Learning - Thinking - Playing

A word on ICT Position Descriptions

One of the things I like to do is keep an eye on ICT advertised positions in weekend papers. I do this so that I get a feel for what schools are looking for in terms of skills and capabilities, I also do it to get an idea of the direction a school may be taking by what they say in their ad. ON the weekend (22-23 Sept07) there was an add for a Technology position at a school in Melbourne, upon investigating the position description and selection criteria I was slightly horrified at what I saw.

It appeared that the document put together as the position deception was from a basic leadership position template and that ICT was just added where required. There was no clear statement of responsibility, nor was their any documentation on what the school had done, was planning to do in regards to ICT. Sure readers will be saying that is what the school website is for and that is why you call the school and talk to the principal. My Counter to this argument is that in these highly competitive times having as much information as possible in the position description would help to ensure a highly competitive field during short listing.

What I think is the real issue and one that is becoming more evident through these position descriptions is that a large number of schools through their leadership do not have a very clear idea of where ICT and technology is going within the school or have the capacity to communicate what plans the schools has for ICT integration and application. This observation is not meant as a criticism, more a fact that many schools do not have a clear direction for their ICT spending, ICT integration in the curriculum, professional development and staff development and hence required staff skills.

I will finish this post with the selection criteria you would need too address for the position if you were to apply - remember this is for an ICT/Technology Co-ordinator role. What do you think?

KEY SELECTION CRITERIA

• Obvious and vibrant commitment to Catholic education
• Appropriate qualifications and experience
• Accreditation certificate to teach in a Catholic school, preferably to teach Religious Education
• Exemplary teaching and learning practice
• A commitment to ongoing professional learning
• A vision for enhancing the academic climate of a school
• Ability to energise and expose the potential of the full range of student abilities
• Courage and courtesy
• Proactivity and imagination
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• A proactive approach to creative problem solving skills
• Flexible approach to time
• Ability to work within a team
• Loyalty and support to the Principal and Leadership Team

Top Online Tools

The other day I recently came across the following site that has tried to pull together a list of the top 10 and top 100 online tools for 2007. The site which is part of the "Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies" a UK based organisation has pulled together the list.

Spending the time looking at the list I have to say it was very interesting and intriguing - I was not totally sold on the top 10 or the order of the larger top 100, but what the list did provide was a great discussion point and starting point to consider the tools I use every day and what order I would put mine in - if at all possible. I really like the idea of having a top 10/100 list, however the number of survey respondents that participated was extremely small (being only 109), although on the website there is a comprehensive list of all participants, backgrounds, personal top 10's and their images (in most cases).

If you were going to develop this top 10/100 idea further as a way for teachers/students to keep abreast of online developments, access online resources and to get an understanding of the depth and breadth of software tools available I would look to have a much broader survey that was continually open. This would enable people to modify and change their selections over time as their skills/knowledge developed as well as allowing those that stumble across the survey the ability to participate as and when they find it - sort of an ongoing poll as it were.

Take the time to consider what you would put down as your top ten  online tools?

The site is available here where you can download a pdf with the top 100 and resources listed.

Just for the record the following were the top 10:
1. Firefox
2. Del.icio.us
3. Skype
4. Google Search
5. PowerPoint
6. Wordpress
7. Gmail
8. Google Reader
9. Blogger
10. Word

Games - some positive spin

On the day that Halo 3 is released, I thought I would share a few interesting news items that have been in the press recently. Admittedly these two articles paint a positive picture of Computer games in education - but they do highlight some aspects of game playing and development that do not always come to mind when we talk about playing games.

Sixth Grade Game Programmer Nets $6.5 Million In Funding
The first article is about a young 6th Grader from the US who has developed a program that allows the selling of virtual goods in games - and for his effort he has attracted $6.5 Million in funding. This is an amazing achievement and although the article talks briefly about the application, what it does not cover is the background - how did a 6th Grader come up with this idea - how did he develop the idea and build it to a point where he could get $6.5 Million funding. For me the article provides a view at some of the possibilities our student today could tap into - or our schools should start investigating.

Game consoles help keep students in the classroom
This second article talks about the use of computer games as a way to increase student participation and engagement in developing independent study skills. The interesting thing about this game use is that if we apply it to Australia we could look to use these devices in remote indigenous schools to help with student engagement and retention, and being really smart we would get secondary (and primary students) to build games for these students to help their education - the possibilities.

