[Advisory] primary curriculum re development
Peter Yeomans
peteyeomans@hotmail.com
Mon, 2 Nov 2009 20:06:47 +0000
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Hi ian,
Is there just a slim chance that eportfolios will never catch on
because they are not cost effective in terms of time vs learning
gain? I seem to recall that governments are not always the best
judges of all that is sane and sensible.....eportfolios are a bit
emperors new clothes it seems to me and I should declare that I have
no investment in an anti eportfolio product- my thoughts are unbiased!
The reason children gain in literacy is because if they are lucky they
have teacher with a greater level of literacy than they. There is a
much more slender chance of that where technology is involved.
This is a fascinating debate.
Pete
Sent from my iPhone
On 2 Nov 2009, at 19:24, Ian Lynch <ianrlynch@googlemail.com> wrote:
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 6:08 PM, Peter Yeomans
> <peteyeomans@hotmail.com> wrote:
> In support of Ray, have a look at the hole in the wall project on ted.com
> . Kids are resourceful, they can teach themselves how to use
> computers and cameras and all sorts. What they don't need are
> teachers holding them back!
>
>
> Yes kids are resourceful and no doubt many would become literate
> without specialist English lessons. That would depend on home
> support, having the right teachers, the right motivation and the
> right curriculum though if most kids were not to remain semi-
> literate at best. Take e-portfolios. How much are they being used
> across all subjects in all schools? If you look at the skill set
> required to put together an e-portfolio its Level 2ish in the QCF,
> that is A*-C level at GCSE based on the criteria in the Using
> Collaborative Technologies unit in the ITQ which is based on the
> national occupational standards (its more than just operating
> technologies in isolation just as English is more than spelling and
> punctuation but we still think it is important to teach these
> things). Now who is systematically providing the learning for both
> children and their teachers in order that the government (and EU)
> aspiration for all to have an e-portfolio by 2010 actually happens?
> Putting some frameworks and funding out is easy. Getting mass take
> up and productive use is much more difficult. It's rather like
> having a largely illiterate population and decreeing everyone will
> record all their learning in exercise books without any English
> lessons. Let's get all those English teachers out of the way ;-).
> Anyone want to bet on the likelihood of picking a learner of say age
> 14 at random in a school in say science and finding all their
> experiments written up on line by 2010 with appropriate sized and
> resolution graphics files? At the current rate I'd be willing to bet
> a fiver on that not being the case in most schools in 2015. I'd
> look at it the other way round. Good teaching in En, Ma and IT could
> deliver 90% of the subject content in all the other areas because
> all the knowledge based subject content is out there on the
> internet. I'll take calls to abolish IT lessons seriously when we
> stop getting reports like the Importance of ICT (OFSTED 2009), we
> stop wasting 500 million a go on COL and things like e-porfolios
> actually get implemented effectively. All the evidence seems to me
> that there is too little emphasis on supporting appropriate learning
> in ICT so saying teachers get in the way is fanciful. I do agree
> that we don't have anywhere near enough teachers who really are
> capable so the key thing is to do more to support them and change
> the styles of learning so that there is less dependency on specific
> technical knowledge. This in itself is a tall order but probably the
> only real chance of proviing a proper learning entitlement to the
> people that matter.
>
> Ian
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<html><body bgcolor=3D"#FFFFFF"><div>Hi ian, =
</div><div><br></div><div>Is there just a slim chance that =
eportfolios will never catch on because they are not cost effective in =
terms of time vs learning gain? I seem to recall that governments =
are not always the best judges of all that is sane and =
sensible.....eportfolios are a bit emperors new clothes it seems to me =
and I should declare that I have no investment in an anti eportfolio =
product- my thoughts are unbiased!</div><div><br></div><div>The reason =
children gain in literacy is because if they are lucky they have teacher =
with a greater level of literacy than they. There is a much more =
slender chance of that where technology is =
involved.</div><div><br></div><div>This is a fascinating =
debate.</div><div><br></div><div>Pete </div><div><br></div><div><br><=
br>Sent from my iPhone</div><div><br>On 2 Nov 2009, at 19:24, Ian Lynch =
<<a =
href=3D"mailto:ianrlynch@googlemail.com">ianrlynch@googlemail.com</a>> =
wrote:<br><br></div><div></div><blockquote type=3D"cite"><div><br><br><div=
class=3D"gmail_quote">On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 6:08 PM, Peter Yeomans =
<span dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:peteyeomans@hotmail.com"><a =
href=3D"mailto:peteyeomans@hotmail.com">peteyeomans@hotmail.com</a></a>>=
;</span> wrote:<br><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"border-left:=
1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: =
1ex;">
<div bgcolor=3D"#FFFFFF"><div>In support of Ray, have a look at =
the hole in the wall project on <a href=3D"http://ted.com" =
target=3D"_blank"><a href=3D"http://ted.com">ted.com</a></a>. Kids =
are resourceful, they can teach themselves how to use computers =
and cameras and all sorts. What they don't need are teachers =
holding them back! </div>
<div class=3D"im"><div><br></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br>Yes =
kids are resourceful and no doubt many would become literate without =
specialist English lessons. That would depend on home support, having =
the right teachers, the right motivation and the right curriculum though =
if most kids were not to remain semi-literate at best. Take =
e-portfolios. How much are they being used across all subjects in all =
schools? If you look at the skill set required to put together an =
e-portfolio its Level 2ish in the QCF, that is A*-C level at GCSE based =
on the criteria in the Using Collaborative Technologies unit in the ITQ =
which is based on the national occupational standards (its more than =
just operating technologies in isolation just as English is more than =
spelling and punctuation but we still think it is important to teach =
these things). Now who is systematically providing the learning for both =
children and their teachers in order that the government (and EU) =
aspiration for all to have an e-portfolio by 2010 actually happens? =
Putting some frameworks and funding out is easy. Getting mass take up =
and productive use is much more difficult. It's rather like having a =
largely illiterate population and decreeing everyone will record all =
their learning in exercise books without any English lessons. Let's get =
all those English teachers out of the way ;-). Anyone want to bet on the =
likelihood of picking a learner of say age 14 at random in a school in =
say science and finding all their experiments written up on line by 2010 =
with appropriate sized and resolution graphics files? At the current =
rate I'd be willing to bet a fiver on that not being the case in most =
schools in 2015. I'd look at it the other way round. Good =
teaching in En, Ma and IT could deliver 90% of the subject content in =
all the other areas because all the knowledge based subject content is =
out there on the internet. I'll take calls to abolish IT lessons =
seriously when we stop getting reports like the Importance of ICT =
(OFSTED 2009), we stop wasting 500 million a go on COL and things like =
e-porfolios actually get implemented effectively. All the evidence seems =
to me that there is too little emphasis on supporting appropriate =
learning in ICT so saying teachers get in the way is fanciful. I do =
agree that we don't have anywhere near enough teachers who really are =
capable so the key thing is to do more to support them and change the =
styles of learning so that there is less dependency on specific =
technical knowledge. This in itself is a tall order but probably the =
only real chance of proviing a proper learning entitlement to the people =
that matter.<br>
<br>Ian<br></div></div>
</div></blockquote></body></html>=
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