Collabor8 4 Change at BETT 2012

November 30, 2011

We had a fantastic three hours at Collabor8 4 Change at Havering on the 17th November. Variety is the spice of life, so with 56 topics to choose from in total, everyone was catered for. To give you a flavour of the event, below is a selection of the talks and discussions featured. Now, if you are feeling really devastated that you were not able to be there, we have two bits of good news.

Found on the web: 11/28/2011 (a.m.)

November 28, 2011

5 Social Networking Mistakes To Avoid | Write NonFiction in November

tags: ifttt delicious networking wkh facebook publishing marketing blogging via:zite Writing

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Found on the web: 11/25/2011 (a.m.)

November 25, 2011

Learning with 'e's: A convenient untruth

Good analysis of the myth of learning styles. Wheeler argues that a lack of critical evaluation of theory (or, in this case, what I would call "conventional wisdom") is the teacher's biggest enemy.

tags: ifttt delicious education learningstyles teaching pedagogy via:zite ictined
How to Turn Your iPad Into the Ultimate Writing Tool | iPad.AppStorm

interesting round-up of apps for writing on an iPad.

tags: ifttt delicious wkh ictined

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

What do walls mean to you?

November 23, 2011

Here's a nice blast from the (not-too-distant) past:

Walls

Found on the web: 11/22/2011 (p.m.)

November 22, 2011

Marisa Constantinides – TEFL Matters - A Little & Often: Integrating Technology on Teacher Development Courses

Interesting approach to encouraging teachers to use technology in their teaching, specifically Web 2.0. It is similar to what some teachers told me about how they encourage their colleagues to use interactive whiteboards more effectively, whilst I was doing research for an article recently.

tags: ifttt delicious teaching education elearning educationtechnology via:zite Ictined

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

An experiment with randomly-generated links

November 21, 2011

I’m currently experimenting with a random link generator called Outbrain. You can see this by looking at the footer of each article and (somewhat annoyingly, I have to say), the article summaries on the front page or some of them at least. I’m interested in whether it enhances the visitor’s experience by providing suggestions for other articles on the ICT in Education website. That’s what I’m hoping, of course, but it could prove to be an irritant.

Blogging by email via a phone

November 15, 2011

Blogging by phone is not ideal under normal circumstances, but is a good way of quickly updating your blog when you need to.

2 days to go, 1 day to go

November 15, 2011

Reading with interactive books; digital leaders; hacking; games in schools; video-conferencing; future-gazing; theft-prevention.

Found on the web: 11/14/2011 (a.m.)

November 14, 2011

Blogging and tweeting as a collaborative writing engagement

Interesting ideas here, including use of a projector. I like the way the class is enjoying the work of other schools, and the way they collaborate in their responses.

tags: blogging Tweeting collaborative writing

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

The importance of not being nice

November 10, 2011

The trouble with being too nice when commenting on something is that sometimes the underlying message just doesn’t get through. This applies whether you’re looking at students’ work, observing trainee teachers or evaluating a school’s ICT provision.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not advocating going in guns blazing, being really negative or thoroughly obnoxious. But if you don’t point out the shortcomings in whatever it is you’re looking at – or, at least, ask the sort of questions that will lead them to realise them for themselves – then really you’re not being nice, you’re being dishonest.

Are there benefits in having an unread blog?

November 9, 2011

Most people who blog about their profession (as opposed to, say, people who are keeping a journal for their own records or for their family and friends) like the idea of lots of people reading their blogs. But are there any advantages to having a blog that nobody reads?

Planning an ICT Co-ordinators' Day

November 8, 2011

If you're in the process of planning an ICT (Technology) Co-ordinators' Day -- or really any other kind of similar event -- then this article from 2 years ago should help.

If this, then that

November 7, 2011

Here’s a web application that’s potentially very useful. IFTTT lets you create your own automated actions using a range of social networking tools. I’ve been messing around with it only for about an hour, so I haven’t thoroughly explored all it has to offer, but already I can see it will prove to have been an excellent investment in time.

The logic of the way it works is as follows:

Found on the web: 11/06/2011 (p.m.)

November 6, 2011

Artificial intelligence: Difference Engine: Luddite legacy | The Economist

interesting article about the economic effects of technological change

tags: ifttt delicious Technological change economics robots differenceengine ludditefallacy productivity via:zite Ictined

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Why Schools Cannot Ignore Web 2.0

November 4, 2011

Here are 4 posts from about 18 months ago dealing with why schools cannot ignore Web 2.0.

A Bullet Point Mentality

November 2, 2011

The bullet points or the short video have to come at the end of the learning process, not the beginning. Bullet points at the beginning are a substitute for understanding rather than an expression of it.

Ask the expert

November 1, 2011

What can a Zen outlook teach us about educational ICT?

Recent book reviews

From EdTech to PedTech (full review)

Those of us who have held responsibility for embedding digital technology across a school will all have tales of well-meaning management who, frankly, didn’t have a clue.

Review: The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper

Who would have thought that a material as commonplace as paper could have such a rich history and profound effect on our lives?

Review: Once upon a prime

As someone who had little in the way of mathematical prowess at school, I initially opened Prime with some trepidation.

Review: First Year Teaching

This is the guide I wish I’d had when I started teaching.

Review: From EdTech to PedTech (excerpt)

Those of us who have held responsibility for embedding digital technology across a school will all have tales of well-meaning management who, frankly, didn’t have a clue.

Technicians – The David Sainsbury Gallery at the Science Museum: full review

Should you ever find yourself in the unlikely circumstance of having to choose between me administering medication or waiting for a paramedic, my advice would be to wait.

Review: A Little History of Music by Robert Philip (YUP)

I asked the AI module built in to Squarespace to write a paragraph on why music is relevant to teachers of Computing. Here’s what it said…

Review: The Liars of Nature and the nature of liars: Cheating and deception in the living world

The key question at the heart of this book is perhaps this – if honesty is the best policy, why is dishonesty so rife in nature?

Quick look: From EdTech to PedTech

Academics tend to write learned articles that, I suspect, are read mainly by other academics, so anything that can translate some of that research into practical advice is to be welcomed.

Review: Sensational: A new story of our senses, by Ashley Ward

Research apparently shows we may actually have up to 50 senses, and even that figure isn’t universally agreed upon.