We are lucky at my college that we have made it our choice, and we offer a 1:1 Laptop Program in Years 7 and 8.  Year 8s will continue with the program from this year, whilst our 2010 intake of Year 7s will begin next year.  It is certainly an exciting time ahead, and we have learnt much in our journey.

Key for us, besides making sure the nuts and bolts of the program were right, was making sure the learning designs were well explored.  We are still moving forward in this area and believe that the technology is not just a new way of doing the “same ol’, same ol’”.

“My goal in life is to find ways in which children can use technology as a constructive medium to do things that they could not do before; to do things at a level of complexity that was not previously accessible to children”
Prof. Seymour Papert 1998

We are having our Year 7 Info night this Wednesday, so look forward to getting some feedback from our community.

Recently I discovered a wonderful group on Flickr called “Great Quotes about Learning and Change”. It’s a great collection of photos matched with quotes from leading educators from around the world. Many of the names are from my Twitter network, some I have met and some I follow online.
I’ve attached one of my favourites, a quote from Chris Lehman, Principal from the SLA.

“We should use the technology to create whole new schools.  Technology needs to be like oxygen – ubiquitous, necessary and invisible”

Recently I used a set of cards called Sometimes Magic Happens when… with teachers at my college to open up dialogue

Sometimes Magic Happens when...

about the different needs of learners.  It was in fact the beginning of a workshop about Inquiry Learning. Each teacher picked up a card with its own unique saying, and spoke about why they chose the card. Each teacher took turns whilst others listened.

I see these quotes as being a great discussion starter with staff in a similar way as the Magic cards.  A great way to begin the new year, and prepare for the Ultranet.

When considering learning environments that suit the needs for the 21st Century Learner I’m not sure if this is what we mean! Is it learning anytime, anywhere when everyone is listening to the same lecture in the same place? I guess these are our challenges as educators in our school settings.

We have a 1:1 laptop program for our year 7s and will have it for both the Year 7s and 8s next year. Our thinking has been around these questions -

• How can we best use the tools and spaces?
• How can we make learning more personalised for our students?
• How can we provide opportunities for our students to be producers as well as consumers?
• What makes a digital citizen?

There are other questions buzzing around our heads at the moment. We don’t have all the answers, but the discussions are invaluable to developing a common vision for learning.

Learning Spaces at Manor Lakes College

Often professional learning opportunities can lose their impact upon the return to school.  Day to day pressures can easily erode the memory of these days.   As a team we spent quite a bit of time reflecting on what we had learnt and ideas that resonated with us.  This was a most important for us to ensure we would keep the learning alive.

The talk I gave highlighted four key tools that got me connected -

• Classroom 2.O
• Twitter
• Edublogs
• Diigo

Now I am moving into a new role, that of Assistant Principal for a new college (currently undergoing a name change) with a focus on ICT and Student Learning for the 21st Century.  With this in mind I am planning on developing learning programs that exploit networking tools and new technologies.

Our students are widely connected in their own lives and would benefit from having similar networks cultivated for their learning to become richer and more meaningful.

Only last week a colleague, Stony River, sent me a link to a great video called “The Networked Student”.  I think it is great video that will help me promote this style of learning to my staff, students and parents.

Find more videos like this on Classroom 2.0

Using video conferencing tools like Elluminate and Centra you can begin to incorporate many real life experiences. Simply by having a laptop, webcam, headset and a wireless card you can bring the real life situation to the classroom.

Normally the way I have used video conferencing is by setting up a virtual space or classroom where there is either one speaker or a few speakers to present or share their content and ideas. An example of this is our own NOW Online Conference scheduled for early October.

However, Liz explained how a teacher or an outside expert can present information that is within the context of the topic and create an online learning environment that is rich and real. In other words being on the ground where the action happens and then streaming back into the classroom. Liz has many examples on her website.

Global events can be captured by having presenters from any area of the world, collaborating on shared topics. The picture below is from Liz’s website demonstrating the locations of the presenters for her collaborative project for the International Year of the Dolphin

Working in this capacity allows for immediacy between experts and participants. Questions are asked and answered and ultimately learning is not just from the experts but also through the conversation and collaboration. The video conference media can be edited and archived for future reference.

Our very first online conference is fast approaching. The WMR Ultranet Team has been sponsored by the Knowledge Bank, DEECD to host an online conference.

The purpose of our conference is to support our teachers and leaders in the Western Metropolitan Region, as well as others from around the state and globe. Our three key themes are Create, Collaborate and Communicate. Our program is designed around these themes with a look at tools such as wikis and blogs, digital stories, mobile technologies, and strategies around thinking, cyber-safety, budgeting and resourcing for effective eLearning.

We have some wonderful presenters lined up with Kym Nadebaum as our keynote presenter. Kym’s session “The Song Remains the Same” is sure to raise as many ICT questions as it answers. Other presenters include Anne Mirtschin, Stephen Palmer, Tony Richards, Peter Davis, Trudy Brentnall, Louise Bowe, Rob Pyers, Colin Schot and Martin Mielimaka and the Ultranet Team.

Our online presentations run between October 7th and 9th. To support these sessions we have also planned hands on workshops between October 21st and 30th. So I guess, it is a hybrid – virtual and f2f.

A full program can be seen on our Ning and on our wiki. You can also join our Ning and create your own profile.

A poster can be seen here – now-conference-poster.

Hope others can make it too

This week a 2nd Bloggers’ Feast was organised. Unfortunately the turn out wasn’t as big as the last, but the company was great and the conversations fun and interesting. Jo McLeay organised the night and invited Andrew Churches whilst he was here in Melbourne visiting schools with his colleagues.

It was a great opportunity to catch up again with Jo, who inspires me with the work she is doing with her students. I learnt on the night, that Jo has been blogging with her students now for three years. Wow, that is fantastic and a what a great positive role model for those just starting out in the field. I know that I will be tapping into her experiences and expertise more this year.

Andrew was a pleasure to meet f2f for the first time. I have been chatting with Andrew on Twitter and via our blogs this year. I can’t remember exactly how long, but do know that his work on tweaking Blooms Taxonomy of Thinking into the Digital Blooms was what caught my attention in a big way. It supported the work I was doing in my region with helping schools integrate technology and providing some good example of high-level thinking and learning with technology (and not just for the sake of it). So wow, got to meet the guy who wrote it. Awesome. And a great fun guy too.

IWBs were brought up on several occasions. Both these educators have a lot to offer in their beliefs and practical knowledge in the use of the boards for ages P – 12. A great rubric was discussed that was created for the use of Interactive Whiteboards by Juliette Major (Education Services, Catholic Education Office of Canberra and Goulburn). This is certainly a way for teachers to self-reflect on their use and generate discussions in our (WMR Ultranet Team) IWB forum coming up this month.

An excellent night! Thanks Jo and Andrew