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Online Bookclubs in OzProjects

February 2, 2010 – 10:19 am

Oz Projects banner

OzProjects provides two Bookclubs for 10-19 year olds.

Beware of Books is for students from 15-19 years. It is a place where you can discuss books, publish book reviews, and occasionally meet an author. cover They Told me I had to write this

From 15 -31 March Kim Miller will be answering questions in a special Beware of Books forum. Kim is the author of They Told Me I Had To Write This and other books for young adults. Find out more about Kim and the writing of this book. Enter the forum to ask Kim a question.

Middle Years Book Club (MYBC) allows students 10-14 years to share their love of reading. Students are invited to share what they are reading, post book reviews and participate in discussions and celebrations.Gamers Quest cover

From 22 February -5 March George Ivanoff will be answering questions in a MYBC forum. George is the author of over 35 books for children and teenagers. Find out more about George and the writing of his latest book Gamers’ Quest. Enter the forum to ask George a question.

Students younger than 10 can also participate in an OzProjects Book Club. The Early Years Book Club is a place for young readers to explore online books and share class thoughts and ideas. New resources will be added to the project throughout 2010. Resources will be related to upcoming events, celebrations and themes.

For more information or assistance to get started in OzProjects please email ozprojects@edna.edu.au

By Kerrie Smith | Posted in Educationau, OzProjects | Comments (0)

Blogging competition

January 29, 2010 – 7:48 am

Media release: JISC Conference 2010 blog competition launches

JISC is putting the spotlight on the education community in a blog competition, with the chance to win a flip camera and inclusion in a JISC publication.

As part of the JISC Conference 2010, JISC is asking teachers, learners and researchers to share their experiences of technology around the event theme: ‘technology – at the heart of education and research’.

The competition will be judged by Michelle Pauli, deputy editor of Guardian.co.uk books section and editor of the conference blog; conference keynote speaker Bill St Arnaud, chief research officer at Canada’s Advanced Internet Development Organization; and John Traxler, professor of mobile learning and director of the Learning Lab at the University of Wolverhampton.

Entrants should write a blog post or produce a short video explaining how important technology is to their work in education and research.

For example, have you been using web 2.0 tools to get in touch with or engage students or colleagues? Perhaps technology is helping to make your research quicker and easier, or maybe you’ve found a whole new angle of inquiry because of it? Whether it’s about getting in touch with far-flung colleagues, presenting your work in a new way, or working in an innovative area, JISC wants to hear from you.

Michelle Pauli explained what the judges are looking for: “We’re really looking forward to finding out what technology the education community couldn’t live without, whether it’s a cutting edge software application or a standard piece of kit used in an innovative way. Blog posts don’t need to be long to tell a good story and a short, sweet and to-the-point specific example can be just as compelling and effective.”

She added: “I’m particularly intrigued to see if anyone takes up the challenge of ’showing rather than telling’ by using video to share their story.”

All entrants will receive reciprocal links to their blogs from the JISC website, with the chance to be part of the selected entries in a publication on the topic.

The overall winner of the competition will receive a flip camera, presented to them at the JISC Conference 2010, taking place from 12-13 April 2010 at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London.

Anyone employed by a further education college or university in the UK or abroad is eligible to enter the competition, although members of the JISC executive are not eligible to be shortlisted or win the prize.

Submit your entry via the online form before the entry deadline of 1700 GMT on Friday 19 February 2010 at
<http://www.jisc.ac.uk/events/2010/04/jisc10/blogcomp>

By Kerrie Smith | Posted in Educationau | Comments (0)

10 Global Trends in ICT and Education

January 27, 2010 – 8:17 am

My reaction when I first read Robert Hawkin’s list on EduTech - a World Bank Blog on ICT use in Education was “haven’t we already looked at these?”

The list contains 10 items that have been on lists for a long time, so I guess what we need to ask ourselves is how strongly is this technology impacting on my teaching and learning?. In Hawkins’ words when he is referring to mobile devices - is this item an “information appliance of choice in the classroom“?

