Learn 4 Life

TeachMeet Inspiration

I have been working on the TeachMeet BETT 09 films for the last month and now I can finally begin to release them slowly on a regular basis. They will be coming out from the TeachMeet Talks channel which has been sponsored by Futurelab for the whole year..

This is the first one to come out - Lisa Stevens on having the courage to just try new things with technology and learning. Notice she talks about the community not the tech…

Click To Play

I love teachers like this, who have the courage to have a go, to try something new, who rise to a challenge - it really is as simple as that and the TeachMeet films will be an example of more and more people who are doing just that. Trying new things, experimenting and often with fantastic results. Show these films to your colleagues - it’s not about how well you do with technology - it’s about connecting with people and fostering learning in a postive way.

TeachMeet definitely marks the genesis of a whole new breed of teacher - one who is willing to take risks; to open out the variety of ways they can engage with learners and most importantly to have the courage to  learn themselves, knowing they may well make mistakes along the way. Lisa talks about validation, audience, learning in a heartfelt passionate way. I’m glad there are people like this teaching our children in this country. I hope these films inspire others to go down similar paths…

Reflecting on the OpenRSA - modelling the future…

Being drawn in

Joining the RSA as a Fellow has been on the fringes of my attention for some time now. A couple of years ago I was invited to a meeting to tenatively formulate ways forward to do things differently there by Steve Moore. Since that time I have been observing the process of OpenRSA from a distance - infrequently dipping into the emerging activity coming from that direction. So when I saw, what seemed a pivotal workshop, pushed out through Eventbrite on FaceBook (I think…), I decided to turn up and see what had had happened in the intervening time. I’m not a Fellow but I’m interested in becoming one - perhaps - so getting the back story, the current state of affairs and the debate around the concept of OpenRSA was very, very appealing. The fact that I wasn’t a Fellow and could turn up and have the opportunity to engage was a big plus. Certainly the Social Media mechanisms drew me in gradually like a small comet into a parabola of interest around the OpenRSA’s growing gravitational field - so whatever they had done to get my attention had finally worked - I was there and am now blogging about it in depth.

Similar patterns

It is interesting to observe so many similar patterns beginning to emerge in different contexts in various spheres around Social Networking this year. From my focus,  Education, E-Learning and EdTech, there is the growing TeachMeet phenomenon; smaller cadres of smart educators like the teachers at the  EdtechRoundup weekly Flash Meetings on a Sunday night;  larger and more aggregated events like Amplified (facilitated and recognised by NESTA) and, indeed, direct action like the recent writetoreply site rezzed up in a couple of days by people responding to a need within the community to easily feed back and comment on Digital Britain and other forthcoming interim government reports.

All this activity does seem to be pointing the same way like iron filings around invisible social magnetic fields and there are opportunities to effect systemic change from the ground up in a distributed way -  in part. But each group seems to share some of the same frustrations, cul de sacs and challenges that involve such emergent change.

Challenges

How to reach out to wider communities beyond the tech savvy individuals that inhabit these various worlds without alienating and excluding others used to more traditional forms of communication? How to gain the attention of and to co-opt top down initiatives to co-create new ways of working but have those emerging models break through into the mainstream and effect change so that the innovative and creative becomes more the norm? How to wrest power and resources from older centralised systems to empower more localised activity that is sustainable, configurable, extensible and can be given wider scope? All key questions in the overlapping Ven Diagram of groups I inhabit.

Events

I think people do lose sight of the fact that it really is about people - the solutions to smarter ways of connecting together both online and in the physical world - it does start from the local community - where these Social Networking tools do score is that they both help, drive and augment community involvement but initially at the point of need within the physical world to cement and reinforce engagement - use and takeup is most definitely event driven.

Digital Refuseniks

And I don’t have a problem with technological refuseniks - theirs is a healthy skepticism or obliviousness -  force of numbers and direct need will make many migrate over time when models of social use have been scaffolded enough by family and friends and significant opportunities or serendipity act as fortuitous drivers to effect change through face to face traditional meetups or ‘meatspace‘ as a few of my more wired colleages might say…  I do think Open Source software, Open Standards, Data and ubiquity of portable mobile devices may well underpin this.