Just on the Halo release, I have picked up my copy and have started to explore and play. I must say the graphics and game play are excellent and from what my younger more experienced friends have indicated - it has lived up to all expectations. I will hopefully have mapped out some educational uses in the next few weeks.

Coburg Senior High

I had the opportunity to visit Coburg Senior High School last week for the second time and I was again impressed. From the outside the school looks unassuming and nondescript and much like many other secondary schools around the place. When you enter Coburg Senior that traditional look changes and you are exposed to a very open and welcoming environment. I really enjoyed having a look around the completed school and was amazed at the flexibility of the learning spaces as well as the focus of the students and teachers.

It was great to have the opportunity to look at what is happening at the school and to talk about the developing culture, student body and directions. I did not have the opportunity to speak with any of the students but from what I saw they were all engaged in activities or discussions. I was able to also have a look at the work completed by students and it was impressive. *The embedded video was created by students about the school.

If you get the chance to visit the school it is really worth while, check out the school website for PD activities and events as there are a growing number of opportunities on offer.

Thanks for hosting me Anne and Don.

Free software - check this out

Just had to post this link to a good friend's Blog: ICT GUY - Darrel has posted information about free software available to students and teachers - well anybody in fact. Check out the posting and the software and sites discussed, visit the post here...

 

Remember you can always join Darrel and myself on our podcast - EdTechCrew or visit our website for links www.edtechcrew.net.

Halo 3 - getting set to launch

If you are not into games then this coming week would not really mean much to you, those that are into computer games would know that at the end of the week Halo 3 will be launched in Australia and world wide. Halo 3 is the 3rd game in the very successful series of games that have been released on the Xbox game console - Halo 3 is a first person shooter game that pits players against an alien enemy, it also boasts a number of other game play options not the least being multi player skirmishes or "death matches".

So what does this mean for all those students under 18 (mainly boys) -  the timing is good for most Australia states as the release of the game coincides with the school holidays, so that most players will be able to  play the game over extended hours without having to face up to school the next day and try to be a contributing, interested and awake student. Interestingly thought is that the game release for those in year 11 and 12 comes at a time when study and revision are the key issues - will Halo 3 help to relive stress or will it suck away important study time. I guess the answer to that question will differ depending weather you ask students or parents/teachers. (There is possibly a good post-doctorate research topic in there)

Why I am interested in the release of Halo 3 is to use this game as a point in time to try and map curriculum links from the game to our current education environment, granted there is a level of violence in the game, but there is also a large amount of learning and education as well and I want to find out where it might sit,  if it has a place and how to engage teachers in exploring its options - as we all know our students and children will have no issues playing and engaging with it.

In the latest issue of Wired magazine there is a great article called "Halo 3: How Microsoft Labs Invented a New Science of Play", the article is good for both teachers and students as it talks about the developments in game design and building and how game testing has lifted to a new level. The article provides a good background to the Halo game while discussing the issues and design requirements needed to make games successful and to meet the needs of existing players.

In an education environment we can learn a lot about the rigor placed on the refinement and testing of games to meet the needs of players - it provides a picture of what occurs in the real world in regards to testing, marketing, refinement etc, it helps to highlight to students doing IT and building their own games the need to undertake these processes if they want to be successful. And this is just building a game - not playing.

One little snippet in the article is a reference to a study in the Feb 2007 issue of Archives of Surgery where it was found that laparoscopic surgeons who played and excelled at video games made 47% fewer errors and worked 39% faster than their peers. In fact the surgeons participated in the " Rosser Top Gun Laparoscopic Skills and Suturing Program (Top Gun)", given that games in this situation help with training, manual dexterity and concentration what type of game would we design for teachers to help with our profession. We could have games that:

• Help with educational programming
• Support a better understanding of the curriculum
• Develop knowledge in different learning styles
• Support teacher skill and knowledge acquisition in behaviour management techniques

A few things to think about.

Identity - how important is yours

I cam across the following website a few months back and thought I would post it here. It is amazing to think about what makes up your identity and even more amazing to consider the information that can be found online. One thing I am passionate about is educating and talking with our children about their identity and what it means when they go online - this is an important thing to do as our children face a very different world and environment. Even today children as young as 4, 5 and 6 are going online and sharing personal information - how much information are they giving - do we really know.

Check out the following website and associated video - Identity 2.0...