Journeys in Education » tourist

Whirlwind Tour

ldumicich — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 08:19:21 +0000

Well the last days of the study were an absolute whirlwind. We boarded a very small plane (compared to all the other we have flown on) to fly into LA. It was a very smooth flight and there was some interesting things to look at as we flew over the US. Once we landed in LA (what a huge, busy airport!!) we jumped on a spunky coach to have a cooks tour of LA. On the tour we went to Venice beach, Hollywood and down town LA. It was an incredibly interesting city with some beautiful areas and some areas that you wouldn’t want to walk around at night. I saw the famous Hollywood sign and found Judy Garland signature in front of Grumans Chinese Theatre. It was then back to LA airport, via Jack in a box for dinner ( I am convinced that there is no healthy food options in the US) for the 12 hour flight back to Auckland. I was so incredibly tired that pretty much fell asleep even before the plane took off (active noise canceling headphones are a godsend) and slept for about 9 hours!! All the people on the Melbourne flight waved a fond farewell to the Sydney, QLD and NT people and then it was then onto the flight from Auckland back to Melbourne which did not go anywhere near fast enough as by that stage I was desperate to get home to my boys! I got a great welcome at the airport from the boys and I am very glad to be home after this amazing experience.

Mexican Night

ldumicich — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:12:56 +0000

Had a fabulous night last night at the Mexican market. It was a very colourful interesting place with an incredible amount of shops that have pretty much exactly the same content…cheap Mexican souvenirs. However it was very interesting as the cheap Mexican souvenirs were pretty cool!! We had a great dinner at a (surprise, surprise) Mexican restaurant with fabulously gaudy decor and a very impressive mural. We had a guitar trio come and play and sing for the group it was fun!

I have really been enjoying all the restaurants here and the atmosphere of the river-walk. It is very vibrant and dynamic, the people are friendly and the service is very good. Although some variety from tex-mex would be lovely!!

The drinks have been excellent especially the Fiery Red Leather a new drink invented by a good friend of mine.

Deep in the heart of Texas

ldumicich — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:34:41 +0000

So today we had the real experience of Texas. We went to the outlet malls which was absolutely amazing there were so many shops and incredible bargains. I was buying Osh Kosh T-Shirts for $4 which was incredibly cheap! On the way (it was 45 miles out of San Antonio) we drove through Texas heartland which was so interesting big signs, massive department type stores and fast food with no houses around at all just scrub. With the odd big water tower around! After the outlet malls we stopped at a Wal Mart super centre which was huge and cheap. Kind of like Big W on steroids.

We hired a car and drove to the outlet mall which was totally freaky and I am very glad that I wasn’t driving!

When we got back we went to the Alamo and as we were looking around we heard some music out on the street so we went out to have a look and saw the main street had been blocked off and there was a rodeo happening which was fantastic and so very Texas.

After The Rodeo and the Alamo we went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant and then went for a walk to the shopping centre and then on a river cruise which was fantastic! Actually got to go to bed at a reasonable hour and have a good night sleep which is totally great!

Deep in the heart of Texas

ldumicich — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 11:17:57 +0000

Yesterday we left the hotel in San Francisco very early to fly to San Antonio Texas for NECC. This was the first time we were to experience a busy US airport. Let me tell you it is slightly busier than Melbourne!! So many people, a crazy check in system (I didn’t get allocated a seat when I checked in), a very tight security system and what seemed like organised chaos. It was incredibly interesting. After a smooth flight and a seating upgrade (those extra 5 inches make all the difference) we landed in Texas to very hot weather, about 36 and only going down to 24 at night. Our hotel is really well located right on the River walk which is beautiful and just down the road from the convention centre where the conference is being held. As soon as we got here we headed off to an ISTE cocktail party were we Aussies (say it in your head with an American accent!) were the toast of the town and were known as “the 32″ (There is 32 of us on the tour). It was interesting to talk to representitives from all around the nation and they seemed to love hearing us saying G’day and no worries! I got to meet the President of ISTE and the president elect!

After the cocktail party we headed off for a walk down the River which was lively and dynamic. Lots of people and restaurants river cruises, music and atmosphere. We ended up back at our hotel with a group of Aussie educators sitting outside by the river discussing and debating the value of Second Life in education, IWB’s teacher PD and some more lightheated topics. It was very interesting to be involved in those conversations.

Went to bed really late my awesome room mate Amanda and I are really talented at staying up late and talking (no surprises there!) and then got rudely woken up at 4:50 am by an emergency alarm which we had to all walk down stairs to find out it was a false alarm. Yay! Not!

Anyway today I am bleary eyed and off to a couple of huge outlet malls, (apparently the third best place to shop in the world!) then doing the Alamo and some other touristy things and a cruise down the river this evening as the conference starts tomorrow!