The other thing I have been thinking about of late is how global is “global”? What is happening outside Australia, or outside western countries? There are some interesting comments on Hawkins’ blog post that do help you get a wider picture. The final comment came from Steve Vosloo who gives a South African perspective and then reinforced it on his own blog.

One of the other interesting aspects to Hawkins’ post is his comments on the impact of the technology of the status quo.
e.g.

  • Increasingly robust connectivity infrastructure and cheaper computers - requires a rethinking of the traditional 40 minute lesson, and the availability of virtual mentors or teachers.
  • schools around the world are re-thinking the most appropriate learning environments to foster collaborative, cross- disciplinary, students centered learning.
  • Such activities often challenge traditional notions of intellectual property and copyright.

    • Have a look at his list and tell me which ones strike you as most likely to impact on your teaching and learning this year.

    By Kerrie Smith | Posted in Educationau, technologies | Comments (0)

    Where are you on the social technographics ladder?

    January 25, 2010 – 10:03 am

    Many thanks to Stephen Downes to pointing to this article in today’s OLDaily. This is from a blog called Groundswell: How People with Social Technologies are Changing Everything.

    The diagram embedded below relates to analysing social technology behaviour. The post is titled Social Technographics: Conversationalists get onto the ladder.
    The categories shown in the diagram overlap.
    If you are blogging you are sitting in the Creators – so even though blogging may be regarded as “commonplace” only 24% do it.
    People participate in multiple behaviors, and not everyone at a higher level on the ladder actually does everything in the lower rungs. The latest diagram shows the addition of the Conversationalist category which takes FaceBook and Twitter people into account.

    social technographics ladder

    It is quite interesting to compare this ladder with an earlier one developed nearly 3 years ago. There’s been a considerable rise in those actively engaged online. It also reflects the change in the web 2.0 tools that we use.

    2007 social technographics ladder

    By Kerrie Smith | Posted in Educationau, online technologies, social networking | Comments (0)

    Could you work Unplugged?

    January 22, 2010 – 8:25 am

    Hot on the heels of this week’s Kaiser Family Foundation report that reveals just how much time young Americans are spending using a smart phone, computer, television or other electronic device, comes a provocative appeal: Unplug Education. No Computers In Schools.

    A national US survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that with technology allowing nearly 24-hour media access as children and teens (Generation M2) go about their daily lives, the amount of time young people spend with entertainment media has risen dramatically, especially among minority youth. Today, 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week). And because they spend so much of that time ‘media multitasking’ (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes (10:45) worth of media content into those 7½ hours.

    In his provocative article which has already attracted 166 comments, Dan McLaughlin says What we should be demanding from our schools is a computer- and internet-free zone. Commenters on his article are asking for a more moderate approach acknowledging that ICTs are transforming education, saying we should not ban but limit, that there are bigger problems to think about.

    So here in Australia as the computer rollout into secondary schools gathers pace this week with students and teachers returning from summer holidays, thoughts like these are anathema. But are there issues we should be thinking about. Probably every school has people who will raise these: can our students write/read cursive writing? Can they do mental arithmetic (I must admit I struggle sometimes, but that might just be old age)? Will our students automatically categorise any lesson that is computer-less as “boring”? Do they need quiet reflective times without the stimulus of ICT? If so, how do we ensure that happens?

    Put it on a personal level - could you work unplugged? How bereft do you feel when your internet connection goes down at home, or when you are away for a holiday without your usual connectors?

    Other reactions: If Your Kids Are Awake, They’re Probably Online: NYTimes

    By Kerrie Smith | Posted in Educationau, communication tools, online technologies, technologies | Comments (0)

    Kindling along: an update of my Kindle experiences

    January 21, 2010 – 12:34 pm

    Although I still read paper versions of books, I am well and truly hooked on my Kindle, and I think it has huge potential for Australian education as does any other e-book reader/tablet. The Kindle I have is the 6″ version: very portable and great for reading fiction on.

