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16 November 2007

November Newsletter

Editorial

This month the MirandaNet Fellowship is proud to announce the publication of two e-journals on multimodal concept mapping which are the results of two years work by members. Many congratulations to them from making a significant contribution to this innovative field of learning and assessment. Thanks also to Inspiration for providing the software and funding the workshops where this activity has been taking place.

The MirandaNet members have also been busy setting up four seminars for December, February and March. These will be podcast as so many members cannot attend in person. Two events are also planned for BETT08 in January: the launch of our Peace Room on Wednesday 9th and the award of 2007 Fellowship and Senior Fellowship certificates on Thursday 10th followed by a drinks reception and a meal. These details follow as well as reports on recent seminars and conferences.

In the next newsletter we will be concentrating on online events for our members so that more of you can be involved in collaborative knowledge building. Please let me know in the meantime if you need any help with your Fellowship submission. Our community of practice is keen to publish your observations for colleagues about your particular expertise. We have so much to learn from each other. If you are nervous about your English I will be happy to support you.

Regards

Christina Preston

Publications: 2 ejournals on Multimodal Concept Mapping

Inspirational Multimodal Concept Mapping by teachers for teachers

http://www.mirandanet.ac.uk/inspiration

In this volume you will find articles by MirandaNet teachers and teacher educators about their use of maps in classrooms as well as introductions to mapping from several different angles. Some resources for teachers are also included.

Well done to the authors: Erin Antonius, Robin Bevan, Deidre Cook, Steven Coombs, Jane Finch, Nigel Riley, Sylvia Rojas Drummond, Michael Smith, Aldo Andures Tapia and Dai Thomas.

The editors are Christina Preston, Erin Antonius and John Cuthell. Many thanks to Francis Howlett and John Cuthell for developing the innovative design for the e-journal based as you might have guessed on an index in the form of a map.

We plan to continue this work by adding investigations into the use of InspireData which is a very visual and flexible data handling package. Everyone who wants to join the next stage of the working party qualifies for a free copy of the software. There are also Inspired Teacher Scholarships to apply for at $1,000.

These 25 scholarships are in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Inspiration Software. Applications must be received by 25th January 2008. All international members are eligible. You will find entry guidelines and an online application form at www.inspiration.com/iescholarship. However get in touch with me before you complete your forms so that I can include your ideas in the plans for the next stage of the working party.

'Fascinating cultural artefacts': multimodal mapping in teaching and learning

A Reflecting Education volume for practitioners engaged in academic studies

MirandaNet members have been working in partnership with Norbert Pachler at the Institute of Education, University of London to publish a volume of Reflecting Education called 'Fascinating cultural artefacts': multimodal mapping in teaching and learning that provides more information about the theories underlying mapping and the different ways in which they can be analysed. There are contributions from some of the best known academics in this field. Buzan, Novak, Canas and Ahlberg focus on the ways in which the maps appear to illuminate the ways in which learners are thinking. They tend to concentrate on analysis by scoring nodes and links, the hierarchy of concepts and by analysing the words that have been used. The words the map makers have used are of primary importance. Mavers and Kress, on the other hand take this because they see the maps as unique signs made by learners in which the all the elements, including the words, have equal significance.

Three of the practitioner papers in this volume have been summarised in the MN e-journal with an emphasis on the classroom aspects of the paper. In this volume, our members, Anzures Tapia, Slyvia Rojas-Drummond, Deidre Cook, John Ralston and Nigel Riley, explain the theories underlying their case studies. They are joined by Wilma Clarke and Jane Alexen Shuyska.

The editorial is in two parts. The first summarises the approach and the key papers. The second part is an introduction to concept mapping for readers who do not have an academic grounding in this subject. This volume of academic papers was edited by Christina Preston and Christina Howell Richardson. Many thanks to our critical friends, Di Mavers and Avril Loveless, whose advice was invaluable.

This latest volume of Reflecting Education which will be ready by the end of November can be found on http://www.reflectingeducation.net/index.php/reflecting

Meanwhile you can read the Special Inaugural Issue: E-learning : Guest Editor: Dr Christina Howell-Richardson supported by Adrian Mee, Christina Preston and Dr Rupert Wegerif

This Reflecting Education volume is free if you register and search by issue.

