Wow, what a month. I am sitting rather comfortably in the lounge at Auckland Airport waiting for the first leg of my flight to Mumbai, India.

The last two weeks have been filled with preparing the 12 x 1.5 hour sessions for the workshop I am running. I had thought that my knowledge of the IB ITGS course was pretty good, but it is fair to say that its has grown considerably.

One thing we have been asked (told) to do is present and teach our delegates as exemplars of good teaching practice. Given the volume of work and material I have to cover in the 3 days this is a challenge. I have to cover the syllabus, all aspects of assessment, Theory of knowledge, extended essays, general information about IB and then more. It would be easy to resort to the traditional chalk and talk or perhaps slide & talk. But we will see, I have tried to vary the approaches I use.

Dale’s learning cone has again proven itself accurate as what I thought  I knew and how much I have learnt as I prepare to teach are leagues apart.

So 4 days in Mumbai and then straight back home.

In the first post we looked at those things that are driving us to change. These are the expectations of the wider community and our students. Having established the aspects that are driving our change we need to set goals and objectives.

When it comes to setting goals I like the SMART concept:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Timely

The goals we set for our program or project must be transparent.

The goals and objectives we set need to be very specific. When examined the goals and the  benefits derived from them must be clearly and easily seen. How often have we seen objectives and goals that clouded, complex and broad. Many goals also tend to be fluid and dynamic, a moving goal like a moving target is much hard to hit.

Part of any successful project, and therefore its goals is being able to measure when you have achieved it, how far you have progressed and how far you have to go. Hence our goals & objectives should be measurable. We need to be able to accurately set the goals and the milestones we need to reach them. To be measurable we need to breakdown the task, project or program into small steps or increments.

Each step we take in completing our task should be achievable. For it to be something we can complete we should consider several different aspects:

• Cost – can we do it within our budget?
• Skills – do we have the skills to complete this or do we have to use other skills sources
• Resources - do we have the resources available to achieve the goal?
• Do we have time to complete this task? Can we do it within the time frame we have?

One of the biggest questions to ask is “Is this project Relevant?” This refers back to the expectations of the community that is driving the project or program. With in relevance we should ask “what are the benefits of this programme or project?” What will we be able to deliver? Will these be relevant, useful and appropriate to our end users?

Our goals must be timely. We need the project to be delivered and available when we need it and when our students need it. The timing for the goals & objectives and there milestones we take must be specific, achieveable and realistic.

Our goals and objectives must bring benefits to us. To obtain these benefits these outcoms we must be able to plan to reach these goals. Setting and planning for goals should be SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely.

1. PBS Shakespeare - http://www.pbs.org/teachers/activitypacks/reading/shakespeare/ This is one of a huge range of interesting and varied resources produced by the PBS. A great starting point is the page on K-12 teacher resources – http://www.pbs.org/teachers/ This is even better if you can access the PBS tv shows

2. For the history educators – this site is looking at “the man behind Hitler” Joesph Gobbels – http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goebbels/ and some of the propaganda he produced – http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goebbels/gallery/index.html

3. From History on the Net http://www.historyonthenet.com/Nazi_Germany/nazigermanymain.htm This site looks at Nazi Germany

4. Open Chemistry - http://openchemistry.co.uk/ this is an open chemistry site producing free resources availzable to all. Another good one for chemistry is http://periodictable.com/ and also http://www.periodicvideos.com/

5. Crime mapper - http://maps.police.uk/ this is a UK police tool that mashes data from various sources with maps to produce interesting results – searchable by area. This is a great tool for Humanities and information technology.

6. Commoncraft show – Cloud computing in plain english http://commoncraft.com/cloud-computing-video This is another BRILLIANT resource from Lee LeFever and the guys at Commoncraft. This is a very useful professional development resource and resource for teaching computing and computers.

7. Firefox turns 5 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ULDH90H530&feature=player_embedded This is a video celebrating 5 years of Mozilla’s firefox browser. The video is fun and raises some interesting questions from its unique perspective. This is another great resource for teaching computing and professional development.

8. Darwin, a naturalists voyage -http://www.cnrs.fr/cw/dossiers/dosdarwinE/darwin.html This science, biology and history themed site provides an interesting insight into the Journey of Charles Darwin. Click on the link and watch the animation and listen to the sound track.

