Archives, by Terry Freedman
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:9
In order to prove that there is nothing new under the sun, I am in the process of republishing archived issues of my newsletter Computers in Classrooms (as it was then called). This was launched in 2000, and although some of the terminology and technology has changed, many of the issues have not changed at all. Perhaps we can learn from the past.
In these reprints I’ve reduced the names of people quoted to their initials (except in the case of officials who were speaking or writing publicly). I had permission to cite them at the time, but that was decades ago. Most of the links no longer work, which is rather a pity. Also, the formatting was pretty basic, and I haven’t tried to make it look prettier now. Just focus on the content!
About Computers in Classrooms #4
There are a couple of interesting things in the newsletter below. One is the findings from a study at Reading University about the most effective approach to training teachers. I’d be very surprised if a study carried out today didn’t yield similar results.
The other thing is my comment about government websites:
"The UK Government and its agencies continue to develop web sites like there's no tomorrow. This is great news, especially as they're all good, but remembering them all can be a bit of a problem."
Anyway, enjoy this blast from the past, which still contains a few lessons for today I think.
Computers in Classrooms #4
Computers in Classrooms
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ISSN 1470-5524
Edited by Terry Freedman
Home Page: http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~etfreedman (or, if you are
manually entering the address, http://fastlink.to/ict)
Email: compic@etfreedman.easynet.co.uk
Volume 1 Issue 4 *** 14 August 2000
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In this issue:
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* A note from the editor
* News
* Website round-up
* The ICT in Education website update
* Jargon buster
* Next issue's features
* Some facts about this newsletter
* About the editor
* Subscription details
* Advertising rates
* Disclaimer
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A note from the editor
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It's taken a while for this issue to appear, for lots of reasons. Because
many subscribers are likely to be on holiday at the moment, or at least in
a holiday mood, I took the view that this edition should be lighter than
usual.
What this means in practice is that there is a news section, and thumbnail
sketches of several websites. The features and other regular sections --
in other words, the bits you have to think about -- have been held over to
the next issue. If you're reading this at the start of the new term,
hopefully you will find perusing this newsletter not too arduous or
time-consuming, considering everything else you're having to think about
at the moment.
I am aiming to get the next issue out by mid-September. It contains
several items that I'm sure will give you food for thought.
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News
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Feedback
Proof that sharing really does work: JB, a subscriber to this
newsletter, downloaded my PowerPoint presentation on current developments
in ICT in the UK, and added a few slides of his own. JB has kindly
said that people can use these, so if you're interested in obtaining them
-- and the original presentation -- just send any email to
compic@etfreedman.easynet.co.uk, making sure that the subject is ICTDEVS.
JB explains why he made the amendments:
"I've twisted the theme of the presentation towards a possible model of
addressing the cross-curricular issues. This is just to get the ball
rolling -- I'll tackle assessment with departments once I can get them
into ICT!
"The idea is to use the material to highlight the role of ICT in the
curriculum. My impression is that some still think of ICT as an add-on.
To move forward, in particular to avoid the repetition of low level
skills, departments need to be aware of the statutory requirements. I
gave departments where possible a breakdown of the statutory requirements
from KS1* and up. Some were surprised at what is happening in KS2*. This
demonstrates the need for liaison."
Incidentally, some of the issues touched on here are developed later in
September's newsletter.
* See Jargon Buster section for an explanation of these terms.
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Conference
Last month, we in the UK enjoyed the biggest ICT Conference (Educating for
the Third Millennium) in living memory. This was an excellent event, which
saw many prominent people giving presentations. There was a wide variety
of speakers and topics, including many academic ones. What really made the
conference special, of course, was the fact that it was organised jointly
by a number of organisations concerned with ICT in education. There was
some debate about whether the organisations should merge, or whether an
umbrella organisation should be formed. The idea is that you would join an
organisation for a certain fee, and then within that you could belong to
particular groups (for advisers, teacher trainers etc) for a further
subscription. In theory, this would work out cheaper than joining several
separate organisations, and could result in all the organisations enjoying
economies of scale in various ways. I am not an official spokesman in this
regard, but if you have any views on this that you would like to share
with other subscribers, please email me at
compic@etfreedman.easynet.co.uk, using the subject ORGANISATION.
