Day one of ULearn07 was such a buzz. A day full of new adventures, experiences and things to challenge and ponder in the mind.
What a fun experience just a little later to have twittered away and then got into a several way skype chat in the middle of Steve Maharey's talk... a little naughty but skyping with Jane, Chrissy, Simon and Allanah (later also with Durff) ... we had LOTS of jokes and were able to 'further discuss' the 'pertinent points' Steve was making to the audience on a much 'deeper level'... ok, well that's not quite true, but that IS my story and I'm sticking to it!
Finally it was time for Ewan's keynote, and luckily Chrissy and Jane's batteries died and so we soaked up all Ewan had to offer. His keynote was great, inspiring but also challenging... and the wonderful Scottish accent only added to the charm.The “K12 Online Conference” is for teachers, administrators and educators around the world interested in the use of Web 2.0 tools in classrooms and professional practice!
One presentation teaser that caught my eye today was from fellow NZder Derek Wenmoth. His challenging and thought-provoking teaser is a preview to his keynote presentation on “The Promise of ICT: How Can It Be Realized”I highly recommend you check it out: you can either view the presentation above by clicking on the link or view the embedded video below. This has certainly made me very keen to check out his actual presentation and has also got me thinking. (good thing it's the holidays here in NZ!)
One of the latest Education Gazette vacancies for the Nelson region: Fabulous... a school using a wikispaces in addition and as an extension of a school website - and using it to host job application info for download....Nelson Intermediate
Scale A Y7–8 permanent position. Commence term 1, 2008. Current
roll 378. We seek a motivated and enthusiastic teacher to join
our vibrant school.
Applications close 14 September. Applications can only be
downloaded from www.nis.wikispaces.com
Currently the Time4Reflection Online Seminar is on in New Zealand.The goal is to assist clusters to undertake review processes with their schools and with all stakeholders as part of the ICT PD contract. The seminar is also designed to help clusters develop evidence based practices which show shifts and progress, and can be used to inform:
- milestone reporting to MoE of the benefits of the programme
The seminar will mentor clusters in reflective practice through provision of:
Our ICT Cluster, Nelson City Schools, consists of nine city and rural schools; eight of which are primary and one which is an intermediate. We are in the first year of a three year professional development contract with the Ministry of Education.The need to write is a curiosity of knowing what one will find. (Alain)Just in time for the school re-entry, I discover this video of Rachel Boyd who enumerates the reasons for which the pupils would owe bloguer (T-Notes: Why let students blog?). I particularly retain the reference to convince my pupils of the utility of the school blogists, knowing that the image has a considerable teaching impact. In this time of total communications, the word of a professor, very factitious that it appears in the class, unfortunately lost of its gloss.
One will reproach the video for missing glare, just as the stepping of certain ideas. A criticism received well by its author who works with a version 2.0. While waiting, and always to exploit the force of the image, here a translation of the evoked reasons (click on the image for an enlarging):
The post and the comment supporting it (translated version below) makes me wonder has the message been lost in translation??
I do not know why I remain perplexed vis-a-vis the enumeration of all the these “advantages”.
At this beginning of re-entry, I do not have too the heart with the rejoicing.
By Gilles G. Jobin August 19, 2007 12:41 PM
I left MY comment (twice actually - DUH!) on the site seeking clarification and stating my actual intentions:
Hi there,
You have written an interesting post. However, it is a little hard for me to completely understand as I have had to use a translation tool to assist me.
http://translate.google.comYou are right that I am working on a version 2.0... am I correct in thinking that you do not like the way the images have the colour reduced?
I have never been happy with my choice of text for the presentation as it is hard to read. My initial thoughts were to tone down the colour in the images so as not to detract from the message.
I would be interested in your opinion.
The argument is not for blogging to replace teachers, nor good teaching.... rather to allow students the opportunity to share their thoughts, opinions and more with an authentic, world-wide audience.
Kind regards,
Rachel Boyd, New Zealand
Animoto.com is a fabulous new site that allows you to make a slideshow like you've never seen before! (actually like a slideshow on steroids!)
