Over the years, I have listened to the old dialogue about the interplay between technology and teaching practice many times. As I understand it, it runs something like this. Someone says: “Technology changes practice, because it forces people to rethink their whole approach”. Then someone else says: “Ah, but technology is just a set of tools to support practice; a really good teacher can work with a some bluetak and a flipchart”.  And so on. This one can go on for a long time, if you have some determined people arguing on both sides. Occasionally, you can hear people arguing both sides at once.

Quite a nice way to avoid discussions like this going around in circles is to role-play. Not necessarily literally, but at least to try out a different perspective on the problem, by thinking yourself into a different role.  At yesterday’s ‘Learning in a Digital Wales’ conference, Dougald Hine essentially invited an audience of teachers  to think like journalists for 45 minutes, and the effect was highly refreshing.

Once you try this, you may find this is not such a great leap of imagination. Journalists and teachers both learn new things, and then tell others about them. The best people in both professions also allow the learner/reader/listener/ viewer to see how they are thinking about a specific problem. This requires skill, confidence, and ability to think on one’s feet. There is a combination of solid preparation and ‘flying by the seat of one’s pants’ in both professions.

Then along comes technology. Dougald was able to show us stark examples of how technology has impacted on journalism.  For example, he described scenarios where demonstrators have died in unclear and controversial circumstances, possibly at the hands of the police. How do we know what happened? Eyewitness reports can be confused. How do we judge the assumptions which reporters are making? Above all, how can we get accuracy? The concept of the ‘citizen journalist’ is perhaps  one way forward. Mobile phones are potentially the perfect tool, offering instant recording and rapid dissemination. Broadly speaking, anyone can record, or write, and anyone can publish. This changes things entirely, ideally in a way which can empower people.  The ramifications are immense.

Likewise, in education, technology can also spread the power around more equally. It can give learners a stronger voice by enabling them to write their own stuff, make their own images, and construct their own learning in a host of new ways.

But this potentially utopian vision also has a dark side. In education, as in journalism, new technologies have the potential to break open traditional business models in a way which newspapers, broadcaster, and universities find deeply threatening. This, in my view, is where the parallels become really powerful. If content is king, is user-generated content the heir apparent? In the world of the read-write web, how do we know whose output to trust? Do we make our own judgements? If not, who has the authority to do this on our behalf? Moreover, how do newspapers, or for that matter universities, remain economically viable in an era when people have access to so much free digital material? Do they, perhaps, give content away, and then sell added-value services? We can’t be sure what will happen next, but profound change to educational organisations seems inevitable. Dougald’s innovative work with School of Everything  shows one possible way ahead. Others are emerging all the time.

There are clearly many more questions than answers, and I would not attempt to address them here. However, I do plan to watch our journalistic colleagues closely to see how they adjust to the changes ahead, and how they exploit the new opportunities.  I may just learn something.

I’ll be honest: it took me a while to get the point of Twitter.  I have been ‘tweeting’ just occasionally since 2007, but until this year I had never integrated the use of this service with my professional practice in any way. However, that has changed now, and I can pinpoint the time when it all started to make sense to me: it was the day when I started to make use of hashtags. This simple device has  the power to convert apparently random observations from disparate individuals into thematic conversation. There is no technical magic involved with hashtags – it is simply a character which says ‘search me’. This convention enables lots of things to happen in terms of metadata and classification, and it works across all online technologies. But for the moment, I will focus on Twitter and the conversational power of the hashtag in that context.

Using a well-chosen hashtag in your tweets means that anyone can find your tweet on a given topic. Even better, it means that groups of users can sustain a conversation in a given ‘space’ once they have established a unique hashtag, and there have been lots of great examples of this. For example, there exists a weekly and global discussion about educational issues under the tag #edchat, which has proved a fertile ground for the exchange of ideas, as well as resources.(Incidentally, a good way of following discussions is to use a Twitter client such as Tweetdeck, which allows you to filter continuous search into a specified column on your screen.)  Hashtags for conferences often work really well, because it is easy for a group of delegates to agree on a specific tag. Whether or not conference delegates and organisers find the use of Twitter a useful addition to the event, or an irritating distraction, is of course a matter of taste.

I have been looking at three hashtags in particular over the weekend, which collectively illustrate the power and also perhaps the limitations of this approach. These hashtags all relate to climate change, but in very different ways. #thewave acted as a focus for those attending the demonstration in London and elsewhere on Saturday, enabling people to report back, and for those not present to get a sense of what was going on. #cop15 is the informally agreed tag for those interested in proceedings in Copenhagen. Finally, I was also watching #climategate, relating to the email hacking incident at University of East Anglia. Interestingly, this has become space where climate change deniers have virtually ‘gathered’.  I have sent tweets labelled with this tag, but these have failed to engage any of the participants. I wonder if this is because I don’t belong to their community? Even reading the tweets labelled with this tag gave me the uncomfortable feeling that I was somehow invading their space. This suggests that some of these hashtags have moved beyond simple topics of conversation, and are beginning to exhibit the characteristics of online communities.  

