Hit the ground running…
27th April, 2007As an indie ICT education consultant who works purely in the highly specialised world of new and innovative technologies I get to see most of the exciting and ground-breaking stuff out there fairly quickly and if I don’t, I make it my business to find it. My living depends on searching for, discovering, filming, podcasting, writing about and disseminating innovative technologies and practice in the world of education. I like problems and I like smart and elegant solutions applied in creative contexts.
But with more and more apps and web 2.0 online solutions coming out week by week how on earth do you keep up? All those blogs – all those awareness lists, RSS feeds – all those videos and podcasts – you can’t watch and listen to each and every one. How can you rationalise your clickstream so that you remain sane? How do you build smart lenses to fathom all the “stuff” out there? How do you know one idea is a winner and will be adopted quickly when another may take time to bed in? How do you find the information fast enough in the little time to see, process and share its usefulness? Well students seem to manage it easily enough these days. My 12 year old son is forever pointing me towards resources I have never heard of that he has acquired through the online and real-life grapevine of friends.
I also have much admiration for early adopter teachers/ practitioners who run with the new technology almost from the second it is available. They manage to take up the baton and drop these apps into their teaching from the moment go. Things like BubbleShare immediately appeal to the KS2 teacher (if they can get it unlocked and allowed under enlightened AUPs in their authority) because of the ability to personalise and construct narrative that can be used in so many curricular contexts. It is one of those applications that enable constructive knowledge building activity around creativity and personalisation and can be used for plenaries, demos, formative and summative assessment – the multi-faceted list of ways goes on and on. It’s one of those apps that allows the teacher to facilitate and give ownership over to the pupils. Yes, it requires a degree of confidence with a skillset over and above that of the average teacher but, again, often the students don’t have a problem so why should we?
For me – change is a given. My working day varies but when I am in research mode the first thing I do every morning is check my bloglines aggregator for a very specific number of RSS feeds – these are very clearly defined and highly focused through trial and error and they change according to my needs or projects I am involved with. Other people are your best resource and I pull in feeds from the commercial as much as the educational worlds. These I skim quickly and clip and archive into themed folders according to specialisms I am developing at any particular time for briefs or projects/ research I’m working on or for future reference and I share them with colleagues I may be working with or have previously collaborated with on projects in the past. If I find a really useful resource I used to drop it into into del.icio.us but now I use the Diigo browser tool because it is so much better at annotating, archiving and linking to other communities – in fact Diigo has transformed my research recently because of its amazing level of functionality. This is another facet of working with web 2.0 – if I find something supercedes and is superior to other tools I won’t hesitate to ditch those and migrate to the newer development.
Diigo is a particularly smart tool in that it enables me to drill down to information I want and annotate it online quickly and dynamically. The rate of change in the Web 2.0 world can be phenomenal – when writing an article on use of emerging online video services last year I had to change my copy every day for three weeks at one point because of rapid development in the field – every day saw a new offer of services and commentry on the market place. In fact I breathed a sigh of relief when YouTube were finally bought out by Google. In some ways we are living in a bubble and it cannot be sustained – only the strong will survive and persistence of information is a very tenuous thing in that environment but despite these issues a distributed model with smart working is better than a proscribed one where training is often out of date before it has begun – ideally it will augment rather than challenge. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that if we don’t get with the program in terms of curriculum and working practices within the next few months we’re sunk.
I am also constantly on the lookout for tools that will enable me to fillet, index and annotate information within media so that I do not have to look at everything, just jump to the bits I need after a quick skim or create resources that allow others to do this. In this respect Mojiti and Jumpcut are a godsend but I have yet to see a free web 2.0 audio tool that will allow annotation, indexing and transcription on the fly.
When VLEs come in I suspect the model may well be repositories rather than dynamic knowledge building communites. It worries me that many people may well compound the victim mentality of: ‘I need training on this…’. We really, really, really need some enlightened strategic change management in schools that is effective – yes the TDA knows this and consultation is ongoing about that and workforce remodelling is underway but how this fits in with web 2.0 and the culture of use by students is crucial in the next few months – I really do think we have only got a brief window to get it right or we’ll be too late and we need to get moving now. The way we do things in school just has to change or we are sunk in the global economy. People just don’t work in the real world like they do in schools any more (did they ever?); there is a wider and wider mismatch opening up. Look at the FE and HE sectors – they now have more and more change management roles in place to keep up to steam. A recent conference I filmed on the use of Mobile phones and their implementation in colleges’ strategy was enlightening to say the least.
