Digital Signposts

Let's forget about the 21st Century

The 21st century meme has been appearing regularly throughout the edublogosphere. John Connell has posted some excellent contributions to the conversation on 21st century skills and 'literacies' here and here, whilst  Doug Belshaw has been developing  his thesis on the concepts. I highly recommend subscribing to their blogs.

The first thing that strikes me is that the 21st century is a very long time, certainly in a technological context if not an evolutionary one. If you consider the technological developments in the 20th century, never mind the 21st, It seems ridiculous to offer predictions for more than next 5-10 years.

I am convinced that our obsession with 21st century is holding back the debate on skill and literacies. It sets up an artificial construct between the traditional and the emergent. As John Connell says:

"I just don’t understand the mindset,... ...that assumes that, the moment you start to promote one idea, all other ideas are to be demoted or discarded. I see it so often today. We must be free to isolate an aspect of education so that we can discuss it in detail without everyone falling into the trap of believing we are advocating that aspect to the exclusion of all others."

It is unlikely that great innovators of the 20th century were concerned about  creating something for the "20th century" It seems more likely that  extreme dedication to work in their respective fields, is more probable.

Secondly, it may be impossible to completely disentangle the shifting elements that make up the skills and literacies we currently need, because some are cognitive and others functional. I am sure some will make a good stab at this, but I think this is probably the province of an academic paper.

As Doug suggests, we need a new term, and he's still looking. By far, the best I have come across recently , was from Prof. Sue Thomas at a  recent conference at DeMontfort University: "transliteracy" - to be literate across the literacies - this definition probably allows us a bit more breathing space in our definitions, because it allows for the multi-layered capabilities we need to develop, in order to derive real benefit from technology. 

"The ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks."

What is important is to distinguish cognitive from functional or practical skills, (whether those are an using interactive whiteboard or cursive handwriting).  The need and relevance of these can change quickly and dramatically.

Having said that I feel it is completely wrong to dismiss the discussion on 21st Century skills as a "fad", using that reasoning one might as well say  same about the internet. It is a fallacy  to say that nothing has changed, (even in this century), and that we can operate using the same models.  A good example is video; it is only 6 years since Becta launched the first Digital Video project for schools. It was no coincidence that this happened at the time when the kit first became practical and affordable in schools, unfortunately there was, at the time no real outlet for the work produced, and the real benefits never saw the light of day. All that has changed, the tools are low cost, easy to use and widespread. So now more than ever we need to consider the visual literacies such as the language of film, visual grammar,  etc otherwise we will have kids not grasping the potential " as Dai Barnes noted in his blog:

"They know they can upload stuff but not many of them actually do. In fact, very few of them have actually signed up for an account to subscribe to their favourites or connect to friends. The way they communicate videos with each other (have you seen this? bare funny!)"

The technologies have changed the way we operate, the way we learn, or could learn. We can learn from each other in a technologically enhanced way and  as Steve Wheeler points out

"You and I no longer need to occupy the same location to converse. We can use text, audio or video in a number of modes and through a mind dazzling range of technologies. And there is a record - an archive - of our conversation if we want one."

On a technological timescale writing, appeared quite recently, and printing with the attendant mass publishing and increased literacy, only a few moments ago. I agree with John that it is unlikely text will disappear completely, but its presentation, use and context may change significantly.

The technologies are there, the conversations are global and instantaneous, so lets use them and not worry too much about which century we are in.

 Image by Graham Wegner with this CC licence

It's not really about YouTube

Image attribution;  AlexMuse under this CC licence

The perennial debate on filtering and blocking of web sites, in education, has been lively on several fronts recently, including Twitter, ETR (Ed Tech Round -a group of teachers and others who meet online weekly), and the Naace advisory list of UK ICT education professionals, reaching over 50 posts in a few days. The idea of creating a Google Maps mashup to demonstrate blocking on a national and local level was one of the ideas proposed. Whilst I don't think a name and shame list will do much to change the situation, the data might be useful as  a broad indicator, especially if there is some creative detail, that others can add to. What is clear is the increasing degree of irritation with the status quo by a growing number of teachers, whilst advocates of blocking show little sign of changing their thinking, no matter what evidence is brought forward.

