Collaboration, Redemption Falls and primroses

Since retiring, I have unsubscribed to most of the listservs and educational sites which emailed me regularly but, for some reason, I haven’t stopped getting eSchoolNews. This week, a headline caught my eye about ‘Teacher collaboration with digital tools’ – I guess because collaboration has been a hot topic of debate and research amongst teacher/school librarians for the past 40 years, and because I have written about this topic and had my students debate aspects of collaboration on forums. This feature has a series of links to reports, research and tools which it may be useful to dip into, and selectively distribute within your school, or to TL/SL colleagues.

On the fiction front, I have just finished reading Joseph O’Connor’s ‘Redemption Falls’. The Guardian reviewer calls it ‘a huge dishevelled monster of a book’ because it contains not only a striking narrative, but also folk ballads, songs, documents and transcripts. So, your straightforward novel it is not. It is also very detailed and descriptive in places. While not all of the voices in the book are completely convincing, this tale of post civil war America, and of the American Irish involvement in both the war and its aftermath, is nevertheless an outstanding read. You need a fairly strong stomach when reading parts of it e.g. the atrocities of the war witnessed by a drummer boy, and the savage treatment of his sister who crossed the states to find him. The protagonist O’Keefe is loved by some and hated by many. If you like your fiction strong, with a forceful narrative and a range of intriguing (in some cases weird) characters, then this book is for you.

 Now that Spring is well on its way, the primrose/polyanthus plants in my garden are in full flower. The two flowers are different although the terms are used interchangeably. The one in the photo below is (I think) a polyanthus. It is one of these flowers that are very much plain Janes or Johns when not in flower, but are radically changed when the flowers appear and you get this dash of colours in your Spring garden. They also flower more than once a year, so are very thrift plants also.

Polyanthus

eSchool News items and Tauranga sunset

From this week’s edition of eSchool News (which is worth joining for free), some interesting items. The first is a list of apps which can be downloaded for free or cheaply. Some look interesting enough for TLs to pass on to interested teachers, although some are fairly basic and assessment orientated. There’s also a useful guide to starting a virtual learning programme. It lists 7 questions which schools should ask. Now these questions will be familiar to any of you who have been involved in any kind of school ICT projects e.g. “What challenge are we trying to address?” but such questions are fundamental to successful ICT projects, as you can see from unsuccessful ones which have been designed by techies who rarely ask the actual users why this project might go ahead. TLs should be involved at the heart of the design of virtual learning environments in schools, so having questions such as these is a good start. There are also features on Facebook, Twitter and texting – so very much worth a look.

I’m back in Scotland now after 7 weeks away – in temperatures from 19-36 degrees. Back to 3-4 degrees might seem hard but when it’s a sunny day like today and you “rug up” (Australian term) in winter coat and gloves, it’s a great experience. One stop on my travels was at my sister and brother in law’s house in Tauranga, New Zealand. When the wind blows down the estuary, it can be a bit “coorse” as we say in Scotland. However, on nights like those in the photo below, when the sun is setting over the estuary and the tide is coming in, and you have food on the decking, and a bottle of Morton Estate (not far from Tauranga) Pinot Noir, life is pretty good.

Sunset in Tauranga

Mobile devices report and Leontia Flynn poems

From the ever reliable eSchool News, an interesting report on mobile devices. Once you get past the advert for and messages from the sponsor, there’s some very interesting reading here for TLs and teachers. The report looks at why mobile devices might enhance education, trends in mobile devices e.g. BYOD – Bring Your own Device to school, best practices in schools using mobile devices, a good section on managing mobile devices in schools, and examples of ‘New Apps and Technologies’. It’s not the most critical report you’ll have read and is designed very much to promote mobile devices, so it needs to be read from a critical stance. However, as a good catch up on devices and new terminology surrounding mobile technology, this is a very good source for TLs and SLs, and one to circulate in the school.

The new Poetry Book Society’s Autumn Choice dropped into my letter box earlier this week. The book is Profit and Loss by Leontia Flynn, and as the Guardian review in the link shows, it’s a very intriguing set of poems, which range from the poet’s reflections on places where she used to stay e.g. I once lived in a railway carriage flat to one I read today The Floppy Disk - ‘Prince amongst misnomers, the floppy disk/lies stranded, in drifts of dust, in the top desk drawer. ‘ Another telling phrase is ‘How young it is to be obselete’, as well as ‘the neat black case still sleek as a woman’s suit or purse’. It would be interesting to know, for those of you in secondary schools, how young would a student have to be, not to recognise a floppy disk? There’s poetry in stones under the clear sea water not far from my house in Dunbar, so see the picture below and add your own verse.

