John "K" (by-nc-nd)

I really like the people I follow on Twitter. They generate a real buzz of excitement about stuff that is happening that I find very energising.

The thing that gets the Tweeps I follow particularly excited is novelty. When a new idea, device, article appears that challenges a widely held preconception Tweetdeck just lights up as the thoughts bounce around like popcorn.

It’s a fairly trivial example but take the arrival of the 11th Dr Who last week (Matt Smith, brilliant BTW!). Science fiction is not a common topic amongst the people I follow but there was a certain amount of glee (common noun) about the arrival and “post-match” analysis.

I think this whole issue of novelty is important. Articles like this one suggest a strong link between novelty and learning so it’s not just about “oooh, look at the shiny!”

I loved working with kids for the moments when you show them something or they discover something for themselves and you can really feel the buzz as they get stuck in. I think that the people that make the best, most inspirational teachers are the ones who tap into this yearning for novelty and exploit it mercilessly.

There are many complaints that the world of technology never stands still. Devices become obsolete in a matter of months and sites like Bebo go from the peak of popularity to the dead pool in what seems like the blink of an eye. It’s actually what makes technology such a thrilling thing to follow. Educators need to develop different skills to manage these changes but if we expect our students to be able to adapt to a changing economy and society, the least we could do is follow suit.

Two of my new colleagues, Will and Steve, introduced me to the term digital fluency the other day as a way of describing the ability to keep up with a fluid tech-verse. It’s a topic I want to come back to in the future.

So, what I’m saying is that all the people that I follow on Twitter are Novelty Junkies. I suspect it’s not the technology itself that attracts most of these tweeps but the constant arrival of  new resources, devices, news and innovation.

AFTERTHOUGHT: I’m writing this a few days later after following @daveowhite’s keynote at the Plymouth Elearning Conference. There have been one or two tweets about how the idea of “perpetual beta” is accepeted by “players” (people deeply involved in examining new technologies) but anathema to “pragmatists” (people who are interested mostly in implementing tech to help them perform a function – not bothered by exploring). I find the idea of a world in perpetual beta quite liberating – nothing is ever quite finished, everything is in a constant state of renewal and flux and the community and conversation are part of the development. I don’t think I mean just with technology either; ideas, learning, relationships, art, architecture, music etc etc.

Hi all,

I’ve been asked by Edge, a charity “dedicated to raising the stature of practical and vocational learning”, if I would host a stream for this debate taking place on the 22nd March at 16:30.

I’m not endorsing Edge’s manifesto but having said in my previous post about being nervous for the future of education it seemed a good opportunity to help facilitate some discussion on the topic.

I don’t intend to make a habit of hosting other people’s material on this site.

My blog theme didn’t like the embed code so you can access information on the debate on Facebook here and the debate will be hosted on Facebook here.

CC Image - /Joe on Flickr

I have to be careful not to get too excited when a gizmo lands on the desk for us to evaluate at Sheffield East CLC. Having said that I was really looking forward to getting my hands on the iPod touch after hearing so much from other schools and CLC’s about using them.

I’ve had a few weeks to play with one now, although we haven’t used them with students yet, so I thought I’d capture my initial thoughts as an aide memoire for later. As with most things my opinion is likely to change but at least having this as something to refer back to might be useful.

What the iPod does is documented much better elsewhere so I’m not going to discuss that.My main point is a question, really, based on a conversation I’ve had with my boss. It’s this…

To what extent does the iPod Touch actually contribute to pedagogical change?

I start from the assumption that mobile learning is about transforming how learning happens as well as when and where.

The iPod is a great device for delivering content which is what it was designed for. It’s fun and a breeze to use for listening to podcasts, watching videos, looking at websites etc. It gets a lot harder when you try to actually create stuff and contribute.

Text input is fine for short spells but that gives quite a narrow field of ways of getting students to contribute to their own learning. If you want students to capture audio you’ll need to invest in earphones with built-in mic (which can cost up to £20). There are some nice audio apps (AudioBoo being one) but transferring sound out for use elsewhere can be a pain.

The lack of camera for stills and video is a big miss and would open up the door to myriad possibilities for developing visual literacy.

Also, a browse through the apps store for education titles is pretty uninspiring (although there are exceptions – I hope to do another blog post about some of my faves in the near future). Most are about drill-and-practice skill honing or showing information (sometimes in quite engaging and attractive ways, mind).