9 And finally from a blog I subscribe to – Information is beautiful – http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2009/interesting-easy-beautiful-true/

Derek posted this article from the BBC in his blog. The Danish are trialing the use of computers in examinations - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8341886.stm

Here is one quote from the article

“In Denmark, the government has taken the bold step of allowing pupils full access to the internet during their final school year exams.
A total of 14 colleges in Denmark are piloting the new system of exams and all schools in the country have been invited to join the scheme by 2011.”

Doesn’t this make sense? Isn’t this reflective of what we expect our graduate to do? Isn’t this preparing them for the future?

Many, many schools have invest huge amounts of time, effort and money in integrating the use of technology in the classroom. It is clear that this investment is as valuable as teaching students to write was in the pen and papers days of the mid 20th century. Technology should be ubiquitous. Do we say to students you must learn how write with a pen and then give them a crayon in an examination?

Now the technology they are discussing here is so much more than a pen and paper, a mere means of communication. We all know the power of the internet, the facilities inherent in a spreadsheet or a word processor, the tools for communication in an instant, synchronously anywhere anytime.

Here is another quote…

“One of the teachers stands in front of the class and explains the rules. She tells the candidates they can use the internet to answer any of the four questions.
They can access any site they like, even Facebook, but they cannot message each other or email anyone outside the classroom”

In the “real” world beyond the gates of the classroom memorization of all knowledge is not a per-requiste and  what is valued is Information fluency, the ability to:

• identify
• access
• process
• present
• and suitably cite and reference

pertinent and appropriate information. To do this you MUST have a good depth of knowledge. The Danish in this trial have realised that the ability to research and process is key. You can guarantee that the questions asked in the examination will be one requiring higher order thinking skills (See Blooms Digital taxonomy). These questions will not require memorization, definitions or simple regurgitation of facts. Rather these lower order thinking skills will be inherent in the Analysis, Evaluation and Creativity expected in the probing and challenging questions set.

There is also an element of trust, ownership and responsibility too in their approach. “The main precaution is that we trust them. I think the cheat rate is very low because the consequences of cheating are very big.”

In trusting them, our students, it implies you have developed a relationship with them. They are not just number in a class, they are not just contributors to your workload. In trusting them and placing the onus of responsibility on them the students are owners of their learning. (see the digital citizen)

I will watch this process with interest, as for me this approach ticks many of the boxes of 21st century learning and assessment.

The Expectations of stakeholders

Recently, I have been working on a program for the senior school and it is interesting to reflect on this. The first point of reflection is the “why” question. Why do we want to incorperate technology into the program, and this isn’t just a technology program it is actually about any form of change.

I believe that this is directed from 5 different sets of stakeholders who will influence to greater of lesser extent the change in schools. Each brings with them a bias and a unique perspective to the process of change. For some the change is on a macro level and for others on a micro scale.

They are:

• The government, school district or legislative body over seeing the school
• The school board
• The community
• the teaching staff
• the students

Arching above all, is the legislative body responcible for education. These have a huge influence and often as not, they set direction for  education. They can provide clarity and purpose, focus and support.

Unfortuantely, these are usually political appointments and while often done with best of intents, are reactionary, popularist and frequently uninformed. Am I being harsh? Yes, perhaps I am but realistically, politicians are making decisions from their lofty view point which is poles apart from the perspective of the classroom teacher or the young learner in the classroom. Most politicians and administrators at a senior level have never been in a classroom or if they have it was years prior and in a 19th Century paradigm. We only need to look at well intentioned but nightmarish programmes like NCLB or national standards which have failed in so many countries to see this.

School boards provide the financial control for the school. They help shape direction of the school. They make appointments, approve projects and ally shape the environment of learning.

Usually, containing elected members of the community, they are meant to be the peoples voice, and indeed many are. But like politicans, the experience of most board members is harkening back to their own school days. Many will see the integration of Technology as important and will feel that more computers is a good thing, but the mechanics in a classroom? The oneof the things that oncerns me about school boards is the tendency for them to attract crusaders. Those on a mission to become elected, to bring in their agenda or ideas, to right percieved wrongs. How often do we see a very limited selection of nominees for school boards, and those who do nominate themselves having an often worthy agenda but with a limited perspective or holistic overview?

