Journeys in Education » visits

Podcasting the edtech crew way

ldumicich — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 03:27:58 +0000

Record in Garage Band normally. Use Sype to have the conversation and records it via CallGraph (PC’s). Google docs is used to collaborate on the podcasts.

http://www.edtechcrew.net/vitta-session-2008/

This is the link to all of Darrel and Tony’s links from the presentation

Feedburner is what they use to get the tags that is needed for itunes

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!!!!

A day of possiblities

ldumicich — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 05:59:32 +0000

Well today has been an incredible day for learning as we went to three very diverse locations to see different aspects of ICT in education. In the morning we went to Nextspace which was a company that designs 3D animations for industry but is wanting to support the use of 3D animation in education to help create future skilled workers in this area as it is a massive growth area with a shortage of skilled workers. It would be an interesting career for creative students. We had a talk from Brenda Frisk and then got to play with some 3D animation software called Deep Exploration. Some of the topics talked about were the merge between left brain/right brain skill requirements, the need to educate students about the possibilities in ICT, all locking a computer system does is lock out the teachers, the need to work with students in ICT before they build walls in their heads (from ages 6-7). Some website that were mentioned were Computer Clubhouse 274, Bubbledome and F1 in schools. This was very interesting but I wonder how practical it was as the need for graphics processing power for the 3D animations is probably beyond what most schools would have in their normal computers at this moment.

Our next stop was Papatoetoe High School. This was a very large Year 9-12 college of 1800 students from many different cultural backgrounds in a lower socio economic area. It was using ICT throughout many of its classrooms. They mainly had labs of various descriptions throughout the school in many different layouts. There were 700 computers with one full time tech!! As the school was built about 50 years ago there was some problem trying to design labs and learning spaces for the 21st century. One of the highlights was a collaborative learning lab where they had 1-2 computers per over-sized table (see photos on picasa) designed for student to be able to collaborate together on projects and use ICT at the same time. I thought it was a really good setting for senior secondaries.

The last school was incredibly inspirational and something that I would love to see implemented at BCC. The school was a Mac based school. Between every four classrooms there was a hub of about 6 computers, 2 computers in every classroom and 6 laptops to be shared between the 4 rooms. Every student had an e-portfolio where they got to store and reflect on their learning. Every class used blogs, wiki’s voice thread and other web 2.0 technologies as a tool for learning (technology skills were never assessed). The students were engaged, articulate and creative. Higher order thinking was emphasised strongly. Most of the teachers did not know how to use the technology as well as their students but were confident enough in neither role of teacher to allow the students to teach them and each other. the students were all aged between 11-13. It was inspirational, nothing was blocked and there were no passwords for students. Creativity and innovation abounded. Students taught students and the emphasis was on developing learners. Loved it!!

The weather has been freezing cold and raining. We are off to the casino tonight for dinner! Enjoy!