The people at eInstruction are at it again, offering a prize of up to $75k (US) to the school that can gather  students and create their very own music video. The video can be a parody of an existing song or you can create one yourself. The key is to make it fun, creative, and focused on the use of technology in the classroom. I’ve blogged about this in previous years, and I know of several NZ schools that have entered, one of which won a significant prize!

The entries in this competition are always worth a view, as they illustrate the amazing diversity there is in the way the theme can be interpreted, and the incredible creativity that is unleashed when you set students an open-ended challenge like this.

This year I’ve had the privilege of being asked to be one of the judges for this event, so I’ll have even more reason to view and consider the entries – so let’s hope there are some NZ ones amongst them

I liked this diagram so much I thought I’d re-post it. Would make a useful classroom or staff PD resource to stimulate discussion about the internet and its role in society.
(the original can be found here.

Via: Medical Coding Certification

News just out here in the UK is of plans to develop project to build a shared cloud infrastructure for all government departments – announced yesterday at the Future of the Data Centre conference happening over here at the moment.

According to the release the UK government’s Cabinet Office plans to create a so-called ‘skunk works’ team to develop better ways to manage IT projects.
The proposal was revealed in a strategy document published this week, entitled the ‘Structural Reform Plan’’, which proposes a number of IT-related reforms.

This will be an interesting development to watch – thanks Malcolm for the alert

Top of the list in almost every education news report here in the UK at the moment is the large-scale cuts that are being made to the various education ‘quangos’ that were created in the past to serve and support the education system.

The list includes:

• Becta (The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency) which promotes the effective and innovative use of technology throughout learning (to be abolished altogether)
• Training and Development Agency for Schools – responsible for the training and development of the school workforce
• Young People’s Learning Agency which funds local authorities to commission suitable education and training for 16- to 19-year-olds
• National College for Leadership of Schools and Children’s Services which oversees professional development of leaders of school, early years settings and children’s services
• Children’s Workforce Development Council which handles training, qualifications and reform for the children and young people’s workforce
  School Food Trust which is charged with improving quality of food in schools
• Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency, the regulatory body for public examinations and publicly funded qualifications including the Early Years Foundation Stage and the National Curriculum (to be abolished altogether)

A common argument put forward for the closing (or downsizing) of these agencies (aside from an economic response) is the notion that they have grown to ‘top-heavy’ and bureaucratic, and no longer provide a good return on investment. This is the problem with any bureaucracy – or any organization for that matter. They generally begin life as ‘lean, mean and very focused’, but over time tend to become inflated at the top level, with increasing amounts of effort going into ensuring that the bureaucracy manages itself. The long-term impact is that the organization ceases to be effective.

When we think about the public sector, this is exacerbated by an unhealthy emphasis on risk-aversion and political correctness, particularly in times of economic constraint. So, practices and procedures are established to minimize or avoid risk – inevitably resulting in a reduced level of service, innovation and leadership from the agency concerned.

It seems that the education system in New Zealand may be living proof of this, judging by a recent snapshot report issued last Friday which found that “excessive red tape, bureaucratic systems and ineffective consultation are hampering government departments.” Of the government departments that were reviewed, the Ministry of Education came bottom of the rankings for overall performance, chief executive performance, and quality of service. The assessment said the Education Ministry was seen as “ineffective and too politically correct”, as it played a “piggy in the middle” role in the introduction of national standards.

The challenge – how do we create an education system that is appropriately resourced, led and well managed – that is also characterised by a high degree of agility, flexibility, innovation and adaptability? Some sort of coordinating agency is required in order to achieve the economies of scale and to lead the ‘big picture’ view that is often missing in localised management. But we must avoid the over-bureaucratisation that ensues if there are insufficient checks and balances along the way.

I had the privilege of attending the official launch of the Greater Christchurch Schools Network website yesterday afternoon at Burnside High School – attended by around 200 principals and education leaders from Christchurch schools, plus various representatives of the local business community who have been supporting this endeavour, including enable networks and the Canterbury Development Corporation. CORE Education also got a profile for the contribution it has made to the development of the GCSN community.