As you might expect, the quality of the presentations varied widely. The
best ones were those in which the presenter had something original to say,
or at least an original way of saying it, and where some thought had gone
into the style of presentation: PowerPoint was too frequently used without
much thought! This has inspired me to pen some notes about presentation,
which will appear in October's newsletter. If you would like to contribute
any comments or observations, please email me on
compic@etfreedman.easynet.co.uk, using the subject PRESENTATIONS.
Incidentally, I gave a presentation myself. This was a session with a
practical slant: how to deal with various dreadful management situations.
I have started putting this on my web site in the form of Frequently Asked
Questions of FAQ (see below).
Getting back to the conference, some interesting points arose from certain
sessions, each of which could be used as the starting point for discussion:
* The greatest applications are not those with the greatest power but
those which teachers can use most imaginatively. The most powerful
combination is "killer applications and killer ideas!" (Gabriel Goldstein,
HMI)
* If parents are emailing school, schools need protocols both as to *who*
should answer them and *how* they should answer them. (Don Passey)
* "If we miss something that is bad, that's *our* fault, but if we miss
something that's good, that's *your* fault." (OFSTED inspector)
* "This "telephone" has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered
as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us."
(Western Union internal memo, 1876)
* "Mankind owes to children the best it has to give." (Quoted by Tim
Brighouse, Birmingham Chief Education Officer)
A presentation from Telewest yielded some fascinating statistics:
apparently, $4.5bn is wasted if web page download time is longer than 8
seconds, and 2.5bn hours were wasted in 1998 waiting for web pages to
download. I find these figures fascinating because I have no idea how they
were arrived at. I also don't know whether they pertain to only the USA or
not. Nevertheless, it's interesting that the cut-off point used is 8
seconds.
Regarding the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) training, V Zakopoulos, of
Reading University, reported that a study he undertook revealed that:
* teachers need to be supported by advisers *after* they've received their
training;
* training should be face to face in their own environment;
* training should not stop but be ongoing; and
* teachers did not feel knowledgeable or confident enough to benefit from
online training.
Probably not many surprises there, but it's nice to have one's suspicions
confirmed by academic research findings! See also the next news item.
The best part about the conference, of course, was meeting up with old
friends, making new ones, and putting the world to rights over a cup of tea!
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Learning Schools Programme
In a completely independent development from the research findings at the
University of Reading (see previous news item), the Open University and
Research Machines recently agreed to extend access to the FirstClass
on-line National Conferences, for all teachers and school librarians on
the Learning Schools Programme, to the end of the NOF Teacher Training
initiative. Previously, the on-line facilities lasted only for the
duration of the individual teacher's involvement with the programme.
Chris Powley from the Learning Schools Programme said "In recent months,
we have received many requests from teachers and advisers to extend access
to the National Conferences to maintain and develop the communication and
collaboration between colleagues. We are delighted to be able to respond
and hope that colleagues will be able to build upon their NOF Training
with the Learning Schools Programme."
I hope to bring you more news about the LSP in next month's newsletter.
Note to non-UK residents: if you are wondering what NOF is all about, look
at the Current Developments in ICT on the ICT in Education website, where
all will be revealed (well, the key points anyway!).
Another note to non-UK residents: if you know of similar programmes
elsewhere in the world, it would be interesting to find out more about
them and how successful they've been. If you know of anything, please
email me at compic@etfreedman.easynet.co.uk, using the subject header NOF.
Thanks.
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Web site round-up
The UK Government and its agencies continue to develop web sites like
there's no tomorrow. This is great news, especially as they're all good,
but remembering them all can be a bit of a problem. A good strategy is to
bookmark the following web sites:
the BECTa home page (http://www.becta.org.uk) or...
the DfEE home page (http://www.dfee.gov.uk).
In the meantime, here's the latest:
Calling all parents -- again
The DfEE's Parents Online website is now up and running, at
http://www.parentsonline.gov.uk/. I haven't had a chance to look at it in
depth, but it has some lively links and looks child-friendly. This is
important because there are still too many people who focus only on the
negative aspects of the internet.
