Horizons near and far … February 12, 2011
Posted by IaninSheffield in research.Tags: 2011, Horizon, report, research, timeline
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The 2011 Horizon Report1 was released recently, so it was time to revisit the timeline summarising the predictions made by this yearly ‘state of the nation’ style annual report. Each year the New Media Consortium and EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative explore emerging technologies and their ‘potential impact on and use in teaching, learning and creative inquiry.’
Last year I created a timeline summary of the findings to help see which predictions were coming to reality and to explore the extent to which our school fits in with the developing trends and emerging technologies.
2011 Horizon Report Timeline
Clicking the above image will take you to the interactive full-size, scalable version.
Year 2011 on its own
I then thought I might focus in on 2011 to see the extent to which our school is adopting the technologies predicted to be of significance this year. Mobile technology in the form of phones and e-books feature heavily and it is right that we should have begun our first tentative steps in exploring the affordances of this tech. Our iPod Touch study is well under way and we should have the infrastructure in place (enterprise wireless solution) to support connection of student devices in the near future. Our library is undertaking a study of e-books and what place they might have within our provsion of learning resources. Use of a few QR codes in public places around school is barely even dipping our toes in the waters of augmented reality, but it begins the process of awareness raising amongst our community. The potential offered by educational gaming continues to suffer little penetration in school with few colleagues aware of its potential. This is one area which really needs a champion before it can gain credence with colleagues. An increasing number of schools and teachers are beginning to recognise the impact that blogging and wikis can offer both for collaboration and providing an audience for student work as evidenced superbly by the work taking place at Heathfield CPS and many other schools. Another area we have yet to explore more fully and another which would benefit from a passionate advocate.
In the previous post, I also looked at the range of technologies emerging in the reports to consider the penetration they are making into our school:
Technology penetration in school
A little bit further foward, but not as much progress as we might have hoped for, owing to one or two technological challenges which became manifest. Time to get stuck in!
I often wonder where we are on the spectrum of adoption across the whole range of schools. Are we behind? Doing OK? I try to rationalise things by saying that what matters is what’s right for us and what our aspirations are for the learning of our students … but then again, I sometimes wonder what those aspirations are based on. I clearly need to think and talk about this much more. Damn the Horizon report for making me think!
1Johnson, L., Smith, R., Willis, H., Levine, A., and Haywood, K., (2011). The 2011 Horizon Report.
Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.
And lo, a light shone out of the East … #tmeast! February 6, 2011
Posted by IaninSheffield in CPD, Inspiration.add a comment
Three hours driving there and three hours driving back is a long way to go for professional development … especially when it’s at your own expense and on your own time. Maybe, but not if what you get pays back dividends. The fact that #tmeast was on a Saturday meant I could get there, whilst many TeachMeets are on weekdays, after school, making it had to travel there in the time available.
Mark Allen (@edintheclouds)
What did I take away from the day then? Well of course a little something from each presentation; you never fail to learn from other people’s practice and ideas. Yes I knew about Google Earth, but Paul Parslow-Williams provided some specific examples of what could be done that I hadn’t thought of. Yes I know you can use your website to engage parents, but Collette Walsh’s description of using photographing Y1 work during the course of the week, then surfacing it through Photopeach and the school website made it much more real. And yes I know an off the shelf learning platform won’t always help, but Mark Allen‘s story of how successful their school’s move towards using free, online tools has been in taking them forward spoke to the reality of this undertaking. Sometimes it’s something completely new and sometimes it’s people helping you see things you already knew, in a new way.
It would have been worth the trip for the presentations alone, but there’s more. I also got to meet several people who until know have just been Twitter names and though you feel you have begun to know them, actually being able to shake their hand and exchange a few words makes all the difference. So in addition to learning from their presentations, @KnikiDavies, @tj007, @mrplume and @ColinTGraham became real people through the few words we exchanged.
And that journey? Wll even that wasn’t dead time. As I suggested in the nano presentation I gave, podcasts are a way of enjoying prefessional development at times when you’re stuck doing other things … like driving. So on the journey I was able to listen to an incredibly articulate US high school student (Marcia) in an online discussion with teachers on making learning activities real and relevant (Teachers Teaching Teachers). I also leaned far more about the potential educational benefits of online gaming, from an interview the Ed Tech Crew had with Dean Groom. Then there was the usual banter and a raft of interesting tools from the Tech Chicks. As I perhaps failed to make clear in my brief presentation, using ‘dead time’ in this way surely offers so much untapped potential and is one way we can start to address the ‘lack of time’ that gnaws away at the majority of teachers.
A set of photos from #tmeast can be found here and the video responses are here.
Resources for #tmeast February 5, 2011
Posted by IaninSheffield in CPD, Resources, Teaching Idea.Tags: #tmeast, bookr, CPD, livebinder, podcast, professional development, start.io, teachmeet
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A post simply to bring together the resources I’m looking forward to using at TeachMeet East in Norwich tomorrow (or if you’re reading this after the event, … at Teachmeet in Norwich yesterday/last week/last month … this could go on some while!)
