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.

I’ve recently begun working with a tertiary institution to help them work through the process of working in the online environment, translating courses previously only taught face-to-face. For those who have done this sort of thing before you’ll realise there’s a lot more to this effort than simply putting the course material up onto a learning management system and giving students access.

The trend to moving courses online isn’t confined just to the tertiary sector. After nearly two decades of working with clusters of schools in NZ, and the development of the Virtual Learning Network, I noted yesterday that Clutha will now be recognised as NZ’s first fully virtual school, after a consortium of southern secondary schools and polytechnics, led by Catlins Area School at Owaka, was one of five applicants chosen to open trades academies in 2011.

All of this activity is very exciting, and certainly moving in the direction that I strongly believe is where we need to be heading, but it is going to require significant changes in policy, programme design and teaching practice in order to succeed – and none of that happens easily, or without confronting the tensions that exist when the way we’ve done things for years are suddenly being challenged and changed, and when our relative autonomy as teachers becomes ‘exposed’ in ways we’re not used to.

So it was with great interest I read this week of the release of the National Standards for Quality Online Programmes,  published by the North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL). This publication is designed to provide states, districts, online programs, accreditation agencies and other organizations with a set of over-arching quality guidelines for online programs in several categories: leadership, instruction, content, support services and evaluation. This is the third in a series of publications from NACOL, the first being Quality Standards for Online Courses (PDF) and the second being Quality Standards for Online Teaching (PDF).

In the work I’ve been doing over the past 15 years in this area, I’ve seen lots of attention given to the development of effective online courses, and participated in discussions around what makes for effective online teaching – but in this publication we have what I regard as something that’s been missing, the emphasis on whole programme design and implementation. This is surely a sign that the whole area of online provision is maturing beyond the point where we’ve got collections of ‘pilot’ courses that are part of a larger programme. For us to truly move online learning onto centre stage we must be addressing the range of issues that are highlighted in this publication.

I now look forward to a fourth publication – Quality Standards for Government Level Policy Developers. We certainly need that in New Zealand, where the current policy framework within which initiatives such as the Clutha Virtual School and the Virtual Learning Network must struggle to become established is based on a 20th century view of schooling. For example, policies around the way funding is provided for students and staff, how assessments must be attested to, how ‘attendance’ is regarded and how resources are allocated are all based on a ‘physical school paradigm’, and will continue to be problematic until they are changed.

Today is the opening of the ULearn conference in Christchurch, and Education Minister Anne Tolley will be present to give and opening address. Looks like we’re in for some good news if this morning’s NZ Herald article is anything to go by

Education Minister Anne Tolley is to give a speech this morning opening the ULearn conference in Christchurch, which has attracted about 2000 delegates and 400 national and international speakers to discuss teaching and learning in the 21st century.

Mrs Tolley will call for the education system to “fully commit to the digital age”, and will reinforce the Government’s commitment to high-speed internet access for all New Zealanders.

She will also announce a case is being prepared for a computer network which would potentially incorporate every school in the country, allowing schools to share information at high speed and access interactive tools such as high-definition video conferencing.

Today is International Literacy Day.

This year, International Literacy Day will put the spotlight on the empowering role of literacy and its importance for participation, citizenship and social development.

As people who can read it is hard to put ourselves in the shoes of those who can’t – reading for learning, reading for communicating with others, reading to protect ourselves against illness and even knowing when and how to take medication, reading to gain employment and reading for having a voice in decision making in the family and local, regional and global communities.

Literacy is a human right. Literacy is essential for eradicating poverty, reducing child mortality, curbing population growth, achieving gender equality and ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy.

The day helps focus on other campaigns such as Education for All, the U.N. International Literacy Decade (2003 to 2012) and the second Millennium Development Goal.

[source: globalednet – http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au)

Interesting report just released from the McKinsey organisation, reporting on a survey of companies using Web2.0 applications and the impact of this on their business.The research project sought to get a clear idea of whether companies are deriving measurable business benefits from their investments in the Web

The report is pretty optomistic, concluding:

69 percent of respondents report that their companies have gained measurable business benefits, including more innovative products and services, more effective marketing, better access to knowledge, lower cost of doing business, and higher revenues. Companies that made greater use of the technologies, the results show, report even greater benefits.

McKinsey also found that found that successful companies not only tightly integrate Web 2.0 technologies with the work flows of their employees but also create a “networked company,” linking themselves with customers and suppliers through the use of Web 2.0 tools.

The report provides a series of breakdowns to identify what the measures of benefits are, and illustrate exactly how and in what areas these benefits are occurring.

This got me to thinking about the use of Web2.0 in education. There’s been lots of talk (quite appropriately) about the use of Web2.0 tools for learning, as a part of the daily teaching and learning programmes with students, but what about the impact of Web2.0 technologies on the business of schools? If a similar survey were to be conducted among schools, I wonder what would be said about the impact in terms of our productivity, cost of doing business, communications with stakeholders, marketing etc – plus (the real interest for me), the potential for creating a truly networked education system?

I can certainly cite plenty of isolated examples that are occurring around the country – but I wonder how we’d fare if an objective metric were applied? Has anyone in schools done this sort of analysis?

For those interested in following the Cloud computing discussions, here’s a publication just released from Sun Microsystems that explains what cloud computing is all about.

This guide to cloud computing is a short, 25 page read, that…

• Defines cloud computing and its benefits
• Explains the different types of clouds (public, private, and hybrid)
• Describes the architectural service layers (e.g., Software as a Service)
• Details the underlying virtualization technologies
• Suggests next steps and actions to get started

Although it is pitched primarily for the business market, and is unashamedly a part of Sun’s marketing approach in this area, there is lots of useful information here for the newcomer to the concept of the cloud – although you’ll still need to have a reasonable grasp of basic networking jargon to fully understand it

Free PDF download available here(login required)

I had the opportunity today to attend the official ceremony to mark the 150th anniversary of Christchurch City Libraries today – a wonderful celebration to mark 150 years of innovation in the provision of library services in Christchurch.

Speakers at the event recounted what has happened in the development of CHCH city libraries, from the beginnings as a male-only subscriber library for 100 men known as the Christchurch Mechanics’ Institute through to the current network of 20 libraries across the whole of the city.

There was lots of mention about how libraries are now becoming hubs in their community, embracing traditional book stock along with other forms of media, including music, software, posters etc.

Some of the CHCH library’s achievements in the digital realm include being the first library in Australasia to have its own library website, an early adopter of an electronic catalogue system,the provision of online catalogue and booking access to all CHCH residents and the provision of a 24 hour online, real-time reference librarian service.

A significant development in the CHCH City libraries has been the development of learning centres within the libraries themselves, and the inclusion of cafes in some libraries – adding to the appeal to spend time exploring, reading and socialising within the library environment. I’ve had a particular association with the South Learning Centre since its inception, and see in that facility not only what 21st century libraries should be like, but also pointers as to what 21st century schools/learning environments should be like.

The exciting thing for me at the event was the announcement that from today all 20 of the libraries on the CHCH city libraries network will offer free internet access for library users! This is the culmination of nearly 8 years of planning and visioning which will usher in a whole new era of opportunity and library use in the city!

Well done CHCH City Libraries – here’s to the next 150 years!