If you are familiar with the numerous past Did you Knows? note the many differences since 2007, a short 2 years ago.
Message to you Ruby? Are you really a learner? or do you say you are. If you WANT to answer affirmatively then have the courage to get out from under our excuse rocks, make even more mistakes, experiment and forget the teaching to the test. That is providing my employer shows the requisite trust in return.
Nothing in Did You Know 4 is particularly cutting edge, it is however a timely and valuable update. The statistical summation is now contemporary but fundamental school technology has not had any seminal breakthroughs since 2007. It’s just all got faster, cheaper, easier.
What has developed substantially since 2007, with considerably more urgency attached, is if you, your place of learning or your systemic goverance has failed to move, you may well find yourself all sorts of trouble in the next 12 months. Today playing edu catch up is no longer the option it once was.
Have a look at traditional media to see their reactive doom & gloom nonsense many have been trotting out. They didn’t see the social media freight train arriving and now they are trying to play catch up or, even better lets ban and/or control social media and certainly make it hard for consumers to access.
The rate of change means today’s learners need to be fluid, shifting, agile and moving, not locked down with predetermined staid “thats how we’ve always done it” answers. Feeling “loose”, opening doors, trying new ways and ceding control is an antithesis for manylearners, especially with 20 plus time on job. New scheme teachers & interns should not be exposed but many still are mentored towards these “tried, tired and proven” ways.
Daunting? not really. The alternatives, especially irrelevancy, are far worse.
Accelerating change is happening;
a) despite what you or I want
b) despite what you or I are willing to accept
c) despite what closed walled bureaucracy believes
Not sure if I’m saddened or gladdened by this jazzed up Shift message, especially when placed in the context of are teachers REALLY doing the right thing by the 2022 graduates, today’s Kindy kids?
For one University’s practical response to issues raised in DYK4, have a look at what UNSW is doing. Despite targeting an older student base, arguments raised around social media use are also valid for other age groups.
With DER NSW laptops arriving, it’s time to ponder a few learning thought provokers.
In Edutopia’s 10 minute video, Henry Jenkins succinctly raises some of the contemporary learning discussions still needed by DETs & in schools. Shiny baubles do not a revolution make.
Amongst many points Henry asks learners to consider; (my italics)
Filtering & blocking (child protection, duty of care)
tech access, equity & the participation gap (haves & have nots)
As I relax into my weekend, I think I’m more content due to some recent connected learning developments. A few new North Coast Region DET contacts after last weeks Quality Teaching conference and leaders are responding, collaborating and even asking for or offering more answers. Great stuff.
Try this quick quiz, dead easy it is.
To date, which scenario has had more impact on DET NSW connected learning?
a) “Extrinsically imposed employer/political pressure because web2.0 connected learning is coming via massive and never seen before financial investment, “ready, fire, aim” style.”
OR
b) “Intrinsically lets engage because I actually want to personally take deep individual ownership and walk the walk in my learning and leadership life?”
I am seriously curious as to the main motivations and attitudes behind the current positive DET shift we are seeing.
The answer will have an enduring impact on the up take and embed rate of any transformational change DET expects.
If teachers understand why? with real purpose, learning will stick bottom up b) style but if its DET mandated and imposed from above, learning will be reduced to box ticking a) style.
ICT has been in schools since before I arrived in 1985 so it sure isn’t new. With this massive injection of edrev largesse we need to do something fundamentally different this time so we see transformation for kid’s futures. If I was cynical, web2.0 tools are not new or difficult skills to learn, I’d be leaning to a) above. Luckily I’m not.
There is a palpable sense of major urgency within DET, almost panicky misalignment, amongst higher up DET bureaucrats charged with specific fields of the wide gambit of connected learning responsibilties.
Elements of ICT rollouts still have elements of “left hand/right hand” as different DET departments push their connected learning project barrows as if riding the carnival dodgems at side show alley.
Whoops, sorry L4L, didn’t see you coming so soon, you must have got some real super polly fuel to get here so quick.
Hey CCP get outa my way you old timer, I’ve got a modern web2.0 tool suite to deliver but L4L has just cut me off, again!
Oy! shut up down the back there and stop running off course, none of you will have anything if we don’t get my paradoxically improved bandwidth and restrictive filters in place”
If leaders themselves have no metacognition of or deep personal engagement with the changes they are pushing, then teachers will quickly sense the superficial lip service.
Can’t blame them, but hey guys this web2.0 stuff is NOT new and maybe we should have been playing the web2.0 game a tad longer than just now?
Playing connected learning catch up may lead to enduring pain if all the components do not align. We don’t want our dodgems spinning wildy in circles as DET jumps on the back to spin our wheel and get us going again.
It’s the one I’m trying to promote at my place through DIDOW. Trying hard to create the individual need of why transformative participative learning (web2.0 if we must!) is stronger by raising awareness and changing attitudes, in baby incremental steps.
Early days but so far I think its working. I’d rather teachers know the why and build their own PLNs so they can feel the networked learning difference themselves.
This is what all school leaders at all levels should be doing now. PLN’s only take a technical day or less to set up. Even our most tech shy participant was heard to comment “RSS feeds of my delicious links into netvibes was really easy” Language unheard of only weeks ago. They also understand how their own PLN will organically grow if they contribute, share and teach others.
No one wants another DET mandated brick in the wall on connected learning initiatives. Groans heard at previous School Development Days (SDDs) has been loud as top down mandated attitude adjustments wrapped as “policy” has been force fed on the troops. It is so obviously just DET ticking DET boxes for DET motives and no real professional learning ever occurs.
Stop it DET and start trusting us to professionally learn for ourselves, just give us some time to engage. A place to authentically share our professional learning via eportfolios will be welcome too. Carrot or the stick? It’s your call DET NSW. I know which way my kids respond.
L4L are planning teacher think tanks, the blinkers are off and learning barriers are coming down. Laptops for Learning (L4L) bulletin 3 was again informative clbulletin03 and may answer more questions. At least I found it more easily than edition 2 in the DET NSW intranet, someone must be listening at DET HQ?
Now if only the counter intuitive web1.0 portal, excessive DET filters and lack of RSS feeds can be sorted, I’d be a happy camper indeed.
There is critical infrastructure work to be tackled on these issues if DET is to be taken seriously as a web2.0 player. That’s what worries me in the longer term about transforming our Public Schools ICT and connected learning initiatives. I still can’t sense the bigger picture alignment as earnest project managers furiously micro manage their little boxes of a far larger picture.
Wish you well in your local and/or general attitude adjustment missions.
Ours is on track and staff are asking, doing, engaging and experimenting with all that we’ve been given so far. Some of the tools we are learning are posted below.
RSS in Plain English via Commoncraft
Social Bookmarking eg Del.icio.us in Plain English via Commoncraft.
Independent learners may prefer this online Time4 module. It is one of the best and simplest self tutorials and covers all the topics you need to establish your own Personal Learning Network (PLN).
