Digital Signposts

Should we be worried?

Recently there has been a spate of developments related to fair use, copyright and the Internet. Whilst we know what to expect from the RIAA or  the British Music Industry closing down Pandora,  new and  dubious examples are appearing all the timel, for example; publishing pictures of  the Eiffel Tower at night (14,3222 photos currently on Flickr -a lot of lawsuits), whilst Ford are now trying to ban Mustang owners publishing photos of their own cars.

Similarly Prince, and,more recently; ,J K Rowling  seem determined to shut down some fan and discussions sites, apparently refusing to acknowledge that being the creator and owner of work does not give the right to stop others discussing, praising or criticising their work. If they are not careful they will either appear as selfish, greedy or both; which will be to the detriment of their undoubted talent and achievement, whilst alienating many of their followers.

Hot on the heels of all this nonsense Mattel (UK)  and Hasbro (Us & Canada) are joining in the fray, (they probably have a case).  The companies have sent  cease and desist letters to the developers of the Scrabulous application on Facebook; but surely they are just plain stupid for; a) not negotiating a deal or; b) building on the many opportunities for positive marketing.  Perhaps they don't understand the Internet is different and things will never be quite the same again. As I blog, the Save Scrabulous group on Facebook has increased within the last few hours to over 5,600, 7,340, 14,443. 15,678.

Well, just like waiting on a bus, we can only wonder what the next idiotic action will be, and how many of them will come along at the same time.

image credit Iona Sameli   

All set for BETT

Gloucester Sq. tube from Bailey's hotel room this evening

Its that time of year again, the BETT show.  As a seasoned BETT veteran, (I think my first was in the mid 80's when it was still held at the Barbican), something tells me this one will prove to be a different experience, for myself.

Unlike the Scottish Learning Festival there will be no wifi  available (even though we are now the 21st century), the organisers prefer to maintain their cash cow by charging the exhibitors whacking fees for a wired connection, which unfortunately means no wifi for the rest of us. Realising this, I decided to get a Broadband 7.2 USB modem, and it is working a treat, so I will be able to blog, Flickr, etc. live from the show, and remain connected in all respects.

I will be with the University of Hull on stand S97, which  we are jointly sharing with  Mirandanet.  We are keen to talk to all who are interested in using digital assets and archives and Web 2.0 for learning. Please come and join Kevin and myself, we look forward to meeting friends old and new.

Having attended two previous events in Glasgow, I suspect Teachmeet08 on the Friday will be one of the highlights, and its great to see so many signed up; and still doing so.

Every cloud could have a silver lining?

Image credit Old Shoe Woman, CC License.

With large numbers of schools, in the North of England  unusable or severely damaged due to the recent floods, perhaps this is a good time  for education authorities and schools to explore how new technologies and social software might help alleviate or avoid some the problems, and provide a meaningful learning experience for affected pupils in the months to come.

It appears that up to 10 million pounds has been made available by the government's  Department for Schools, Children and Families, to support; "temporary accommodation, extra surveyors and summer activities for children flooded out of their homes."

Local authorities could  also consider using some of the 10m for developing a strategic approach, rather than  just fire fighting, bringing together stakeholders and interested parties to explore the possibilities; for example:

• make and laptops, (school stocks and buy extra), available, install wireless networks and connectivity in centres and homes.
  
• develop an 'emergency' online curriculum using appropriate web 2.0 technologies and social collaborative  software. There is a great deal of experience available locally, regionally and   internationally upon which they to draw.

I don't claim to have all, (or even any of the answers - yet), but I am sure with a degree of will and vision, then this, must surely be something worth trying, and could also serve as a real test-bed for 21st century learning. The alternatives could be pretty grim.

The Door is Now Open...

National Curriculum  for ICT KS3, QCA,  July 2007

In case anyone is still in any doubt, the door is open now for real creative, effective and appropriate use of ICT for learning in schools in England and Wales.  I am on the 7:20 from Leeds to Kings Cross, benefiting from the, (at times flaky), wifi, I have  just downloaded  and, quickly,  looked at the latest Keystage 3 & 4; National Curriculum Programmes of Study, (thanks to Shropshire for the link). Reading  this is like a breath of fresh air, real life contexts, using ICT to learn, share communicate and build knowledge; with no mention of specific software packages, or pointless scenarios for sham software practice.

Here are a just few snippets that caught my eye:

(explore and use) new ICT tools as they become available.

(explore) the ways that ICT can be used to communicate, collaborate and share ideas on a global scale, allowing people to work together in new ways and changing the way in which knowledge is created.

work creatively and collaboratively, taking different roles in teams

(use)  ICT to compress graphic, sound and video files to allow faster downloading;

take account of the source of the information to make judgements on its plausibility, accuracy, completeness, currency and reliability, and to assess bias and partiality

evaluate critically: This could include self-review, peer evaluation and user or audience feedback. Students should judge both the quality of their work and how effectively they have used ICT.

And the picture of a Mac ... well thats just an added bonus.

TeacherTube

It may be worth keeping an eye on this new online video service for education. Although still relatively few, the numbers of videos are growing rapidly, with 34 last night increasing to 54 by this afternoon.  It will be Interesting to see how it will sit alongside established services such as YouTube and TTV.  My own view is; the more the merrier, as long as good search and RSS tools are included. Video is becoming one of the most important formats for learning on the Internet. Another educational application of video highlights, that it is only a matter of time before those that continue to block Web 2.0 and online video services will have to rethink their strategies.

One Laptop Per Child - User Interface

Its good to see quite a bit more detail emerging about the OLPC , (One Laptop Per Child), project. I  showed this video, of the user interface, to our students on the Foundation Degree in Digital Media for Educators at the University of Hull. This generated  some deep discussion which soon expanded from user interfaces, to issues of accessibility, the digital divide, our roles as educators and how digital technologies may affect social control and democracy.

