Simon Crook's eLearning Blog

Games for Change Symposium and an Interview by the Ed Tech Crew

2011-11-01T19:53:00.010+11:00

Recently I attended the Games for Change symposium at Macquarie Uni. The event was run by Dean Groom and colleagues with Dean presenting and MCing. It was a great day with the likes of Derek Robertson skyping in regarding Game Based Learning, Annabel Astbury presenting on the Virtual History Centre and Jo Kay and several kids playing and discussing Minecraft. One of the highlights was actually meeting the Ed Tech Crew in person: Darrel Branson (The ICT Guy) and Tony Richards (apparently it was only about the 6th time they had been in each other's company after 175 podcasts!?!).

by colmmcsky

Darrell and Tony are great guys (with impressive kit!) whose podcast series is really inspirational with some great guests each week. They covered the Games for Change event, filling up a whole episode with the keynote presentations, interviews with kids and exactly 5 minutes of fame for myself! The podcast in full with notes and links can be found here. For those who are interested my personal snippet is below. Thanks again to Dean, Darrel, Tony and the presenters and kids for a great day, enjoy!

Creative Commons (and eLearning in Creative and Performing Arts)

2011-10-31T19:51:00.023+11:00

At the bottom is my Prezi for the recent eLearning in Creative and Performing Arts workshop. Inspired by Judy O'Connell, and obviously with the nature of Music, Visual Arts and Drama, I really wanted to address 'Creative Commons' as an opportunity and moral imperative (timely, went to a Michael Fullan seminar today). To this end I set about gathering and attributing images licensed under Creative Commons, as described in Judy's post Find Free Images Online!, to model to the teachers in attendance. As we all do I wanted some catchy image at the start, and in using Prezi I wanted something to zoom in and out of with effect. Whilst searching I came across Charis Tsevis' awesome photostream on Flickr. I found his Steve Jobs mosaics and wished to use one of them in particular as this was timely with the recent death of Jobs plus iPads are almost de rigeur at the mo'.

by tsevis

(This was incredibly easily to embed and attribute simultaneously using ImageCodr as outlined in Judy's blog).

However, I wished to use this as the background yet I noticed the Creative Commons licence was 'No Derivative Works'

i.e.

This left me in a potential quandary as I would essentially be modifying the image by adding text, images, links and YouTube on top of it within Prezi.

The solution was found at CreativeCommons.org where is stated:

Waiver — Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder

That said, I contacted Charis via Flickr to seek his permission. Charis was more than happy to help out. Having already been assured that I would attribute him all he asked was that I share my work with him: win-win! This was a fantastic, collegial and collaborative exercise! Simple, effective, I've added another great person to my PLN and feel good for operating ethically and making a positive digital footprint. This is also a great exercise for students to do. A few years back some of my Physics students contacted Sneaky Sound System to use their music in a video competition - they graciously agreed. The students were not only stoked that they had permission but also that they received a letter back from one of their favourite bands!

As a postscript, Judy mentioned that I should include the great Kiwi Creative Commons video. Enjoy and enjoy the prezi below.

Creative and Performing Arts eLearning Day 2011 on Prezi

eLearning in HSIE (Social Sciences)

2011-09-16T12:11:00.002+10:00

Here is my Prezi on eLearning in HSIE (the social sciences)

eLearning in HSIE on Prezi

Stimulating a Staff Meeting Debate

2011-09-05T16:01:00.005+10:00

Building on an earlier post 'Rattling the Cage' - Stimulating A Staff Meeting Debate (or perhaps 'A Stimulating Staff Meeting Debate') and for the benefit of the Leading a Digital School Conference (#iwbdig11), at which this was presented, here is a Prezi on Stimulating a Staff Meeting Debate:

Stimulating a Staff Meeting Debate on Prezi

e-Maturity

2011-09-03T12:01:00.008+10:00

Below is my Prezi on 'e-Maturity' from this year's Leading a Digital School Conference (#iwbdig11). I first came across the term e-Maturity in Becta's Harnessing Technology Review 2009. e-Maturity is defined by Becta as the capacity of a college or learning institution to make strategic and effective use of technology to improve educational outcomes with the emphasis being on the school rather than individual teacher efficacy.

Becta made reference to a survey tool that was used to measure a school's e-Maturity. After a lot of digging around I unearthed this in the Measuring e-maturity in the FE sector Technical repor t, 2008 (made even harder to find after Becta was disbanded). The survey questions used were grouped under 6 umbrellas:

Strategy and Policy
Professional Development
Online Learning
Integration of eLearning
Use in Assessment
Impact of ICT and eLearning

In a simple manner I copied, pasted and edited 41 of these questions for my schools' context in a Google Doc Form. An exemplar survey that readers can copy and edit for their own purpose can be found here.

A recommended exercise is to issue an e-Maturity survey to a staff team and present back the findings so that they take ownership of the profiles and identify where the strengths and weaknesses lie. Following on from this it is recommended that the school executive completes the survey and checks the similarities and differences in profiles with the staff perceptions then discusses the comparison at executive level and acts accordingly.

Becta assigned schools one of four e-Maturity labels:

e-enabled
enthusiastic
ambivalent
late adopters

(Personally I find the term 'ambivalent' unhelpful). In order to provide a score and hence self-rating for our schools I developed a simple algorithm to calculate e-Maturity based on the survey responses.

The scores and ratings are arbitrary and unimportant outside of a school community. However, this is a tool for school self-evaluation and to help inform strategic planning within individual schools. Hopefully some of you will find it of use. At the very least it is a good exercise in modelling the use of Google Doc Forms as a survey tool to a staff team.

e-Maturity on Prezi

Welcome to the Future ...Today

2011-08-23T06:15:00.011+10:00

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be invited to speak to the staff at Hennessy College and afterwards the civic leaders (Principals from nearby schools, Parents and Friends, local business leaders and student leaders) of Young, NSW. The Prezi below is an amalgamation of those two (very similar) 'Professional Conversations'.

The title 'Welcome to the Future ...Today' was trying to highlight the fact that many of these 'futuristic' activities are already happening in society and in the classroom. The main topics covered were Augmented Reality, Mobile Learning and Game-Based Learning (all highlighted in the 2011 Horizon Report) plus Collaboration. In Collaboration the emphasis was on the ability for students (and teachers) to work together anytime, anywhere using tools like Google Docs. In particular, for teacher collaboration, the power of Twitter and the PLN plus TeachMeets were emphasised (all covered in previous blog posts, follow the links).

Much inspiration was drawn from Dr Peter Webster and the fantastic staff and students at Hennessy College plus the work of Justin Hodges and as ever Tom Barrett. When the students say "This is what we want!" you know you're doing something right.

The big message is how important it is for teachers to connect. As Peter put it "geographical remoteness is no longer a reason or excuse for teachers or students to learn in isolation".

Welcome to the Future ...Today on Prezi

TeachMeet2

2011-07-30T12:56:00.014+10:00

On the back of the success of our first ever TeachMeet the second one was held on the filthiest night of the wettest July in 60 years. Despite the weather, 70 teachers gave up there own time to travel from far and wide to yet again share ideas around their use of technology and contemporary teaching and learning in (and out of) the classroom. We heard about everything from Year 1 students using digital cameras to stimulate and blend into artwork to using Flubaroo to automatically mark tests, using iPads as dataloggers in Science, Google+ (beamed in from Belgium!) and much, much more. The presentation materials should gradually be appearing here.

