What's all this social media nonsense? Using cross-sector examples of social media in action DK will show how organizations are utilizing social media to humanize their brand and leveraging the power of social principles to achieve wider learning opportunities such as the ability to connect with experts across the world.
What is the value of this to educators? DK will illustrate that while Twitter and blogs are two examples of social media, there are many more examples to be adapted and adopted. We know the world is different now but what's really changed for young people? What are the opportunities for educators to explore the use of social media and how does this approach challenge the traditional model of education.
Breakfast will be served at 7.45am, with Paul beginning the discussion at 8am. He will wrap things up around 9am but you are invited to stay and chat with Paul, CORE staff and one another after the seminar.
Bio:
DK joined CORE Education in July as the company's first Social Media Manager after recently emigrating from the UK where he was the Founding Director of the highly successful MediaSnackers.
MediaSnackers inspire people to learn, work and live differently with social media. This work has included developing and delivering social media training for teachers and youth services, devising brand raising strategies for national government departments and social media marketing strategies for games manufacturers. Recent clients have included the Welsh Assembly, UNICEF and The Gates Foundation.
DK has also created Social Media For Suits, a personalized mentoring for CEOs and executives who want to understand and effectively use social media.
The trend towards highly capable, portable technologies in student hands is growing. Such technology is shrinking, capabilities converging and battery life extending. Increasingly some students have access to more powerful technologies than their schools can provide or their teachers have access to. Coupled with a huge growth in the number of portable and web enabled applications, all of these trends are reshaping the classroom as we know it. Add to this the concept of Cloud computing and we have the potential to do some interesting things in the classroom.
In his presentation, Paul will investigate these trends, offer some insights into the future and provide some ideas as to how teachers can capitalise on these opportunities.
This session will be particularly useful for school leaders and classroom practitioners, those with responsibility for developing and supporting the implementation of eLearning within schools and teachers with an interest in extending the opportunities presented by mobile learning and cloud computing.
Breakfast will be served at 7.45am, with Paul beginning the discussion at 8am. He will wrap things up around 9am but you are invited to stay and chat with Paul, CORE staff and one another after the seminar.
Bio:
Paul Rodley is ICT Director at Christ's College. Paul has an interest in mobile learning and in particular the way that cloud computing can enhance portable technologies in the classroom. Paul is involved in the development of the Greater Christchurch Schools network and is also undertaking research into student digital maturity.
Founders Heritage Park Nelson 23 Sept – 24 Oct
Entry by Donation
Oi You! is all about the best of Urban Art – the best from around the world, the best from around the country and the best up-and-coming.
Imagine if you could see the best NZ has to offer alongside more than 20 awesome works by Banksy, all at a time when the eyes of the world are focused here during the Rugby World Cup.
Celia Lashlie continues to be a quality speaker when on the topic of how dad’s should step up and mum’s step back if we’re going to stem the flood of boys ending up in prison.
Made wrong
In our currnet pareting scheme and education system boys are are made to feel wronf just be the mere fact of them being boys. Celia noted that sometimes a behavior is not inheretaly bad but simply a product of boy-ness. We should, as parents and teachers, learn to tell the difference between the two.
Given time and space
Far too often we exclaim “this is happening NOW” “Get your coat on, shoes, get in the car… let’s go, let’s go, let’s go” This approach is poor people management and when those people are boys… oh dear.
Instead, place things in a time frame. “Dinner is in 15 mins”, “ We’ll be leaving at the end of that programme.”
Boys can and do think reflectively but they may need more time, more support than your average daughter.
Tell truth to boys
Finding the simply language that matches the age of your son, your pupils, can be tricky. But telling the truth, putting boys ‘in the picture’ allows them to process the world better. We as adults have a wealth of knowledge and wisdom that our boys seem not able to access. The way we talk to boys needs clarity and conviction Truth wins out with boys over embellishment or exaggeration.
Think then Talk
Boys process and then talk or explain or ask as necessary. Women on the other hand talk out loud. Celia did this demonstration and my words would not do it justice but basically women, mums, teachers, talk through an issue and process it simultaneously. That’s a whole lot of talking that, to a boy, is irrelevant. No wonder they stop listening.
