Category: Learning Technologies

Classroom Display Tech

Have been working on the technology requirements for a new building lately and have been considering display technology in particular.   You can see some of my previous thinking with regards Interactive whiteboards which are one aspect of display technology here 

My recent thinking tended towards the use of mobile display screens as opposed to having fixed data projectors projecting onto predefined areas on the walls, either onto writable surfaces, the walls themselves or onto pull down screens.

Mobile screens seemed to be a solution in terms of being mobile and therefore offering greater flexibility over traditional fixed data projectors which due to being fixed imply the existence of a “front” of classroom.   This would be the surface onto which they are to fixed to project onto.   The existence of the front of the classroom then suggests students be oriented accordingly resulting in reduced flexibility in the overall classroom layout.

I have reflected on this a little further since then.   A mobile screen provides flexibility in terms of the position of the display surface within the classroom.   Some screens can also be rotated to allow for the surface to be either vertical as a normal screen or horizontal as an interactive table.

A mobile screen however doesn’t provide flexibility in terms of the size of the output in the same way as a data projector does.   With a data projector we can move it away from the surface it is projecting on to or closer to the surface to vary the size of the output.       A data projector is also capable of projecting onto uneven surfaces or across uneven surfaces, whereas the work surface for a mobile screen is always flat.

As such I have been considering the possibility of a mobile projector setup as another option to a mobile screen.   A key factor would be ease of setup and operation.   The system would need to be a little like the i3 Lighthouse device however with the ability to not only project on the floor but on the wall and the ceiling or over any surface as required.    It would also need to be compact and easy to move like the lighthouse.    This would then be combined with writeable surfaces throughout the classroom including all walls, windows, doors and as much as possible furniture.

Now I just need to find someone who makes this device!

 

EdTech

I have always been very active in encouraging the use of Educational Technology in classrooms and used to cite the below as 3 reasons why we should:

  1. We live in a technological world
  2. Technology can engage students
  3. Learning is multisensory and technology is also multisensory

In addition to the above I need to note that I do not believe all lessons should use EdTech as EdTech is only a tool for learning.    It is therefore the Learning that matters most, so if technology is not aiding, enhancing or redefining learning, or if technology is being used just because it can then I think it should be left out.

Reflecting on the above I still believe strongly in point 1.   Technology now has a place in almost every aspect of our life and with the Internet of things technology is ever expanding into areas of life within which it previously didn’t exist.   As such we need to use technology in learning.   We also need to teach students about using technology in learning including when it is appropriate not to use technology and when it is appropriate to disconnect, as I believe we all need to.

With regards point 2, I am no longer convinced this point is true anymore as technology has become the norm for students.    The difference which technology brings is the ability to engage with content in different ways as opposed to engaging with technology.    Teachers can allow students to interact with science, mathematics and every other subject in new and interesting ways.   Teachers can engage students in conversations with famous and interesting people from across the world through technology.  One example of this being students having conversations with an astronaut in space as at least one school is doing currently.

I still believe in Point 3 however would expand on it now.   It isn’t just the multisensory aspect of technology which is beneficial but the social aspect as well.   Through technology students can collaborate and work with others.   Technology also helps in developing other skills and attributes in students thought engaging them in critical thinking and problem solving tasks.

The challenges as I see them however are that teachers need to model best practice for students and in order to do so need to themselves be comfortable in using the technology.     Students also have to be educated about the safe use of the internet.  Again teachers have to be aware of the dangers, etc in order to do this and I don’t always believe we are.     I also think we need to build up the digital resilience and work life balance aspects of using technology as well as the ability to critically evaluate information for validity and reliability.

I don’t think we will ever have proof that use of tech directly and positively impacts on student results however this is the wrong question.    Tech is part of life and we are preparing students for this life after school, so surely tech has its part to play.

My 5 favourite apps.

I thought I would take the easy way out today and share my favourite apps as they are currently.   Now the following apps are in no particular order:

Plickers

I have always loved plickers as not every school is as lucky as my current school and has a 1:1 student:device environment.    As such apps such as Kahoot which allow students to interact and answer questions in real time are not always possible.    Along comes plickers which allows students to use a QR-Code style card to select an answer based on the orientation of the card.   All the teacher needs is a mobile device with internet access and a camera and they can instantly gather student answers ready for sharing via their classroom data projector.     As such you can accomplish very similar to what you can with Kahoot but without the need for each student to have a device.