The interface itself, based on a user centered approached, seems stimulating  and intuitive. It has been designed to promote thinking, creation and collaboration using the  built-in connectivity and software. The focus of how the laptop will be used is activities rather than applications. I think this should send out a clear message to developers of educational ICT products. Some of the the, very positive, reactions from the students;  "brilliant", "I want this". " why can't we have this in our schools?"  Many of these questions and issues are addressed on OLPC  wiki.

Lets hope this project succeeds and becomes a reality, worldwide. Although India has recently declined to participate, Rwanda has committed to the project with plans for a million. An update on the projects progress can be found here on the OLPC website.

Jam runs out on Tuesday

I learn that the BBC Trust has bowed to pressure from the UK's "educational software industry, and 'suspended' the Jam digital learning service. Lewis Bronze; CEO, Espresso Education, is quoted in the Register;

"The opportunity provided by broadband technology should allow a torrent of educational content to flow - instead, the BBC's current proposals will give us a desert. The BBC's current proposals for their free to air digital curriculum will massively curtail the choice available for schools. Using £170 million of the public's licence fees destroys a competitive market, deprives children and teachers of choice
and diversity, and kills off the UK educational software industry."

My view has always been that Jam is/was a good attempt to make personalised, learning centered resources, freely available for independent use at home and school. Ian Usher E-Learning Co-ordinator, Buckinghamshire County Council gets straight to the point;

"I'd say that BESA has inadvertently kicked the learner in the teeth here. It would have been great to put things in the hands of learners (as part of our ePortfolio developments) which let them control their learning,"

Perhaps we should ask Mr Bronze, if he is at all concerned about the implications for pupils and teachers, of the statement posted on the the Jam site, (below). I wonder how he feels about people who 'delete/lose my work'?

The argument put forward by Lewis Bronze and BESA (British Educational Suppliers Association) is of course, choice.  Choice, as we all know from the school places debacle, can mean many things to many people.

Perhaps, as a result of this, schools will begin to realise they have other (and possibly better) choices available. These include; the choice to use  free online, creative, social and collaborative tools, the choice to use open source software including learning platforms. Schools also have the choice to access the wealth of digital assets available under a Creative Commons license. I suspect you won't find  much CC licensed 'content'  in the offerings from BESA members.

In contrast the UK " education software industry" is happy to accept revenue from the public purse in the guise of eLCs (eLearning Credits), for software apparently not always wanted or needed by schools. Thanks to Ian Delaney for this link.

It is probably far to early to predict how all this will turn out, but with a bit of luck those who brought about the suspension of Jam may have shot themselves in the foot.

Want some more good music?

Ewan's post on Pandora seems to have have planted music firmly into the educational blogosphere this weekend, so to continue the trend....geeks, creatives, film and music fans will be heading for the 10 day SXSW  (South By South West) interactive arts and music festival in Austin Texas. Unfortunately much as I would love to be there, (preceded by attending TED); I will have to console myself with the next best thing; the SXSW website. Lots of news, 'interactive tools' and the SXSW Player includes links to the acts' websites and their own bio page, (most with mp3s for download). The music covers most genres including; indie, rock, folk country, jazz and hip hop. You can find out about the hundreds of new and established artists appearing. Since last night I have 'discovered' at least 20  acts I will be following closely.  If you want more, well theres the First torrent of 793 mp3s to download. At 3.1GB that's enough to beef up anyones iTunes library. Now  perhaps next year.....

BETT07 - Out and About

With not much time to get out and about amongst the stands, what made BETT for me, this year, was the good number of blogs tagged with BETT07,  as suggested by Ewan and  the very informative blogs by Merlin John and Martin Jack that made it possible to plan and keep a finger on the  pulse of the show. Some of the seminars are now available, as podcasts, for those who missed them or were unable to get tickets.  Leon Cych's vlog is full of fascinating reports and interviews which will  help sustain the atmosphere of the event, long after the last stand has been dismantled.

Indeed, all these sources have contributed  in providing a better  picture of some of things going on behind the scenes.  I am  sure there must be more that I have missed so please add any suggestions as a comment.

Finally my award for the most original stand must go to  MirandaNet. I could kick myself for forgetting to photograph it before leaving, but perhaps Christina might be as kind, as to oblige, and send one on  that I can add to this post, as (my) words can't do it justice.

BETT07 Days 2&3

Thanks go out to  Miles Berry for his link and comment on my previous post on the presence of Web 2.0 and social software at the show.  I regret that I was unable to make the presentation Miles gave together with Terry Freedman but by all accounts the room was bursting at the seams and many were unable to get tickets. This serves as a good indicator of the continuing interest in the social and collaborative use of technology.

One of the highlights, of the show, for me,  has been  meeting Steve Powter and the students of Castle Manor Business & Enterprise College in Suffolk; on the Centerprise stand. The students are carrying out live research, interviewing visitors to the stand about their views on social software. I was really excited to be able to to take part, and I look forward to reading their findings. This is indeed a timely piece of work as it comes hot on the heels of two major pieces of research on students online spaces  from Pew Internet in the US and the DEMOS report, released yesterday.

Castle Manor students broadcast a weekly TV News show on their website, which they also upload  to YouTube. I am sure this enlightened approach will see their audience continue to grow and will bring benefits to them individually and as a school.

Hopefully, at next years show we will see many more examples of students showing us what they can achieve using technology. I am convinced that these presentations and displays will easily have as much benefit for educators as any of the exhibits and  'educational marketing'  rhetoric of some of the high tech hardware and software vendors.