Digging down inside
Over the years, boys pick up on everything, they may not be able to articulate it but it is all stored deep inside. All we need is the questions (not too many) and the time to allow them to process what is asked and articulate an answer. Boys come across as lazy but the one thing they have access to is that knowledge that women WILL jump in and answer their own question before any thought is required on his part.
Give him the time to process, make him aware it is HE who has to answer, make time for it, let him know you’re not going anywhere until he’s answered – take a newspaper if you think it’ll take a while – maybe not.
In an election year, no less. The Principal’s Federation seems confident that some agreement can be reached about ‘off-limit’ areas of the education sector.
Western Bay of Plenty Regional PPTA chairman Jason Smythe is quoted in Sunlive as saying: “Change in the sector is usually due to political point scoring as opposed to what is in the best interest of our students. Teachers are left trying to pick up the threads of ill-constructed ideas which often see more administration rather than them being able to focus on their core role – teaching in the classroom.”
Currently, according to OECD figures New Zealand has the best education system in the world. That achievement has arisen through the current system as it stands. But without healthy debate and discussion and the right to protest and even ‘political maneuvering’ then we wouldn’t have the robust democratic process we have now. If Education were decreed ‘off-limits’ for political discussion then the outcome would be a slowing of change in education and a shifting of accountability that may or may not be healthier.
The level of debate over education needs increase, not decrease.
Considering activities and strategies to maximize your students effective use of the IWB in the classroom.
When: 6th September 2011 Time: 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. Venue: St Matthew’s School, Hasting, NZ Cost: $35 Book now:office.dragon09@gmail.com
Bio
Simon has spent time delivering ICT professional development to teachers around the North Island. Before that he was a primary classroom teacher for 11 years both in NZ and the UK. Simon is particularly interested in the impact of Web 2.0 and other digital literacy tools on teaching and learning.
We are expanding here at Educating the Dragon. As both the Blog and Vlog expand we are looking for other contributors. Obviously, in the grand tradition of the internet, services are expected to be donated for free.
Parenting issues writer – articles around the joys/ delights/ heartache/ neck pain involved in 21st Century parenting
Education issues writer – articles reflecting quality classroom practice and the challenges of teaching and learning in the 21st Century.
Round up writer – a once a week article identifying a theme to the week in Education and linking to online resources/ articles and discussions supporting the theme.
Statistics are impressive on one level but impersonal in another. Government looks at the biggest picture, its what ‘oversight’ means, but your kid is your responsibility. Parents can forget about statistics. Our children are not going to be meet the maths standard 46% of the time. Every child has a 50% chance of success regarless of the stats. They either will or won’t.
We should be asking “Does my child’s teacher know my child and cater for their needs?” If the answer is “Yes” then we can expect the best possible opportunity given to our children. We just need to ensure our child is ready to step up to the challenge and responsibility of making the most of their schooling.
It seems that the behavior of our our very youngest students is deteriorating.
Surely, at age five or six any blame directed at school or schooling practices is minimal.
Those early years are dominated by parenting and ECE.
Quality parenting skills are a prized treasure by one sector of New Zealand society and viewed as a complete waste of time by another.
Sterotypes are unhelpful here as both these views are help by people across the economic/ social/ cultural divide.
My point being that the importance of parenting skills and lifestyle choices continue to impact upon kids right through their childhood.
Again this article serves to highlight my point that it is the parent who should be the champion of their child’s education and teachers/ coaches/ tutors are mere subcontractors.
6.30 Monday August the 29th - refreshments from 6.30 - Lindy will speak at 7.30
Description
Lindy is an artist and graphic designer and she has illustrated several award winning picture books. As a painter she is passionate about hands on indulgence in colour and texture, yet as a designer she is fastidious about research and drafting.
These are such need little tales. I wonder about the rich discussion they may prompt in our New Classrooms. I would even offer opinion that they touch on different aspects of Key Competencies and values.
If learning takes place in the discussion around shared resources and experiences then the use of these video may go someway to tackling some of the more abstract concepts. It may be worth you subscribing to fablevision for yourself.
