Phone addiction.

Over the last year or so I have became more and more aware of as issue in relation to new reports and articles focusing on issues which schools need to address.  The issue in question is the narrow framing of issues as being education or youth related issues.   This implies that the issue is either confined to schools or confined to the young, when in fact the issue in hand is often observable in wider society.

Another recent example came from The Times (Read the full article here) towards the end of January which reported that one third of children check their phone every few minutes.   This seems to suggest a youth related issue and begs the question: what can we do to address children’s use of smartphones?

An article from the BBC from September 2016 (Read the full article here), some 4 months early, suggests that one third of adults admit to having arguments with their partners due to overuse of smart phones.    Considering the two reports it would appear that they both reported the same issue, perceived over use of smart phones, but focussed on two different age ranges.    Taken together the two reports suggest the issue is prevalent across all ages and therefore could be considered an issue of current society at large.  The question now at hand is therefore how can we address the issue of smartphone use within our current society?

Sat writing this as my wife flicks through the TV and on-demand programme lists I can’t help but think that this relates to the always on and on-demand nature of communications.    I no longer have to sit down at a particular time on a particular date to watch a TV programme.  I can watch it as and when I want.   I no longer have to wait until after 6pm to contact friends, waiting for them to finish work and arrive home.   I can now just send them a Facebook message or Whatsapp message at any time of day, which they can access and reply to independent of if they are working, travelling, etc.    Having lived outside of the UK for a period this technology allows me to contact my friends and ex-colleagues who now lives all over the world in different time zones.    So their messages may be sent in mid-afternoon but arrive with me in the early hours.

I think the hyper connectedness of current society is inevitable given the technology and the opportunities it has opened up.  The key is in making all people, including children, mindful of it.   And on that note I will put my laptop down and join my wife in the social activity of watching Saturday evening TV.

 

 

4 Years of blogging. How time flies!

It was 4 years ago today that I sat one evening in my villa in Al Ain, in the United Arab Emirates, and wrote my first blog piece.   It seems like only yesterday!    My initial period of blogging was a little sporadic with some months containing 2 or 3 posts while other months contained nothing.   It has only been in the last year or so that I have tried to reach some regularity in my rate of posting with an aim of writing something at least on a weekly basis.

In the four years a lot has changed.   Four years ago I was an educational consultant working in UAE whereas now I am back in the UK in the independent school sector.    Four years ago I was in my thirties and I am now in my forties.    Four years ago my son was at the start of his school life however now he is towards the end of his primary education.    Four years ago I was relatively negative about the use of Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs) and iPads whereas now I am very positive about iPads although my dislike of IWBs remains.   Four years ago I had a degree and a postgraduate certificate, now I have a Masters along with various other EdTech related statuses.   So in four years, more experience, four years older, a different country, a different educational sector and a different context.     Its amazing what can change over four years!

Looking back I have found my blog to be a useful window into my thoughts over the last four years.   It has been interesting the number of times upon re-reading an entry I have found my memory of events to have been challenged.    Being able to reflect and compare has been very useful indeed.

The actual act of writing a blog piece is useful in itself in that it forces you to order and organise your thoughts before, or as, you type them out.   The process alone has made me reconsider my point of view on at least a few occasions.

As an avid consumer of online educational content through twitter, Pinterest and the blogs of variety of different educationalists I am always conscious of the one-way nature of consumption.    Posting a regular blog allows me to contribute back to the online discussions even if no-one reads my posts, at least I am doing what is within my power and influence to put something back in.  At least I am putting myself out there.

Blogging allows me to offload thoughts and ideas onto the screen.  The human mind has a limited capacity for thinking, ideas, etc. and therefore the act of putting some ideas into a blog releases some capacity which can then be deployed on other things.   It’s a little bit of a mindfulness exercise.     Now I am no neuro-scientist so I can’t prove the above to be true but it feels right and some of my reading over the years has suggested the limited capacity of the mind to be true.

