ONLINE EDUCA 2009 an impression

Over 2000 participants from the world of Learning and Technology attended the 15th edition of ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN 2009. More than ever before, the largest European conference on Technology and Learning celebrated interactivity and innovation. Share, innovate and succeed were this year’s keywords – and that’s exactly what participants did, both off- and online. The best way to stay focused an informed this year was with Twitter, making good use of the conference hashtag.

Blog headlines made some sessions, such as the Online Educa Debate. Knifes were sharpened in a packed room when psychologist Aric Sigman, author of 'The Spoilt Generation' and 'How Television is Damaging Our Lives' (naturally) defended the following motion: “The increasing use of technology and social software is damaging students' minds and undermining the benefits of traditional methods of learning." Opposing this motion with a vengeance was Donald Clarke, who seemed to enjoy a bit of personal Aric Sigman bashing, accusing him of cherry-picking - I wonder whose cherry he was talking about. In the end Donald won the debate with a surprisingly small margin.

Not just the old and wise men and women from the field of technology enhanced learning had their chance to speak up; the School Session featured six kids (ok, taller than me) from the Humboldt Gymnasium and the Nelson Mandela School, to talk about their use of technology. It's tough being a student in a Berlin school; if you are lucky enough to have a few working computers in school, chances are that you have no access because as we all know the Internet contains many awful sites. Most B erlin schools have also banned Facebook as the #1 online evil. At the same time teachers expect students in secondary schools to access their homework and their research online, without venturing deeper into the topics of plagiarism, reliable research or how to use Creative Commons. "Creative wie bitte?"

Social Media Are More Than One

Let's start by saying that media is plural, so the title of the below presentation is wrong and should say; "What Are Social Media". Besides that, this is another presentation where I like the quality of the information (including sources!) and love the interaction of words and pics. It makes such an immense difference. This is by the way the conservative version of the presention, the original one is called 'What the F..K is Social Media?' I prefer this one, when using it in schools - educators usually are not too keen on the f-word.

What is Social Media?

View more documents from Marta Kagan.

SCHOOL FORUM

The speakers are lined up and ever more parties are joining the School Forum, the first Berlin platform on learning and technology for teachers and headmasters. 22 days and counting! Check out the website for the full programme and join this pre-conference School Forum of Online Educa Berlin - if you understand the German language that is!

Education & Technology Quotes

OK, quotes are corny, I agree. It may also be unimaginative, using someone elses thoughts. POn the other hands, don't we all do the same day in day out? These quotes are interesting and I like the way they are visualised. That is something I miss so often in so called 21st century education talks. Talk is of collaborative learningk, project work, away from frontal teaching, using attention-grabbing material - but often these presentations are wrapped up in the most boring slides, filled with wordsoup and avoid from any catchy visuals.

Education & Technology Quotes

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An Obvious Model

According to Rob Eissler, Texas Republican legislator, classrooms will have to change . He sees the coming generation as a whole different species; “Their culture is different, and so is their mode of communication. Rather than have us force kids to the old way, we need use their way of learning and communicating.” And so a new Bill has been drafted and accepted, which should push the move from paperback to electronic book. But is the next generation that different? Our means of communication have changed; we have different tools and learn to use those at a younger age. And yes, schools need to participate and supply and use those tools as well. It starts with the support of the school management; the principal has to support the teachers, and supply the tools as well as the technical back-up. Then it’s a matter of learning new skills, for both teacher and student. Nothing is impossible - as long as we desire to do something, see the need for it; this is where motivation kicks in. Hopefully Mr Eissler has thought about how to get the teachers to use the electronic tools. That brings us to the third requirement: training. If the teachers aren’t trained, they can’t train the students. Obvious? Yes. In order to maintain these skills and use them regularly in their teaching practice, there has to be gratification; the students learn better, show an increased motivation, research and present their projects, in short become independent and self-assured learners. Wouldn’t that be an ideal world?

Knight in shining Armour (1)

I just spent three hours working on a proposal. It's off the cuff, I'm inspired and just keep writing, doing the odd bit of e-search in between. I am hammering away on my conclusion with a silly little smile stuck on my face ...hahaha, how witty I am. Then disaster strikes. I press the shift key for too long, I don't know what on earth happens, but the file is gone. AWOL, or should I say AWOB, Absent WithOut Backup. I cry, I scream, shout, hit my laptop, shake it and twist it, but to no avail. The document is lost forever. I vow never to touch a keypad again. That was last year. Only now I find this knight in shining armour who helps out digi-damsels in distress. His name is Brian Kato and his version of Excalibur is a program called RESTORATION. It promises to restore files which are deleted from the recycle bin or deleted while holding down the Shift key by mistake. Thanks Brian, does it also work after 10 months...? Click here to get RESTORATION: http://www.aumha.org/a/recover.php

Oh and charmingly, this program has another function that makes it almost impossible to restore all deleted files. You can use it after deletion of confidential documents, embarrassing files and so on. Now surely a knight in shining armour has no embarassing files in his castle?

