Waiting for Gonski (Part 1)

 On 31 August 2011, the Review of Funding for Schooling panel released a Paper on Commissioned Research and four research reports, seeking feedback from the general public. It is important to note that these research reports do not necessarily reflect the views of the panel.          Source   The Review of Funding for […]

Twitter and Edmodo in Denmark

  You may have read these musings about hashtags and citizenship after the #LondonRiots. This post is a brief reflective piece about a series of lessons with classes and Professional Development sessions with staff at Viborg Katedralskole (check the new website) focusing on student engagement, Twitter and Edmodo. It has been very enjoyable for me to be back […]

A day, make that week, to remember…

It was a memorable day for the the community of Viborg Katedralskole!  The former Danish Prime Minister and current Secretary General of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen visited his ‘old school’ for several hours (on the day when the Danish election was announced). His speech to the students was well-received and he answered questions for quite a […]

Google Translate

  Google Translate is the most essential tool in my daily existence at the moment, on exchange in Denmark, at Viborg Katedralskole. Most Danes speak English and it is completely possible for me to function at the school, without speaking or understanding the language, in most contexts. However, the Danish documents I want to read would […]

All I need to know about Twitter I learned at kindergarten

Thanks to Prof. Steve Wheeler for his post about the ‘art of twitter’ and this slideshare below. All I need to know about Twitter I learned at kindergarten View more presentations from Steve Wheeler Slider image: cc licensed ( BY NC SD ) flickr photo by xotoko: http://flickr.com/photos/xotoko/2382680812/

‘Online Introduction to Artificial Intelligence’

A colleague, who prefers it when I do not mention his name on any social media channel as he is a geek who studiously avoids facebook, twitter, blogging etc, emailed some interesting links about Stanford University and the new, “Online Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, by Professors Peter Norvig and Sebastian Thrun“. I noticed, a few minutes […]

GOOGLE+

On the road for more than a month now, I have not been paying as much attention to my social media networks as usual and was a little horrified to see that foolishly I had two Google+ accounts. That’s to0 many circles. How did this happen? A colleague needed my (not often used) Gmail account […]

Learning in Paris

The Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie is the biggest science museum in Europe, with the admirable goal, according to Wikipedia, of spreading ‘scientific and technical knowledge among the public, particularly for youth, and for creating public interest in science, research, and industry’. To be honest, it was my least favourite place in Paris but […]

Digital Footprints & Family History

The digital footprints being created for my family, or more to the point of this post, being created by me for my children, gives rise to some reflection about the future of family history in our societies. Family history has been revolutionised by the internet. Ask anyone who did research prior to the 1990s about […]

Learning in London

“Travelling is just like homeschooling but way better…” says Lucy – and I tend to agree. Not having the chance to travel overseas until was 25, I really value this opportunity and what it represents for my family on a number levels. Together time, learning, new experiences and just opening up horizons – for all of […]

Travelling in China: Photography, Social Media and Shanghai

Last year I wrote a unit of work, after my travels in Shanghai, that I would like to share with you. It is written for NSW syllabuses but it may be of some interest to any teacher interested in travel, Asia, teaching visual literacy, social media or organising a student trip overseas. Here’s the PDF […]

The future is here…

This post was written for the IBM 100th Anniversary website, Shaping our Future (hit the drop down under the education topic). The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed. —William Gibson, quoted in The Economist, December 4, 2003   ‘The future is here’ and this oft (over) quoted line from the father […]

Teacher-librarians: Digital Communication Tools (Part II)

In the age of ‘infowhelm’ choosing the appropriate digital communication tools – to stay in-the-loop and professionally connected – is essential for any professional person, especially teacher-librarians. A teacher-librarian can make a start on developing a Personal Learning Network (PLN) by following these steps at their own pace: finding several excellent blogs to follow and […]

Teacher-librarians: Context (Part I)

I am presenting to teacher-librarian colleagues about ‘digital communication tools’ this week.  I’d rather say we are ‘collaborating’ than I am ‘presenting’ and have used survey monkey to collect data from the delegates prior to the conference about their needs and yammer to seek advice about the perceptions of what ‘skills’ and ‘knowledge’ are needed […]

Photography: My Reading

The shutterbug is feeding voraciously on my blood. I am happily bitten and wanted to share the best of what I have read on my Kindle or iPad, from local libraries, inter-library loans or friends’ shelves. Amazon has made a fine profit from me as it is so easy to cheaply and quickly purchase for my kindle […]

Learning: A Digital Renaissance (a draft)

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 […]

Future vision?

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: […]

‘Shut Down The Schools!’

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 […]

The Red Wheelbarrow

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 […]

Flickr CC Attribution Helper(s)

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 […]

Reading…

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 […]

How to use social media to collaborate*

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 […]

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