I will however be honest and although the majority of the reason for blogging is for me personally I still do occasionally check the statistics to see if people have been reading my posts.    I still get a little bit excited by the occasional reader comment which shows me that my musings are at least of interest to at least one person.     Or by the retweet or like on twitter relating to a post I have written.    I admit this is a little shallow however I am a human after all.  If it wasn’t about others reading then this blog would be document which only I could read.  I hope as a public sharing it is more useful.

So its now been four years that I have had this site running.    Here’s to the year ahead, and getting to five!

Image “Fourth Four Indicates Happy Birthday And 4” by Stuart Miles from http://www.FreeDigitalPhotos.Net 

Data, data and more data

This morning it was the turn of the NHS to be the focus of the morning TV discussion about how things aren’t going well.    I suppose I should be partially thankful as this takes the spotlight off education at least for a short while.    That said it also once again shows the superficial use of data.

This mornings TV took some time, along with fancy graphics, to outline how the NHS waiting times had increased.   The specific figure they presented being the percentage of patients at A&E who were seen within 4 hours.   This seems like a reasonable statistic to use from the perspective of a patient as it suggests the likelihood that should I need to turn up at A&E I would be seen in 4 hours of less.   I suspect the fact that it is so potential meaningful for prospective patients, the average TV viewer, is why they picked this statistic over others.

The issue with this is what it doesn’t tell us the additional context which may be important in interpreting the figures.    Over the period under consideration did the number of patients attending A&E remain static or did they in fact increase which may be a contributing factor to increased waiting times?     A briefing report by Carl Baker from November 2016 suggested that in 2016 the number of A&E patients at major A&E departments increased 6.3% over attendance levels in 2015.   Were there any changes in the demographics of patients attending A&E as an increase in elderly people attending may mean that patients are less likely to be able to be quickly seen and discharged, again contributing to increased waiting times.    What about the staffing levels of A&E over the period?   Did this change as a reduction in staffing may account for increased waiting times?   Also the figures look specifically at average data for the whole of England; were there any regional variations?   Personally I live in the South West and feel that it is difficult to access a doctor which may mean that I would attend A&E on occasions where someone with more ready access to a GP would not.    Are there also differences between A&Es serving urban and rural areas?   Are there differences between A&Es serving large versus those serving smaller populations or population densities?

In the current performance indicator and accountability led environment we often focus on specific figures such the percentage of patients seen in 4 hours or the number of pupils achieving A*-C or Progress 8, PISA, EMSA, TIMMS, PIPS or other measures.    Each of these pieces of data is informative and tells us something however equally there are a lot of things that it doesn’t tell us.    We need to ask what doesn’t this data tell us and seek data to add context.

Only with context is data useful.

Accident and Emergency Statistics: Demand, Performance and Pressure, C Baker (2016), House of Commons Briefing Library (6964)

 

Body Cameras in Schools

I found this mornings discussion on BBC with regards the use of body cameras by teachers in 2 pilot schools an unexpected turn of events in the use of technology in schools.    This story was also reported in The Guardian

Within the pilot teachers within the schools concerned will apparently make use of the cameras when there is a “perceived threat”.   I find this statement interesting when it is reported that the purpose of the cameras is related to teachers who are “fed up with low-level background disorder”.   I am not sure how low level behaviour issues are likely to amount to a perceived threat?

I am also thinking back to my own teaching career and quite often the incidents I might have wanted to capture on video as evidence are those which came unexpectedly.   I can’t really see it working where the teacher has to ask the pupils to “stop for a minute while I turn my camera on”.

I can understand why body camera might work for the police and other services where the role involves a significant amount of control and potential conflict however this is not something I would expect of our classrooms.   Within our classrooms our focus is on teaching and learning which is a social endeavour and therefore conflict should not be a regular expectation although I will acknowledge that as with any interactions between people with different views, etc. the occasional conflict is always possible.