It will come as no surprise that much of the debate was centered around YouTube, so in this post I will consider some of the the wider issues relating to YouTube, though much of it could apply equally to other online services. I visited a, (primary), school a couple of weeks ago which allowed access to YouTube, parents are aware and supportive and the world has not come to an end. Quoting; Lisa Stevens, the languages teacher who speaks regularly in the UK and Europe on creative use ICT, including Web 2.0, in school:

"We make them, (children), aware rather than blocking. I use YouTube a lot in lessons. I like the fact that it not blocked and I can be spontaneous, but I always check before I show it to the kids. I think it's a great resource. There's lots of cultural information, especially  songs, I can find for Spain. If you ask my children to name the planets they will burst into a Spanish song. There are times when they will go on to YouTube and find things, then, I have to say to them could we not go ever there, now is not the time and explain to them why. I know there is TeacherTube but to be honest there isn't as much good stuff there

We made an animation about the Carnival of the Animals and shared it on you.' and they were so excited  "Miss Miss we are on YouTube,"  Look at the hits that can't just be my Mum." I say "no its not - and they are on iTunes as well".  The kudos of being in a place  place where others than their peers can see them.  And, parents like to see what their children have been doing.

Access and Control with the number of mobile devices and Internet connected laptops growing,  and students playing the bypassing filters game, it is probably only a matter of time before blocking may no longer be a realistic option. Indeed, a great deal of blocking seems to be a knee jerk reaction to behavioral issues rather than seriously concerned with pupils e-safety. YouTube itself does have a notification process, perhaps not ideal in everyone's eyes, but it is available. Probably of much greater concern might be the 'comments' left by those who use comments features to abuse others, (and their right to free speech). Teachers may find Comment Snob a very useful  addition when using YouTube with a class.

The inappropriate Content case is a Straw Man, it is unlikely anyone will disagree there is much low level rubbish, both from user generated, and professional sources, and some may say YouTube has a dark side, but that is easily counterbalanced by the growing number of good educational channels, including recently digitised treasures from the BFI.  It is the breadth and freshness of content, that generates YouTube's value for teachers, often addressing current issues such as this video analysis of a topical 'copyright' issue, (Satriani v Coldplay). In fact YouTube reflects our culture at all levels, and future social anthropologists will be far more likely to study YouTube than the professional produced, authoritative media preferred by Andrew Keen.

From the discussions it is clear, many teachers 'download' the video streams from YouTube to use in different ways and contexts. Even though everyone's doing it, (many possibly unaware), that it breaks YouTube's, (restrictive), terms and conditions. It is not my role here, or in my nature to suggest teachers stop downloading, but, is important to know, in order to make  informed decisions on using use YouTube materials. Considering the hundreds of tools available to download video, it would be naive to assume YouTube (Google) will be unaware of this, but since 2006 there seems to be no official response from YouTube, and from their point of view it may now be case of, 'let sleeping dogs lie'.

This leads naturally on to Licensing, along with many others, I maintain YouTube could do much more here, for example allowing users to add Creative Commons licences to the videos they upload, as is the case with Flickr and Blip.tv. I suspect that is because a large number of videos may have copyrighted materials embedded in them. Lawrence Lessig extrapolates on the issues, in depth, here. 

Finally the Technology. YouTube continues to improve its services, recent developments included: captions and video annotations, deep linking, wide screen format, a bigger player  and HD quality video. Add to this low cost easy to use mini video cameras, (now including HD) and visual quality is set to improve dramatically. There are a  now number of third party services allowing you to deep link  or edit  online with more likely to appear. There are also  tools that will transform the use of video in learning now emerging from the research labs.

The future
All this suggests that, (online), video including YouTube is here for the long run, and as technical standards, cost and ease of use will continue to improve there is a great untapped potential for learning. It is up to (educational) users of YouTube to make sure their voice is heard as YouTube evolves, rather than it be left to the media industry, repressive regimes or governments that should know better.

It's been, (mostly), a great week for digitisation

Screenshot from Les Kiriki - Acrobates Japonais - 1907 _ Europa Film Treasures

This has been a great week for digitisation with several new archive and collections coming on stream online. Having been involved with developing the Newsfilm Online archive for use by further and higher education within the UK, I was pleased to delighted to come across the Europa Film Treasures a archive of historical European films. The site, with its focus on research and study, contains work from a number  of Europe's most prestigious archives.  Quoting from the site "although it is probable that already 70% of the images shot during the first fifty years of cinema are definitively lost." This collection provides a glimpse of the full picture.  The quality of the streaming videos is good, even at full screen, whilst the terms, are the usual non commercial and personal study/use. Education is not specifically mentioned. Probably worth saying, there are a few clips some might see as 'risque', but these are clearly flagged.

