What do we want kids to do with technology?

Technology purposeThursday 8th May 2014

A few years ago I walked into a classroom with a local District IT manager.

The class of 9 and 10 year olds were working in groups, all engrossed in producing videos about their chosen topics. Some groups were constructing stop-motion videos, others were outside the classroom conducting hard-hitting interviews with staff. Other students were off in the school workshop constructing items to use in their ‘sets’.

Every student was totally engaged in their activity, and the learning process.

As we left the school, the IT manager (who was ultimately responsible for deciding what technologies were made available to local schools) rolled his eyes, and expressed the kind of thoughts that I have heard all too often from non-teaching staff who support schools – “What a complete waste of time that is – how many of those kids will ever work in the film industry?”

This is the same person who was managing a group of office-bound technicians busily rolling out Microsoft Office to the computers used by these same 10 year olds so that they could “learn to use the tools they will need when they leave school”.

Technology is a tool, not a learning outcome. Bill Ferriter’s poster captures it perfectly.

Google to stop scanning apps inboxes for ads

Wednesday 7th May 2014

Google AppsGoogle has announced that it will stop scanning students’ Apps for Education accounts to target ads at them.

What was somewhat lost in that announcement was that Google will also make similar changes to other account types.

Google will also soon stop scanning the accounts of Google Apps customers with Business, Government and legacy accounts for the free version.

Faster School Internet access

Faster Internet

Tuesday 6th May 2014

Every time a student clicks on a link to a web page, resources are downloaded over your school’s Internet connection to the student’s computer – using valuable bandwidth.

So, imagine if you could store commonly used web resources inside your school network, and encourage students to use those common resources from inside the network, rather than repeatedly downloading the same resources over the school’s internet connection – freeing up your Internet bandwidth, and thereby helping to speed up your school’s shared Internet access?

Well, you can. And it can help improve the school’s pedagogical model too.

Why you need a Gigabit connection for your WiFi

Network SpeedMonday 5th May 2014

If you have 20 wireless devices connecting to a single Wireless Access Point (WAP), those wireless devices are sharing the bandwidth that is available to that single WAP’s connection to the network.

If your WAP is connected to the network (via an Ethernet connection) at 1000 Mbps then each of those 20 wireless devices can expect a maximum concurrent connection speed of 50 Mbps.

If your WAP is connected to the network at 100 Mbps, then each of those 20 wireless devices can expect a maximum concurrent connection speed of 5 Mbps.

That’s a big difference! Especially in a BYOT school.

What speed are your Wireless Access Points connecting to the network?

New Google Docs and Sheets Apps

Friday 2nd May 2014

New Google AppsGoogle has announced that its Docs, Sheets and Slides apps, currently part of Google Drive, are being broken out into separate mobile apps.

Docs and Sheets are available now on the App Store and Google Play. Slides will be available soon, along with a new version of the Drive app.

One of the major new features of these stand-alone apps is the ability to create offline files which are stored on your mobile device, and sync next time you are online.

Get the apps (for iOS and Android devices)….

Read more about the release of the new apps….

Sync Multiple Google Drives

Insync - multiple Drive accountsWednesday 30th April 2014

If you have a Gmail account for personal use, and a Google Apps account for school, then you have probably already felt the pain of not being able to sync multiple Google Drive accounts to your computer.

Insync is a utility that allows you to sync multiple Google Drive accounts to your computer, along with several other neat features, including converting Google Docs to MS Word docs.

Insync costs $15 per account for personal use – and this is a one-off payment.

The Google Gooru video below provides an overview of Insync.

You can obtain an extended trial (60 days) by following this link to the Gooru special offer >>>

NAPLAN online – is everybody ready?

NAPLAN OnlineTuesday 29th April 2014

The Australian Government is planning to conduct NAPLAN online from 2016.

While the Government is to be commended on the move to take advantage of the efficiencies and the opportunities opened by going digital and online, will all parties critical to the success of conducting NAPLAN online be ready for a 2016 test?

Will all Australia’s 9,500 schools, 40 plus education systems and ACARA itself be ready to implement the test in a manner where no child is excluded?