Opening up opportunities

In the workshop people mentioned development of strategy and databases- yes - but underlying that, I believe, are those Open Collaborative opportunities - and they have to be exactly that, open, to have greatest effect. No more silos despite whatever economic conditions we find ourselves in at present. In my opinion the reason why Twitter has scored so highly recently is entirely because it drills down to the individual via iPhones et al and skips over institutional ghettos connecting peer to peer - it’s a technology that’s ubiquitous, accessible,  wired into you, highly personalised - highly configurable - highly extensible. For me its power lies in the ability to access communities of interest that I would never had access to before and on a global scale. Want an example? I sat with an academic recently and asked him to give me the most obscure term he could think of in his field. I did a Google search - nothing. I did a Twitter search and pulled up about 10 conversations around the subject; all people he could have the possibility of contacting or researching with further links out to communities from there.

Network weaving

And as someone also pointed out at the RCA Workshop, the ability to be able to weave these different forms of communication to optimise use and provide concrete solutions is probably an emerging profession. There is an opportunity there for the business of making things happen. People who are smart filters, enablers and can offer commutativity of ideas between both the online and physical will be in high demand. How that can be scoped beyond the individual is a challenge but that’s where top down facilitation comes in perhaps. But not everyone will have the grammar and syntax to use adopt and run with these new systems - good! that makes for opportunities for me and others to provide solutions…and to expand our networks and level of expertise and insight.

The RSA Workshop

Well from that long lead in I guess I should blog about my experiences of the day. The workshop was run by David Gauntlett (whose site I have just seen and I’m amazed I have never come across before!) and was excellent. I made a very quick mind map of the points people started to raise during the background that both Lauras (Billings and Bunt)  and Malcolm Forbes gave about the whole process up to that time (If you fancy adding to it or putting me right just mail me and I’ll give you access for collaboration). It’s merely my own personal note taking and reflection on the processes of the day. It doesn’t say how much fun it was though. As a teacher and someone who has spent quite a bit of time teaching early years children this was a lovely exercise in reflective thinking through the modelling of concepts in diverse media. This sort of thing always reminds me of John Davitt’s Learning Event Generator - it’s also an excellent excuse for breaking down barriers to social interaction through play or Serious Games.

As we modelled our ideas we fed back and reflected on and aggregated what we’d done. I will include all five videos of the event with pictures of the constructions below. Because they are all High Definition Vids it might take a few days to upload but you might like to return to get a flavour of the day as I upload them.

All in all I felt it was a very productive afternoon - am I going to become a Fellow?

Well quite possibly - this feels familiar territory to me - far more of a structure that I can work within. If you don’t know the work of the RSA then it may prompt you to investigate further - certainly for me in education - it makes more sense than any of the more traditional organisations I would want to be involved with.

I’ll publish the results of the plenaries as I upload to Vimeo - for the time being there will be placeholders with Flickr pics for each group. If you were there - you might like to click on the pictures which will take you to Flickr where you can annotate parts - or then again you might not…

Group 1’s Models

Plenary / Reflection / Elicitation / Explanation

First of several videos from the Plenary from the RSA Workshop 19th February 2009

Group 2’s Model

Group 3’s Models

Group 4’s Models

Interview with Peter Twining about the Schome Park Project in Second Life

How do you get people to think completely differently about education and learning?

Image Attribution dawn_perry on Flickr CC 2.0 non-commercial license

Learn 4 Life exists to document change and innovation in education in this country and the world. The site highlights ideas around ICT that challenge and question the current orthodoxies. It’s not simply a blog about the latest Web 2.0 tools or teaching techniques although it does encompass those things - the aim of the whole project is to document and disseminate significant pointers to future change in education. Virtual worlds is one area where this really is the case and I make no apology for highlighting any practice involving these environments.

Image Attribution Tadson on Flickr CC 2.0 non-commercial license

I personally believe that the current models for learning in schools are not fit for purpose and that a lot of the curricula around the current exam based systems are outmoded and, to be honest, anachronistic. But in order to move an education system on, you need to have people who have the vision, courage and determination to be curious enough to experiment with and investigate alternatives, no matter how fantastic or “wild” they may seem at first. Often these form the genesis of new orthodoxies and more effective and engaging ways of working that stress process over product and that lead to an environment where learning is bounded only by your own imagination and not just a series of irrelevant and end-stopped exams. Education is a lifelong process and anything that appears to nurture and amplify that and make it fun  deserves a very close look.