Moving on to images, LIFE's photographic image collection is being digitised and hosted  by Google and available online. Over the next few months it is expected over 10 million images will be added, most of them never seen before.  To, (roughly,) quote Lev Manovich from the Future of Educational Technologies conference last week:  "there are possibly more pictures uploaded to Flickr than there are objects in the museums of the  world."  A remarkable observation, whilst this collection adds another ingredient into the mix. The online images themselves are good quality at around 1000 pixel size, give or take a few, terms of use not clearly stated or evident, I suspect the usual Google's image search terms apply. There is also the opportunity, to buy 'framed' prints, a good way to monetise such an archive.

Back to the EU again and this is where the 'mostly' caveat come in.  I was eagerly awaiting the 20th November,  for the official launch of the Europeana project.  Obviously, the project had  not anticipated the demand, (10,000,00 in the first hour),  Europeana now needs to re-engineer the service, which will become available again in a more robust format in mid December. If the promotional video is anything to go by, this is going to be a stupendous resource

So, on reflection, until recently, most information on the web has been textual or data based, but the (multi) media, and by association, cultural elements are becoming just as important,  due to the of  the inevitable, and unstoppable move to digitise our collective culture.

note: written on train,  any typos will be corrected after weekend

Canaletto at the SECC

I thought  I'd share part of the presentation I gave  last night during Teachmeet08  at the Scottish Learning Festival at Glasgow's SECC.

I also spent my first day day attending two fascinating sessions related to Digital Content and learning, the first was presented by SCRAN  and was well illustrated with some exceptional childrens multimedia work, the second covered the issues of Using Digital Content with Glow, Scotland's national intranet for children. Both presentations were very different with took their own slant on the use of digital content for learning. I will post a more detailed review on these when I get back from the event.

My  personal interest in digital content is researching how it can be adapted for different learning activities and contexts.  My impression  once content has been acquired, it is immediately categorised  as suitable for a specifc age or subject discipline. I am concerned that when it is labeled in this way, those whose primary interest might be in the sciences will never find the assets deemed appropriate for art or politics.

The last year has seen a huge global increase in digitisation, with more projects coming on stream such as the Europeana  or the EduTube Plus projects I am currently involved with.  The big issues are sharing accessibility to assets for learning. At moment many are restricted to institutional or national boundaries,  the reasons are, understandably, liklely to be related to IP and rights and funding and ownership, but perhaps also  how the projects view their potential audience, and who should have access. There are potential ways forward here and I have some ideas I am formulating willing to put forward. Perhaps it is time for a much wider debate on ownership of and access to digital assets in the 21st century.

What I was very encouraged to see is that the Scottish education system and specifically with its Curriculum for Excellence is really beginning to engage with the idea of using digital assets as a focus for learning, and this can only be good.

Content Part 1: Re-usability

Image credit - Leigh Blackall (Learning Networks)  CC License Flickr

Part 1 of a series of posts on 'educational' content

Whilst the Internet offers learners plenty of opportunity to take ownership of their learning, construct knowledge, and solve problems; these goals are unlikely to be achieved by simply having access to online content. I am in complete agreement with Harold Jarche when he argues that the real value in educational content lies in what users are able to do with it, in his own words it needs to be "hackable".

Creating good content on a platform that lets users (teachers & learners) add context may be the the real killer application in education. Content developers and institutions have been so concerned with protecting their content that they don’t see where the real value lies

The BBC Learning One Broadband/Clips web pages are a good example of this. The pages host a broad range of good quality video clips which unfortunately cannot be downloaded, re-purposed or even embedded in an online learning resource. This leaves us with Internet television, the clips are diminished in value because they ignore the potential for online learning. To rub salt into the wound the web site provides; (a whole page of.....  advice) on how to make a hyperlink, (to a clip), in PowerPoint.

