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22 July 2010

MirandaNet Newsletter July 2010

July Newsletter

Contents

Welcome

A warm welcome to the many educators who have joined MirandaNet since the beginning of the year. It is clear that I have met many of you already on tour where I spoke about online professional knowledge creation in conferences and universities in Japan, US, New Zealand, Australia and Portugal. There are also many new members from India, where we are working with the Podar Education Complex (www.podar.org) on our Management of Change professional development programme (www.mirandanet.ac.uk/profdev) Email me if you want more details about the iCatalyst programme. It might suit some of our members CPD needs but has to be done as a group.

I will get round to welcoming everyone personally as it is always a pleasure to discuss new members' vision and interests. However, having just returned from almost five months of travel I need more hours in the day to catch up. You will hear from me - I promise - as soon as a space opens up!

I hope you all caught the discussion we have just had on MirandaLink (one of the most important we have had so far) about the closure of Becta (www.becta.org.uk), the UK government agency for promoting digital technologies in schools. If not you can log into the archive and read it there. I congratulate MirandaNetters on the maturity of the debate and the wealth of detail from many perspectives. I have knitted everyone's observations into an article and will also extract a letter for the new UK coalition government (item below: The axing of Becta).

An international professional organisation like MirandaNet can have a strong voice in spreading expert knowledge, demolishing myths and raising concerns about government policies that impact on the deployment of digital technologies in education. In the UK at the moment we have serious concerns that the new coalition government does not fully understand the value of digital technologies in teaching and learning. I hope that our article will help to educate them. MirandaLink is a good source of well-reasoned arguments for many members, who use the debates to influence political discussions in their own back yards.

For those who are more interested in learning theories than politics there are two papers available in our Members' only archive about the Braided Learning model of knowledge creation that we think underpins our MirandaLink discussions. This kind of peer debate ought to be a feature of participation in all learning platforms in my view. Log in to the membership pages at www.mirandanet.ac.uk/cgi-bin/members.pl and you will see a link to this newly created Members Archive section.

BTW many thanks to those members who send me interesting pieces for the newsletter. Please keep them coming.

Christina Preston

The axing of Becta

"Since the news broke about closing down the British Education and Computing Technology Agency (Becta) by the new coalition government in the UK, MirandaNet members from all over the world have been debating the potential effects online. A typical response came from Professor Niki Davis, Christchurch New Zealand, 'I can tell you that the shock of losing Becta is being felt worldwide - the UK is risking its reputation as a leader in 21st century education'."

If you log into the members area here you can read the rest of MirandaNet draft article based on our MirandaLink debate (Log in to the membership pages at www.mirandanet.ac.uk/cgi-bin/members.pl and you will see a link to the newly created Members Archive section). It is called Nail Varnish for Lizards? You will have to read it to find out why. Comments will be welcome as well as suggestions for how we can use this braided text. However, please do not circulate beyond the membership until we have publication agreement. I'll let you know when we have some dates.

Low-priority IT

In the meanwhile several angry members have sent items to me about the new UK coalition's plundering of IT budgets, especially the Harnessing Education programme, to fund the Free Schools programme. For those who enjoy politics here are four websites to look at:

Michael Gove the new Education Minister replied to Ed Balls the opposition spokesman in the House of Commons, "We announced last week that we would recreate the standards and diversity fund for schools, started by Tony Blair and abandoned under his successor. We are devoting to that fund £50 million saved from low-priority IT spending-less than 1% of all capital spending allocated for this year."

Full details of the exchange on www.publications.parliament.uk/...#1006219000004e

Harnessing Technology funds ransacked

The relocated funds seem to have been expropriated from the Harnessing Technology Fund:

"Reallocated £50 million of funding from the Harnessing Technology Grant to create a Standards and Diversity Fund. This will provide capital funding for Free Schools up to 31 March 2011. Funding for Free Schools will be a top priority for the Department in the forthcoming Spending Review."

http://www.education.gov.uk/news/news/freeschools

Harnessing Technology funds ring fenced

Other colleagues have point out that the Harnessing Technology Funds were once 'ringfenced':

The Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP indicates that in the specific revenue and capital grants for 2010/11 that Harnessing technology is ring fenced.

www.communities.gov.uk/statements/newsroom/localgovernmentsavings

Technology in schools: Is the clock being turned back?

Tony Fisher has started a mirandlink debate with this message article about the coalition's apparent disinterest in ICT in schools. Do join in the debate on MirandaLink if you have something to say. The article which sparked off this debate is here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/10495726.stm

Lord Puttnam: Parliament needs to catch up with the YouTube generation

Let's finish this rather sad section with some good news! Alison Allen sent this snippet round MirandaLink (and I urge all members who are not receiving MirandaLink to log on and find out why - they are missing some good debates!):

“If today's politicians truly are prepared to take on the immense challenges of the 21st century, then as I see it we’ve no choice but to embrace the equally immense reach and power of the most recent digital technologies” he advised. “And do so in a way that makes our present rate of adoption look exactly what it is – half-hearted - if not pitifully inadequate!”

Puttnam noted that the younger generation doesn't simply rely on accessing information, but on turning that information into new knowledge, new products and even new resources. “In a well run world, you would surely expect politicians and Parliament to be helping nurture and shape this relationship - rather than seeking to frustrate and hinder it?,” he said.

