What Students want to Say to us

The Key Message: That we don’t just enjoy using the computers but they help us to do research.
               We can learn alot faster using the technology we have today.

I found Says it on Lenva’s Cool tools for teachers Wiki and
put some of student messages into images

The students came up with these in a Google Doc

Sayings we could use:

1. I can do 3 different types of homework at once on a laptop and still talk to my friends.
2. I can see France, England, Japan and go on top of Mt Everest all in one day just by clicking a few buttons.
3. I can search, listen to music, type and personalize at the same time.
4. I can be made more interactive.
5. I understand the topics by thinking real world problems.
6. I can see more clearly how things happen and work.
7. Instead of taking forever by drawing diagrams, I can make diagrams online.
8. I can think about how to make some technology better which expands my thinking.
9. I can use art programs to make my ideas more creative.
10. Most people don’t think how technology helps us in learning... we do.
11. We explore our technology instead of using it only for it’s designed purpose. We become curious.

Tomorrow we looking to develop this more into a movie watch this space

IT takes some planning

Colin Warner & Lynn Davie

Glen Waverly college, Victoria Dept Ed

Asked to consider where our schools are on this

Elements that may effect development

Vision, Professional Learning, Ownership, Res & Org, Action Plan, Review

No vision = confusion
No PL = anxiety
No ownership = gradual change
No Res and org = frustration
No Action plan = inconsistency
No Review = unknown impact

What Stephen Heppell said learners thought made them feel good about the process

eccentricity
making something
having an audience
collaboration

I liked Colin talking about making sure teachers see a big variety of
practise examples. Also this is a nice simple view of what we need to be doing as a process.

 

Would have liked to have seen more student’s voice in this  workshop
and perhaps a look into the learning that was the result of the process.

Students View

What some students thought when asked if schools should go 1 to 1. They were also asked what they were proud of in their use of a Netbook. Interesting to me were that they all had different personal ideas on this and that their reasoning for why was based on sound ideas rather than the gadget factor.

Purchasing/maintenance Questions for 1:1 programmes

Having been through a year of 1 to 1 laptop use in our school I am preparing for a workshop at ulearn09 looking at what schools need to prepare for 1 to 1 learning. Many people will be seeing this as a simple transition to a greater density of devices on their networks. The best way for us to decide and think about this is probably to consider the implications of future events. The following are discussion starters for some important questions in this process.

We have got 50 devices and over half of them are having a problem with not starting up properly what should we do? We can get a high power laptop for the same price as a netbook that should be better? What are the hidden costs of this programme? are there any? Should the parents/students be able to bring any laptop of their choice? The device choice is not too important most devices today are of a good quality let’s just get on with it? A parent is able to secure a good deal on a netbook for us should we take it?

And the answers are…
Well ok No answers but there is no doubt these are important questions. We have had to increase our network support in-house to accommodate this. We purchased a very robust looking computer the classmatepc. We have 130 of these being used by year 7 students who take them home and we have had dealt with one issue that effected over 50% of these. So the two Big Answers To Purchasing and maintenance…

• a warranty for three years
• proven track recording the student space
  
• nothing that can be pulled off
• has protective bag
• no point of stress eg tablet with only one central hinge
• battery guides so pins cant get bent
• a sturdy mechanism for where the power cable from adapter will go
• 
  

And

• understand the supply chain
• ask for an open book submission which shows cost from manufacturer
• look at what added value they can provide
• will they attend information evenings
• how will they prepare the units for you
• manufacturer has an online knowledge base with forums, usergroups etc
  

Possible scenarios that might make sense

If you do not have on site tech support provide a service where the device can be dropped off at the schools reception desk and picked up by supplier from there.

If you need tech support to be managed by parents the information evenings and

Here is an example of an RFP (request for proposals) that may help you if you want to use one.

Rfp Netbook Template

Easi-speak Guide

There are some good introductions to the USB easi-speak microphone on

Lorraine’s and Dorothy’s blogs.