These two other publications are free as well.

Mobile Learning: towards a research agenda

Firstly our colleague, Norbert Pachler, has published a guide to mobile learning to which, among others, Professor Diana Laurillard and Professor Gunther Kress contributed.

Pachler, N. (ed) (2007) Mobile learning: towards a research agenda. London: WLE Centre

The e-book can be downloaded free of charge from the WLE Centre website athttp://www.wlecentre.ac.uk/cms/files/occasionalpapers/mobilelearning_pachler2007.pdf Free hard copies are available while stocks last.

Secondly Christina Preston is one of the authors of

New International Theories and Models Of and For Online Learning

This is an overview of international practice online which includes braided learning as one of the emerging models in creative learning online for professionals.

The authors are Caroline Haythornthwaite with Richard Andrews, Bertram C. Bruce, Michelle M. Kazmer, Rae-Anne Montague & Christina Preston, May 9, 2007 First Monday, Chicago IL, USA. The paper is free on

http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue12_8/haythorn/

The MirandaNet Diary

Video Research Methods Workshop

This MirandaNet Academy Activity is on Thursday 6th December from 6 - 8 pm at Bath Spa University, Newton Park, Room MHG15

This workshop will explore methods on how to draw valid qualitative evidence from video sources. There will be contributions from Steven Coombs (Bath Spa University), Mark Potts (Salisbury High School) and Jack Whitehead (Bath University).

Please register your attendance and obtain direction from the Bath Spa CPD Administrator. Refreshments will be provided.

Tel: 01225 875593

Email: cpdadmin at bathspa.ac.uk

WLE Centre Dissemination Event

The Centre for Excellence in Work-Based Learning for Education Professionals

11 December 2007 13.30 - 16.00pm

WLE Centre, Institute of Education, University of London

Innovating Learning and Assessment in Work-based Learning

The WLE centre invites all interested in work-based and professional learning to participate in a dissemination seminar based on a selection of projects carried out in and through the Centre. The seminar, chaired by Prof Karen Evans, will provide an opportunity to hear about findings from three research and development activities, and to engage in discussion about implications for practice. This event is the third in a series presenting findings from research and development projects funded by the WLE Centre. For further details about the individual projects, see the Centre website www.wlecentre.ac.uk.

Sai Loo: Digital recording and peer/tutor review as analytic tools for post-compulsory teacher observation

Tim Kent: Innovative assessment approaches for work-based learning and widening participation

Christina Preston and John Cuthell: The learning of ICT advisers responsible for school teachers' ICT CPD

Places are limited. Lunch will be available in the WLE Centre from 13.00pm.

RSVP Sarah Gelcich (s.gelcich at ioe.ac.uk)

BETT08 9th - 12th January 2008 Olympia, London

MirandaNet stand number S97 Grand Hall Gallery

You can register using the logo on the MirandaNet front page. Please say that you are from MirandaNet. Members are welcome on the stand any time where we have seats, refreshments and interesting people to talk to. We are sharing the same stand with Hull University this year so Theo Kuechel and Kevin Burden will also be there.

We will have two events at BETT08.

The Peace Room and the Award of Fellows' certificates

World Ecitizens: The Peace Room

On Wednesday 10th January 4:00pm at the BETT08 show, Andrée Jordan will be launching the next stage of the World Ecitizens Peace Room project that was begun in South Africa. This is a web space place where you can nominate a person who you think has made a positive difference to the world, read about the people who have been nominated, vote for nominations and read about the people who have "made a difference" to the world.

wec.mirandanet.org.uk/peace_room

This is not the only project run by Andrée who has just been awarded the International Schools Award. You can read her report about the event here as well as her latest venture, "Whacky Races Day". Working between Retief High School in South Africa and the Ravensbourne School, each set of learners was given the challenge of making an air-powered car. Via Rafi.ki, they created a video conference link which lasted the whole day. The South African and the English students watched each other, all designing and making their cars together. Then there were races, and prizes.

