Porshe versus Volvo

Since Monday's state-wide, student-free professional development day, I have been pondering the what the future might hold for Victorian teachers and the Ultranet. According to some reports, six years and $88 million has been spent developing the on-line education platform that will allow 24hr access to lesson plans, timetables, student assessment data and attendance records. Some teachers have been using the tools that the ultranet purports to deliver for many years already - web2.0 tools, such as blogs, wikis, slideshows, interactive calenders and message boards are readily available on the internet. These 'early adopters' of technology in education have tested the tools, used them with students and made decisions about how they can be used to improve learning outcomes. Many of these teachers have become 'lead users' of the ultranet, trained to deliver professional development to their fellow staff members and be responsible for the uptake of the ultranet in their schools.

It has been disappointing, to put it mildly, for these teachers that the ultranet was unavailable and running very slowly on the day that it was meant to showcase it's benefits. As well as giving credence to the 'blockers', naysayers and critics, many of the hours spent preparing for the day have been wasted. Experienced teachers had plan B in place and the day was not wasted, with the opportunity to introduce many other web2.0 tools to staff. Our staff were able to spend time exploring FUSE (Find, Use, Share, Educate), GradeXpert (assessment tracking tool), image, audio and video software as well as iPods and Google. When we first heard about the ultranet, four or five years ago, it's premise was a 'safe' learning environment for Victorian school children, a 'walled garden', where students could learn about communication, collaboration and connections without risks to their privacy and safety. Since then, our students have been involved in many global projects without any concerning incidents. They have learnt how to be 'cyber-safe' and the importance of the digital footprint they leave behind. They have been prepared for life outside school, when there is no wall around. Hence my pictures - the Porsche is what we've been using up to now - a smooth, fast and up-to-date vehicle for experienced drivers. A high-performance engine and easy to manouveur with your finger-tips, the Porshe is fast and flexible but risky to drive for inexperienced users. On the other side is grandma's Volvo - solid, safe and practical. Good for learner drivers, the Volvo can be slow, clunky and difficult to turn.

The Ultranet will give teachers who have not yet fully embraced web2.0 technology the opportunity to learn in a safe and secure (but slow and inflexible) environment. Hopefully, the owner and mechanics will keep the vehicle well maintained and up-to-date and it will transport many passengers , until they are ready to purchase their own high-performance vehicles!

Happy New Year!

Thanks to Murch and technolote, many of our students now have their own blogs and are using them to improve their literacy, write their goals and comment on each other's work. I hope I can use this site to focus on their science work.

Tree Planting at Minhamite

Today 26 students planted 1,500 trees at Minhamite. It was a lovely property where we planted mostly gum trees along the creek. The property owners provided a BBQ lunch, drinks and homemade cakes and biscuits. The funniest part of the day was when two of the girls went to find a private spot to go to the loo and one turned around to catch the toilet paper and fell down the hill into the long grass. Jess nearly wet herself laughing!

4th Annual World Environmental Education Conference

Next week my husband and I fly to Durban, South Africa as a delegate of the Australian Edcuation Union. The four day conference includes an opening ceremony, workshops, plenary sessions, poster presentations, a beach party and technical tours. More about the conference at:
http://www.weec2007.com/

After the conference we fly to Nairobi and spend 15 days on a camping safari in Kenya and Tanzania. It is 16 years since I travelled overseas and I imagine things have changed a lot. We will both miss the kids, but we will keep in touch! We are travelling with a company called Bench International with a good reputation for African tours.
http://www.benchinternational.com.au/

Environmental Achievement Award

Back into blogging! Last week I attended the GHCMA Environmental Achievement Awards at the Hamilton PAC on behalf of Hawkesdale P12 College. We came home winners of the Education category, with $1,000 and a framed certificate acknowledging the work done at the school in education for sustainable development. You can find out more about the CMA at:
http://www.glenelg-hopkins.vic.gov.au/index.asp

E-Portfolios

Most of you are working on E-portfolios at the moment, which will take most of term 2. Perhaps in term 3 you will have time to create your own Blog page. This will be like having an on-line journal, to use for reflection and communication between students and teachers.

When you have finished you will be able to link your digital portfolio to your Blog page. Have Fun!

Hi 8R and 8G!

Welcome back to Term 2, 2006. This term I am aiming for you to have at least 2 periods per week on computers to reflect on topics of interest, to practise writing and communication skills, to share your thoughts and to improve your learning. After you have read the following entries on "5 Good reasons to Blog" and "5 Rules for Blogging", you will set up your own BLOG, an on-line journal or diary. You will need to get parental permission to do this, so remember to take the note home, get it signed and returned to school ASAP.

Step 1: Go to www.blogger.com

Step 2: Click Start here or Learn more about it.

Step 3: Type in your username, password (twice) , name and e-mail account.

Step 4: Fill in a title and description for your blogging web page.

Step 5: Type an address for your blog.

Step 6: Read and Click to accept terms of service and then click next.

Step 7: Select a template (This is one of the fun parts) and then click Finish.

Step 7: Now you can start blogging! Type an entry, like you would write in a diary.

Step 8: Hit Post and Publish and in a few seconds you can View Web Page.

Step 9: Each lesson allocated for blogging you can return to your Blog page and add a diary entry on your thought for the day, respond to other's entries or reflect on some learning.

Blogging Rules to Remember

(1) Never publish your complete name and/or e-mail account - spam crawlers can get a hold of it and you will be inundated with unwanted messages forever!

(2) When responding to others have respect for their opinions - you wouldn't like someone bagging you on-line either!

(3) Make sure your language(no swearing) , tone (CAPITALS ARE LIKE SHOUTING!) and content are permissable.

(4) Don't publish any thoughts or personal information that you don't want in the public arena - You really are "out there" on the web.

(5) Using the internet is a privledge (What % of the world's population do you think has internet access?). Use it wisely and it can be a great tool for learning. Abuse it and (most likely) it will come back to "bite you in the bum".

5 Good reasons to Blog!

(1) Many people really enjoy blogging - even if you don't like writing in a diary, blogging is fast, you don't have to worry about neat hand writing, and it's just like chatting on-line!

(2) It's an easy way to get published on the web - you have a world wide audience!

(3) Everybody has an equal opportunity to publicly present their own thoughts and opinions (Everyone with a computer and internet access that is!)

(4)Blogs allow others to respond, providing feedback to the author. It might be friends, family, teachers or other students half way around the world!

(5)Reflective writing is an important key to improve your learning

March, 2006 we walked to the Wineglass Bay look-out in Freycinet National Park, Tasmania. 

Last day of Holidays.

I enjoyed today by myself (the kids were at a friend's place). I used the Day spa voucher I got for my birthday - very indulgent - and spent nearly an hour in the book shop! I think it makes me a better Mum and a better teacher to have some time alone, doing things for me. I bought an interesting book called "Thinking for Themselves" about developing strategies for reflective learning. The strategies Wilson and Jan suggest include concept mapping, questioning and self-questioning, negotiated learning, self-assessment and learning logs. It didn't mention learning blogs, but I think they are worth a try.