The beauty of education

Sometimes I miss being a teacher. For instance when I read that Apple has offered an educational desktop machine at a lower price point than the rest of its desktop line. Apple has replaced the 17-inch polycarbonate education iMac with a new, low-end 20-inch aluminum model and it's a beauty.

Let's have a look at the technical details, straight from Apple Mecca: The new model includes a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, a SuperDrive, and the NVIDIA 9400M graphics package. It sounds good to an untrained ear like mine (I may pretend to be a Cyberella, but when it comes to hardware I'm a total softie), yet it turns out that - compared to the higher-end iMac "Core 2 Duo" (Early 2009) models, this model has a slower processor and half the shared level 2 cache, a smaller hard drive, less RAM (and half the maximum RAM capacity), less shared DDR3 video memory, and no support for internal Bluetooth. Boohoo!! And catch this; it ships with a keyboard without the numeric keypad. Now how about that? This model is for educational institutions only - but by the way it does not come with a numeric keypad. So perhaps we shouldn't look at the specs but only at the visuals...

e-Learning?!

"What is it you do?" You organise e-learning conferences?? So that's like.. people learning at home... with computers or something?"

"Well, no it's rather Technology and Learning, or technology-enhanced learning; think Web 2.0, open educational resources, digital natives versus digital immigrants - although forget that one, that's old. It's more like - there's a digital comfortzone and you are either inside it or outside."

"A digital comfort zone?" Next thing you'll tell me is you want me to be some sort of Cyberella?"

" Well, first of all Cyberella is the EU-term for girls in the field of technology - although if you Google it, most Cyberella sites have nothing in common with the EU but everything with sexy cyberchicks. Secondly, as long as you think that Twitter is only for birds and the Web for spiders, you can stay in the suburbs of the digicomfortzone and ask your children to keep you informed...."

Usually something like that is the end of the discussion, at which point I still haven't managed to explain what e-learning is. So it's official; I dislike the term e-learning. It's too broad, too generic, too vague and I will try not to use it anymore. Instead let's call it TE-learning for Technology Enhanced, or New Learning - why not? It's a warning to all those reluctant teachers out there; New Learning involves new technology - even if new is not so new at all - but let the kids explain that to the teachers :-)

The Internet is Guilty

I'm a member of many networks, from dedicated networks such as Classroom 2.0 to monsters like LinkedIn. I have a Hyves page (yes, I'm originally Dutch), a Facebook Account, and Twitter. I have several blogs, three of which are completely neglected. I love to read, but when? All we have time for nowadays is a quick scan through the latest news. Not by reading papers, but newsletters and blogs. My friend R. calls it grazing. I also have a job. And a family. It's way past midnight and I managed to update one of my networks, not by communicating with others but by updating my bio. I've been on LinkedIn for years but have never done a thing with it. Now I found many old friends and colleagues, from Hilversum and London to Atlanta... if they join my network, I'll have even more people I know I will neglect. Is this the time when everyone feels guilty about not having enough time to do all the things you want to do and know you could do, but never will be able to include in your schedule? Are we never making the most of the Internet, and does it slowly dawn on you that you will never be able to - that we're not kitted out for it? Not have two brains, four hands, 48 hours in a day? I guess my contacts (there was a time when I simply called them friends...) will just have to wait until I am a Silver Surfer, sitting on my retired behind on a lovely beach with wLan - yes, of course the whole world will be wireless by then, it'll be as common as using the sidewalk, like Prof Dueck from IBM likes to reflect. So, in about 25 years I'll be bombarding my friends with emails and entries, updates on my wonderfully quiet and peaceful life, about the latest novel I read, or the tweets my grandchildren sent me. See you then!

Dumbing Us Down

'Dumbing us Down' about institunionalised education was written by John Taylor Gatto in 1993 . Rather dated, even though it was updated ten years later, yet what he wites is still so relevant. It is saddening that school has the ability to destroy children’s natural curiosity, teaches children how to sit still and listen to the teacher. Yes, frontal learning is as alive as ever in most classrooms. Yet, handing all responsibility to ‘the family’ would not work for a lot of kids and parents – Gatto has this ideal picture where children learn best in an informal setting, but kids need people on the sideline keeping a close eye on the learning process, whether these are parents or school teachers. The more I think about these things, the more I see contemporary learning as a process where experienced learners support starting learners… informal learning doesn’t mean that there is no more teaching involved - because teaching happens whenever learning takes place - it may just not always be intentional. Perhaps we should speak of intentional teaching versus random learning. At the moment I have five kids in my kitchen trying to bake a cake by themselves – no three, my ten-year old and his friend just left for the supermarket because they realised we didn’t have enough eggs in the house. They wanted to do the baking, I only told them to do it by themselves (but I do sit at the table, keeping an ‘ear’ on things…) Random learning with an intentional edge. In the end self-propelled learning all comes down to motivation and fun and there is no reason why teachers should have a different perspective...