I also wonder about what the inclusion of body cameras in schools might come to symbolize.   For some it might be seen as a symbol for safety and security however for others, and I would speculate for the majority within schools, it would be seen to indicate a lack of trust, openness and care.    Teachers have to carry body cameras to capture evidence of misbehaviour so by extension this means that teachers expect misbehaviour and teachers don’t trust students to behave correctly.   What impact would a culture a mistrust have on a school and is it worth the cost when weighed against the limited benefits of body cameras which have to be turned on to record specific incidents.

My overall feeling on this is not positive however I welcome any pilot as a way to test a potential new approach.   I do hope that the pilot includes a control group of schools and that the review of its impact is done using an appropriately scientific approach.    If I was looking to use technology I would be more positive towards CCTV in classrooms with a clear statement as to what the footage can be used for.   The reason my preference is towards this is that it captures what all, including teachers and other staff are doing, plus it serves as an excellent tool for teachers to review their lessons, work in peer groups, etc. and therefore serves as an excellent CPD tool.    CCTV can therefore be seen as something with a focus on improvement and working for the good whereas body cameras are purely for evidence collection and as a deterrent, a force for what I would consider the bad.

 

 

 

 

Reflections on January 2017

I cant believe it is February already.   Christmas now feels but a distant memory.   As such I feel it is a good time to reflect on the first month and on my progress against the resolutions I set myself.

#BeHappy

I would say this in a difficult one to measure especially given the speed with which the last month have passed.   I have been journaling my thoughts over most of the last month however my comments shed little light on my feelings and happiness.   Clearly it may be beneficial to at least allocate some journal space to a brief comment on feelings however for now I think this remains an area to work on.    All being equal though, time has flown by over the last month and they do say time flies when you are having fun!

#BeConnected

My engagement in twitter has been less in the recent month than previously although my blogging has remained largely static.    Overall I feel my contributions as a connected educator continue to be at a level which I am happy with.   The one thing that is different is that, so far, I have not felt the need to force myself to create content and to contribute.    The various posts so far have came relatively easily and long may that continue.

#BeChallenged

I passed my CISA exam which is good.   At the moment I haven’t yet decided what my next personal challenge is however I have been considering BCS Chartered IT Professional or similar status.   I have also looked at Apples Distinguished Educator status.    As such little has happened on this item however once I decide on my chosen challenge the work will begin.

#ToExperiment

Am not really sure I have experimented much so far although I did do some work on presenting achievement data as well as some work on the analysis of IT support metrics.

#ReadReadandReadSomeMore

Am now on my third book in The Herd.   As such am progressing very well against my plan to read 1 book per month.   The one thing I do need to watch is my tendency to select books based on ones which I have already read.   As such this may result in a narrowing of the subject matter I am reading.   I need to ensure as well as following a pathway of books related to a given topic, I also read across a varied number of different topics.      I will be giving this some careful consideration as I order my next set of books ready for reading.

#BeHealthy

I managed to meet my step target on 20 out of the 31 days of January.    Now of the days which I failed to meet the target, some were at the start of the month before I got started and some were during a recent period of illness.    I have restarted walking across campus and I have also found a way of ensuring I hit my target where I arrive home at the end of the day, still short of the mark.   Now the step target of 4500 steps isn’t great, however I next will up it to 5000, before increasing it regularly assuming I manage to hit the previous target for at least a full 7 days.     I also note that my weight has slightly fallen which seems to suggest a slightly healthier me.    January has only been the start, so now I need to build on this.

#BeFamily

January has seen a few family trips to the cinema however it has also seen a period of illness throughout the family.    I would say this is still an area which needs to given consideration and some continued effort.

Overall January has been largely a good month.   My hope is that this marks just the beginning of 2017, and that I can build on it throughout the year, allowing me to better address the various pledges which I have made.

 

 

Free (or not!) Wi-Fi

When out and about we consider Wi-Fi to be an essential and as a result of this businesses are seeking to meet the need.    Cafes, hotels, shops and shopping centres, as well as conference venues to name but a few are now generally providing free Wi-Fi.       It’s not a difficult process for them; pay a service provider and buy a few wireless access points and you are up and running, and the general public will connect and use without a thought.

