[Advisory] After #Naace2010
theo kuechel
theo.kuechel@googlemail.com
Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:37:44 +0000
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I think Leon and Doug are right, it is very easy to get caught up in the
moment of the Twitter wall and it soon feels very uncomfortable. I think we
should all agree it is best use Twitter as a tool to observe and report to
those not physically present, and leave engaging with the speaker to the
question session in a talk.
This piece by danah boyd provides a good insight into the issues
http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2009/11/24/spectacle_at_we.htm
It would be shame to lose the benefits of the backchannel if it becomes
threatning to speakers.
best
Theo
On 20 March 2010 19:19, Doug Dickinson <doug.dickinson@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> Totally agree with the comment about the Twitter wall ... Twitter is
> intended as a back-channel, not as a running commentary for all ... found
> myself tweeting my thoughts as i would normally but then felt that I was
> being disrespectful ... didn't feel good
>
> Doug Dickinson
> Independent E-Learning Consultant
> doug@dougdickinson.co.uk
> Tel: 01509 265653
> Mobile: 07889 712 208
> Skype: dougjdickinson
> Web: www.dougdickinson.co.uk/blog
> -------
> The creative spirit is a wild bird that will not sing in captivity - Van
> Dearing Perrine
> -------
> "There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a
> butterfly."
>
> "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change
> something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete."
>
> Buckminster Fuller
> ------
>
> This message is confidential. You should not copy it or disclose its
> contents to anyone. You may use and apply the information only for the
> intended purpose. Internet communications are not secure and therefore the
> sender does not accept legal responsibility for the content of this
> message. If the e-mail has come to you in error please delete it and any
> attachments.
>
> On 20 Mar 2010, at 18:44, Leon Cych wrote:
>
>
> Brian,
>
> I would agree with some of these points but not others.
>
> Certainly Ofsted's lack of direction came into high relief in relation to
> the Twitter Wall. But somehow I felt it unfair to have a Twitter Wall
> running when someone was unaware of the comments going on in the room.
>
> With Ofsted the problem has always been bean counting - they need to shift
> up a gear if they are not going to be marginalised in the future. Yes they
> still have power to determine the parameters by which to judge a school but
> I think they are beginning to woefully lose their way judged by the other
> key note contributors to the conference have outlined the way things are
> going.
>
> What happens currently is that head teachers are given pages and pages of
> questions they have to answer which are then summatively judged against
> those frameworks.
>
> What isn't there?
>
> 1) Any formative system of assessment that could offere positive management
> solutions - having an inspection force who are merely observers is not good
> enough - they need to be made to engage as part of a professional assessment
> system - not just be number crunchers.
>
> 2) No aggregation of meaningful data that would prove useful to schools is
> held in any way that could be useful on the Ofsted site. If you are going to
> bean count then why not make it more transparent. Have a useful search
> function that aggregated subjects, schools, data, outcomes, school meals
> (:)) so it can be compared like for like - where's the data back engine to
> do this - well overdue I would think or is it merely just to be hidden and
> proprietorial so that dictats can be issued once in a while for the media.
> There is no commutativity of data and sharing of data - no desire to engage
> other than measure by fixed parameters which, as we see, are a retreat into
> the dark ages.
>
> Try and search the PDF database and find patterns of inspection - why is
> this not made more transparent?
>
> So now we are expected to take the communication out of ICT because "We do
> that well" and concentrate on a curriculum inspection that is in retrograde
> at the moment as far as I'm concerned.
>
> So we go back to a set of parameters that appear to be a comfort zone and
> schools will be judged against them. An immutable tail wagging a
> particularly dozy dog. When the dog wakes up as it is doing in the teaching
> force or the people observing activity around the teaching force, then
> things begin to happen. People start to question the traditional models of
> planning, assessment and examination.
