Digital Signposts

Digital Trompe-l'œil

Ironically, because the Guardian 'Special' on Building Schools of The Future  was not available online, Ian Usher used Issuu to create this superb online document from pdfs. In doing so Ian has done what the Guardian failed to do; offer the information online in a form that is aesthetically pleasing,

Using a digital camera and taking no more than a few minutes to photograph the newspaper, and upload the images; Ian has created a very tactile experience.  I think  there is something very reassuring and satisfying about turning these creased pages.

So here we have it, a simple creative process that is crying out for children and teachers to use, and achieve some wonderful, (and as yet unforeseen), results.

Not forgetting of course that Ian's article firmly hits the nail on the head with regard to the issues of BSF (Building Schools for The Future) and LPs (Learning Platforms).

The first casualties of social media?

This analysis suggests that social media has claimed a big casualty, namely Hillary Clinton. It will be very interesting to see who/what will be next. Do our 'traditional' education systems and institutions need to take heed?
via socialmedia

Catering; for whom?

image credit Larimdame

I read with interest, the other day, that some high profile companies, namely: McDonalds; FlyBe and Network Rail have been accredited to offer  'qualifications' that support A Levels or diplomas.  Whilst I think we can rest assured these companies have good training schemes for their employees, or new recruits; a training scheme is not the same as an opportunity to study. I would also like to know:

• Who are the main beneficiaries of the 'qualification'; the company, or the student's life chances.
• Will the skills on offer really be transferable? Either to a competing business or to other jobs. How many would want McDonalds 'written' on their certificates?
• Some of McDonalds other dubious educational ventures.
  
• Network Rail's poor track record.
• What was the process that approved these companies to become qualification awarding bodies?  Was there a tender or bidding process?  Was this debated/announced publicly, or a deal done behind closed doors?
  
• What about small enterprises and innovators, could they become part of this initiative?

No matter how you dress it up; when commercial companies are allowed to award qualifications; by default they will serve their own interests first, which is likely to be (and arguably rightly), making a profit. And lets not forget, even big companies are at the mercy of market forces.

Now if companies and organisations such as Google, Lucasfilms or the BBC, were involved would that change how we view such schemes? Or is it time to seriously consider removing the running of education from both government and business,  sure they can fund and advise, but lets have a body whose commitment is firmly based on learning and providing real educational opportunities for all, not serving political masters or specific  business interests.

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   

Join in the debate

Thanks to Scott McLeod, at Dangerously Irrelevant, for drawing attention to this online debate about  new technologies and education. Starting today, the event is hosted by the Economist and should provide some wholesome food for thought. I look forward to following the debate as it develops and (possibly) reading great contributions from some of the folk on my blogroll.

The Cult of the Amateur and the Cult of the Arrogant

Image credit: Factory Joe

The premise, that the accessibility of digital media is leading to a cultural decline with a resulting loss of authoritative information, media and study, is Andrew Keen's message in his polemic,  Cult of the Amateur.  Recently, together with John Gorman he has been posting on the Brittanica blog (really a forum), claiming to have a prima facie case that Web 2.0 is a key factor in this decline. John Connell refutes this with an excellent analysis of Keen and Gormans's vision of an elitist culture,  in which 'the uneducated' have no place; a paradox in itself, when they claim to be promoting real 'learning and study'.

What is also disturbing is their cult of arrogance evidenced by their continuous disparaging  of the 'amateur,'  which worryingly  seems to be catching on, and is well illustrated here.  Amateur is not synonymous with low standards, as any amateur sportsman or women will testify, along with  thousands of amateur musicians from all over these isles and beyond. Historically amateurs have always played a vital part in our knowledge.   Gilbert White,  Charles Darwin, Rousseau and Leonardo could all be considered amateurs, whilst in more recent times Arthur C Clarke's vision has led to the communication satellite.  Some areas of science such  as astronomy rely heavily on amateurs, to discover new stars and comets. Perhaps Keen and Gorman would do better to acknowledge that amateurs do, and will have a vital role to play in our culture and that amateurs can be experts.  Of course professionals are professionals and will be experts in their field, but  expertise is not devoid of serious consequences.

Meanwhile teachers and students are benefiting from hundreds of amateur  initiatives including the videos posted on TeacherTube. Perhaps not always as polished, but often a damn sight more useful than the paid for "content' offered by commercial suppliers to education. And those that  (are allowed) to use Web 2.0 tools are motivated and inspired by other 'amateurs' working, sharing, discussing and collaborating to explore new models for learning.

There are some great teachers out there...

image credit:stroinski

Every now and again the old chestnut about good teachers and bad teachers surfaces, usually prompted by government, unions or perhaps Ofsted, recently Steve Jobs joined the debate.  We already have technologies to ensure every student has access to a great teacher, whether that teacher is physically present in a classroom or even a physical teacher, well, that is another question. The teachers could be teachers, they might be experts in their field, perhaps people who have stories to tell, and just as importantly other students. Technology will let them collaborate, inspire, share, communicate and support each other. Technology gives us, as teachers, the chance  to re-evaluate our work.  It is almost certain there are new roles for teachers working individually and in teams, moving between classes or even schools, and countries. It calls for vision. It is likely that sooner or later technology will require us to change our definition of good and bad teachers, with hopefully far fewer of the latter. I suspect Steve Jobs is fully aware of this.

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.

You could have it so much better

image credit: Frenchie1108; CC

It might be argued that the title of the Franz Ferdinand album accurately sums up the reality of learning and teaching in schools and colleges.

Rather than wait for the political rhetoric to become reality, at some point in the future; (whilst another cohort of students are bypassed)...We could have it so much better if learners and educators are encouraged to use, (even a fraction of), the online collaborative and social networking tools that are already freely available. These include wikis,blogs, online editing and media sharing tools. The Flat Classroom Project shows what is possible and includes also some excellent ideas for assessment using these technologies.

We could have it so much better if learners and educators started to access and use the vast quantity of digital assets including images, video and audio that are  available to support learning. Similarly, if the work they produce  was made available under a Creative Commons licence then the following paragraph would easily fall into place.

Learners could have it so much better if knowledge was shared and distributed viraly, between students, schools and educators. The concept of viral distribution is already making  a significant impact on the marketing industry. The fact that education could learn from business models is touched on here by Ewan.

We could have it so much better if we, as educators, stopped trying to be the expert. Will Richardson makes this his first point in a post titled the Steep Unlearning Curve

"the need to unlearn the idea that we are the sole content experts in the classroom, because we can now connect our kids to people who know far more than we do about the material we’re teaching."

We can already access expertise, at very little cost. Wikis, screencasts, video tutorials and virtual conferencing are relatively easy to access or set up, and it is likely they will become even more so. Real problems usually requires lots of experts.

All this could be in place right now and  schools would be so much better focusing on people and learning first, and when the new  buildings finally come along, there is a much greater chance that they raelly will be  schools of the future, allowing all to benefit from the architects' visions.

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.