Last week we had one of the world’s ed tech experts, Alan November make a whirlwind visit to Parramatta. I had an opportunity to take Alan to one of our primary schools to see how students and teachers were working in an agile space. He then spent a few hours sharing his insights and expertise … More Alan November
In 2003, William Gibson was quoted in The Economist stating ‘the future is already here’. That was eight years ago and look how far technology has brought us. Towards the end of last year, I read an article about Apple’s plan to allow television to be delivered over the internet in such a way that we may … More The future is already here
Earlier this week I had the privilege of attending a graduation ceremony at The University of Notre Dame and witnessed 100 young student teachers graduate. Other than feeling very old, I was amazed by their enthusiasm and energy which was clearly evident in their demeanour. To see this gave me great hope in the future of … More Looking back on 2011
On his blog Stephen Downes discussed the shift from thinking education is something that is provided for us towards the idea it is something we create for ourselves thanks to a myriad of resources accessible via the internet. I’ve mentioned the Khan Academy before but it exemplifies Stephen Downes’ point – learning on demand. The … More Learning on demand
I had a wonderful experience this morning at 3am with around five thousand educators from across the globe during Cisco’s Virtual Forum for Education Leaders. (To watch speaker sessions, you’ll need to register. Videos will be available for six months). It is amazing how quickly technology is developing to allow ‘just in time’ collaboration and communication. As one of the contributers to … More Cisco Education Leaders Forum
Interesting discussion on talk-back radio about the value of books in an increasingly digital world. It was sparked by the revelation in the SMH that the University of NSW was discarding thousands of books, journals and papers some dating back to the 1860s. According to the university, it’s in response to a demand for … More Symbols of knowledge
Technology never ceases to amaze me! The ability to engage in a learning conversation anytime, anywhere is truly remarkable. Will Richardson wrote in 2006 that the internet had allowed him to become ‘nomadic learner’- connecting to people and information that point him in the direction of what he needs to know and learn. On … More Nomadic learning
I’ve been following discussion of the Federal Government’s proposed mandatory internet filter initiative. Support seems to be fading for the program as the public ironically gathers more information about which sites could be blocked. With the rise of social networking sites, the net has become a kind of bastion of democracy where free speech and freedom of information reigns. Yet even in … More Is censorship sensible?
Researchers from Griffith university have recently published some interesting conclusions about young people and internet usage. The authors have found …wait for it….kids are often logging onto the net to do research for school projects and homework before logging onto social networking sites. (I am not sure we would have seen children in the 1970s … More Kids online
A great resource from Edutopia with Howard Gardner – Harvard psychologist and author of ‘Multiple Intelligences’ discussing some of the ethical challenges facing the digital generation and their use/misuse of digital media. I concur with Gardner’s comment on the need for teachers to be role models providing ‘judiscious guidance’ in a digital age!