>
> I guess it is to be expected Ofsted and QCDA appear to not seem to be aware
> of the possibilities of more recent social media or the disjunction between
> what is now happening in the home and the school. This gulf will only grow
> wider - the school population and parents become increasingly disaffected as
> technology will become more ubiquitous and broadband more available.
>
> If you want more girls to do ICT then change the exam - make it more
> relevant and interesting - personalise it - make sure people engage not just
> have to do these increasingly disaffecting exams - for that surely is what
> they are if 50 per cent of the pupils are using walking away. It just isn't
> working - saying people aren't engaging should tell you something...
>
> Sometimes unintended consequences cause the education and insight you are
> looking for. With programming it was the coming of the early personal
> computers and the games written by amateurs at home off the back of that.
> Some marvellous programmers emerged from that - al lot of them bypassed
> exams and started their own companies...
>
> That whole industry still isn't acknowledged by government in terms of tax
> benefits even though they make more than the film industry in this country.
> Most of those companies have gone to Canada ... yet another opportunity
> lost.
>
> If you want people to do stuff that aids the economy and uses imagination
> to do it, then devise something more than just husks of proprietorial fence
> jumping for individuals. Bring in collaborative exams where people can
> explore and work to their talents - make peer assessment and personal
> responsibility ways in which you can assess. Anyone tried thinking of that
> one yet? How about a vibrant, imaginative, "fun" curriculum completley
> contextualised and relevant to the ways we live our lives now. Guess not -
> oh dear - yet another fail...and for the country as a whole as well...never
> mind the banks are beginning to be back in profit not that any of them will
> pay back in terms of social capital what they ruined as a knock on in terms
> of culture and education although they are more than morally bound to do
> so...in the meantime we'll be expected to pull in our belts and
> intellectually too I would hazard a guess...
>
> The one big topic I took away from the conference is that we need to think
> very carefully about assessment and exams - in some cases they are getting
> in the way of actually adding to the country's economic well being because
> we lack vision in the way we can educate for the 21st century.
>
> The system we have at secondary level is enabling people to teach more and
> more efficiently about less and less relevant things when it comes to what
> people need in jobs and creative endeavor in some cases. It's not fit for
> purpose - people are retreating into 'curricular comfort zones' that are cul
> de sacs when it comes to moving this country on.
>
> Sometimes I feel if someone doesn't do something soon we are going to be
> mired in confusion and failure to respond to the 21st Century and all its
> challenges.
>
> And I'll ask it again as I have done over the years:
>
> Where is the vision and where is the courage to follow that vision when it
> comes to Education?
>
> The next few months will see cutbacks and all sorts of justifications for a
> retreat into more cost-effective models of "delivery" - Education isn't
> ring-fenced and that is a tragedy because it will enable all sorts of
> justifications for paucity of vision - if people don't stand up and say
> these things - well we have ourselves to blame in the long run...
>
> Leon Cych
>
>
>
> --- On *Sat, 20/3/10, Brian Smith <brian@briansmithonline.com>* wrote:
>
>
> From: Brian Smith <brian@briansmithonline.com>
> Subject: [Advisory] After #Naace2010
> To: advisory@talk.naace.org
> Date: Saturday, 20 March, 2010, 16:35
>
> Following this year's conference, I'm struggling to find solutions.
>
> Clearly Ofsted is still counting that which can be counted and nit-picking
> over whether data-logging is being 'delivered' or not. In the meantime the
> world's children are disengaging from education en masse. (If they need
> datalogging they can pick it up in an hour - and probably most do when they
> buy some technical Lego or a similar toy).
>
> The pressure to break the mould and throw out the Victorian curriculum with
> its deliver-and-test regime is building towards bursting point. Too many
> bright people are saying it: Ken Robinson, Don Tapscott, David Puttnam;
> their numbers are growing and their voices getting louder almost daily.
>
> And finally, Lord Puttnam's film showed that increasing global problems
> mean that if we don't create a 21st century curriculum - and quickly - there
> may be no need for five A*- Cs because there'll be no world to live in.
