I’ve gone offline for a week. No internet, no email, no mobile phone, no nothing. Just before I “disappeared”, I made a supreme effort to catch up with responding to comments. So I thought
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.
News: searching, mobile learning
E-learning consultant Rob Ellis made a bit of a mistake a few days ago. He (somewhat flippantly I think), suggested that an article I wrote about using the right search engine might have been rewritten under the title ‘using the search engine right’. Bad move, because I replied, “Great idea! Would you like to do it?” That’s because I always think that if someone has a particular bee in their bonnet they are likely to write about it much more eloquently and passionately than I will.
Read MoreScreen-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!
E-safety: Knowing your digital rights
The place: A classroom
The time: Now
Teacher: So, class, that’s your homework for today.
Boy at the back: You can’t do that, Sir. I know my rights.
T: Er, sorry, I can’t do what exactly?
BATB: Set us that homework, Sir.
T: Why not?
BATB: ‘Cos it will take about half an hour, Sir, and you’re only allowed to give us 20 minutes. I know my rights.
T: OK, do 20 minutes this evening, and 10 minutes tomorrow evening.
BATB: You can’t tell me that, Sir.
T: OK, and why not?
BATB: Cos I have a right to a private life under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights, Sir. I know my rights.
Lights dim as the characters continue arguing. Exeunt.
Reasons to have a blogging team
It took me an hour and 29 minutes to write a blog post this morning. Actually, it took me over two hours, because I thought about it last night. Fortunately, the amount of time I spent, which was about 1.5 hours longer than I’d intended, didn’t have too much of an impact on my work schedule, because I did the thinking last night whilst watching TV, and this morning I was the computer by 6am in order to get lots done before I started work.
But why am I telling you all this?
Because when I think of what I need to do to keep my blog updated every day, I realise what needs to be in place for a school blog to thrive. The answer is: a team.
BYOT Case Study: Scargill Junior School
Describing itself as being on the ‘networked’ stage of the continuum, Scargill school’s current Bring Your Own Technology model consists of utilising a wide range of mobile devices in school in order to enhance and support the learning in the classroom. It started with Nintendos approximately 6 years ago. But what prompted Scargill to consider a BYOT approach in the first place?Why schools should have a hyperlocal blog
Many years ago there was a television series in Britain called “The Cres”. Short for “The Crescent”, the series followed the day-to-day lives of the fictional residents of a street somewhere in England. Most episodes were engaging and humorous, and made compelling viewing. An article I read this morning reminded me of this, and made me think that a “hyperlocal” blog could work really well for a school.
3 ways of maintaining privacy
Her Majesty The Queen of England serves as an inspirational role model in terms of personal privacy. Despite being in the public eye for 60 years, she has managed to keep her personal opinions to herself. Almost nobody knows, for example, what her favourite tea is (although Smokey Earl Grey has been hinted at). Yet there are many people who seem to announce to the world each time they blow their nose!
The balance between public and private is, of course, a personal choice, and one made more difficult by other people openly talking about one’s activities or tagging one’s photos, and much standard business advice. But if you do want to be fairly private while maintaining a strong online presence, here are some suggestions. You may like to share and discuss these with students, who are also striving to get this balance correct.
Comments
Sorry about my lack of response to comments recently. I will rectify that sson. Thanks for being patient.
Update on 2012-06-29 11:48 by Terry Freedman, Educational ICT Consultant
For some reason, I actually can't respond to comments. I've asked the tech support people to sort it out.
BYOT: the policy that dare not speak its name?
A couple of months ago Mike Sharples, a researcher at the Open University, told me that he had looked at the websites of some of the schools I was writing up case studies on in connection with their Bring Your Own Technology policy, but was unable to find any references to it whatsoever. He came to the conclusion that:
BYOT is the policy that dare not speak its name.
I have to say that although there are quite a few schools adopting a BYOT approach, finding them has not been easy.
12 ways of disconnecting in a connected world
How can one disconnect in today’s world, and why would one want to anyway?
Read MoreBring your own thinking
A few years ago I said to one of my team, having been in the new management post for about a week, “How come nobody here ever takes a decision? How come they always ask me what they should do, especially when they know more about their specialist area than I do?”
“Because”, came the reply, “Our last boss always had an opinion on everything, and stuck to it whatever anyone else suggested. So we very soon learnt that there was no point in doing any of the thinking for ourselves.”
Are links in blogs always a good thing?
I know it’s de rigeur to always include links in blog posts: it’s polite, gets you Brownie points with other people, provides a rich and rewarding reading experience, and generally helps make the blogging world go round.
But is always right?
An example of how technology changes things
I have found the Never Seconds debacle quite interesting. Story in a nutshell, in case you missed it: nine-year-old Martha Payne writes a daily blog in which she uploads a picture of her school lunch and reviews it. Argylle and Bute Council has some sort of nervous breakdown and issues an edict telling Martha that she isn’t allowed to take photos of her lunch, because catering staff are now in fear of their jobs. As a consequence, Martha’s blog gets over 5 million page views in just a few days, the number of comments on her posts soars from around 30 to over 2,300 in two days, and Argyll and Bute rescind the ban.
“I’m on the tube!”
People travelling on the London Underground (known as ‘the tube’) will soon be able to obtain a wi-fi signal on their phone or other electronic device.
What might be the benefits and costs of this?
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”.
Old technology
It’s always fun, as well as informative, to look at photos or videos to check out the technology used, especially if the photo or video is old. In this video of Jimmy Nail’s Ain’t No Doubt, I’ve spotted several examples of “retro” technology. Perhaps you or your students can spot more?
Here’s what struck me:
Read More3 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.
ICT Professional Development News
Here are a couple of items that have come to my attention, and which I hope will be of interest. One is a conference, which takes place on 7th June, the other is access to web resources, on a special offer.