Hello all,
Sorry about the lag between posts but school tours hit the itinerary recently and I was pretty disconnected.
On my return I was invited to a talk by Abdul Chohan (@Abdulchohan) from the ESSA Academy in Bradford, England. Thank you Apple and Core for the invite.
Abdul was in SA to share his experiences of a one to one roll-out with us and to talk about the ecosystem his school has built to support both staff and students academically and technologically.
A few things he shared really stuck out:
1). The roll-out was not about having the device but rather about connecting student and teachers! He wanted both to be able to answer questions immediately the device was and is regarded as a tool that the students have access to and not as a reason for the lesson.
2). The schools pedagogy (The method and practice of teaching, esp. as an academic subject or theoretical concept) needs to support the use of a device but should NOT be based on the use of that device. His teachers are encouraged to make materials available as homework and use the time in class to concentrate on cognition and not information delivery. The idea is to allow proper understanding of new material, in any way, before putting pen to paper in a 'test'.
3).As a school ESSA are 'are asking teachers to have faith, to embrace change and therefore transform their teaching'. Abdul made the point that teachers are good at doing the same thing in new ways, ie chalkboard - whiteboard - interactive whiteboard, but not really transforming the way we teach. He defines transformation as technology allowing you to do something you could not do before.
4). And probably most vitally in my opinion he described how the schools technology ecosystem needs to support the device use. His school chose Apple products but that isn't the point, whatever you choose you need to make sure that the systems work to support the devices.
ESSA use iTunesU to make material available as courses, they use Google Apps for mail, they use Edmodo for communication and they use email for submission of work and, thankfully, so does my school (Except for iTunesU, not available in SA yet).
The amazing thing to me is that they decided to start this program and were able to run it fully within 6 months. Teachers were brought on board by allowing them to use the technology and not with hours and hours of professional development. In fact, the ESSA Academy doesn't run professional development days but has rather built them into the school timetable (every week on a Friday).
It was an amazing insight on how to progress with a BYOD/T roll-out.
The issue now is how do South African schools adopt/adapt this model to work for us?
1). INTERNET: When I asked about internet speed issues Abdul pointed out that his school, rather than connecting to the internet, built a robust and functioning intranet that allowed the devices to connect through wireless. The first step was to allow the students access to the schools servers to download worksheets videos and any other 'storable' material.
Maybe in SA we should rather focus on upgrading school networks? Once the savings on textbooks, paper, printing etc. start to feed through we can use those funds to upgrade or connect to the internet.
2). DEVICES: These are expensive but they could provide savings in other area's.
Maybe the school/district/government/country needs to look at available funds and how they could be re-used to provide this sort of program.
3). THE ECOSYSTEM: Computer software is expensive and short-lived. The ongoing running costs add to the burden a school has to carry.
Not true according to Abdul. Apps are once of payments and never need to be purchased again and, more importantly, there are thousands of free applications that do as good a job as a paid one.
4). WILLPOWER: Probably the most important part of the equation. Without acceptance and investment in a program it will never work. To many have failed due to a lack of foresight or investment.
In my opinion the decision to run a program like this is up to the willpower of the relevant stakeholders in education. Parents, children teachers and officials need to see this as a powerful and exciting way forward and not as a scary and uncharted territory.
There are so many questions to ask around a program like this however we need to start asking and answering them in order to provide an education that is relevant and future-proof, can we afford to wait?
Friday, 1 March 2013
Tuesday, 12 February 2013
Conference season...and completely off the topic!
This week I received invitations to attend or present at 3 separate conferences in the next two months or so. All of them asked me to submit an outline of what I would like to present on and how i would like to present it.
Don't get me wrong, I love presenting to teachers. The ones that attend conferences like those being organised by Brescia House (http://www.brescia.co.za/ict-conference), The Ridge (http://www.khululafoundation.org/innovative-teachers-institute) or FutureEd(http://www.future-ed.co.za) are open minded and looking for new ways to make the process of education better.
The question that pops up in my mind is what are teachers looking for in these conferences?
Should we be networking or learning from experience Should we be trying to find content or creation? Should we be just taking in the atmosphere?
For me conferences have always been about getting in touch with like-minded people. I love to be able to bounce ideas off teachers (not educators!) who have different or opposing philosophies on the process of education, +Sean Hampton-Cole springs to mind. I have had the privilege of helping my school hold their own conference over the past few years and love the energy that a good session or idea can create. I have been to Google, Apple, Microsoft and all sorts of other bodies meetings and enjoyed many of the experiences they offer, particularly when local teachers share what they are doing!
