David Rogers

Henry is down for his nap, so it's time to get some first thoughts down. There is a lot to think about! I want to preface this post by reminding readers that I believe that everyone should be using the best tools to support learning in their local context. This may mean Google, Microsoft, Apple or Bic ;-) Indeed, this image was used during the day and reminds us that we have to constantly dip into our learning toolbox - that even includes getting outside once in a while! This post goes on to describe how we can attempt to evaluate and prioritise the learning that took place. Although the day was inspiring, engaging, motivating and enjoyable (and many other things) and Google tools can be very powerful in supporting learning. However, as a responsible educator I find that I do have to remind myself of the limitations. These limitations should be communicated to young people. For example, Google Squared draws upon Wikipedia and the News draws upon selected media sources. I'm...

Good news for The Geography Collective today – our app is now available from the iTunes App Store.  The official launch is on the 28th July (next Wednesday), so there are still a few finishing touches to be made and some ironing. I downloaded the App this morning and have included some screenshots below. We would like as many people as possible to have a go with the app! Don’t forget to let us know how you get on!    

SMART targets are well known within education.  I recently came across DIM targets and think that they are much better. What do you think?

I recently attended a Leadership Pathways skill development day based around the leading of teams.  During the day, I couldn't help but reflect back upon my own experiences of leadership training.  I strongly believe that leadership can be taught and that it exists on many scales, from the leadership of our personal actions to the leadership of countries. This post aims to consolidate the Leadership Pathways session, and sets out some thoughts of it’s application in teacher training and within classrooms It wasn’t until we were sh own a diagram similar to this one that the penny dropped: that this was all very familiar.  It took a while to figure out – but I had been taught leadership as a 14 year old cadet in the Air Training Corps.  On reflection, this early experience of leadership training has served me well.  It then wondered when I last taught leadership in the classroom.  The scary answer was that I don’t think I ever have. The diagram is base...

On Thursday I headed up to the National College of School Leadership in Nottingham for the culmination of the 21st Century Learning Alliance Fellowship for the 2009/10 academic year. The residential was a networking opportunity and chance to see how all eight Fellowship Projects had found the year. The other seven projects were fantastic, some of which are really pushing the boundaries of curriculum design. We presented to Professor Sir Tim Brighouse and Sir Mike Tomlinson . The Fellowship will be available next year, and I would strongly encourage you to consider applying . Our project ( the aims of which can be found here ) focussed on making pupils the driving force behind change. Although the project centred around The Building Schools for the Future, the findings can be applied to any school site. The presentation is embedded below and contains a summary of the findings. 21st Century Learning Alliance Fellowship Report View more presentations from David Rogers . One of the...

Another interesting development today, and one more good reason to get involved in Microsoft’s Partners in Learning network .  I spent 45 minutes talking to Croatian teachers via Live Meeting all about the Pirates and Social Networking Project . Regular readers may know a bit already about the project already. and how it was selected by Stuart and Kristen to represent the UK along with four other projects in Berlin in March this year.  I have to say that the decision to get involved in Partners in Learning was a good one, and new opportunities always present themselves. You can find out more about the four projects here and here . The webinar (still sounds like a made up word re gardless of how many times I hear it!) is available to view by clicking the link below.  You will have to enter a few details. The webinar starts about 4min 50 in, and I start talking at around 7 minutes. The 30 minute (ish) talk is a good summary of the project and its impact. It’...