eLearning Infusion

We are about four weeks into our school wide move to Google apps and the move is still seemingly smooth.

One minor complaint has been the lack of an alert sound when new mail arrives, as one would get when using a mail client such as Mail. A quick web search solved this problem and by installing Google Notifier, not only do you get a new email alert sound, but a small window opens to inform you who it is from and a gives you a preview of the message. It is actually very good if you are sitting and working at your computer, but if you are like me and most of your day is spent in the classroom with students it serves little purpose… However, it also allows you to set your default email client as Gmail which is a neat feature so that clicking on an email link opens a new web-based Gmail.

The other issue I am trying to solve is around the scan to email function on our Konica Minolta copier. This was an oversight by me and it wasn’t until after our switch and people wanted to scan items that the problem arose. So I spent an hour trying to problem solve this today, religiously following the manual step by step with no luck. I will try the help desk tomorrow.  A little frustrating as I though I had thought of every angle. While it is possible to scan to our server via FTP, scanning to email is the preferred option. Any ideas on how to get this working successfully would be great!

Finally, last week we had one of our iTips PD sessions on Gmail. iTips are our main form of elearning professional development and are optional short burst of learning after school for about 45 minutes. About half the staff attended, some coming with an open mind, willing to be sold the Gmail concept. Most left happy, especially after we had imported their existing Address Book (using A to G) and when they understood the whole Google Gears offline access, filtering and labelling of emails and the chat/video chat functions. Some of the Labs projects also opened up a whole new world of possibilities.

However, some still ask, “So why is Gmail better?” or, “Why did we need to change?”

I will try and cover this more comprehensively in my next post.

The past couple of weeks has brought about some major changes to way we are administering our email and calendering systems within our school. We have taken the step to switch our email over from being administered on our own server to the convenience and power of the mighty Google.

The switch happened seamlessly, only requiring a phone call to Inspire to change our MX records to point to Google not to our school’s server. Everything else was completed online, and once Inspire flicked the switch over our Gmail was up and running within a couple of hours once the domain name change had propagated around the globe. After Google had authenticated us as an educational institute, which took about 10 days, we were upgraded to the Education Edition and now have add free services, more comprehensive admin features and the ability to create and manage 100′s of users, all for zero cost. It is very easy to administer the services and like any Google product, there are discussion forums on any conceivable problem you may encounter.

The change has meant some new learning for staff as they have shifted from using Apple’s Mail, to the web based Gmail. Email addresses have remained the same. Those already using Gmail welcomed the transition but others, as with anything new, questioned the need to do it. Managing this change is always the key to making it work.

So why did we change? Here are some of the key reasons.

• Google apps becomes a one stop shop for school admin. Our existing set-up was a mish mash of systems that meant going to a variety of places to view calendars, check email, shared contacts, chat, video conference, book facilities etc. Google apps gives us that under one log in.
• Anytime anywhere access. While previously available, the ease of the new system makes the old method seem very clunky.
• Collaboration! Collaboration! Collaboration! The Google Apps package is built around the notion of sharing, participation and working together.

The one disappointment I have with the Google Apps package is that Google Reader is not part of the service. To access this, you needs to have a separate Google account. Having Reader as part of this service would really make it the hub for all your professional learning network needs. I would also love to see Google’s Custom Search function put in the package.

The biggest challenge I can see is the dependence of staff on using Word or Pages to create documents and then emailing them as attachments to the recipients. While there will always be a need to do this, a huge amount of this documentation can more simple be shared with users. This is a huge change in thinking and approaching how information is shared and worked on among multiple users. Something to keep modeling throughout the school.

The good news for me and my students is that I have been given the go ahead to order a couple of iPod touches for enhancing the learning in my class. I am really excited to be given the opportunity to trial these great little mobile devices and integrate them into all facets of teaching and learning.

The problem is that when I did go to order them through the RED online store, they had none in stock and in fact had 1195 on back order!

Amazing! An online educational store with that many on back order. There must be some kind of touch movement I not aware of…

Stayed tuned for many more posts on how the year progresses integrating these mobile devices into our learning, once they arrive.

With the beginning of the new school year approaching, my interest in using mobile technologies for learning, especially so the iPod Touch, is starting to really take hold. Although I do not, apart from my personal iPod, have access to this technology for my students (yet… right David?!) to use I am investigating new apps and uses for the technology.

My most recent playing around has been with Animoto’s new iPhone/iPod Touch app which allows users to create Animoto slideshows direct from their device.

While the iPod does not have a camera to capture images to use in a slideshow, you can use any image stored on the iPod. This includes photos synced from your computer or any image saved from the Internet direct to your device. This is where I see the real potential for this app on the iPod.

The movie below was created 100% on the iPod. By simply saving images of frogs and toads (let’s assume a child is undertaking an inquiry on them…) and using the Animoto app, the movies was created and is easily embeddable in a blog or wiki.

