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27 June 2006

MirandaNet June Newsletter

Concept mapping workshops 18th November, London

Fascinating cultural objects: multimodal concept mapping in teaching and learning New attendees are welcome in this series of workshops:

The next one will be for contributors to the MN Inspiration e-journal volume and Reflecting Education

2007 Events

BETT07, 10th – 13th January - Olympia, London
We will be at BETT07 and hope to see many of you there
Conference for international policy makers
London - 8th January 2006
Christina Preston: Keynote

Make a note in your diary about our next ICT CPD workshop in Prague
Travelling together 2007
Establishing World E-citizens links between schools
February 21st - 23rd 2007
Prague, Czech Republic
http://www.hotels-in-prague-czech.com/hotel-diplomat.php

Multimedia resources

Sylvia Rojas has sent me information about a resource called Clic, which enables people to use and create multimedia resources.
These are used with Enciclomedia in Mexico. View the English version here.

Well worth investigating!
John Cuthell

Digital resources: what works? What does not work?
How are schools of the future using resources for learning?
Publishing issues: presentation to Hodder June 2006

I was asked to present on the ways in which schools looking to the future are developing and using resources. Here is an extract from my paper, information on full viewing of paper, with power point, to follow at later date. Many thanks to MirandaNet school Westminster Academy for providing the model.

Traditional information-led resources are still holding up well as a perusal of Curriculum Online resources will indicate. Sadly some software publishers who promoted the government’s transformational agendas have disappeared. Publishers will be able to sell traditional materials for a long time yet while the QCA ginger group looks at new forms of examinations for schools of the future.

However some schools of the future, like the Westminster Academy exist already. Between 11-14 years their thematic curriculum is integrated and built around the RSA Opening Minds Curriculum. At Key Stage 4 they still underpin our curriculum with the RSA 21st Century Competences which enrich a highly vocational offering of BTECs and GCSEs. At 16-19 they are considering the International Baccalaureate as part of a broad and enterprising post 16 provision.

This is the first of the schools in the government’s new building programme that questions the traditional exams and puts learners at the heart of the process. This genuine transformation of the learning process is where the future leads in this school. Multimodal forms of communication that include graphics, sound and animation will have a far greater place in the new curriculum as will the digital delivery of resources. Some students are already creating virtual worlds and expect high levels of web virtuosity. Leading MirandaNet Fellows advising the school are looking at the value in learning of non-linear communication environments like wikis and blogs. Will this be enough to hold the attention of web-savvy young learners?

Christina Preston

Digital Take Off Research

Dr Arthur Winzenried and Mal Lee have just completed for IWBNet a research project that examined the nature and impact of a wise, whole of school take up of IWBs.

The study looked at a range of primary and secondary, low and high income schools in the UK, US and Australia.

The results of the study will be released in the April IWB News and copies of the final report made available on the IWBNet site.

Arthur and Mal will in turn also make themselves available on the IWBNet list to discuss the research and its implications should folk be interested.

ITTE - Education 2010 available on the web

If you are interested in the future of education then read on ...
The book which emerged from the first ITTE 'Futures' workshop is now available on the web - thanks to Roger Keeling (Newman Software) for permission to put this on the web and Steve Kennewell for doing all the work in OCRing it. You can access it via - http://schome.open.ac.uk/wikiworks/index.php/ITTE_and_visions (the link is about halfway down the page under the heading Education 2010).
Peter Twining (OU)

Social Software publication

Martin Owen of Futurelab has sent us information about Social Software. MirandaNet members may be interested in developing some of the ideas.

Here's the link:
http://www.futurelab.org.uk/research/opening_education/social_software_01.htm

Martin Owen
www.futurelab.org.uk

Site licensing now available for Inspiration® 8!

To ensure you continue to receive news and updates from Inspiration Software, please add
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Erin Antonius

New Scholars

Jay Deeble

As a musician I have been familiar with some aspects of ICT for years. In my current post I also co-ordinate the ICT input for the ITT students here at King Alfred's. This has been fun and challenging. I have learnt so much from colleagues and from the ICT subject community that is so supportive.