The following was recorded easy on the easi-speak

I think these are going to do great things for literacy where teachers cotton on to it

 

I have just copied some pics from the manual which is stored as a pdf on the

microphone itself. most of it is self evident but I have highlighted the bits I wasn’t sure of.

 

 

See you later I’m off to record some stuff add ideas for the mic’s use in comments if you like. Those of you at Southwell can borrow them from the ICT hub and I am happy to come and help out if you are interested.

Iframe YouFrame Weframe

Part of the connected nature of the web is the ability to embed and display image flash etc. Heath Sawyer aka heheboy showed me what he was doing with iframes in one of the wetpaint wikis he is working with for the Matamata ictpd Cluster. Iframes are a good way to include one webpage in another.

The code looks like this

Basic iFrame HTML Code is in red I just copied it and changed the yourdomain to put the I love learning site in a frame below.

<IFRAME NAME=" my_iframe " SRC=" http://www.yourdomain.com" WIDTH="90%" HEIGHT="300px"> <p> Browsers and spiders that can't read iframe code will see this text instead.</p> </IFRAME>

Here's what each part means:

SRC - The URL of the page that you are including in the iframe.

HEIGHT - The height of the iframe. This can be expressed in pixels or percentages.

WIDTH - The width of the iframe. This can be expressed in pixels or percentages.

NAME - The name of the iframe.

Optional iFrame Properties

If you want more control over the look and behavior of your iframe, you can choose to add the following iframe properties to the code.

• SCROLLING - Should the iframe content scroll? Possible values are "yes", "no", or "auto".

• FRAMEBORDER - Would you like a border around the iframe? Possible values are "yes" or"no".

• ALIGN - How should the iframe be positioned in relation to surrounding content? Possible values are "left", "right","top", "middle" or "bottom". - Note: This setting is depreciated in favor of styles

• MARGINWIDTH - The horizontal internal margin for the iframe. Must be expressed as pixels.

• MARGINHEIGHT - The vertical internal margin for the iframe. Must be expressed as pixels.

• HSPACE - The horizontal spacing around the iframe. Must be expressed as pixels.

• VSPACE - The vertical spacing around the iframe. Must be expressed as pixels.

• LONGDESC - The URL of the page with a long description of the iframe contents. Must be expressed as a URL.

Here is an example of an inline frame with many of the optional iframe properties set:

<IFRAME NAME="my_iframe" SRC="http://www.yourdomain.com " WIDTH="90%" HEIGHT="300px" SCROLLING="NO" MARGINWIDTH="10px" MARGINHEIGHT="10px" FRAMEBORDER="0"> <p>Browsers and spiders that can't read iframe code will see this text instead .</p> </IFRAME>

Look out for Nerd Girl

Look out for Nerd Girl aka Kristine Kopelke.

I am going to see if we can get Nerd Girl to come to New Zealand. When I attend workshops presentations I see two main possibilities for them to be highly successful in changing my thinking practice or beliefs.

The first possible type of Professional Learning Success...

This is achieved by facilitating dialogues within a group where people share ideas reflect on big questions or are somehow active and learning by doing. There was great dialogue on the last day of MISC09 where participants rotated around the room with one member staying one going clockwise and one anti-clockwise. The questions presented were along the lines of

1. What insight have you got from the first two days that resonates with you?
2. What actions might you take on your return?

Why this professional learning works is likely because it addresses William Glasser survival understanding.

People feel empowered that they belong etc.

This is the type of professional learning that should be provided 80 % of the time. I hope facilitators understand this as a key understanding for working with learners.

The second possible type of Professional Learning success...

Is where the facilitator delivers their view point experiences and ideas in a more (sage on the stage style). For this to work I feel the presenter needs to use a unique lens (perspective) or reflection method to create something meaningful new and insightful for the audience.This second way is far more hit and miss: sometimes the presenter is delivering on a concept we don't understand, already understand or does so in a way that doesn't demonstrate originality or added value. Originality is about slight differences and comes from looking at something in a different way across disciplines and in exploration. This type of delivery will often lead to large differences in satisfaction between one audience member and another.

I thought Kristine was very good because her perspective was fresh yet logical: to look at what students are presently doing on the web as an insight into what we might get them to do and for what purpose.

