Professional+Readings

toc **Professional Readings** Professional Reading 2 - ICT in an Authentic Context


 * K airanga School Professional Reading 2 Feedback: **
 * 1) **Authentic Task** - The Authentic task makes sense in terms of what we should be teaching our classes. It is challenging to the way we think about planning ICT activities - rather than low-level "busy" work. Complements the integration of the Curriculum. It backs up our Thinking Curriculum rather than doing work in isolation. Builds skills in students. Mapping their learning - beginning of the year/end of the year.
 * 2) **Integrated Learning Activities** - A journey. Context is important. Learn from each other (children). It has to be manageable. Becoming a natural part of the classroom. Our Principal is impressed with his staff, "...unique...at the cutting edge!" Exciting! Children's motivation is great!
 * 3) **ICT is treated as a tool** - Time is a factor. It determines how "deep" you go on some programmes/applications. The number of computers also affects what you are able to do. Using and independently selecting the computer programme that best "suits" the task. Complex tasks are a part of learning, but we (as teachers) are not always the important part.

PDF version of Alan Novembers

Four things every student should learn … but not every school is teaching
Kairanga Reflection PMI -

Tokomaru School Feedback · We thought that the article was informative in terms of getting us to think about teaching our students about checking where they are getting information (that is reliable)

· The idea of global empathy was interesting, and we thought this went hand in hand with the idea of digital citizenship: our students are in touch with people from all over the world, and they are developing specific skill sets to communicate and interact with them.

· We discussed social tools in our classroom, and we agreed that how to use them properly and safely is an important lesson to teach. Our school does block Facebook, however we think that we teach our students the skills required to use social sites through our class blogs and websites.

__** Te Kura o Awapuni **__ **Initial thoughts** - It's American. It sort of stated the obvious. That global empathy, responsibility on the web, information posted and the accuracy of that posted are the four most important things that Alan November believes should be taught in schools. Be vigilant in respect to what sites your students are working with and ensure security settings are appropriate. Be selective and critical of information sourced from the web. Cultural appropriateness is important in a global community. Know current social/political conditions globally, interacting to learn different perspectives. Permanence of information posted online. Critical thinking about the information found online. **Future goals** - To be proactive in mentioning these things when showing children web sites. Teaching students about the dangers of inappropriate online behaviour and teaching online behaviour that is responsible. To be aware that all information is posted for posterity. Teach children that they shouldn't accept validity of information on initial web sites, but think about information critically by finding it, and evaluating it. To include more global empathy.

__**//Te Arawaru Bilingual Team Central Normal School//**__ We believe it is important that we do not limit the childrens access but encourage them to be vigilant The children must understand that there will be 'slip ups' but we must be able to trust them to deal with it immediately and appropriately. With the different types of watchdog programs the frequency of these occurances should be reduced. We encourage the blocking of certain sites, those with inapproprite content/ foul language/ violence etc. Teaching the children the facts about the permanance of all data entered online and how damaging it can be in future. Therefore we will be suggesting that all children be taught not to upload photos or fill in registration details without the written permission of the parents and the consent of the teacher. We are going to suggest a licence for student computer use at our school. Different levels of access based on their abilities with student leaders to help educate peers and adults. This will enable the power sharing between staff and students to continue.

__**Central Normal School**__
 * The big messages we got were:**
 * The need to teach responsible use of the internet. We have looked at, and revamped our internet usage agreement for students and teachers as a first step down the track. We will be looking at Netsafe "Hectors World" site amongst others as a means to develop responsible use of the internet.**
 * We are also looking at moving to individual student logins as a means of security/responsibility/accountability for us all.**
 * The other main message we thought worth extra exploration was the idea of global empathy. We thought that this started with what we termed local empathy,learning to connect with others close by, how to communicate, use the communication tools before we go global. Tools we will explore are such things as SKYPE.**

**__Hokowhitu School reflections.__**
- We definitely agree with this article as a whole. We acknowlege these points but often put it down to common knowledge and forget that it does actually need to be taught.

- One of the scariest aspects to the internet is once it is out there it will forever be out there and I think we often forget this ourselves.

- Thinking critically about the information out there and who is actually behind this information has been an eye opener when attending a recent course. (Information about Martin Luther King which looked legatimate was actually put together by a White Supremecy Group in America) Thinking critically works in well with the key competencies as well.

Global Empathy: this ties in well with our relating to others key competency. Our kids are in a multicultural school and growing up in a global school community. We need to continue to offer opportunities for our children to interact on a global level.

Social and Ethical Responsibility: Reinforcement of making 'right choices'. Internet Use policy to be reinforced with our children.