7 minutes, 7 ideas, 7 tools for supporting student voice
LiveBinder of links, ideas and support materials
P-p-p-p-pick up a podcast
Bookr image narrative
Sources of podcasts
Hope you find something useful and if you have a question, by all means ask away in the comments below.
And if you are (were?) at #tmeast and didn’t get the chance to reply to the poll question, click here.
#tm5 January 16, 2011
Posted by IaninSheffield in CPD, Inspiration, Musings.Tags: #tm5, CPD, library, museum, professional development, teachmeet
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TeachMeet is 5 years old on 24th May, we were reminded by Ewan McIntosh on Friday night’s #tmbett2011. Really!? Five years? And to think I only learned about my first just over a year ago. Ewan issued a challenge for us to think what we might do to to celebrate the birthday with TeachMeet’s around the country. Dai Barnes has already had a few ideas and as a search of the #tm5 hashtag on Twitter will reveal, so have quite a few others.
When I started thinking, I had been inspired by an almost throw-away comment ‘what about a TeachMeetLivingRoom?’ Are there other locations which could act as meeting places? Although I started off considering unusual locations like ‘KinderMeet’ that’s Kinder as in Kinder Scout the hill, not the chocolate egg! It could have a Geo-theme perhaps (more inspiration from Dom Breadmore’s TeachMeet Takeover presentation). But then I got thinking about the idea of theme’s in more detail and wondered about locations that might suit a themed approach:
from jimmyharris on Flickr
- MuseumMeet – Science at MOSI or @-Bristol or any of the other science-related venues
- History at a local site like Conisborough Castle or museum like the Thackary or IWMs.
- GalleryMeet – Art/Design at any one of a number of venues, perhaps your local gallery
- LibraryMeet – English
- SportsMeet – PE/Sports at a local sports centre or even a larger venue (dare I say football ground?)
- GeographyMeet – a field study centre
- SumsMeet – at a maths-focused venue like Bletchley Park
- ChurchMeet – RS at any one of a number of places of worship
- MusicMeet – concert venues, recording studios
I’m sure you guys could think of lots more.
Would places like these welcome the opportunity to host an event highlighting some innovative learning approaches delivered by and for a group of teachers? With a little forethought, surely the resources at the host venue could be included within the theme and at some places, there might even be an education officer to help with organisation. Cost? Well I’m just not sure here. Would the venue be prepared to provide a room for free? Might they even be prepared to put on a few comestibles, or given the swingeing cutbacks in this area, is that too big an ask?
I then started to worry that this might be less intimate than some of the suggestions folk have said before. However a key issue for TeachMeets for me has always been about getting new people involved and sharing the wonderfulness beyond our community. By themeing the event, maybe it would be more attractive to colleagues with a subject interest, whether from Primary or Secondary, than the more usual generic session.
Any thoughts anyone?
I BETT you . . . January 15, 2011
Posted by IaninSheffield in CPD, Inspiration, Teaching Idea.Tags: CPD, polling, teachmeet, tutorial
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On my way home from another marvellous BETT Show. I sometimes hear people talking about BETT in jaded terms; they’ve ‘seen it all before’ or ‘there’s no new tech.’ Well not me. I always try to include something new or fresh. So this year I made a point of getting there for the Friday TeachMeet where we were treated to some excellent presentations … no matter how immersed you are in edtech, TeachMeets never fail to teach you something new. It’s also a chance to catch up with members of your PLN ‘in the flesh’ and to meet some for the first time. I never cease to be amazed at how supportive, positive, inspirational, generous and just damn fine company folks turn out to be.
On the subject of TeachMeet’s, I spent a most informative and enjoyable half hour listening to Dom Breadmore’s TeachMeet Takeover session on the subject of Geo-ing things:
I also signed up for and delivered my 1st Takeover session on the BrainPOP_UK stand. Saturday afternoon was never going to be a busy time, but the BrainPOP team were very supportive and a few hardy souls hung around to keep me company (thanks Tim). Did I enjoy it? Sure! There’s always something new to learn when you put yourself out there a bit and it’s so important to expose yourself to new experiences … especially when your years become more advanced. Anyway I was talking about free, online alternatives to proprietary response systems (clickers). There’s a LiveBinder with all the links and resources, so by all means dip in to find out
- What we might want to use them for
- Things to consider
- Different tools
- Comparison chart
- Support resources (including links to more ideas and brief tutorial videos)
I also got the chance to link up with some suppliers to follow up a couple of queries. Even though I wasn’t on the spend for new stuff, they were still very generous with their time and advice and helped me move forward in a couple of areas.
All in all then a great visit and roll on BETT2012.
In the pICTure 