    Did you see that this week Amazon have released the 9.7″ KindleDX for international distribution?. This is the one I think that has the most appeal for text-books. Kindle DX

    If you are considering educational uses of an e-book reader, below are just some of the sites for Free e-Books that I have found. It would be great if you could leave a comment with links to others you have found.

  • ManyBooks.net: See Categories
  • Free e-books - a catalogue of sites to explore.
  • Project Gutenberg Australia
  • Planet e-books: Classics - download as single page pdfs and then send off to Amazon for free conversion to Kindle format.
  • Open Culture: once again these are mainly, but not all, classics.
  • Books on the Knob: a daily post of what is free for Kindle and other e-book readers. Use the RSS feed or Feed My Inbox to get a daily email dose.

    • Tit-bits

  • If you can get a book as a pdf, then you can email it off to your free Kindle account (your emailname@free.kindle.com) at Amazon for free conversion to Kindle format. Remember to put convert in the subject line.
    You can also use some free software called Mobi Pocket Creator to make the conversions
  • .mobi files will also run on your Kindle.
  • If you are a teacher librarian worried about giving students access to unlimited download of books from Amazon via a Kindle loaned out from the library or the school, then simply don’t keep that Kindle registered with Amazon. Somebody might tell me that I’m talking through my hat here, but this is how I think it would work.
    * When your Kindle arrives, it is registered on your Amazon account. If you don’t want students to access WhisperNet from that Kindle, then go into your account via the internet and de-register it. If on a later occasion you wanted to re-register the Kindle you just need to use the online Register facility to connect the Serial number of the device to your Amazon account again.
    * not having WhisperNet access won’t affect the working of the Kindle because all the books are stored locally. So say you are lending out a classic you got as a free e-Book:
    1. Save the classic on the library computer
    2. Attach the Kindle to the library computer via its USB cable: the computer sees it as an extra drive
    3. Send the book to the Kindle
    4. View the Kindle and move the file you sent to it into Documents.
    5. Disconnect the Kindle and bring up its home page - the book should be there.
    * The same procedure will work for any .mobi files you have available. It seems to me that it means you can move any files you have legitimate free access to from one Kindle to another and never need to give than “loan” Kindle WhisperNet access.

    • By Kerrie Smith | Posted in Educationau, e-book | Comments (11)

    Mobile phones and primary school students

    January 20, 2010 – 9:51 am

    Silicon Alley Insider has produced an interesting chart about the growth in the ownership of mobile phones by US 6-11 year olds, and I thought it would be interesting to at least see what the level of ownership might be by Australian students.
    Your assistance in collecting statistics would be wonderful.

    US Children who own mobile phones

    If you have trouble viewing or submitting this form, you can fill it out online:

    By Kerrie Smith | Posted in Educationau, mobile technologies | Comments (0)

    Sustainable vs disruptive technologies

    January 19, 2010 – 1:10 pm

    I was reading this article this morning: Opinion: Virtual schools are a critical piece of education’s future and it struck me that perhaps I didn’t understand the difference between sustainable and disruptive technologies. Perhaps, like me, you need some clarification.

    Among other things the article says
    “Technological innovations might be categorized along a continuum from sustaining to disruptive. In education, a sustaining technology might be a SMART Board, which in most applications is a way to present information dynamically and efficiently—a sustaining upgrade to the chalkboard and overhead projector—while a disruptive technology would be a virtual school.”
    And that’s where, even after I had read the rest of the article, I felt I needed help.
    I’m still not sure I agree with those examples.

    So I looked elsewhere and found this:
    Disruptive technology is a term coined by Harvard Business School professor Clayton M. Christensen to describe a new technology that unexpectedly displaces an established technology. In his 1997 best-selling book, “The Innovator’s Dilemma,” Christensen separates new technology into two categories: sustaining and disruptive. Sustaining technology relies on incremental improvements to an already established technology. Disruptive technology lacks refinement, often has performance problems because it is new, appeals to a limited audience, and may not yet have a proven practical application.

