Vorsprung Durch Technik It Is Not

As a technology-friendly teacher in Germany I need newsletters and professional networks like a fish needs water. Some of these newsletters turn out to be a major disappointment and need to be put on the spamlist asap The German newsletter of Pro-Schule (Neue Medien) turned out to be one of those. Mostly identifying the problems and risks of the Internet and technology in general, they sit behind their Commodore 64 and produce headliners such as "Friends with the Teacher? This is What you Should Keep In Mind When You Share Social Networks With Your Students...." or "Does Your Principal Also Expect You Too Fix Your Own Computer?" This week they demonstrated just how avant-la-lettre they really are, when they presented the learning website of the week:

Derzeit stellen wir Ihnen interessante und sinnvolle Websites mit Lerneffekt für Ihre Schüler vor. Heute: Die Maus erklärt das Internet Die berühmte WDR-Sendung „Die Sendung mit der Maus“ bildet nun auch im Internet. Unter dem interessanten und vielfachen Angebot finden Sie auf der Internetseite www.wdrmaus.de die Sachgeschichten der Sendung als Video versammelt, z. B. die Sachgeschichte zum Thema Internet. Klicken Sie dazu auf der Navigationsleiste auf Sachgeschichten den Buchstaben „I“. Das 8-minütige Video erklärt jungen SchülerInnen anschaulich, wie Internet-Adressen funktionieren, was ein Provider ist und wie vernetzte Rechner zusammen arbeiten. Dieses Video eignet sich besonders als Einstieg in den ersten multimedialen Unterricht.

First of all Pro-Schule doesn't even manage to send the direct link to the show, which would have been http://www.wdrmaus.de/sachgeschichten/sachgeschichten/sachgeschichte.php5?id=84. Instead they mention that this video can be found under the I for Internet.... Secondly; this video about Internet stems from 1999, and is nearly 15 years old! As if nothing happened, no cloud, no Wlan, no social networks, no Web 2.0. But Die Maus; that is German culture, history - that is reliable!

Vorprung durch Technik - not when it comes to technology for the classroom....

Nelson Mandela School Wins Award for Use of Technology for Learning

Press Release 4.3.2013

 

 

 

Flex A from the Nelson Mandela School Berlin Wins International Award   Sharkie Awards Honor Organizations and Individuals That Inform and ‘Wow’Their Audiences With Outstanding Online Presentations

Berlin —April 4, 2013 — Class Flex A of the internationalNelson Mandela School in Berlin is a winner in the fifth annual Sharkie Awards. The awards program, hosted by Brainshark, Inc., honors organizations and individuals that have created standout video presentations – improving business communications with their audiences across industries. Teacher Annemieke Akkermans was named a winner in the “MyBrainshark”category. Her bilingual class, consisting of 26 first- and second-graders, used mixed media to create an illustrated audio-book, which can be found here.

More than 400 entries were submitted in this year’s Sharkie Awards. Judges from Brainshark and other presentation experts evaluated submissions based on presentation quality, clarity, organization and aesthetics. Entries had to demonstrate effective use of Brainshark’s technology – which lets users transform static documents, such as PowerPoints, into online and mobile video presentations.

“The competition in this year’s Sharkie Awards was especially fierce, with many organizations using online video presentations to communicate with impact,” said Irwin Hipsman, Brainshark’s director of customer community. “Class Flex A of the Nelson Mandela School in Berlin went above and beyond. At a time when it’s increasingly important to break through the deluge of communications, they used this online presentation format to inform, motivate and truly ‘wow’ its audiences. We commend them on the excellent use of Brainshark’s technology.”
Digital Skills teacher Annemieke Akkermans: “Our team is always on the lookout for exciting technologies for educational purposes. Appropriate use of digital tools and resources provides a vast array of opportunities for blended learning. Our bilingual class (German/English) really enjoyed bringing this story to life. After listening to it the kids first created then colored their illustrations in vivid crayon, which I photographed afterwards. Post-effects were done with www.befunky.com, another piece of free mobile technology which is great for educational use. Our current 2^nd-graders will be able to do all of it without help in a few years’ time. After the Power Point presentation was uploaded, the children recorded their voice-overs on www.brainshark.com. Winning this award has motivated them even more; following a workshop with a professional storyteller they wrote their own stories and now want to turn these into illustrated audiobooks as well… I guess we’ll be busy!”