Foldr

This is relatively new to me however is excellent although it does require the IT services team to set it up.   Basically Foldr allows users to interact with their network folders and files via their iPad.   It also allows users to do this remotely including using a web interface on a laptop or desktop instead of using the app where needed.    This is a great tool to marry up the mobile technology solutions with existing network user areas.

GoogleDrive

We want collaboration and sharing however we cannot fully predict how collaboration will grow once started.    Through Google drive we put the ability to share in the hands of the users thereby allowing the collaboration and sharing to grow organically as opposed to be centrally controlled by the IT Services team.   Now there are many other benefits to Drive including Google Forms, etc however it is the collaboration aspect which I find to be most important.

Twitter

I just love twitter for sharing ideas and for discussion.     I wouldn’t have found StaffRm to post this or #29daysofwriting if it hadn’t been for twitter.

Evernote

I need somewhere to drop occasional notes or to scrapbook ideas I come across on websites, etc.   I also need to be able to access these notes across different devices.    This is my use for Evernote.   I have found it invaluable.

Overall the above are just five of the apps I regularly use, and my current favorites.    Please feel free to share your comments and your favorites.

 

Sharing the sharing

Day 8, so that means I managed a full week with a posting each and every day.   I am more than happy with this however need to keep going and see if I can get to the full 29 days.

Today will be a short posting as I am very much struggling to decide what I can actually write about.

I spent around 30 to 40mins yesterday involved in #mltchat and then subsequently #sltchat and I enjoyed both.   I found it fun and interesting to engage with others in discussion leadership among other topics.   It was useful to hear where others held views which were consistent with my own, or where others had ideas or thoughts which I found to augment my own ideas and thoughts.   It was equally useful to hear where others views were different or in disagreement with mine as it served as an opportunity to examine other viewpoints and perspectives possibly leading to changes in my own view.

Next week I look forward to the third instalment of #appsharelive.    I expect another session full of useful app ideas which can then be used in teaching and learning.   I expect that some of the apps will be ones I recognise and which I use as suggested, while some presenters will demonstrate new ways to use apps I am aware of already.   I also expect to see some new apps which I wasn’t previously aware of.

In both the above cases I have found ideas and tools through the use of technology to collaborate.    The question I find myself asking is how can I get more of my colleagues to engage in this collaboration?

If I create a blog will they read it?   If I send out an email will they read it?   If I arrange a meeting will they attend it?

Ultimately, how can I share the ideas and tools as wide as possible in my school so that others engage?

Reflections on BETT 2016

On Thursday 21st I visited the BETT exhibition after 8 years away.   During those 8 years I attended the GESS.GEF and BETT/BFE Middle East events which I was none too impressed with.    As such my visit to BETT 2016 was always going to involve a comparison with my experiences in the Middle East.   Due to poor planning the visit to BETT was only a short one surrounded with hours sat in traffic driving too and from London.   As I arrived home I was ready to write my usual blog about how I the exhibition offered little and how I was disappointed by what was on show.   As it happened I didn’t write my blog at that time, nor did I write in the days following the exhibition, mainly I suspect, due to my lack of enthusiasm for the event itself.

Then I read a piece by @teachertoolkit (you can read the full piece here) and I reflected on my experience and on my perception of the BETT UK exhibition plus on previous experiences out in the Middle East.    Although I had seen little to impress me with the event I had only spent a short period of hours there.    Maybe to get the full of the experience I would need to spend longer in future.    My perception of the number of people in attendance was that the UK event was significantly busier than the Middle East event and I hadn’t even visited on the first day of the exhibition.    Maybe this was the reason the UAE event had failed to inspire, because of the lack of people in attendance and the resulting lack of opportunities to meet fellow educators, to network and to discuss ideas and experiences.    In the Middle East the people I got to spend with most time were the sales people and obviously their priority is sales as opposed to sharing ideas and best practice.   Had I spent longer at the UK BETT exhibition maybe I would have had the opportunity to engage with more people, share more ideas and overall get more from the event.    I have often remarked that on training events it is the networking, the discussions over coffee, which yield the greatest benefits, yet I did not allow myself any actual time to do this at BETT.