There are a number of hurdles to be overcome, not the least of which is ACARA’s suggestion that students undertaking the test on a tablet will require an external keyboard.

Read more at Mal Lee’s blog >>>

US bans junk food in school canteens

US bans junk foodMonday 28th April 2014

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced a ban on junk food in schools in an effort to cut the level of obesity in young people.

The ban will begin on July 1 and will be nationwide.

According to the proposed ban, schools across the country will only be allowed to sell healthy foods such as fruit, dairy products, whole-grain foods, lean protein products and vegetables.

The staple food of a meal must not exceed 350 calories and snacks must be less than 200 calories.

The ban will affect 100,000 schools across the country.

Read more at Sky News >>>

Finnish Lessons

Finnish LessonsSome holiday reading…..

“Education policies in Finland concentrate more on school effectiveness than on teacher effectiveness.

“This indicates that what schools are expected to do is an effort of everyone in a school, working together, rather than teachers working  individually.

“In many under-performing nations, I notice, three fallacies of teacher effectiveness prevail….”

Read more at The Washington Post >>>

Google codifies crawling your email

On Monday, Google updated Gmail’s terms of service to spell out its relationship with users in no uncertain terms:

“Our automated systems analyse your content (including emails) to provide you personally relevant product features, such as customised search results, tailored advertising, and spam and malware detection. This analysis occurs as the content is sent, received, and when it is stored.”

Read more at SMH >>>

 Gmail

Configurator – Course update

Configurator workshopDue to popular demand, an additional course has been added to Scott Barnham’s Configurator roadshow workshops…. at Bodalla PS on Friday 30th May.

Maybe tack the Friday on to a long weekend away on the sunny NSW South Coast!

 

Learn how to manage your school’s iPads using Apple Configurator, at this one-day hands-on workshop.

You will learn about…..

  • Apple Volume Purchase Program (VPP) for apps;
  • Creating & Managing Apple IDs;
  • Installing Apple Configurator;
  • Using Configurator to prepare iPads with the latest iOS; 
  • Supervised Mode;
  • Installing free apps, and paid apps purchased through VPP;
  • Creating and installing Profiles to manage settings.

Wollongong workshop is on Tuesday 13th May.

Other upcoming workshops in Sydney, Wagga Wagga and Dubbo.

More info and registration >>>

Google Sheets – Convert old to new

sheets-new-f-168If you are using Google Sheets to create your spreadsheets, you are probably already using the recently-released new version of Sheets.

But what about your existing spreadsheets? How do you convert a spreadsheet created in the original version to the new format?

While Google doesn’t provide a simple one-click conversion tool yet, there is a quick workaround…

  • Open the a spreadsheet created in the original version;
  • Select ‘Download as’ from the File tab;;
  • Choose the Microsoft Excel filetype (doesn’t matter if you don’t have Excel installed);
  • Locate the downloaded file and upload it back into Google Drive;
  • Make sure the Excel file is converting to the Google Sheets format;
  • If necessary, re-share with all your collaborators from the original file.

Here is a video overview of the process from Google Gooru…

Google-proof questions

Bloom WheelSimple fact-regurgitation questions make it all too easy for students to type their research questions into the Google search bar to ‘find’ an answer?

We can leverage the principles of Bloom’s Taxonomy to develop research tasks that promote analysis, interpretation, and investigation – and avoid simple ‘answers’ that require no higher-order thinking skills.

Learn more >>>

School ICT Planning – Curriculum Focus?

ICT PurposeAll school planning should be undertaken with a clear vision of how the implementation of a particular initiative will improve learning outcomes.

However, some school planning procedures – ICT planning in particular – seem to be structured around a debate centred on hardware platforms, budget allocations, and the knowledge and personal preferences of technical support staff with no pedagogical experience.

How often do we see school managers making technology purchasing decisions by calculating the number of devices that can be bought for a given budget?

What is the focus for your school when developing a technology plan?

Read more >>>

 

Web Security in doubt

HeartbleedSo, you thought that entering your username and password in a form on a website with an https address, and a little padlock in the status bar, was a secure process?

Think again!