The aims of Parents Online week, which runs in the week beginning 18th
September, are:
* to prove to parents that the Internet is a powerful tool for their
children's education;
* to encourage parents to invest in technology;
* to show that the technology is easy to use and non-threatening;
* to introduce parents to high quality educational websites and give
advice on how to avoid inappropriate material.
Look at the site, and give the DfEE any ideas for activities during
Parents Online week. How could you open up your school to parents and give
them a taster of what the internet is like? Most schools have to think
about the issue of getting parents involved and keeping them informed;
this initiative could provide a useful focus for addressing the problem.
Sure Start http://www.surestart.gov.uk/home.cfm
"The aim of Sure Start", to quote from the web site itself, "is to promote
the physical, intellectual and social development of pre-school children
-- particularly those who are disadvantaged -- to ensure they are ready to
flourish when they get to school."
This is a good source of information, with some useful links to news
articles about the scheme. It does not (currently) have much relevance as
far as ICT is concerned, except from a web design point of view. It works
very smoothly and quickly, although the typeface is on the small side and
the background colour (purple) makes the site look a bit dark. Evidence
that the site is still under development appears on the links page, where
we see several instances of "Descriptive text to be inserted here" on the
page. This would be a good site to bookmark and return to on a regular
basis, especially if you are involved with children with special
educational needs.
Connexions http://www.connexions.gov.uk/
This "is the UK Government's strategy to ensure every
young person gets the best start in life." This is a brightly-coloured
site which is easy to navigate. Perhaps the most useful aspect of it for
ICT teachers is its lists of links which can be found under the main
headings of Young People, Parents/Guardians etc.
Inclusion (1)
http://www.becta.org.uk/inclusion/sen/resources/casestudies/index.html
The latest version of the National Curriculum addresses the teaching of
children with special educational needs in a very specific way. This web
site gives you access to a range of resources that can help. The general
document, "20 reasons why ICT is an excellent tool for teachers and
learners" is a good starting point for discussion, and would probably be
useful in the context of a staff training day. There are also very
specific resources, ranging from Early Years to Secondary.
Inclusion (2) http://inclusion.ngfl.gov.uk/
This is "a catalogue of on-line resources to support individual learning
needs".
This has a very easy to use interface, and is both fast and useful: many
resources are gathered together or linked to in one place. The search
facility is very innovative, and is well worth a visit. Niel McLean, Head
of the Schools Directorate at BECTa, has explained that it has been
designed with teachers in mind. Teachers do not have time to continue
searching during school time. Also, it's very frustrating for them when
the bell goes when they are part-way through a search.
The Inclusion site's search facility helps teachers in three main ways:
* It helps you narrow the search down without the need for understanding
how a search works: you just select from various options. This is good,
although personally I found it a bit frustrating in that I could have
conducted a search more quickly myself using the normal methods.
* If it doesn't find what you are looking for, it directs you to a mailing
list where you can ask other people for help.
* It allows you to save the results of your search and email them to
yourself.
SEN Resources http://www.geocities.com/sen_resources
This is a private, as opposed to an official, site, which has a wide range
of resources available for teachers of children with special educational
needs. The site can be slow to download at times, but it's worth the wait.
The resources should appeal to UK teachers especially because the content
of the site is UK-based.
E-Books and E-Book Readers
At the moment, there are several types of electronic book readers (e-book
readers) available, with no clear standard. (An e-book reader is a
hand-held device which can hold many books in electronic format, and on
which you can read the books, and annotate and bookmark sections, and look
up individual words.) One of the most popular devices is the Rocket, but
before you rush out and buy one, you may like to try the Microsoft e-book
reader software, which is free.
Barnes and Noble are giving away 100 classic titles in the Microsoft
e-book format, and there is a link to the software from their home page,
which is http://www.barnesandnoble.com.
At the moment, I am reading Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins, in this format.
I like the software: although it takes some getting used to, it's fairly
intuitive on the whole. To make full use of it, however, you really need a
portable computer.