Read Andrée's full report.
For more information email her on AJordan at ravensbourne.info

MirandaNet Awards 10th January 4:00pm Awards. Drinks and meal 6:30pm

All members are warmly invited to attend this event where our new Fellows and Senior Fellows will be invited to receive their certificates.

Pedagogies for interactive technologies: IWBs and Visualisers

7/8th February London

There are only 50 places for this 2-day workshop in which we plan to explore how practitioner practice is now making a difference in teaching and learning. Many attendees will also be presenting. There will be a publication after the event.

We are particularly keen to hear from members who can attend for two days and offer to present advanced IWB practice on the second day. Please get in touch with me if you think you can do this.

You will find full details and a flyer here. 

What Works Where?

ICT CPD programmes as a focus for changes in policy and practice

The view from the UK, the US and Eastern Europe

A two day symposium

12th 13th March 2008

WLE centre, Institute of Education, University of London

Symposium leaders

Caroline Daly and Jon Pickering, WLE, Institute of Education, University of London, Christina Preston and Dr John Cuthell, MirandaNet Fellowship,

Professor Niki Davis, Iowa State University, US,

Dr. Bozena Mannova, Czech Technical University, Prague

Practitioners from the Czech Republic, England and the US.

This international symposium provides an opportunity to articulate the common threads and look for worldwide solutions to the challenges of change in the profession. During these two days, the policy-orientated symposium brings together six experts in the research, implementation and accreditation of ICT CPD programmes for the work force from Eastern Europe, the US and the UK. They will be in partnership with colleagues in schools who have been working in work-based projects or running school based ICT CPD programmes.

Because the range of the topic is wide and multifaceted the overarching themes of the symposium are four-fold:

This partnership has been selected because of the key research and publications developed by this group of experts who have already been working together.

Invitations to engage in this symposium are extended to policy makers, teacher educators and advisors, companies and university ICT training and CPD providers, senior managers and teachers who have experience in ICT CPD that they would like to extend. The audience will be invited to engage in the thinking and contribute to the collaborative insights that emerge from a discussion of the evidence.

Places are free but limited so please email Sarah Gelcich S.Gelcich at ioe.ac.uk by December 7th if you can attend on both days.

Members' news

International school project

More news about members' projects: Jonathan Furness and Stephen Heppell have been joining up two schools, one in the Caribbean on Little Cayman (4 pupils) and Johnathan's small school in Surrey, Stepping On & Stepping Stones School - for children with hemiplegia (7 pupils)

They have used Apple video conferencing technology that quite literally puts the power and control into the hands of the pupils - no special kit or expensive software required, just the standard Mac installed, iChat. Heaps of outcomes from this work, as you might expect, so lots of chat about and report.

Worth mentioning that this project was showcased at Stephen's Be Very Afraid event at BAFTA it was an ideal time to drop in and find out what the project was all about, talk to pupils in both Stepping Stones and Little Cayman.

These links give a little flavour of what has been achieved so far:

Global Messenger 11 Free Resources

To see the latest batch of global learning resources that Alex Savage has made or found go to his blog at http://communicty.edublogs.org/2007/10/30/global-messenger-11/

Potential visiting scholar

Kirsty Young

Kirsty Young (Kirsty.Young at uts.edu.au) is an academic at the University of Technology, Sydney and was previously a doctoral student under the supervision of Associate Professor Sandy Schuck.  Sandy put Kirsty in contact with us about the possibility of coming to MirandaNet and undertaking some work with us and/or exploring the options for building a collaboration between MirandaNet and Australia.

In 2008 Kirsty will be taking professional experience leave and writes to inquire of the possibility of visiting us sometime between Sept - Nov 2008 to undertake work on any research projects we may have going and/or discuss possible collaborations between UTS and MirandaNet.

Can any MirandaNetters invite Kirsty to their school?

New Scholars

Members please welcome our new members with an email if you see something in their profile that is a common interest. This is a good way of creating partnerships in the diverse talents that our members have.

Ellie Ab
Currently, I am doing master of Instructional Technology and my research area is regarding evaluation of IWB courseware. Through my studies and experiences, I have found technology as a means of learning enhancement while accompanied by effective pedagogy.