Guest of honour was Minister of Education, Anne Tolley, who spoke positively about the potential of fibre connectivity to schools and the ways in which this can benefit learners and learning. All very encouraging and affirming of the work we’ve been doing in Christchurch.

The launch of a website is rather ho hum these days, with websites being started up every day – but for the GCSN it was more about the launch of the community than the website. The momentum for this initiative has been building for nearly five years now, from some informal discussions about the concept of a MUSH network in the city leading to the current situation where more than 200km of fibre has been deployed around the city, and things are on track to have all 160+ schools in the greater Christchurch region connected by the end of 2011.

While there has inevitably been a significant amount of effort put in by specific individuals and companies, the main reason for the success of this venture so far has been the level of buy-in, participation and commitment from people across all areas of the school and business community. Thus, the website that was launched yesterday  is intended to provide a focal point for that community. It is far more than a brochure site for the GCSN. While it will be the place where news, updates and features are presented, it has been designed to allow members of the community to make their own contributions, whether they be resources, links to workshops or professional learning opportunities, or programmes being offered for students in other schools.

In  particular, I am really pleased to see the development of the ‘learning centre‘ on the site, focusing on the 3 Ps – Programmes, Projects and Professional learning. In these areas teachers and schools have an opportunity to share ideas, resources and specific events that both students and teachers can participate in and benefit from. I’m looking forward to seeing how this area will grow and develop.

The blogosphere and discussion lists have been running hot in recent weeks as people have begun grappling with the implications of Facebook’s sweeping new privacy policies and their controversial new default and permanent settings. The concerns appear to have had some effect, with a recent statement from Facebook’s Public Policy Director that the company will release simple privacy settings in the coming weeks.

The argument is between those (like Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg) who assert that the world has changed, that it’s become more public and less private – and others who believe that privacy is still important. It’s a debate that will no doubt continue for some time yet, but certainly has enormous implications for schools, where student privacy is an everyday concern for a whole variety of reasons.

When it comes to online privacy concerns there are a number of things schools can do from a technology perspective (such as filtering, blocking, monitoring etc.), however, the best approach is to do what they do best and EDUCATE students about the issues involved, and MODEL and TEACH appropriate ways of dealing with this.

This sounds straight forward, but isn’t as easy as it sounds, as it would appear from the evidence in a recent PEW internet report that the worst offenders in terms of managing their online identity are those in the age group that are teaching our young people – not the students themselves. The PEW report is based on the findings of a daily tracking survey on Americans’ use of the Internet, with data from telephone interviews conducted among a sample of 2,253 adults, 18 and older.

Those ages 18-29 are more likely than older adults to say:

• They take steps to limit the amount of personal information available about them online — 44% of young adult internet users say this, compared with 33% of internet users between ages 30-49, 25% of those ages 50-64 and 20% of those age 65 and older.
• They change privacy settings — 71% of social networking users ages 18-29 have changed the privacy settings on their profile to limit what they share with others online. By comparison, just 55% of SNS users ages 50-64 have changed the default settings.
• They delete unwanted comments — 47% social networking users ages 18-29 have deleted comments that others have made on their profile, compared with just 29% of those ages 30-49 and 26% of those ages 50-64.
• They remove their name from photos — 41% of social networking users ages 18-29 say they have removed their name from photos that were tagged to identify them, compared with just 24% of SNS users ages 30-49 and only 18% of those ages 50-64.

Seems we’ve got our work cut out for us if we’re to truly embrace the concept of cyber-citizenship in our schools, as  key competency/disposition for our students when they leave our schools. The PEW report is a useful reminder that it becomes difficult to teach what we don’t know, and that in the case of online privacy, the things we teach should be congruent with the behaviours we practice and model. I think there’s a strong case for a concerted professional development approach here, with support at a strategic and policy level. Problem here is that our policy makers are in that same age category.

The full PEW Internet report is available here (PDF download)

In the news today from the BBC is the headline: Internet access a fundamental right?, leading with a report about a poll that reveals almost four in five people around the world believe that access to the internet is a fundamental right. The survey – of more than 27,000 adults across 26 countries – found strong support for net access on both sides of the digital divide.