And herein lies the issue as I became aware during a recent visit to a hotel.    During the visit I was provided with a Wi-Fi key in my hotel room so I could access the free Wi-Fi however for some reason something did not quite feel right.   After a few minutes of basic checking I found that the routers management console was accessible via the Wi-Fi connection as opposed to requiring a wired connection.   A rather basic security precaution had not been taken in disabling Wi-Fi access to the console however the worst part was yet to come.    It turned out that the default username and password for the router was still enabled and as such anyone could gain access and reconfigure the router and Wi-Fi network to meet their needs.  For me this represents a grave and serious lapse in the security setup.     Although it had been easy for the hotel to set up its free Wi-Fi provision, they had failed to set it up securely, in a way which I would have considered to have been “properly” set up.

The above highlights the risks associated with free Wi-Fi.    Someone could easily setup a man in the middle attack using the lax security of this Wi-Fi network.   People would then access and use the Wi-Fi unaware of the fact that a threat actor was gathering or monitoring their data.     Truly nothing is free in this world, and in this case the free Wi-Fi may be free of cost but it certainly isn’t free of risk.     And in this risk there may be a future financial cost in fraud or identify theft based on the data harvested.

I do not think this one hotel is unique in its poor Wi-Fi network security.   I suspect that among the many establishments offering free Wi-Fi there will be many where the security is equally poor and that this will be especially common among smaller organisations where an IT department is likely to either be limited or not to exist.

As end users it is our responsibility to look after our own data security when out and about.   We cannot assume that others such as the providers of free Wi-Fi are doing this for us, especially where there is no is financial contribution paid to them towards the costs associated with doing so.    And for those providing free Wi-Fi I would ask that they engage a suitable professional in order to ensure their setup is at least provided with the basic security precautions.   If you aren’t willing to do this then you shouldn’t provide the service!

I also think there is an educational aspect to all this;  Are we adequately discussing the risks and required precautions with the students in our schools.   I would suggest we need to do so with some urgency.

 

 

 

Bett 2017

A year ago I visited the BETT conference after a significant absence resulting from my time working out in the UAE.     At the time I was disappointed however I attributed a large part of this as related to a lack of planning on my part.   So for 2017 I had to make sure not to repeat this.

And so it was, that this time around I made sure I had a plan in place for my one day visit.   I had chosen to visit on the Thursday to coincide with some of our students working with i3 technologies, with the idea that I would be able to travel down with the students.   As it happened I ended up travelling down myself however stuck to the planned day with a hope to catch the students session.

Prior to BETT opening I sat down outside the venue and reviewed my plan making sure I knew where each of the stands I intended to visit were, marking them on the venue map which had been provided.    My initial plan included a number of vendors which I wanted to visit with a focus on solutions for monitoring internet traffic and e-Safety.    I also had decided upon five presentations which I hoped to see covering a variety of topics including e-Safety, measuring educational technology success and also using Windows 10 in classrooms.

My day turned out to be frantic as I tried to see all the vendors I wanted to see.   Quickly this made it apparent that I hadn’t left enough time between the presentation sessions.   I ended up only managing to see 4 out of the 5 sessions I planned to see and in 3 cases this involved being stood at the back of the room.   That said, they were definitely worthwhile.   I am a bit annoyed however that I missed @ictevangelist Mark Anderson’s presentation which happened on the following day, on Friday.

I particularly enjoyed the session from Andy Carpenter and Dave Strudwick from the Plymouth School of Creative Arts.   It was great seeing the various videos of their students and the enthusiasm which they had built through engaging and exciting projects.    I very much liked how they had achieved an environment where students were able to arrive at lessons and get started in learning immediately without having to wait to be told what to do by their teacher.  I think this is something we all need to strive for in developing our students as independent learners.

Having returned home and reviewing twitter tonight I note that #TMBETT is currently going on.   This sounds like it is worth attending and having reviewed my blog from a year ago I note I said roughly the same thing then.   I wonder whether it will be 3rd time lucky and 2018 will see me staying on for Teachmeet BETT.

