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TIM RYLANDS Using ICT to Inspire at #SWGFL11 @timrylands

Jul 8, 2011 by     1 Comment    Posted under: Guest posts, SWGfL11

Guest blog post by @gavinsmart


Tim Rylands seminar at the SWGFL conference was a truly invigorating, inspiring and engaging journey through a range of ideas to use ICT in the classroom to inspire the learners and to make the learning journey more engaging, enjoyable and most importantly inspiring. The seminar focused on a range of Web2 tools and software (most of it FREE), hand-held devices, games and more.


The seminar started virtually the day before with a request from @timrylands for anybody attending to bring a smart phone lighter.  All will come apparent later on.

This set a little bit of awe and wonder about the treats that may be in store for the enthusiastic and optimistic delegates who had been waiting all day for the last of the seminar sessions. So much excitement boiled over at one stage when @ICTEvangelist rushed to the front of the seminar room to proudly occupy the front row. After a slight delay (due to technical difficulties) the seminar kicked off. I can honestly say that good (outstanding) things come to those who wait!

 Tim started with an excellent but amazing under estimated use of ICT, a blog with all the links to every website that he used in his presentation! Gone are the days of pen and paper, especially at an ICT conference. The delegates were equipped with (virtual) lighters and iPads ready to be enthused.

Tim stressed that ‘Fascination is a tool that can be easily neglected. This digital world, when mixed with the analogue, brings such potential for communication.’ 

‘Technology is not the only answer… but, it does open up some remarkable opportunities, to extend teaching and learning styles.’

This feeling towards the potential that technology in the classroom has was shared by all delegates and all left inspired, enthusiastic and landed back at school the following day clutching a number of new exciting ways to inspire learners.

All of the websites, apps and other uses of ICT that Tim demonstrated can be viewed at http://bit.ly/world2me - a few highlights include:

Isle of tune

http://www.isleoftune.com/

Panorams.dk

http://www.panoramas.dk/ 

A range of avatar makers

http://www.timrylands.com/blog/2010/07/02/a-few-more-avatar-makers/

Online Mind Mapping and Brainstorming – MindMeister

http://www.mindmeister.com/

Terragen

For creating your own worlds

Jaycut

For online video editing

Many more can be seen at Tim’s blog. Overall an inspiring seminar, which left the delegates, excited about returning to school!

You can find out more about Tim Rylands at @timrylands and also his website www.timrylands.com where you can also follow links to his blog, where some pictures of the delegates with enjoyment written all over their faces can be seen.

A guest post by @gavinsmart 

Russell Prue | Facebook & Fones @ #swgfl11 @russellprue

Jul 6, 2011 by     No Comments    Posted under: SWGfL11

Russell’s powerful seminar at the SWGFL conference took us through lots of persuasive arguments that pervade our consciousness and conscience as we continue to work with students and ICT. He talked, as per the theme of the conference about ICT being in our (their) hands about empowering students by putting responsibility for their actions and their activities on to them. By taking the fantastic potential of the resource that is Facebook and their phones and allowing students to use these things in school.

Russell shared ideas about how these things can be achieved and talked about how student led AUP (Acceptable Use Policies) can be developed from student voice in order to maintain good order using these great tools. He also described how a teacher could set up their own ‘School Teacher’ Facebook account – e.g. ICT Anderson to enable teachers to maintain the separation between their own personal Facebook accounts and their pedagogical accounts.

The powerful and collaborative nature of Facebook, coupled with the announcement today on Facebook about them adding video chat as a feature (via Skype) makes it even more desirable a platform; when indeed you think about what skills the students would need training in to use the system, ie none! They already come tooled to do the job!

Russell’s resources from the sessions can be found here: http://www.andertontiger.com/SWGfL/

The podcast from the live radio section of the show, when available, can be found here: http://www.andertontiger.com/podcasts/default.htm

You can find out more about Russell on the link above. You can follow him on twitter at @russellprue

And yes, he’s also on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/russellprue

Thank you for another brilliant session Russell.

Quoting @gavinsmart yesterday from the event on Twitter: “At the #swgfl @russellprue is brilliant!”

Exactly.