Kimberley Rivett is in the process of writing a series entitled “How to get the most out of…” in her E-Learning 2011 blog.
If you are the sort to subscribe to blogs then this is well worth following. I am sure the series is far from over and her thoughts and reflections and ideas resonate with me and other teachers. Below is the topics covered so far.
These passed two days has seen me meet in Wellington for discussions about access to web content for all.
Many blogsand wikis and websites are constructed by the physically able and have very little regard for those individuals with hearing or sight impairments trying to access content. When I say “many blogs” I am including this blog as chief among them.
There are many differences you may or may not be aware of if you compare this post with many previously. In this post I hope to highlight some ‘best practice’ principals that I have learnt over these last two days.
Creating the right heading structure
First amongst the changes are the number of headings you’ll notice. When writing on the web, or in WORD, you may have noticed the ability to label text as ‘heading 1’ , ‘heading 2’, ‘heading 3’ and so on. As pretty as these may look they actually serve a more serious purpose. This type of heading structure assists those visually impaired to navigate through your article. Just as ‘chapters’ in a DVD enable viewers to scroll through a movie more quickly or select the scene they desire so the navigation tools scroll through the article using these heading 1, heading 2, heading 3 as markers or reference points to guide the user to the most relevant paragraphs for them.
Making links meaningful
Many screen reader navigation tools have ‘links’ as a scrolling option for users but in many cases they don’t receive the in information they most desire. Instead a the voice reading stating “Link, getting the most the from a webpage” or “Link, further reading supporting accessibility of websites” all the user will hear is a string of “Link, read more” or “link, click here” which gives no guidance as to the content found at the end of the link.
Therefore it is advised that ‘click here’ or ‘read more’ are to be phased out with links becoming part of the main body of text, comprising of complete sentences.
Annotating images for accessibility
Using captions effectively
Figure 1 Rusted car in long grass
We are going to stay away from the issue of copyright and ‘where did you get that image?’ and move straight to the features of the image of an old car in long grass (figure 1) you see to the right. The first thing you’ll see is that it has a caption with a title which links it to this paragraph you are reading right now. Captions add meaning and context to images.
Alt-text to support understanding
What you can’t see, unless you have screen reader on is the ‘alt-text’. In a nutshell the alt-txt or alternative text to give it its full title is a brief description of content of the image. Alt-text is only included if the image or information contained on the image is significant in its support of the main body of text.
Alt-text for bling
Otherwise it can be simply ‘bling’. This is where the content of an image is merely there for aesthetic purposes and contains no content to actively support the article. Still the writer needs to make a conscious decision to add alt-text for this image even if it is only the word “null” so that those using electronic readers can identify ‘bling’ and know they are not missing out on important information.
Captioning and transcripts for video presentations
Our responsibility for providing quality video examples does not simply rely on quality camera work or clever editing. You will notice with the embedded video below it has closed-captions options and an embedded transcript. Writing a transcript of a video can be time consuming and tedious, however, it is essential if we are going to ‘raise the bar’ in accessibility. Youtube has a built in feature which supports in creating the time-coded captions from the transcript.