Yet again though the real beauty of the day was the networking between the teachers. There were Kindy teachers sharing will HSC Physics teachers, first-year-outs conversing with Principals (yes Principals turned up too!) along with visiting teachers from other parts of Sydney and other school sectors. It was amazing to witness the collaboration and collegiality and an absolute pleasure to be a part of it all. We are already planning the next TeachMeet as we have some real momentum here a lot of buzz.

Many thanks must go out to Domremy College for their exceptional hospitality and to everyone who attended. Particular thanks to those behind the scenes: @pvlies, @timdoyle1, @acoure and @mickprest. TM3 here we come! Please join us or follow on #ceotm and hopefully UStream again.
(Slideshow below courtesy of @timdoyle1)

The Power of a Personal Learning Network

2011-07-19T10:09:00.008+10:00

This was my Keynote from the Networked Social Learner Conference #NSL2011 at Oakhill in July. During the workshop I recounted the story of the eLearning in Languages day we ran last term:

The group of mostly Italian ladies (hence the title within the Prezi) were already a cohesive PLN but perhaps only communicating via email, meeting once per term if lucky and isolated from the rest of the world. On the day we got them on to Twitter and developing resources on a shared Google Doc. The real beauty of the day was sharing their work over Twitter with my PLN. A spin off of this was the new connections being made and the Languages PLN growing. With retweets and people following the feed we had contributions and offers of support from elsewhere in NSW, England, Scotland, Turkey and even Venezuela!

A PLN is a powerful thing and wonderful to witness in action. It is very satisfying assisting colleagues in developing their own PLN.

The Power of a Personal Learning Network on Prezi

eLearning in Languages

2011-07-01T11:56:00.004+10:00

We had a fantastic workshop the other day with Language teachers. They are all wonderful ladies and when they get together it's a blast! However, in many cases there is only one Language teacher per school. This makes having a Personal Learning Network (PLN) all the more important. The teachers were already connecting well. To take this to the next level we got them all onto Twitter and learning the ropes. In the process we set up a list and a hashtag #ceolanguage.

Importantly for a workshop we wanted them to generate ideas, share them and take them away so that the good work would be sustained. As such, we created a Google Doc 20 Interesting Ways to use Technology in Languages (in the style of Tom Barrett) where every teacher had to add at least one idea by the end of the day. (Please add your own ideas).

As ever, here is the Prezi from the workshop:

eLearning in Languages 2011 on Prezi

Advanced Prezi 201

2011-06-21T15:37:00.000+10:00

A Prezi on more advanced tricks with Prezi e.g. animations

Advanced Prezi 201 on Prezi

Why Twitter? A Guide for School Principals

2011-06-21T15:33:00.000+10:00

An explanation and workshop for Principals on why they should use Twitter

Why Twitter? A Guide for School Principals on Prezi

Initial Data - Assessing the Impact of 1-to-1 Laptops on Student Performance

2011-06-16T10:29:00.012+10:00

Following on from my previous post Postgraduate Proposal - Assessing the Impact of 1-to-1 Laptops on Student Performance, here is an outline of the data I have collected thus far plus early analyses and dilemmas:

1. 2009 School Certificate results in 6 subjects for 4500 students (27,000 entries)

This data dates from before the start of my studies. It is crude and non-experimental. However, it is of significance since half of the students in these examinations had been schooled with laptops for over a year and half had not. The data includes school (36 schools), gender, postcode, socio-economic status (SES) by postcode plus some 'value-added' data. To this data I have also added LaptopYes/No and also Mac/PC. After an intensive 2 weeks of mutiple regression at ACSPRI in January I have subsequently performed various multiple regressions on this data using PASW Statistics 18 (SPSS) with the prime model being:

Exam score = f(gender, SES, school, subject, LaptopY/N)

As previously noted this is crude, non-experimental data. Points to consider:

the SES by postcode is from the Australian Bureau of Statistics SEIFA - Socio-Economic Index for Areas. SEIFA 4 has been used: Parent Education and Employment category, since this accounts for the best variance
I originally hoped to use the 'value-added' data as my dependent variable. However, this was generated by an external statistician, incorporating SES by postcode, gender etc already. As such there is massive multicollinearity and it has next to no correlation with my model plus I do not want to have to justify someone else's construct, whereas examination scores are a matter of record.
the Mac/PC variable was originally included but appeared to have no bearing. This will be reported on
dummy variables were used for the 6 subjects and 36 schools
importantly, the model above, which appeared to be the most all-encompassing for the data available, also provided the best goodness of fit (e.g. filtering down to only Science scores decreased the goodness of fit)
the coefficient of determination R² is only 0.166. So the first dilemma is what to make of this. Some people can get a bit hysterical about R² values, a rule-of-thumb I have heard is that Sciences would hope for an R² > 0.80 and Social Sciences would hope for at least R² > 0.30. Either way I am working with 0.166 though this will not make up the main analysis of my research. As a colleague pointed out "we are not so much concerned about the fuzziness of the cloud as trying to find the best path through it".
an added complication is that several of the schools seem to have poor or very poor significance. The model has not taken into account any variation in deployment of 1:1. Should I remove schools with alternative deployment or poor significance?
with educational analysis being so complicated and full of overlapping variables it has been suggested that I should use Multi-Level Modelling instead, but this is a road I don't really want to go down. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

2. 2010 School Certificate results in 6 subjects for 4500 students (27,000 entries)

This is the same set of data as above but for 2010 instead. The same model and multiple regression were performed. Points to consider:

only 35 schools this time
some of the SES data is missing but I should have this shortly
at present, with missing SES data, R² is only 0.147.

3. 2010 Student and Teacher Surveys

A couple of months prior to sitting their School Certificate examinations I surveyed 1200 students (60% response rate) and 47 Science teachers (64% response rate) from 14 schools. These 14 schools had relatively similar 1:1 laptop deployments but for 7 of them it was their 1st cohort with 1:1 whereas for the other 7 it was their 2nd 1:1 cohort to sit SC. The surveys examined an individual student's perception of their use of their laptop at home, school and in Science and their Science Teacher's perception of their professional development, own use and that of their students. Accordingly I am in the process of using the data to calculate efficacy scores for the individual students and teachers. Thus ultimately, in combination with the examination data, I hope to perform multiple regression analyses with the model:

Exam score = f(gender, SES, school, subject, LaptopY/N, Student Efficacy, Teacher Efficacy)

This should hopefully yield far better measures of goodness of fit as it should be a better model in terms of the impact of 1:1 laptops.

4. Data yet to be Obtained and Analysed

I still intend to:

survey 2011 SC and HSC Science students and teachers, calculate efficacies, combine with 2011 results and regress (2011 HSC will be the only instance where half the students will have been schooled with a laptop for 3+ years whilst the other half will have received conventional instruction).
compare performance data historically by school and LaptopY/N
perform side analyses and report on the survey data

So in a nutshell that is where I am at to-date. Obviously I need to pick up on my reading (255 articles and publications accrued so far) and start backing my data up with theory. Any observations and/or interviews will happen later if at all. Yet again, any advice or comments would be keenly sought, thanks!!