This headline and the story it tells reveal just how significant the internet has become in our modern world. In countries around the world, including New Zealand, there are widespread efforts to ensure the provision of a robust, high speed network that reaches all parts of the community, in homes, businesses, schools etc.

I often speak about a project I did with a group of 14 year olds, when I challenged them to find out what would happen if we “turned off the internet”. After their initial responses about how it would affect their use of Facebook or online gaming, the students spent a week interviewing parents, neighbours and business people, and returned to class with a long list of services and businesses that would severely affected – in news, entertainment, banking, manufacturing, marketing to name a few. Almost every part of our economy and social infrastructure would be affected in some way.

Of interest to all was the fact that they considered schools would be among the least affected, based on their assessment that the internet, while present in a great many schools, hadn’t yet become a “mission critical” part of a school’s way of working. (This was something I did about four years ago, so would be interesting to see what the response might be like now).

But the argument in the BBC report for access for all is based on something far more important than simply economic benefits – it emphasises the fact that access to the internet is important for freedom of speech and participation in a social democracy. For me, these are important ideals, and underpin why we, as educators, must be pro-actively supporting the concept of “cyber-citizenship” among our students, to prepare them adequately for living in a world where the use of the internet in this way is becoming the norm.

The BBC have also published an interactive map showing how the internet has spread around the world between 1998 and 2008. The map shows in a series of progressions how various countries around the world have embraced the internet and made access available for citizens. Of particular interest to me is the fact that New Zealand appears right at the start (1998) as one of the few countries with “extensive” internet usage.

Just shows how things change – what might have been considered extensive in 1998 is certainly not the case any longer – certainly not from the point of view of speed, reliability and open-ness. Thus the current effort to roll out a super-fast, fibre network around the country.

I spent the day today with teachers from seven Nelson schools that are in their second year now of an ICT PD cluster programme, and then this evening, participated in the executive meeting of a professional organisation I belong to  (the Distance Educational Association of NZ – DEANZ).

The cluster meeting affirmed my confidence in the professional integrity and ability of those teaching in our schools, and also affirmed my beliefs about the effectiveness of well designed professional development that is based on addressing both individual and collective goals.

The DEANZ exec meeting caused me to reflect on one of the key parts of my address to the Nelson teachers – what it means to be an education professional. I was inspired to include reference to an article in this morning’s Christchurch Press by John Fletcher (an old colleague of mine from the College of Education days when he was the head of the secondary division). In his usual eloquent and well informed way, John  expresses his concerns about the government’s national standards for schools, focusing his attention on the role of teachers, as professionals, in taking responsibility for establishing and maintaining high standards in the work they do. Fletcher quotes a section from the Marshall Report, (Department of Education,1978) that lists three key characteristics of a profession:

1. The acquiring of specialised knowledge by study, training and practice, and the recognition if this qualification by a degree, diploma or membership of a professional body,
2. Maintaining high standards of achievement and conduct in the practising of the profession, enforced by disciplinary provisions,
3. Accepting that, while a person practices a profession in order to earn a living, this consideration should take second place to serving the interests of the client.

If ever there was a time for those of us working in the education space to stand up and be counted as professionals, this is it. But that means more than simply saying so or making lots of signs and banners. It means being deeply and completely committed to fulfilling the three basic tenets of being a professional as outlined above. Sadly, there are a few within our ranks who fail to do so – as there are in all professions. But that is one of the responsibilities of the profession, first to support those people to ’step up’, or, if such efforts fail, to put in place procedures that remove them from the profession.

Failure to do so means that we might as well forget about being considered a profession and professionals, and accept a role merely as ‘public servants’, government employees who do the bidding of our employers, in much the same way as factory workers do for theirs.

Tim Berners-Lee, credited with inventing the World Wide Web, made the first proposal for it in March 1989, and on 25 December 1990, with the help of Robert Cailliau and a young student at CERN, he implemented the first successful communication between an HTTP client and server via the Internet.

