TED - Can kids teach themselves?

Sugata Mitra's talk made at the Lift Conference held in Geneva in 2007 has just been posted on the TED site.

In his talk he poses the question 'Can kids teach themselves?'. He uses his 20 minutes to explain his view: In 1999, Sugata Mitra and his colleagues dug a hole in a wall bordering an urban slum in New Delhi, installed an Internet-connected PC, and left it there (with a hidden camera filming the area). What they saw was kids from the slum playing around with the computer and in the process learning how to use it and how to go online, and then teaching each other.

In the following years they replicated the experiment in other parts of India, urban and rural, with similar results, challenging some of the key assumptions of formal education. The "Hole in the Wall" project demonstrates that, even in the absence of any direct input from a teacher, an environment that stimulates curiosity can cause learning through self-instruction and peer-shared knowledge. Mitra, who's now a professor of educational technology at Newcastle University (UK), calls it "minimally invasive education."

The most interesting thing about what he reports is that children adopt peer learning styles automatically. And that the learning took place in groups ... that was an essential factor. He also comments that the children seemed to learn by watching rather than doing. I feel sure that our institutional, individualised education systems may have something to learn from this. Worth leaving it to the kids.

Have you ever had to teach a child how to use a mobile phone?

QCA Consult on GCSE ICT

The consultation by QCA on the ICT requirements for GCSE could have real implications back down through the key stages in English schools. This top down approach has the potential to change pedagogical styles and attitudes to a tool which is seen as a subject. (I actually feel the same about literacies in other curriculum areas)

The main thrust of the proposals which are up for comment is encapsulated in item 10:

GCSE specifications in ICT must require learners to demonstrate the ability to:

• think creatively, logically and critically
• independently select, use and integrate ICT tools to meet needs
• find, select and evaluate information for its relevance, value, accuracy and plausibility
• manipulate and process data and other information, model situations and explore ideas
• communicate data and information in a form fit for purpose and audience
• adopt safe, secure and responsible practice when using ICT
• develop appropriate and effective ICT-based solutions in a range of contexts
• work individually and collaboratively
• iteratively review, evaluate and, where appropriate, modify the effectiveness of their own and others' use of ICT.

This does seem good to me but I was looking for a relevance in other curriculum areas to be made more obvious. Maybe that will come. I just feel that ICT in the rest of the delivered and examined curriculum might take a back seat as teachers of other subjects don't see it as their concern. I suppose the answer is to leave it to the children/students ... they will sort it.

Web 3.0

'The time has come the Walrus said ....' to talk of Web 3.0 ...

Wikipedia has a page created to define what this might mean to us all ... its a chance to be in at the forefront ... the debate has already begun !

6-Year-Old Stares Down Bottomless Abyss Of Formal Schooling

John Connell's blog always provides me with amusement and insights ... now I am back (Have I been away? ... well 'Yes' ... France beckoned and the sun shone and the orienteering in the high pastures of the Aveyron was awesome).

He passes on a post he found David Gilmour's blog ... read the post from 'The Onion' here.

Of course, it doesn't have to be like this ...

Olympics 2.0

So its over ... China, hype, medals, tears, tantrums, success, failure, glory, despair ... and in 4 years it will all happen again. Some of the cast will be the same but there will be new-comers and the venue will be so, so different.

Chinese money, Government money, made the 2008 Games a success in many ways ... fabulous stadia, state organisation. London 2012 is spending our money ... it will be a Games for the World financed by the people ... the tax paying people of the UK. That is okay provided that it is enduring.

But as 'Apophenia' comments : I want my Games in 2012 to be Olympics 2.0 (or whatever we will be talking about then). If I decide to watch the games on whatever digital display I choose to view on (and I don't want, at this time to predict what that might be)... I want to make the choices about what I see and when and who gives me information about it. I am not a partisan sort of person. I can appreciate athletics prowess from people of all nations and creeds. I do not need or want a TV company to spend hours showing me only (or at least mostly) sports people from the UK performing. I want to see it all and make choices about the way I see it. I want to be in control. Will this be too much to ask in 4 years time?

'Age Banding' of children's books

I noticed yesterday that the Times ran an article in the 'Books' section called 'Many paths to the same end'. Alan Gardner postulates that' The imposition of such bands ignores how we laern to read.'

As a teacher who came through flash cards in tobacco tins, ITA, any number of reading schemes from 'Janet and John' past Ladybird, through 'Letterland' and beyond to 'Real books'. And I watched the cycle repeat with more modern books and more modern schemes.

Gardner comments on books that should just be read, not as books for children but just 'books' and he adds that 'To ghettoise books is to insult text and reader.'

This all leads to 'The Children's Writers and Illustrators Group Conference at Robinson College, Cambridge' where, on August 31st there will be a session to discus 'age banding'.

Watch this space for their view and consider whether or not it will change yours.

PS

This might help to explain it all...

