I’m ready to fail … but excited by the prospect

Reflections of the Festival of Learning 2012

My brain is hurting after 2 full days of mixing it with some of the best and most innovative teaching professionals around this weekend in Sydney.

It was with enormous excitement that we all sat down to the first keynote – Adam Elliot of Harvey Krumpet fame. He definitely set the tone of the event – fun, imagination and vision. Adam and other successful animators are people I am constantly talking to my students about when they are tackling a creative task and trying something new with technology – think big and follow your passions. I always have in the back of my mind that when I’m introducing my students to techniques such as animation and film-making that I might have a budding Adam Elliot somewhere in front of me. It was amazing to hear his story of his Oscar nomination and award – so inspiring!

It was then down to business…..with so much choice over the two days – it was a difficult decision about where to head to start my 2 day learning journey. The Everest Theatre space was a-buzz and filling up so I took up a front row seat for “There’s an app for that”. We were treated to a fabulous range of speakers presenting short bites packed full of great take-aways, practical tips and advice for going mobile. I’ve now got a bunch of new apps to investigate this week including: Demibooks Composer (interactive ebook creator) Haiku Deck, Scribble Press, Video Star, Sock Puppets, Photofunia and ibuild (app making software). It was reassuring also to see teachers recommending apps that I have already considered including Skitch, Creative book builder, Popplet, Explain everything, Educreations and iMovie. Greg Alchin’s insight into the assistive capabilities really did show the versatility of mobile devices for all.

Through the day I explored the PLANE website – building relationships with teachers met during the day, investigating the different tools and looking at the possibilities for further professional development once the festival was over.

The theme of risk-taking was addressed by Dr Sarah Howard in the closing keynote for the day. This concept is one PYP educators are familiar with and one that is particularly relevant as I now contemplate the road ahead with technology back at my school. This keynote was an omen of what I was to reflect on during Day 2.

Over the last few years I have been on safe ground with a familiar with a range of tools, comfortable with desktop and laptop computers, increasingly better internet connections and wifi, web 2.0 tools and their possibilities and our easing into working in social spaces. Day 2 proved to be the ‘game-changer’, literally. Opting to head downstairs into the basement spaces for “Permission to Play”, I was ready to be impressed and a little daunted by what I saw and heard about. We’ve dabbled in Kodu and I’ve talked with students and teachers on and off about the possibilities of Minecraft and we’ve created games using 2DIY (2simple software) – however I was blown away by the work being done by Lucas Gillespie with Portal 2 and other game platforms, Bronwyn Stuckey and Quest Atlantis and Kate Booth (pre-service teacher) who presented on Sim on a Stick. This will be where my spectacular failure will begin. Not being a native gamer, its time to muscle up, have some fun, fail dismally and see the possibilities for my students in the game space and the virtual world. I knew it was coming, I’m unprepared, but I’m excited and ready to fail in order to excite.

Game on! 

Dr Jason Fox's closing comments and wrap up gave me permission to feel daunted, suggested the space to think, reflect and dream and allowed us to feel good about what's ahead - all in a set of beautifully crafted conference doodles.

I’m feeling a bit the same as when I was first introduced to Web 2.0 at a conference in Singapore in 2006 – completely energized by the possibilities. So what will be my 4 priorities over the rest of this term and into 2013?

• ·      Bed down the productivity and creative apps we want in our initial ipad roll out
• ·      Investigate the possibilities of virtual worlds and quest based learning by signing up to a Quest Atlantis teacher training session and check out Sim on a Stick as a starter to working in VW’s and approach some teachers who might be willing to take a risk
• ·      Look seriously at Minecraft and Portal 2 and get a little practice in!
• ·      Move forward with my PLANE journey
• ·      Excite my teachers to coming along for the ride

A HUGE thank you to PLANE, the generous fellow teachers who presented, my twitter network who showed friendship during the 2 days and my new network buddies, I’m looking forward to following you in the future – it was a brilliant 2 days.

My Random Top 5 iPad Apps for Learning

The exciting thing about the iPad (and indeed any tablet brand) is the proliferation of Apps that have uses in the classroom. The Apps I like the best are open ended and creative, assist critical thinking or collaboration and excite students to stretch their imagination.

This is my current Top 5. This will change as more Apps become available and are shared by educators around the world.

1) Aurasma. This App provides the potential to create and share an interactive learning environment. A little bit Harry Potter - a little bit QR code - Aurasma connects an image with a recorded video. The potential for educational applications is unlimited. Students can record their responses to books, talk about photographs or works of art, discuss historic events or describe a scientific principle. The student 'voice' is revealed via iPhone or iPad.

2) Skitch. This one's been around for a while but I like the interface Skitch offers. A nice feature is the inbuilt capture tool - take a photo in the App and immediately start annotating. All the tools are here - cropping, drawing, arrows, shapes. It all integrates with Evernote as well as sending via email or twitter. Students and teachers alike can share thinking, brainstorm ideas or just have plain fun with photos and other images.

3) Puppet Pals. This one's been a huge hit with the educational community and I can see why. Puppet Pals is a creative way to present stories - storyboard, create characters, and develop speaking and listening skills. The free version comes with several backgrounds and actors, the paid version allows for a more diverse selection of characters and backgrounds. You can even create your own. Its such fun and so engaging. Students love to see themselves as part of the action!

4) Faces iMake. This is a bit of fun and is hugely creative. It comes in a Lite version for iPhone, and a paid version for iPad. Remember Mr Potatohead? Well this App allows your imagine to run wild with vegies and other objects. Create unique faces, landscapes, objects, animals and share with the world via Facebook or email. Have students create a collage of a character in a novel or an historical figure, design their own self portrait or create a fantasy landscape in which to set their own stories.