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The ICT in Education website update
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This newsletter is supported by the ICT in Education website,
http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~etfreedman (or http://fastlink.to/ict). The
two main concerns of the website are:
* managing the provision of information and communication technology in
schools and colleges;
* using computers to reduce teachers' admin burden.
The website is usually updated at least once a week. I have recently been
making changes to the formatting of the web pages. The pages should now be
much more readable on screen resolutions lower than 1024x768, and should
load much faster as I have dispensed with most of the graphics.
As well as cosmetic changes there have been changes in the content. I have
temporarily disabled the "Managing for Success" pages, and am in the
process of replacing them with a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section
on the same subject matter. Some of the new pages are already in place.
Another page is a worksheet I wrote which includes an image taken with a
digital camera. The image quality is not as good as the original, which
was 4 Mb in size, but it does illustrate how a digital camera can be used.
I took the photo on my way home from a school, and then produced the
worksheet as soon as I got in. It couldn't have taken more than 10 or 15
minutes. If you know of other ways that a digital camera can be used,
email me on compic@etfreedman.easynet.co.uk, with the subject header
CAMERA.
The website has been granted an award by Schoolzone -- pretty amazing
really, considering that I didn't apply for one! Schoolzone is worth
checking out, as it has loads of links to curriculum web sites which are
particularly relevant to UK teachers. Its address is
http://www.schoolzone.co.uk.
Look out for more links pages on the web site too. Recently I've started
supporting any articles I write with collections of web site links on my
own web site.
In the meantime, Ben Franklyn, editor of the electronic newsletter of
MirandaNet, an on-line educational research community, reviewed Managing
ICT. You can read his review on-line at
http://www.mirandanet.ac.uk/pubs/terryreview.htm. While you're at it,
check out the MirandaNet web site itself, at http://www.mirandanet.ac.uk.
It's very interesting, and easy to navigate.
If you have any comments on the website, or discover any glitches, please
let me know by emailing me at ict@etfreedman.easynet.co.uk.
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Jargon buster
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Some of the terms used in this newsletter may seem a bit arcane to anyone
living outside the UK, so here is a quick guide:
DfEE...............Department for Education and Employment
ICT................Information and Communication Technology
KS1................Key Stage 1, corresponding to ages 5 to 8
KS2................Key Stage 2, corresponding to ages 9 and 10
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Next issue's features
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In the next issue of the newsletter we will look at the new QCA scheme of
work for Key Stage 3 ICT, including some information from Niel McLean,
currently Head of Schools Directorate, BECTa, and cognitive dissonance.
The next issue is due out mid-September.
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Some facts about this newsletter
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The purpose of this newsletter is to provide a means of looking at issues
which affect teachers of Information & Communication Technology (ICT), and
teachers who *use* ICT in their lessons. We look at what works and what
doesn't, and the day-to-day challenges involved in using computers in
classrooms. Also included are hints and tips for teachers new to using
computers, and items that I hope will be of interest to ICT co-ordinators.
This newsletter now has a large and growing subscriber base. Most of the
people who subscribe are from the UK and USA, and range from new teachers
of ICT to "old hands".
Please pass this newsletter along to anyone whom you think might gain some
benefit from it. Send me your comments on any aspect of the newsletter via
email to compic@etfreedman.easynet.co.uk.
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About the editor
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I am an ICT advisor in London, and a freelance writer. You can find out
more by going to http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~etfreedman/tfcv.htm, or by
sending any email to tfresume@fastfacts.net.
My most recent book is Managing ICT. My previous book was Make Time With
IT.
There are more details about these books on the ICT in Education website,
and both of them are available from Amazon via
http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~etfreedman/buybooks.htm
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Send any email to compic-subscribe@listbot.com
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Past issues of Computers in Classrooms
Visit the Computers in Classrooms home page for an issue-by-issue guide.
It's at http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~etfreedman/compic.htm
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Disclaimer:
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Whilst every care has been taken in the preparation of this newsletter, T
Freedman cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the information
within it or for any consequences arising from it.
(c) 2000 T Freedman email: compic@etfreedman.easynet.co.uk
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