Ideas from the keynote speakers
On Thursday 1st December Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes asked the question "Why haven’t classrooms changed more?". It was taken as read that change is needed. Her proposal came in three main points:
1. Digital literacy needs to be central to the curriculum.
2. Full range of central funding and support.
3. Digital literacy needs to engage all.
As far as this concerns Eiran aikuislukio the third point is probably the most valid, the question should be are we doing enough to engage staff and students with new ways of using IT both in and out of the classroom.
Peter Nowak author of Sex, Bombs and Burgers also emphasized how new technologies make learning easier and how this means we need to modify traditional attitudes to learning. His answer was to consider knowledge in a more entrepreneurial way. Not so much in the idea of profit, but that we should consider knowledge in terms of utility.
John Bohannon talked on “Without Wikipedia and Google I am Stupid” or the democractic creation of content and the ability to search it. He suggested that the google effect does not mean we are dumber but rather more effective given that use of transactive memory makes us better at remembering where data is stored than the data itself.
I can’t remember if it was Bohannon or Jeff Borden who suggested the use of Head Magnet to help us remember things.
Borden of Pearson emphasized a Tell Show Do Ask approach to teaching. He stressed that it is important to measure the confidence with which we know things. Successful student are the ones that see an assessment and know that they will do well.
On Friday 2nd December Ruth Martinez stressed the importance of asking and answering why questions. So, ask “Why do I need to use ICT?” or “What are my objectives?” before moving to how questions.
Douglas Thomas of Annenberg University noted that the key feature of google, amazon etc is that participation changes the experience for others eg. What news the user sees, what price the user pays, what search results are seen. He noted that while the model of education efficiency in transfer teaching is about content, learning is about context. He suggested that an effective learning environment is one that is unlimited on the inside and bounded on the outside, unflatteringly like a petri-dish. Context for Thomas is all about world building, allowing students to construct their own realities, his analogy her was with fantasy worlds and science fiction. Finally Thomas noted how web 2.0 changes social interaction from taking place in communities to taking place in collectives. Social collectives being rapidly formed and fluid.
Alaisdair Cameron of ITS Learning suggested that polls, online discussions, self assessed quizzes formative assessment and feedback need to be effectively built into all courses. One model was where students set goals for themselves at start of course these goals can then form the basis of feedback through the course.
A list of products and projects which may be interesting:
I have contact cards if we are interested.
aNewSpring-learning environment liked the pricing system
Blackboard Mobile Apps – For mobile learning
Cartoon Movement – For a future integration course
EuroClio: European Association of History Educators developing a portal called historiana
FabLabs – To watch for the future
International Virtual Learning: Online Cultural Exchange Programmes
ITS Learning – Learning Environment
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