Postgraduate Proposal - Assessing the Impact of 1-to-1 Laptops on Student Performance

2011-06-13T19:37:00.021+10:00

After worrying that Twitter might be distracting me from my studies I had an epiphany following a conversation with Doug Belshaw, rather than view Twitter as a distraction, use it instead to connect my PLN with my studies via this blog. Thus potentially I will gain much needed constructive criticism, critical friends and encouragement along the tough road of postgraduate study. (Thanks Doug!)

As an initial post on my studies the original proposal from May 2010 is included. I enrolled in July 2010 i.e. Semester 2. The timeline however has been updated and is accurate as of June 2011. Please read the proposal below (5 pages) plus further comments at the bottom of this blog post. (For some reason this has a weird font on the iPad...)
Postgraduate Proposal for Simon Crook - A Research Study to Assess the Impact of 1-to-1 laptops on Student Performance
As with any study it has evolved and changed from the original proposal. Important points to note are:

ostensibly I am a MSc student, however, the scope of this research is easily PhD. The understanding is that once I have made an initial publication (hopefully by the end of the year) it will roll over into a full PhD
Research Question 3 may well be dropped
Research Question 4 has already been dropped, it would be a PhD in it's own right.
This study will focus specifically on 1-to-1 laptops rather than scrutinising the DER as I do not want to get into a political debate and analysis
2009 SC and 2011 HSC are important epochs as in each instance, for the surveyed schools, we essentially have 50/50 have/have-nots regarding 1-to-1 laptops
Even though the title refers to examining student performance in Science the initial two 'crude' analyses will be for all School Certificate courses: Science, English, Mathematics, History, Geography and Computer Skills
The 2009 SC data is historical data from prior to the commencement of my studies
The student and teacher survey data will be used to measure student and teacher efficacies to use as variables in the 'richer' analyses.
To whet your appetite for future posts, the 'crude' analyses of the 2009 and 2010 data each have over 27,000 records: over 4,500 students in 6 subjects. This is big potatoes!

For those of you that have had the time and inclination to read all of this I would appreciate any feedback you may have to offer. Thanks for the help!!! I will endeavour to add further posts outlining my initial analysis methods and findings in due course.

Cheers

Simon

eLearning in RE

2011-06-13T12:36:00.003+10:00

(Of course) a Prezi from the 'eLearning in RE' workshop including applications such as Dipity for timelines. The first part of the day was dedicated to getting teachers on to Twitter and networking using the #ceore hashtag.

eLearning in RE 2011 on Prezi

eLearning in ESL

2011-06-13T12:16:00.002+10:00

Here is a the Prezi from the 'eLearning in ESL' workshop including such resources as Google Translate and ESL Video. Also '55 Interesting Ideas to Enhance ESL Pedagogy using Technology' in the style of Tom Barrett's 'Interesting Ways' set up by a colleague for the ESL teachers.

Copy of eLearning in ESL on Prezi

Getting teachers to contribute to an 'Interesting Ways' Google doc is a great way of getting them to collaborate and generate and share ideas during and after a workshop. Bearing in mind many of the ESL teachers have received little PD in the use of technology in the classroom this is a great first effort.

Twitter as a Professional Learning Tool

2011-05-26T12:21:00.001+10:00

Part of my 7 minute contribution to TeachMeet with extra resources

Twitter as a Professional Learning Tool on Prezi

TeachMeet

2011-05-26T06:09:00.016+10:00

We've just had our first TeachMeet and it was simply
amazing! 50+ teachers and educators giving up their own time after work on a cold, wet afternoon to come together and share ideas in an informal, friendly and energised atmosphere.

When Stephen Heppell visited us a few weeks ago he mentioned the massive success of TeachMeets in the UK as a contemporary teacher professional development model. Upon further research, particularly through Tom Barrett's blog and contacting Tom himself, we came across the TeachMeet wiki and how to organise one and suggested rules.

To quote Tom:

“A TeachMeet is an unconference; there is no organising committee and anyone can arrange one or attend – all it takes is a date on the wiki. People sign up to talk about technology in classrooms and it’s free. It is driven by the passion and enthusiasm of those participating."

So after a simple tweet to canvas interest we chose a venue, date and set up our own wiki. (Setting up a Google Site was a great learning in itself). With word-of-mouth, tweets and emails soon we had 57 down to attend with 21 presenting (including one from the UK via Skype).

The afternoon itself was sensational. This was all the more incredible with the wireless falling over (fortunately we were able to pick up the school's next door) and people delayed by traffic. That is the beauty of the informal style, less pressure on hosts and attendees alike, a solution can be found and you can walk in late, grab a cake and people are just happy to see you.

We had primary and secondary teachers in the room, mingling and sharing ideas. Presenters only had 2 or 7 minutes which allowed for the upbeat pace of the session. Half of the presenters simply hooked up their nice shiny new iPad2s, so much more informal and blasé than Laptops. People talked about everything from Google Public Data to Weebly, Goodreader on the iPad, Qwiki and Bee-bots amongst others. The energy in the room was simply palpable! (All presentations should appear here shortly). We had Primary teachers wanting to try Secondary activities, Secondary teachers wanting to visit Primary schools and sure enough teachers and schools connecting.

It may sound somewhat cliché but several teachers left saying it was the best PD they had ever had.

To help the smooth running of the event we had a couple of soft camels to throw at people who ran over time (a technique borrowed from the UK), a Twitter back-channel #ceotm on another screen plus a random selector for the presenters. You can view photos of the event here.

So where to from here? Importantly, no one owns TeachMeet. It is not the providence of myself, my Region or sector. Anyone can set one up anytime. We discussed at the end how often to run these and who wants to do the next one. A school volunteered and we'll probably go every 6 weeks or so.

Learnings for next time:
- provide more food - were eaten out of house and home! (probably have a proper 'TeachEat' meal next time)
- stream it live e.g. on USTREAM (this was going to happen but a bridge too far in this instance)
- make name badges including Twitter IDs (helps put a face to a name or Tweet)
- if you're MCing the night, give yourself a table to work at in between presentations

Other suggestions are actively welcomed.

Many thanks must go out to people behind the scenes, in particular @jpilearn, @artprintmedia, @pvlies and @jeffpalmer2.

If you've never been to a TeachMeet go to one, better still organise one!

Getting Started with Twitter (How To)

2011-05-18T20:14:00.004+10:00

A quick and easy guide to getting started with Twitter. (Screen-capture animations obtained using 'Jing' - Jing creates SWFs which Prezi loves).

Getting Started with Twitter (How To) on Prezi

Beginning Teachers eLearning Day

2011-03-30T11:56:00.002+11:00

Prezi for Beginning Teachers eLearning Day, includes 'Cool Fun Web 2.0 Stuff' and 'Twitter in Education'

Beginning Teachers eLearning Day on Prezi

eLearning in Science

2011-03-30T10:57:00.002+11:00

Prezi from session run with Science Trainee teachers. Enjoy!

eLearning in Science on Prezi

Desert Island Discs

2011-03-19T17:39:00.007+11:00

(This post is more of a personal indulgence but I guess it could be a reflective learning activity)

If you were stranded on a desert island which 8 songs (that tell the story of your life), 1 book and 1 luxury would you choose to bring?

(This is based on the long-running BBC Radio show originally devised and presented by Roy Plomley, check out Ricky Gervais).