Ahmed Al Koofi
My name is Ahmed Al Koofi. I work in Ministry of Education in Primary Directorate in the Kingdom of Bahrain as an educational specialist. I support the primary schools in their ICT needs. I also monitor the ICT Project in the primary schools. Because Ministry of Education is applying ICT in its schools to support learning and teaching, it needs qualified people in this field. A new department is established to do the multimedia programs and to manage the ICT. This department has a few resources and skillful staff. ICT has a strong connection to my job.

 From making computer programs point of view, I have good experience in computer applications and I did many programs using VB and Access applications. Furthermore, I have experience in Flash MX, VB.Net, Oracle, Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Primer, Dreamweaver, Microsoft Movie Maker, Director, etc.

I studied master degree in ICT and Education in the University of Leeds. I graduated with distinction in 2007. My critical study's topic was (A Study of How an Education Management Information System can be Effectively Implemented in the Ministry of Education in Kingdom of Bahrain). I am interested in learning the new theories and topics about the ICT as well as the management views.

Brenda Bigland
Lent Rise County Combined School serves an area of some disadvantage in outer London. There are 420 pupils on roll and about a third of these have special educational needs. The strategic vision for ICT at Lent Rise is to harness its power to motivate teachers and learners, increase access to learning and improve standards. The aim is to use ICT to promote social inclusion and create on-line learning communities within the school and through extended networks both nationally and internationally. The school seeks to use ICT to empower its pupils to become independent and collaborative learners and to ignite excitement in learning.

The development of ICT provision has been part of a broader set of developments that have seen the school make much progress in terms of pupils' achievements and the quality of teaching and learning. Standards in the school are high and the progress the pupils make during their time at the school is significant. Learning environments are ICT-rich. Interactive whiteboards are used in almost all lessons.

Pupils are used to taking part in lessons through manipulating text and images on the whiteboard. Pupils also access ICT resources readily in the ICT suite and cyber café, in their classrooms through the wireless networked laptops and through video conferencing resources. Pupils use a range of resources to develop not only their speaking, listening and presentation skills, but also to their imaginative thinking and literacy.

From the age of four, children in the Early Years Department use the ICT suite with ten PCs, a printer, an interactive whiteboard, a digital camera and Lenni, the Lent Rise robot, who is heavily featured on the Early Years website, encouraging children's imagination linked to ICT. Video-conferencing enhances the taught curriculum by providing access to people, places and information in an interactive form. Pupils have one lesson per week of timetabled discrete ICT lessons. This means that pupils can use ICT tools such as word processors and presentation software confidently for their own purposes, but high quality planning also ensures that they have additional opportunities to complement this work in lessons in other subjects. Pupils develop their skills, knowledge and understanding in the use of ICT to: solve problems, find information, develop their ideas through text, graphics and video, work through a range of media, write procedures to control external robots or images on the screen, and model real situations. Pupils are encouraged to take responsibility for developments in the school.

There is a School Council which meets monthly and which is given a sum of money to spend on developing the school environment. This approach is important in developing an ethos in which pupils recognise that they have a share in the development of the school and in their own learning. The school is committed to professional development and each member of staff is given half a day per term to research materials on the web with a specific subject focus. The fruits of these labours are then shared with all other staff in the same year group. Staff ICT training takes place frequently so that staff can keep up to date with software and hardware developments.

All teaching staff have a laptop on which they can prepare their lessons as well as access an interactive whiteboard. Time in staff meetings is devoted to ICT developments. As part of this, teachers demonstrate in their own classrooms the ways in which they have used ICT in their teaching. This sharing and collaborative approach is significant and has been a key means of establishing a consistent approach across the staff.

The headteacher is the mainspring of ICT developments in the school, which have accelerated rapidly in recent years. She has pursued links with commercial organisations so that the school has gained full benefit in developing its resources, such as network and video conferencing facilities. The ICT management team ensures that the co- ordination is shared between staff and does not fall to one teacher; it also means that ICT is firmly rooted in the role of the senior management team. The school has recognised the need for and subsequently the benefits of having two part-time technicians, one via the LEA and one from a major commercial supplier. This ensures that staff are able to concentrate on teaching rather than technical matters. The school uses its web sites to present its work to a wider audience and ICT is also reflected strongly in the high quality display throughout the school. Parents are encouraged to work with their children after school in the cyber café.