About the Sharkie Awards

The Sharkie Awards are an annual program, hosted by Brainshark, Inc., the leading sales enablement platform provider. The awards recognize outstanding presentations –honoring organizations and individuals that have demonstrated excellence in their use of Brainshark’s online and mobile presentation technology. More information about the awards program, including a gallery of winning presentations, is now available at www.brainshark.com/campaigns/sharkie-awards-2013.

Berlin is hip, the school system is not

According to tourists and newly arrived expats, Berlin is hip. As soon as those same expats send their children to a Berlin school, the word 'hip' is quickly replaced by antiquated, backwards and bureaucratic - depending on personal experiences. Berlin schools are run by the Senat. The Senat employs two kinds of teachers; civil servants and employees. And then there is a third category; the international teachers; fully qualified in their own countries, with skills needed for their jobs in one of the European or International schools of Berlin, but merely paid between 50 and 80% of what their German counterparts make. Why? Because they haven't done their training in Berlin. 
Don't even try to make sense of it.

This is decided by the Berlin Senat, the same one that abandoned pre-school at a time when all other sane countries decided to lower the age for school-goers to 4. The Senat got rid of preschool, and started to send children to school when they were five years old. Do the Kindergartens prepare their pupils for this early 'Einschulung'? No, as Kindergarten educators are not trained to do so. They do have a lot more paperwork to fill out, having to keep a record of the toddlers' language acquisition progress. Is there remedial support in case the child doesn't speak proper German after 5 years? No, but at least it is registered. Are then at least teachers trained to deal with younger children who often still pee in their pants and can't tie their own shoe laces? No, but the Senat thought it would be a good idea to introduce FLEX, a flexible school entry phase, where grades 1 and 2learn together - that way the little ones can learn from the older children - neatly solving the problem of the teacher who has no idea how to deal with those younger kids.

Five years after the introduction of this system, the Senat decided that schools are allowed themselves to decide whether they want Flex or not. More than half of the schools immediately stopped this experiment, some saying they had never really put it in place anyway. Yes, something like this is possible in Berlin, as the school inspection only visits schools once every 6 years or so. It is also quite well known in advance when they visit, so there is plenty of time to polish the hallways, replace ancient art projects and to dust off the interactive whiteboards.

Interactive Whiteboards - progress after all? Well, after being confronted with another round of terrible PISA results, the Berlin Senat had another wonderful idea and decided to make 'Berlin Kreidefrei'. No more chalk in Berlin classrooms - as chalk is obviously really old-fashioned. Deals with Smart and Promethean were struck and the schools were filled with whiteboard after whiteboard.

This is what a lot of teachers thought when those whiteboards were introduced: why should you use an interactive whiteboard if the blackboard works perfectly well? What is wrong with a piece of chalk and a talking head in front of the classroom? Frontal teaching is what we teachers have been doing for centuries, and it seems to have worked. Politicians, bankers, and not in the least WE, have all been educated without technology - and see how far it got us.

For German-speakers I'd like to share a typical text from a site called Teacher News, in which one of the editors is fulminating against the use of interactive whiteboards:

"Aber sehen wir es einmal „ressourcenorientiert“: Wenn wir statt „Tafel“ künftig „Blackboard“ sagen würden, vielleicht ließe sich der unaufhaltsame Siegeszug der Smart- und Whiteboards wenigstens verlangsamen. Ist denn noch niemandem aufgefallen, dass ein Smartboard den Lernprozessbegleiter schnell zum antiquierten Frontalunterricht zurückführt, statt die Kompetenzen der noch nicht so starken Schülerinnen und Schüler im Gruppenpuzzle auszubilden? Wenn das Geld für die teure Wartung der teuren Smartboards demnächst fehlt, dann schlägt vielleicht wieder die Stunde der guten alten Tafel – Verzeihung, des „Blackboards“. "

True, for teacher training and technical support was no money, so the whiteboards were mostly used as chalk-free blackboards. 'Kreidefrei' - the name alone implies a frontal tool, something to write on in front of the classroom. As long as German publishers are keeping their interactive resources to a minimum, Berlin teachers choose paper books over interactive learning environments.

I can't wait for the next move of the Senat - it can only get better.