Principal (le?) learning

Been a busy week or so for things coming through the RSS and in the different projects I am involved in.

Some of the more interesting ones….

Learning and Teaching:

* Another list of top 10's but interesting to note the alignment in the thinking that these have around specific trends.  Comparing with the CORE 10 Trends for example – http://edudemic.com/2012/05/the-10-biggest-trends-in-online-education-right-now/.  There are more and more references to this mag (for the ipad) assuming it is at the same sort of level as the Edutopia site which is a pretty meteoric rise.

* iPads v Laptops – short but good post outlining the benefits-pitfalls of each

* Alllanahs great google site on iPads in education.  Have iPads you need to have a look here.  Deal Extreme (dealextreme.com) is a good place to get some of this sort of gear and they do free international postage.

* Harvard Teaching for Understanding Framework.  I came across this through some work in the Future Schools in Singapore.  Similar to Inquiry but project based and more teacher directed.  Some great reflective questions and resources.  A site worth taking the time to browse around.

* The spaces we learn in are critical.  The size of the bodies makes no difference to this truth but it is often only the smaller ones we think about.  The Reggio philosophy for example has a specific focus on the physical classroom as a 'teacher' for chidlren.  I have always had a fascination with this and the Learning Spaces space on the Enabling eLearning site has some great links and resources.  Have a look if you are planning any upgrades ….

* quite a different view on learning.  Good to challenge yourself a bit ….

* GREAT post about using data.  The importance of collaboration in making OTJ's and for the learning of the team.

Geeky Stuff:

* tips and tricks with iOS.  Slow to navigate but some geeky wee things

* Some people have just too much time on their hands!!

* Interesting new player in the ISP game in NZ.  Very different pricing model and getting the squeeze from the big boys after less than a week it would seem.

* iPads and other tablets now account for 40% of the mobile broadband market globally.  WOW!  There has been talk of the inevitability of BYOD …. so it is happening even if it is not sanctioned by the school.  I know our kids friends tether to each others devices to get around school filtering to get to facebook at break times for instance.  There are increasing numbers of 'how to' and 'readiness' posts on the BYOD topic – heres another good one.

* speed up the reaction time of the home button on your iPhone – this worked!!

* Slow motion capture on the iPhone …. not actually tried it but sounds great for PE skills.

Other things:

* There was a blog I used to follow ages ago with lots of these wee venn diagrammes.  http://www.forbes.com/sites/jessicahagy/2012/02/28/the-six-enemies-of-greatness-and-happiness/ this is a snappy but still useful list of things to think about.  With reference to rutts – I once heard them described as a grave with the ends knocked out … mmmm

* photography posing guide – the series of these are great!  This is the couples one but they cover all sorts of situations.  Could share with older kids to work on their composition and shortcut to 'what works' too.

* find free Kindle books – the good ones, the best sellers.

* A Blog title designed to get attention but some wonderfully funny and cleverly written posts – Stuff white people like

* creating success quickly as a key factor in development.  Leadership Freak blog is a great place for succinct leadership tips.  This is important in our work as Facilitators as well ….

* If you need something special in the clothing line and want to go custom made.

Following links from the video below I found these on Michael Fullans site.  He is one of my 'heroes' in educational leadership.  His change forces work was the basis for my educational leadership study a few years ago and one of the best leadership seminars I have ever been to was one he ran.  A prolific author as well.

He has a list of the 20 best educational leadership books here.

and best educational leadership websites here

An absolute TON of research and thinking in the links on these pages.  WOW!

Just reading Dereks blog

Watch the video for yourself:

Michael Fullan on What Doesn't Work in School Reform from Chris Landry on Vimeo.

Fullans "wrong Drivers":

1. Using system accountability as a 'stick' – Fullan argues that the various forms of external accountability and judgement that are being promoted at a system level simply don't work, but what does is greater a greater degree of what he calls 'transparency of openness'. 
2. Focus on indivdual quality rather than team development. Fullan argues that it is the collective that is important in terms of achieving system change in education. 
3. Over-reliance on technology - on it's own it won't fix anything, but used to support effective pedagogical practice it can be a powerful change agent. (Something I've[Derek] blogged about before in pedagogically driven UFB and the Promise of UFB)
4. Fagmented change – rather than a coherent, whole of system change approach. Fullan points to the many examples of systems that focus on just individual elements such as literacy and numeracy in isolation, instead of taking a more coherent, bold approach.

Interesting when thinking about Jacqui's post about the latest Interface survey too.  Teachers struggling to keep up with changes in ICT…. and my intentionally provocative response on her blog post:

I do think sometimes though we need to remind teachers that eLearning is not an optional thing any more.

We are an eighth of the way through the 21st century and we keep referring to technology and online tools as if they are something out in the future somewhere.

I absolutely agree that the change management is VERY difficult at times and all that. Man I have lived in that world as a principal!! Is it also not a professional obligation to keep current – who is still teaching 'process writing' or slavishly working through the pages of the blue, green and red maths books? Would anyone think that was OK for their colleagues to still operate like that? Yet we tolerate ignoring eLearning?

I may be being a bit harsh to make my point but we really can't afford to molly-coddle people who won't get with the programme …. for the sake of the kids. After all that's why we are all in schools isn't it?