Here are my choices:

1. Hear 'n Aid - Stars

This heavy metal alternative to 'Band Aid' introduced me to a whole range of bands as a young teen. It is somewhat cheesy but has amazing extended guitar solos and arranged by Ronnie James Dio (RIP)! (Check out the making of it too)

2. Blue Öyster Cult - Astronomy

BÖC were my band through my late teens, even had my leather jacket custom-painted with a combination of Secret Treaties, Tyranny and Mutation and the EP with lettering from On Your Feet or On Your Knees saying 'Between the Horrör of Space and the Terrör of Time' (I was a Physics nerd!)

3. Led Zeppelin - The Rain Song

Almost chose How Many More Times from the BBC sessions but The Rain Song is just the best song to play on the guitar (with alternate tuning DGCGCD). Played non-stop since

‎4. Pink Floyd - Dogs

Got into Floyd after uni. Could have picked so many tunes. Amazing if somewhat depressing song "...who was trained not to spit in the fan..." A guitar harmony from heaven towards the end

‎5. Radiohead - Lucky

For the missus - we saw Radiohead live when we were 'courting'. They were amazing and this was the highlight (only now have I seen the sad video)

6. Neil Young - Powderfinger

Like Floyd, got into Neil Young later. Saw him live at the Fleadh when I had a broken ankle (got into Disabled next to the sound stage, felt like a fraud but had a great view!) This tells a tragic story full of Twain-esque imagery

7. Megadeth - Peace Sells

Bizarrely, as I approach middle-age I'm getting seriously into Thash Metal. This song always reminds me of BBC Arena documentary 'Heavy Metal' with it's Donington '88 clip

8. Dizzee Rascal - Bonkers

This is for my lad - when he was born this was being played constantly on the radio as I drove to and from the hospital. Even though it's 'Electro Hop' it still manages a heavy riff

Book - The complete 'Eternal Champion' series by Michael Moorcock (including Ereköse, Corum, Hawkmoon and Elric).
Haven't read them in ages, would love to reread them all.

Luxury - Fender Telecaster Deluxe with solar-powered Vox AC30
Will need to play The Rain Song and learn the solos on Stars with all of this time on my hands. Would love to have a twin humbucker Tele with Strat headstock!

So what would your choices be?

Digital Footprint and Cyberbullying Tips

2011-02-16T14:49:00.016+11:00

Here are some tips for everyone using the internet. These tips apply in particular to all perpetrators, trolls, victims and voyeurs of cyberbullying:

Most importantly, consider your digital footprint. What you put in the public domain is public! It therefore could have far reaching consequences. If you want to make defamatory remarks about someone, don't (or do so in private). One's primary responsibilities are to oneself, one's family and one's school. Think about the consequences of your actions.
Think before you tweet. The speed at which remarks can snowball on Twitter in particular is quite frightening, what with RTs, PLNs, 140 chars etc.
Screen Capture any evidence.
Don't get involved if it's someone else's spat. Let them fight their own battles, don't become their patsy and don't join the mob.
Don't even reply once if vitriol is aimed at you in the public arena (this applies to adults and kids).
Don't tweet if you are bored, only boring people are bored.

62 Interesting Ways* to Use Google Forms in the Classroom

2011-01-21T12:09:00.003+11:00

I forgot to post this at the end of last year. Tom Barrett (of course!) sent out a tweet asking if people would like to contribute to a collaborative Google Doc on 'Interesting Ways to Use Google Forms in the Classroom'. Within 30 minutes there were 20+ entries. Within an hour there were 40+. This was the best demonstration of hyperconnectivity, collaboration and generosity, churning out amazing resources in no time at all, I have seen.

Anyway, check out 62 Interesting Ways* to Use Google Forms in the Classroom and add your own ideas to this collaborative exercise (my ideas are #6 and 18):

Google Teacher Academy Application - Motivation and Learning: "Engage Me... or Enrage Me!"

2011-01-17T21:48:00.008+11:00

What with starting my studies it's been a while since my last post, apologies. Guess what? Google is coming to town! That's right, the next Google Teacher Academy is coming to Sydney, Australia on March 10, 2011!!!

This is too good an opportunity to pass up, Google, here, in Sydney. I applied for the previous GTA in the US but missed out. After making so many great inroads at my 17 schools (particularly around using things like Google Doc Forms to save time, test students, perform evaluations and analyse in an instant) it would be just awesome to be immersed into the educational world of Google by Google themselves. To become a Google Certified Teacher would be truly amazing, meeting and collaborating with similar, like-minded teachers and passing on my skills and learning to the 1200 teachers I work with.

ADE eat your heart out, I want to be a GCT at the GTA!

If you are interested, check out the link. The closing day for applications is 11:59 PST on January 27, 2011.

Anyhow, you can probably tell I really want this. Here is my one minute original video included in my application, enjoy:

Postscript: within a day of writing this I was contacted by Google's representatives to present on the day and help out (whilst qualifying at the same time). As you can imagine I was seriously chuffed. Then, whilst on Cloud 9, I noticed the date had changed to when I am OS. Gutted! Never mind, it was incredibly flattering to be asked, maybe next time. Either way, I didn't bother making the video (saving the ideas for next time ;)

'Rattling the Cage' - Stimulating A Staff Meeting Debate (or perhaps 'A Stimulating Staff Meeting Debate')

2010-09-04T14:38:00.025+10:00

Recently I was asked to open at a school's Staff Development Day, not an uncommon event in itself, but this time the Principal and myself wanted to 'rattle the cage'. It's a nice school, with nice kids and nice staff in a nice suburb. However, a comfort zone is not necessarily a hotbed of innovation and dialogue around contemporary pedagogy.

As part of the Australian Federal Government's Digital Education Revolution the school currently has 1:1 laptops (Macbooks) in 2 year groups. The teachers each received a Macbook 2 years ago in preparation for the first 1:1 deployment last year. Teaching with 1:1 and other technologies varies at the school as it does in most schools.

I wanted to stimulate (possibly provoke) discussion around teaching practices plus a few fundamental ideals and ultimately for the staff to take ownership of any decisions made for progression. My vehicle for such an exercise was a 10 question Google Doc Form issued at the beginning of the day. The reasoning was simple, the Google Form:
- forced teachers to get onto the wireless at the beginning of the day (not a regular practice for everyone)
- allowed for anonymity
- was quick to complete
- provided a complete profile of feelings and opinions for the whole staff
- provided the data almost instantaneously to then be analysed as a group to stimulate discussion

The ten questions asked (on a scale from 'strongly disagree' to 'strongly agree') were:

1. I like to integrate technology in my teaching
2. Students would like to use technology in their learning
3. I would like my own children to utilise technology in their education
4. We are obliged to integrate technology in our teaching practices
5. eLearning opportunities have been integrated into every teaching program in my KLA(s)
6. I think using technology in the classroom can lead to better student performance and examination results
7. I prefer students to sit in rows and work quietly
8. I regularly photocopy/print resources for my students
9. Have you signed up for or completed the Web 2.0 course?
10. Do you own an iPhone?

(A copy of the survey file can be obtained here, please make a copy before editing/distributing (you don't want me to see your staff responses :).

It was a risky approach as I had no true idea as to the profile of responses the staff would generate or how the subsequent analysis and discussion would go.