Great fun and so easy. Motivating. Engaging. Students could complete this at the beginning of a unit of work to get them thinking about the topic or at the end to show a understanding or new knowledge. Artist studies, personal interests, curiosities… anything…

The third and final workshop presentation for the North Street, Roslyn and Ashurst School EHSAS conference.

Presentation to support workshop and the Ashurst, North Street and Roslyn EHSAS cluster conference.

I have been asked to present some thoughts about what it means to be literate today to an EHSAS cluster conference involving Ashurst, North Street and Roslyn schools from the Manawatu.

The presentation is not designed to provide a list of what is required to be literate in the 21st Century but instead to prompt thought and discussions regarding some of the trends and issues in educating students today all based loosely on what it could mean to be ‘literate’.

I remember a discussion we had on the eFellow forum about this very topic. One can argue that there are no skills or literacies specific to the 21st Century learner. I agree with this to the better part and my main message to come out of the presentation (hopefully) is that we do need to change how we teach to incorporate new technologies and existing literacies that will enhance the ability to create and share new knowledge and understanding. This blend will effectively set our students up for success.

Better explained by the experts, as in the CISCO publication, Equipping Every Learner for the 21st Century (PDF link) describes:

…a key component is the integration of technologies that can fuel new forms of teaching and learning, nurture 21st century skills, and prepare learners for participation in the global economy of this century.

Thanks to Greg, who posted this video.

We-think: mass innovation, not mass production. Certainly thought provoking.

Ideas take life when they are shared…

How do we earn a living when everyone is freely sharing their ideas?

In the past you were what you owned…. now you are what you share…

We Think is a book written by Charles Leadbeater and the first 3 chapters can be downloaded here.

This month the PEN (Principal’s Electronic Network) is hosting a forum on ePortfolios. I have been invited to join in this discussion and initiate the forum discussion.

It is always difficult to write an initial forum post that leads on to effective discussion about the topic. How long should it be? Should you play the devil’s advocate? Do you just state the facts as we know them now? How much crystal balling should you do?

If you have any answers, let me know. Otherwise here is my initial post designed to be the starting point for an ongoing discussion about eportfolios.

The NZ Curriculum “…gives schools the flexibility to design and deliver programmes that will engage all students and offer them appropriate learning pathways.”

The document further describes effective pedagogy and assessment, recognises parents as key partners, encourages elearning to open up new opportunities, and promotes student engagement in their learning.

My suggestion is that the eportfolio is able to provide the container that will capture the essence of a learning programme that caters for all of these features.

While the traditional portfolio focused on best examples of work to be showcased, the modern eportfolio, with its ability to network learners, integrate the best of Web 2.0 and show the process of learning, focuses more on supporting learners by being an integral component in the learning process.

How are you connecting learners, parents and teachers? How are you capturing feedback before, during and after learning? How are you facilitating learners in reflecting on and sharing learning through multimedia? How are you allowing learners to collect examples of their learning in an environment similar to what they use as part of their out of school networking?

The eportfolio makes this possible. It supports effective learning, assessment and elearning as described in the NZ Curriculum. It involves parents in the learning process and most importantly, engages students. Far from being a current buzzword in education, the eportfolio is an essential component that links the essential strands of learning together.

Toni Twiss, another 2008 eFellow, has started a discussion thread on the Vodafone NZ Corporate Responsibility Forum. The forum is based on the question, “How might access to mobile technologies impact education in the future?”

He is my initial response to the discussion. Why don’t you add yours?

Information literacy, as you have clearly stated, is a highy important skill and increasingly so as access to and information itself grows at an alarming rate. The ability to carry around in your pocket a device where access to the web, the ability to share and network information is right there, further highlights the need for students to have the skills necessary to make sense of these resources.

The quoted text, “that teachers currently give the information out to students that they have already deemed to be correct. There is not authentic context requiring students to critique information” concerns me greatly, especially if it is more than just a generalisation and the majority of teachers really do still churn out information for students to consume.

When Jane Gilbert, from the NZCER, talks about the different types of knowing she discusses how knowing what, is far less important than knowing how, who or why. If we relate this to information literacy one could argue that while the information is important, students must know how to find, sort and analyse, know who they can utilise or ask for assistance, and know why this information is required, before the content, or the what beomes useful.

Teachers, as stated, ultimately hold the key to enabling information literate students. As Suzie mentions, guiding students through the process of inquiry or research to teach them the skills is an absolute must before they are let free. I great site I have used is this one to help facilitate a small part of this process.

While the abilty of mobile technologies allow students to access the flood of information any time, any place, any where, I see the an equally exciting potential of mobile technologies in sharing information as well. MOSEP (2007), describe how these devices support the idea that “…students can literally carry their eportfolio around with them and update it at any time in any place.”

This is something that really interests me. A small moblie device than can access learning, share the process and celebrate student achievement, as well as record feedback and reflections to improve learning. Exciting stuff especially when you combine that with this type of development.

Mobile technologies offer some really exciting posibilities for both accessing and sharing information. But as you have stated Toni, it needs to be guided by effective pedagogy first as well as teachers experiencing and understanding the ways that their studetns are finding and networking their own information.