There has been much discussion about the curriculum in general in England recently, and the ICT curriculum in particular. I wrote about the latter a few months ago, in an article entitled 5 Characteristics of an Ideal Programme of Study for ICT. Now, three months and two draft versions of a new ICT Programme of Study later, I should like to put forward a few comments, both about the area of “ICT curriculum” in general, and about recent developments in the UK in particular.
7 Ways of Making ICT More attractive
You may not know this, but there is not a lot of difference between a Lee Oskar diatonic harmonica (the type used by blues and folk musicians) and a Hohner Blues Band harmonica. The Lee Oskar is said to have been engineered to give a “sharper” edge to the tone, which suits the blues sound, whereas the Marine Band, being slightly “softer”, works well for folk music too. Unless you’re a purist, there is probably not much in it. As someone once said:
“A difference is only a difference if it makes a difference.”
Responsible Use
The general thrust of education these days is on student-centred learning. This is often expressed by depicting on the teacher’s role as being the guide on the side rather than the sage on the stage. Regardless of whether you agree that that’s how things should be (and as it happens I don’t: see Please! No More Mantras!), the often-stated philosophy these days is that students know best.
But does stating that philosophy mean that it is observed in practice?
What’s the story?
How I hate the word “narrative”! At least, I detest the way it has been usurped by smart-suited political advisers who say things like “We need a new narrative”.
But sometimes, like now, I get what they are talking about, though I prefer to use the word “story”. And my question is: what is the story, what is the whole experience, of ICT in your school?
Mobile Learning: A Visit to Flitch Green Academy
Although I visited Flitch Green to talk about technology – specifically, iPads and mobile learning – I discovered that as in any good school the technology serves the vision of the school, which is about learning.
Flitch Green Academy is somewhat unprepossessing – at least from the outside. But once you go through the door, it’s a different story.
Recommended reading
Here is a selection of online articles that I think worth reading – some of them are my own (he says modestly), but others are others’! They cover a wide range of topics, including the flipped classroom, Bring Your Own Technology, what happens in an internet minute, up and coming conferences and others.
BYOD Case Study: Archbishop Lanfranc School
The school is moving towards a totally cloud-based system using mostly mobile technology. Therefore BYOD will become another facet of this by allowing students to use mobiles when appropriate, in addition to the kit provided by the school.BYOD: What’s in a name?
When I started to look at the whole Bring our Own Device phenomenon, I thought it was all pretty simple. Mal Lee and EdFutures have drawn a distinction between BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and BYOT (Bring our Own Technology). These are helpful, but unfortunately things ain’t that simple.
Computers in Classrooms new edition out now!
The latest edition of Computers in Classrooms, the e-newsletter for those with a professional interest in educational ICT, has just gone out. It’s a special conference edition. And one of the conferences is offering subscribers a 50% reduction in the entry fee!
Motivating Educators and Inspiring Learners
That’s the title of a great-looking conference on 3rd October – which is only next Wednesday. Russell Prue, one of the organisers and speakers, told me about it, so I had a look…
What I like about it is that there are only 4 sessions, and each looks worthwhile attending. The four speakers are at the top of their game. You can see the details on the conference website. There’s a link to the full programme there too.
Ed Tech Innovation–#6: Do some thing for yourself
Here’s a novel idea. Teachers are always focused on what (more) they can do for their kids, but sometimes they would be better off doing something for themselves instead. It may be counterintuitive, but sometimes that can often mean doing better or more things for the kids anyway. Here are some ideas you might like to consider.
5 Characteristics of an Ideal Programme of Study for ICT
Many people in the educational ICT field in England are busy working on a new ICT Programme of Study to replace the current (disapplied) one. Here are my thoughts on what the ideal Programme of Study would be.
Read MoreArticles you may have missed
The articles referenced here cover:
- Bring Your Own Technology
- Blogging
- Using a search engine
- Creating a stimulating classroom environment
- A forthcoming conference from Dyslexia Action (Load2Learn)
- Helping new staff
- Games Addiction
Lessons from the world of sports: #6 The rule of practice
What lessons can we in the field of educational ICT learn from sports? In this, the sixth part of this mini-series, we look at the issue of practice.
The stimulating classroom
It seems paradoxical, but the most boring classrooms tend to be the ones that are full of technology – and little else. The worst ones I’ve been into are those in which 30 or more computers are crammed into rows, allowing no room for note-taking, let alone collaboration. But even the ones with wall-to-wall interactive display screens, visualisers, graphic tablets etc etc are often, to be frank, Tedium City. How come?
Helping new staff
I’ve come across a couple of instances recently where a website has great resources, but either people don’t know about them, or don’t know where to find them even if they do. For example, apparently the Department for Education website has some brilliant resources for teaching children with complex needs, but they’re all but impossible to find. So that got me thinking: how will teachers starting in your school next term fare when it comes to accessing ICT-related information? Here are some ideas I’ve had, which I hope may be useful. They do not have to apply only to ICT.
Interesting times in ICT
The phrase “May you live in interesting times” is usually cited as a sort of curse, but can you imagine the opposite, ie living in boring times? Fortunately, especially here in England there is no danger of that for a while, at least in the world of ICT. Here are a few snippets of news which I won’t comment on at the moment because I like to cogitate, reflect, and then cogitate some more before pontificating. As I said in a previous article (10 Obligations of Bloggers), quoting Salvator Rosa, I believe in the adage “Be silent, unless what you have to say is better than silence”.
3 reasons to have trainee teachers, and how to manage them
You’d think that you could get the best results (however measured) by having only experienced staff to teach ICT, and that managing a trainee teacher would be a diversion. But my experience, as well as a consideration of principles, suggests to me that such a view is mistaken.
Mobile phones in education revisited
The most popular article on the ICT in Education website is one by a 17 year-old student called The Importance Of Mobile Phones In Education. To give you an idea of its popularity, I would estimate that it has been viewed at least 30,000 times since it was published back in July 2010. So the question is, why is it so popular?
Is it because it was written by a student? Well, there is no doubt that student articles receive a lot of attention, but not usually this much.
Is it because it is about mobile phones? I don’t think so: I have written about mobile phones before, and again, the articles haven’t attracted 30,000 views as far as I know.
I think the answer lies in the combination: an article about mobile phones written by a student who appears to be surgically attached to one.
The joy of not knowing
What teachers and other educators do best is, by and large, tell people stuff. It can be unsettling to not know things, so it’s no doubt natural to assume that if we don’t like it, then neither will others. So we tell people. But is it OK to not know the answers if you’re an ICT teacher? Here are a few thoughts about that, followed by a video featuring Kate Russell.