> See what he showed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRi8_fXz1D8
>
> *So what's the solution?*
> Needless to say I haven't a clue.
> But I do find that Web 2.0 technologies open the ability to problem-solve
> and debate.
> Twitterfall at conference added a dimension and a global audience to our
> sessions.
> You do realise, don't you, that Chris Smith was participating in Thailand
> and many comments were being retweeted to a global network of people by an
> educator in Ecuador. That's just two examples.
>
> TeachMeet was real chalk-face practitioners turning their back on
> Government and Ofsted and getting together to share innovative ideas - and
> their sessions were streamed on Ustream to a global audience.
>
> This global dimension is almost totally lacking in the average classroom.
> In its place we have locked-down systems which wouldn't allow my photos from
> BETT to be viewed by Pete Rafferty (@raff31) an innovative Year 4 teacher on
> Merseyside. No, he didn't have 8-year-olds accessing Twitter - this was his
> own account on his own laptop which he was using to receive news from
> professional educators attending the BETT Show. Nothing reached his children
> without being filtered by him - yet even he, as a teacher, wasn't given this
> freedom because Twitpic is blocked.
>
> How can children become the "people we need" when even their teachers can't
> show them the benefits technology can bring?
>
> *Unlock the Web*
> My instinct is to unlock the web and let teachers use Web 2.0 with their
> classes but that ignores Internet safety issues.
>
> The more I think about it the more I know that it depends on age. But the
> starting point should be open access and then lock down only as much as
> necessary.
>
> Consider nursery and reception children for example. Open access would be
> so wrong for them. Yet a primary teacher who can't put Twitterfall on the
> whiteboard is surely damaging the children's prospects.
>
> So how about this.
> Consider the roads analogy.
> We wouldn't let five year olds roam freely on the roads so we keep them
> shut indoors or safe in the garden with the gate shut.
> But we also go out onto the roads with them so they learn road safety.
> We do it by constantly explaining and demonstrating.
> Not incessantly, just every time a road needs to be crossed.
> In between we are talking about everything else.
>
> *A suggestion:*
> On the net, then, I think we should direct young children to safe sites for
> specific activities and have filters in place so they can't go ANYWHERE
> else.
>
> But not a county filter or even a school filter. It needs to be a class
> filter because the seven year olds will need a bit more flexibility and the
> 11 years old a lot more.
>
> AND, the class filter should be only on the children's access points. The
> teacher should have unfettered access so if she wants to use Twitter or any
> other social networking site - or MSN - or Skype - or Ustream - she can.
> Because she won't let the children on that computer and she'll only ever
> access these sites as part of a lesson. So she might have Twitterfall on the
> big screen for a particular purpose during a particular lesson, perhaps with
> a TA monitoring content in the seconds between receipt and display.
>
> Thus the children are safe but they also learn to communicate and
> collaborate as the teacher holds their hand.
> Just like on the road.
>
> As they grow older the filters come off but only with adequate internet
> safety training.
>
> And on that subject, see these two articles::
>
> A school that's praised for less filtered access with good safety training:
>
> http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Use-online-tool-nets-school-E-Safety-mark/article-1812042-detail/article.html
>
> Managed rather than locked down:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8505914.stm
>
>
> So those are my fairly random thoughts so far, two days after conference.
>
> What do you think?
>
> Brian Smith
>
>
> ---------------------------------------
> Disclaimers about how this is intended for you and if you aren't you, let
> me know.
> Oh and by the way, the content *is* my opinion.