This rubric/infographic from Edudemic Magazine outlines their thinking on how to decide if an idea/product is worth reviewing or looking at further:

This also provides a useful framework for looking at any idea or initiative in a school:

1.  Does it make sense.  Do you understand it in terms of your kids, their learning ….?

2.  Does it fill a need we have (or are we creating one just to get the shiny toys?)

3.  Is it gobsmackingly simple to use and does it actually do what it says it will, and well (any unintended consequences?)

4.  Is there a better option?  A free/cheaper one?

5.  Does it fit in the overall way we do stuff – with the school culture and ways of working?

5 outa 5?  Go for it.

Notice there is nothing about $$$$ … if it is important enough you can make that work (usually, in some way)

Interesting read from ShawnBlanc. Some food for thought for people in schools here about the jobs that the iPad can do v's what you would want to do on one.

I don't think I could live with an iPad as my only device, but I know people who do.  A bluetooth keyboard and mightymouse, or keyboard case span the gap between the two devices.

Like Shawn I use keyboard shortcuts a lot and it is simply not as easy to type on the iPad keyboard (for me anyway).

Have a read, what do you think?

sigh ….behind already:

Geeky Stuff:

* footers in OS Mail – right clicking on selected text gives the option to insert a link/hyperlink.  Am I the only person in the worls who didn't know this?  Copying and pasting from Word or anywhere else looses formatting and spaces everything out too much mor my asthetic.  There is a paste option in the edit menu that lets you remove formatting.

* Notability – iPad app that comes recomended.  Looks pretty amazing and is on sale at the moment for less than $2.  Bargain!!

* Got Tripit sorted to keep my travel info in one place.  Love it!

* Google Drive is here.  Still love Dropbox!  I have my documents folder syncing with dropbox and it has been useful many times for grabing a file when I am away from my laptop or sending someone something from my phone.  Also serves as a backup if the worst happens.

* Bought an Apple TV.  Only a quick play so far but pretty amazing when paired with the Remote app.

Learning and Teaching:

* these they are worth a look as a quick outline of the MoE expectations on schools in a range of compliance and planning areas.  They often have good flow-charts or models of cycles etc – http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Ministry-curriculum-guides/NZC-Updates

* this link – http://www.tki.org.nz/What-s-new-on-TKI#17903 – lets you know about new stuff on TKI as well and you can subscribe to it.

* Donald Clark has been doing an amazing job of summarising key thinkers – WOW

* Interesting to read musings from people on the 'Apple Bus Tour" (called something else now) in the US.  Mobility is assumed …. Personalisation, engagement. 1:1 …. A couple of people noted that the technology is 'disappearing' and the focus is on the learning which is what I would hope we are all aiming for!

* This is a good model for how we deal with information …. I grabbed it from somewhere and now can't find the link again …. grrrr!  Click on the image to view properly.  I was thinking about this in relation to professional learning.  How often do we have discussions when we are in the orange (or even red) sections in the bottom of the pyramid.  The real change and challenges come when you move up and look for deeper insights.  Only the top two sections are more than transactional and compliance based I would be thinking.  From there up is where reflective practice and Teaching (Leading?) as Inquiry are based.

Other Stuff:

*  Love this from Kerry.  Some real wise words here, and I generally throw things at the screen when I see this sort of thing – http://principal.tumblr.com/post/21356715463/real-lessons.

* this leadership blog is great.  Love that the posts fit in one screen full but contain a lot of things to think about.  For example – http://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/six-secrets-of-inspirational-leadership/

* Just because – again I stumbled upon it and can't find the reference so apologies if you created it!  Made me smile

Via Shawn Blanc:

Great news:

All 32 sports at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London will be streamed live at nbcolympics.com.

We’ll also be able to stream the events on our iPads and iPhones through NBC Olympics’ mobile apps. (Via Dan Frommer.)

Kim Cofino sums this all up well in 10 minutes:

… and CORE's 10Trends also covers the ground well - http://www.core-ed.org/lab/ten-trends-2012 It is important for school leaders, and indeed all in education to be aware of the changing landscape so you can not get run over by the bus. Or even left behind because the bus left the station some years ago.

Some claim that the changes outlined in these talks are inevitable now.  Can you really be an effective teacher in 2012 without engaging in eLerning and with technology? 

We are an eighth of the way through the 21st century, this stuff should not be coming as a surprise any more!!

I use Google Reader as a way of managing the information from my PLN.  I find it an effective way of bringing the information to me and being able to manage the 'info-whelm'.  I also get things from Linkedin, message boards, email, Facebook, the whole gambet of places I subscribe to or visit.

Part of my new role with CORE in the Blended eLearning team involves sharing ideas, good practice and challenging ideas with our team, schools and school leaders.  So this will be one of the focuses for me this year … to have a post (or more) each week that focuses on the interesting and challenging things that have come on through from the various sources.

Lots of the good things I add to my Delicious account and the bookmarks for this are in the sidebar of this blog and you can subscribe to the rss feed if you want to see everything I bookmark.

So … to kick off a couple form the last wee while …

*an amazing infographic:

*a link to a great pdf file outling a schools social media guidelines from the same Edutopia article.

* great sorytelling website – http://storybird.com/.  We had fantastic examples of the work children had done on this site at a recent BeL team meeting.

* neat tip:  I use dropbox to sync/backup my entire documents folder and also have my autosave folder for Microsoft Office apps in the same folder.  Then it too is backed up and potentially accessable from anywhere and not on my own device.  An extra layer in the 'peace-of-mind'. 

Backups are ESSENTIAL.  All HDD's die – 10 minutes out of the box or 10 years later1