The first 3 questions have to be looked at together. If there is a difference between #1 and #2, particularly if #1 is more negative, then there is tension in the classroom - the students want to use technology whereas the teacher doesn't. If #1 is more negative than #3 then we have a moral issue - teachers want their own children to utilise technology in their classrooms but do not want to undertake such practices in their own classroom with other people's children that they as teachers have responsibility for regarding their education. Fortunately, as a collective, the 3 question profiles were similar for the staff so I was able to draw attention to this and affirm accordingly. However, the conflicts of interest were highlighted should any individuals have responded as described above, hopefully giving them food-for-thought...

Question 4 really got the discussion going. What are a teacher's obligations? This is delicate ground as of course all teachers have contracts with terms and conditions as negotiated by the unions. However, as we discussed, there are many obligations to use technology in the classroom:
- Board of Studies requirements
- any new Australian Curriculum requirements
- the fact that some year groups are already 1:1 with more to come over the next few years
- with the Board of Studies et al looking at online examinations from 2013
- many teachers include eLearning in their Personnel Performance Planning and Review Record (PPPR)
- it is now part of any teacher's workload
- PD has been provided
- students are arriving in secondary schools with a high skills set and expectations from primary school
- as mentioned before, a moral obligation to the students we teach

The age old chestnut of "we don't have enough time" popped up as it always does. My answers are a) to provide schools and teachers with time through release for PD, b) replace any tired or defunct teaching activities with more contemporary ones (rather than add more on top), c) use technology to save time e.g. Google Doc Forms for tests and evaluations, Delicious for accessing/sharing resources and finally d) teachers need to be proactive in their learning - they cannot simply wait to be spoon-fed or released from class to learn.

#5 was interesting as most teachers recognised that eLearning opportunities should be provided for 1:1 classes but many forgot their obligations to provide such activities for the rest

#6 is always interesting as one often hears "the exams are hand-written so using technology in class will affect our exam performance". This is where a lot of the latest research comes in handy such as Chowdry et al 2009 (quoted in Becta 2009) stating

After controlling for KS3 results, the availability of a computer at home is significantly positively associated with Key Stage 4 test scores. This association amounts to around 14 GCSE points (equivalent to 2 GCSE grades in a single subject)

or Bebell and Kay for JTLA, 2010 stating:

this unprecedented two-year improvement in eighth grade Math pass rates across 'BWLI' settings corresponded with the years students’ participated in the 1:1 laptop program

and

after two years of 1:1 computing in school, 7th graders participating in the computer writing study wrote both longer and more highly scored open response essays when using their laptops than students responding to the same prompt using traditional paper and pencil.

#7 stimulated the whole debate about learning spaces, the flexibility offered by 1:1 and the fact that a teacher does not need to remain at the front of a linear class as the focal point (see BER Research Paper)

Similarly #8 helped highlight that schools could and should dramatically reduce their photocopying. If the resources are made electronically then is it far more efficient and less damaging to the environment to disseminate and view the resources electronically were possible.

#9 was more of a plug for some online PD, highlighting the flexibility of this format

#10 was a cheeky question with 2 hidden agenda. It turned out that 30% of the teachers own iPhones. I pointed out that every teacher at Martin Levins' school has been issued with an iPhone. At this there was a collective "Oooohhh!" This provided me with the springboard to ask why did that get such a response yet when teachers all received Macbooks 2 years ago some treated them like they were an anchor and chain - a Macbook is better than an iPhone! My follow up to #10 was "How much PD have you received on how to use your iPhone?" Of course the answer was nil. This helped highlight that teachers as well as students learn from trying and playing and teachers do not have to simply rely on limited PD to learn how to use modern technologies - just give it a go!

In conclusion, giving the staff the survey stimulated the discussion for the following 90 minutes. It allowed people to get things off their chest but also allowed everyone to see the profile of sentiments across the whole staff. The feedback from the session was positive, particularly from a traditional Maths teacher which pleasantly surprised me. Hopefully exercises like these will help a nice school become great school of contemporary teaching and learning.

Postscript - As a model, for simple (yet important!) tasks, like deciding where to go for the staff Christmas bash, I would again recommend a quick survey at the beginning of a meeting to prompt a collective debate.

Winning the Digital Education Revolution

2010-09-04T14:33:00.004+10:00

Below is my prezi on 'Winning the Digital Education Revolution' as presented at the Fourth National Leading a Digital School Conference in Melbourne, September 2010.
In 2007 the Australian Federal Government announced that it intended to give secondary schools a 1:1 ratio of computers to students in 4 year groups over a 4 year period. As an organisation we bit the bullet and got involved straight away such that currently all of our secondary schools have 1:1 laptops in 2 or 3 of their year groups. The prezi goes through the key elements of our successful implementation. Please contact me if you wish further details.

Winning the Digital Education Revolution v2 on Prezi

Twitter in Education

2010-08-15T13:50:00.005+10:00

Below is a Prezi on Twitter in Education. It looks at 3 aspects:
a) What is Twitter? - a brief overview including Tips for Teachers by David Hopkins
b) Twitter for Lifelong Learning - emphasising the benefits a PLN (Professional Learning Network) and how much educators can learn from and share with each other
c) Twitter in the Classroom - examples of how Twitter can be used in a classroom including 'Thirty Interesting Ways* to use Twitter in the Classroom' by Tom Barrett et al.

Twitter in Education on Prezi

Cool Fun Web 2.0 Stuff

2010-08-13T19:53:00.003+10:00

Here is a Prezi on 12 cool fun web 2.0 applications for the classroom. Some are classics and some are rare gems!

Cool Fun Web 2.0 Stuff on Prezi

'The Role of Interactive Whiteboards in a 1-to-1 Environment' Presentation from ISTE2010

2010-07-18T21:36:00.012+10:00

This June I was honoured to present at ISTE 2010 in Denver. My presentation was entitled 'The Role of Interactive Whiteboards in a 1-to-1 Environment'. A SMART Notebook version of the presentation is available here. As I was sponsored by SMART (which I'm very grateful for and through whom I met some wonderful SMART Exemplary Educators) there is a bias in terms of IWB brand and some product placement which was unavoidable. However, the underlying message I hope has total integrity as it is based on the beliefs and experiences of myself, several colleagues and other great educators who chipped in their penny's worth.

As with any presentation, a full appreciation after the event is not achieved from a simple file unless you have a video, podcast or transcription to go with it. To this end a PDF version in Scribd is below plus a transcription for each slide within this blog post. Some of you may also gain amusement from an interview I gave, courtesy of Dr Ray Heipp and SmartEd Services.