>
>
>
--
Theo Kuechel
Learning Technology Research
theo.kuechel@gmail.com
T.Kuechel@hull.ac.uk
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I think Leon and Doug are right, it is very easy to get caught up in the mo=
ment of the Twitter wall and it soon feels very uncomfortable.=A0 I think w=
e should all agree it is best use Twitter as a tool to observe and report t=
o those not physically present, and leave engaging with the speaker to the =
question session in a talk.<br>
<br>This piece by danah boyd provides a good insight into the issues <a hre=
f=3D"http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2009/11/24/spectacle_at_we.h=
tm">http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2009/11/24/spectacle_at_we.ht=
m</a><br>
<br>It would be shame to lose the benefits of the backchannel if it becomes=
threatning to speakers. <br><br>best<br>Theo<br><br><div class=3D"gmail_qu=
ote">On 20 March 2010 19:19, Doug Dickinson <span dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=
=3D"mailto:doug.dickinson@ntlworld.com">doug.dickinson@ntlworld.com</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 style=3D"wor=
d-wrap: break-word;">Totally agree with the comment about the Twitter wall =
... Twitter is intended as a back-channel, not as a running commentary for =
all ... found myself tweeting my thoughts as i would normally but then felt=
that I was being disrespectful ... didn't feel good<div>
<br></div><div><div><div> <span style=3D"border-collapse: separate; color: =
rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal=
; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-h=
eight: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;=
word-spacing: 0px;"><div style=3D"word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style=3D"border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:=
Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; fo=
nt-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent=
: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><div =
style=3D"word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style=3D"border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:=
Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; fo=
nt-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent=
: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><div =
style=3D"word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style=3D"border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:=
Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; fo=
nt-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent=
: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><div =
style=3D"word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style=3D"border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:=
Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; fo=
nt-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent=
: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><div =
style=3D"word-wrap: break-word;">
<div><div><div><div>Doug Dickinson</div><div>Independent E-Learning Consult=
ant</div><div><a href=3D"mailto:doug@dougdickinson.co.uk" target=3D"_blank"=
>doug@dougdickinson.co.uk</a></div><div>Tel: 01509 265653</div><div>Mobile:=
07889 712 208</div>
<div>Skype: dougjdickinson</div><div>Web: <a href=3D"http://www.dougdickins=
on.co.uk/blog" target=3D"_blank">www.dougdickinson.co.uk/blog</a></div><div=
>-------</div><div>The creative spirit is a wild bird that will not sing in=
captivity - Van Dearing Perrine</div>
<div><div>-------<br>"There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you=
it's going to be a butterfly."=A0</div><div><br></div><div>"=
You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change somethi=
ng, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete."</div>
<div><br></div><div>Buckminster Fuller=A0<br>------</div><div>=A0</div><div=
>This message is confidential. You should not copy it or disclose its conte=
nts to anyone. You may use and apply the information only for the intended =
purpose. Internet communications are not secure and therefore the sender do=
es not accept legal responsibility for the content of this message.=A0 If t=
he e-mail has come to you in error please delete it and any attachments.</d=
iv>
</div></div></div></div></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span=
></div></span> </div><div><div></div><div class=3D"h5"><br><div><div>On 20 =
Mar 2010, at 18:44, Leon Cych wrote:</div><br><blockquote type=3D"cite"><ta=
ble border=3D"0" cellpadding=3D"0" cellspacing=3D"0">
<tbody><tr><td style=3D"font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-var=