It does seem to me that web 2.0 distributed resources are a more organic and malleable way of pulling together ways of doing rather than frozen brain dumps in walled-in repositories. Bobby Elliott, Qualifications Manager at the Scottish Qualifications Authority talks of Assessment 2.0 in a recent Futurelab Viewpoint article, whereby online apps such as Google Docs can be used for formative and summative assessment. Here we have an enlightened vision of the binding of distributed resources for a focused purpose rather than the possible cul de sac of the VLE – which may insitutionalise, sanitise and effectively keep change dead in the water before its implemented.
But all this quest for “smart” information does take its toll – the other day I was reading a non-fiction book and I mentally went to press the search shortcut in my mind to scan for a keyword – now that’s just plain sad…
Futurelab is always looking for ideas. Find out how you can 
Bob Harrison
Ben Williamson
Dan Sutch
Richard Sandford
Leon Cych
Martin Owen
Sarah Grier
Tim Reader
April 27th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
yes! Roll on the dead-tree search shortcuts (of course, in the old days it might have been called a “memory” or similar, but I suppose there was less to remember back then)
April 27th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Leon,
Glad to hear you find Diigo useful.
Thought you and your colleagues may be interested to know that Diigo is founded by a former EECS professor at UC Berkeley. Diigo actually arose out of personal needs to read and digest large amount of information online and the need to share thoughts and interact on those information.
Given our founder’s previous academic background and interest, we’d hope Diigo continues to serve the educational community well! Thanks for your support. Love to have your feedback to make it even better.
Best,
Maggie
co-founder
http://www.diigo.com
April 28th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
I was right there with you (some very tidy links, ta), up till the bit about ‘victim mentality’.
I work for a local authority in Wales and work for the IT Department visiting schools to fix network and PC problems. I have been talking to heads and teachers recently and what they are identifying is a lack of confidence with the adoption and use of new ICT technologies.
They might talk about ‘lack of training’ but if you unpick what they are saying isn’t quite as straight forward. I think a lot of the problem is linguistic.
Firstly they don’t like or feel confident in the use of ‘computer jargon’.
The idea of ‘training’ is also unhelpful because people don’t train in languages, they learn languages.
The training that is provided by the Advisory Service in our county seems more geared towards how use a particular piece of software or equipment (Intranet/IWB) and assumes a level of ‘trainee’ confidence in the use of the underlying PC technology that just isn’t there and that won’t be solved by ‘more training’.
I think the way to go is to recognise that there may well be a gender/age issue here (over 80% of our primary school teachers are women), and encourage the adoption of more informal support. If we refer to it as ‘teachers needing more coaching’ (see, nice sporting type word that the men in suits who decide important sounding things like ‘Strategy’ and ‘Finance’ can get behind) on things like, navigating the operating system, understanding speeds/capacities, basics of networking… maybe even a bit of the history of ICT (including cuneform, paper, pencils, radio etc)just to give it something of a more tangable social context.
When a teacher says to me that she feels like she has an ‘alien on her desk’, blaming the ‘victim’ doesn’t come anywhere near solving the problem. A lack of confidence can only be solved by findng learning solutions that increase confidence.
April 30th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Hi Tonia,
Thanks for the feedback.
Let’s take a couple of your points and I’ll try to expand on them:
“Firstly they don’t like or feel confident in the use of ‘computer jargon’.
The idea of ‘training’ is also unhelpful because people don’t train in languages, they learn languages.
The training that is provided by the Advisory Service in our county seems more geared towards how use a particular piece of software or equipment (Intranet/IWB) and assumes a level of ‘trainee’ confidence in the use of the underlying PC technology that just isn’t there and that won’t be solved by ‘more training’.”
I totally agree with this. However I think the way forward is to embed competencies into job specs as they do in the real world. If you work in an office and you don’t have those competencies you do have to learn them pretty quickly. If linked to your professional development and your professional role then it is not longer something ‘other’ or out there that you have to do becuase you are required to but something you have to do get the job done.
“I think the way to go is to recognise that there may well be a gender/age issue here (over 80% of our primary school teachers are women), and encourage the adoption of more informal support. If we refer to it as ‘teachers needing more coaching’ (see, nice sporting type word that the men in suits who decide important sounding things like ‘Strategy’ and ‘Finance’ can get behind) on things like, navigating the operating system, understanding speeds/capacities, basics of networking… maybe even a bit of the history of ICT (including cuneform, paper, pencils, radio etc)just to give it something of a more tangable social context.”