Today we arte going to be talking about accessibility for websites. Music. Whether we are responsible for writing a formal website or doing our own blog we need to be aware that there a certain group of people who access the internet in a different sort of way. They use screen readers and electronic Braille typers and all sorts of other different gizmos in order to access web content. Everything we post needs to be accessible. You know wen you are writing a blog post or you’re in some sort of editing tool you’ll notice at the top that it has by the side of font it has ‘normal’ ‘heading 1’, ‘heading 2’, ‘heading 3’ , normally it’s a drop down menu. Now these make your blog post look really, really pretty but they actually serve a more serious purpose. If someone is using a screen reader access your website then these headings clearly demarcate and help them to navigate through your website. That’s the way they skim and scan through your document. When one of those electronic voice, activation, tool, things. Stop captions now. When they are being used. One of the ways of navigating is to click through the links on a page. Now if we always write ‘read more’ or ‘click here’ or ‘see more’ and use those turns of phrases for our links that ‘s all they are going to here. And its going to make no reference at all to where that link ends up. So we need to get rid of those things and we need to basically make the link either a whole sentence or a portion of the sentence that when it is read by the screen reader they have a clear indications as to where that will take them. The next thing we have is what we have to do with images. It blew my mind when I was in the session. Essentially, there are captions, and descriptions and alt text. Alt-text is the one, you when you hover over an image and it comes up in maybe a yellow box or something like that. Sometimes it appears like that, and sometimes it doesn’t appear at all. It either needs to be a full bright sentence to describe what’s going on in the picture and why it is useful to the main article or it simply needs to read null. Or something like that. So its basically bling on your site. And when the screen reader goes through and the user is there they know that the image is just there to be pretty and I’m not missing out on anything to do with the main article and I’m just skipping passed this image. So now we’ve come to the portion about, well, basically, this video. Because what I’m hoping to do. First of all you should have been seeing captions of everything I’ve said. I’m not sure how they are going to spell *rasp* There should be a transcript attached to this post. Ok so, there is going to be more helpful links in the shownotes below. Don’t forget the closed captioning that we’ve got and don’t forget to subscribe at the top and good luck. Music.
Useful links
Web aim is about information, training, resources, guidelines and standards for Web accessibility and disability access to the Web. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international community that develops standards to ensure the long-term growth of the Web. WAVE is a free web accessibility evaluation tool provided by WebAIM.
Cathy Wylie is a Chief Researcher at NZCER, and is currently the J.D. Stout fellow at Victoria University. She has led the Competent Learners' project as it has followed a sample of students from the wider Wellington region from their final early childhood education days through to age 20. She is currently co-editing an international handbook on student engagement. She also researches the impact of educational policy on schools and learning opportunities, including the ways in which schools can engage students.
The Competent Learners' project provides a rare opportunity to follow the development of individual students through primary and secondary schooling. In the age-20 phase of the project, we see out how earlier experiences and performance levels on both cognitive and attitudinal measures related to some of the Key Competencies, influence secondary school engagement, achievement, and what happens post-school. We also see the kinds of learning opportunities and support, in and out of school, that can make a positive difference.
This session will discuss key findings from the age-20 phase of the Competent Learners' phase. To find out more information about the Competent Learners' projectclick here.
I’ve been watching ‘Penguins of Madagasar’ with my son this week so when I read that ‘BFF is just a bully in disguise’ in the Herald this morning I can’t help but be reminded of the line “King Julian’s a Buffalo Fire Fighter”
The problem of bullying is a broad and widespread as it is diverse in its forms.
More often than not it begins a friendly banter and ‘joshing’ and often goes unidentified for quite some time.
The social issues around teenage girls are vast and complicated. The research pointed to many istances of bullying beginning over boyfriends and jealously.
But there is some direction available. Where the issues that prompted the bullying are most dealy felt by the individual then …
"Despite out best efforts it tends to be on the increase and regrettably it often tends to result in girls leaving the school because the relationship can't be restored which is very sad."
But if engagement in sport and other activities outside of the school environment hold more weight for the individual then there is a increase likely-hood that a healthy perspective is maintained for the individuals involved.
When asking Stephen Fry a question is a mere tweet away and being able to ‘Facebook’ ONE News or some All Black or other distance between ‘celebrity’ and the 'everyman' is narrowing, fast.
Gone are the days, far, far in the past, when politicians answered to their public via TV spot or Town Hall presentation.
John Key’s personable nature and willingness to share ‘his personal opinions’ whether it be in meetings such as that described in the Otago Daily Times or with his regular Youtube updates, it certainly endears him toward the New Zealand public.
He shared:
"If you smoke, the blunt message is stop. Nothing is more sure to kill you than smoking."
His personal view [on purchasing alcohol] was 18 years in bars, restaurants and controlled premises and 20 years for off-licences.
Whether we agree with these positions or not they are very clear. Raising the level of debate in this country, surely that's a good thing.
Some time ago Michael Connelly, the author, visited New Zealand for a one off book reading and a promotion of the movie “The Lincoln Lawyer”. Watch the video below to discover my thoughts and feelings about the show – or there lack of – and the book too.
