Finnish Lessons by Pasi Sahlberg documents how Finland achieved educational success without going through the arduous and controversial process of implementing competition, school choice, and test-based accountability. cc licensed ( BY NC SD ) flickr photo shared by Darcy Moore Have you read it? Has you local member of parliament?
Streaming Music in Australia (at mine) I posted about the new streaming services, spoiling Australian music fans for choice, last month and felt like updating you with some recent thoughts re: the pros and cons of each. I trialled Deezer, Rdio, JB Hi-Fi and Songl. Spotify was, I thought, going to be the clear winner. […]
“…set in the early years of the 21st century and told through text, sound, images, music and games.” Inanimate Alice, the story of Alice and her imaginary digital friend Brad, has steadily become a staple for English teachers, in many countries around the world, interested in exploring transmedia. ‘Alice’ is a ‘digital novel’ that most […]
Fairfax has signalled that the future is online Fairfax cuts 1900 jobs Fairfax media, publishing the Sydney Morning Herald, since 1831, is the latest industry to be forced to change, perhaps too late, in response to the digital revolution. Many suggested the writing was on the wall 15 years ago and that tardiness, […]
The purpose of school is often debated, sometimes poorly, without any clear or convincing Big Picture view being sketched for the community. Literacy and numeracy, technical and social skills are honorably mentioned, along with the needs of our economy. However much these skills serve the needs of the individual, it is how we belong effectively, […]
“AirPlay is a technology invented by and used by Apple to let users broadcast audio, video, and photos to compatible WiFi-connected devices.” Source There are some technological changes happening in my home this year as we become enamoured with streaming music, television and movies over the WiFi. In short, our home is untangling from the […]
”Music itself is going to become like running water or electricity…It’s terribly exciting. But on the other hand it doesn’t matter if you think it’s exciting or not; it’s what’s going to happen.” David Bowie Sonos, with Spotify, Deezer, Rdio, JB Hi-Fi and Songl streaming have made my mp3 collection feel somewhat superseded, if not […]
The ritual dance, between the NSW Teachers Federation and the NSW Department of Education and Communities, continues over how education is organised in our state. I do not propose to comment on my employer’s policies or my union’s response. Educators must focus on what is truly important for our communities. Quite simply, our priorities […]
Thanks to Robyn Beyer and the organising committee of the Northern Sydney Regional Teacher-Librarian conference for kindly inviting me to present the keynote today. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The delegates were enthusiastic and treated me very kindly indeed. cc licensed ( BY NC SD ) flickr photo shared by Darcy Moore My pre-conference survey […]
Today’s information technologies provide instantaneous access to vast amounts of information, opening up wondrous new possibilities in education, commerce, and entertainment. But these opportunities are not without cost: the easy availability of information can turn into information overload; the presence of multiple communication sources and devices may lead to the fragmentation of attention; and the […]
One of the great joys of fatherhood is learning with your children, especially while travelling. We have more time to hangout, walk and talk when the usual routines are put aside for exploration of unfamiliar places. Everything is somehow new and the light different, more subtle. It is undeniably true that Time is needed for […]
The purpose of this book is to fill in some of the gaps of this historical amnesia, by giving an account of where basic political institutions came from in societies that now take them for granted. The three categories of institutions in question are the ones just described: 1. the state 2. the rule of […]
cc licensed ( BY NC SD ) flickr photo shared by Darcy Moore Reading has always been a solitary pursuit – by definition – in my mind. I never sought membership of any kind of club that met to discuss books. The idea of attending a ‘festival’ to listen to an author, or ask them […]
My Year 10 English class had a guest speaker today. Rebecca Fernandez spoke about her journey towards making a living as a game designer. Rebecca’s mother is an ex-student of our school and the boys could relate to the experiences of a local person in achieving her goals. The boys listened politely and some were […]
My 5 and 8 year old daughters have monopolised our iPad since we bought it in 2010. I never really used it that much but my partner, who is not at all geeky, would prise it away from the kids for email, browsing, Plants vs Zombies, ABC iView and reading the ‘newspaper’. Wikipanion is her […]
This is not about people in the system but the system itself. It is difficult to know how the current controversies, the numerous proposed changes in the way education is organised in NSW and Australia, will impact on the next generation of children. A national curriculum, new funding arrangements for schools, the impact of technology on […]
“What is a system? A system is a network of interdependent components that work together to try to accomplish the aim of the system. A system must have an aim. Without an aim, there is no system. The aim of the system must be clear to everyone in the system. The aim must include plans […]
I blogged about the Review of Funding for Schooling last year with some hope that positive outcomes would result. Here’s the official School Funding website where you can read David Gonski and his panel’s recent findings. The headline news is the recommendation that 5 billion dollars extra funding flows into the education budget but that […]
From a teacher’s perspective, the Quality Teaching Framework is an important professional document supporting learning in NSW schools. At a glance, for readers unfamiliar with the QTF framework, here’s an overview: I’d like to relate a recent and ongoing class conversation, related to the element of ‘problematic knowledge’, raised in dialogue with some experts Year 10 engaged […]
RE: Chris Betcher’s thoughtful post I believe that our whole community needs to take responsibility for learning, not just teachers. An excellent doctor is a must but just as important is a community that values good health and by holding this value, helps everyone on the right path towards that goal. Parents have a particular responsibility, […]
My colleague, Andrew Walker, writes about his experience doing Stanford University’s AI course in a guest (and his first) blog post. cc licensed ( BY NC SD ) flickr photo shared by Darcy Moore In August last year, tech enthusiasts were buzzing with the news that Stanford University would be offering three classes online […]
Carsten’s blog post led me to write today. cc licensed ( BY NC SD ) flickr photo shared by attila acs In the last few months, on returning from Denmark, I have often tried to articulate what are the similarities and differences between our nations. The events and coverage of Australia Day 2012 encapsulate […]
Colleagues, Your mission today is to spend some time thinking and sharing about learning in your 1:1 laptop classroom. The key issue about learning in a 1:1 laptop classroom is not the technology but the pedagogy. Today we will share our knowledge, accumulated over the least three years since the rollout of netbooks, using an online […]
A leader is a dealer in hope. cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo shared by artfulblogger I retweeted this quote on Twitter this morning as it reflects what students need at school and we all need in life – hope. Hope that the future holds wonder, love and forgiveness. Hope that it will all be […]