While we may make judgements about students, their attendance in class, etc, or make generalisations about background and/or ability, do any of us really know what they deal with, or have had to deal with in their past? Watch this and be inspired.

Do you know ‘where’ your students have come from (and I don’t mean geographically)?

Related posts:

1. Video: Don’t do this to your students …
2. A Vision of Students Today
3. Presentation: Social Media & how (students) can survive online

Professor Stephen Heppell is amazing to listen to, and even better to talk with:  his passion for learning and improving the learning environments is both an inspiring and humbling experience. You can’t help but be sucked into his world, to follow his often random thought process in the most roundabout yet logical way. Why do we make it so difficult to make the kind of changes that are often just so simple? His viewpoint always has the students central to the plan, to the scheme, to the future.

This video was posted this morning to the EdTalks website, and is another example of his genius, enjoy.

From the EdTalks website:

“Stephen Heppell is at the heart of a global revolution in learning space design. In this ULearn11 EDtalk Stephen explains why he believes that the ‘structures and strictures of education will be swept aside by the engagement, seduction, delight, passion and astonishment of a new learning world’. Stephen shares his conviction that if we want to know what education will look like in the future, we only need to look at what is happening in the online world now.”

If this video interests you, then check out some of my other posts on Learning Spaces and videos from Professor Stephen Heppell below. If you’re interested in finding out more then why not follow Stephen onTwitter: @stephenheppell

Related posts:

1. Design Learning Spaces
2. Empowering Young Learners; Stephen Heppell
3. Video: Learning to Change, Changing to Learn

Many thanks to Sue Beckingham (@suebecks) for showing me this video this afternoon, very succinct and effective.

Even in 2009 (when this video was produced) it was obvious to many that we were entering a new development phase of technology that will have a dramatic change on education, and how we think about technology in education – and this was before the iPad changed the rules/scene yet again in April 2010, after the iPhone and the emergence of smart phones and ‘always available’ computing!

Coming so soon after the 2011 Future of Technology in Education Conference I can’t help but draw a comparison with the themes of the day that included the ‘bring your own device‘ (panel debate) and ‘students as the agents of change‘ (James Clay). Where the technology is going no one can predict (although many are trying) which means we can’t predict how we will use it. Needless to say, we will use it and, more often than not, find uses the original developers had not thought of and make it our own!

Related posts:

1. Video: History in the making with Social Media and Clay Shirky
2. EdTech trends for 2010 .. it's started!
3. Video: Sir Ken Robinson “Changing Education Paradigms” (RSAnimate)

For the past few years I keep hearing the phrase that we are “preparing students for jobs/roles that don’t yet exist”. I’m sure the majority of people have seen this video (below) but if not then I urge you to spend 5 minutes and watch it.

You could consider this the fourth part in the ‘What is a Learning Technologist’ series.  See my profile page for links to the other three parts.

What I want to work on is the future of the phrase that (at time-stamp 0:46) “we are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist … using technologies that haven’t been invented … in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet” and whether we apply this to ourselves, and our own roles?

My thought is this: if we are preparing students for roles that don’t exist (yet) what are we doing to prepare ourselves for this change, for the roles in which we are already employed? Do we update our own list of roles and responsibilities to match the changing environment we are expected to work in? I’ve been in my current role for 4 and a half years and the job specification has not changed even though my daily tasks, responsibilities and capabilities has radically altered. In fact it would be safe to say that even the environment I work in, the people I work with, and the students I support is so very different from when I started. Yet my ‘role’, or the description my role is assigned, has not altered.

Let’s go back to the video again. At 3:32 the video ‘claims’ (I haven’t checked the facts) that new technical information is doubling every two years and that “for students starting a 4 year technical degree this means that half of what they learn in their first year of study will be outdated by their third year of study” and, if you carry this further, will be outdated by two ‘generations’ of change by the time they finish their first year of employment. If you take this further back it is also likely that the learning materials the students start using in their first year are not up to date, perhaps two or three years old, therefore their final year of study could be as much as 4 ‘generations’ old.  This is not preparing students for the job market.

Bring this into line with employment and job specifications for Learning Technology professionals … how many of us are spending our working day on things that we did not do last year, or use tools that were not available last year, or the year before? How much of this daily activity is written into our contract or job specification, yet it is something that we  involve ourselves with, and engage in, in order to complete our tasks and responsibilities in our current role and/or environment?

Add the often rigid structure used by employers regarding role/pay progression routes into this mix and you can see where I am coming from – how do we as individuals, or as a discipline of Learning Technology, advance our own role and responsibilities in a structure that is not capable of recognising the unique talent?