21st century teaching - a shift in focus

Chances are that you remember your teacher as the person who stood at the front of the class, talking and writing things on the blackboard. When he or she wasn't talking, you were copying what was written on the board or diligently working your way through the grammar or math exercises in your book, by yourself. If you had a question, you raised your hand and waited for the teacher to help you out. There hardly was an alternative, was there?

Enter the 21st century classroom. Children are working in groups or teams, either reading in the library corner or working on one of the four classroom PC's, surfing the Internet and locating information. Two migrant children are using a computer to create a presentation in PowerPoint. They have accessed and collected information in their native language and are now translating it into English, in order to present if to the rest of the class at a later stage. The electronic whiteboard shows one of the teacher's favourite websites, a collection of realistic 3D animations showing the movement of plate tectonics, resulting in an earthquake. In the mean time the teacher uses his laptop to update his pupils' e-portfolios.

Back to the future. 21st century Germany. Berlin's schools receive pc's and printers from the Schulamt. They are working but not equipped with proper software. Licenses are too expensive, so the PC's can only be used for simple text applications such as Wordpad. The necessary licenses are bought after a few agonizing and frustration filled years, but by then nobody is available to install the software. Wireless applications are down half of the time and several PC's have stopped working entirely. Scanners and other equipment just disappear for lack of supervision. There is no budget for IT-maintenance. There are no teaching hours for IT-education. Electronic whiteboards are things that exist in a different reality, certainly not in this one. Teachers do not feel called upon, nor are they required to use IT in their lessons. They resort to good old reliable text books, pen and paper. Children sit and work by themselves and copy whatever the teacher writes down on the board. Sounds familiar?

WAKE-UP CALL
A Unesco report on ICTs in teacher education claims that 'with the emerging new technologies, the teaching profession is evolving from an emphasis on teacher-centred, lecture-based instruction, to student-centred, interactive learning environments.' Well, yes - it should be.

But new technologies require new teaching methods, different learning strategies. Teachers will have to become learners, life-long learners even, in order to keep up with the latest technologies and to use these in today's classrooms. If schools are properly equipped and maintained and if teachers are informed and IT-knowledgeable, we have come a lot closer to the 21st century classroom. But WHY should schools and teachers embrace and adapt current technologies?

ICT, therefore I AM.

It's a given; ICT tools have changed the world we live and work in. Schools need to prepare students for the e-world.

The teacher as e-gatekeeper?

7000 technical and scientific articles are published every DAY and the world's knowledge base doubles every 2-3 years (source: Unesco report). Teachers need to lead the way, become e-guides or rather gatekeepers. There is so much information that needs to be selected on reliability and usefulness, which is the task for the 21st century teacher. IT is a tough job - but someone's gotta do it.

Did you know?

Well, I knew we were living in exponential times.... that sites, applications and the poulation as a whole grow at a rate that is absolutely impressive, not to say scary. Today I saw a video that left me with an empty feeling. The world is so big, so much is going on; how do we keep track? Do we need a new internet, which is not so wide open as this one? But who do we want to keep track of it and do we really want to go back to gatekeepers and big brothers? I don't. But have a look at this video nonetheless...


Did You Know? from Amybeth on Vimeo.

The perfect eLearner

In 2002 Clive Shepherd wrote about the perfect eLearner. First of all, he said, you have to love learning. well...aren't we all supposed to be lifelong learners anyway nowadays? From Generation X, Y and Z to the Silver Surfers? Clive, perhaps you should reconsider seven years down the line; the perfect eLearner is a shElearner. I'll get back to that one, no worries. In the mean time, here's some reading, even if it is seven years old - it's interesting. http://www.fastrak-consulting.co.uk/tactix/features/elearner.htm#Profiling%20the%20perfect%20e-learner

21st century skills

"To know nothing is bad, to learn nothing is worse." This is an old African proverb, more specifically from the Serer tribe. Now this tribe, located in Gambia, may be as far from any on-line society as it goes, but they have gone through many changes over the centuries, learning and adapting as they went along. Our society has also changed tremendously; we've moved from a world in which people generally knew things, to a world in which people depend on looking things up and learning as they go. Lifelong learning has become the way to move forward. New media have incredibly transformed our world within the last 20 years, touching nearly every aspect of life, except for - in some cases - education. Educational reform often has to do with the traditional subjects: reading, writing and arithmetic – the so-called three R’s from old. But it’s not the bad reading or math grades in Pisa we should worry about. Schools have to teach 21 century skills, including critical thinking, communication, teamwork, creativity and technical skills. A lot of companies jump on these 21st century skills like the latest fad to be marketed. But come on, guys... if you claim to teach what 21st century skills are, you have to at least demonstrate them. I didn't even make it past the first minute of these guys' presentation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5OU8XoA3_0) which shows nothing but a boring picture for 51 whole seconds, voiced by the most boring human being in the universe. Very 19th century indeed.