What a fantastic day!!!

ldumicich — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 07:29:40 +0000

Today was a fantastic day of educational expereiences and fun times. We got to visit Oracle in Silicon Valley. We had breakfast in the executive dining room and then we were addressed by Bernie Trilling. He spoke to us on what we need to be teaching students in the 21st century from an industrey poinyt ofd view. It was a facintsting presentation where we were challenged as educators to rethink whay and how we teach or students. We were told about the work practises of this century which focus very heavily on collaboration and projects and that employers are not looking for employees with content knowledge but employees with a skill set that will allow them to work in this collaborative, team focused way. He emphasised that technology should not be another tool but that tecxhnology should be the environement in which students work.

After visiting Oracle it was off to visit Apple at 1 Infinite Loop. This was a fantastic presentation again by the VP of education john Couch. John showed us much of what Apple could do in the education relm including ITunes U. He predicted that technology was about to go totally mobile with the advent if the next gen iphone. It was very exciting to be ata the head quarters of this technoloogy power house and innovator and again as educators we were encouraged to teach students to collaborate and work in teams.

After Apple it was then off to the Googleplex. We had a tour of a small part of the complex and got to ahve a free lunch in one of the many free cafeterias scattered throughout the complex. it was very interesting to see an orgasinastion which had the projects and collaborations in action and to be able to talk to the employees about their experience in working at Google. We also had a presentation about Google Apps for education which the NSW dept of education has just taken on for their schools in plaace of microsoft. It was an excellent, free system that I think deserves a more thorough looking at to see if it has a place at BCC as it lends itself beautifully to 21st century skills.

I have noticed that in all the schools we have visited and businesses that we have seen the ones that have been the most creative and innovative and had truely integrated ICT and it was being used as an environment rather than a tool all had Apple computers. It is certainly something that is worth thinking about further.

To round out this wonderful, inspirational and educational day we went in a taxi to Union square in the heart of San Francisco to look at their array of shops. We had a ball walking through such department stores as Macys, Bloomingdales, Nordstroms and Barneys. We had a fantastic time and saw some really cheap goods!! After the shopping we caught the Powell and Hyde cable car back to Fisherman’s Wharf which was so much fun. We then went for dinner at a great restaurant and enjoyed some great food, cocktails and lots of laughs mixed with some great educational discussions. For a bit of fun on the way home we caught a strech limo back to our hotel for $5 each. Really had a fantastic day and can’t believe that I am in San Francisco doing all this great stuff!!

Ground Hog Day

ldumicich — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:30:23 +0000

Well today and yesterday was Wednesday. Confused? The first Wednesday was spent in New Zealand then we flew over night crossing the International Date line which then made it Wednesday again this time in San Francisco. It has been a very looooonnnnggg Wednesday. So The first thing we did was had a tour of the beautiful city of Auckland. I was very impressed with this lovely city. The views were lovely and I would like to spend some more time there seeing the place in detail. After the tour we went to Summerlands Primary School.This school was amazing from the very laid back, tell it like it is Principal to the bright buildings and lovely surrounds to the total integration of ICT into the curriculum as another tool to enhance students learning and their enjoyment of it. The schools ICT was evident everywhere as each classroom had a pod of Macs that students were all using. There was no fanfare or hype, their enormous evidence of using it to enhance pedagogy and students thinking skills. It was an excellent example of they way ICT should be used and fully integrated as a tool in the curriculum. The school was totally open with it’s ICT either. No banning of websites, full use of web 2.0 technologies and a incredibly dynamic website created by the students.

The next school that we went to was Marina View School. This school had an emphasis on media and ICT and three times a week produces a school TV show that everyone gets to watch and each grade gets a chance to be the guest reporters on. Their TV studio set up was amazing and we were privileged to see the students run through a typical TV show and see how it was done. We then got the chance to be the reporters and do the show ourselves. It was so much fun! It was fantastic seeing the students totally running the show and having their voice heard they do everything from writing the scripts to running the teleprompter to mixing the show. There was incredible learning taking place. We then had a tour through the school. They did not have anywhere near as much ICT throughout the school as their focus was on the MVTV program (Marina View TV) but it was very interesting seeing this different perspective.

It was interesting to learn that all teachers in NZ regardless of the schooling system they work in get a laptop that is 3/4 funded by the NZ government. They also have an incredible emphasis on PD for staff rather than just shoving computers in schools and not providing PD in how to use it.

Once we had visited the two primary schools the next thing to do was to head off to the airport for our long flight to San Francisco. It was a relatively uneventful trip but very long and had trouble sleeping as the turbulence please put your seat belt signs kept coming on. We had an interesting drive in to San Francisco then a tour where we drove over the Golden Gate bridge and had a good look at some of the architecture of San Francisco. It is a very interesting town. Tomorrow we are off to Oracle, Apple and Google and we leave the hotel at 6:45am. So I will need a good night’s sleep on my adjustable softness bed!!!!