The Role of IWBs in a 1-1 Environment.pdf

Slides:

My contact details also contained within the QR Code (my first attempt at QR)
My 16 (+1) schools in South and South-West Sydney
Video (not available unfortunately) - proof that I actually was a Physics teacher utilising an IWB day-to-day
Video available on this link - IWB being used in a Primary context
Video available on this link - the Australian 'Digital Education Revolution' - every Year 9 student receiving a laptop from the Federal Government
As you can see, these Year 10 students have laptops, Macs or PCs, with SMART Boards in some rooms
The main question behind this presentation
{drag the picture down} = NO
{drag the picture down} = YES
{drag the picture down} = YES
Demonstration of a Year 11 Physics experiment where a volunteer whistles into a microphone; the wave trace on the oscilloscope emulator is captured with the SMART Capture tool; the SMART interactive ruler is calibrated against the oscilloscope grid; the length of e.g. 8 cycles is measured e.g. 8.8; the length of 1 cycle is calculated e.g. 1.1; the time period is calculated by multiplying with the time based e.g. 1.1×5ms = 5.5ms - this experiment could be performed on a laptop but not collaboratively as is achieved on an IWB.
Another activity, Year 12 Physics, best performed on an IWB (and specifically designed for use on an IWB. I know because I designed it). However, students can take it away after a group experiment to further investigate themselves on their laptop.
I had posed the question of this presentation via the IWB Revolution Ning and received some great responses including Chris Betcher's straight-to-the-point remark from a chat we had "Don't apologise for teaching!" i.e. an IWB can and should be used as an effective teaching tool, it is not simply the domain of kids doing cute things on a board e.g. senior Physics is not intuitive; I have to introduce new material and explain before students can grasp it to then perform some activity on an IWB, laptop, where ever.
{drag the picture down} = YES, as previously explained, a concept could be introduced by a teacher through an IWB, given to the students to work on on their laptops, then possibly feedback interactively through the IWB
{the first 2 columns are 'infinite clone' so each word could be dragged into the 3rd column}
IWB + 1:1 = More than the Sum of the Parts
SMART Notebook file (unavailable as yet) - Year 10 Commerce - students receive random occurrences to simulate what life might be like when students leave home e.g. flatmate moves out so they have to pay double rent and hence budget accordingly
Video (unavailable unfortunately) - shows a similar activity with the students each spinning the interactive random wheel in front of each other. Easily done on a laptop but performed on the IWB allows the students to understand that some people are lucky in life and some aren't. Students can then go back and work on their individual projects and budgets on their laptops
Predicting the future (slightly gratuitous SMART product placement) - smart tables will soon be upon us (not just in school but in our local coffee shops) and iPads have just arrived. What technologies will we have in the future and how will they work together?
Explained in an earlier blog post
IWBs are not environments in their own right, they are part of a larger learning space that is hopefully flexible. Introducing laptops into the space again demands that the space is flexible
Some examples of contemporary learning spaces
Video (not available unfortunately) - shows the mini-ampitheatre (carpeted) within a double 'classroom' with glass partitions at Parramatta Marist High School during a cross-curricula lesson of RE and Technology!
Research paper I co-wrote on contemporary learning spaces
Explained in an earlier blog post
Thank yous. Note the final paragraph- Special thanks to the following artists for giving written permission for use of their music in the opening video: Sneaky Sound System 'I Love It' and The Grates 'Science is Golden' (get students to seek permission to use music rather than copy it illegally!)
Obligatory SMART slide

'Aristotlean' Model of Contemporary Learning

2010-06-29T19:25:00.012+10:00

There are many models of contemporary learning which have the student at the centre such as the CEO iLE@RN Model. Building on this, as part of my ISTE presentation on 'The Role of IWBs in a 1:1 Environment', I wanted to come up with a contemporary learning model, again with the student at the centre, but this time looking at the physical location (as opposed to the philosophical position) and the technologies that could facilitate this. To this end I came up with what I've termed the 'Aristotlean' Model of Contemporary Learning.

The term 'Aristotlean' was chosen with reference to the appearance of Aristotle's geocentric model of the universe (you can take the teacher out of Physics but you can't take the Physics out of the teacher!)

Taking this a step further, I wanted to emphasise that with 1-to-1, students could be learning at school, home, even dare I say it McDonalds, all the time working within the cloud via wireless:

Obviously with mobile learning this opens up so many possibilities for students to access anything, anytime, anywhere. Even with fixed devices such as IWBs in certain learning spaces i.e. school, students are still able of working within the cloud. Yet, whatever the scenario, students are always at the centre of learning, both physically and metaphorically.

Knowledge Consuming or Knowledge Creating?

2010-06-10T21:07:00.004+10:00

Supposedly I shall be receiving an iPad to 'play' with shortly, prior to some trials in some of our schools. Am I excited? More curious (I have to support schools with Mac or PC so have no zealous affiliation either way) yet I'm excited about the possibilities in schools. However, in conversations, blogs and tweets I am hearing and reading lots of naysayers harping on about the iPad's shortfalls. Problems with school wireless, security breaches and not being able to edit in Wikispaces I'm sure will be sorted out in due course. A bigger issue for me is the problem with Flash (I'm a big user of Prezi for instance) but maybe such applications with migrate to HTML5? However, I can't buy the argument that is now almost a cliché: "its for consumption not knowledge creation". More and more we are moving to 'cloud computing'. We can create and collaborate on documents, audio edit, video edit and more all within the 'aether'. The iPad is a Cloud device. It is not a problem not having a USB port, use dropbox.com. The biggest problem, particularly in Australia, in the short-term is bandwidth. In a few years time we will look back and wonder what the fuss was about. Everything will be in the cloud and we won't need tonnes of ports. The one thing missing in all of the posturing by adults is the students' opinions. They will love using iPads and similar devices in the classroom and will find ways of achieving many of the outcomes we adults say are impossible.

Latest Research on the Impact of Technology on Student Performance

2010-05-17T10:14:00.005+10:00

With the Australian Government giving every Year 9 student a laptop and some of these students now in Year 11, I am forever being asked how this 1:1 program will affect student performance in various subject areas. Accordingly, I'm about to embark on postgraduate studies to investigate this. As part of the preliminary Literature Review I have focused particularly on the Becta Harnessing Technology Review 2009, JTLA 2010 report One to One Computing:A Summary of the Quantitative Results from the Berkshire Wireless Learning Initiative and the OECD 2010 publication Are the New Millennium Learners Making the Grade?. My superiors were very impressed with the evidence, particularly from the Becta report. To this end I have made a Prezi (of course!) summarising the findings:

Becta, JTLA and OECD on Prezi

Jing, swf and Prezi

2010-04-24T06:27:00.011+10:00

I've been enjoying a lot of success recently with Prezi (as you can probably tell from my various Prezi posts). However, I've been wanting to jazz them up. Then I came across the following Prezi by Balázs Turai on 'Animations in Prezi'

Academy: Inserting Animations in Prezi on Prezi

This highlighted that Prezi loves .swf (Shockwave Flash) files, often simple, yet fun animations.

This started me looking for fun swf animations to put in my Prezis. The easiest thing to do is copy and paste from other Prezis (using ctrl C and ctrl V on your keyboard rather than right-clicking - Prezi works on Flash which doesn't like right-clicking) such as the one above e.g. the Scientist with the microscope. I then started looking further afield and came across a few problems:

1. Trying to insert swf files I already had from e.g. student projects didn't seem to work
2. Using swf files obtained via Firefox as explained in Lancelhoff.com didn't seem to find their way into Prezi
3. Doing an Advanced Google search for swf brought up pages that were totally Flash and I couldn't use Firefox as described in #2
4. So far I haven't found any decent creative commons banks of cool swf animations either.

If anyone knows the solutions to any of the above please let me know.

However, then I remembered Jing makes swf files in video mode. Fantastic! Jing will screen capture a particular area as an instant image (jpeg) or over time as an animation (swf). Now for example I was able to capture a Voki (animation not sound for some reason) as a swf and insert in my Prezi. (In my ineptness I can't seem to upload my swf into Blogger, so see final product at the end. Of course it would be easier if one could just embed a Voki (or anything else for that matter) in Prezi as you now can with YouTube). The great thing is swf animations play in a loop so they are great to have as introduction shots in Prezis (so not having sound via Jing for whatever reason is a good thing otherwise there would be various looping audio too).