Virtual Worlds

Image Attribution Jan Beckendorf on Flickr CC 2.0 non-commercial license

A lot of what is written and reported about Second Life in the mainstream media really does often miss the point of how virtual worlds can be used to build communities in non-linear, less hierarchical ways far more in keeping with the distributed digital world fast coming up on the inside all around us. Let no-one lose sight of the fact that they are just another medium, albeit highly engaging and immersive, to try and reconfigure how we do things together in the name of learning. The radical thing about virtual worlds is that they enable the participants to evolve whole new ways of working with each other - for me they foster and encourage reflective practice on the part of many of the participants and also help form extremely dynamic community building at both a localised and a global level that is highly personalised. If you watch the interview you will hear Peter outline the successes in this area.

Peter Twining and the Schome Park Project

Peter Twining is at the forefront of research into new educational systems. I was lucky enough to be able to talk with him about the genesis and history of the Schome Park Project and how Second Life on the Main and Teen Grids became an environment for his focus. Peter’s vision is far from parochial or unambitious as you will hear throughout the interview.

One of the most important interviews of recent years

The Schome Park Project may seem a little under the radar in terms of educational change in the UK at present but I consider this one of the most important interviews I have given in recent years and the project to be an amazing foundation for how communities of learning may operate in the future.

Knowledge Age Skills

Image Attribution Bettina Tizzy on Flickr CC 2.0 non-commercial license

I really do believe that Schome and the vision behind it may well underpin serious development of virtual learning spaces and gradual evolution of Knowledge Age Skills for a truly 21st educational system.

Lightbulb Moments

Image Attribution Thomas Hawk on Flickr CC 2.0 non-commercial license

Peter talks about the history of the project and his several “lightbulb moments” along the way. He agreed to be interviewed in Avatar form in Second Life Main Grid and I mashed the video of his interview with images from the Schome Park Project Wiki, Forum and Blog. He kindly gave permission for images to be used.

Transcript and Video

Image Attribution Pixel Drip on Flickr CC 2.0 non-commercial license

A timecoded transcript of the interview can be downloaded from here or read it in the embed below. If you are interested in the use of virtual worlds for teaching and learning I would encourage you to download both the transcript, video , MP3 and, if possible, distribute them to anyone else you know who may be interested. Peter is at the forefront of this field and his research will be emerging gradually in journal and book form but before that just go to the Schome Park pages to see a number of case studies that will be released over this and next year.

Interview With Peter Twining Feb 09

Interview with Joe Wilson over Gmail video; London to Glasgow and back again…

Joe Wilson, Head of New Ventures at the SQA - NB - video interview at the bottom of the blog

I recently interviewed Joe, whose new job is Head of New Ventures at the SQA. Joe looked a bit quizzical when I referred to the New Generation User Skills Report at the beginning of the interview but was too polite to correct me. It is, of course, the Next Generation User Skills report and I have blogged about this previously.

The gmail connection held up well and I appreciate someone as busy as Joe making time to give this interview with all the inherent risks and glitches that can happen over a live connection. (note: I did use the wonderful Levelator to re-level the sound because of the discrepancies in volume - try it it works wonderfully.)

Genesis of the NGUSR, Diva Project and Curriculum for Excellence

He talks about his background at the awarding body, his experience of using mutlimedia as a lecturer in a college for 20 years and how that helped him review the landscape for a User Skills Report. As well as the NGUSR he also outlines various initiatives like the Diva Project in Scotland and how he has worked with vendors but also how the NGUSR will feed back into the Curriculum for Excellence. His remit now extends to adults and lifelong learning as well which is what Learn 4 Life coverage is all about!

GLOW and dynamic curriculum

He also talks about GLOW and his vision of communities of practice, directories of subject specialists and a more dynamic curriculum development; the system being changed by the deliverers - one of the things I hinted at in asking Norbert Pacheler at the end of the film in my previous blog. One of the joys of my job is seeing how research, practice and trends all seem to be leading to change in various areas and the research coming out does seem to be backing up Joe’s vision. Interviewing people in the learning landscape at many levels does help give an insight into the learning maps that might evolve.