I currently investigate the use of e-learning methods to develop the independence of our students. This led me to supporting and developing my colleagues' skills and confidence. (In some ways it is very like music teaching!) We enjoy the experimentation with new ways of working and with the challenge of changing established ways of working. Assessment always proves our biggest headache.
I look forward to getting to know the network more closely.

Matthew Jenkins

My background is TEFL - seven years spent teaching at all levels from pre-primary to university, in the USSR, Japan, Britain and Brazil. Currently I am a staff nurse in an operating theatre in Somerset.

In January 1997 I was shown some software my school in Sendai, Japan, had bought for teaching English through games. I was intrigued, as that was my remit. Sadly the software was novel but not engaging. The next day I was thinking about it on the train when I suddenly realised how matters could be changed. Long story short - in July 2004 I programmed my own approach in Visual Basic and in January 2005 showed that to a major publisher at BETT. It's due out in Autumn 2007.

Obviously I am limited in what I can say because of the non-disclosure clause in my contract. Nevertheless I have a strong and on-going interest in the role of games in education and would appreciate being able to access information on your site!

Sue Partridge

I'm a Deputy Principal at a rural Primary school in the South Island of New Zealand. We have recently purchased interactive whiteboards for our school, to add to our ever-growing collection of ICT equipment. All our children are taught and encouraged to use ICT in their daily learning, and the staff are constantly encouraged to upgrade their skills. I use ICT for most of my planning and teaching, both in and out of school time. I have been teaching for over 22 years and am currently studying to complete my B.Ed. I find the current atmosphere surrounding teaching and learning to be a thoroughly exciting and innovative time and am always seeking new ways to improve my own personal knowledge base and that which I use in my classroom and school.

I have a fairly good knowledge of all basic computer programmes, and am especially interested in any that help to further children's education. I have a weakness in the area of Graphics and anything related to videos etc and would be interested in furthering this knowledge. I love to use ICT as part of my classroom environment, as both a teaching and learning tool.

John Ralston

My background is in both industry and education, working in computer management as well as teaching in Primary and Secondary schools. I was a local authority schools adviser for ICT for 15 years. Now a senior lecturer at The Open University, I have been developing multimedia CPD materials for teachers. I also chair a number of Masters modules for the Chartered Teacher Programme in Scotland, as well as a course on behaviour management which operates in the Republic of Ireland and New Zealand as well as the UK. My research interests include the development of virtual communities and the use of consensual mapping software to support children's collaborative learning. I have also participated in a number of European projects.

Richard Ranker

I am a person who has a wide variety of interests, experiences and abilities. While serving as an officer in the US Air Force, I had two major threads in my career. The first was as an administrative officer and commander. I served as the second in command of a variety of organizations, managed a law office, and also had five years as commander of small and larger units, including a year as base commander of a space tracking station on a British island in the West Indies. The second thread was woven into various teaching positions in the Air Force covering twelve years, including the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, Air Command and Staff College, and Air War College. Each of these positions was a special duty assignment for which I was hand picked. I started investigating how technology could be used in instruction and was personally involved in designing, developing and/or testing the following in instruction: computer-aided instruction, videotape, interactive video disk, simulations, war games, and an instructional design expert system. In addition, I earned my doctorate in Educational Policy, Planning and Administration.

After retiring as a lieutenant colonel, the academic environment was my next challenge. I have served there for the last thirteen years in both the typical university positions and while working for a company (Collegis, Inc.) that provides IT outsourcing exclusively to universities. I have had the challenge and privilege of starting four separate organizations dedicated to furthering the use of technology in instruction, and out of necessity became a published expert on the design, construction, support and use of classroom technology. I was also an early advocate for the use of the Internet to support instruction, and have trained faculty how to use three different course management systems (including WebCT and Blackboard.)