“the little lock icon (HTTPS) we all trusted to keep our passwords, personal emails, and credit cards safe, was actually making all that private information accessible to anyone who knew about the exploit.”

Read the full story at SMH >>>

Science is fun!

ISSLearning about the world around us has always been fun – Col. Chris Hadfield reminded us just how much fun it can be, with his series of videos from the International Space Station (ISS).

Chris posted a series of videos about day-today life on the ISS – and they make great discussion-starters for science activities for all age groups.

Below is one video about cleaning your teeth in space, but there are lots more at The Staffroom >>>

You can also follow Chris Hadfield on Twitter >>>

Mars & Earth move closer this month

MarsInteresting events this month for Science classes….

Beginning April 9 (AEST) Mars will be aligned in a straight line with the Sun and the Earth.

This year we’ll be closest to Mars on April 14, when we’ll be separated by 92 million kilometres – a lot closer than usual, but still well short of the 55 million kilometre absolute minimum.

Mars should be especially bright in the night sky that evening, shining nearly 10 times brighter than the average star.

Watch the video below, and read more at The Huffington Post >>>

 

Managing iPads with Configurator

Configurator workshopLearn how to manage your school’s iPads using Apple Configurator, at this one-day hands-on workshop.

You will learn about…..

  • Apple Volume Purchase Program (VPP) for apps;
  • Creating & Managing Apple IDs;
  • Installing Apple Configurator;
  • Using Configurator to prepare iPads with the latest iOS; 
  • Supervised Mode;
  • Installing free apps, and paid apps purchased through VPP;
  • Creating and installing Profiles to manage settings.

Wollongong workshop is on Tuesday 13th May.

Other upcoming workshops in Sydney, Wagga Wagga and Dubbo.

More info and registration >>>

Office for iPad is free – but it will cost you!

Word on iPadIncreasingly, large software vendors like Microsoft are making their iPad apps exclusive to subscribers of their main software package. It’s a troubling trend.

 Microsoft launched Office for iPad last week.

 The good news is that the new apps are free – the bad news is that they’re read-only runtimes unless you pony up for an Office 365 subscription.

 Read more at ZDNet >>>

Basic Skills or Soft Skills?

Is creative brain power more valuable than formal education?

Google’s Brin, Page, and Schmidt seem to belong to a school of thought similar to that of Papert, Minsky, Negroponte, and even Albert Einstein: “Imagination is more important than knowledge” and “learning to learn is more important than memorising information.”

Read more at the Huffington Post >>>

 Basic skills v soft skills

The SAMR model in your classroom

SAMRFriday 28th March, 2014

Have new technologies brought new learning opportunities to your classroom, or simply provided students with a new typewriter interface?

Are you using technology in the classroom for the sake of using technology, or are these new devices creating new and engaging activities?

The SAMR model suggests a framework to define the impact of technology on the learning environment.

R – Redefinition
M – Modification
A – Augmentation
S – Substitution

This video provides a brief overview of SAMR in the context of Google Drive:

The graphic below, from Tech Tips for Education, is a useful aid in explaining SAMR with a coffee analogy (a comparison is between the drinks you could order from the cafe and the coffee you could make at home):

SAMR

The Tech Tips for Education site also provides some discussion about caveats to the SAMR model.

For more information about SAMR in your classroom, try Googling – there is stacks of info out there!

Planning an ICT Makeover for your school

School Makeover PlanningIn comparison with the ever-changing use of ICT in the wider community, many schools’ ICT offerings are now looking a little tired and outdated. Lots of ‘same-old’ ICT has been happening in many schools for the last 10 years – research, copy, paste, summarise, print, hand-in!

So, where do we start in hauling a school into the modern ICT era? How can you give your school an ICT makeover so that the curriculum embraces new and emerging technologies?

Read more >>>

Cloud providers – Policy statements

Cloud Provider PolicyHow private is your data (and your students’ data) when it is stored with a commercial cloud provider?

Will you and your students be targeted with advertising, based on the content of emails and documents stored in the cloud?

Who owns ‘your’ data, once it is stored on a remote server, possibly in another country?

Links to privacy statements from the major service providers >>>