a potential use, not inherent in the technology itself. It’s not that the use of technology such as cell phones is only now enabling personalised approaches to learning, that’s always been the case – I recall the ultimate personalised learning approach when I was at school – those boxed up SRA kits. The key to success is not in the technology, but in the learning design – as it is with any other form of classroom programme or activity.

The Herald article, with its emphasis on the technology (presumably because that’s what will attract our attention?) undersells what I’m sure is a great deal of thought and effort that has gone into the learning design of these applications.

We need to encourage the media to provide this emphasis, or at the very least, ensure that this emphasis is given in our reports to our own communities and made explicit when we are working with students.

“Technology in and of itself cannot make school practice innovative, and will not produce educational change, but technology, in the hands of pedagogically skilled educators it can enable innovative practice and facilitate educational change.”

I had the privilege of attending the Assess to Learn Cluster celebration day in Wairoa today – with teachers from around the Wairoa region gathering together to share what they have learned over the period of time on this project. The format for the day was excellent, with the majority of time being devoted to short sessions with teachers sharing with other teachers the things they’d learned through presentations and static displays. I was invited to provide a short introductory talk to open the day, and then to provide a summary of my observations and reflections at the end of the day, after sitting in on some of the presentations. Here’s a summary of what I fed back to them:

What I observed

• Learning journals – lots of reference to the use of learning journals by teachers and students to help track progress and provide meaningful reflection about how learning is occurring as well as what learning is taking place.
• Importance of assessment for learning (AFL)  – big emphasis on formative assessment methodologies, and of student ownership and participation in the formative assessment processes.
• Personalising learning- heavy emphasis on a range of strategies and techniques to promote learning tailored to student needs, and to promote high levels of participation and ownership in the learning by students.
• E-portfolios – several examples of e-portfolio use, with a big emphasis on the nature and purpose of the portfolio process, and less on the technology being used.
• E-buddies – some stunning examples peer feedback between learners in different schools, leading to very deep levels of understanding and responsiveness to feedback developing.
• Student focus – overarching emphasis on participation by students in the learning process, and in determining the what and how of approaches taken.
• Key competencies – an underpinning commitment to referencing the development of the key competencies across all programmes, with some insightful work being done in some of the Kura schools.

I heard reference to

• Increased engagement – lots of evidence of increased engagement as a result of these now strategies were provided – this being a significant measure of success in a predominantly low-decile community where engaging students in school has been a difficulty.
• Authentic activities – wonderful to hear stories of increased participation and interest among students as a result of planning focused on providing authentic contexts for learning.
• Empowerment – meaningful empowerment of students coming from expressions of “I feel empowered” as opposed to “I want to empower you”.
• Deeper understandings – depth of understanding of both process and product revealed through teacher and student reflective practices, leading to development of life-long learning dispositions.
• Emotional buy-in – linked to the issue of engagement, evidence of participation being the result of emotional buy-in, not simply conformity and seeking to please.
• Focus on learning, not performance – says it all – linked to the strong emphasis in this cluster on assessment for learning.

What I observed about the presenters

• Passionate – presentations were lively and engaging, revealing the passion of these teachers for their students and the work they are doing with them.
• Well prepared – these presentations were all of a quality worthy of being included in some of the larger conferences such as ULearn! Lots of attention to detail in terms of handouts, quality of slideshows and examples of student work.
• Using student examples – this really brought the presentations to life for me, and illustrated just how connected these teachers are to the work of their students.
• Involved students – some of the presentations included students presented – they were very well prepared and spoke extremely well and convincingly.
• Modelled good practice – presenters had worked hard to make sure that their presentations modelled the principles of effective learning they were addressing in their classroom approaches.
• Shared reflections – the honesty and un-masked sharing of their learning journeys made these teachers’ presentations really engaging for me.
• Invited feedback – presenters allowed time for feedback in their workshops, unpacking key ideas and engaging in rich dialogue around the themes and topics of discussion.

Being a part of this day has confirmed for me (yet again) – of the value of teacher professional development that is characterised by…

• teachers being engaged in sustained, in-depth inquiry into their classroom practice
• time devoted in classrooms to implementing the new ideas and strategies that are introduced
• the use of frameworks and strategies that support critical reflection and feedback in the PD process
• a ‘community’ approach to PD – schools/clusters pursuing common/agreed goals and outcomes
• appropriate use of evaluation measures that provide indicators of progress along the way
• teachers sharing practice with other teachers
• strategically timed celebration events where growth and development can be recognised, rewarded and celebrated!

Several times in this day I heard remarks along the lines of; “I hadn’t realised just how much we’d grown, or how much progress we’d made!” For me this sums up the value of such a day, and I applaud all of those involved in its organisation and all of those who participated in it.

I’ve been having fun exploring this great online resource from the North West Learning Grid aimed at encouraging learners to reflect on their current practices in the use of digital media and stimulate discussion and questioning. In each section of the resource the user is asked to respond to a number of questions about their media use, and at the end, they’re provided with feedback that suggests ways in which they could improve their media literacy skills. Users are then provided with a number of learning objects that they can work with to develop these ideas and understandings even further. These include more quizzes, games, and other online activities. I could see a number of ways that this could be used in classrooms – as an individual, group or whole class activity – or as ‘homework’ and an opportunity to engage with parents and caregivers too.

Ever since I got my iPod Touch I’ve been fascinated by the range of apps available from the Apple Store – including those that are useful to me as a learner such as the dictionary.

This morning I was sent a link to a list of 100 Best iPhone Apps for Serious Self-Learners which contains a lengthy list of iPhone Apps (many of which will work for my iPod Touch as well) that have been organised under subject headings to make it easier to find the ones that might be of interest.

I’m impressed with the list – most are unfamiliar to me, but the extent of what is available is a clear indication that mobile technologies need to be considered seriously in terms of their role in learning.

As an aside, I also read with interest the news about the development of big-screen e-Readers to help save the daily press. Apparently these new gadgets, with screens roughly the size of a standard sheet of paper, could present much of the editorial and advertising content of traditional periodicals in generally the same format as they appear in print. Apparently there are several companies, including some of the big news corporations, that are working on this. The article even refers seems likely to rumor and speculation by Apple observers suggesting that Apple may introduce a multipurpose tablet computer later this year. Such a device, with a screen that is said to be about three or four times as large as the iPod’s, would have an LCD screen capable of showing rich color and video, and people could use it to browse the Web.

Certainly an area of development worth keeping an eye on.

Ben, a Canadian educator on my Twitter list posted a link to this Mathematics in Movies site, developed by Oliver Knill from the Department of Mathematics at Harvard University. A great resource for maths teachers, particularly at secondary level, with each movie listed linking to the part of the movie with the math focus and a brief explanation of the mathematical aspects being considered.  Each movie is linked in a variety of formats, for viewing on whatever device you may have, including mobiles.

Knill’s website is also worth exploring for anyone interested in the teaching of mathematics and the use of technology in this process. On the site Knill explores some of the pedagogical questions, especially in web pedagogy and the use of technology in teaching which he shares on a pedagogy page.

Thanks Oliver for making such a rich resource available! A classic example of how each of us as educators can enrich the profession by using technology to share what we know and do.