A number of factors make Lent Rise unusual: the clarity of vision, determination and tenacity of the headteacher, combined with the sheer hard work and commitment of her staff. This has ensured that the common obstacles of lack of resources and staff competence have been systematically broken down with notable success. Staff respond well to the head's challenge and are effectively supported. They are willing to take risks and to try out new ideas and see this as a hallmark of their professionalism.
(Taken from Ernist report for EUN)

The above was done a few years ago. These days we have added remote access to learning for children from 4 to 11 years of age and for their parents and we have encouraged the use of media work to inspire the imagination I am asked to speak about 21st Century Leadership and international Collaboration and this obviously has a major focus on ICT.

Jonathan Furness
Jonathan is passionate about education and the significance of preparing youngsters in their learning for the 21st Century. In his career so far, he has taught in a range of primary schools and quickly took ICT forward as ICT co-ordinator. Jonathan's experience has also taken him into the learning technology research field, working at Ultralab with Professor Stephen Heppell and later building a new school, Stepping Stones for children with hemiplegia.
Having led much of Stepping Stones development, Jonathan now focusses his attention on connecting learners together on a national and international level. Most recently, Jonathan travelled to the Cayman Islands and connected a small school on Little Cayman (population of just 150 people, school roll of just 4!) with Stepping Stones. Little Cayman, who were once the 'forgotten island' are leading this exciting ICT development in the Caribbean region.

Anne Garner
I have been a teacher for more than thirty years. The last seventeen years as a head teacher with a regular teaching commitment teacher of a small but dynamic rural infant school in Telford & Wrekin LA.

For many years I have been actively engaged in the development of ICT and the impact the technologies can have upon learning for young people.
I am passionate that teaching and learning should be a creative and meaningful process for pupils.
I encourage my staff to engage in action research to enable them to develop reflective practices that have the potential to improve the learning opportunities for our pupils.
I lead on many aspects of ICT in my school and am keen that staff development is supported by access to high quality CPD opportunities.

On a National level, I have participated in research conducted with Becta, The University of Wolverhampton and other leading institutions on the use of ICT in teaching and learning.

Church Aston School has been a host school for the National College of School Leadership program Strategic Leadership of ICT.

The school was awarded the ICT Mark in March 2007.
In recent years I have been working on developing the school's website to include an e learning platform.

www.churchastoninfantschool.co.uk

My most recent project is the development of an eTwinning partnership with the support of the British Council.

Alison Hramiak
I am a principal lecturer at Sheffield Hallam responsible for training 14-19 ICT teachers. I also teach on the masters in E- learning, and have specific responsibilities for learning, teaching and assessment across the Faculty. I also run a small research group within my division, directing and co-ordinating the various research projects within it. I am particularly interested in research into assessment and feedback, and also into the use of VLEs to enhance placement and teacher training for our trainees. I am involved in a number of cross institutional research projects inclduing work on the transition phase from Y13 of school to Y1 of university. I regularly publish work in journals nad books, and present at conferences in these areas. I am an active member of the IT in Teacher Education
(ITTE) group.

Claire Johnson
I am Head of ICT at a secondary school in Winchester. I have just begun a PhD looking at the new ICT curriculum - and specifically the use of games authoring. I am interested in what new qualifications (eg iMedia, DiDA etc) offer in terms of game authoring tasks, and how pupils learn about/are taught how to author games. I hope to establish an understanding of what skills/cognitive abilities are exercised in authoring games and what conceptual difficulties pupils encounter in their endeavours. Specifically I am looking at what teaching methods are most appropriate to delivering units in game authoring, and wonder if Web2 technologies (use of social networking, blogs, wikis, VLE's, forums etc) offer a more effective path of learning how to author games than traditional teaching methods, since game authoring may not fit easily into the standard 1 x 1 hour lesson per week offered in ICT at secondary level in the UK.

Dave Kelly
My role focuses on planning, preparation and delivery of general education to young people within Sandwell (Literacy, Numeracy, teamwork and life skills), and I specialise in ICT. I am required to take a lead on ensuring the development of ICT within then Centre, from ensuring our ICTs are up to date and appropriate, to assisting in planning the have ICT within sessions, to devising ways to integrate ICTs where they haven't been used before.