Overall I found BETT to be a useful and worthwhile experience this year.   The extra time I allowed myself and the initial planning helped.     Next year I think I may even consider going for two days rather than one and I will definitely be adding in #TMBETT to my itinerary.    But that’s next year so for now all that remains is to say goodbye to #BETT2017.

Habits, and fitness

Throughout last year as I reviewed each month I repeatedly identified health and fitness as an area which I needed to work on however also an area which does not come naturally to me.   As such my initial focus was on finding a simple way to introduce some physical activity to my day.    The approach I ended up settling with was to park across the school campus every morning meaning that I had to walk to get to my desk.    The walk isn’t particularly arduous, being around a 5 to 10 minute walk, uphill on the way in, in the morning and downhill at the end of the day.    This idea worked for me for a few months however when the cold weather set in I am afraid I dropped the idea and returned to using the main cark park which is a significantly closer.

My resolution for 2017 has been to revisit the physical and health aspects of my life however this time I didn’t want to just be content with a short walk twice a day.    As such I restarted parking across campus however I also set myself a daily step target.   My plan was to increase this target and hopefully move to jogging possibly.

The above worked quite well for the first week, with me hitting my target every day however the second and third week brought with them an issue.   It became clear that on some days I would meet my step target however on others I would reach home at the end of the day still having failed to meet the target, despite the walk across campus.     At the end of the day the prospect of going out for a walk, especially in the currently cold weather, was not particularly appealing.   If I wasn’t even hitting my initial target how could I hope to increase it over time?

I have been reading The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and he described situations where people’s habits included a plan for how they would deal with difficulties.   E.g. how would a smoker deal with that stressful moment which leads to them craving a cigarette.   I needed to identify a habit I could use to help me meet my step target.   Ideally a habit that was easy to start at the end of the day after a full day at work, and a habit which didn’t involve having to go out in the cold.

The solution I arrived at was to make use of the stairs in the house, to climb them, up and down, to reach my step target.  This represents a reasonable physical activity similar to that of walking uphill, yet is easy for me to get started and carry on until I met my target.   It is now my new habit.

I wonder what other activities, which are affected by motivation, might be helped by identifying a habit and plan ahead of those difficult moments.   I also wonder about how developing habits, aimed at dealing stressful and/or difficult situations, might help students.

 

 

Why do I blog?

I have found myself asking this question lately.    During my reflections at the end of 2016 I considered the fact that I had written almost a blog entry at least once per week throughout the year as well as on every day in February.     At times I had found identifying a subject difficult and at other times I had found identifying time to actually write something difficult.    I also had periods during which my motivation towards blogging was not at it highest, yet still I persisted and tried to get something written down and shared.

Recently I have finished reading Essentialism by Greg McKeown which has got me thinking about which tasks and activities I undertaken which are essential and which are not.   This has got me thinking about the effort I put into blogging.    Is blogged essential to me?      In trying to answer this it has got me thinking about my reasons for blogging.

Thinking about it there are a number of reasons which I blog.    One relates to memory.   My reading over the last year has highlighted the limitations of memory.    We often believe that our memory represents an accurate, video like, record of previous events however this is far from the truth.   As such blogging, writing down my thoughts, feelings and the details of specific events, helps in creating a more accurate record of events which I can review at some point in the future.    As such my blog represents a way to help me check that memories I hold actually represent the events I believe they relate to.

Blogging is also a way to offload.    The act of getting things down in a blog article forces me to order my thoughts.    It forces me to question my perspective.     I have found on a number of occasions that the act of blogging has resulted in my re-examining my perspective.

Writing a blog is an act of contribution to the education domain which exists online.    I have often found this domain to be very useful, finding ideas, perspectives and resources which I have either been able to use, or which have helped in shaping my thinking.    I could just have remained a consumer of resources and ideas however if we all did this then the educational domain would be lesser for it, as there would be far fewer contributors.    As such my blog is just one part of my attempt to pay back the online education domain which has helped me so much.   I admit there may be no-one or few people that ever read that which I have written, however if there is even 1 person who has found my musings to be useful, then at least in part I have repaid the help I have received from educators online.