Google and vocational spaces

He is also looking at using Google in the vocational space in Scotland and e-portfolios - his work with the vendors in the Diva Project has proved a good grounding in this. He also shared his idea of how Scotland might use content in all sorts of different way with various stakeholders. Exciting stuff and Scotland has the added advantage of Glow that can hold and disseminate this, something that can’t be done in England as there is no pan-VLE like it. That is going to be a big challenge in the future.

Work based learning

I really wished I had talked to him more about work based learning but no doubt he will be blogging about that at his excellent Experimental Blog. I really would like to thank him once again for just giving me a taster of his vision for learning in the future.

Education and learning need people like Joe and as an addendum I spotted him lurking at the bottom of the EdTechRoundup FlashMeeting this Sunday and I know how busy he is! How many other policy makers would take the time out to gather intelligence about grass roots teacher innovators like this. He has my immense respect.

Click To Play

Please do check out the links in this blog and reflect how we would go forward in England in the light of what is so much innovative practice in Scotland. As Joe said - they do also have their own unique challenges but it was a fascinating 20 minutes. As part of my broadcasting plan/ personal professional development for 2009 I hope to do more of these mini insights into the world of policy makers in the future - watch this space…

MirandaNet and MirandaMod

BETT 2009 Continued

@eyebeams and @theokk working hard at MirandaMod - cough...

(photo attribution @theokk)

Live Streaming and videos from BETT MirandaMod seminars

Another major part of my activity at BETT was the live streaming and filming of a series of MirandaMod discussions going on throughout the exhibition, culminating in the seminar below given by Dr John Cuthell of MirandaNet and Norbert Pacheler of the IoE.

I have chosen to show the seminar first because all the discussions during the show follow on from that research. It gives an excellent context for the debate.

Terry Freedman also did an excellent job of chairing two sessions and introducing the seminar below.

During 2007 the MirandaNet Fellowship worked with members of the Naace, ITTE and MirandaNet communities to identify effective models of ICT CPD, and the critical incidents that had proved formative in respondents’ lives. Look at the Seminar and see how much of that prefigures what is happening with the TeachMeet phenomenon…

TeachMeet and MirandaMod - a place for reflection

In many ways these discussions are widening the scope around TeachMeet (which I also filmed on the Friday at BETT and coming soon!). The MirandaMod Moots encourage a space for reflection by practitioners  which perfectly complement and embrace that growing grass roots movement.

If you see both John and Norbert’s presentations below you will see how their research findings echo  activitiy going on now in the teaching community. Their research really does seem to have its finger on the pulse. That is why MirandaNet is so important.

But more than that - it was a joy to see practitioners from around the world pop in and join the discussion not only in person at the BETT exhibition, but also virtually as well. In fact Dai Barnes‘ class were viewing a session remotely at one point despite the patchy 3G connection for streaming and even managed to ask a question.

Dr. John Philip Cuthell Mirandanet and Norbert Pacheler IoE

CPD – Critical Incidents - Lightbulb Moments

Caroline Daly, WLE Centre, IoE; Tribal Group

CPD; Critical Incidents; Ideas That Make Things Happen.

This discussion leads on directly from the seminar above - the Critical Incidents or lightbulb moments that people had are fascinating = the personal narratives start with Bernard Dady, BSF Programme Director of Tribal Group

He talks about his early opportunities as a teacher in Sheffield to do action research and curriculum development. Learning through doing, learning through networks and learning through collaboration. He’s working with Mirandanet on Action Research and Accreditation as part of the BSF rollout.

Christina Preston’s Lightbulb Moment was when she was working as a consultant for ILECC an realised that one day courses had neither the depth or the breadth of her experience up to that time internationally and academically.

Lawrence Williams‘ lightbulb moment was in his ground-breaking work with the NHS with his colleagues when he could share the same aims but have different objectives and the collaboration between agencies.

I won’t precis everyone’s contribution you’ll just have to view the videos below and go along to MirandaNet and join. You’ll probably find a few people you know there and many you don’t.

Visual Learning, Multimodal Learning

Inspiration

Project Learning;

Christopher Binns, Oracle Education Foundation

Projects in Mobile Learning

Norbert Pachler, WLE Centre, IoE; Rachel Jones, Steljes