LEARNING@SCHOOL CONFERENCE 2011
ROTORUA CONVENTION CENTRE
FEBRUARY 22, 23, 24 and 25
I found the conference quite refreshing. It was a great way to reassess my teaching practise. Through sharing and listening to others about their learning journey. It asked question about myself. How do I get staff to head to same journey that I am going?
A conference this size is a lot more beneficial when you have a team of teachers from the same school to take back and make happen new ways to engage students into learning. The next important for ICT is in October during the second week of the holidays
Scott McLeod in his keynote address shared his fantasy of wanting to address an audience of principals, MPs and Ministry officials about the big shifts required in education.The changing economic landscape where work and purchasing are outsourced to anywhere on the globe has put information industries particularly, under threat. Given that education is an information industry how much longer can we continue to pretend that minor tweaks will reshape education in line with the new economic landscape, he asks?
Schools are still modeled along the lines of supplying workers for a manufacturing world. As David Warwick says: ‘No generation in history has even been so thoroughly prepared for the industrial age.
The 21st Century is here. Learning will be more digital, mobile, open, accessible, online, more computer-mediated, self-directed, enquiry and project based. What implications does this have for our schools?
He challenges us by asking:
- Are you preparing your students for the creative abstract jobs that will be the new world of work?
- Are you providing students the opportunities to use Bloom’s higher order thinking skills – to analyze, evaluate and create?
- And to do this using relevant technological tools?
Scott ended his keynote by posing two questions:
- If you are not doing what you should be – that is using rich technology enabled thinking skills on a regular basis – should you get to keep your job?
- If as a school leader who is not facilitating this – should you keep your job?
Encourage kids to be involved in the Internet and to have a life balance
Kids know right from wrong. Get them on young and teach them positive and good behaviours and what or who is behind the screen!
Remember when we log on we are vulnerable – we have to conceptualize that we are conversing with a real human being – match that with the real world where we would never dream of handing over our details to just anyone.
Why does the Internet have a unique effect on students’ minds?
Young kids don’t yet have the life skills for good judgment. The Internet makes them feel anonymous and gives them power, – they can’t see anyone else.
Young kids don’t yet have the life skills for good judgment. The Internet makes them feel anonymous and gives them power, – they can’t see anyone else.
What to do?
- Dispel myths that they are anonymous – they are not alone.
- Tell them that photos are not stored on their computer, if they have shared them online then they are stored in the ‘cloud’. Accessible by anyone.
- Ensure that they make their site private, limit personal details, and remember nothing is totally private.
- Teach them that what they post may affect them or their family in real life.
- Get them to mirror offline behaviour with online behaviour – if we wouldn’t in real life……….
Talk about it! How do you know who is on the internet? When you chat to people each day do you get to know them? Well no you don’t ! You get to know what they choose you to know. The power of the screen is very seductive!
Teaching students appropriate online behaviour is a team effort between parents and teachers – a team effort because it affects the health and well-being of students
What To consider:
• Even though technology will forever change – our protective practices, responsibilities and beliefs remain unchanged
• Quality online behaviours can be instilled
• Never underestimate the power of the screen
• Rely on your life skills and instincts
• As a parent or teacher always believe that you are making a difference
• Even though technology will forever change – our protective practices, responsibilities and beliefs remain unchanged
• Quality online behaviours can be instilled
• Never underestimate the power of the screen
• Rely on your life skills and instincts
• As a parent or teacher always believe that you are making a difference
She talked about ‘Technology ecology ‘
- where nothing is wasted – talent, energy, passion
- to think about multiple purposes and uses
- raise the bar and
- to ‘grow your own’ solutions to tech issues
In other words she urges us to think outside the box
Teach students how to provide technology support for teachers in the classroom
- This is collaborative learning
- It allows students to play an important role
- Provides support for technology use outside of formal professional development and taps into a new resource
- After all schools are roughly 8% teachers and 92% students. Make use of the students.
Students are as passionate about changing education as we are – they are the biggest stakeholders!
Tech Think Tank – students in one school went online and worked out that they could build an interactive whiteboard far cheaper than buying one. After all youth have what adults don’t have – enthusiasm, passion and time. Harness this.
Hold a Media Smart Day where students plan the program and provide the expertise. Match it to authentic tech issues you have in school.
Next step
U + 1Q
U = You! + Asking one question:
What can my students do to help improve technology in education?
BREAK OUT COURSES
Implementing KnowledgeNet successfully within and between schools
Presenters: Martin Hughes / Session Type: Hands-on workshop (90 min)
his hands on session will deal with the pedagogical, political and technological issues to be addressed when implementing an LMS system successfully within individual schools and between groups of schools. Although this session will focus on the effective and creative use of KnowledgeNet, it will hopefully be useful to anyone who is involved with implementing an LMS in their school. This hands on session will allow delegates to look at and share all of our resources and it will also encourage discussion and sharing around the stories of others. KnowledgeNet accounts will be provided for delegates.
Maori resources for English and Maori-medium school on TKI.
Presenters: Te Mako Orzecki / Session Type: Presentation (Interactive 90 min)
We welcome you to "this hands" on workshop of Maori resources for teachers in English and Maori-medium schools. We will be looking at the new look TKI website with all its current features plus new websites like He Reo Tupu, He Reo Ora, Kia Mau, and Hoatu Homai, along with all the latest updates and features within the Maori Education communities on TKI.
Bee-Bot & Pro-Bot Robotics for Young Learners
Presenters: Joanna Bell / Session Type: Hands-on workshop (90 min)
This hands-on session features the Bee-Bot & Pro-Bot friendly floor robots designed to spark discovery learning by young children. The Bee-Bot & Pro-Bot provide young learners with self-directed experiences which lead to improved problem-solving skills and higher-order thinking while introducing and reinforcing math concepts. Working through activities teachers will see how distance, direction, angles, geometry, and programming become easy for children to explore.The Pro-Bot takes everything the Bee-Bot has to offer and more to the next level.The Pro-Bot can be used to teach more advanced control/programming techniques. Teachers can program the Pro-Bot to behave as they want whenever sensors are activated with the built-in front and rear touch sensors, light sensor and sound sensor.
A TV SHOW ! yeah right ! but the MVTV Crew do it 3 times a week "LIVE"""
Presenters: Colin Gover, MVTV Crew / Session Type: Hands-on workshop (90 min)
Create a real world authentic learning opportunity, where the children are actively engaged and have ownership of their learning. Tap into your children's imagination, excite their spirit and creativity. The students from MVTV crew will show you how they put together their MVTV show that goes "LIVE" 3 mornings a week. By combining everything from Powerpoint, Word, Adobe Premier Elements, Crazytalk, Visual Communicator 3 and other programmes they produce their own show with everyone working together. Use this new found knowledge to make a documentary, a story or an advert
