Today I was informed that I am leading the way with conference blogging! 

Have been lucky enough to be part of this conference – not that we are going to mobile devices such as a tablet or ipad but we need to stay abreast of the thinking and what is happening so that we can make informed decisions about the future use of technology in the schools.

Having an opportunity to explore the ipad/tablet technology and philosophies, tips and tricks with teaching these devices as well as the thinking that goes behind as to why people would want to go ipad/tablet. Yes getting caught up in the hype…I want one ( actually bought one very early). They are a very enticing and exciting technological experience. and I do mean experience one of the very early ipad reviews when ipad1 came around was that it is no longer a tool but it is n experience the “relationship” with the technology is very different to that of those using a laptop or desktop computer. People get REALLY excited when they acquire one. Ipad is clearly the forerunner in education circles. The idea that any app must meet apple’s requirements means that you KNOW it is going to work.  I asked at the conference to those who had done their own investigations and the answer was that ipad was their choice was mainly because of this experience and that it was idiot proof.

There are downside such as no usb connection, no flash (but people do say this IS being replaced by html5), and how it fits in with current infrastructure in a school. WHICH IS A BIG ISSUE and cannot be discounted. BUT ultimately any decisions on whether what platform to purchase, MUST be made on what you WANT to DO with the device. This is where the real dilemma comes in. Most of the time, in secondary schools, students are gathering information either from the web or in class – so ideally a tablet/ipad solution is the way to go . But what about the growing interest in podcasts, videos etc. AGAIN an ipad and to a lesser degree a tablet have hundreds of apps that can do the job. Here it becomes a situation where the teacher says I want a video on this topic. NOT I want you do it in a particular application. Each student could ultimately choose their own app to develop the evidence of their learning and the focus IS on the learning. But then you have specialist areas or topics where the teacher does want the student to show HOW they use a particular piece of software – hence the dilemma.

Ultimately I think schools will support the “BYOT or BYOD” bring your own device/technology. It makes economic and learning sense. We replicate what is happening in real life – you have the iphone or android – do a quick email, check an answer on the net, check your calendar, then you have the ipad next to your couch and check things out quickly – write that letter  ( or ins school’s case – notes, searching, summaries etc)  and then when you want to do heavy number crunching or digital creation you use your laptop. It is how the world works.

Second dilemma – this idealistic goal does not take into account what must be a logistical nightmare for all involved from a technical point of view. Most schools I suspect primarily from a technical need encourage a one size fits all  – be it desktop, laptop or ipad/tablet. From a technical perspective THIS way does make perfect sense – the work done by ICT divisions all over the country is often thankless and very very stressful so going one way or limiting the mix in a school makes sense also.

There is talk by presenters here at the conference that if we do not change our approaches to pedgagoy and learning envrionment then schools will become irrelevant. a report from Denmark found  that students are continuously connected epsecially during the hours of 11- 11.30 am, 1-1.45 and after 3.30 ie whenever they are NOT in class. We assume that they are wasting time and spending time playling mindless games. But in fact that is THEIR way of communicating. Don’t get me wrong as adults we have a duty to say  – look guys stop now it is time to chill out or go throw a ball etc but I do computer duty in the Year 7 rooms. The boys are sitting in groups, discussing game strategy, laughing about what others are putting on facebook (yes I check it is nothing too nasty etc) – they ARE communicating. I spent a bit of time on the weekend encouraging Luca to take up a book and read and he promptly pointed out (in the most cohesive argument I have ever heard him present – knew going to debating every week would do him well) that when he played games he was thinking, he WAS porblem solving, he WAS reading about online cheats and game strategy etc.  Okay he still was told to go and read for a change but he did have a point. Wouldn’t it be great if we could capture this eagerness for communicating, problem solving and reading in all our classes. In the recent Student survey about the 1:1 one of the students said in class I go to site that my teacher tells me to go when I am at home I go to sites where I think I can learn best. The question is are we teaching enough digital literacy and deep understanding so that when I student self selects the sites they go to – they are in fact sites that will help their learning.