Permanence of information online: Students learning about consequences.

Critical thinking about what we discover online: Teachers guide online research.... Students sharing ideas.... Considering things in a careful / critical manner.

Te Kura o Takaro
We totally agree with this article about 'Empathy'. Global empathy is a hugely important trait with our changing society, utilising our technology to do this in an engaging and information gathering way is vital in upper and lower education. However, we believe that we are all doing it within our schools by creating a small, safe network eg: Ultranet. Moreover, yes cybe safety should be one of the first thing to be taught before access to an online community within a school to give the children the tools to be safe regardless of the engagement wihtin school or home.

Four things every student should learn … but not every school is teaching Education technology consultant [|Alan November reveals key lessons that today’s students must know] in order to thrive in the Information Age.

Creativity in the Classroom
[|This article by Dave Gray] makes a strong case for why the future of learning needs to be considered NOW for our kids, and cites a good historical comparison to help us realize its importance. It also talks about certain teaching methods that have shown success in this area.

Are You Only Teaching Kids to Drill Holes?
Drilling holes? What's that got to do with ICT? [|Possibly quite a bit..]

Managing Change.
A good article by Terry Freedman about managing change to move whole schools in new directions. Managing Change: [|Engaging the Teachers.]

**Going Global.**
An article from the Education Aotearoa Magazine by Dorothy Burt. Talks about ways you can go global either personally of with your class.

**Technology-Transformed Learning Environments (David Warlick)**
[|This is well worth reading!]

**Learning With Blogs and Wikis**
Technology has made it easy for educators to embrace continual professional development. This article discusses the role of blogs and wikis in enhancing teacher professional development. [|Recommended read!] [|10 Obligations of Bloggers]

The Schooling Students Need:
Even our "best" schools are failing to prepare students for 21st-century careers and citizenship. In the new global economy, with many jobs being either automated or "off-shored," what skills will students need to build successful careers? What skills will they need to be good citizens? [|Are these two education goals in conflict?]

21st Century Pedagogy
This is an excellent article, easy to read and which provides a succinct summary. Highly recommended!

**From Now On**
[|The educational technology journal of Jamie McKenzie.] This is a **must read** for all teachers.

Learning Anywhere, Anytime.
[|The Internet Breaks School Walls Down.] What happens to time-worn concepts of classrooms and teaching when we can now go online and learn anything, anywhere, anytime?

What is Web 2.0
[|What is Web2.0?] How Are Web2.0 Technologies Used in Education and Language Learning?

Why Teachers Should Blog
[|Interesting article]

Teaching with a Projector or Interactive Whiteboard
[|The Ten No Nos]

Creating 21st Century Classroom
[|Ten tips for creating a 21st century classroom]

Benefits of Web 2.0
[|Web 2.0: Pedagogical Evidence and Brain Research]

Giving Children the Tools Is Not Enough
[|Good article]

What is 21st Century Education?
[|Your assignment is to take education truly into the 21st century.] It is not enough to say that we are already living there. Technically it is the 21st century, but our schools are not there, and our challenge now is to reinvent schools for the 21st century - for the sake of our children, our students and the welfare of our world. Making such a paradigm shift is not easy. After all, when any of us thinks of education, we usually think of what we knew as school - the way it has always been. That is how parents, policy makers, politicians and many students think of school. But we have to make the paradigm shift to 21st century education.

Technology Integration Plan
"Our school is looking at how we can safely open up engaging opportunities for l[|earning through the use of technology]. We are committed to using digital portfolios as an opportunity to focus on critical thinking, reflection in learning, digital citizenship, while giving students an area where they can build and develop their own site."

Handheld Learning
The Apple iPad ushers in a new era of computing that leaves the world of offices behind, a profound paradigm shift that is difficult to appreciate until one has had the opportunity to live, play, work and learn with one. Graham Brown-Martin, founder of Learning Without Frontiers, [|explains why he thinks this is the most exciting development] since the original Mac and why the education sector should take note.

Thinking About Buying An Interactive Whiteboard?
[|Read this] [|and this] [|or this] [|or even this] or [|this] And if you still aren't convinced, [|try this.] and [|this one as well]. [|And yet another one...] If you're too tired to read, here's a slidehow with the same message. media type="custom" key="6751957"

Shaping Tech for the Classroom
[|21st-century schools need 21st-century technology, by Marc Prensky] media type="custom" key="6389379"

Participation Online – the Four Cs, by Derek Wenmoth
[|Good article and very useful diagram]

Netsafe - Blogging and Web 2.0 Considerations for Schools
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