So until I find a great bank of swf animations I'm making my own using my on screen action and Jing. Here is my latest example including swfs via Jing from Voki and a student sample of work:

iLE@RN Day 1 on Prezi

Prezi of Beginning Teachers' eLearning Day

2010-03-16T14:44:00.000+11:00

Beginning Teachers eLearning Day on Prezi

Prezi Templates

2010-03-06T23:42:00.006+11:00

It occurred to me that we could make Prezi look really cool if we had some familiar, iconic templates. Could this be the start of 'Prezi Art'? I don't know if I'm the first person to do this but here is my attempt at a cool template - the classic iPod outline (what is particularly sweet is that you can embed a YouTube video into the screen!).
http://prezi.com/i67d4clx2m6w/

iPod Template on Prezi

Regional Report on Prezi

Prezi of 2010 Horizon Report

2010-03-06T23:40:00.001+11:00

http://prezi.com/qx_vwggph1eu/

Horizon Report 2010 on Prezi

Mobile Trends 2020

2010-03-05T11:30:00.001+11:00

Complied by Rudy De Waele http://www.slideshare.net/rudydw/mobile-trends-2020

Mobile Trends 2020

View more presentations from rudydw.

eLearning and the iLE@RN Model Prezi

2010-02-22T19:07:00.000+11:00

eLearning and the iLE@RN Model on Prezi

PBS Frontline digital_nation

2010-02-03T15:56:00.001+11:00

Prezi's from SR Advisers eLearning Day for Google Docs and Cool Fun Web 2.0 Stuff (self-guided)

2010-02-02T16:12:00.002+11:00

Knowledge is No Longer Power, Collaboration Is

2010-01-17T06:45:00.002+11:00

Last year I had a few embarrassing moments where I was accessing the latest contemporary eLearning publications and sharing these with colleagues well before Head Office was informed by conventional routes. Fortunately our structure is relatively flat and very collaborative, particularly amongst the eLearning Team. The Head of eLearning asked me how did I get all of this information somewhat instantaneously, did I have the best RSS feeds around? My one word answer was Twitter (twitter.com/simoncrook).

By ‘following’ some key people I have found myself informed of the latest publications, resources and thinking around eLearning. Thanks to Education.au (@educationau) I found the SICTAS ‘Annual Report on Emerging Technologies’ immediately. Thanks to Allison Miller (@theother66) I came across ‘2010 Horizon Report Preview’ in 2009! Only the other day Andrew Churches (@achurches) informed his network of the Becta report ‘The impact of digital technology’. All of these publications are extremely useful, particularly when happened upon almost immediately. By following Tom Barrett (@tombarrett) I am privy to his excellent, collaborative, online presentations in Google Docs on various eLearning applications e.g. ‘Twenty-Nine Interesting Ways to use Twitter in the Classroom’. All of these resources empower me in my job as eLearning Adviser and as a lifelong learner. I can subsequently inform my network of teachers, schools and advisers of such information, thus empowering them.

As Matt Wells (@mbw_61) informed me, a student can now download the whole of Wikipedia onto an iPhone. This means students can have immediate access to far more information than any teacher holds in their head. Accordingly, the balance of power in the classroom has changed if it is only about knowledge and recall. (Fortunately we are evolving teaching practices to push higher order skills than ‘remembering’ such as ‘creating’ (see Blooms Digital Taxonomy)). Rather than being a vessel of knowledge, teachers (and students) can attain true power by collaborating with a wide variety of people. The easiest way to collaborate these days is through Web 2.0 applications and social media such as Twitter, Google Docs and Nings. Rather than simply ‘knowing’ their subject, a teacher can now find various ways of exploring it using contemporary media or keep themselves informed of the latest classroom activities or better still, share their work with the world.

People no longer have to wait for the traditional powerbrokers (teacher, employer etc.) to disseminate what limited information they discern as appropriate for the consumer. By collaborating with each other online, anyone can find out anything, anytime, anywhere.

Reinventing the Wheel is No Bad Thing … it is a Necessity

2010-01-14T16:59:00.012+11:00

Towards the end of last year a couple of teachers from different schools approached me asking when ‘we’ (the System) were going to create or compile a complete set of Powerpoints or SMART Notebook files so they could teach their respective subjects. Their reasoning was that there was no point in them ‘wasting time’ and reinventing the wheel.

I have a few issues with this request:

• Since when has the preparation of lesson materials not been the responsibility of the classroom teacher?
• What pride or depth of knowledge in such resources would these teachers have to best engage the students?
• Does one size fit all suddenly?
• If all we had to do was flick through the slides of a presentation, why bother having a teacher at all?
• This is awful pedagogy! Going through someone else’s material slide by slide for any length of time is not teaching. Unfortunately however, this is still a regular practice amongst some teachers just as going from one page to the next in the textbook.

Hiding my irritation, I pointed out to one teacher that if he simply wanted a Powerpoint on any subject matter all he had to do was an Advanced Google Search, selecting ‘ppt’ as the file type.

For example there are 54,200 ppts on Nutrition alone.

However, I suggested that he could not rely on the quality of these resources and would have to spend time discerning their relevance. I also pointed out that this was very teacher-centred and considering that every student now has a laptop (thanks to the Australian Government’s Digital Education Revolution http://www.deewr.gov.au/SCHOOLING/DIGITALEDUCATIONREVOLUTION/Pages/default.aspx) wouldn’t he rather engage his students in something more student-centred where they could take ownership of the work they produced.

For me, ‘ownership’ is the key. We know this works with students, that they take pride in their work when it is their own creation. This is also the case with teachers. If we create a resource we will have done so knowing the individual needs of the students, the context in the curriculum and how it will fit into the overall lesson plan. Every year our classes are different plus we all teach with an individual style. Therefore reinventing the wheel is no bad thing … it is a necessity. We should continually adapt and evolve our resources and those created and shared by colleagues.

As a Physics teacher I was lucky enough to borrow some wonderful resources (Powerpoints ironically) created by Greg Pitt of Hurlstone Agricultural College. They were ‘definitive’ and literally addressed every dot point in the syllabus. However, if I was simply to go through every slide with my own class they would not come close to achieving the results that Greg’s class did and would be bored witless. What I had to do was take the real gem aspects and integrate them into my own teaching. By reviewing the materials at my fingertips I was able to customise the experience to my students and exhibit a depth of knowledge that the students would value, responding to my sincerity and belief. No teacher can (should) stand tall and look a student and their parents in the eye if all they have done through the course is flick through the same old material that they and their colleagues have been doing so for years. I know for a fact that Greg adapted his own resources regularly and integrated them all within some excellent practical activities, hence his outstanding results.

A common scenario that excuses many teachers (in their eyes) to not take ownership of their delivery is when they find themselves teaching a subject for the first time. However, it is not good enough to say a subject is not one’s specialism or it’s not the class one signed up for. In this situation more than ever a teacher has to prepare their own materials so as to pre-empt the problems the students will raise and deepen their own understanding. This is where collaboration comes in. Functioning as part of a Professional Learning Community and sharing resources means that teachers can mutually support each other. It does not mean that one teacher or Coordinator (or System) makes all of the resources and everyone else dispenses them without ownership, responsibility or accountability.

Interestingly, another System (the largest in the State), has gone to great lengths and prepared resources for every point on the syllabus such that their teachers will be able to have their students use their laptops (or netbooks in this case) provided by the Government in the classroom. I would suggest that conscientious teachers will adapt these with their own work but many will take no ownership and simply issue the worksheets and instructions as they are.