I don’t buy the idea that by giving a student a mobile device so they can access delivered content anytime and anywhere makes it a learner-centred experience. You need to maximise opportunities for  the learner to record and reflect on their own experiences and the iPod isn’t quite there yet although it’s a step in the right direction.

They key thing, though is that the device on it’s own isn’t going to be transformative other than perhaps adding novelty or increasing engagement. The learning culture around the device needs to find ways of using its capabilities to allow the learner to create and reflect more easily.

I’m not down on the iPod. I love it as a device. I just think that anyone investigating it as a learning tool should think as much about the environment the iPod will be used in as much as what the machine can do.

What are your thoughts on the iPod? Put me straight if you disagree…

I was trying to come up with a fun way of explaining web2.0 this summer (a little like our VLE animation from last year – starting to look a little dated now) and came up with a stick men thing but gave up because I was boring myself. This is much better than I would have managed.

I particularly like way she divorces the ideas from the technology and her positive-thinking approach.

Cheers Sacha.

The Grauniad has published this article preempting the release of a report by Jim Rose into the primary curriculum and already the fur is flying as the headlines say “History out, Twitter in”.

As ever, the reality won’t match the headlines (and the original article is a little more nuanced than the row suggests) but it’s a little depressing to note that educational debate in the UK isn’t moving on even as we try to remodel what is meant by “school”. We still row about how much information we can squeeze into the curriculum.

A few thoughts struck me as I listened to Radio 4′s PM programme get all fussy over it . (I’m a little giddy with a tummy bug so apologies if this rambles!)

Mainly, why if we see some technology has value in society does it need to be stuck in the curriculum? Twitter’s a good case in point. Yes, it can be a good educational tool and yes it’s a great way of communicating but why teach 9 year olds how to do it? It’s so easy to grasp that given the motivation most kids would be able to master it in 10 minutes.

But there’s another issue; kids aren’t into Twitter. It’s only Stephen Fry and sad cases like us bloggers. It they’re not motivated to learn a particular social application why suck the fun out of it by trying to teach it? If it’s useful enough then they’ll work it out themselves. Did we have to teach them Club Penguin?

Blogging, podcasting, Tweeting only exist because people have some use for them to communicate ideas. I’m not writing this post now because someone taught me to blog, I’m writing because I have thoughts in my head and I want them out of my head, maybe so that other people can go “hmm” or “idiot!”

The technology has no value by itself. What’s important are the ideas that get communicated through it. Start removing other things from the school day and you have to wonder where these ideas are actually going to come from.

These sorts of technologies should be liberated from the curriculum so kids get used to finding and choosing the best way of getting their ideas and learning across. That’s the real skill. If that is by podcasting, Bookr or Voicethread then great, with a little help and encouragement most motivated people can learn to do most things on their own.

It’s more about finding ways to engage learners first. Not relying on ICT tools to do that job for you.

I think the fuss over this article may just be a red herring. It’ll much more interesting to find out when the final report is published just what they mean by giving teachers the freedom to decide what children should concentrate on in class.

That could really make a difference!

I’ve embedded a slideshow I’ve just used today for a short course on digital imaging – not the most inspiring topic but the slides were a real talking point and increased the impact of what was on the screen. Got the thumbs up from my delegates.

click the image

I found the interface tricky to negotiate initially but quickly got into it. The trick is to accept the things it won’t do and marvel at it’s sleek concept!

It’s in beta stage so they are inviting people to sign up and use for free for the mo but expect a subscription fee in the future. If you sign up you have to say how you intend to use it but I’m guessing that they’ll be keen ton get the widest coverage possible. So unless you say that you are going to use it to help spread your own nauseating brand of ultra-nationalist hate-propaganda you should get a chance to set up a test account.

If anyone at Prezi reads this it would be great if you did something along the lines of Animoto’s education package as this would be a great tool to use in conjunction with learning platforms, student blogs etc.

Thanks to m’colleagues at Sheffield South CLC for shouting this one out.

BY the way, the images in the presentation are all Flickr Creative Commons but I downloaded them ages ago before I realised I had to attribute them. If your image is here and you want credit please leave a comment and I’ll amend the presentation. Cheers.

This has been developed by Aaron Bowler (he’s sitting next to me RIGHT NOW!) and can either be viewed on the web or downloaded. Does countdown as well.

Go see…click here.