dougmuses

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday this week in the company of some fabulous and supportive people who are passionate about the role that technologies can play in teaching and learning.

I was in Torquay and Bristol for the SWGFL Annual ICT Conferences, the sun shone and the teachers and exhibitors met were a lively bunch keen to plot pathways forward in these difficult times.

On Tuesday in Torquay Prof Kevin Warwick wowed the audience with tales of his adventures into cybernetics and a, far-from-well, Prof Tanya Byron talked of our responsibilities in making sure that children/students taught were involved in their safe and exciting futures. It was at the end of the day in Torquay when people began to realise that the ‘Harnessing Technology’ Grant had been cut by a further £50M and the implications of this were discussed … optimism was the key and planning for an indeterminate future.

My keynote was sandwiched in the middle of these two most excellent speakers … if you want the see/hear/try/read some of the things said then simply click here.

Wednesday in Bristol was full and thriving - the Conference that is - again the discussions were around loss of technology grants and their implications. Prof Tanya Byron led off with a spirited call to arms explaining that she had been asked by michael Gove to go and talk to here about what was needed and she wowed to pass on delegates’ views as to why keeping up the technology pace was so important. SWGFL have set up a page where comments will be fed back to Tanya to assist her in the conversation.

I was up next and exhorted delegates to be confident about their professionality in all of this and to keep focused on the ‘day job’ of giving sparkling educational opportunities to their pupils. I demonstrated some Web 2.0 apps and emphasised that great though these were they were useless if the broadband connection into the schools was not swift and reliable (in all ways). I urged them to protect, at all costs, the valuable infrastructure that provided their access thus safeguarding the progress of digital teaching and learning. I used Barak Obama’s speech quote - We are the people we have been waiting for - to conclude my presentation emphasising the responsibility of us all to make happen the things we are passionate about.

You can follow some of the ideas here.

Sir Bob Geldof was up last and he was superb in his support of teachers and schools. He emphasised that it was important for all involved to stay involved and to actually make things happen - however difficult the circumstance. He used examples from his work in Africa to demonstrate overcoming insurmountable difficulties.

My thanks to all the many friends and colleagues met in these two days for their support and appreciation.