Reading a post by Larry Ferlazzo led me to think of 10 tweeps I enjoy and get good value from each day. I notice that all have a fantastic blog/site which is essential IMHO. In alphabetical order: @ABCMarkScott – The ABC has positioned itself well online over that last decade or so, especially in regards […]
I could easily nominate most of the blogs and bloggers acknowledged in previous years, as all continue to be a daily or weekly part of my reading, tweeting and RSS circuit. However, I have decided to make a completely fresh list of my favs for 2010. This has proven to be extremely difficult and many great blogs and […]
The Edublog Award nominations are now open for 2010. It is great fun to recognise the people who fill our readers with enjoyable, thought-provoking posts about learning and technology, education and ideas. What I really like about the awards is that they lead to the discovery of many new blogs and bloggers, tweeps and teachers. For […]
How many schools, that wish to innovate and recreate learning spaces for New Times, are hampered by ‘the buildings’ and ‘the space’ the community have inherited from a bygone age? How are the conditions created to best assist change to occur when funding is scant? In this TED talk Emily Pilloton explores ‘appropriate design solutions’ […]
What is a meme? Wikipedia says: The British scientist Richard Dawkins coined the word “meme” in The Selfish Gene (1976)[1][4] as a concept for discussion of evolutionary principles in explaining the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena. Examples of memes given in the book included melodies, catch-phrases, fashion, and the technology of building arches.[5] I […]
Sir Ken Robinson‘s narrative about education is a powerful reading of the institutions at the heart of our societies. It is ‘a reading’ difficult to dispute. RSA Animate have made this particular paradigm understandable to all with a brilliantly constructed series of drawings. You can see the whole series of RSA animations here. Please, if you […]
How much is your future connected to what you choose to do ‘for a living’? Many of us are lucky enough to be learning/working in the field of education as it offers such great personal and professional opportunities – and, most importantly, one is able to maintain a sense of purpose by contributing to a larger community. It […]
Australian students with a Chinese background have long been respected in NSW schools for their diligence and conscientious attitudes towards learning and school. After my first experience of China, 12 days in the exciting metropolis of Shanghai, I can understand more completely why these students are excelling in our schools. To say that the Chinese […]
Shanghai has exceeded, my already very high expectations, over the last week – it is a great city and, as you can see from the featured photo of Nanjing Road, very paradoxical! I expected to update my blog daily but quite frankly, have been having too much fun and very little time on my laptop, […]
The Fourth Way: The Inspiring Future of Educational Change by Andy Hargreaves and Dennis Shirley was published last year and is worth reading, especially for students, emerging leaders and those looking for a survey of the politics of education in the last 4 decades or so. The subtitle, ‘The Inspiring Fututure for Educational Change’ is what […]
The NSW Deputy Principals’ conference continues today. DPs have signed up to our conference ning and many more are using Yammer. Change is in the air. My presentation, ‘Communicating Online’ is ‘a prezi’. Communicating Online on Prezi I had my PLN say hello via yammer and twitter during the workshop, there were some pearls of wisdom. […]
The ABC Teacher Forum held at the Ultimo studios today was an opportunity to explore the process and reality of reporting the news. We had a quick tour of the studios before enjoying the 2-hour forum. The panel of ABC staff: Simon Palan, Sue Stephenson, Anne Maria Nicholson and especially Walkley Award winning journalist Tim […]
The political uncertainty of the election ‘result’ that Australians watched unfold last night will lead to concerned discussion about what a hung parliament will mean for our democracy. There will be many at the moment worrying, including myself, about the NBN plan and what will happen to the Digital Education Revolution, if Mr Abbott is anointed. However, another interesting question is, obviously, how […]
Here’s the complete list below of posts for #leadershipday10 from Scott Mcleod‘s blog, Dangerously Irrelevant. Leadership & Vision Blake Skidmore (@blakeskid). Pick Up the Mouse Your E-Mail is Ringing. I will be gliding through building technology at schools, and how to take some concrete steps for “old dogs learning new tricks”. Carolyn Foote (@technolibrary). Stepping […]
I have never had a parent ask me any of the questions listed below, except, perhaps, the one about ‘happiness’ in a number of guises. I wish someone would. How would your child’s teachers fare if asked these questions: 1. What is your educational philosophy? 2. How are you assisting our child to become a self-directed learner? […]
Scott Mcleod has organised Leadership Day, since 2007, by requesting that bloggers post their ideas on a range of pertinent edtech topics. The 30th July has dawned and some reflection is in order. Last year I wrote a response and quoted Seth Godin suggesting that leaders must be prepared to be ‘incompetent’ for a while in order to learn: […]
After my post, Twitter Literati for English Teachers, some discussion arose about the reasons why teacher-librarians are so engaged with twitter, social media and digital technologies generally. Colleagues on Yammer had some good ideas: Darcy, in schools TLs are one of a kind. We have therefore needed to look beyond our schools for support and guidance. […]
Australian English teachers have not flocked to twitter in the way I envisaged back in early 2008. I have been guilty of spamming email distribution lists, evangelising at conferences and publishing traditional print based articles in professional journals, all with very limited success in convincing my colleagues, in any great numbers, to tweet. There are some notable exceptions, tweeple I admire greatly, […]
Craig Foster’s recent analysis of Spanish footballing success is likely to resound with many educators. Spain are a wonderful example to Australia because the fruits they enjoy today were cultivated over the last 20 years through an advanced youth development system, by churning out thousands of qualified coaches to educate young players and through the […]
This is a draft of my presentation, to be delivered next week at the Office of Schools conference, Engaging learners through innovative practice, about blogEd, the NSW DET blogging platform. Actually, the presentation is more about using blogs at school and in class, rather than anything specific about using this great tool for students and teachers. If you are […]
Steve Wheeler, whose blog I always read, has kindly shared his recent conference presentation via slideshare.
This is the first presentation using Prezi I have ever completed; although I have started a few in the past 12 months before the pressure of being prepared for whatever conference led me to not finish (and use my blog or PowerPoint). Prezi has turned out to be a fun tool – once you ‘get’ the […]
“Diane Ravitch is the rarest of scholars—one who reports her findings and conclusions, even when they go against conventional wisdom and even when they counter her earlier, publicly espoused positions.” Howard Gardner The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education is Diane Ravitch‘s new tome. It is […]
Sir Ken Robinson’s books and talks, quite simply, inspire! His sense of humour and rejection of neo-factory models of education are a beacon of light for those who wish to reform the educational hand children are dealt. His passion for moving towards a ‘personalised curriculum’ is the most important educational idea of our, or any […]