5) Screen Chomp. Flipping your classroom? Screen chomp is an easy to use (and free!) recordable whiteboard. Show Me is a similar App. It has a multiple applications - as an assessment tool, as part of a digital portfolio, or as a record of your explanations that can be played over and over. Record on the whiteboard and narrate at the same time.

Boys and Technology Conference 2011: 5 take Aways, 10 Tweets and 3 videos

5 take-aways from the Boys and Technology Conference 2011

1) Teachers in 2025
Teaching may be very different in 2025. This is the year that next year’s K students will be graduating. It will also be the end of the first quarter of the 21st century. Those of us who believe in the skills and values of 21st century learning will be hoping that this framework is entirely embedded in our curricula; students and teachers involved in different types of learning – both face to face and online. But the sense of community a school brings will still be important – a community of learners with teachers as the facilitators of knowledge gathering and synthesis, innovation and creativity – empowerment through ICT enhanced student-led learning. Teachers do not need to be the expert, rather be able to assist students to manoeuvre the vast arrays of information out there. Quality teachers will still be important as coaches of life skills and inspiration to their students.
What we need to be increasingly aware of is the safe and responsible use of the internet for students. The digital and mobile world poses challenges for teachers and students that need addressing. The ability for future employees to Google the digital presence of an applicant means that students need to be directed in safe and appropriate behaviour online.
Teachers working in collaborative teams should be a feature of how we work not just for planning but also for teaching. This is a preferred model for Steven Harris from NBCS, the power of many rather than one to excite and engage learners working independently and in groups.

2) What needs to Change
Currently the average age of teachers in Australia is 48. In the next 14 years most of those teachers will not be teaching. Steven Harris believes that there are 10 key factors that need to change to promote the skills and support educators.
• A shared vision
• Intuition
• Risk-taking
• Collaboration
• teamwork
• Creativity
• Edbed ideas
• Action
• Lots of PD
• Creative curriculum models


3) Schools in the 21st century
Restructuring of school staff, particular management structures to reflect new ways of teaching and learning will be paramount to the success of a 21st century learning environment. Professional development of teachers is also a big ticket item for schools expecting their teachers to shift to new learning models – the support is vital. ICT features but there will be a move to a BYOD (bring your own device) model and ICT needs to be seen as the tool NOT the driver of the learning.
Schools need to change – the salutary tale of Borders (Steven Harris) is a warning to all institutions that we cannot keep teaching and learning in the old factory / industrial models of the past but look to a future educational paradigm that engages students and prepares them for a future that we cannot predict.
Learning spaces will require more flexibility for different styles of learning and enhance group work and collaboration as well as support the use of technology (in all its forms).

4) Technology as an empowering tool for all
The proliferation of the mobile device – the iPad or Android tablet, the smart phone, the iTouch, various recording devices and portable video has meant that learning can take many forms and be tailored to the learner’s special needs or preferred learning styles.
Apps for the iPad are numbering 425,000 and growing. The power of being able to find (or create) an app that suits a particular needs is extraordinary in range and capability. Assistive technology is one area that has benefitted from the growth of mobile devices and speech driven software for example is useful for many students that face learning challenges.
There are apps for the management of learning, organisation, collaboration, independent learning, communication and creativity. Using these tools helps us to create new models of learning, re-thinking teaching.
The trick is to use these apps as a tool to facilitate learning, discovery, creativity and innovation and as a place to organise learning to save time and manage.
It is however a cautionary tale. Distraction is a major issue, especially with boys using mobile technology. We all know how easily it is once a mobile device is in your hands to experiment and get off task and its no different in a classroom situation. The quality of the teaching and integration of the use of the device must be carefully targeted.
Mobile devices such as the ipad have a real place in the delivery of epublishing and an advantage can certainly be seen once there is a good availability of text and other books to download. The portability, the ability to copy and paste text, highlight and make notes etc means that the text becomes more easily manipulated, portable and available.
Mash-ups are the future of learning – the ability for a variety of delivery methods to students via video, audio, text and image and also students doing their own mashing up of content to create and innovate new knowledge.


5) Learning Spaces
During the conference several providers of technology equipment were available to chat to and there were a couple of really exciting products that would enhance any learning environment.
Video conferencing
Digital microscopes
Digital measuring equipment
Tables with short throw IWBs
To name a few….
After the conference I dropped in for a quick visit to the RM Education Real(Re-thinking Education and Learning) learning centre for a tour. The set up there is one that is designed to provoke discussion and debate about how an integrated approach to design, furniture and technology can extend teaching and learning opportunities. The space is divided into zones:
• Mobile presentation and discussion
• Collaboration
• Creativity and Media
• Individual
• Explore

Ths space is perfect for inquiry learning, collaboration and creativity. It is a rich 21st century learning environment that incorporates a range of technologies from green screen video recording set up to digital microscopes, a write on wall space using ideas paint, listening and speaking equipment and interactive white boards. Inspiring spaces that epitomise 21st century learning in action.

My top 10 tweets from the conference

• Education occurs when you ask what sort of society do you want? What sort of people do you want? (Gardner)
• By 2025 we need to change the way we measure success in education
• Technology can connect learners with similar interests across ages across cultures
• The gathering of content is not learning how to learn
• The tablet is not necessary for people in this room, it's for normal people. (Steve Wozniak)
• Use the SAMR model to define tasks you want to do with a mobile device
• Some students (the quiet ones in class) like the anonymity of commenting online
• The ipad is a game changer in education because of ‘hope’ ‘serendipity’ and ‘convenience’ (Gerry White)
• Flipped classrooms as a model for better learning
• Think then do … dot then think, which one are you?

3 Videos... the future:
Watch these for a taste of what our student’s world will be like:
The Pranav Mystery
A day made of glass
I teach therefore you learn (or do you)