What students were doing that struck a chord

If we are going to improve learning for students personalise learning and achieve higher potentials we need to pay heed to these ideas as mechanisms to assist students in our school environments.

The full presentation can be found here

Kristine Bluetoothed the presentation to a number of attendees flash enabled phones.

The application below will run on most Flash enabled mobile phones and can also be navigated through online by using the enter, arrow and number keys on the keyboard.

Right click here and select Save target as to download the app for your Flash enabled mobile phone or device.

To view the app here online, click on it with your mouse and then use the enter, arrow and number keys on your keyboard to navigate through the application.

Links for Kristine

Something that begins with play

Contact: Kristine Kopelke -

Tel: 5459 4590
Learning Innovation Centre Sunshine Coast
URL: http://www.earlyphaseicts.com

http://www.flashclassroom.com

going with google

I guess I am a believer in google.
But Why???
So what is so good about a google map, doc etc.
For me the same opportunity is consistent. Collaboration is my preferred learning style in this web environment. Creativity, added knowledge and personalisation make me feel as if I can serve some purpose.When we add and individualise a map we are adding knowledge value. As others add knowledge this increases further.

• historical events
• story telling where event move from one location to another
• all the place where you can eat, exercise, view
  
• all the places to collect, pine cones, water
  
• areas that are changing
• holiday spots measure distance
• school camp description
• becoming familiar with other people and worlds
• poems
  
• water quality sample results
• oral history map references

Here is a map I have been using to test some of the features in Googlemaps

View Larger Map

here is a link to a google earth in education page

Set them free

How network dependent are we?

Well we have just about signed off on the development of a wireless gateway at the school where I work. A what?
A wireless gateway is a computer networking device that routes packets from a wireless LAN to another network, typically a wired WAN. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless gateway
or off the top of my head
"A mechanism for providing wireless access to a network and controlling the traffic on it."
We are using a bluesocket solution. This will mean that all kind of devices and visitors can use our network to access the web or other resources while we remain safe in our data and internet connection.
It is funny but it strikes me that both are necessary now. An organisation needs to be able to host others on its network as life without internet becomes informationally untenable. This is coupled with people's realisation that their devices are wireless capable if only the environment in which they find themselves can provide network access.
Devices like this psp or the eeepc above or dare I say it phones. I am just continuing this post having transferred my device from an expensive ibm x60 tablet running vista (a problem with fan noise is driving me to drink) to my daughter's $500 nz eeepc. The screen size is different but the application is the same ie the web and what it connects me to.



The network the network the network.
Friends, sounds, opinions, information, differentiation, images, diversity, provocation, articulation, video, passive activity, aggregation, automation etc etc.
Outside of this there are many other applications of course but I feel the involvement of others is what makes the network the place to be.

The New Zealand Curriculum identifies five key competencies:

• thinking
• using language, symbols, and texts
• managing self
• relating to others
• participating and contributing.

All of these are network related. Now I am not saying that
network infrastructure is all there is BUT I can't see us resolving
key competencies without it. This all makes " the kids pay price for cellphones on Weblogg-ed " a sad read.
Let's ensure our organisations have wireless networks that are secure but they
must be open and able to be utilised widely. What do you think??

Infrastructure - people

Have been working on a presentation for an upcoming conference.

This has been a reflection on 8 years of work in co-ordinating ICT
in a large New Zealand primary school. Probably the hardest infrastructure get
right is people. The more time I spend with technology the further I develop
my skills and comfort. Yet there are people who are yet to go online in any significant
manner or for any significant purpose.

As technologies become more reliant, powerful and ubiquitous those not on board
seem more conspicuous by their absence.

If we consider conceptual frameworks that
may provide a learning pathway for these people what might it be.

• Logic -- Thinking
  
• Risk taking -- Discovery
  
• Questioning -- Making Meaning
  
• Recognising patterns
• Utilising others (along the line of Vygotsky's ZPD) -- Belonging

This group of concepts (competencies?) is quite similar to the core of this diagram
produced by Mark Treadwell