TESconnect

Today the TES's revamped website went live and I must say that it certainly looks good. All of the things you would expect are there upfront and quick to access. Jobs, Communities and Resources feature on the clear, white front page ... a no-nonsense design style that does them credit.

Well worth making the first of many visits I think ...

Here's what they say about themselves in their press release:

Launch of TESconnect highlights how the Internet will give back
14.3 million hidden hours to UK teachers by 2012
5,000 teachers say social networking will revolutionise the teaching profession

New research, released today, proves that social networking, resource sharing and collaboration has the potential to transform the productivity and working lives of the UK teaching community and fundamentally raise the quality of lessons taught in UK classrooms. The research is released by TSL Education, publishers of the TES to launch TESconnect at www.tes.co.uk, the essential new website for teachers, by teachers, a social network that allows teachers to network and share teaching and lesson planning resources. At launch, TESconnect will be the world’s largest social network for a single profession

Results from the study entitled 'The Digital Staffroom: How social networking and resource sharing are transforming teaching’, involving 5,000 teachers across all aspects of the teaching profession, illustrate a picture of a profession committed to delivering the best quality teaching experience possible for their pupils and spending hidden time to do so. 73% of teachers use their evenings and weekends to plan for their lessons with many classroom teachers working a 50-hour week, 30% or more of that time is spent working out of school hours. However, the study reveals that teachers who currently use online resources as a starting point for their lesson planning are saving on average 31 minutes per unique lesson using shared resources. Based on this information, online collaboration is expected to save 14.3 million teaching hours per year by 2012, the equivalent of employing around 23,000 new teachers a year.

The survey of 5000 teachers finds that they are constantly seeking to raise educational standards and are on a permanent quest for new ideas, but they are often isolated by the solitary, classroom-centric nature of teaching itself. Internet technology has the power to fundamentally change this. In particular, it provides the first real opportunity for teachers to communicate with each other across geographic or disciplinary boundaries. TESconnect, www.tes.co.uk, a social network and resource sharing platform just for teachers has been created so the professional community can come together online and share their best lesson plans. The new site unlocks a vast potential for them to collaborate and distribute the highly creative classroom materials that exist within schools throughout the country..
Key takings from the study reveal that:
• 90% say that quality and creativity of lesson planning is compromised due to time pressures
• 42% of teachers are too busy to go and meet colleagues during the school day; and 27% say that they are never in the same place at the same time
• 95% of teachers are aware of the value of collaboration to the quality of their lessons, but 27% say that they are never in the same place at the same time as colleagues
• 73% of teachers use their evenings and weekends to plan for their lessons
• Nearly 50% of teachers spending an extra day a week (8 hours or more) preparing for lessons
• Sharing resources saves teachers time. Existing TES resource bank users say that they save on average 31 minutes preparation time per lesson by downloading shared resources, with significant numbers of teachers saving up to an hour
• 84% of teachers say that an online professional network would help them share their ideas, regardless of time and place
• In 2007, teachers downloaded 2.9 million resources from the TES resource bank
• Teachers saved 400,000 hours in planning and preparation time as a result - the equivalent of hiring 600 full-time teachers
• At current growth rates, teachers will be downloading over 80 million resources every year by 2012, saving 14.3 million 'hidden' teaching hours - the equivalent of hiring 21,400 fulltime teachers
• Resource sharing is already growing at 180% per annum on www.tes.co.uk and growth is expected to increase with the launch of the new website TESconnect.

Where will those hidden hours go?

The study indicates that online resource sharing is set to have a positive impact on not only the lives of teachers but also those of the pupils they teach. Using a social network will mean that teachers will be spending less time alone to plan and create resources, and instead will be online connecting with, and being inspired by, the ideas and resources of other teachers. Teachers using existing online resources such as the TES Resource Bank, part of www.tes.co.uk, felt their lessons were more creative and fun as a result of this inspiration. Asked as part of the report 'what would you use the extra time saved for?' 744 teachers said a priority would be to spend more time tracking pupil progress, 853 said they would be able to mark books more effectively and 774 said they would spend more one-to-one time with pupils. All time ultimately invested in the quality and teaching experience within the classroom.

Johanna Radcliffe, NQT maths teacher from Blackpool uses TESconnect to share resources and ideas: “My biggest challenge is inspiring a class of children that are easily distracted and lack the enthusiasm to learn. Using social networks I don’t feel that I am the only teacher in this situation and I have access to a wealth of ideas that help make my classroom a fun and vibrant place to learn. It frees up my time, so I am able give more individual attention to the children that need it.”

Edward Griffith, Head of TESconnect comments: “Our research clearly demonstrates that resource sharing can revolutionise lesson planning and the quality of lessons taught. All teachers have a passion for sharing knowledge, not just with their pupils but increasingly amongst themselves too. We are on the verge of a revolution in education; by giving teachers the tools to do this I genuinely believe teachers will achieve even more remarkable results. We now have the technology to help teachers teach not only better individual lessons but to become better, happier teachers, which ultimately has an important impact on the quality of our children’s education.”

