[Advisory] After #Naace2010 - Twitter wall
Paul Springford
paul.springford@naace.org
Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:49:59 +0000
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Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Colleagues
A couple of points about the use of Twitter at Blackpool.
First, all keynote speakers were asked if they were happy with the display
of tweeted comments. There was no pressure upon them to agree.
Secondly, there were some comments on display which for various reasons -
distracting, irrelevant, offensive, impolite... - might have been considered
inappropriate by some people.
So we have a powerful tool which engaged many people at Blackpool and around
the world and at the same time created anxiety or worse for others
(including the conference team). Sounds a bit like the regular debate about
whether or not to block stuff in schools.
At their post-conference review on Thursday, the use of Twitter was one of
the issues the Board discussed. In thinking about the 2011 conference, they
really would value your views. So if you attended, or joined in remotely,
please do complete the online evalution at
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Annual Conference and be sure to comment on
the use of Twitter.
Paul
On 20 March 2010 19:37, theo kuechel <theo.kuechel@googlemail.com> wrote:
> 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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Colleagues<br><br>A couple of points about the use of Twitter at Blackpool.=
<br><br>
First, all keynote speakers were asked if they were happy with the=20
display of tweeted comments. There was no pressure upon them to agree.<br>
<br>
Secondly, there were some comments on display which for various reasons
- distracting, irrelevant, offensive, impolite... - might have been=20
considered inappropriate by some people.<br><br>So we have a powerful tool =
which engaged many people at Blackpool and around the world and at the same=
time created anxiety or worse for others (including the conference team). =
Sounds a bit like the regular debate about whether or not to block stuff in=
schools.<br>
<br>At their post-conference review on Thursday, the use of Twitter was one=
of the issues the Board discussed. In thinking about the 2011 conference, =
they really would value your views. So if you attended, or joined in remote=
ly, please do complete the online evalution at <a href=3D"http://www.survey=
monkey.com/s/Annual">http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Annual</a> Conference an=
d be sure to comment on the use of Twitter.<br>
<br>Paul<br><br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">On 20 March 2010 19:37, theo=
kuechel <span dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:theo.kuechel@googlemail.co=
m">theo.kuechel@googlemail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class=
=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid=
rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
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" target=3D"_blank">http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2009/11/24/=
spectacle_at_we.htm</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<div><div></div><div class=3D"=
h5"><br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">On 20 March 2010 19:19, Doug Dickins=
on <span dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:doug.dickinson@ntlworld.com" tar=
get=3D"_blank">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><br><div><div>On 20 Mar 2010, at =
18:44, Leon Cych wrote:</div><br><blockquote type=3D"cite"><table border=3D=
"0" cellpadding=3D"0" cellspacing=3D"0">
<tbody><tr><td style=3D"font: inherit;" valign=3D"top"><br>Brian,<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: inherit;" val=
ign=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></div></div><font color=3D"#888=
888">-- <br>Theo Kuechel<br>Learning Technology Research =A0<br><a href=3D"=
mailto:theo.kuechel@gmail.com" target=3D"_blank">theo.kuechel@gmail.com</a>=
<br>
<a href=3D"mailto:T.Kuechel@hull.ac.uk" target=3D"_blank">T.Kuechel@hull.ac=
.uk</a><br><br><br>
</font></blockquote></div><br>
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