Other resources shared: http://www.heppell.net/facebook_in_school/

Ewan McIntosh keynote from #swgfl11 @ewanmcintosh

Jul 5, 2011 by     No Comments    Posted under: SWGfL11

LET GO OF THE REINS!

 

Ewan’s keynote kicked us off in the morning and he talked with us emphatically about education needing a real boot up the backside, if you’ll excuse the expression. His passion and enthusiasm reminded me greatly of David Keeling and some of his sentiments in his book “Rocket up your class” – the fact that education in Britain needs to bring itself forward in to the 21st century. As mentioned by a few today, it’s about time too…. Some of our learners have already been around for 11 years of the 21st century and the technological age in which we live in is all they know.

 

Ewan started by telling us an anecdote about how some fantastic learning took place using just some hex screws. The student in question was able to solve a problem related to gravity using these nuts.

 

This led through to him talking to us about children needing to be taught to be problem finders, not problem solvers. By immersing students in their own learning and enabling them, with the tools we give them, to drive forward their learning, the best possible learning can take place.

 

He quoted examples of Gever Tulley and the Tinkering School and their activities – these can be seen on TED talks too.

 

Ewan talked about the importance of mixing up digital and analogue and the importance of sometimes needing a space which isn’t on a screen. The real estate there simply isn’t big enough. Use walls, project corners & post its spread out for ideas – this kind of thing, to give space for thought, creativity and mulling it over time to happen.

 

He stressed the importance of recording, sharing and disseminating learning….. recording everything in order that the observations can inform inference which can lead to learning.

 

One of the overriding themes throughout the keynote was the discussion about spaces too:

 

·        Secret spaces

·        Group spaces

·        Publishing spaces

·        Performing spaces

·        Participation spaces

·        Data spaces

·        Watching spaces

 

These different spaces were expanded upon as places in which learning could take place, be experienced, enjoyed and embedded, based upon the requirements and varying needs of individuals.

 

He talked about a timetable from a school in Denmark where there were blocks of time free on the timetable where students choose what lessons they opt in to and attend. He talked about a physical ‘like’ button ala Facebook where delegates from a conference were able to use RFID chip fed blocks to like (or not) a session with a Scottish Politician.

 

The awesome site: http://informationisbeautiful.net/ was discussed with some really cool examples shown too.

 

A fantastic idea used in Edinburgh University library showed a live Word cloud that shows what students are searching for at any given time. I would LOVE to try that!

 

To finish off – Ewan revisited the idea and importance of DESIGN THINKING. Get kids to think more. ICT is about taking things they’ve done and allowing them to model. Mix analogue and digital. Engagement is key.

 

These ideas and themes ran through the majority of the day. Ewan McIntosh’s finger, seemingly directly on the pulse of current thinking on education and where it should be. A lesson for Mr Gove perhaps??!

 

Thanks to Ewan for a cracking session that I have only briefly covered in this post. Apologies for any omissions / errors.

 

To find out more about Ewan visit his blog here: http://edu.blogs.com/ or follow him on Twitter via @ewanmcintosh 

 

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South West Grid for Learning Conference 2011 #swgfl11

Jul 5, 2011 by     1 Comment    Posted under: SWGfL11

Today was the 13th conference held at UWE, Bristol. The event was attended by what seemed like well over 500 people and there was inspiration abound. In my following posts I’m going to break down some of the seminars, keynotes and experiences I had today at the conference.

It was, as it always has been in my experience, a real breath of fresh air after a long academic year, leaving me bristling with new ideas and ways to engage, inspire and energise learning in my classroom and beyond.

Key messages though seemed to be:

·        More risk taking

·        Use the power in students pockets with their own devices

·        Don’t be afraid to use things like Facebook and other social networking

·        Give students private places

·        Mix it up between digital and analogue

·        Capture everything / especially learning taking place

·        Create a new pedagogy by passing on real challenges to students

Notes to follow on:

@ewanmacintosh – http://edu.blogs.com/

@timrylands – http://www.timrylands.com/blog/

@russellprue – http://www.andertontiger.com/SWGfL/

@sugatam – http://www.ted.com/speakers/sugata_mitra.html

Thanks to all of the organisers of the event for a cracking day and for my school for allowing me to attend.