Feminine

Yes, Shelearner is a she learner; I'm a woman and I love frills - now and then. And who could resist this netbook? Fashion in IT, does it mean that women are taken seriously as users or does it imply the exact opposite; are those guys at HP thinking; 'let's cover our netbooks in floral prints, so all those little women out there will be thrilled. They won't care about the technical aspects, as long as it looks pretty'. Or is there a woman at the HP-top who realizes that women do differ from men and rightly so - that we are not afraid to show our femininity and that that is exactly what makes our generation different from the one before us who claimed that women are the same as men and needed to be treated in the same way. When it comes to function and salary - yes, treat me in the same way. When it comes to social behaviour, communication skills and - yes - floral patterned netbooks - women are different and I for one don't mind showing it. So - where's my credit card?!

Netbooks

One child, one laptop; it's not just my motto, it just seems difficult to implement this in schools. And I'd love to be a kid again these days, especially when browsing through Amazon and running into all of those netbooks. I'm in love. The only reason I haven't yet ordered one yet is because I can't choose... I do hope sales will go up, because Asus has had to increase the price for their netbook after not making the required sales targets last year. How sad. Perhaps schools should start purchasing them. 2 euros per week per parent and each child can have their laptops paid for in less than 3 years... How difficult can that be in most West-European countries? Just look at this cutie, the Acer Aspire One A110 AB Sapphire Netbook. It has a cool blue design and is very light at less than 1 kg, it has a built in web-cam and also has the latest Intel mobile technology with the low voltage Intel Atom processor. Dixon sells it for 170 pounds sterling - with the current rates, that would be about the same in euros :-) The specs are as follows: Intel Atom N270 processor, 8.9″ CrystalBrite TFT Display, 512 MB memory, 8GB Flash Hard Drive, Linux Lite operating system, Built-in 0.3 Megapixel camera, Built-in card-reader and Up to 3 hours battery life.

No e-learning Crunch

The digital revolution has made us all into lifelong learners. Even when we don't want to, we have to keep learning, in order to keep track of our friends on Facebook, Hyves or Orkut, to work with the latest free version of Paint, to upload our pictures on Picasa or to write our latest idea in a blog. And because we've all become lifelong learners, school is only one place where we get our information from. It also seems that the current recession, which is affecting almost every country, does not affect the e-learning business. Creative solutions, cooperative learning, community tools - all useful to keep the costs of expensive traditional learning institutions down. What will teachers do if faced with this reality? Become Lifelong Learners too? Adopt new media and technology to support their teaching? Finally? That will be the day.

Geek Speak

A friend texted me that she'd jinged her homepage and twittered it, which had gained her 3 followers. Geek speak has become daily practice for large amounts of people. Not being Gen Y, I still remember the time when everyone was offline, not even having a mobile phone. The first mobiles were huge and very expensive too - you were an incredible show-off if you had one. And now the youngest generation, the Millenium kids, are carrying mobile phones as if it's the most normal thing in the world. They'd be lost without one. Does the mobile phone in his pocket give a 6-year old more independence or is it just the other way around? That's a thought for next time. For now I'd like to mention the website which will get everyone online; Gen X, Y or Millenium kid - even German teachers :-) www.teachertrainingvideos.com. Russel Stannard is the creator of this award winning website, of which the best part is again: it's for free! Enjoy Russel's videos, they're fun and easy to follow. It's like one-to-one tuition whenever it suits you. Did I mention before that I love shareware? Yes, I did.

First Post

My first post... well at least it sounds better than the last post. I will keep myself posted about the fascinating things I come across in the world of elearning. Having been a television producer, a creative manager and a primary school teacher, my skills and experience led me into the e-learning field. And I love it. Why don't all schools embrace open educational resources? It's free, userfriendly and useful. Let the kids teach their teacher, why not? Get the digital natives to inform the digital immigrants. I was born too long ago to be a digital native, although I feel like a spring chicken compared to the wise old men visiting elearning conferences. Generation Y is a hot topic, but where are they? I'm Generation X, interested in technology and the many useful applications for education. I just discovered Jing, something my 12-year old cousin has already been working with for ages now. It's like a present, all these open source applications, because I remember the time I could only get my hands on decent software by paying hundreds of pounds for it or by selling my body to the office graphic designer in exchange for an illegal copy of the so coveted software... And now; it's dive in and go, all for free and legal. I love It.