Whatever way you cut it I don’t see it as a gender issue. I think it is a question of making it meaningful within the context of your role and linking it to accreditation and professional competencies. Whether you are male or female it really doesn’t matter – can you use it in a meaningful way. And the drivers for that in my opinion are being paid to use that in your role or subsidised accreditation that leads to a masters or equivalent. This, within the framework of the school community and it’s very specific activities, is what is important.
“When a teacher says to me that she feels like she has an ‘alien on her desk’, blaming the ‘victim’ doesn’t come anywhere near solving the problem. A lack of confidence can only be solved by findng learning solutions that increase confidence.”
I am not blaming the victim rather I am suggesting that CPD should be based on workplace reform and change management – traditional forms of training are leading to a dependent attitude rather than a pro-active professional can-do one. It’s not the person – it’s the environment – there is a big difference. That the management of how people go about the business of education needs to change rather than the people themsleves. That will come as systems evolve.
April 30th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Hi Leon
Thanks for the commentry on the comments.
>Let’s take a couple of your points and I’ll try to expand on them:
Ok, and expansion on your expantion… how deliciously ‘meta’.
>I think the way forward is to embed competencies into job specs as they do in the real world. If you work in an office and you don’t have those competencies you do have to learn them pretty quickly.
Ok, that works for the new and shiny ones. Existing staff… not so much, unless they have the time and support to aquire these competencies. If that’s not on the table, then there is less of a chance of it happening sooner rather than later.
>Whatever way you cut it I don’t see it as a gender issue.
I was clumsy with my language here. I am not seeing it as a wholly gender issue, but to discount gender as a significant factor seems pretty unhelpful the same month that the Gender Equality Duty comes into effect.
(Have you read any of the SIGIS stuff? Lots there to think about. I would also recommend you look at the Flosspols final report – just google Flosspols and gender).
We all know that ‘Technology’ has no actual gender, but culturaly… not so much. Technology is mechanical and social, but in our society, ICT is still gendered.
Look to the numbers, the numbers of women opting for (or continuing to work in) the ICT fields, they are dropping. As a woman in the technology field, this is a no-brainer. No amount of ‘pink and fluffy’ CC4G is going to get to the root of the problem. (Am I the only one to come away from that site thinking my eyes were bleeding from the ‘pinkness’ of it all? Talk about re-enforcing gender stereotypes!). The problem isn’t mechanical, its social.
>I think it is a question of making it meaningful within the context of your role and linking it to accreditation and professional competencies.
Abso—lutlely! But many teachers that I talk to struggle to find that meaning, which is understandable while we are still installing office automation tools on primary school PCs. And yet, that’s what the curriculum dictates, that’s what the HMIs want to see.
>Whether you are male or female it really doesn’t matter – can you use it in a meaningful way.
Agreed. Men and women don’t use technology very differently (Ok, porn aside…)the difference lies with their self perception. The chances are, if asked for a self assesment on the ability to carry out a particular task, a man will over estimate his capabilities and a women underestimate hers. I’m not saying that is carved in stone, It’s not a law, it’s just an observable tendancy… it’s a confidence thing.
>This, within the framework of the school community and it’s very specific activities, is what is important.
And for that to work, confidence really is the key, including the confidence to learn outside you comfort zone in front of the class.
“When a teacher says to me that she feels like she has an ‘alien on her desk’, blaming the ‘victim’ doesn’t come anywhere near solving the problem.”
>I am not blaming the victim rather
… it just sounded like it.
>I am suggesting that CPD should be based on workplace reform and change management – traditional forms of training are leading to a dependent attitude rather than a pro-active professional can-do one.
I agree, traditional ICT training is training for a dependancy.
>That will come as systems evolve.
System’s don’t evolve. People construct and change systems. The better the knowledge of the actual social context, the better the chance of the system working for people in the long term.
May 1st, 2007 at 6:27 pm
Hi Tonia,
To comment on the comment about comments..
“”"
>I think the way forward is to embed competencies into job specs as they do in the real world. If you work in an office and you don’t have those competencies you do have to learn them pretty quickly.
Ok, that works for the new and shiny ones. Existing staff… not so much, unless they have the time and support to aquire these competencies. If that’s not on the table, then there is less of a chance of it happening sooner rather than later. “”"
I suppose I am arguing for it to be on the table – the agenda and funding for CPD that is meaningfully embedded into our roles within education is lacking…
“”"
>Whatever way you cut it I don’t see it as a gender issue.