So...what do you look for in a 'conference' and how do you decide whether it was successful or not?
PS, I intend to apply for all three of the above-mentioned and if I don't present I will attend.
Don't get me wrong, I love presenting to teachers. The ones that attend conferences like those being organised by Brescia House (http://www.brescia.co.za/ict-conference), The Ridge (http://www.khululafoundation.org/innovative-teachers-institute) or FutureEd(http://www.future-ed.co.za) are open minded and looking for new ways to make the process of education better.
The question that pops up in my mind is what are teachers looking for in these conferences?
Should we be networking or learning from experience Should we be trying to find content or creation? Should we be just taking in the atmosphere?
For me conferences have always been about getting in touch with like-minded people. I love to be able to bounce ideas off teachers (not educators!) who have different or opposing philosophies on the process of education, +Sean Hampton-Cole springs to mind. I have had the privilege of helping my school hold their own conference over the past few years and love the energy that a good session or idea can create. I have been to Google, Apple, Microsoft and all sorts of other bodies meetings and enjoyed many of the experiences they offer, particularly when local teachers share what they are doing!
So...what do you look for in a 'conference' and how do you decide whether it was successful or not?
PS, I intend to apply for all three of the above-mentioned and if I don't present I will attend.
Thursday, 7 February 2013
Questions from Maggie!
Just a few questions.....
Was there a great uptake by parents to come to the training session?
We planned for around 40 families from the beginning, the sessions ended being around 20 families. This isn't too disappointing because this was for the very basics of iPad use and many people already use an iPhone or iPad device. Future sessions will include discussions on the 'Flipped or blended' classroom models, How creation apps work and the move away from content, a discussion on Blooms and how the Tablet allows teachers to work with higher order thinking, and how the parent can use the tablet to promote reading and analyses skills.
You say that you will do the same for other devices.....which forces me to ask the question of what is the breakdown of BYOD in the school?
We have a BYOT strategy, T being for tablet, and we allowed the use of any tablet the family chose. Generally about 95% have chosen the iPad and the rest have an android Tab (we only have 2 Slates in the school).
We did recommend the iPad to parents due to it's 'safer' (or 'closed', depending on your point of view!) app environment, however as a group we decided that to make a choice for a family would be against our IT committee's open platform policy. This did mean a long discussion and some hard debate!
Strategies for getting the teachers on board of coping with different devices in the classroom?
Simply...I have been given the time to spend with teachers, we ask them to plan lessons that require the student to create content on the Tablet and not specifically use an App to deliver content. Occasionally they might need a specific App, in which case the students without the specific app share an iPad or Tablet with another student. We have found that most Apps are available on both platforms (and many have websites that can be accessed and used on-line).
In order to help the teacher we have made the scheme voluntary for the first term of 2013 (until May) after which every child is required to have a Tablet of some sort. All we require of the teachers is to use the tablet occasionally in class, even if it's just a textbook or novel to read. At the same time we are training the teachers how to use the tablet and getting them to understand that how content is delivered by the student is not important but rather what is in the content should be judged. We have some teachers who's adage is 'I just let the kids teach me!' and that is possibly the best strategy we could hope for!
Hope this helps Maggie!
Was there a great uptake by parents to come to the training session?
We planned for around 40 families from the beginning, the sessions ended being around 20 families. This isn't too disappointing because this was for the very basics of iPad use and many people already use an iPhone or iPad device. Future sessions will include discussions on the 'Flipped or blended' classroom models, How creation apps work and the move away from content, a discussion on Blooms and how the Tablet allows teachers to work with higher order thinking, and how the parent can use the tablet to promote reading and analyses skills.
We have a BYOT strategy, T being for tablet, and we allowed the use of any tablet the family chose. Generally about 95% have chosen the iPad and the rest have an android Tab (we only have 2 Slates in the school).
We did recommend the iPad to parents due to it's 'safer' (or 'closed', depending on your point of view!) app environment, however as a group we decided that to make a choice for a family would be against our IT committee's open platform policy. This did mean a long discussion and some hard debate!
Strategies for getting the teachers on board of coping with different devices in the classroom?
Simply...I have been given the time to spend with teachers, we ask them to plan lessons that require the student to create content on the Tablet and not specifically use an App to deliver content. Occasionally they might need a specific App, in which case the students without the specific app share an iPad or Tablet with another student. We have found that most Apps are available on both platforms (and many have websites that can be accessed and used on-line).