I think, if I am going to give BETT another go next year, I will need to ensure I give myself plenty of time to make the most of the event.   I will also need to plan my time better to ensure I get to see the vendors which I need to see but also allow for opportunities to network and have informal discussions.   Another thing I will need to do is attend TeachMeet BETT as it sounds like an excellent CPD opportunity.

Here’s to BETT 2017!!

 

 

BETT 2016…..Some Pre-Event thoughts

The BETT conference is now only two days away.  Now I won’t actually be going on day 1 however I do plan to be visiting with some colleagues on Thursday.    I haven’t attended the BETT conference in over 8 years having been out of the UK for that period of time although I have attended similar events in the UAE including BETT and BFE, before they were discontinued, and then GESS and GEF following that.

As I prepare to visit BETT I would like to summarize some of my predictions and hopes for the event.

Interactive display technology including the humble Interactive Whiteboard is likely to still occupy a significant number of the vendor stands on display.   I am unhappy with this given that IWB technology is now around 25year old however equally I can understand why this might be the case:  IWB technology is interactive plus can be demonstrated without any real preparation and where visitors are not required to have any pre-requisite skills, experience or learning.   In a class this lack of need for pre-requisite skills is useful at the start of the year when students are new however students don’t remain new for very long.

I expect to see a number of content vendors on show selling interactive content designed for various subjects.   Again this is not something I am particularly fond off mainly due to the wealth of free content available on the internet plus the ease with which content can either be created or adjusted by teachers as needed.

I have noticed an increasing number of learning platforms, especially cloud hosted systems, making appearance.   I would suspect this trend will continue at BETT.

I expect to see most vendors offering solutions which are incremental improvements on what they previously have offered.    I accept that this incremental approach may result in improvements although I question the magnitude of the improvements.    I doubt we could consider the improvements to be innovative and it is something innovative I am seeking.   I also question whether rather than seeking to be slightly better we should be seeking to do something different, something creative and to bring about disruptive innovation.

My hope is to see some vendors with something truly creative and original.   I know of one vendor who will be in attendance who will be demonstrating something which at least partially fits my criteria.   They will be demonstrating giant dice like devices which students can sit on but also which students can interact with as part of the lesson, passing and throwing around, answering questions by orientating the dice in various ways.  Student interactions with the devices can then be communicated back to a teacher device via Bluetooth allowing for assessment of learning to take place.    As such learning becomes both a physical and mental activity while providing teachers with data as to student learning.

I observed another example of what I consider innovative at an event in the UAE.   It was a School Management System styled like a social media site with the system making predictions as to what information and users may be useful much in the same way Amazon or similar shopping site predict what other items we may wish to consider buying.   The system also made use of a very visual user interface.   Sadly since the demo I have been unable to locate this solution so either it never went beyond demo stage or it went out of business at some point.     Although the fact it doesn’t exist now is hardly a great selling point, I think the underlying idea had lots of merit and was in a number of ways, innovative.

I hope that BETT will include a number of creative and new solutions for use in learning and that my visit to BETT on Thursday fulfills my expectations!   Only time will tell!!

 

 

IT Support vs. IT Services?

I am currently working on changing the current departmental title where I work from IT Support to IT Services as I believe IT Services more accurately fits what I and the staff within the department do.

The main reason behind this change is that I see the staff within the department and the work that we do as integral to what happens within the school.   We provide data services to ensure teachers, school leaders and parents have timely access to information.    We provide the audio visual services used within the classroom everyday in checking, maintaining and replacing classroom data projectors, audio systems and associated computer hardware.    We provide the printing facilities across the school.    We provide and support the WIFI across the school as used by the staff and students which given all students and staff have a mobile device is quite a significant undertaking.

My belief is that the term “service” is more in line with what we do as opposed to “support”.    Now I recently read a post by Anthony DePrato which you can see here.     His post presents a slightly different standpoint in that he expresses a key preference for “support” over the term “service”.    The reasoning for this is explained to be the fact that teaching and learning are critically important and therefore the focus.    The IT facilities and staff are therefore there to help and to support this critical focus as opposed to being a service.   Mr. DePrato raises the concern of the potential reliance that may develop on IT as a service.