The communities influence is often a quieter one, the average parent who does not have time to be a board member as they are working to put food on the table. And as such does not have a great deal of influence except in the carpark as they talk amongst themselves or when they vote with their feet.

Parents want their children to succeed. They want them to be engaged and motivated and enjoying school. They too are influenced by their own educational experiences and this often temers their view of what happens in the classroom. The classic “it  worked for me and look how I turned out.” comments. If the only mode of education you have experienced is teacher centric, chalk and talk, rote learning; the dynamic, flexible and sometimes seemlingly chaotic world of students centric differentitated learning can be disconcerting. So the community to brings in its bias.

Teachers are the catalysts of change. Like a chemical reaction depended on a catalyst you can bring the reagents together, foster an optimal environment, but without the catalyst the reaction is painfully slow often to the point of being immeasurably tiny. Add the catalyst and the reaction proceeds at pace.

In a chemical reaction, the catalyst is often not used up or effected. In the classroom, teachers are always effected and to frequently are changed or just worn out. So we must have a supply of new catalysts – this places an onus of responcibility on pre-service educators.

The quietest of voices and alas the least influencial of stakeholders is the students themselves. Those on whom we are bestowing our educational wisdom, our hope and future, have the least say in direction. This is a hard balance to make how much influence should a student have on their learning? They can lack the wisdom (wisdom = Knowledge + experience) to be able to plot a learning course. They are often living in the now rather than considering the future. They struggle to scaffold and conceptualise why we proceed as we do in the classroom.

BUT does this mean they should not have an input, they should not be involved in shaping the direction of their learning? No they are vital, we must have their buy in, but unfortunately we can actually and do survive with out this.

So where does this leave us?

The shape of any program or change within a school is shaped by the degree of influence of these 5 stakeholders.  For collaborative, sustainable change to occur the expectations of all the groups must be considered and balanced.

Change is  influenced by the expectations and drivers of each of these groups. Sustainable change will see the expectations of each group considered, valued and balanced. The overall goals and objectives are derived from this.

I have long been a fan of Open source and for about three years I have been a user of Open Office, in fact our school has migrated from Microsoft Office and later Star Office to Open Office.

One of the problems that all of the productivity suites have is the level of complexity for the younger students. Many adult users do not come close to the full capacity of their productivity suite and students particularly in the younger years certainly wont.

So imagine my suprise when this morning Miguel Guhlin and Julie Lindsay both posted in there blogs about OOo4Kids – open Office for Kids.

This is great. Its still in Beta, but the screenshots look excellent and I have downloaded the Beta to trial.

The layout is simplified, the icons larger and clear and better suited for the younger learners. The removal of the majority of the buttons makes its more applicable (see below). I am looking forward to this coming out of Beta and into Gold.

So it suits younger users, is free, small download, is ethical (you are not pirating it). Excellent

http://wiki.ooo4kids.org/index.php/Main_Page

Download – http://wiki.ooo4kids.org/index.php/Download

Video demo – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJkyPcP-TeU&feature=player_embedded

In this update of on the wire I am looking at only one site (well almost) – The University of Utah – Genetics Learning Centre (http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/).

This is a brilliant aid to the science teacher and the senior biologist. So lets see what this site has for us…

1. Homepage (http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/) – this links through to a variety of pages, most with a genetics theme but also an interesting look at the ecology of salt lake.

2. Amazing cells (http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/) – this is the portal page for animations, interactive activities, videos and alike – a couple of stand out pages are: Cell size and scale http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/scale/(a brilliant interactive resources showing cell etc) and Inside a cell http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/insideacell/(this interactive allows you to select cell compenets and have these explained to you)

They also produce resources for teachers – http://teach.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/ for cell biology.

3. The Genetics section is also very well resourced with sections on:

• Protien synthesis – http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/dna/
• Heredity - http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/traits/
• Epigenetics – http://teach.genetics.utah.edu/content/epigenetics/
• Cloning – http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/tech/cloning/

Plus a great resource page which indexes their easily accessable materials and lesson plans – http://teach.genetics.utah.edu/content/

4.Tap into the world of comics - http://www.slideshare.net/shend5/tap-into-the-world-of-comics this is a slideshare presentation on 21 uses for comics in the classroom and contains some great resources

5. Finally a quick one from the read write web  – what will the internet look like in 5 years time – http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_web_in_five_years.php – This is from Google’s Eric Schmidt

The Digital Citizen Acceptable use agreement details six facets of behaviour that a digital citizen should follow to be an appropriate and respectful digital citizen. The statements are kept deliberately broad and generalised and provide outlines for suitable behaviour.