Stones in clear sea water

 

Mobile learning and The Grips

From a recent eSchool News, a series of articles on mobile learning. One of the key arguments here is that having laptops and netbooks in classrooms is a form of mobile learning, but it is restricted to inside the school. Examples are given of projects using smart phones, where it is claimed that excellent results were achieved with students doing maths home work. Another argument is that computers up until now have been supplemental to learning and teaching, especially where there is a shortage e.g. of laptops. One writer argues that supplemental use is ‘not enough to move the needle’ ( a new phrase for me) in terms of improving learning. There are problems identified here e.g. students using smart phones in the school to access the web inappropriately, and issues about classroom management, and it’s clear that evidence about the use of smart phones and learning is not yet conclusive. It’s certainly worth keeping an eye on developments in this area.

The picture below is taken at the entrance to Dunbar Harbour which is less than 1k from where I live. The part where the railings are has always been referred to locally as The Grips, although I don’t know why this name was given to the rocks and the small landing there. The railings are a very recent addition. You reach that part of the harbour when the harbour bridge is down, and you can walk right round the harbour. Today is ‘craning day’ at the harbour and a huge crane has been hired to lift and lower the small yachts into the harbour. These yachts are taken out in the autumn because of the winter storms. This is also a very noisy period at the harbour as the kittiwakes are nesting and mating and there are constant cries as birds take off and land.

Entrance to Dunbar Harbour

“Ten great sites” and poor Lubin

From the ever reliable eSchool News , a list of what the author calls ‘Ten great sites with free teacher resources’. The list of sites can be found in an article in eSchool News (You’ll need to subscribe to see the whole article – but it’s worth it). the article lists some potentially very useful sites for schools across the world. OK – they are all based in the US but the breadth of coverage means that quite a lot of the material listed would be useful in Australia/NZ or the UK or other countries. The list includes Te-ACH-nology.com which has 42,000 lesson plans, plus printable resources and webquests; Teachers domain which promises media resources, learning programmes and professional learning guides; Classroom Materials which is a Library of Congress initiative, includes themed resources and ‘primary source sets’; and Curriki  which has resources on topics across the curriculum. I’m sure that the quality of the resources will vary and some will need to be adapted. As ever, if you use a resource which comes with a contact, then email the resource producer.

Today’s poem in my Poetry Calendar is called ‘A Reasonable Affliction’ and is by Matthew Prior (1664-1721). The first verse tells us that ‘poor Lubin’ is dying and his wife is by his bed. They are both upset. The second verse tells us that:

“A diff’rent cause, says Parson Sly,/The same effective may give:/Poor Lubin fears, that he shall die;/His wife, that he may live’. Alas poor Rubin, then? Of course, maybe he deserved it.

Digital learning and early snow

From eSchool News a new report on digital learning and, in particular, on high quality digital learning. The report outlines what it regards as the key elements of high quality digital learning and these include: all students can be digital learners; all students have access to high quality course and content; all students have high quality teachers; funding and infrastructure to support digital learning are available. High aims indeed and the report recognises that these are aims and also that key barriers need to be removed. The report focuses on blended learning – a combination of ‘live teaching and a variety of technological tools, including online learning’ – which could help to produce more high school graduates in the USA, as well as more skilled workers. The 3 barriers? Time, funding and access. Plus ca change…

Here in Scotland, we’ve had an early dose of snow and ice which we’ve not had for many years in November. Of course, global warming will produce cooler conditions in the UK. The snow produces lovely, picturesque scenes and you can (as Australians say) rug up against the cold with hat, scarf, gloves, winter coat and boots and walk in the crisp sunshine we get at this time of year. It’s just than when you’ve had 4 weeks of mid to high 20s in terms of temperature, it tales a wee while to get used to. The photo below shows seagull tracks in the snow at Dunbar Harbour. It looks like hieroglyphics and for all I know, these seagulls may have Egyptian ancestors and may be leaving messages in the snow for the cognoscenti.

Seagull footprints in the snow at Dunbar Harbour

Mouse Mischief and The Last Station

From eSchool News this week and article on a free addition to PowerPoint from Microsoft. The article outlines a new tool called Mouse Mischief which allows students to take part in PowerPoint presentations. The tool allows teachers to add multiple choice and other questions to the presentation. Students can then attempt to answer the questions either individually or as a class. Teachers can then display the results and individual student responses are not identified. So far so good and this could be a useful tool if used creatively for student learning. The tool is free and can be downloaded and, according to Microsoft, can help to engage students. On the other hand, the use of PowerPoint in schools often gives rise for concern amongst TLs and teachers. Adding this tool to a poor presentation is not going to actively engage students. OK – they might answer the questions, but only if they are told to do so. It also depends on the questions. So can I please ask that no teacher librarian or school librarian out there be tempted to use this tool to test students’ knowledge of Dewey? Have a look and see what you think.