While it is not appropriate for employers to update or  modify their employee career ‘structures’ as often as the above might suggest, is there scope for periodic reviews of the whole, or in part, to establish a route for individuals to shine through and be rewarded for their work above and beyond the role suggests?

I don’t know if I’ve been able to capture my thoughts adequately, or eloquently enough here, but I welcome your thoughts on whether your role is ‘future proof’ or you also feel like the industry we work in is leaving you behind ‘officially’ while you keep up to speed because of your own private pride/desire/dedication to your job? As always, please leave a comment if this post/idea has made you think.

No related posts.

I found this video on Twitter tonight thanks to David Walker (@drdjwalker) who re-tweeted the video from The Partnership of 21st Century Skills.

The video is called “Above and Beyond: the story of the 4Cs”. Enjoy

The video is described as;

“In an increasingly complex, demanding and competitive 21st century, students need to learn more than the 3R’s they are tested on in school. It’s time to help them go “above & beyond”, by embracing the 4Cs –communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity.

“To get the word out to about the “3Rs + 4Cs” approach, P21 and FableVision partnered to produce a short, animated film called Above & Beyond. Enjoy & share, so we can help ALL our students flourish in the 21st century.”

What I took from this video is that it is a good example of how two different perspectives can work together, whether they complement or conflict with each other, to produce something truly unique (and hopefully something that works). But also it is through such trial-and-error that learning takes place, ideas are developed, and relationships are built.

Go on, when was the last time you encountered an opportunity to do all 4C’s?

No related posts.

There are some good animated videos from Derek Sivers YouTube Channel that are worth watching (try a few out and enjoy the distraction for a few minutes) but this one I especially liked. This rang true with me and my blogging activity; what is run-of-the-mill or simple to me is special and innovative to others, in the same way as reading someone else’s blog post or research has inspired me may not be  anything special to them … ??

So, who has inspired you, and who have you inspired … ?

This other one is a little sickly in the way it gets the message across, but essentially it’s about considering who is on the other end of your communication (personal, business, etc) and there is a need to consider how they will react to your rant, to your action, etc.

No related posts.

Slightly different version of the children’s joke “What’s Black & White and … ” but this is a good YouTube video on one School’s experiment with QR Codes;

I like the PC-based “QR Code Station” (using Quickmark I see) they created so students can scan the codes in the books/library and watch or listen to a podcast or vodcast of a book review, but this could easily be scanned by a students smart phone and watched/listened to anywhere (and saved for later).

No related posts.

As we’ve all said before … Twitter is the biggest, best staffroom you can find, and share! Watch this and share with anyone who doesn’t believe you …

Well, nice and simple, eh? Love it!

No related posts.

I saw this on Twitter and YouTube a couple of weeks back when Sir Ken Robinson mentioned he’d had the ‘RSAnimate’ treatment, and then promptly forgot about it.

Many thanks to Tom Whitby who re-tweeted it again this afternoon and reminded my what an exceptionally brilliant piece of animation this is, to accompany an insightful and thought-provoking talk by Sir Ken. Enjoy.

YouTube: Sir Ken Robinson “Changing Education Paradigms”

“This animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA’s Benjamin Franklin award.”

No related posts.

Every now and then I see a presentation and think “wow, that’s good” or “that was brilliantly put together, the presenter never even looked at the screen”.

I was lucky enough to see Marc Prensky speak recently at a Bournemouth University event “Teaching Digital Natives“. He had tons of slides (literally) and he knew them so intimately he rarely looked at the screen unless it was to highlight a specific phrase or idea has was talking about. I tried to tweet along with Marc but, let’s be honest, it was far better to listen and engage than it was to be a slave to the keyboard.

So it got me thinking … what can you do, and  what should you avoid, when preparing and designing your presentation? Here are a few ideas and examples;

20 Quick Rules To Make Your Presentation Better (here are my selection from the list);

1. Prepare thoroughly by researching the audience.
2. Select a slide background that’s unobtrusive.
6. Use only simple graphics that highlight what’s important.
11. Use words that persuade rather than lecture.
13. Remove all the biz-blab and jargon.
14. Only use anecdotes or analogies that are vivid.
15. Rehearse the presentation until you’re comfortable.
19. Use the time effectively and appropriately.

Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Sucks (again, my selection);

1. You read from your slides!
2. It was too long!
3. You drifted off topic!
5. You are all opinion, no fact!
9. Your slides are too fancy!

Here’s a presentation all about bad presentations … is that right?

Why most presentations suck
View more presentations from Slideware Manager

If that isn’t enough, how about this … video from Don McMillan that I’ve seen many people tweeting about and decided I had to show it here! Enjoy.

No related posts.