7 Outlandish ideas for ICT

Yesterday I was faced with a grim journey into central London. Now, we Brits like nothing better than to complain about the weather, but this time our moaning was justified. The dreadful heat made it difficult not only for us to work, but also the signals on a part of the rail service into London. The part that I use. Rather than face delays of up to 40 minutes (nearly 50% of the normal journey time), I “asked” Transport for London to find an alternative route for me, one which didn’t involve going by rail.

I'm glad I did.

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EDUsummIT 2011 Report: The Digital Divide

Did you know that there are now more mobile subscriptions in the developing countries than in the (so-called) developed countries? I didn’t either. That was  a fact pointed out to us by Dr Paul Resta, of the University of Texas at Austin, USA. Yet our appreciation of how such technologies can be used to support learning (both formal and informal) is still in its infancy.
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Discussion about the role of the ICT Co-ordinator

I recently posted a couple of articles that questioned whether the role of the ICT Co-ordinator was necessary. (See the links below if you missed those masterpieces.) Well, we had an online discussion (I’m not daft enough to make an appearance in real life on that sort of platform!), escaped relatively unscathed, and here is the result...
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The role of ICT Co-ordinator is unnecessary: discuss

OK, I admit it: I was being a bit of a devil’s advocate when I suggested that the role of ICT Co-ordinator is redundant, but consider this. In these hard times, how will you respond if your Headteacher calls you into her office one morning and says:

I need to make some serious budget cuts. What exactly do you do, why does it need to be done anyway, and why can’t I get an admin person on half your salary to do it instead?

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A conference, summer CPD and a UNESCO report

Here are three options for you to consider in order to give a boost to your professional development:

  • The forthcoming ISTE conference in Philadelphia.
  • A cornucopia of ideas for professional development over the summer break, in case all that relaxing gets you down.
  • A report from UNESCO on Learning, Innovation and ICT.

All this was published last week in Computers in Classrooms, the free e-newsletter for educational ICT professionals. Subscribe now (literally: right now) and you’ll stand a chance of winning a premium version of Xobni, a pretty good email management tool. I’m running the draw for that at 10 pm UK time today.

Read on for the details of those three resources.

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UNESCO EDUSummIT2011: Brief update

#edusum11 The conference is now in its final hour or so, with brief addresses from an international panel followed by "Next steps".

I started to write a blog post earlier, but realised very quickly that I need to do more reflecting. It's been a very rich experience in some respects, and I need to assimilate what I think I may have learnt. I've had the opportunity to meet with some of the organisers, representatives of Ministries of Education and researchers.

You can follow the conference on Twitter, using the hashtag given above. There will be video podcasts later (I'm told Monday).

More soon.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

EduSummIT Conference (UNESCO) News

#edusum11 Should anyone invite you to contribute to a handbook, don't turn it down. A few years ago, a handbok was put together (http://edusummit.nl/handbook), which led to several working group-type events, which led to an "EduSummIT" in 2009, which led to EduSummIT 2011.

With over 120 delegates from 40 countries, this promises to be a very interesting -- and useful -- event. Delegates have been allocated to working groups -- mine is 21st century skills. I hope to be reporting on this over the next few days, as long as the wi-fi, my iPad keyboard and my level of wakefulness hold out (the hotel fire alarm went off at around 1 am, which is no joke!)

Look for #edusum11 on Twitter, and edusummit2011 on the web and in Flickr. The conference website is http://edusummit.nl/, where you can find further information. You might also like to check out the latest edition of my newsletter (go to www.ictineducation.org/newsletter and scroll down), as it has a link to a very interesting recent report from UNESCO.

OK, that's it from me for now: I love blogging and writing in general, but sleep also has its attractions!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

System failure: a true story

Last week I had to go to my mother's bank to sort something out. Thus it was that I entered into a sort of Escheresque landscape...

I used to bank there myself, but it is so dreadful I thought, in the end, I could do without the stress.

Anyway, before I went I ascertained what I would need by way of documentation. Of course, when I arrived, I was told that I needed something else. Here's how the conversation (well, some of it), went:

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Why you should review your ICT purchasing plans

When the cost of calling an engineer out to fix your printer is greater than the price of a new printer, you know it’s time to review your printer spending plans. That’s the situation I was faced with when I joined one particular school: a top-quality printer had been bought, one which was so highly engineered that you couldn’t fiddle around with it yourself if it stopped working.

Another unfortunate consequence of having such an expensive printer was that it

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East Sussex County Council Re-Define It Service Delivery To Schools With Centrastage

The Schools ICT Services division of East Sussex Local Authority supports 194 schools. During 2009, East Sussex Local Authority began a strategic review of all ICT Services including those provided to schools. An extensive consultation process with schools was undertaken, to better understand the ‘customer’ requirements from an IT service point of view; members of the school ICT support team at East Sussex also visited other Local Authorities to see how school ICT services were being delivered elsewhere. This process ultimately led to a complete re-design of school IT support services within East Sussex.
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A film competition, video judging and a consultation

cameramanChildnet International, a registered charity whose mission is to work in partnership with others around the world to “help make the Internet a great and safe place for children”, is running a film competition. Here are the details:

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City Learning Centres: The end?

City AirportBecta. The Harnessing Technology grant. Building Schools for the Future. The once-familiar landmarks of the English educational technology landscape are disappearing or gone. The indications are that they are being followed by City Learning Centres. These CLCs, set up around a decade ago to both provide facilities for local businesses and serve as beacons of innovation and excellence to the schools in a locality, are being closed down, threatened with closure, or reduced in staffing and funding. The question is, though: should we mourn?

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