My viewpoint differs to that of Mr. DePrato on one key point.   For me teaching and learning is always the critical and key focus of all staff within a school independent of whether they directly teach students or not.   I recently commented when a colleague mentioned HR and Payroll, that they too need to focus on teaching and learning.   If teachers don’t feel supported as employees and adequately paid then their teaching and the learning experiences they provide will most likely be adversely affected.    So for the IT staff working within the school the key thing is to provide services which assist and enhance teaching and learning.

I use “services” as I feel this better describes how “we” as a whole are all “in it together”.    If the school management system doesn’t work then this will adversely impact on Teaching and Learning.   If the display equipment doesn’t work or a teacher cant access online educational resources they wish to use then this will adversely impact on Teaching and Learning.   Teaching and Learning depends both on the teaching in the class and on the IT service available although I will happily concede that the teaching side of things is more important as learning can occur with the technology.    That said I believe the best learning happens where we have the best IT services and the best teaching operating together.   As such teaching staff and IT staff must work together.  It is not about reliance but more about a coexistence and collaboration.   For me the easiest way for this to happen is to see IT as a service in much the same way as water, electricity and heat.   Teachers should expect the service to be there and to meet their needs.    IT staff should seek to ensure that the service is in place and that it continues to meet the evolving needs of teachers plus to resolve any faults or problems promptly where they arise.    IT services involve an ongoing discussion with the users of the service to ensure the service remains current and appropriate to the needs of teachers and their students.

As Mr. DePrato said, this is not Amazon, as Amazon are external and represent a bought in service.   This is more akin to the internal relationship with have with school leaders who we expect to work with teachers and to lead the school.    This is an internal relationship with clear expectations.   Given this I think “service” is more appropriate as a term as opposed to “support”.

In concluding I would suggest that the words don’t matter as much as the culture and climate they seek to promote.   Maybe both myself and Mr. DePrato seek to establish the same culture and climate within IT however due to differing styles approach the same issue with slightly different perceptions and slightly differing styles.

 

 Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Infrastructure

Another posting on IT strategy however this time focusing very much on the infrastructure behind what goes on in the classroom.   In my last posting I mentioned technology implementations such as 3D printing, gamification and 3D projection technologies.  You can read the full posting here.  Within the post I suggested that it was largely impossible to predict how technology would develop in terms of the new technologies which might become available in the next few years.   Since then I have came to reconsider my position a little in that there is one thing we can predict in terms of technology in schools.

Now the reconsideration of my position came about as a result of reading a post from @s_bearden and the included presentation.  You can see her presentation here.    In her presentation titled “Disruptive Education Technology” she makes a number of interesting statements however the particular facts that I found interesting were related to the State Education Technology Directors Associate (SETDA) recommendations with regards the infrastructure requirement of K-12 schools or Foundations Stages through to Secondary for those of us here in the UK.    SETDAs recommendations for internal and external data transmission speeds indicate that they predict a 10 fold increase in requirements in the 3 years between the 2014-15 and 2017-18 academic years.   As far as I am concerned that is quite a significant increase.

This reminded me of an infographic I once saw however can’t quite find at the moment.   The graphic indicated the time taken for radio to reach 1 million users, the time for TV to do the same, the internet, Facebook and finally Angry Birds Space.    The trend which was evident when following the progress of each of the above technologies was the increasing speed of adoption of each new technology.   It took TV 10s of years to do what Facebook did in years and what Angry Birds Space did in days.

So in my earlier posting I was partially wrong.    Although we cannot predict the specific technologies we will be using in the classroom and in the world in general, we can be certain that there will need to be significant spending on the infrastructure required to support the new technologies which may exist.   Our internal network bandwidth including wifi capabilities plus the bandwidth associated with our external connectivity to ISPs will need to increase plus will need to increase at a significant rate if it is to effectively support the increasing use of technology, the increasing consumption of online content and the use of new and emerging technologies as and when they become available.

 

Thoughts on developing an IT Strategy

I am in the process of developing a 4 to 5 year IT strategy however how do we create a strategy for IT when we cannot predict what new technologies and Apps may exist?     Technology is evolving at a fast paced rate with iOS 9 recently being released along with Windows 10 to name just 2 major software releases.     iPads continue to be very popular for use in classrooms however the Google Chromebook is making significant inroads.   Windows Surface tablets are still relatively expensive and therefore uncommon however this may change over time as new technologies and devices become cheaper as they always do.