If you are amongst the many who have only dabbled with Twitter, and perhaps remain unconvinced about its value, I recommend that you install a Twitter client and run a search on one of the above tags, or something that appeals to you. You may be surprised at what you find….

Over the past year there have been a series of meetings and consultations to develop a guide to aid teachers in the Lifelong learning Sector in their use of technology. The aim was to update the existing Fento ‘ILT Standards’ (2003) whilst building in more functionality and an awareness of the educational scene in Wales. LLUK (Lifelong Learning UK) led the developments which were funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, and input was obtained from several key organisations in Wales including NGfL Cymru, NIACE DC, NTfW, JISC RSC Wales, Fforwm. The Steering Group for the guide’s development also comprised representatives from all the key Post-16 sectors including FE, ACL, WBL, HE.
Following the example of the previous Fento publication, the guide was developed in three parts:
• A section for Teachers, Tutors and Trainers: this follows the format of the ‘New overarching professional standards for teachers, tutors and trainers in the lifelong sector in Wales’
• A guide for Leaders and Managers: this follows the format of the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Management and Leadership 2008
• A series of case-studies

The first two of these sections are now available bilingually both as hard copy and online on the LLUK web-site (yng Nghymraeg, and in English). The Managers’ Guide should be of great value in highlighting the importance of educational technology at an institutional level, and outlines the responsibilities of senior staff. The Teachers’ Guide should prove really useful both for ILT Managers and Teacher-Training Co-ordinators when preparing courses/cpd, but the Guide was also designed to be of direct use to teaching staff. Each part of the guide (eg. Planning, Assessment, Specialist teaching) contains specific advice and examples that should be helpful both to beginners and those who are already well-versed in technology. The online version of the guide also provides hyperlinks to an extensive glossary as well as to key external web-sites. In due course, the case studies will give concrete examples of the uses of technology in teaching and learning that should be useful for all sectors and levels.
Any feedback about the guide is welcomed, especially with respect to ways in which it can be used in the professional development of existing and trainee teaching staff. In due course, I hope to use this blog to disseminate further ideas about the ways in which the guide could be used.

Jane Hart of C4PLT (Centre for Performance and Learning Technologies) is once again encouraging learning professionals to send her their ‘Top 10 Tools for Learning’ which will be aggregated into her top 100 (contributions are accepted until November).  The “Learning” here means both formal and informal learning and performance support, and the emphasis is on creating learning for others, and professional practice or productivity. The “tools” refers to software, online tools and services – so, if I’ve understood correctly, technologies such as voting systems and interactive whiteboards are not included.
This has prompted me to come up with my own Top Ten – as indicated above, this is mainly for online/onscreen tools, and isn’t really intended as a Top Ten priorities for teachers, especially those who are fairly new to technology (I’ve thought about that elsewhere). I’ve also added brief reasons why I like these technologies :-

1. Google reader: great way of receiving & organising incoming information
2. Blogs : more detail possible than in Twitter; allows reflection
3. Twitter : good for receiving (and giving) information, especially for ‘professional’ learning
4. Google docs : joint editing – really useful
5. Camstudio: free screen-casting application; great for making instructional videos
6. Google Earth : just brilliant for Geographical Sciences, Tourism etc (and a whole load of other things!)
7. Vue : free, downloadable, & v.adaptable application for flow-charts , mind-maps etc
8. Textwall: way of using mobile phones for feedback, voting etc
9. TeacherTube:  v,useful educational videos (watch, download, upload)
10. Del.icio.us : excellent research tool

I could have carried on, for there are plenty of other tools worthy of a mention -eg. Survey monkey, Phoebe pedagogic planner, VideoJug, DSpeech, Ning. Are there any obvious ones that I’be left out? Are there any good reasons for using an application that I haven’t listed?

QCA (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority – but now QCDA) originally had high hopes  for the involvement of e-assessment in high-stakes, summative assessments like A levels. As we head towards Autumn 2009, there is little evidence of this, as highlighted in a recent Guardian article. Whilst the use of various technologies for formative assessment seems to be expanding (see RSC Wales blog of Nov, 2008), take-up of e-assessment for summative purposes in schools and colleges is mainly restricted to  certain GCSE subjects (eg. Science, AQA), and courses on basic and vocational skills (eg. GOLA).
The only technology-enabled A level examinations I’m aware of (but I’m happy to be corrected!) are run by the Welsh examination board WJEC (there have also been trials of onscreen assessment in some IB examinations (ie. International Baccalaureate). This summer, WJEC ran online examinations in 25 centres for two A level subjects – Applied Business and ICT –through the medium of Welsh as well as English ( the bilingual aspect is significant, since Welsh-language versions of questions tend to take up more space than their English counterparts, which may create issues of formatting).
There are many reasons why A levels remain largely paper-based, not least the cost of equipping institutions with the necessary technology and support. There are also good reasons why examination boards should look further at e-assessment – for example, the value of multimedia and interactivity for learners, and ease of marking for examiners. They might start with internally-assessed components (eg. course-work, science practicals, extended essays etc), and make use of technologies such as e-portfolios . This would extend the range of evidence that could be examined (eg. images, audio, blogs), and provide far more flexibility for internal and external moderation.

