We need to move beyond the idea that an education is something that is provided for us, and toward the idea that an education is something that we create for ourselves. It is time, in other words, that we change our attitude toward learning and the educational system in general. Stephen Downes
Popularity: 6% [?]
This evening I was reading the reflections to the recent PISA study. Although commentary was predominantly from American educators, you could fairly easily substitute the US centric views for the UK. As with most review Finland is the aspiration. What makes Finland unique? Two quotes from Finnish Education Expert, Pasi Sahlberg, made me reflect on my own teaching practices.
We put well-prepared teachers in the classroom, give them maximum autonomy, and we trust them to be responsible.
Almost 70% of our last Department meeting focused on the new specification and not on the teaching and learning strategies to be employed to deliver them, where is the autonomy there?
We don’t believe in competition among students, teachers, or schools. We believe in collaboration, trust, responsibility, and autonomy.
This is not an educational culture I have experienced, far from it. My experience has to focused on benchmarks, pass rates and the over emphasised D/C board line candidates. There is minimal within school collaboration and even less cross school collaboration, yet where this has been achieved, the professional benefits have been significant.
Popularity: 2% [?]
When you see a great teacher – you are seeing a work of art. (Geoffrey Canada Waiting for Superman Trailer.)
The Google search also recommended the lyrics to ‘Waiting for Superman’ by the Flaming Lips. A powerful poem for a new English class?
Asked you a question
I didn’t need you to reply
Is it gettin’ heavy?
But they’ll realize
Is it gettin’ heavy?
Well I thought it was already as heavy
As can be
Is it overwhelming
To use a crane to crush a fly?
It’s a good time for Superman
To lift the sun into the sky
‘Cause it’s gettin’ heavy
Well I thought it was already as heavy
As can be
Tell everybody
Waitin’ for Superman
That they should try to hold on
Best they can
He hasn’t dropped them
Forgot them
Or anything
It’s just too heavy for Superman to lift
Is it gettin’ heavy?
Well I thought it was already as heavy as can be.
Tell everybody
Waitin’ for Superman
That they should try to hold on
Best they can
He hasn’t dropped them
Forgot them
Or anything
It’s just too heavy for Superman to lift
The trailer then linked to a new post on a second area of interest, infographics. Academic statistics (albeit American) with some ideas for future presentations.
Its funny how knowledge connects to itself? Thanks to DB Doug Belshaw for the original signpost.
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I now have some ideas if you have to time to code them?In my review of webware, the most successful educational tools often fall into four main categories. The factual – etext books, content websites, video sites. The practical task orientated webware, mind mapping, or timelines. Third, the author / producer / content creator – Youtube, Voicethread and Myna. Finally those that provide short cuts to great looking content, Animoto, Xtranormal, Wordle. A few webware products have appeared that start to capture the vogue topic of creativity – couple this with the power to create random sets of information – perhaps not practical to create as hard copy teaching resources for the classroom.One of the best examples I can show you John Davitt’s http://www.newtools.org/showtxt.php?docid=737 now iphone app RAG.“The RAG is shake-me-up box of delights for the iPhone that generates thousands of fresh learning challenges. Give the RAG (Random Activity Generator) a shake, the cards spin and you are presented with a random activity to do. Primed with over 50,000 possible combinations….”Only with RAG you have to learn random lessons, I want the same creative input but for the topics I need to teach. I need a partial RAG where teachers can write the lesson topic in the 1st box! That is my first idea, borrowed, I would encourage conversation with John Davitt on that idea, but would 100% use that tool in my lessons.2. Is creative writing… there is a fab site that helps create random topics but….. http://www.distractionbeast.com/brainstormer.swfI have some reservations. This tool would be for the sole purpose to getting students started and keeping them writing….. many lessons falter because that don’t get started quickly enough or as the young writers progress they are let down by their inability to be creative or resilient. Many students hit writers block, only because they can find first gear or later can not change gears. Sadly, the site is fantastic, but the options are perhaps a little too random / bizarre. Could we re-create a creative writing tool that offered a choice from themes / adjectives / settings / emotions / emoticons / dates and time / place? English departments would get so much from this. I could write the lists to a database and offer a query but I would not know how to transfer that to a web app. The web app would have tick boxes that allowed writers to set the scope for the writing scaffold. If answered yes, the random gnerate would create the plan.
Do you need a setting? Answer – Yes. A weddingDo you need some adjectives? Answer - Yes. Tired, Lacklustre, Betrayed.A date? Answer – Yes. June 27, 1902A Time? Answer - NoA place? Answer – Yes. BarcelonaEmotic? Answer – Yes :(What about for Science – show relationships between – randome Science themes / chemicals / reactions??Another is a tool that shows students how to expand their writing. http://www.telescopictext.com/. There is an idea in there somewhere. Could create a tool that let students put their text in and link to a thesaurus to telescope their writing? More challenging.Finally and perhaps the one with the most HARD educational evidence supported ideas is the use of manipulatives (Average effect size .89). I am surprised that this tool is not used more in schools but…. Here is the tool.Provide 5 terms and 5 answers – match the pairs. Easy.The real educational value is when you provide 5 terms but 6 answers – the learning effect goes up 3 fold, in deciding which are the correct answers. The skill, is in writing the question. eg the a simple set crimson, aqua, green, yellow and poppy, grass, sea, sun? Crimson, aqua, green, yellow and poppy, grass, sea, sky, sun?What about a site that creates manipulative worksheets? Matt, over to you. Skype? These are my best three ideas to date.Kristian
Popularity: 3% [?]
‘Dont ask how intelligent a child is, ask rather, how is a child intelligent.’
RM Educational Podcasts offer regular educational podcasts of real quality. In the most recent podcast, Dr Anthony Seldon, Master of Wellington College, draws on his experience of school design anddiscusses the positive and negative aspects of using ICT in education. What I enjoyed most was the final ten minutes when he shared his thoughts on the areas of education ‘untouchable’ by ICT.
Popularity: 1% [?]
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