That’s 20 years ago! So to commemorate, ON magazine has published a special edition that looks at the Web at 20 (PDF download). It contains a range of interviews with key people involved in the development of the WWW, exploring both the historical development and future directions of this phenomenon.

Contents include:

The mag is a a great read – providing all sorts of valuable insights for those who have lived through this development, and something of an historical record for those who have been born since and grown up used to it. In particular, check out what many of the people interviewed say when they share their thoughts about what things might be like 20 years from now.

I got to thinking, as I read, that this would be a great resource for use in secondary classrooms. What appeals is the emphasis on exploring the motivations and original intentions of those who first conceived of the idea of a WWW, and how those original ideas have been fulfilled (or, in some cases, superceded). The following extract from the introduction provides a taste of what I mean:

Future Focused - Equally important, they [Berners-Lee and Metcalf] both remain deeply involved in exploring how the web can be harnessed to address some of the greatest challenges we face as a society. Metcalfe’s vision for increasing the efficiency of energy distribution by emulating certain core characteristics of the Internet is compelling. Berners-Lee discusses how we can accelerate discovery and collaboration on a large scale by freeing data from today’s information “silos” and allowing it to be linked together via the Semantic web.

I’d be interested to hear of examples of this edition being used with students in this way – I’m sure there’s inspiration here for the next generation of thinkers and innovators.

More than 20 years ago I taught on the West Coast were I was told a yarn about a tree-feller who had an inenviable record for the number of trees he could fell in a day with his axe. A salesman came to town selling chainsaws, and was able to persuade the tree-feller that he could increase the number of trees he cut down by using a chainsaw. The a tree-feller duly bought a chainsaw and headed off into the bush. At the end of the first day he returned to town where the salesman inquired how things had gone. The tree-feller reported that he’d managed to cut down about the same number of trees as he had with an axe, but that he expected to do better the next day.

The following day he returned with reports that he’d only managed to cut down half the number of trees he normally would have, and on the third day this had fallen to around a quarter. The salesman, keen to ensure his reputation wasn’t tarnished, offered to help the tree-feller perfect his technique with the chainsaw. Taking the chainsaw in both hands he dragged on the starter rope and pulled, and BBRRRRRrrrr – the chainsaw roared into life. At which point the tree-feller leapt back in amazement – “what’s that noise?” he gasped.

An oldie, but a goodie The point of this parable – nothing changes by simply inserting a new piece of technology!

I thought of this story when I read a news item this morning from the UK, where Government Minister Vernon Coaker, on opening the BETT education show, used his speech to trumpet the Government’s plans to provide 270,000 free laptops to low-income families, which were announced earlier this week. In his speech he claims that having access to a laptop in the home can boost children’s GCSE scores by two grades.

Now if this is the case I’d certainly be interested in seeing the evidence. Don’t get me wrong, I am a BIG supporter of students having access to a personal digital device that can enable them to connect to the internet and express themselves digitally – it’s just that I’ve been around long enough to see the claims and counter claims that are made for (or against) the introduction of new technologies in education.

I can recall my first job as a lecturer was to get my students to survey the number of OHPs in the schools they were about to begin a practicum. The responses were the same – every school had been provided with OHPs by the (the) Department of Education, but these students found the majority unused in back rooms, or covered in books and papers in the front (or back) of classrooms. Similar reports exist where there has been a roll-out of interactive whiteboards and computer labs.

My (recurring) theme here is the need to consider professional development in all of this. And I’m not talking about short sessions to teach people where the buttons are and how to save and edit etc. I’m talking about professional development that is connected to practice; focuses on the teaching and learning of specific academic content; and helps locate the technology use within the teacher’s context, and is connected to other school initiatives.

The problem is, PD is expensive, and you can’t measure it in terms of the number of “widgets” that are purchased – which is why, it appears, in governments all over the world, we see investment in things, not people. We need to see a change in priorities.

Mr Coaker may well have evidence to support his claim – if so, we need to see it, and when we do I’ll wager that the actual laptops were only a (albeit important) part of the picture that led to the rise in achievement.