Worth reading in full:  http://www.publictechnology.net/.../lord-puttnam-parliament-needs-catch-youtube-generation

Schools want professional development in ICT

Julie Nightingale from the Guardian phoned me for a comment about the UK Guardian School Technology survey amongst teachers that highlights support for Becta and more training for teachers in ICT. Here is an extract:

Poll results show strong support for axed Becta, home access, and more training in technology in schools entitlement to professional development also came top of the list of policy issues people felt the new government should concentrate on with some 21% voting for it above areas such as curriculum autonomy for schools (14.1%).

Christina Preston, chair of MirandaNet, an international network of ICT in education specialists, says she is delighted that teachers continue to value learning about ICT in teaching and learning.

However, she says many training programmes were rather low-level and tend to be product-based. The key problem, she says, is that teachers - and particularly headteachers and managers - think they want training in the operation of digital technologies but overlook the pedagogy side.

"There is still a limited amount of knowledge about promoting independent and group learning that is active and constructive," says Preston. "And, of course, exams continue to preserve the value of information transmission - even though this is the least useful aspect of learning for most jobs - whereas the ICT skills children need to develop are things like team-building, problem-solving, and how to find information for themselves."

www.guardian.co.uk/classroom-innovation/technology-survey-becta

MirandaMod Resources

We now have a full range of resources collected from the last series of MirandaMods. International MirandaNetters have been talking about a range of subject and building collaborative maps on the subject. Many thanks to Leon Cych, John Cuthell and Theo Keuchel who have worked hard to make these a success. And to our sponsors, the WLE Centre, Becta, Steljes, Oracle and Microsoft.

This is the range of topics:

Look here for the details: www.mirandanet.ac.uk/mirandamods

I am writing a paper about running MirandaMods that will be ready for members soon. If you have any comments to make about them I can incorporate those. Please email me.

Survey request

The WLE Centre, who have provided us with a lot of funding in the past, would welcome a few more replies to this survey in relation to learning platforms. Please fill it in if you have 10 mins or so.

On behalf of our "VLEs 4 VET" European Project partnership (www.vles4vet.eu) I would be grateful if you could take time to respond to our online questionnaires at your earliest convenience. The objective is to assess the current situation concerning the use of the Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) in education organisations across Europe. Our aim is to collect good practice examples in order to prepare different vocational organisations to implement Virtual Learning Environments.

The first link below contains a questionnaire intended for a member of teaching staff (Manager / Principal / ICT Co-ordinator) who has an oversight of the use of VLE in the organisation:

The second link leads to a questionnaire aimed at teachers:

Questions to Caroline Michalak: carolinemichalak at fit.ie +353 1 8825570

Interesting tidbits

1) Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price

This is a disturbing report at the adult level, but I wonder what effect the multi-gadget society will have on young minds who have already been over stimulated by rapid scene/colour/sound changes inherent in much of children's TV.

TECHNOLOGY | June 07, 2010 ?Your Brain on Computers: Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price By MATT RICHTEL

Scientists say our ability to focus is being undermined by bursts of information from e-mail and other interruptions.

www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/technology/07brain.html?emc=eta1

2) The Digital Library 25,500+ Documents

EdITLib is a valuable online resource of peer-reviewed and published international journal articles and conference papers on the latest research, developments, and applications related to all aspects of Educational Technology and E-Learning.

The Digital Library enables users to:

www.EdITLib.org

3) The Risks of Parenting While Plugged in

An interesting article that highlights the dangers arising from parents using online comms in preference to interaction with their children. A future book is referenced which sounds like it might be good reading.

Your Brain on Computers: The Risks of Parenting While Plugged In By JULIE SCELFO

Parents' use of smartphones and laptops - and its effect on their children - is becoming a source of concern to researchers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/garden/10childtech.html?emc=eta1

4) The Thinking Stick

Those of us who were quick enough downloaded Jeff Utecht's book, Reach: Building Communities and Networks for Professional Development from his Thinking Stick site before the web launch on June 15th. The download costs £4.85: the book costs £33.55

http://www.thethinkingstick.com/free-book-download

It is an interesting idea for selling books. Am I allowed to send you my free .pdf version? What is the law? In principle the same as lending you a book I think - but a fraught area. I would welcome reviews on this book.

Events

TeachMeet locations

Those of you who have participated in any of our MirandaMods over the past few years will know Leon Cych. Leon has also been working with TeachMeets across the country: @ianaddison and his collaborators have put together an excellent resource that identifies locations in the UK where you can find like-minded professionals who are passionate about using ICT to enhance teaching and learning.

Go to: http://bit.ly/teachmap for the TeachMeet Map.

John Cuthell

Hand Held Learning Festival and Conference

Graham Brown Martin has sent a notice that the dates for the Handheld Learning Festival & Conference scheduled for this October have now been rescheduled to January 9th -11th, 2011. Full details maybe found on this update: http://bit.ly/a3o3JD

"In summary, this change has been brought about in response to recent changes in UK government that bring challenges but also opportunities. After deep consideration we have taken the decision to establish a larger event that brings together our most exciting disruptors, communities and events under a single umbrella whilst keeping the registration fee the same and extending the early bird registration that includes the iPad until September 30th."

Registration is at: http://bit.ly/hhl2-0

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