Whilst many other content providers from offer much the same fare; I have highlighted the BBC resource because the BBC is capable of much better....... as the BBC  has regularly demonstrated through the quality of its broadcasts, and previous educational projects. One only needs to think back to the BBC Creative Archive and BBC Jam. Indeed, those responsible for the suspension and/or demise of these services should be left in no doubt they have done learning in the UK, (and elsewhere), a great disservice

Well before Web 2.0 and user generated content, came to prominence, learners provided, (albeit anecdotal), evidence, here (Burden & Kuechel, 2003, pg 31 - pdf download ), that their cognitive processes are enhanced by learning from their peers.  The sooner content providers begin to 'get it' - the better.

Next in the series: Leave it to us - Content and Curricula

 

Content: An Introduction

Image credit - adapted from a Flickr CC licensed image by Brotheram

There is no shortage of digital content. With the rapidly expanding body of content available on the Internet, in different media formats, it is relatively easy to acquire digital assets from a range of sources including commercial, organisational/institutional, open and user generated. As another academic year begins, it seems likely many educators will be gathering links, and filling up drives, VLEs and online spaces with educational content to support their curricula and provide assets for their students.

But there are some pitfalls, gathering and storing content, in the hope that it may prove useful can easily result in  content overload. Searching for educational content, (a subjective concept - of more use to content providers than users), will probably miss the potential of many unique and rewarding assets out there. The value of digital content for learning is determined by the context, not the the subject. If the meaningless cliche 'Content is King', is replaced by Context is King, then we might start heading in the right direction

In order to avoid becoming bogged down by the quantity and diversity of digital content, and to gain value and meaning; requires strategies for evaluating, managing, contextualising the use of digital content. In a series of post in the coming weeks I will share some of my thoughts, ideas, knowledge and experience in this area.

Next in series -  re-usability.

Working Alone

image credit Fudj CC Licence Flickr

Whilst evaluating the Becta Teaching and Learning with DV assets project a few years ago, I  needed to 'contact' teachers during school time, as it turned out, a nigh impossible task. (It would have been easier to get an audience with Her Majesty, The Queen). Ever since then I have  periodically reflected on the implications of teachers working in isolation, so I was very interested to read this recent post by Wesley Fryer.

"Isolation is a bad thing. That is why some adults make kids go sit in the corner by themselves, and criminals are sometimes punished with solitary confinement. As human beings, we are wired to be social and be connected. Certainly there are important times and places for DISCONNECTING, but in general most people are happier and more productive when they are safely CONNECTED with each other."

So, (why) do teachers  work alone? Is it through choice or by design?  Perhaps a bit of both, a hangover from a 19th (20th) century transmissive model of learning, that takes place in closed spaces, which dictate the pedagogy; offering, (until very recently), little or no means of communication with; peers, the class next door  or the outside world.
Simultaneously, the discrete nature of ‘subjects’ allied with the, (perfectly justifiable), pride in being an acknowledged expert' in a subject or field, may encourage teachers to see themselves as independent and self reliant.  Nothing wrong with that of course.

Finally, and most importantly, the expectations of the diverse stakeholders in the education system,  that include government, its curriculum and testing, together with parents and employers in turn influenced by media perceptions and representations of education and learning, will exert pressures to maintain the status quo.

In our current culture, a teacher is usually perceived as an individual on whose head the educational well being of our students ultimately rests. We hear a great deal about good teachers and bad teachers, but very little analysis or debate about how they can effectively work together, perhaps helping transform from bad to good.  When we do make value judgments about good teachers, as Steven Downes recently pointed out  it is unlikely to be about the "content"  delivered, (or subject), but their "presence."  And one would imagine, and hope, that good teachers will have as much 'presence' in a collaborative working environment.

Whatever the reality, I strongly maintain that teacher isolation is a much greater obstacle to 21st century learning than any perceived digital divide; whether that of access to technology or the digital - immigrants v natives concept, (which is becoming rapidly discredited).

As new tools and applications are brought in to the classroom, some, such as interactive whiteboards, digital content and learning platforms will probably probably do relatively little to change the transmissive model of learning. But other tools which are being used by a growing number of teachers, inevitably extend beyond compartments, these are the social and collaborative tools such as Twitter, blogs  and wikis. Teachers are using these to discuss good practice, establish learning networks share ideas and resources, whilst making new professional friends. I would maintain that, any one of the teachers I follow on Twitter is painting a learning landscape that extends way beyond traditional paradigms. And this is not because of the tools themselves, but because of the  connections enabled by the tools. It is through these connections teachers can make their presence felt. The potential of this is thoughtfully highlighted by Martin Weller in a recent post.

