The Big Question

I am currently reading a great book John Hattie’s Visible Learning. The book aims to explore the influences on student learning and then review the evidence to support its impact.

Very interesting reading. I have just finished the section on “The Contributions from the Teacher” and made a summary of the top 4 elements from this chapter for those who are interested.

Micro Teaching – the process of preparing, delivering, getting evaluation/feedback and reflection on teaching is important. Teachers who micro teach have powerful effects on students. I believe this is due to the high level of evaluation involved in the practice. Video, peer evaluation and discussion can all lead to quality feedback and performance improvement.

Teacher Clarity – One of our DLFT elements Teacher Clarity or Explicit quality criteria is very important. There are significant positive impacts when the teacher communicates the intentions of the lesson and the notions of what success means for these intentions.

Teacher Student relationships – Person centred teachers make a large difference The affective outcomes that had the biggest impact were

1. Non directivity – A relationship that allows the individual to grow

2. Empathy

3. Warmth

4. Encouragement of higher order thinking

Professional Development – Professional Development is an effective way to improve job performance and satisfaction and has significant positive impact on the students.

I found this collection quite interesting, 4 contributions from the teacher that we can easily ensure become part of our teaching practice, confident that it will improve student outcomes. Why not give it a try?

These podcasts provide some great opportunities for professional learning. Subscribe and enjoy

Connect Learning – David Warlick

K-12 Online Conference 2006

Moving at the Speed of Creativity

National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) 2006

Learn 4 Life

The Scottish Learning Festival (SETT)

The Online Connectivism Conference (OCC) 2007 You can download the audio from the presentations, view the videos or the powerpoint presentations

technorati tags:professional, learning, podcasts, web, 2.0

Blogged with Flock

Preparing a session on RRS I decided to review and list some of the blogs that I subscribe to and read on a regular basis. They are largely focused on the use of technology to engage students in meaningful learning. If you like the look of some of these blogs look for this RSS symbol and subscribe. (more on RSS coming soon)

Will Richardsons blog about web 2.0 in the classroom

Wesley Fryers blog, Moving at the Speed of Creativity.

Also see this wiki of Wesley Fryer’s workshop resources!

Every One Learns - a place for comment and reflection on what it takes to make school a place where everybody learns.

The education.au blogs

The purpose of Aus Mac Ed is to provide a hub for Australian educators using Macs and iPods to engage and facilitate the best educational outcomes for their students.

Alan November is recognized internationally as a leader in education technology.

click on the digital edition or subscribe to the RRS feed

Marc Prensky’s blog (Digital Native fame) not updated very reguarly

I have had a couple of requests for holiday readings and so I thought I would share a few ideas here.

For a good introduction to blogs, wikis, podcasts, RSS, and all things Web 2.0 you would be hard pushed to go past Coming Of Age: An Introduction To The NEW Worldwide Web This “booklet” is a free download and a great example of the online collaboration that Web 2.0 is enabling. (Source Website: http://www.ictineducation.org)

On a similar theme Will Richardson (find his blog here) presented a great presentation at NECC this year entitled A Web of Connections: Why the Read/Write Web Changes Everything. You can listen to a podcast of this presentation here

And I recently wrote a post about Social Software and Learning another great article from FutureLab. Again well worth the read.

And finally if you have any energy left you might like to look at the prereading for the TEACHnology moving toward 1:1 for Leaders course .

Have a great holiday whatever you get up to.

Technorati Tags: Web2.0, Reading, Learning

Readings 2007
TEACHnology
moving toward 1:1 for Leaders
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COURSE

The reading list below is provided as stimulus for participants the TEACHnology moving toward 1:1 for Leaders course .

This prereading will enable participants to share a common understanding of the current dialogue around visions for twenty-first century learning.

Participants are asked to read the two articles by Mark Prensky (2001, 2004), a significant speaker, writer and visionary of education and learning. In addition, we would ask you to read the executive summary and sections 1 and 2 (Pp3-29) from Social Software and Learning from Futurelab.

The Podcasts will extend your thinking about technology, 1:1 and creative ways to overcome obstacles. You can listen to the podcasts directly from your computer or download them to your ipod or mp3 player to listen to on the move.

Reading List:

• Owen M, Grant L, Sayers S and Facer K (2006): Social Software and Learning; Futurelab 2006

• Prensky M (2001); Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants; NCB University Press, Vol. 9 No 5, October 2001

• Prensky M (2004); The Emerging Online Life of the Digital native: What they do differently because of technology, and how they do it; Available: http:// www.marcprensky.com/writing/default.asp; [Accessed: December 18, 2006]

Podcasts

One Laptop Per Child	A pioneer of the digital age, Nicholas Negroponte is a founder of Wired magazine and author of the bestselling book Being Digital, which has been translated into more than 40 languages. Negroponte believes that laptops are both a window into the world and a tool with which to think. Laptops promote independent interaction and exploration and with them, children “learn learning.”
Preventing Your One-to-One Dreams from Becoming Nightmares — Gary Stager	One-to-one computing is inevitable and its backlash growing. Learn to be the imaginative articulate leader required to inspire public support and sustain classroom innovation.
“Unleash the Potential:Remix Obstacles into Opportunities! – Anne Davis	This keynote will reflect on some of the most significant obstacles we face as we focus on best practice in the use of Web 2.0 tools to transform teaching and learning. The discussion will center on the crucial role that relationships, conversations, connections and networks play in supporting effective learning. It will also include suggestions and ideas for action, as well as approaches that foster discussions which result in effective strategies to overcome obstacles.

Technorati Tags: Web2.0, 1to1, Learning, Education, TEACHnology,

Social Software and Learning

This is a great professional reading about social software, Web 2.0 and learning in the current web environment.

[Open pdf version for best printing results (opens 994kb file in same window)]
CONTENTS

_{Executive summary}

_{1. Introduction: How do we learn in an era of connection and collaboration?}

_{2. What is social software?}

_{3. Does learning change in an information society?}

_{4. How do we move towards ‘c-learning’?}

_Bibliography

_{Appendix 1: Some annotated links}

Technorati Tags: Social, Software, Learning, Education

There may be nothing new here but that doesnt mean you wont gain from revisiting these ideas. Maybe you could try a couple with your class each week next year?

Hacking Knowledge: 77 Ways to Learn Faster, Deeper, and Better | OEDb

Technorati Tags: Education Learning