What can a Zen outlook teach us about educational ICT?
Read MoreChoosing the right education technology conference
When I was at university I had a fool-proof method for selecting student union representatives when elections were held. I automatically discounted anyone who stood up and announced that what we needed was change. We always need change, although it’s usually quite useful to check what exactly needs changing, and whether right now is the best time to do so. Anyone who announced that we needed change, but without going any deeper into it, was an idiot as far as I was concerned. Either that, or they assumed that I was.
Five Funky Flickr Tools
Collaborate for Change: information and update
Collabor8 4 Change, a great new-style conference, is running again on 17th November. We've just made available 50 more tickets!
Report on the Mobile Learning conference
By Susan Banister 
Susan Banister @susanbanister
Learning through mobile technology is not a new concept. But as yet it has not been taken up by huge numbers of schools. Mobile technology means more than smartphones. It includes iPads, iPods, netbooks, e-readers, Nintendo DS's, GPS devices. The Curriculum ICT team at Bradford in the UK teamed up with its City Learning Centres and embraced mobile learning head on with their bMobLe project (short for Bradford mobile learning).
New edition of Computers in Classrooms almost ready!
I’m in the final stages of proofreading the next issue of Computers in Classrooms, the free e-newsletter for people with a professional interest in education technology. Articles include conference reports, including a guest article by Susan Banister, websites to check out, news, stuff to think about and a book review. Oh yes, and two prize draws: for PIMS and for Xobni Pro.
If you don’t want to miss out, sign up now, and join thousands of others!
An opportunity for rich discussions: Collabor8 4 Change
Having recently written about discussions – why to contribute, and what not to do when you do contribute – I thought I’d write a quick update on a real live event taking place on 17th November 2011. This is a bit of an advert, but the event I’m writing about is free and should be good for professional development, so I hope you’ll forgive me.
Read More25 ways to make yourself unpopular: #24 Do not contribute to education technology discussions
There is little I find more annoying than being lectured to by people who have all the answers, but do not engage in (rational) discussion on the subject.
For example, a deputy headteacher once informed me that his school was going to spend thousands of pounds on instruction technology known as “integrated learning systems”, and that they were going to get the least able students to work on them all day.
I told him that some recent research said that the benefits of such systems was short-lived if all you did was use them and nothing else, and that such intensive use of them was counter-productive anyway. This had no impact at all, because
Why so many “Found on the web” posts lately?
You may have noticed that quite a few of the articles to appear here recently have been in the form of links headed “Found on the web”. Why?
Read MoreBack to school: 2 reading suggestions for ICT teachers
I know that to most folks in England, “back to school” seems a long way off. But pity our colleagues in Scotland, the USA and other parts of the world for whom this has already become a reality. Here are two resources you might find useful.
Becoming an inspirational teacher
Here's just a quick heads-up. I discovered that one of the most popular articles on this website is one I wrote back in November 2009, so at the risk of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy, I thought I'd let you know about it in case you weren't aware of it.
Read MoreSynchronicity, mobile phones and a great upcoming conference
It’s strange, is it not, how certain linkages occur, what some would call coincidence , and others synchronicity ? Yesterday, the mobile phone was the common factor for me, and continued to play a part: I became so engrossed in responding to an email that I missed my station by two stops, and had to backtrack!
Tools for ICT Managers
Tomorrow morning (09:30 UK time) I will be giving a talk entitled 20+ tools in 40+ minutes. So what’s that all about?
I have used the word “tools” to encompass useful applications, websites, blogs and societies. They are all ones I have found to be useful, or think would be useful to others.
Why technology goes wrong: no presentational dissonance in sight (at first)
A few years ago I coined the term “presentational dissonance”. Derived, clearly, from the psychological concept of cognitive dissonance, the term is used to describe a situation in which the nature of a presentation, and its content, are at odds with each other.
For example:
Dates for your diary
Before you go offline for the summer, here are a few dates you might like to pencil into your diary. They are events which you are bound to find useful in your educational ICT work.
Read MoreManaging ICT on a budget
Tomorrow evening, at 7 pm UK time, I’ll be hosting a discussion on managing ICT on a budget. If you have any top tips you’d like to share, or are looking for some ideas on how to make your budget go further, why not pop along?
Read MoreThe effective use of ICT
One laptop per child: a worthy goal, but does it lead to the most effective learning? Research published over the years has challenged the assumption that youngsters do better working on their own than sharing a computer.
Read MoreGrowing Knowledge
OK, because of the insanity of the deadlines I’m up against I’m going to have to say this fast, so you will have to listen fast. If you’re in London over the next week or so, there is a great exhibition you should go to.
Read MoreVirtual schooling? Don’t make me laugh!
Online discussion today: don’t miss it!
Later on today, Di Brooks, who lives in Christchurch, New Zealand, will be giving a talk on life without connectivity, based on her recent experience with the earthquakes there. this will be followed by a discussion.
The talk will take place at 7pm UK time, 6am Christchurch time. And if you get as confused about time zones as I do, check what time it will be in your neck of the woods by going to this time zone converter.
To listen to the talk and join in the discussion, click on this link.