As a Learning Technologist I am constantly looking for technologies that will enhance learning but that are also easy to use, engaging and free … and my latest find (thanks to Helen Davies) meets all of these criteria (IMHO).

Prezi.com is an alternative to the much used in education PowerPoint. It is web based BUT the final ‘presentation’ can be downloaded and used offline. In it’s own words, Prezi lets you ‘create zooming presentations … to talk about the big picture … and those devilish details’  and if you watch the introductory prezi about Prezi on their websites homepage you will see what I mean. For me, learning how to use it was a bit like moving from Office 2003 to 2007. I ‘got’ it but I had to think a bit before I got into the swing of using it.

Unlike a lot of ‘tools’ I look at, this is one I will definitely be coming back to again … to use as an alternative to PowerPoint when making a face to face presentation but also to use as another way of presenting information to an audience who can’t see me but who I want to interact with what I am presenting them with … like this example prezi I created to promote a forthcoming event … http://prezi.com/91941

(Hint:        and you’ll need Flash Player 9)

As always, all comments gratefully received

One of our partner regional support centres, RSC Scotland North & East, has been hard at work following the success of AccessApps and has now made EduApps available for anyone to access and use. But what are EduApps? They are a large collection of free, portable applications that can be used to support teaching and learning. EduApps is the collective term for three smaller collections of applications. These three collections are:

• LearnApps – free software that learners can use straightaway to support their learning
• TeachApps – includes software from LearnApps but also has free software specifically for teachers
• AccessApps -includes software from the other 2 Apps collections but also has specialist software to improve access or enable inclusion

For more information about EduApps, including a full list of the software that is available to download (and then carry with you on a portable USB stick wherever you go), visit the RSC Scotland N&E EduApps website www.eduapps.org

‘SCHOLAR‘ is an online programme in Science, Mathematics and Business for schools/colleges developed at Heriott-Watt University in Edinburgh.  There is an emphasis on interactive online learning with a significant formative e-assessment component, and the progamme has also involved extensive CPD training for classroom teachers.  Every secondary school in Scotland subscribes to SCHOLAR to supplement their ‘Higher’ qualification programmes, and there is also online support material available for OCR A/AS Levels in Biology, Chemistry, Computing, Maths and Physics.

A free seminar on the SCHOLAR  project will take place on 5 November at 3 pm at Swansea University (Faraday Lecture Theatre A, Faraday Building) with Emeritus Professor Cliff Beevers (Chair of the e-Assessment Association) and Professor Phil John (Chair, SCHOLAR Forum), Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh)as key speakers. If you would like to attend, please contact Jane Barham in the Mathematics Department: j.d.barham@swansea.ac.uk

Many educators believe that the use of moving images can enrich the learning experience, and back in 2003 Becta published a report analysing research findings from the use of digital video in teaching and learning which indicated major benefits. I’d be interested to learn about any similar evidence that you have come across!

 Those who use video in education, or are thinking of doing so, will be interested in the recently launched service Newsfilm Online which provides a wealth of digital video clips, mainly from ITN and Reuters, covering a range of topics including History, Politics, the arts, the environment, law. It is a great addition to existing moving image resources such as Film and Sound Online. Both these resources are freely available to subscribing FE and HE institutions.

It is often useful to be able to modify a downloaded video – for example, embed into a Power-point presentation, add or remove audio, or split or join to other video-clips. A good source of support for this sort of editing can be found at: http://hullnewsfilm.wikispaces.com/, and this wiki from the University of Hull also gives some suggestions for how specific clips from Newsfilm Online might be used in teaching and learning. 

Some people are finding this term a little ‘old hat’ by now, but I find it useful. It refers to the gap between those who are empowered by new technologies, and those who are not empowered  - and who may even be disempowered. For example, rail tickets may be cheaper online, but some people are not connected; perhaps because they cannot afford it, they don’t know how, or they simply choose not to. Around 50% (very roughly) of homes in Wales are now connected via broadband. This is a remarkable gain on the position even one year ago, but it still leaves the other 50%. In my view, the concept of the digital divide can help us to analyse the reasons for a person’s exclusion, and in an educational context it is absolutely essential to do this, if we are to avoid failing the very people we are trying to serve. A short anecdote to illustrate my point….Last year, I taught a basic IT course to adults in our local primary school. The opening activities were very simple, and I devoted every attention I could to the needs of each individual (and my ten year old daughter helped out) . However, I still lost one elderly couple from the course, for the reason that one of them simply didn’t have the motor skills to use a mouse, and his partner did not want to continue on her own. I suspect that most teachers have experiences like this from time, but how can they best be avoided? This blog will return to this theme quite often during the coming months, and point to resources which will help teachers to enable people to step over the digital divide. Meanwhile, the JISC Techdis site is a really good starting point for anyone who needs to know more about ‘enabling technologies’. Which is everyone. Right?http://www.techdis.ac.uk/