    So technology that builds on existing technology is a sustaining technology: e.g. mini-computers, laptops, tablets are all sustaining technologies because they are increments to existing computer technology.
    Technology that breaks new ground like an iPod or an e-book reader (or even the technology behind the e-book), a GPS is disruptive technology.
    Is my definition OK or have you got a better one?

    It feels to me like there is a point at which sustaining technologies make us a bit blase, while disruptive technologies help us push the boundaries.

    A couple of years ago PCWorld listed 10 marriages of technologies that have shaken the digital world. Even this list shows how quickly things change.
    They listed

      10. DVRs + Entertainment on Demand
      9. YouTube + Cheap Digital Cameras and Camcorders
      8. Open Source + Web Tools
      7. MP3 + Napster
      6. Blogs + Google Ads
      5. Cheap Storage + Portable Memory
      4. Cloud Computing + Always-On Devices
      3. Broadband + Wireless Networks
      2. The Web + The Graphical Browser
      1. Cell Phones + Wireless Internet Access

    Gartner’s top 10 disruptive technologies 2008-2012:

    * Multicore and hybrid processors
    * Virtualisation and fabric computing
    * Social networks and social software
    * Cloud computing and cloud/Web platforms
    * Web mashups
    * User Interface
    * Ubiquitous computing
    * Contextual computing
    * Augmented reality
    * Semantics

    So what is the most disruptive technology in your life? What have you got that is not a continuation of something you had before (or is so different from what it replaced that it is really new?). Which technology could you label disruptive?

    You might like to look back an earlier post Gadget Enabled Life and check too the comments people made there.

    By Kerrie Smith | Posted in Educationau, online technologies, technologies | Comments (1)

    2010 Horizon Report

    January 18, 2010 – 11:14 am

    The annual Horizon Report is a collaborative effort between the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) and the New Media Consortium (NMC). Each year, the report identifies and describes six areas of emerging technology likely to have a significant impact on teaching, learning, or creative expression in higher education within three adoption horizons: a year or less, two to three years, and four to five years.

    As Stephen Downes says - there are no real surprises in this list.
    In fact I felt almost disappointed by it, but perhaps I should be considering more closely the context of the report, and thinking “mainstream use within higher education campuses”…
    Surely mobile computing is already with us: indeed the report admits that virtually all higher education students carry some form of mobile device - what is needed is infrastructure and applications that allow them to collaborate and communicate in support of their learning, rather than just use them as a social networking tool.
    The same is true of devices for electronic books - at the moment largely used for reading fiction - there is a shift necessary to get text books on to them.

    The areas of emerging technology cited for 2010 are:
    Time to adoption: One Year or Less

    * Mobile Computing
    * Open Content

    Time to adoption: Two to Three Years

    * Electronic Books
    * Simple Augmented Reality

    Time to adoption: Four to Five Years

    * Gesture-based Computing
    * Visual Data Analysis

    Find the report here

    By Kerrie Smith | Posted in Educationau, online technologies | Comments (0)

    Mentoring a Learning Journey

    January 15, 2010 – 10:52 am

    For the last couple of weeks I have been working with a group of Education.au colleagues on the Education.au Blogfest. Just a half a dozen of us or so exploring blogging and trying to learn from each other.

    We decided to take advantage of the fact that in returning to work in early January, the work load might be that much lighter and so we could spend some energy and time on some designated tasks.

    So far we have worked on 4 tasks and there will be another two. If you are interested in seeing what we have been doing, then you are welcome to visit the home site.

    If you would be interested in joining a similar project say beginning in March and going for about 8 weeks at a task a week, why not leave a comment or even email me indicating your interest in being involved?

    By Kerrie Smith | Posted in Educationau, blogs | Comments (4)