As a postscript, in a year when we achieved our best ever results, the teacher who asked about the Powerpoints has just received the worst exam results in his school. I would suggest that this is not because he lacked a full set of slideshows.

Picnik and Jing

2010-01-05T20:16:00.005+11:00

I was recently using Jing for screen capture (still and video). However, the latest update requires the Administrator to install it - I still don't have full Admin rights on my laptop, ridiculous I know! Fortunately I read a tweet from Judy O'Connell @heyjudeonline about the Picnik Add-on for Firefox. Now all I have to do is right-click and and a screen shot is taken by Picnik which can then be edited within Picnik. Too Easy! I love the fact that this processing is done in the 'cloud' and I don't have to download and install any software (that being said, Jing is very good, particularly for capturing video of what takes place on screen).

Prezi

2010-01-04T22:02:00.001+11:00

My first attempt at Prezi. I'm using it for a workshop on Google Docs. Both Prezi and Google Docs rock!

New Year's Resolution

2010-01-04T21:33:00.003+11:00

Ok, I'm not used to making New Year's Resolutions but this year I am going to try and maintain this blog as a means of recording and sharing any great eLearning ideas and resources I come across. I will also continue to maintain my microblogging on Twitter - twitter.com/simoncrook and social bookmarking on Delicious - delicious.com/EvertonPom

Here's to a great and collaborative 2010!

Module 10 - Wikis and Final Reflection

2009-12-06T21:37:00.003+11:00

Wikis are very powerful in the classroom, or more to the point - in creating a virtual classroom. They are the epitome of Web 2.0 and collaboration. I have witnessed some wonderful wikis created by some great teachers to facilitate the collaborative work of their class, communication and feedback with ease (all of the things we would like in a LMS... Editure are you taking note?).

That being said, Wetpaint have let themselves down with the advertising and new requirement to keep a class public whilst inviting in members. To this end I have been experimenting with and promoting 'Ning' www.ning.com. Another advantage of Nings is that they have a Social Network format that students understand but are far safer than Facebook by not including any of the students' private life goings on.

Overall as a reflection, this has been a wonderful course that has opened up so many possibilities in terms of professional development, flexible learning, empowering teachers and reaching out to students with contemporary learning. Well done again to Helen and Diane. Enjoy your break Helen! Watch this space as we develop more courses, taking full advantage of the flexibility of learning with technology.

Acapela

2009-12-02T13:47:00.001+11:00

www.acapela.tv/good-old-times.html

PhotoFunia

2009-12-01T16:33:00.002+11:00

Check out the fun you can have with http://photofunia.com/

Google Maps

2009-11-07T10:14:00.001+11:00

Southern Region Secondary Schools

View SR Schools in a larger map

Module 9 - Scootle, Second Life, Facebook and Twitter

2009-10-25T20:11:00.006+11:00

A strange combination for Module 9:

Scootle is vastly underutilised resource in CEO schools, it varies from school to school and teacher to teacher. I strongly recommend the interactive 'Learning Objects' as the best resources in Scootle.

Second Life has been described as a 'time drain'. As such I've briefly played with it and dismissed it as such.

I once suggested that teachers find ways of using Facebook in their teaching. I've since retracted this due to the potential dangers if a teachers links to a student's personal profile as a 'friend'. A safer alternative is 'Ning'.

Twitter Widgetgreat free widgetsWidgetboxMore info

I find Twitter extremely useful for picking up the latest information and resources from various eLearning gurus and teachers. By all means follow me: @simoncrook

Module 8 - RSS and Google Reader

2009-10-25T20:04:00.003+11:00

RSS feeds are great way to follow regularly updated sites and blogs. You can even RSS the CEO. Google Reader is excellent at organising and collating all of the feeds one follows. However, following so many blogs on this course has clogged things up somewhat. Under normal circumstances I would only follow a few people's blogs.

Module 7 - Delicious

2009-10-25T19:56:00.001+11:00

Delicious is for me the most useful Web 2.0 application facilitating collaboration and sharing of resources between teachers and schools.

Module 6 - bubbl.us and Glogster

2009-10-25T19:19:00.009+11:00

Online mindmapping with the likes of bubbl.us is the way to go.

Talking Photo

2009-10-17T19:04:00.002+11:00

http://www.pqdvd.com/flashediter/edit.php

Module 5 - Digital Storytelling

2009-09-29T11:44:00.007+10:00

For me Digital Storytelling is the pedagogy behind Podcasts. Last year there was lots of training around Garageband and Photostory but only when this was given the context of the genre of Digital Storytelling did it really make sense as to the value of creating podacsts in the classroom. The whole creation aspect of making a digital story is accessing the highest order of Bloom's Digital Taxonomy and allows for very personal reflections.

There are some great Digital Storytelling resources at:

http://www.storycenter.org/resources.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/audiovideo/sites/about/pages/introduction.shtml
and of course
http://delicious.com/EvertonPom/digitalstorytelling

There are great free podcasts at iTunesU (and soon some content will come from Southern Region schools) and ABC. Students can be listening/viewing relevant podcasts whilst on the bus or at the gym etc.

To kids and many of us, YouTube is king. I particularly like how one can make their own playlists of favourites and subscribe to good channels. For educational content check out:

http://www.youtube.com/edu

Module 4 - Flickr

2009-08-17T12:40:00.008+10:00

I find Flickr a fantastic tool, not least to share pictures with family abroad

Creative Commons is extremely important for responsible use of images. A good website to use for any creative commons (image, video etc.) is http://search.creativecommons.org

Module 3 - Google Docs

2009-08-17T11:25:00.006+10:00

Ok, so I've been away for a while, sorry :)

I've been using Google Docs for a while, mostly thanks to Mick Prest's insistence and usage. It is a great way share documents and collaborate. If you want to allow for multiple editors its excellent. 'Forms' are fantastic for evaluations, monitoring responses immediately in tests and surveys. If you simply want to upload and share documents with no editing I prefer 'Scribd' which can then be embedded in a Wiki or Blog

Science Centres for 21st Century Schools

My little lad

2009-06-16T20:22:00.002+10:00

Module 2 - Blogs

2009-06-05T13:13:00.007+10:00

There are lots of excellent blogs out there, Chris Betcher's 'Betchablog' is one of my favourites, particularly for eLearning (read about mobile phones in the classroom): http://betch.edublogs.org/

I also think there will be a lot of great blogs to come out of this course.

Blogs are particularly good for journalling with students e.g. for a TAS project

xtranormal Animation

2009-06-04T09:37:00.003+10:00

Ok so I'm not following the order again but I found xtranormal and thought it was great! Here's my first attempt.

Avatar from Voki

2009-05-29T15:51:00.001+10:00

Module 1

2009-05-29T13:32:00.000+10:00

Oops! I've already made a mistake and made my first post without reading the instructions. I don't endorse this impulsive, experimental action....honestly :)

A much better intro than last year's course!

First Impressions

2009-05-29T13:08:00.000+10:00

Well first of all I'm gutted that some other bloke has got simoncrook.blogger for his blog and doesn't even use it. I was chuffed when I got simoncrook@yahoo.com back in the mid-nineties.

As for the theme for my page it looks a bit North Korean but no atomic tests here.