In order to help the teacher we have made the scheme voluntary for the first term of 2013 (until May) after which every child is required to have a Tablet of some sort. All we require of the teachers is to use the tablet occasionally in class, even if it's just a textbook or novel to read. At the same time we are training the teachers how to use the tablet and getting them to understand that how content is delivered by the student is not important but rather what is in the content should be judged. We have some teachers who's adage is 'I just let the kids teach me!' and that is possibly the best strategy we could hope for!
Hope this helps Maggie!
Friday, 1 February 2013
Getting the parents on board?
This week we started teaching our parents how to use the iPad/Tablet.
The main point of our roll-out is that parents need to be partners in this project.
Firstly, they have all the usual parental decisions to make. How long can the child use the Tablet at home, what restrictions need to be used, can the child add or delete apps?
All these thing are up to the parents to discuss and negotiate with the child about. As teachers we cannot make these decisions for the parent, we give advice, train to use and help with software and hardware issues but we do not decide how the PERSONAL device is used.
Secondly, they should know how to use the devices themselves. The training this week focussed on setting up an iTunes account and setting restrictions on the iPad, later we will do the same on Android and Slate devices.
Finally, they need to allow the child to 'run' the device as their own. After discussing options we suggested each parent set's up one 'paying' iTunes/Play account that they run (and attach their payment details to!), in order to download paid apps and also one account for each child (set up in the parents name due to the 18 year age restriction, we can't allow lying now, can we?) to use for free apps that they will then update, control and, probably most importantly, access the iCloud with.
I learnt a lot too. Often parents are left behind or out of the technological revolution happening in education. They need to be involved and they need to be 'baby-stepped' through it. A teacher cannot assume that the parents can just up and run with the devices we are asking them to buy. As a school we need to be aware that parents often see technology from a different point of view. For them the important thing is the safety of their child, both literally in a security sense and on-line in the virtual sense. The first question we need to answer was regarding how safe our school cyber filter is. Luckily ours is pretty good!
We then need to let the parents understand that we all need to start some where, and that it's OK to ask question without feeling ignorant or embarrassed. Once this barrier is passed the training proceeds much more fluently.
The next step is to get our parents to have a device on their own and not just borrow the one they bought for the child....
...baby steps!
The main point of our roll-out is that parents need to be partners in this project.
Firstly, they have all the usual parental decisions to make. How long can the child use the Tablet at home, what restrictions need to be used, can the child add or delete apps?
All these thing are up to the parents to discuss and negotiate with the child about. As teachers we cannot make these decisions for the parent, we give advice, train to use and help with software and hardware issues but we do not decide how the PERSONAL device is used.
Secondly, they should know how to use the devices themselves. The training this week focussed on setting up an iTunes account and setting restrictions on the iPad, later we will do the same on Android and Slate devices.
Finally, they need to allow the child to 'run' the device as their own. After discussing options we suggested each parent set's up one 'paying' iTunes/Play account that they run (and attach their payment details to!), in order to download paid apps and also one account for each child (set up in the parents name due to the 18 year age restriction, we can't allow lying now, can we?) to use for free apps that they will then update, control and, probably most importantly, access the iCloud with.
I learnt a lot too. Often parents are left behind or out of the technological revolution happening in education. They need to be involved and they need to be 'baby-stepped' through it. A teacher cannot assume that the parents can just up and run with the devices we are asking them to buy. As a school we need to be aware that parents often see technology from a different point of view. For them the important thing is the safety of their child, both literally in a security sense and on-line in the virtual sense. The first question we need to answer was regarding how safe our school cyber filter is. Luckily ours is pretty good!
We then need to let the parents understand that we all need to start some where, and that it's OK to ask question without feeling ignorant or embarrassed. Once this barrier is passed the training proceeds much more fluently.
The next step is to get our parents to have a device on their own and not just borrow the one they bought for the child....
...baby steps!
Friday, 25 January 2013
Baby Steps...
What a week!
The process of loading and using apps, creating app and play store accounts and generally just getting going has been a slow but exciting process!
The amazing thing is how the kids have got on board, there is no fear for them when it comes to Tablet devices, to use a Steve Jobs Quote:
"Older people sit down and ask, 'What is it?' but the child asks, 'What can I do with it?'...
and boy have they asked a lot!
We spent the week downloading many of the apps I talked about last week, the kids have managed to find the best WiFi hotspots in the school and it's great to see them congregating around a teacher getting a new app.
