I Music & Photography: A Digital Renaissance This century, the digital revolution in photography and music, has led to the democratisation and proliferation of human beings sharing images and sounds, experiences, knowledge and beauty. How have these two industries, with entrenched interests and well-established systems, changed so rapidly that they little resemble their former selves […]
Back in 2007, some ‘fresh ideas’ excited many Australians, especially those involved in education or who had an interest in the schooling of their own children and grandchildren. In short, that’s pretty much everyone. Here’s a reminder of the commitment our current federal government had, to the ‘Digital Education Revolution’ when seeking election in 2007: […]
The department supports its employees’ participation in social media online applications such as social networking sites, wikis, blogs, microblogs, video and audio sharing sites and message boards that allow people to easily publish, share and discuss content. The above quote is the opening statement in the new Social Media Policy released by my employer, the NSW […]
A new report asks a very important question in, ‘What can we learn today about the students’ aspirations, adoption and adaption of emerging technologies for learning than can help us plan for the future?’ A major national survey concluded that students were already very effectively implementing a vision of socially-based, un-tethered and digitally-rich learning on […]
by William Carlos Williams (1923) so much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens. Source …so much depends upon using imagery to engage students and creating opportunities for them to use imagery to engage you… Slider credit: cc licensed ( BY NC ) flickr photo shared by […]
Many bloggers want to create their own images as frequently as possible, with camera or software, to accompany their written text. However, often, a near-perfect image is legally available online. Ensuring the image is attributed correctly is very important, especially for educators encouraging students to source images appropriately. Thanks to quick responses to a tweet […]
I can still see the poster on my own childhood primary school classroom wall: Kids who read succeeed The Conservative politician and current British Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, has recently said that, ‘children should read 50 books a year’. Who could possibly disagree? In my (not so) humble (on this issue) opinion […]
Over the last few years my presentations and workshops, designed to share my enthusiasm for Web 2.0 with colleagues, have led to many new friendships as well as much personal and professional excitement at the future of learning. It is evident to me that all of us involved in education need to personally develop life-long […]
For the first time in 20 years I do not have English classes to teach. The principal has requested that I am ‘off the timetable’ and work with all students on digital citizenship and creating a Personal Learning Environment (PLE) or, if you prefer, Personal Learning Network (PLN). This is another small step towards creating […]
A recent conversation with a colleague, who genuinely believes that students are more creative when they write with a pen, really made me wonder about the future of pen & paper examinations in NSW and the rest of the world. As you likely know, the students sitting the Higher School Certificate examinations in 2012 were issued […]
Life in 100 Words is an idea gleaned from Solid Gold Creativity: The magazine, Marie Claire, recently featured a series to mark the centenary of International Women’s Day. It asked “10 women, 10 years apart, to offer their life story in 100 words.” I will try this idea with students in the future but would really […]
After watching this talk I feel a little depressed about the graph on the ability of adults to aquire a second language. I also feel that so many of us native English speakers are increasingly going to be disadvantaged in a multilingual global environment. Q: Can anyone comment about their experiences learning a second language […]
It is always wonderful to have a fresh enthusiasm to share. HDR photography (or HDRI) is new to me and in the last weeks of the holidays I learnt much about this art. Just a few years ago it would have been very difficult for me to learn about this quickly as I do not know […]
Michael Wesch has been such an important educational thinker and innovator for so many of us in recent years. Here is his ‘Rethinking Education’ video recently posted on his YouTube channel which is a must subscribe to space. You can submit entries for @mwesch‘s next video here. This is an remix of the submissions so far:
Anyone who read my blog in 2010 would know how a trip to Shanghai opened my eyes to what we have all been reading about over the last few years, the rise of China. The 2009 PISA results and commentaries seemed to quantify the obvious investment, vision and an absolute respect for the importance of education that I […]
Hello colleagues, I jotted down a list of thoughts about 2011 that feel important for me to personally remember about our school and our directions. As you can imagine, it kept growing and is somewhat incomplete. Some are basic, somewhat mundane procedural matters that all schools employ but others are philosophically important, or fundamental, if each student is to […]
I really do not know what motivates me but I am, most people would say, ‘motivated’ and very enthusiastic. For some things. I am sure that the things I enjoy give me the satisfaction of, to paraphrase Kipling, filling the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run but it is hard to define or understand. RSA […]
Do you play video games? Lucy (7) and I are playing Civilization Revolution (CivRev) on PS3 with great gusto. Sarah (4) plays this same game on the iPad and we all enjoy each others company in the family room. Here’s the opening to the game for those not familiar with Sid Meier‘s Civilization franchise: A friend, who is not a teacher, […]
It has been a great year and uplifting final day of 2010 for those of us lucky enough to work at Dapto High School. Last year, we ended our year on a professional high at the salubrious Nan Tien Temple. The staff, anecdotally and via a SurveyMonkey evaluation, overwhelmingly wanted to make it an annual event. The […]
The 2010 Edublog Award Winners lists are up! Well done to everyone who participated, voted and read some new blogs. It is particularly pleasing for me to read that some of the bloggers I nominated – @MitchSquires, The Blog Dogs and @brightideasblog, BrightIdeas – have been awarded. Well done, folks! Of course, I am honoured to get a gong too. It is cool […]
Our principal, Andrew FitzSimons, has led the executive team, once-a-term over the last 5 years, to visit a business, organisation or important community location in the Illawarra who host our strategic meeting. We work off site in this different setting but about an hour is spent learning from our host about their organisation. They explain: Strategic planning What this organisation values in employees […]
It is time to vote in the annual Edublog Awards. Thanks to the Edublogs team who have worked hard to compile so many nominations. It really is a great way to find new blogs and bloggers. I feel honoured to be nominated in the Best School Administrator Blog category. You can vote in that category […]
I believe we are in a Golden Age of civilisation. Not everyone has this way of seeing. I hear many commentators, educators and parents express grave concerns about the impact of technology, the internet, mobile devices and computers on young people and education in society generally. To me, it seems pathological, reminiscent of the comic book scare in the […]
Are you using Google Earth? Which subject? How are you using it? Anyone exploring ethical questions about data collection with their students? The potential for students learning in an integrated, holistic manner using Google Earth are extant. I have no hard data – and would love for the following assertion to be successfully challenged – but […]