I was clumsy with my language here. I am not seeing it as a wholly gender issue, but to discount gender as a significant factor seems pretty unhelpful the same month that the Gender Equality Duty comes into effect.
(Have you read any of the SIGIS stuff? Lots there to think about. I would also recommend you look at the Flosspols final report – just google Flosspols and gender).
We all know that ‘Technology’ has no actual gender, but culturaly… not so much. Technology is mechanical and social, but in our society, ICT is still gendered.”"”
Well reading them it does appear that the contexts for inclusion are gender hostile in some cases. I tend to work in the schools educational sector not the developer communities and that world is a little more sane at times :) The funny thing is that I always found the 10 year old flash enthusaists were always the girls when I was teaching way back – maybe that was just a blip!
“”"
Look to the numbers, the numbers of women opting for (or continuing to work in) the ICT fields, they are dropping. As a woman in the technology field, this is a no-brainer. No amount of ‘pink and fluffy’ CC4G is going to get to the root of the problem. (Am I the only one to come away from that site thinking my eyes were bleeding from the ‘pinkness’ of it all? Talk about re-enforcing gender stereotypes!). The problem isn’t mechanical, its social.”"”
OK I’m with you there within that arena it seems on the evidence of the findings. I still think it is the recognition of your role and how the ICT fits around it that is more important than the tech. It is within that context I meant it.
“”"
>I think it is a question of making it meaningful within the context of your role and linking it to accreditation and professional competencies.
Abso—lutlely! But many teachers that I talk to struggle to find that meaning, which is understandable while we are still installing office automation tools on primary school PCs. And yet, that’s what the curriculum dictates, that’s what the HMIs want to see.”"”
I’d like to see some evidence for that – I can only assume that is a perception of what HMI’s would like to see unless presented with a strong model of good strategic use of open source to counter existing orthodoxies.
“”"
>Whether you are male or female it really doesn’t matter – can you use it in a meaningful way.
Agreed. Men and women don’t use technology very differently (Ok, porn aside…)the difference lies with their self perception. The chances are, if asked for a self assesment on the ability to carry out a particular task, a man will over estimate his capabilities and a women underestimate hers. I’m not saying that is carved in stone, It’s not a law, it’s just an observable tendancy… it’s a confidence thing.”"”
Hmm I am not so sure I buy into that one in the schools educational ICT sector…I couldn’t say that is definitely the case without objective research…
“”"
>This, within the framework of the school community and it’s very specific activities, is what is important.
And for that to work, confidence really is the key, including the confidence to learn outside you comfort zone in front of the class.”"”
I think it really is a question of taking people from one comfort zone to another incrementally and in positive context rich environments.
“”"
“When a teacher says to me that she feels like she has an ‘alien on her desk’, blaming the ‘victim’ doesn’t come anywhere near solving the problem.”
>I am not blaming the victim rather
… it just sounded like it.”"”
I never make those kinds of inferences based on such soundings :)
“”"
>That will come as systems evolve.
System’s don’t evolve. People construct and change systems. The better the knowledge of the actual social context, the better the chance of the system working for people in the long term. “”"
I should really have clarified that – I don’t disagree.
May 22nd, 2007 at 4:32 pm
[...] But it’s not just the tools that are interesting, but the way in which I came across them. scribefire was sent to me by Andy Black after a conversation in London. Diigo was discussed on Flux a few posts ago and musicovery sent to a Futurelab ‘cool stuff’ space by Tash Lee which prompted to me to re-find a post by Doug Belshaw. [...]
June 15th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
At CREAX, we recently launched http://www.moreinspiration.com which is a webtool that allows you to track new and innovative products and solutions. It doesn’t really let you annote, we annote the innovations FOR YOU.
In fact, MoreInspiration is a database aimed to inspire people to find new ideas and concepts by showing them recent innovations classified in several ways.
Unlike gadget sites that merely show you the innovations, we order them so they can inspire anyone, and explain what and why certain products have changed things.
Should be a great help for you to keep up with what’s new and innovative.
Just do a google search for moreinspiration.com
February 12th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Interested to read about VLE’s.
My company (RevisionWorld) spent £000’s on developing an open source programme and we’re just in the proces of making this available to schools free. A demo is here http://www.virtualschoolworld.com. (it’s a bit like Moodle only with content already in it)
However will schools use this? We’re just in the process of seeing whether schools actually want to play with the code and develop the package OR just grab a package of the shelf and have the security of paying year on year.
The jury is out.
Paul
http://www.revisionworld.co.uk