iant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inher=
it; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch: inherit;" valign=3D"top"><br>B=
rian,<br>
<br>I would agree with some of these points but not others.<br><br>Certainl=
y Ofsted's lack of direction came into high relief in relation to the T=
witter Wall. But somehow I felt it unfair to have a Twitter Wall running wh=
en someone was unaware of the comments going on in the room. <br>
<br>With Ofsted the problem has always been bean counting - they need to sh=
ift up a gear if they are not going to be marginalised in the future. Yes t=
hey still have power to determine the parameters by which to judge a school=
but I think they are beginning to woefully lose their way judged by the ot=
her key note contributors to the conference have outlined the way things ar=
e going.<br>
<br>What happens currently is that head teachers are given pages and pages =
of questions they have to answer which are then summatively judged against =
those frameworks.<br><br>What isn't there?<br><br>1) Any formative syst=
em of assessment that could offere positive management solutions - having a=
n inspection force who are merely observers is not good enough - they need =
to be made to engage as part of a professional assessment system - not just=
be number crunchers.<br>
<br>2) No aggregation of meaningful data that would prove useful to schools=
is held in any way that could be useful on the Ofsted site. If you are goi=
ng to bean count then why not make it more transparent. Have a useful searc=
h function that aggregated subjects, schools, data, outcomes, school meals =
(:)) so it can be compared like for like - where's the data back engine=
to do this - well overdue I would think or is it merely just to be hidden =
and proprietorial so that dictats can be issued once in a while for the med=
ia. There is no commutativity of data and sharing of data - no desire to en=
gage other than measure by fixed parameters which, as we see, are a retreat=
into the dark ages.<br>
<br>Try and search the PDF database and find patterns of inspection - why i=
s this not made more transparent?<br><br>So now we are expected to take the=
communication out of ICT because "We do that well" and concentra=
te on a curriculum inspection that is in retrograde at the moment as far as=
I'm concerned.<br>
<br>So we go back to a set of parameters that appear to be a comfort zone a=
nd schools will be judged against them. An immutable tail wagging a particu=
larly dozy dog. When the dog wakes up as it is doing in the teaching force =
or the people observing activity around the teaching force, then things beg=
in to happen. People start to question the traditional models of planning, =
assessment and examination.<br>
<br>I guess it is to be expected Ofsted and QCDA appear to not seem to be a=
ware of the possibilities of more recent social media or the disjunction be=
tween what is now happening in the home and the school. This gulf will only=
grow wider - the school population and parents become increasingly disaffe=
cted as technology will become more ubiquitous and broadband more available=
.<br>
<br>If you want more girls to do ICT then change the exam - make it more re=
levant and interesting - personalise it - make sure people engage not just =
have to do these increasingly disaffecting exams - for that surely is what =
they are if 50 per cent of the pupils are using walking away. It just isn&#=
39;t working - saying people aren't engaging should tell you something.=
..<br>
<br>Sometimes unintended consequences cause the education and insight you a=
re looking for. With programming it was the coming of the early personal co=
mputers and the games written by amateurs at home off the back of that. Som=
e marvellous programmers emerged from that - al lot of them bypassed exams =
and started their own companies...<br>
<br>That whole industry still isn't acknowledged by government in terms=
of tax benefits even though they make more than the film industry in this =
country. Most of those companies have gone to Canada ... yet another opport=
unity lost.<br>
<br>If you want people to do stuff that aids the economy and uses imaginati=
on to do it, then devise something more than just husks of proprietorial fe=
nce jumping for individuals. Bring in collaborative exams where people can =
explore and work to their talents - make peer assessment and personal respo=
nsibility ways in which you can assess. Anyone tried thinking of that one y=
et? How about a vibrant, imaginative, "fun" curriculum completley=
contextualised and relevant to the ways we live our lives now. Guess not -=
oh dear - yet another fail...and for the country as a whole as well...neve=