I work predominantly with young people aged 7-16, however I have delivered sessions to people both older and younger. As part of an ongoing responsibility to assist other schools and centres to attain the Quality in Study Support mark, I also critically friend two schools in this process, and have scrutinised the submissions of 12 centres nationally. This critical friendship role has also allowed me to diversify, and I am also a local authority appointed governor at a local secondary school, which has taken place as part of my professional development.

WBA FC Study Support Centre is an education provider managed and run by Sandwell Local Authority. It is a traded service, and offers courses to schools and other Sandwell institutions for their young people, aged between 5 and 19. The Centre is hierarchically within the Extended Services unit within our local authority. The promotion of equality of opportunity is a key part of every session we deliver to young people, either explicitly or as an integral part of the delivery.

Lidija Kralj
I am teacher in primary school and PhD student. I'm teaching math and computer science pupils age 11 - 15 years old.
Areas interesting to me is teaching with ICT, Virtual Lerning Environments, Blended learning, Pedagogy and Media Didactis.

Per Linderoth
I'm 32 years old and have been working for 6 years as a social studies Swedish teacher for children aged 10-13. I live in the Swedish town Mariestad.

I have a great interest in computers and their impact on both teaching and learning. I have taken active part in the development of a portal solution for a school in the Gothenburg region. Recently I was in charge of buying educational software for the schools in Mariestad.
I have also given lectures at the University of Skövde on subjects such as the use of computers and software in primary and secondary schools. Currently I'm working on my master thesis on the development of a Community of Practice for headmasters in Varberg, a city situated on the west coast of Sweden. The development is both challenging and demanding on a technical level as well as on a pedagogical level, but I have been surprised by the positive response I have been given from the headmasters.

Kit Logan
Essentially an academic with a psychology background, I have been studying the use of ICT in education since 1999, starting with a PhD at the Open University looking at distance education students use of an object oriented language programming course materials. I then moved to the Institute of Education in 2004 to work on a NRDC project with Harvey Mellar and Maria Kambouri looking at Effective Practice in ICT teaching - a very interesting project looking at novel methods of teaching ICT in combination with mathematics or language such as basic English Literacy or ESOL.

In 2006 I became involved with the large European funded project "iClass" (www.iclass.info), the aim being to develop an IT system that encourages and provides teachers and students in 'self regulated personalised learning' (SRPL). That is (very briefly) a system which supports teachers and learners to create their own teaching materials which embed options that are personalised to a student's preferences. 
Various other tools would allow the student to see their progress be given feedback of preferences and then be helped to choose options which would be suitable for them.

Still with the Institute of Education I became involved in 2007 with the BECTA Web 2.0 project a project done in conjunction with the University of Nottingham and University of Manchester looking at schools use of Web 2.0. That is to get an overview of what inter- and intra-net collaborative technologies schools and teachers are using and what pupils are using in and outside of school.
In my spare time I run the FunandGames.org website stemming from my 25+ years of doing youthwork. Essentially its an archive/resource of games (non-computer) and activities.

Malcolm Payton
My background is in teaching, where I spent five years as Principal Teacher of Computing in a large comprehensive, then ten years in Local Authority education management, two of which were as Director of Education.

Since leaving local government, I have worked as a professional advisor to the Scottish Executive where I worked on the Scottish Schools Digital Network (now GLOW) and had responsibility for digital content, then for two years in the private sector delivering international education programmes in Europe and Asia.

I now deliver educational consultancy services and run the Educational Expertise Exchange Network or E3Net.
My interest has always been in how learning takes place - in young people, in adults, and in organisations. Like many others, my view is that ICT is developing so quickly that we can no longer control all of the bits - we have to support innovation, change and good practice and have a range of different initiatives all working towards the same end.

Dudley Turner
I have been teaching high school and university students for over 20 years. I am interested in the use of media and interactive technology in educational situations, primarily in experiential and distributed learning.

New Member

Ruty Hotzen
After 36 years of teaching Science for all groups I am now on pension. I volunteer as country coordinator for iEARN.

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