May 24 2008
May 23 2008
links for 2008-05-23
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Oooh look at the new XO design – do you think it is an improvement…
May 18 2008
Ultranet – School Management Vs E-learning Platforms…
Well my current school is currently fully involved in the selection process of buying/developing a learning platform. It is interesting after so many years running my own class/department based learning platforms how different and complex the process is for most often obvious reasons due to scale and number of stakeholders involved.
It does beg Siemens questions whether a whole Learner Management System could inhibit learning and flexibility. But it must also be questioned how technology enthusiasts do not bring equality of access to these types of learner systems. So even if I am providing social networks, blogs, wikis, video streaming/ sharing websites, moodle courses that this is only for a specific set of students within specific subject areas.
There are so many systems out there I wonder what views anyone has as to their ability to deliver a good learning platform for a school. I know all the Moodle arguments and discussions, but I wonder past Open Source envangelists what system might be best. Below are some that the school might be viewing for tender to see how their systems can fulfill the schools requirements.
If anyone has any experience of any of these systems, please leave a comment. After initial viewing and consultation I hope to get students involved in the process so I am specifically interested in student interaction with the above learning platforms.
May 15 2008
links for 2008-05-15
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Learn and experiment with science in Second Life…
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Wow-what are the social and ethical issues related to this new technology?
May 10 2008
The Wonders of Collaborative Problem Solving and Sharing…
It’s strange but it still amazes me today, how wonderfully giving and collaborative the web community is. Here are few of the recent examples in which the larger community helped:-
- Recently I have come across problems with using Woopra on OSX and thanks to Jeff McCord was able to sort out the not insubstantial problems with Java on OSX. Note all the problems are worth it when you come to using Woopra as it is a great tool, and with a little more development will challenge Google Analytics crown.
- The flash uploader HTTP error problem on the new WordPress 2.5 installation was another incredibly annoying problem, and one even more weird due to the uploader working on Mac OSX browsers but not through Windows. Again through searching the community I was able to find a solution, straight away rather than have to wait for a fix through a new version of WordPress itself.
- The above problem also led me to have to find out how to create a .htaccess file, which had always been a mysterious file that my shared server provider had hidden from me. The revelation that it was only a text file and I could add these to the roots of particular installations and folders to control any Apache server problems was great.
Why this post, about these problems being solved by communities – does it have any relation to education. Most definitely and although obvious the communities of practice on the web demonstrate the power of Wenger’s theories so well. But within a traditional educational context I have still striggled to show students how important this way of learning and helping others to learn is. However much my classes use weblogs, wikis and social network based tools like Magnify I am still unsure that I am getting this message across very well. I wonder if anyone else is having more success within secondary schools not at the use of communities of practice online but laying the foundations within your students of how these communities are very powerful learning systems?
May 3 2008
OLPC/XO – Review Part 2
After my initial review, I decided as a few other bloggers have done to place the XO laptop in the hands of some students to see what there views were. Some initial comments from students were from two viewpoints. Those that had seen or heard me discussing this laptop as one for third world children and so were able to see that this was not a laptop to be viewed in competition with for example a MacBook. And those that did not really understand the principles behind the laptop and so asked questions such as how big is the hard-drive, or where is the DVD drive to play movies.
The lower school IT teacher, very much a Linux Guru, loved playing with the XO however he had many reservations as to its security and features. The Firefox browser that is embedded within the OS of the laptop, does confuse and still however we tried we were unable to alter the proxy settings which is inhibiting our ability to connect to the network at school.
Hopefully as part of a review of the curriculum especially at IB level I will be able to include areas related to the Digital Divide and maybe its importance within world development today.
After some initial comments one student volunteered to review the laptop in more detail, so read his viewpoints below (note name of student has been deleted for internet saftey reasons):-
My name is (*********) and I am doing a review on the XO laptop. I am 13 years old and go to ACS Egham International School. The XO laptop was created for the poor people of Africa to be used as a communicational device for them to contact people of the World. It is also an educational device for children in 3rd world countries and schools in remote places where they have no electricity as it can run on a crank or Solar panel. It is able to run on simple Solar panels as this laptop runs on approximately 1 watt of electricity and this makes it very ‘green’ for the environment. Typical laptops use much more energy in order to run.
When I did the review on the XO laptop I found that it was easy to open the laptop and start it as the ‘On’ button is clearly marked. I found it confusing to navigate as the symbols were not as clearly marked or distinguishable as on most modern laptops. This may have been because it is different to the Windows Operating system in layout and the XO has several basic screens. The XO laptop has good WiFi communication ability as it can pick up almost all Wireless networks in my experience.
