April « 2013 « Virtual Learning

Is teaching a technology, or is it more than that?

In this fair land there has long been a stratified interpretation of the purpose of education: which layer of the strata provides your perspective is unlikely to change, and it screens out the possibility that that there are other ways of viewing and interpreting the “how things should be”. The schools and the classes that we imagine are framed by our class, so to speak.
So, is the role of teachers to know stuff, and pass it on? To be able to do stuff, and implement it? Can we provide access to cultural capital when that itself is a site of conflict? Here is a view from someone who prepares the troops.

Linking CPD, learning and technology: David Weston, Chief Executive Teacher Development Trust

Handing over to the learners

Katya Toneva set up a creative project for her teachers and students based on the Flat Classroom concept. The learning gains are considerable, not least those that are grounded in the affective skills of collaboration: improving their own learning and performance, problem solving and working with others.

Using Web 2.0 tools for enhancing learning – school case studies: Dr Katya Toneva, St Mary’s University College.

Who needs to know what? Facts, knowledge and competences.

The Shock of the New illustrated some of the ways in which technology can enhance learning. Innovation in education is all too often understood as curriculum revision: the process and structure of education itself is often assumed to be fixed. Can technology challenge this hegemony? What facts and knowledge must young people know? What competences should they possess?

MirandaMod: An ICT curriculum for the Knowledge Age; Douglas Butler (TSM Workshops); Iris Lanny (Oracle); Bill Mitchell (British Computer Society); Roger Turner, LightSpeed; Andrea Forbes (Texas Instruments); Dr John Cuthell, MirandaNet.

Here’s the MindMeister map:

What is the relationship between learning and technology? Is there one?

The regular overhaul of the United Kingdom education system brings to the surface many of the tensions of society itself. The conflation of international school rankings, economic decline and the prospect of dominance by what used to be described as the emerging economies has spurred Government in 2012 to declare the need for schools to teach Computing, rather than the previously-prescribed, now lowly and demoted, ICT. The assumption seems to be that the teaching workforce is full of eager Computing specialists who are all too ready to ditch the low-level Office skills they were required to teach and adapt to new examination syllabuses.

It is interesting that the teaching of technology is now conflated with the acquisition of a body of knowledge, which will then lead to approved performative outcomes. Are there other approaches that might support learning?

The MirandaNet approach to the new ICT curriculum: Ian Lynch, GEBOL; Theo Keuchel, MirandaNet; Allison Allen, Outstream and Naace.

The accompanying MindMeister map can be found here:

Devices and their possibilities

Current discussions about the role of student-owned, hand-held technologies are often grounded in assumptions based on limited evidence. Kevin Burden, from Hull University, carried out research in Scotland into the use of iPads. His findings suggest some ways in which schools can maximize the potential of such devices, should they wish to utilize them.

Can digital devices really have an impact on learning?

It’s still a vision thing

It’s fifteen years since interactive whiteboards started to appear in UK schools, and many now regard them as passé, and are waiting for the Next New Thing to appear. Indeed, some teachers never use them, even though their classrooms may be equipped with them. Understanding a technology, knowing how it is used and being able to incorporate it into one’s pedagogical approach are all vital if it is to be any use. David Obst, from the Technische Universität, Dresden, explains how IWB technology is being introduced in one part of Germany.