i see tea

AudioNote Files: audio note test

Everything underneath this text has come from the audio note app I
bought on the iPad. Testing to see how it transfers onto Posterous.

Title: audio note test
Location: Home
Created: 5 January 2011 18:57:49
Modified: 5 January 2011 19:00:15

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Roll Up Roll Up… TeachMeet BETT 2011 is open

Teachers interested in teaching are a fabulous breed of professionals.

TeachMeet BETT 2011 is on Friday Jan 14th 18:30 – 21:00 at the Apex rooms in Olympia, Kensington. It will bring together educators wanting to do something different in the classroom; ready to share their stuff in the mutual appreciation. There is no silver bullet to solve everyone’s school problems. There is energy, buzz and enthusiasm to harness and it will be there in bucket loads on the 14th.

What rocks the kids in your classroom? Can you share it with others in seven or two minutes? We’ll give you a mic, a computer and a big round of applause (as well as a free drink to raise the spirits!).

I guarantee you will be pleased you took the time to go to this TeachMeet. If not, I’ll buy your pizza at the TeachEat in Pizza Express downstairs afterwards. So, check the links below, sign up to eventbrite and to the wiki. If you’re not sure how, email me on: daibarnes [at] gmail [dot] com.

Wiki: http://teachmeet.pbworks.com/w/page/33799374/Teachmeet-@BETT-2011

Eventbrite tickets: http://tmbett2011.eventbrite.com/

Ian Usher’s blog post setting out the plan.

Perins School ICT development day – outstanding!

Gideon Williams, Director of ICT at Perins School, hosted a development day for ICT in his school involving all the key stakeholders from inside and outside the school:

Gideon (at the start, discusses what has and hasn’t happened from past planning)

Teachers (transforming learning – at 40 minutes, 1:1 notebook project at 2:14)

Pupils (about 2:40, well worth a watch)

Moodle hosts Synergy (Moodle, Mahara and building communities – starts at 00:16)

Local Authority (EduLive, what it provides and how it works – starts at 1:15)

Result is a quality day of CPD improving the shared vision with everybody seeing all the ideas for moving on and getting feedback on what already exists. I thoroughly recommend a watch of this honest insight into a school genuinely working hard to embed technology into the background of its learning practices.

iPad. Have you seen one in your classroom?

I just sent this email to the teachers in my school. I am feeling a little uncomfortable with it. What do you think?

Much hype has surrounded the iPad. Overpriced. Limited in what it can do. An iPod Touch Xtra Large. All true. We bought one for my eldest’s 18th  to accompany him to Oxford. One happy boy, I mean, man. It is a lovely device to use.

Well, here’s a little bit of the deal that I know.

Apple keep the iPad limited (major limitations = view one app at a time, no phone, no file explorer) so they can keep their pricey devices segregated. In theory there is a reason for each person to have an iPhone, an iPad and a Mac (Macbook or iMac or mini mac). This is so they keep you buying, should you be bothered to spend your cash that way. All these devices do similar things but, as Mary Portas would put it, they are all clear about their point of difference. Steve Jobs is quite aware that this will change over time as the iPad gets more powerful.

Apple computer products are successful because they do fulfil the hype. They are easy to use. Pick one up and give it a go.

Anyway, should you happen to part with £429.00 of your precious pennies over the summer (that is the cheapest one) you might like to think about bringing it into your classroom. Teachers all over the world are blogging about iPad use in the classroom at the moment. [quiet aside: by the way, if any of you would like to set up a blog to reflect on and share your classroom practice, do let me know if you would like some help] Some UK schools have bought iPod Touch class sets and are having great fun discovering the educational advantages they afford. Felsted School are buying a class set of iPod touches instead of a virtual language lab. Bizarre but true (£4,000 vs £40,000). They will be sacrificing some core functionality but equally engaging all involved with creative uses.

In case you were wondering what I am going on about, have a look at this: http://www.universityreviewsonline.com/2005/10/20-amazing-ipad-apps-for-educators.html

Also, Apple are not the only player in the game. Many Primary Schools have seen the advantage of using Nintendo Wii in the classroom. If you would like to go and see class sets of Nintendo DS being used in a classroom, I am sure I could sort out a visit within the M25.

But the point Barnes, come on!

When you are googling over the summer, have a quick search for some exciting techie activity you might like to do with your pupils next year and Google it. See what comes back. If you like the look of it send me an email. You never know where it might lead.

Will I be buying an iPad? Maybe.

Dai

Is it over the top? Simply trying to spread a little summer curiosity. Let me know if you think I’ve been a bit foolish.

Macs, Schools, Pedagogy and Australia

This morning my school were lucky enough to be visited by Barbara Stone and Westley Field from MLC School in Australia. They talked us through their use of technology. It was very impressive. Westley showed me photos of children in the playground busily chatting away over their macbooks. It’s an independent school and every pupil is required to buy a macbook when they join the senior years.

They relayed the importance of WiFi to their technological development. They moved from PCs to macs as a school, all at once. They just worked better. Their budget is not as big as the equivalent state school in the UK. They have been creative. A flavour of this is that all school bought macs are replaced every two years. They sell the used ones with one year warranty remaining so they are still worth some capital cash to be invested in the upgraded equipment. Similar to what any tech savvy does with their personal kit.

They embrace creativity. Lessons are given to an entire year group with all timetabled teachers present. Pupils then turn to their tables (in the same large, relaxed open-plan space) and choose their tools to get on with the work where they decide is best for them. Teachers jump from table-t0-table (not limited to just their class) providing help and guidance where needed. Mobile phones are actively encouraged in class (facilitating photos mainly as all comms are available on their macbooks). Books play a huge part in the school and the libraries are seen as the hub of all knowledge and learning.

Inspiring classroom (or a new word) practice.

They have done quite radical remote work with the Broken Hill (<— great school site, pictured above, worth a read – check the planning section, there is even a ‘Teacher voice’ link)  outback school (where MadMax was filmed).

Before they left, Westley asked to update the schools twitter account with a comment: http://twitter.com/mlcbrokenhill.

Now, I am not saying blueprint for the future. They are an independent all girls faith school, and, consequently, have many things blowing in their favour. However, Barbara has been a Headteacher driven by vision for 20 years and the work they are doing looked very impressive. What can I (we, you, me) learn from it?

Westley left stating five key things to sort out that encompass every problem he has ever encountered:

1. vision
2. pedagogy
3. community buy-in
4. professional development
5. and one other… do you know what it is?