r mind the banks are beginning to be back in profit not that any of them wi=
ll pay back in terms of social capital what they ruined as a knock on in te=
rms of culture and education although they are more than morally bound to d=
o so...in the meantime we'll be expected to pull in our belts and intel=
lectually too I would hazard a guess...<br>
<br>The one big topic I took away from the conference is that we need to th=
ink very carefully about assessment and exams - in some cases they are gett=
ing in the way of actually adding to the country's economic well being =
because we lack vision in the way we can educate for the 21st century.<br>
<br>The system we have at secondary level is enabling people to teach more =
and more efficiently about less and less relevant things when it comes to w=
hat people need in jobs and creative endeavor in some cases. It's not f=
it for purpose - people are retreating into 'curricular comfort zones&#=
39; that are cul de sacs when it comes to moving this country on.<br>
<br>Sometimes I feel if someone doesn't do something soon we are going =
to be mired in confusion and failure to respond to the 21st Century and all=
its challenges.<br><br>And I'll ask it again as I have done over the y=
ears:<br>
<br>Where is the vision and where is the courage to follow that vision when=
it comes to Education?<br><br>The next few months will see cutbacks and al=
l sorts of justifications for a retreat into more cost-effective models of =
"delivery" - Education isn't ring-fenced and that is a traged=
y because it will enable all sorts of justifications for paucity of vision =
- if people don't stand up and say these things - well we have ourselve=
s to blame in the long run...<br>
<br>Leon Cych<br><blockquote style=3D"border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 25=
5); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"><br><div><table border=3D"0" cell=
padding=3D"0" cellspacing=3D"0"><tbody><tr><td style=3D"font-family: inheri=
t; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-s=
ize: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-size-adjust: inherit; font-stretch=
: inherit;" valign=3D"top">
<br>--- On <b>Sat, 20/3/10, Brian Smith <i><<a href=3D"mailto:brian@bria=
nsmithonline.com" target=3D"_blank">brian@briansmithonline.com</a>></i><=
/b> wrote:<br><blockquote style=3D"border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255);=
margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;">
<br>From: Brian Smith <<a href=3D"mailto:brian@briansmithonline.com" tar=
get=3D"_blank">brian@briansmithonline.com</a>><br>Subject: [Advisory] Af=
ter #Naace2010<br>To: <a href=3D"mailto:advisory@talk.naace.org" target=3D"=
_blank">advisory@talk.naace.org</a><br>
Date: Saturday, 20 March, 2010, 16:35<br><br><div>Following this year's=
conference, I'm struggling to find solutions.<div><br></div><div>Clear=
ly Ofsted is still counting that which can be counted and nit-picking over =
whether data-logging is being 'delivered' or not. In the meantime t=
he world's children are disengaging from education en masse. (If they n=
eed datalogging they can pick it up in an hour - and probably most do when =
they buy some technical Lego or a similar toy).</div>
<div><br></div><div>The pressure to break the mould and throw out the Victo=
rian curriculum with its deliver-and-test regime is building towards bursti=
ng point. Too many bright people are saying it: Ken Robinson, Don Tapscott,=
David Puttnam; their numbers are growing and their voices getting louder a=
lmost daily.=A0</div>
<div><br></div><div>And finally, Lord Puttnam's film showed that increa=
sing global problems mean that if we don't create a 21st century curric=
ulum - and quickly - there may be no need for five A*- Cs because there'=
;ll be no world to live in.</div>
<div>See what he showed at:=A0<a rel=3D"nofollow" href=3D"http://www.youtub=
e.com/watch?v=3DVRi8_fXz1D8" target=3D"_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch=
?v=3DVRi8_fXz1D8</a></div><div><br></div><div><b>So what's the solution=
?</b></div>
<div>Needless to say I haven't a clue.</div><div>But I do find that Web=
2.0 technologies open the ability to problem-solve and debate.</div><div>T=
witterfall at conference added a dimension and a global audience to our ses=
sions.</div>
<div>You do realise, don't you, that Chris Smith was participating in T=
hailand and many comments were being retweeted to a global network of peopl=
e by an educator in Ecuador. That's just two examples.</div><div><br>
</div><div>TeachMeet was real chalk-face practitioners turning their back o=
n Government and Ofsted and getting together to share innovative ideas - an=