TESconnect , for teachers, by teachers

Used by thousands of schools and colleges, with over 500,000 registered users, TESconnect, is the central focus for the UK teaching community at every level to share their ideas, thoughts and views outside the staffroom. TESconnect is a social network that allows teachers to network, share resources and search for jobs. It is the world’s largest social network for a single profession and allows teachers to connect with other professionals to find and share their best classroom resources and advice. Split into four user-friendly sections including jobs, community, resources and My TES, the site gives teachers access to tools that have the potential to transform lesson planning and the quality of lessons taught. Further details on the site:

1 Community: The world’s largest online social network for teachers where they can share their professional profile with peers, discuss a range of issues on the forums, and see what their professional colleagues have been making good use of in the classroom
2 Resources: The TESconnect Resources section is home to a vast library of teaching resources, all created and uploaded by other teachers in the TES community for everyone to share. With separate channels for every type of teacher from a nursery to a primary or secondary school, there are all kinds of classroom materials from lesson plans, videos, powerpoints and assessments; games, puzzles and quizzes to worksheets and tutorials. With over 20,000 resources already in the site, hundreds are uploaded by the community every week.
3 Jobs: www.tes.co.uk is the number one site for the best teaching jobs from all across the country, with over 500,000 registered users, it is the UK’s leading online recruitment resource for schools and colleagues looking to find new quality teaching and support staff. Now a key part of TESconnect, visitors to the jobs section can browse by position, subject, workplace and by location and build customised job alerts so when that perfect new job vacancy appears it is sent to them
4 My TES: A personalised page where teachers can save the content that is relevant to them. Users also receive updates from the local community as well as bookmarks and links to top content on the site


About TESconnect

TESconnect builds on the success of www.tes.co.uk which is already the UK's most popular site for the teaching community with over 500,000 registered users. A prototype resource sharing tool TSL’s Resource Bank was launched in 2006 as part of www.tes.co.uk. TESconnect is a professional network for teachers to search for jobs, discuss ideas and share resources from lesson plans to poster and worksheets. TESconnect can be accessed at www.tes.co.uk

About TSL Education

TSL Education Ltd is the UK’s leading educational publisher and recruitment service. Its portfolio of titles includes education websites www.tes.co.uk and www.thetimeshighereducation.co.uk, print publications The Times Educational Supplement, FE Focus and Times Higher Education, and education exhibitions and events. TSL’s recruitment service, TES Prime, is a dedicated leadership service for the education sector, working with primary, secondary and independent school governors seeking a new leader for their school.

www.tes.co.uk is the home TESconnect, the UK’s leading educational website. The number one site for education jobs, TESconnect is now also the world’s largest professional network for teachers to share ideas and the best classroom resources.

Notes of the research:

The research was commissioned by TES and conducted by L.E.K Consulting in August 2008. More than 5,000 teachers who had previously registered with TES took part in an online survey designed to gather information about a wide range of teaching issues. In addition, L.E.K. conducted two focus groups, involving 21 teachers from around the country. The participants in the study covered a range of teacher and school types, levels of experience, subject specialisation, and geographies. To request a copy of the report titled ‘The Digital Staffroom: How social networking and resource sharing are transforming teaching’ please refer to press contacts below.

About L.E.K. Consulting

L.E.K. Consulting is an international firm that specialises in strategy, transaction services and performance improvement consulting. It advises the largest private and public sector organisations, private equity companies and smaller, more entrepreneurial businesses.
With a reputation for resolving the most complex commercial issues, L.E.K. helps business leaders consistently make better decisions, deliver improved business performance and create greater shareholder returns.
The firm was founded in 1983 and employs over 850 staff in 20 offices across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. In 2007, L.E.K Consulting was awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for its achievements in international trade. Find out more at www.lek.com

-ends-
Press contacts:
For more information, please call Annie Woodhead or Jessica Helyer on tes@hotwirepr.com or on 020 7608 2500 or Ginni Arnold on 07968 730247.

iPod Blazer

Back from sunniest France now to catch a read of the M & S inspiration for their 'back-to-school' range a blazer with a special pocket for an iPod.

In typical form the NASUWT have come out in high dudgeon:

NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates dismissed the whole idea as 'an error of judgement' and entirely unnecessary.

'Teachers are already battling against the misuse of such technology in classrooms,' she said.

'Pupils nowadays come to school equipped with mobile phones, MP3 players, and portable games consoles when teachers would like them to just bring a pen.'

The gadgets not only distract the users and those around them, but thefts and breakages put extra burdens on staff, she added.

It will be interesting to see how inspirational teachers treat this ... as a threat or an opportunity. It will also be interesting to keep an eye on M & S's bottom line to see how sales go.