Having given it some thought, maybe blogging isn’t top of my essentials list however I do think it is important.    I think the key here is maybe that my essentials list may focus too much on the here and now, however blogging may prove to have been a productive activity only when I find myself reviewing my thoughts some years from now.

As it stands, I will try to continue to find the time to blog, so here’s to many more posts throughout 2017.

Does anyone understand the T&C’s?

The Children’s Commissioner for England has released a report which identifies the fact that most students don’t understand the terms and conditions of the internet services they sign up for and use but this is just the tip of the iceberg.

The report as referenced in an article published by ITV identifies that students find terms and conditions of social media sites “impenetrable”.     Having myself looked at some site terms and conditions I find this far from surprising.   The terms and conditions are largely written from a legal perspective to cover the provider against litigation and therefore tend to be quite long in length, quite complex in language and also written for those with a legal background or approaching from a legal perspective as opposed to a lay person never mind a child.   The terms and conditions are written for their perceived user, being a lawyer hoping to sue or seek damages or a lawyer defending against such a suit.     They are not designed to be informative to the end user of the service in relation to informing them as to their rights and responsibilities, unless the end user has hired a lawyer and is pursuing a suit.

An article on the ISC website written by Caroline Dunn, a deputy head teacher, hits the nail on the head in stating that adults “do not necessarily have a greater understanding of emerging technologies” than the children referenced in the commissioner’s report.   The Children’s commissioner had focused on the fact that terms and conditions were not written with children in mind, yet children were using the services to which these terms relate.  For me, and for Mrs Dunn, the focus was too narrow as in reality the majority of adults are no better able to understand these terms and conditions.  If we consider that adults model behaviour which students will follow, it is concerning that adults often accept terms without reading them, plus also are unable to understand them even should they choose to read them.    I must include myself in the above.

The issue being discussed here is not related to the education of children to use the internet safely.     I do however acknowledge that for children this is even more important in relation to safeguarding.  It is regarding the need for any user, adult or child, to understand their rights and responsibilities with regards using a service.   Clearly the terms do not meet this need as they are aimed at those of a legal background.   The BBC reported on a government select committee back in 2014 identifying that terms where often too long and complex however the report from the Children’s commissioner seems to suggest that little or no progress has been made since then.    I believe this is due to the fact that services will always need to have some legal protection, in the form of terms and conditions, to protect them where someone seeks legal recourse against a service.

It also worries me the focus on a perceived issue in relation to children when in fact that issue is bigger in scale.   The issue includes adults as well who are no better at understanding a services terms.    We see a similar tendency in relation to online privacy and safety, with a focus on the dangers to children when in fact the issue is much bigger and impacts on adults as well.   It could be that the danger to children is perceived as larger hence the focus on children, however equally it could just be sensational reporting.    Also how can we address the dangers associated with internet use by children, if the adults, their parents, who are the ones present at home when children do the majority of their internet surfing don’t truly understand the technology or the terms and conditions.

In relation to the terms and conditions issue I wonder whether the answer is as simple as a rights and responsibilities statement for each service in addition to their legal terms and conditions.   This would be written in understandable language, accessible to the average person including children.   In relation to the wider issues with regards understanding the implications of using a particular service I don’t have an answer, as clearly there is a requirement either to change the internet, good luck with that, or to educate or train internet and service users in general, which is ambitious to say the least.    We continue to learn the good and bad of the internet through using it!

 

Sources:

Social Media told to simplify terms and conditions (Nov 2014), http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30234789

Children ‘left to fend for themselves’ against bullying and grooming online (Jan 2017),  http://www.itv.com/news/2017-01-05/children-left-to-fend-for-themselves-against-bullying-and-grooming-online/

The internet is not designed for children… or adults! (Jan 2017),  https://www.isc.co.uk/media-enquiries/isc-blogs/the-internet-is-not-designed-for-children-or-adults/