The XO laptop was designed to be very tough and robust physically as it is intended for use in dusty, hot climates where it may be dropped or damaged easily. Some of the features on this laptop are quite good as the screen can turn around whilst running and it even has a camera. The ports are protected by extra plastic. I was requested to test the Paint software and found this easy to follow and understand.
I tested opening a Pdf document and found this to be hard and complicated. Exactly the right formats were required in order to open the Pdf file for reading and use. When I created a piece of music in Tam Tam, I found it fun and inventive but confusing because I am not used to the software. I have however, previously created music on a Mac so am used to the concept of creating music if not the Tam Tam approach.
I think the ‘XO’ is a nice idea as it is a laptop available to all and for every purchase, a laptop is sent to places in Africa where communication is currently limited, ie schools etc,. The principle of distributing laptops in Africa opens up the World to the people in more remote places of the Globe. I believe the XO laptop could be a good learning aid for underprivileged children and adults.
Apr 28 2008
Woopra + Theme Update to TMA with Widgets
The world of free tools and especially analytical tools just got a whole lot richer with the introduction of Woopra. After the initial wow factor of Google Analytics over a period of time I found the tool, difficult to use and limited in what it was telling me. This is not the case with Woopra which gives so many options and actually enables you to view live readings of who is visiting your site. You can even instant message that person through the browser.
It did take a while to get approved for the Woopra Beta, but definitely worth it. There were a few problems with using the client on a Mac without the beta Java download, but thanks to Metaphoric Labs its pretty easy to set up so it works.
The time has come to also improve this weblogs theme, as there has been an update to This Morning After. There is not alot of difference apart from the addition of using widgets, but whatever the purists say this is a much easier way of editing the look and feel of your weblog. As always this transition will happen over the next week, so expect a few issues as I update the theme – but hopefully not too many!
Apr 25 2008
John Abbott’s Talk – Action Now?
John Abbott president of the 21st Century Learning Initiative and Director of the Education 2000 Trust, came my school recently to lecture both the students and also all teachers. I was fortunate to be able to go to both lectures/discussions one that was for Grade 9 students and obviously the one for teachers at the end of a long school day.
The most immediate feeling that came from him related to the urgency that was needed for the younger generation of today to take action against many of the larger issues that are happening today. Weirdly relfecting in some ways the latest TED talk I have discussed recently by Al Gore. John however focused on how Education in many ways is failing our students and not giving the freedom to become creative and thoughtful problem solvers. The quotation he led on was “Battery Hens or Free Range Chickens? What Kind of Education for What Kind of World?” and led onto the definition of ‘learning as a consequence of thinking’.
In some ways obvious but interesting statements as often as an Information Technology /Design Technology teacher the aim is always for students to explore problems and through a process/ method come up with creative and thoughtful solutions. That is what our subject is about, but often when given the time constraints of a curriculum the problems become artificial and the solutions very similar and regulated. The way a secondary school works that a student goes from class to class, ruled by a bell not allowing for flexibility almost impinges on how a student can develop these skills.
As suggested thoug maybe the ideals of a more flexible more generous education are easiest to discuss, than to actually put into practice within any regimented school? Anyway enough from me I have included a link to the John Abbott Slides he has published from the talk, and I recommend you check out his website for further information – 21st Century Learning.
Apr 18 2008
links for 2008-04-18
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Could you live without a computer for just one day….aaarrrghhhhh
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In case you wanted to read further into the wonderful world of TWITTER
Apr 10 2008
TED – Al Gore’s Impressive Talk…
Slightly off my normal posts, but as did the first Al Gore talk on Climate Change his recent talk at TED 2008 has moved me just as much, but also made me shall we say a little despondent.
Al Gore as ever is an eloquent and incredibly convincing speaker, that has done so much to bring the truth of climate change onto the discussion table. I remember showing the first talk over two years ago, in my school in Egypt and watching a small group of students become incredibly involved in the issues. BUT what has happened over those few years seems very little. My return to English life has led me to want to at least do simple things like recycling, all political discussion shows that this would be easy that the council collections would be wonderful. Hmm…after trying out Runnymede’s recycling collections which are both erratic, and then stop if one item that is not on their list (e.g. they only collect paper and glass bottles) then they say your box has been contaminated and stop collecting.
So to stop my impending doom, I suggest the one thing that can be done is to show Al Gore’s latest video in all of our schools. To continue the fight, and maybe there will be less rhetoric and more actual constructive action on the parts of those in positions of power.
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