Will this school year be the same old, same old as far as ICT is concerned? If you’re in England, you may be introducing a new scheme of work, but that doesn't necessarily mean very much – it could just be another case of old wine in new bottles.
Putting dyslexia first with technology
One of the things that it is all too easy to forget is that if a child is ‘playing up’ in class, it could be a disability issue rather than a behavioural one. I have known that for a long time, but attending a Technology for Print Disabilities Training Day served as a useful reminder. That training day, just to put this article in context, was run by Load2Learn, a partnership venture between Dyslexia Action and the RNIB.
Ed Tech Innovation–#4: Introduce (a) competition
A short while ago I looked at the value of setting competitions and of celebration (see Lessons from the world of sports: #8 The rule of celebration). In this, the fourth part of the mini-series about returning to work and starting the new school year, I’d like to explore this theme from a different angle or two.
Articles 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
Ed Tech Innovation–#3: Set the 5 minute test
When I was studying for my first degree at university, the hardest essay I was ever set in the whole three years was “Explain the competing theories about capital in no more than 500 words.” To give you an idea of what that means, 500 words is approximately a side of A4 – not exactly loads of space to summarise what has taken scores of economists and thousands of trees. In this, the third part of this mini-series, I explore how you might use this “less is more” approach in school.
Ed Tech Innovation–#2: Create a poster
Here’s the second part of this mini-series of ideas to try out in the new school year. I’ll bet your room is festooned with posters of one kind or another. (I know my own classroom had posters with instructions, ephemeral posters relating to the current topic, posters depicting the history of email, and so on.)
So, you won’t mind creating one more then, will you?!
Ed Tech Innovation–#1: Introduce a new routine
With the new school year about to start or, in some parts of the world, already underway, I thought a new mini-series containing some ideas to play with might not come amiss. Here’s the first one, about classroom routines.
How do you start your lessons? Do they always start in the same way? There’s certainly a lot to be said for having a well-established routine, but it’s not a bad idea to shake things up a bit now and again.
Lessons from the world of sports
Image by ShokuninHere is a handy guide to the recent series of eight articles on the theme of what we in educational ICT can learn from sports and sports people.
Hope you find the series useful and enjoyable.
Lessons from the world of sports: #8 The rule of celebration
I said at the start of this mini-series that I would be exploring the lessons we in the educational ICT community can learn from sports – but here is #8! Well, I’ve always said that there are three kinds of people: those who can count and those who can’t! Anyway, here’s what I have called the ‘rule of celebration’.
Games Addiction
Are boys addicted to games, and does it matter if they are? (And what is addiction anyway?) Online Graduates has sent me an infographic on the subject. Have a look at it,and maybe discuss it with your students. I’ve decided to be a bit of a devil’s advocate in my response to it!
Lessons from the world of sports: #7 The rule of Specialisation
In this mini-series I’m looking at lessons we in the educational ICT community might learn from sports. In today’s article we consider the role of the specialist, and its relevance for peer assessment.
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.
Lessons from the world of sports: #5 The rule of encouragement
Welcome to the fifth part of this mini-series, in which I consider lessons we might learn from sports and sports personalities which we can apply to educational ICT. How important is encouragement to Olympic class athletes? I’d like to start off with an admission of error….
Lessons from the world of sports: #4 The rule of expert guidance
Here is the fourth part of this mini-series, in which I consider lessons we might learn from sports and sports personalities which we can apply to educational ICT. Today I’d like to consider the role of the sports coach, and to start with I’ll quote from a conversation that has never taken place, and probably will never take place.
Lessons from the world of sports: #3 The rule of eclecticism
Welcome to the third part of this mini-series, in which I consider lessons we might learn from sports and sports personalities which we can apply to educational ICT. I’ve called today’s rule the rule of eclecticism because it’s about learning from different, and disparate, disciplines.
Lessons from the world of sports: #2 The rule of detailed analysis
Here in London we’re pretty much immersed in the Olympics at the moment, and it occurred to me recently that there are several ideas which can be applied from sports to educational ICT. Last week I was invited by Acer to a talk in the Olympic Park by Leon Taylor, the champion diver. In this, the second part of the mini-series on lessons from sports, we look at what he had to say about detailed analysis.
Lessons from the world of sports: #1 The 1% improvement rule
Although not by nature an avid sports fan, I have been enjoying the recent offerings in the forms of the Tour de France and the Olympics. While engrossed in these I was struck by how far the work needed to do well in these activities could be applied to education in general, and ICT in education in particular. I will be exploring this idea over the next seven articles, starting with this one, in which we look at the 1% improvement rule.
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?
Using the search engine right
Independent e-Learning Consultant Rob Ellis gives some tips on how pupils can use search engines properly.
When Terry tweeted about his post ‘Using the right search engine’ I rather flippantly suggested that he’d be better off simply reordering the words in the title to read ‘Using the search engine right’.
Leaving aside the damage I’ve done to the English language with that there is a serious point here. Despite the prominence given to information literacy I’d say that, anecdotally, there is widespread agreement on its importance but little progress on organised adoption in schools.
Screen-sharing made easy
Have you ever been in a situation where you are trying to explain to someone over the phone what you are seeing on your computer? Or trying to explain to them what they should be seeing on theirs? I’ve come across a neat little application which enables you to share your screen with anyone you like – and without installing anything, downloading anything or even paying a penny!