This is AWESOME!!

I like models.  I tend to think in diagrams and pictures, trying to link ideas together and make sense of them in some sort of structured way.  I also tend to bounce ideas around and try to make links between different ones, and visuals help with this.
I just stumbled on this:

… which is a neat way to think about the difference between just digitising the same-old-same-old and actually doing things differently and in ways that would not be possible without technology.  I see a lot of schools and classrooms where technology is simply used to digitise the same stuff.  Is that really effective use of devices costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars?  Conversely what does doing it differently look like?  In practice?  How to get people to reimagine what they are doing in their classrooms and schools is the point of much of what I am doing these days …. This diagrame will help clarify it a bit for some I think.

Particularly for assessment and those disengaged or with learning issues the redefinition of what learning is and looks like can hook them in.

What models do you use to get-your-head-around concepts and ideas?  What works for you?
 

This infographic from Edudemic explains the differences and similarities well ….

Interesting infographic about LMS ….. from Edudemic (source)

Source

Resources from Workshop:

Here is my presentation from today:

A big thanks to all those who came along!!  Do contact me if there are any things we can follow up with given we couldn't get online in the session itself.  I am happy to help in any way

Ignore the numbers, the key thing is the trend in the graph:

source:

Moores Law is alive and well

I was reading something (I now can't find again to reference…. grrrr!) the other day that was claiming that the new iPhone5 has the same computing grunt as you needed a MacPro desktop machine to achieve less than a decade ago.  And that this is the first time that this has happened …. come wihin the decade timeframe.

So the smartphone/device that kids have in their pockets in a year or so will be pretty stunning I am thinking.  BIG implications for the classroom.  Time to get with the programme or get left in the dust (or run over by the bus?)

The iPad mini that is due to drop in a couple of weeks if the rumours are true will be an interesting beast too I think.  I know our son did a lot of work at school on an iPod touch before they rolled out their BYOD programme.  Just the transactional find stuff, confirm stuff, sorts of things … but levering the connectivity.

Do you really need a 'computer' when you have all the power these devices have?  When you can now upload files from a menu structure in iOS6 (finally!!) it enables the effective use of things like learning management systems and the like from an iPad too.  What can you do on a laptop that you can't do on a tablet device?  Or should the question be what do you actually want or need to do …?  It seems like the tablet/smartphone is going to be the 'computer' of choice for an increasing number of people.

Thoughts?

One of the real challenges of leadership is bringing others along with what you are wanting to do.  You spend a LOT of time thinking things through, playing with scenarios, playing out the 'what-if's' in your head and trying to anticipate what people will think and do.

It's REALLY hard to get that bit right.  Predicting peoples reactions is sometimes VERY difficult.  Most people react to change at an emotional level in the first instance.  The rational bit comes later (well for most anyway).

The big thing is that leaders have done the thinking already.  You have thought it through.  Others can be 'frustraingly slow' getting on-board with things.  Remember though you may have taken months to get to the place you are in your head, and in your understandings.  The ones you are taking along on the journey have to take the time to get to know what you believe and 'get with the programme'.

This post also got me thinking along similar lines.  I don't flatter myself I outstrip any others in any cognitive stakes but … what DO you do when others can't see the possibilities and come to vastly different conclusions given the same information?  Thats where the skill in leadership comes in …. where experience and personal relationship skills come to the fore.

If you are the principal you are accountable for a lot.  If the brown stuff hits the spinny thing everyone else around you will often duck.  The BoT.  The other leadership.  Teachers.

How do YOU make sure everyone is on the same page when you are planning WAY ahead of where things are at the moment and are aiming for things way into the future that others may not see (yet).

Lots of musings and would be keen for any ideas, thoughts and reactions you may have …

This from Doug Johnson is gold!

The premise can be applied to any sort of inovation or proposed change too I would be thinking.  I would add though does it address a need of a specific group or a wider audience?  And is that need real or perceived?

The full post from Doug is worth a look too (as usual!).