Getting onboard ...
Over the last couple of weeks I have presented in various venues and lectured to different groups in University education settings. The one thing that is coming over to me at the moment is that everyone listens and nods and gets enthused but I just don't detect things happening.
In a huge lecture theatre with over 250 students I noted that not one one them had a laptop or any other device switched on to take any notes (let alone Twitter) ... they all had pieces of paper to write on ... I asked them how they were going to share their thoughts with others in the room, put that did not seem to be part of their learning agenda. They had come there to listen and absorb not interact. Similarly with a largish group of ICT coordinators at a conference ... no sign of anything but the pads provided by the organisers. It was the same on a course for heads. It is as if the message of sharing/collaborating and the read/write nature of the next stage is out there but it just isn't happening.
If our training teachers and our teacher leaders don't respond and model what chances further through the system? I note that on the Naace Conference blog from Torquay that there are almost NO comments at all on any of the sessions ... even the foremost ICT educators in the country don't appear to make their thoughts known so that they can help to shape the thoughts of others. I posted a comment straight after listening to a recording of Ewan's address, and there mine sits, all on its own.
Will Richardson in a post on his blog highlights a similar issue:
I feel like it sometimes when I go to an education conference with 6,000 attendees and virtually no Internet access where almost no one who is presenting is modeling anything close to great pedagogy with technology.
He goes on:
...how in god’s name can we talk seriously about 21st Century skills for kids if we’re not talking 21st Century skills for educators first? The more I listened, the less I heard in terms of how we make the teaching profession as a whole even capable of teaching these “skills” to kids. Sure, there were mentions of upgrading teacher preparation programs and giving teachers additional time in the school day to collaborate, etc. But the URGENCY was all around the kids. Shouldn’t the URGENCY be all about the teachers right now?
Barack Obama using a quote from Dr Martin Luther King calls for the people of USA to pay attention to 'The urgency of now'. It makes a good rallying cry for the moment!
The longer it takes educators to develop their own ICT capability to support what is happening, the more young people will be leaving formal education without having been able to take advantage of the technology they deserve.
The rest of the post on Will's blog tells the story well as do the comments on the post.
In Torquay last week on Tuesday evening Ewan McIntosh said at 9:06 Don't think - try! ... we need to make a move NOW.
PS
There are now 138 comments to Will Richardson's original post and heaven knows how many people have linked into it on their own blog ... the Twitter lines have been burning.
Labels: communication, connectivity, learning, teaching
posted by Doug @ 09:04
6 Comments
6 Comments:
Doug, do you think the dearth of responses is because there aren't any, or because people are instead using their own spaces to respond? If the latter is the case it might imply that commenting on/responding to something might be a useful part of one's own reflections on their own CPD or other development - and one might want to include it in their own blog if this meets a need. If you look on Technorati (or even on the Naace Communities site) you'll find many posts tagged with Naace relevant to the conference. Maybe it's because people are more comfortable in their own environment (their own blog) than they are in a group blog, in the same way kids are probably more comfortable in Bebo than they are on the school Learning Platform.
I have similar observations from Norfolk County Council Education ICT Events and Inset meetings. No-one's taking notes using a computer and as to Twitter, one suspects it's still a nervous titter.
I do begin to wonder if you guys out there are just going to leave everyone else behind. Dynamic websites imply a certain 'out of dateness' and people are going to find it hard to find the stuff you have already understood and experienced.
Much as I'd like to, I don't agree with Ian. I run a blog service for 17 schools, many of whom have dedicated class bloggers on their staff. To my knowledge, none of them have their own personal blogs for reflecting stuff that they've heard about, tried or learned. I've even set up a Ning network for them (www.creativeict.ning.com)The old adage applies: you can lead a horse to water...
I'm fed up of the number of times that I've been asked "where did you find that resource?". FROM MY NETWORK. DUH!
I entirely agree with Ian- The NAACE blogs have always been under used as they are official and one's own blog feels both comfortable and subversive.
However I take on board your rallying cry I remember David Warlick saying that all teachers should have a blog as part of their own CPD,how many do? And what a shame as it is a fantastic tool for reflection.
I'm not sure how naaceblogs is somehow official? It's just a service provided to members of that association. Naace Communities provides a space for members to share and collaborate in private or public if they wish to among colleagues. Of course many of the comments here are correct. Those that blog regularly find the tool they are most comfortable with, those that are not blogging have not yet seen the personal professional development possibilities one presents.
Hi Gareth !!
I don't think I implied that the Naace blog was official in any way ... I said that '... I note that on the Naace Conference blog from Torquay that there are almost NO comments at all on any of the sessions ... even the foremost ICT educators in the country don't appear to make their thoughts known so that they can help to shape the thoughts of others.'
I meatnt to imply that I hoped the comments on the Conference blog would help me as I was unable to attend.
The confernece blog would have been a 'one-stop-shop' for views, instead, I have had to trawl around individual blogs to discover what happened, what was said, and who thought what about what.
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