d their sessions were streamed on Ustream to a global audience.</div><div>
<br></div><div>This global dimension is almost totally lacking in the avera=
ge classroom. In its place we have locked-down systems which wouldn't a=
llow my photos from BETT to be viewed by Pete Rafferty (@raff31) an innovat=
ive Year 4 teacher on Merseyside. No, he didn't have 8-year-olds access=
ing Twitter - this was his own account on his own laptop which he was using=
to receive news from professional educators attending the BETT Show. Nothi=
ng reached his children without being filtered by him - yet even he, as a t=
eacher, wasn't given this freedom because Twitpic is blocked.</div>
<div><br></div><div>How can children become the "people we need" =
when even their teachers can't show them the benefits technology can br=
ing?</div><div><br></div><div><b>Unlock the Web</b></div><div>My instinct i=
s to unlock the web and let teachers use Web 2.0 with their classes but tha=
t ignores Internet safety issues.</div>
<div><br></div><div>The more I think about it the more I know that it depen=
ds on age. But=A0the starting point should be open access and then lock dow=
n only as much as necessary.<br><br>Consider nursery and reception children=
for example.=A0Open access would be so wrong for them.=A0Yet a primary tea=
cher who can't put Twitterfall on the whiteboard is surely damaging the=
children's prospects.</div>
<div><br></div><div>So how about this.=A0</div><div>Consider the roads anal=
ogy.=A0<br>We wouldn't let five year olds roam freely on the roads so w=
e keep them shut indoors or safe in the garden with the gate shut.=A0<br>Bu=
t we also go out onto the roads with them so they learn road safety.=A0<br>
We do it by constantly explaining and demonstrating.=A0</div><div>Not inces=
santly, just every time a road needs to be crossed.=A0</div><div>In between=
we are talking about everything else.<br><br><b>A suggestion:</b></div><di=
v>
On the net, then, I think we should direct young children to safe sites for=
specific activities and have filters in place so they can't go ANYWHER=
E else.<br><br>But not a county filter or even a school filter. It needs to=
be a class filter because the seven year olds will need a bit more flexibi=
lity and the 11 years old a lot more.<br>
<br>AND, the class filter should be only on the children's access point=
s. The teacher should have unfettered access so if she wants to use Twitter=
or any other social networking site - or MSN - or Skype - or Ustream - she=
can. Because she won't let the children on that computer and she'l=
l only ever access these sites as part of a lesson. So she might have Twitt=
erfall on the big screen for a particular purpose during a particular lesso=
n, perhaps with a TA monitoring content in the seconds between receipt and =
display.<br>
<br>Thus the children are safe but they also learn to communicate and colla=
borate as the teacher holds their hand.<br>Just like on the road.<br><br>As=
they grow older the filters come off but only with adequate internet safet=
y training.<br>
<br>And on that subject, see these two articles::<br><br>A school that'=
s praised for less filtered access with good safety training:<br><a rel=3D"=
nofollow" href=3D"http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Use-online-tool-nets=
-school-E-Safety-mark/article-1812042-detail/article.html" target=3D"_blank=
">http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Use-online-tool-nets-school-E-Safety=
-mark/article-1812042-detail/article.html</a><br>
<br>Managed rather than locked down:<br><a rel=3D"nofollow" href=3D"http://=
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8505914.stm" target=3D"_blank">http://news.bb=
c.co.uk/1/hi/education/8505914.stm</a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><=
div>
So those are my fairly random thoughts so far, two days after conference.</=
div><div><br></div><div>What do you think?</div><div><br></div><div>Brian S=
mith</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>------------------------------=
---------</div>
<div>Disclaimers about how this is intended for you and if you aren't y=
ou, let me know.</div><div>Oh and by the way, the content *is* my opinion.<=
/div></div></blockquote></td></tr></tbody></table></div></blockquote></td>
</tr></tbody></table></blockquote></div><br></div></div></div></div></div><=
/blockquote></div><br><br clear=3D"all"><br>-- <br>Theo Kuechel<br>Learning=
Technology Research =A0<br><a href=3D"mailto:theo.kuechel@gmail.com">theo.=
kuechel@gmail.com</a><br>
<a href=3D"mailto:T.Kuechel@hull.ac.uk">T.Kuechel@hull.ac.uk</a><br><br><br=
>
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