Perhaps then, the systems, structures and cultures that keep us compartmentalised, physically and pedagogically, may now find it just that bit more difficult to maintain their walls. As teachers start to become less isolated, then it will be possible engage with the difficult part of educational transformation as suggested by Chris Lehmann.

So, whilst there there is plenty of information on digital tools, educational technologies and Web 2.0; much of the discussion is still centered on a class based; one teacher; discrete subject model. My question would be: for how much longer can/should a teacher remain working in isolation?

Careful who you pick on, mate!

Image Credit" Picture Taker 2   CC licence

There may be some at  Core Projects & Technologies (UK) Ltd now beginning to feel the heat, as their mailboxes begin to fill up. UK, teacher and blogger extraordinaire Doug Belshaw has found it necessary to remove part of a post he made on his blog. The company deemed that his, (arguably), critical review of their product, the TALMOS Learning Platform, might be "potentially commercially damaging". They contacted his school and the rest is history.

Recalling the UK educational software industries role in the the recent BBC JAM debacle, I really wasn't that surprised that this might happen sooner or later. What did surprise me though was that, a commercial company, (marketing to schools) would choose to 'pick on' an individual teacher; a potential user. They really did not get the fact that Doug has a substantial, informed and influential, following in the blogosphere and the Twitterverse, which are already buzzing. Like the drunken heckler, at a late night comedy show, Core Projects & Technologies really didn't get that, the spotlight would inevitably be turned back on them. They didn't get that, Doug would receive support from around the the world, within  hours.

A rather disturbing aspect of this saga, is that although Doug did not mention his school or employer, anywhere on his personal blog, the company took it upon themselves, to trace and contact his school. One wonders how they managed to identify the school, or, as some suggest,  if any data protection laws might have been broken?

Being on the Becta Learning Platform Suppliers list one would have imagined that Core Projects & Technologies would have thought this through a bit more carefully. What will Becta will make of all this?  I don't suppose I'll be buying any shares in Core Projects, but will watch with interest to see how it all unfolds.

Passion Quilt: Meme

MySpace Retro
Image credit Jill

John Connell finally caught up with me in this meme,  which I think this needs a bit more consideration than than my previous contribution. The picture is from a notebook, made by Jill when she was 18, it reveals most of the attributes of a MySpace, Facebook or Bebo page a youngster might create nowadays. Read the notes  Jill adds to the image on its Flickr page. My reason for choosing this image is that it establishes a connection between past and present that creates a context for those using digital media today.

It affirms that as humans and we like to record our ideas and thoughts, often informally as sketches or notes. Our current technologies including social networks, websites,  blogs, mobile phones and video such as YouTube could be considered contemporary versions of the sketchbook or notebook. It is also essential to help youngsters understand the subtext; that technology and new media does not necessarily make us any cleverer or better than previous generations. What is on offer, are new opportunities to learn, communicate, access and share our knowledge. So for inspiration, it is still important to visit the sketch books and ideas of great innovators from the past. I would certainly ask youngsters to consider how those greats might have used todays media.

Another important by-product of our new technologies, is that they enable us to have more than a, (official), one sided view of our history. As the number of digitised archives grows, their assets can be used to help youngsters understand  that issues they might consider new or emerging have been around a long time. Add to this mix, an element of user generated media and reporting and it becomes more difficult to pull the wool over our eyes.

Rules
The rules are simple.

1. Think about what you are passionate about teaching your students.
2. Post a picture from a source like FlickrCC or Flickr Creative Commons or make/take your own that captures what YOU are most passionate about for kids to learn about…and give your picture a short title.
3. Title your blog post “Meme: Passion Quilt” and link back to this blog entry.
4. Include links to 5 folks in your professional learning network or whom you follow on Twitter/Pownce etc.

Roll Call
Therefore; I call on the following to make themselves known if they have not already done so!

1. Lisa Stevens
2. José Picardo
3. Drew Buddie
4. Tom Barrett
5. Leon Cych

Visual Searching

Via Robin Good on Twitter

This looks stunning, just waiting for my invite now.