More importantly though we have started using the devices in classes, in the latest lesson I asked the grade 6's to take notes of what I was teaching (Design and Technology - Structures), but allowed them to choose how to take these notes and which app they preferred to use. The variety astounded me. Key notes, sound recordings, mind maps, 'Haiku Deck' (A new app to me but one that now has a place on my iPad!) , a word doc with pictures and just good old notes app were all used and emailed to the person next to them. Some even put their notes in the Kindle app to save them.
The Grade 7's were emailed my iBook of the terms notes and its all go from Monday.
All in all a great week!
The process of loading and using apps, creating app and play store accounts and generally just getting going has been a slow but exciting process!
The amazing thing is how the kids have got on board, there is no fear for them when it comes to Tablet devices, to use a Steve Jobs Quote:
"Older people sit down and ask, 'What is it?' but the child asks, 'What can I do with it?'...
and boy have they asked a lot!
We spent the week downloading many of the apps I talked about last week, the kids have managed to find the best WiFi hotspots in the school and it's great to see them congregating around a teacher getting a new app.
More importantly though we have started using the devices in classes, in the latest lesson I asked the grade 6's to take notes of what I was teaching (Design and Technology - Structures), but allowed them to choose how to take these notes and which app they preferred to use. The variety astounded me. Key notes, sound recordings, mind maps, 'Haiku Deck' (A new app to me but one that now has a place on my iPad!) , a word doc with pictures and just good old notes app were all used and emailed to the person next to them. Some even put their notes in the Kindle app to save them.
The Grade 7's were emailed my iBook of the terms notes and its all go from Monday.
All in all a great week!
Monday, 21 January 2013
Week 2 2013 - Apps, Apps, Apps?
As the second week of the journey starts we are looking at appropriate apps for Tablets.
Most Students have opted for the iPad as their choice of device, however we do need to cater for the Android and Windows market. Just to note that the students are required to manage their own devices and apps.
As a school we believe in using the Tablets to create content and not as consumer devices and so we are recommending the following sorts of apps:-
There is also an iPad app called Pocket (read it later) that will allow students to view web content offline at home, I really hope the equivalent exists for Android or Slate, remembering the Windows Slate is still very new and we have started research on matching apps for these devices.
The most exciting part of all this is the excitement and ownership of the students, they are not only getting on board but are already finding, and using, alternatives that are cheaper or free.
Lets hope the excitement continues!
Most Students have opted for the iPad as their choice of device, however we do need to cater for the Android and Windows market. Just to note that the students are required to manage their own devices and apps.
As a school we believe in using the Tablets to create content and not as consumer devices and so we are recommending the following sorts of apps:-
| Type of App | iPad | Android |
| Presentation | Keynote | Quick Office |
| Word processing | Pages | Quick Office |
| Spreadsheet | Numbers | Quick Office |
| Movie making | iMovie | Movie Aid, AndroVid Video Trimmer |
| Mind mapping | Popplet | SimpleMind |
| Word clouds | Tag cloud | (Not sure) |
| Tracking apps | Find my iPhone | Prey |
| Annotation | Good notes, notability, skitch | Skitch |
| Browser | Safari, Chrome | Chrome |
| File Sharing | Dropbox, Box, iFiles | Dropbox, Box |
| Research | Qwiki, HowStuffWorks | TellMeAbout, HowStuffWorks |
| Books | iBooks, Kindle | Kindle |
| Drawing/Writing | Bamboo Paper | Bamboo Paper |
There is also an iPad app called Pocket (read it later) that will allow students to view web content offline at home, I really hope the equivalent exists for Android or Slate, remembering the Windows Slate is still very new and we have started research on matching apps for these devices.
The most exciting part of all this is the excitement and ownership of the students, they are not only getting on board but are already finding, and using, alternatives that are cheaper or free.
Lets hope the excitement continues!
Tuesday, 15 January 2013
Week 1 2013
This week we are asking teachers and students about appropriate use of Tablets in a classroom or school.
My thoughts on this topic range from 'free-range' to quite controlled. I do however want these devices to become ubiquitous, as if they were never not there. I love the potential they have to stimulate and entertain, to allow kids to create and own their knowledge and to allow them to share their creations.
What do you see as the most important aspect of Tablets in the classroom?
If you had to write one rule to give a Grade of Students what would it be?
For me I hope the strongest 'rule' I have to set is that the Students must remember that the Tablet is a tool and not the be all and end all of Education, it needs to be used in conjunction with books, pens, paper and all the 'traditional' education tools.
Please feel free to comment and share.
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