As we are working to implement this, I have been asked to expand on the different aspects or facets and give the students some more concrete ideas about what they need to do to be respectful and protect themselves. So the list below represents some starting points for taking the Six facets of digital citizenship into the real world we operate in.

Respecting and Protecting yourself by:

1. looking after your hardware appropriately, carrying your laptop/mobile device in a bag, securing it in a safe place and keeping it charged

2. saving your work regularly

3. backing up important data regularly (recommended minimum is weekly)

4. scanning your computer for viruses regularly, update the virus definitions regularly.

5. applying patches and updates to your operating systems and software

6. selecting suitable online names, that you can use in professional communications

7. selecting strong passwords and changing these regularly. Recommendations are:

• 8 characters or more

• Number and letters

• Special characters

• Upper and lower case

8. protecting your passwords, don’t share these with anyone. Locking your computer.

9. managing your files

10. using descriptive file names

11. creating and organising into folders

12. considering what personal information is made public. This can be on your social networking site, when you sign up to services or register software.

13. only put required information in online profiles.

14. considering who you allow to be your friends online.

15. building positive relationships online, keeping these open and transparent. Being cautious in who we share information with and who we meet.

16. posting only material that portrays you in a positive light.

17. consider which images of yourself you publish

18. keep email addresses and personal details private

19. considering carefully when and where I use my credit card details etc

20. remembering anything you say online is public and usually permanent

21. reporting any attacks or inappropriate behaviour directed at you

22. acting with integrity and respect.

Respecting and Protecting others by:

1. reporting abuse to appropriate authorities when I see it.

2. not flaming or abusing people

3. not forwarding junk mail, spam or inappropriate materials

4. not visiting sites that are degrading or inappropriate

5. not entering private spaces or change other people pages

6. informing people appropriately when they have left open their profile etc

7. not using anyone else accounts, log ons etc.

8. asking permission before I publish images ot content that may contain details about other people.

9. respecting other people’s rights to privacy and anonymity

10. respecting the trust others have in me by protecting other people email, IM and skype addresses and contact details.

11. protecting other on my network by having a protected, updated and antivirus checked computer.

12. always acting with integrity and respect.

Respecting and Protecting Intellectual Property by:

1. having an understanding of the rules and laws applying to:

• copyright
• intellectual property
• Fair use
• creative commons

2. asking permission before I use materials and respect the owners decision regarding this material.

3. only using software and media that I have permission to use. This can be material made available under creative commons or the public domain, material I have purchased etc.

4. not sharing my media or software with others unless the license allows me to do this.

5. using free and open source alternative software and medias instead of pirating licensed or copy written ones.

6. registering my software and alway considering what information I need to provide the company. I will read the options and make sure that I understand that my information and details may be distributed and sold.

7. validating all information sources

8. citing my information sources using a suitable bibliography method.

9. giving credit to and acknowledge people and sources that have influenced my thinking or products.

10. Acting with integrity and respect

This is not meant to replace the six facets rather is an expansion and some detail on what each means. I would as always appreciate any feedback regarding this.

This material is available as a PDF or in an expanded form on the Edorigami wiki

This is the first Adobe Air tool that has really caught my attention. It is graphic design motion based painting program. It allows you to select a wide range of brushes and the decorate your canvas. Livebrush

Available as a free download or as a low cost pro version this is a neat tool. As it is an Adobe Air tool it does require Air to be installed and this is available from the adobe website

Worth a play certainly – age groups  – I would have to say all ages with a slightly more senior focus due to the formal interface. But really anyone with a bit of creativity will have fun. The end products are exported as an image in PNG format.

This is a stunning video. Ksenya Simonova takes an inspiring and variety piece of music (Apocalytica – Inquistion Symphony) and combines this with a visual performance of drawing. It is very moving as she displays in a visual medium the emotions of the music.

She uses her fingers and sand.

This is stunning. An excellent example of performance, visual imagery, imagination and emotion. I could see this as an excellent resources for English, the performing arts and music.

Here is the URL – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnfO4R1OUxY

Ksenya Simonova