3D projection technology currently is, as far as I am concerned, a little bit of a gimmick with limited usefulness other than in specific subjects.     A nice thing for the limited student engagement during its initial deployment or for impressing parents on school tours however questionable in terms of impact in the wider context of the academic teaching year and versus the purchasing cost of the required devices.

Gamification merits a mention however I may be raising here due to my own sons love for Minecraft.   In fact I believe, as other do, that gamification is not limited to software and IT but extends beyond to turning learning into a game even if this is a physical board, counter or ball game.      As such I am not sure Gamification would need including in an IT strategy as it may actually be better placed in the overall teaching pedagogy strategy.

3D Printing is another newer technology often making an appearance in discussions of educational technology.    I feel there may be significant opportunities here in terms of IT strategy in engaging students in Makerspaces where they make use of technology to produce solutions to real problems.   As such ongoing development and exploration of how 3D printing technologies can be used may merit a place in the IT Strategy I am developing.

It is very difficult to judge what technologies will be available to us over the next 4 or 5 years, what the costs will be, what new uses will have been discovered and overall how the IT technology world will develop.   Given this it is clear that a focus on the technologies isn’t going to work.

In reality the question is not what technologies we are going to use as technology is but a tool.   What really matters is how we use this tool.    Given this my IT strategy doesn’t focus on what we will use but on what we hope to gain from the use of technology.   We want to develop students that are collaborative, communicative, solvers of problems, critical thinkers, resilient individuals, individuals of character, members of a global and local society as well as being tolerant plus possessing a growth mindset.   We want to deliver great learning experiences both within and beyond the classroom that stimulate and engage students.    We want teachers that are confident in using technology where appropriate to redefine how they teach.   We want to use technology to engage parents in the learning journey of their children and the engage the local community and wider world in the work of the school.   We also want technology that is safe, reliable, resilient and flexible.

It is the above which is the strategy and not the technologies we will eventually use.   It is the above which paints the picture of what we hope to achieve through the use of IT as a tool.    From the above we can then create our initial operational plan for the year ahead and initial outlines for the coming year or and beyond confident in the fact that the operational plan may change as new technologies, ideas and approaches become available however we will forever continue working towards the originally developed strategic outcomes.

 

Image courtesy of basketman at FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

An IT Balancing act.

Within the classroom, and especially within those BYOD classrooms or 1 to 1 classrooms where every student has a device, there are an ever growing number of software solutions and apps to help teachers redefine how they teach and how students learn.     The rate of growth and range of options available is huge with resources, tools and ideas available to suit all age ranges, all subject matters and all curricula.

This increase in teaching and learning options puts a demand on IT support and on a schools’ IT services to be flexible and dynamic enough to support these new options.   My belief has always been that the focus is on teaching and learning and therefore it is up to a schools’ IT services to find or develop solutions which provide for the needs of the students, teachers, parents and other stakeholders.   As such IT services should act as an enabler to allow stakeholders to use the resources which they need.

The issue here is that IT services have a number of constraints acting upon them that may run contrary to the needs of the users.   One such constraint is that of budget and especially total cost of ownership.   Users may want specific equipment to meet their specific needs however this usually costs significantly more than having standardised equipment across a school.   Standardised equipment is also easier and therefore cheaper to support.   Interoperability of systems is also an issue as end users may want specific software however this software may not work in conjunction with other software being used within the school.    Another constraint is that of legal requirements.   A school’s IT services has to be conscious of the Freedom of Information Act and Data Protection act among others.   If teachers are making use of a variety of different cloud based services such as Edmodo, ClassDojo or Google Classroom how can a schools IT services ensure that the information held on these sites is kept up to date plus how can the school ensure that they have up to date records as to what data is held on which sites plus who is responsible for this data and ensuring it remains up to date.

The key as far as I see it is balance as it is important for IT services to support the needs of those engaged in the critical job of teaching students.   That said, IT services has a responsibility to bring their skills and expertise to the table to ensure that solutions are in line with legal requirements plus are scaleable and sustainable for the longer period.

 

Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono at FreeDigitalPhotos.net