Using Animoto you can make your own 30 sec 'photo video' (or movie trailer for your pictures) for free - just upload up to 15 of your own pics (or tell animoto where to find them on the Internet: ie Facebook etc.) and then either choose their music or upload your own! (There is also the option to pay to create longer videos with more images.)
My Teacher Tube Lament:Dear Teacher Tube,
I am distraught over the loss of all these videos and presentations uploaded over the past month and a half; and exhausted at the thought of having to check through all my recent video uploads and embeds
... BUT...
I DO still feel that you are an amazing free resource for the professional development for educators; and so I will forgive you (just this once!)
Kind regards,
Rachel :)
Jane Nicholls is amazing!Hey all you NZ edubloggers out there, want to put a face to the blog? The NZ Bloggers Cafe is happening this year at ULearn 07. Come along and engage with other bloggers in some lively debate about life, the universe and everything. This would also be a great place for 'budding bloggers' to come and learn some tips and tricks from 'blooming bloggers'. The cafe will be open during morning tea and lunch breaks so come along and join in the discussions. The venue will be advertised in the conference handbook and I am told there will be some aromatic coffee available!
So as Lee LeFever would typically say in a Commoncraft presentation:
Safari......boooo!
Firefox ..... yeah!!!
Next Season on Survivor
(Rewritten by G. Lovegrove)
Have you heard about the next planned "Survivor" show?Three businessmen and three businesswomen will be dropped in a primary school classroom for 6 weeks. Each business person will be provided with a copy of the school curriculum, and a class of 28 students.
Each class will have five learning-disabled children, three with A.D.D., one gifted child, and two who speak limited English. Three will be labelled with severe behaviour problems.
Each business person must complete lesson plans at least 3 days in advance, with annotations for curriculum objectives and modify, organise, or create materials accordingly. They will be required to teach students, handle misconduct, implement technology, document attendance, write referrals, correct homework, make bulletin boards, conduct assessments, complete report forms, document benchmarks, communicate with parents, and arrange parent interviews. They must also supervise morning tea and lunchtime breaks and monitor the entrance foyer.
In addition, they will complete drills for fire, earthquakes, tornados, and shooting attacks. They must attend workshops, (100 hours), staff meetings, union meetings, and attend curriculum development meetings.
They must also tutor those students who are behind and strive to get their 2 non-English speaking children proficient in English. If they are sick or having a bad day they must not let it show.
Each day they must incorporate reading, writing, maths, science, technology and social studies into the programme. They must maintain discipline and provide an educationally stimulating environment at all times.
The business people will only have access to the golf course on the weekends, but on their new salary they will not be able to afford it anyway. There will be no access to vendors who want to take them out to lunch, and lunch (raw vegetables and water) will be limited to 20 minutes. On days when they do not have playground duty, the business people will be permitted to use the staff toilets as long as another survival candidate is supervising their class.
They will be provided with two days per term of Classroom Release Time, during which time they must maintain all individual assessment checks, running records, numeracy tests and keep all health and attendance records up to date.
If the copier is operable, they may make copies of necessary materials at this time. The business people must continually advance their education on their own time and pay for this advanced training themselves. This can be accomplished by moonlighting at a second job or marrying someone with money.
The winner will be allowed to return to his or her job.
Pass this to any friends who think teaching is easy.
Know anyone else who has this amazing job description?!
Thanks Greg, what a great find... thanks for sharing - its made my day!
So "Happy Blogiversary" to you all!
But the conversation turned when I mentioned blogging, podcasting, use of wikis and skype etc in education.
The countdown to ULearn 07 is on: from 3rd to 5th October in Auckland.
School holidays are great!
This short piece of reflective writing stood out to me:
We have been using Skype to communicate with our Auckland buddies who are our EXPERTS on reducing, reusing and recycling which is the topic we are learning about."Did you find that the IT stuff did help with integrating ICT when you became a classroom teacher? What other things do you suggest we do with our students?"
With the way that technology is rapidly changing "What other things do you suggest we do with our students?" is a difficult question to answer. We can't just teach our teacher trainees how to use 'programmes' any longer, nor can we soley teach them specific web2.0 applications/tools because by the time they graduate and actually get to use those tools in the classroom things will have moved on yet again!
