Click here.

mmmmmm ……

This article from the BBC poses some real challenges for us ….
Howard Gardner - the multiple intelligence guru - is writing a new book that explains his belief there are 5 different “minds”.

“To oversimplify his thesis, the five minds are characterised as: disciplined, synthesising, creating, respectful, and ethical.”

A very interesting article and poses some real questions for our education system!

I like this quote:

is MySpace dangerous?

Stories about predators on MySpace abound, but they???re no different than the web in general or the world in general. Fear is rampant in our society, so beware of media panics around dangers online. Journalists and mass media are responsible for overreacting to this and exaggerating the dangers.

danah boyd:
???There are only a small number of cases where something bad has actually happened. Remember: Most of what you are hearing in the press turns out to not be associated with MySpace at all. Just because teens do something stupid/bad and they have a MySpace account does not mean that they did it because of MySpace. Teens are more likely to be abducted at school than on MySpace. Teens are more likely to die in their parents??? cars than be killed because of MySpace.???

Later, on her blog, Boyd pointed out that the authorities had started to catch predators by posing online, so MySpace has become more dangerous for predators than for teens!

source:

I am at the Tai o Rapuwai mini-confernce this morning with 90+ teachers giving up their Saturday to learn all about ICT’s in their classroom. The first keynote is about to begin ….

Keryn Pratt (Otago University):

Quote 1: The focus should be on the learning and the students; and the technology is there to support the learning.
YAY - as I have said before and often there is nothing inherently good about ICT’s. It is about what you DO with them that counts.

Quote 2: Why is ICT not being integrated into classrooms?
this is the question for the presentation ….

Quote 3: Principal expectations very important - and followed up with resources
absolutely …. the importance of leadership can never be underestimated! The modeling provided by a principal and school leadership is critical.

Quote 4: Effective use in the classroom requires effective PD. Needs to be part of teacher pre-service education education as well.
many of the barriers are out of the control of the individual teacher…. but …. there is a lot that can be done by the teacher and changes that can be put in place.

Quote 5: The teacher is the most critical thing - attitude, beliefs about teaching and learning, commitment, knowledge of learning and teaching.
Teachers need to have a functional knowledge of the computers etc, but not all the details. The key thing is access to the technical support and not have to know all the technical stuff themselves. Some people like to know this stuff but most teachers only need to know what to do with them in a sound pedagogical way to enhance learning.
I agree with this only to a certain extent. I do believe teachers need to have the skills to get their children to at least the functional/independent level with key software and management. This means being above that level themselves.

Quote 6: Barriers to effective use of ICT are many …
There are heaps of potential barriers. The technology needs to work. There needs to be effective technical support!
teachers need to have the time to stop and think (reflect) about the things they could do to improve the learning in their classrooms.Good use of CRT!!!

Quote 7: Taking the time to dream…
think about what it could be like, what could happen, etc. In the sense of physical environment, programmes, software and so-on.
Keep the focus on the learning and NOT [always] on the technology. The LEARNING needs to be the driver of programmes and programme changes - and NOT the technology.
Does the change/s you are proposing fit with the research (and experience I suppose) in this area? MoE “data driven” practice stuff isn’t it….

Also take the time to reflect on what you HAVE achieved!! Often teachers and schools don’t realise how far and how much change has happened. I use the analogy of not noticing your own kids re growing when you live with them. It is only when people from the outside come in and look that you realise that the changes have been happening!

This 50pg book has heaps of good ideas, definitions, links and is part of the k12 Online Conference.
From the same person who runs the Teaching Hacks blog - which is GREAT!

Well worth downloading and having a browse through if you are interested in Web2.0 tools in the classroom

or

or ?????

this comes from Adrienne Bruces Blog.

He has lots of interesting resources on his site

btw - he stumbled on my blog after a discussion with Derek Wenmoth from CORE. Its a connected world!

This new tool from Google is pretty useful.
It allows you to set up a ’search engine’ to search a specific site or list of sites.
This link takes you to one I have just made for myself that searches TKI, the MoE site and Leadspace. The search engines on these sites are awful … and now I can use Google.
It has been possible to do this if you know what you were doing before, but not to set up a search engine customised to do it all for you.
The only sad bit is Google pitching it as a way of making money.

This article describes how US parents are outsourcing tutoring from India via the internet. Parents pay considerably less than they would employing US based tutors …
It is certainly a connected and interconnected world. This is the kind of thing Ian Jukes etc have been telling us for some time isn’t it.

Want a different way of teaching/showing kids how to make instructions…??
Check this out ….
I would suggest downloading the videos rather than letting kids loose on the site though as the one that popped up first for me tonight is “how to kiss passionately”.
Some great things here though so don’t be put off … just manage it …

or if you are really bored ….