How can technology change learning?

As part of the interview process yesterday I had to talk to a group of students. My brief was to talk about how new-technologies would change learning. Quite a tricky subject as the definition of 'new' varies immensely depending on your personal experience.As this session was being watched by a member of SLT, it was also about communicating a vision of e-learning.

Taking inspiration from Doug Belshaw I decided upon a low-tech presentation technique. I took in a set of props and set them upon the table in front of the students. After introducing myself I explained that each item represented an aspect of e-learning. I had chosen some quite personal items so that the students and observers could gain an insight into my personality and interests.

Tiny Welsh Kit

Represented collaboration. Wales is the best ruby team and will collaborate with other teas during the British Lions tour. New technologies can be used to build personal learning networks on a vareity of scales, from class, institution to global. On-line collaboration tools could be used to build and facilitate the international links of the school. Students should be involved in the design of the curriculum; how the school looks and how technology should be used. There should be pupils involved with the Learning and Teaching group. Using software like Flashmeeting to collaborate during group work.

Lips microphone

Represented real audiences. Pupils should not only be learning for the sake of it. Technology enables students to reach real audiences, whether it be a collaborative document with other schools, or contacting the SL team about an issue really important to them . Social media could be used to campaign on issues, and the school should aim to have student driven radio, podcast and other media as part of its leading involvement in the Creative Arts and Media diploma.

Trophy

Represented rewards. Here I explained about the Vivo Miles reward system that is linked to attendance, effort and achievement therefore rewarding the 'silent majority' of pupils that get things right most of the time but neither shine nor disrupt.

Broken memory stick

Represented the VLE. Or rather the ability to access work at any time and place. Pupils should be able to decide on the task and how they complete it. Memory sticks should be obsolete.

DS Lite

Represents mobile technologies and games based learning. I talked a little about Ollie Bray's excellent work on games based learning and how it's crazy that schools spend money on cameras (for example) when pupils have powerful learning tools in their pockets.

Jute Bag

Represented the appropriate use of technology. Technology should not invade our lives or prevent us from getting outside. I talked about my passion for outdoor learning and how technology can fit into our informal and formal learning. I also talked about my background as a geographer.

All of that in 5 minutes. I was really impressed by the 10 minutes of follow up questioning. The pupils used a combination of pre-prepared questions and those that derived from what I has said during the presentation.

High Impact, Low effort

This month is the start of the #29daysofwriting challenge. I enjoyed this last year and will be using my Staffrm account to post. I'll also be reporting here, both to give a little more detail and to keep a log of what I have written. The challenge developed a great sense of community last year, which is why I'm choosing to write on Staffrm. What I would say to those who are new to writing or don't want to run out of ideas is: Write for yourself. Clarify an idea, write something out loud. The process of distilling thoughts into writing is immensely beneficial to your practice. If other read, comment and respond, that's a bonus. Ignore the muppets who know nothing of your context, style or students. Mix it up - I like to read about real stuff from real classrooms and schools and also about other stuff. If we always write about school, how does that work for workload? If you've nothing nice to say, don't say it. So, the following has been ...

What makes a learning experience profound? Personal reflections and possible implications for classroom practice.

I have recently begun a Leadership Pathways journey. As part of the first core day, we were asked to reflect on a profound learning experience. This got me thinking about how many profound learning experiences I have both been involved in, and how many I have been able to give to others. Our group came up with a huge long list, but these are my five. Emotional Connected Demanding Reflective Collaborative As always, these are personal thoughts and quite mixed up. I put them here so that I can look back on them (plus they’d get lost inside my world-cup-free brain) 1. Emotional I can’t think of a time where deep learning hasn’t engaged my emotions. From being awe inspired to that tingle feeling when a student gets a light bulb moment. From this-is-the-happiest-day-ever, to I-think-I’m-about-to die. How often do we engage the emotions of those we teach? Here, I would argue that having a safe learning environment i...

Banned Word Board

Today I want to share some simple ideas that I have found to be very effective in the classroom. I can't say that they are my own original ideas, although I have played around with them. The first is the Banned word Board. This is a simple display in the classroom that lists a number of words that are not allowed to be used by pupils in their written or oral answers. The effect has been an increase in the quality of written work, and I have almost made comments such as 'Sir it's simple, the stuff just affects the thing and causes people problems'. Pupils are now more able to use specific language, something that is vital especially at GCSE. I have had to make a few modifications, such as the introduction of 'Heavenly Words' This is an additional display placed on the ceiling. I found this necessary as pupils needed some stimulus in finding replacement words. After advice received after posting the idea on the SLN forum , I have also introduced semi-banned words...

David Rogers

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