I am an avid reader but few books can be classified in the ‘can’t put down’ pile.
The Lincoln Lawyer was one of them.
Others include:
Patriot Games by Tom Clancy
Moneymakers by Harry Bingham
The Partner by John Grisham
Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
24 hours by Greg Iles
Talking in Whispers by James Watson
None of these novels can be classified as ‘classic’ or ‘masterpieces’ but is there anything wrong with that?
Story development, character growth and dealing with weightier issues of the day are surely not limited to the realm of ‘the classics’.
And even if they were. Is there no argument for simply reading for pleasure?
If you've read this book and want to offer an option, leave a comment.
If you have any thoughts around books and reading... guess what? ... leave a comment.
Jonathan Coleman said in a speech at the Refugee Forum in June that the Government's new approach aimed to reduce the high dependency that refugees had on the state. But what will that look like in real terms? What are the issues facing refugees in this country?
New Zealand continues to accept its responsibility in this area. New Zealand resettles an average of 750 quota refugees per annum referred by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). But with those sorts of numbers arriving annually the need to have them move from dependency on the state to independence is continuing to grow.
The programmes and support offered to refugees have to focus on their needs as individuals. Often times refugees arrive unskilled, with horrific experiences in their past. Often the result is poor self-esteem, negative self-image and lack of drive. But with targeted language programmes, support in finding work and assistance in intergrating into the wider community there is hope them and their offspring.
Often times the pressure on these groups does not come from lack of support from local and central government but is rather that emanating from the wider community. Not everyone is as accommodating as they should be. With a little more patience, tolerance and understanding from all of us many more refugees will make the successful transition from dependence to independence.
Julian Treasure speaks in Edinburgh about the slow demise of listening. He offers five ways to listen.
Below are the summary titles of the five but it really does make more sense is you…. You know… listen to him.
Silence – Just three minutes of silence a day will help reset out listening skills.
Mixer – When you’re in a noisy environment pick out the threads of sound you hear.
Savouring – listen for the mundane sounds and savour the rhythm it has.
Listening position- Move your position of listening.
RASA – You’ll just have to listen to Julian for this one.
The key message here is you must listen consciously to live fully.
Listen to and pick the brains of Chris Betcher and Peter Kent who are arguably two of Australia’s most knowledgeable and experienced educators when it comes to understanding the place of interactive whiteboards in teaching and learning and the pros and cons of the interactive whiteboards available on the market today. These two experienced practitioners and IT leaders know the Australian scene intimately and will significantly enhance your knowledge about interactive whiteboards.
Costs:
School community members of 2 or more: FREE REGISTRATION
Single registrations:
Full conference (single registration) - $465
One day ticket (single registration) - $255
Ticket to exhibition only (single registration) - $25
Does a degree really mean increased job opportunities, positive and balalnced lifestyle choices and a healthy outlook on life? Richie Poulton hopes to find the answer to these and other questions over the next 10 years.
Final year graduates will receive a email today to determine if they are one of the selected few to participate in Richie Poulton’s longditudinal study into the impact, positive or negative of having a graduate degree in 2011.
"Participants will fill in an online survey designed to reveal how their careers develop, when they begin to have families, where they live, their finances, health and social relationships. "We want to make this the most comprehensive examination of lives and careers of a graduate population in the world," says Poulton."
I have just completed the fourth interview in the “Book Corner” playlist.
Fiona discusses Stephen Fry’s second autobiography ‘ the fry chronicles’.
Stephen Fry is very much in self-reflection mode and is more than willing to pull away the veil of show business to reveal the self-doubt and excitement that seems to come in equal measure when dealing with such a fickle animal.
Now he much loved and admired across the globe that it is hard to see that there should have been any doubt in his mind.
This is, above all else, a thoughtful book. And namedroppy too, and funny, and marbled with melancholy throughout. Its camaraderie of tone lets it wear its learning lightly yet leaves you with a hoaching number of new insights, new ways of looking at things, from snobbery to reality-TV contestants.