Apart from watching films on the plane journeys from Australia to Scotland (and is it strange that you really have to think about what you watched? Probably not as you are tired and will watch most things.) the last film I went see on the big screen was The Last Station  which is a tale about the last days of Tolstoy. It is lavishly photographed with some sweeping views of what is meant to be the Russian countryside and it also a costume drama. There are a number of interlinked stories but the main focus is on Tolstoy and his complex relationships with his wife and with his published work. There are some fairly unconvincing aspects of the film and you may or may not like the ending, but it is well acted and has some stunning photography, so give it a go.

iGeneration students’ learning and Uranquinty

From eSchool News, another article which raises questions about student learning and whether today’s students – called iGeneration students by Larry Rosen - learn differently because they have grown up with new technology and particularly have lived with the web being ubiquitous in their lives. Rosen argues that because todays students spend their days multitasking with different technologies and have a more individualised view of their education, then they learn differently. Mmm – does he mean that these students actually learn differently or does he mean that they might have a different approach to learning? Methinks the latter, given that learning in school is usually seen as gaining new knowledge through practice or experience. So, we have to be careful about generalised statements about today’s students. Interestingly, at the end of this article, Rosen is quoted as saying that today’s students ‘spend more  time gathering information in breadth, rather than depth’ and that teachers should focus on getting students to distinguish between retrieving information and understanding what they read. So they’re not that much different then.

Uranquinty is a village near Wagga Wagga and here you’ll find a small area which is dedicated to remembering the migrants who came out from Europe after the Second World War to increase Australia’s population and to provide cheap labour for government projects. The migrants suffered privations such as separation of families with the men working away from the migrant camp, but many went on to lead successful lives in Australia. You’ll also find the excellent Quinty Cake and Bakehouse, run by the very friendly and hard working Paul and Tania – try the delicious lemon or lime tarts. Uranquinty is also a place to stop and rest for a wee while – see picture below.

Resting at Uranquinty

Four things every student should learn and primroses

From eSchool News this week, an article from Alan November who is known to me mainly as an advocate of teaching students how to be discriminating web users e.g. his well known 1998 article Teaching Zach to think. In the present article, November highlights what he sees as 4 things every student should learn, and adds that not all schools are teaching these 4 things. OK, you cynics out there might argue that he wouldn’t write about things that every school was teaching. His 4 things are: global empathy; social and ethical responsibility on the web; the permanence of information posted online; and critical thinking about the information found online. November refers to the importance of teaching students how to ‘tear apart information on the web’ and I think he’s right. Maybe no great surprises in this article for many TLs. Get your teachers to read it!

Spring has not sprung yet here in the south east of Scotland and the cold winter we’ve had (lots of older people saying ‘It’s nice to have a real winter) continues. I should explain that this means that day temperatures are about 4-5 degrees this week – that may or not be cold for you, depending on where you are in the world. However, the crocuses are out, albeit that they stay closed nearly all the time. What is adding a nice splash of colour to my garden are the primroses in different colours (see photo below) . Primroses mean ‘prime’ or ‘first’ roses as they flower in the winter/early spring. If flowers have characters, maybe these ‘prim’ roses are well behaved and dress conservatively, and maybe ‘wild’ roses cavort about in the dark when we’re not looking. If you can absolutely prove that they don’t, let me know.

Primroses in February

Reinventing education (not) and travelling

From eSchool News, an article entitled Reinventing Education which outlines how, in the USA schools are about to change the way they teach students by using more technology and using the technology more effectively. In the article, an educational strategist (sic) argues that in San Diego, schools will have “an engaging and personalised learning environment, mindfully designed to optimise teaching and learning through the interconnected use of visual and auditory media, mobile computing and formative assessment technologies across the curriculum”. Hmm – interesting e.g. “mindfully designed”? – the opposite being? OK – we’ve all used terminology, so people in glass houses … The key point here, however, is that this is not reinventing education per se, it is changing the way teachers teach and to some extent how students learn – and education in my book is much bigger than that.

At the weekend, I travelled from Tauranga, New Zealand to Auckland, New Zealand, to Sydney, Australia, to Dubai, UAE and then to Newcastle, UK where I landed. I was then driven to Dunbar in Scotland. So, a long haul. Travelling – which I like very much – is obviously a physical experience – on the plane, off the plane, on another plane, off… It’s also a mental experience and the way I cope with long journeys is to not be on a long journey but a series of short ones. This may sound like a North American business guru’s seminar – small steps, big achievements blah, blah but one aspect that is different with travelling is your concept of time. I try to forget about time as I travel and just accept that e.g. you’re going backwards in time as you travel west. My advice is always read when you can, sleep when you can and watch movies when you can, in the sure and certain knowledge that your aesthetic standards will drop dramatically – when you’re tired, you’ll watch films you wouldn’t normally watch.