Why technology goes wrong

Join us for the final Vital Teachshare discussion of this school year, as Tony Sheppard, aka Grumbledook, talks to us about a topic that I am sure is dear to our hearts:

Why Technology Goes Wrong. The discussion begins at 7pm UK time Tuesday 26th July, and you can access it by clicking on the link just given. Use the timezone converter to find out what time it is where you  are.

Tony is a key member of Edugeek, one of the most vibrant online forums I know of.

Please tweet about this event, using the hashtag #vitalcpd. Thanks!

See also:

The Bug Force

 

Life without connectivity

As you know, Christchurch in New Zealand has been beset recently by a terrible earthquake, which was then followed by aftershocks – which are still occurring. People have lost their homes and, worst, their lives.

For those who are fortunate enough to have survived the disaster, what has it been like without internet connectivity, or with only intermittent internet access? Why did Diane Brooks, an ICT consultant who runs an ICT in Education blog, recently advise schools to take up blogging?

Read More

Four hours to go…

In just four hours’ time, Professor Margaret Cox will be giving a short talk on haptics, ie touch technology. This will be followed by a discussion. Do join us!

28th June at 7pm UK time, join by clicking here. If you’re not in the UK, find out what time it is in your neck of the woods by using this timezone converter.

There is more information on this topic in this article: ICT gets all touchy-feely

Discussion about the role of the ICT Co-ordinator

I recently posted a couple of articles that questioned whether the role of the ICT Co-ordinator was necessary. (See the links below if you missed those masterpieces.) Well, we had an online discussion (I’m not daft enough to make an appearance in real life on that sort of platform!), escaped relatively unscathed, and here is the result...
Read More

The role of ICT Co-ordinator is unnecessary: discuss

OK, I admit it: I was being a bit of a devil’s advocate when I suggested that the role of ICT Co-ordinator is redundant, but consider this. In these hard times, how will you respond if your Headteacher calls you into her office one morning and says:

I need to make some serious budget cuts. What exactly do you do, why does it need to be done anyway, and why can’t I get an admin person on half your salary to do it instead?

Read More

The importance of research for ICT teachers revisited

What’s the difference between action research, academic research and other types of research? Is it the case that in order to be seen to justify a research grant you have to couch your findings in terms which make them incomprehensible to the very people who might benefit from them? How does academic research “percolate” down into the classroom? And is there a case for saying that research findings should be reported in a “popular” style sometimes?
Read More

The importance of research for ICT teachers

How important is research for teachers in general, and ICT teachers in particular? One might be tempted to say that people learn in the same way now as they did thousands of years ago, so research, apart from keeping abreast of the latest developments in technology, is pretty redundant. I think there are problems with that attitude.
Read More

Join the discussion!

This evening, for the last time this term, Drew Buddie and I will be discussing matters ICT, from 7pm till 8pm, UK time (though as always we will leave the room open until 9pm). We will see what comes up, but one thing we may be chatting about is why I’ve decided to exclude links to Wikipedia in my articles, as far as I can, for now. Also, why I think it’s a good idea to close down the ICT facilities for the last week or so of term.
Read More