For the last twenty or more years I have been a pioneer and advocate for the appropriate use of technology in instruction. I have seen several technologies become robust tools that have become reliable tools in the business of learning; I have also seen several technologies that have not matured into useful tools. More importantly, I have learned how to evaluate tools and their support systems to determine their chances for success. I am skilled in starting new organizations to support learning technology, conducting strategic planning, and establishing - and using - meaningful customer feedback systems. I am a skilled writer, above average presenter (having made over fifty conference presentations), and have taught as an adjunct in several colleges.
I am preparing to permanently move to the UK in order to join my new partner, and have recently been granted both a work permit and visa in order to do that.

Julie Steer

Until November 2005 I was a literacy consultant in the London Borough of Harrow. I was seconded part time to the DFES in 2004 where I contributed to the Teaching and Learning materials, the Good Practice in ICT CDROMs, Teaching and Learning for Children with Dyslexia and the SEAL pack. Since I became a freelance consultant, I have helped to develop programs with 2simple software, materials for the London Grid for Learning and for the BBC Jam project for the Deaf. I am particularly interested in integrating ICT throughout a unit of learning to support quality, focused speaking and listening.

Adam Warren

In my role as a learning technologist at the University of Southampton, I offer advice, training and support to tutors who are starting to embed e-learning into their practice. For many staff, I find that the real challenge is not the technology but the change in thinking needed to adapt their practice to make effective use of it, and it is this process which concerns me. It takes time for tutors to gain the confidence and skills to move from simply providing online learning resources to facilitating learning activities - and balancing the online and face-to-face aspects of their courses. I need to act as a pathfinder as well, tracking developing technologies and alerting staff to developments such as blogs and wikis.
Often, their students are already familiar with these 'educational innovations' in a social context. My current research interests focus on visual learning and software tools that enable students to view, construct and share visual representations of knowledge - for example concept mapping and dynamic presentations using tablet PCs.

I am Chair of Governors at a local primary school that makes extensive use of ICT and have supported the introduction of data projectors in every classroom, a school-wide wireless network, one-per-child laptop PCs and now interactive whiteboards. I am proud of the way in which the teachers have developed their teaching skills using these technologies and seamlessly blend them into conventional classroom sessions.

Steve Waterhouse

My name is Steve Waterhouse, I am a qualified youth and community worker, employed for the last six years as project manager of Speke Garston young Persons Internet Drop in Centre, or 'Interchill' as it is better known. The project was established and is managed by young people. We are based in the Speke Garston area of Liverpool.

A 'youth project for the modern age' interchill has forgone the ping pong / traditional route for youth work. Our main focus is ensuring young people get a social, personal and digital education. We operate at evenings and weekends with a mission to enable young people to see the 'potential and benefits of new and emerging technologies. We have a mac Suite with G5 iMac's etc. We have a gained a reputation for high quality digital projects with young people, single parents etc.

Most recently we delivered '65/05' a cross generational project using multi media to create a digital archive of 'Garston Then and Garston Now'. We worked with the 'Come Alive at 55 Project' to capture images, stories etc of what it was like being a teenager in Gartson in the sixties, and what it is like being a teenager in Garston now.

PDF reports of this and other recent pieces of work are available on request. The 65/05 project can be found at http://www.interchillbroadband.co.uk
Our main site is at http://www.interchill.co.uk

New Members

Popescu Constantin

To become a better teacher in a future society for this preparing a new generation of peoples with strong character for a better future of our world.

Chyi-Wen Hwang

I am a PhD student in IoE, University of London. I major in ICT, and am interested in ICT hypermedia.

Angela McFaul

I am currently completing a MSc in Educational Technology and am very interested in the application of interactive whiteboards in teaching. I will be undertaking research in this area next year for my dissertation.

Daniel van Deventer

EL4A is a BEE South African registered company that is committed to driving the development of web based and CBT opportunities across the continent. Through an offering of diverse standard and customized courses the platform will ensure that it is flexible, accessible, affordable and relevant to the learners context. Supporting on the job and other blended solutions it will ensure that the investment in education and training will generate the widest return to all stakeholders. With our various international partners and SME solutions we are able to assist clients with networking and international trade linkages. Lina Zajanèkauskienë

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