Group items tagged

Following on from the result of the #UKEdChat poll on Twitter, the chat this week focuses on: Modern and Effective Homework Strategies. The questions to be asked are below, which will then be released for discussion during the session. What are the greatest issues for teachers in setting homework? How do you communicate to parents your expectations of pupils completing homework? Does you school have a homework policy? How often is it updated? Homework and technology - How can we ensure all pupils have access to resources? Research about homework - John Hattie argues that homework in primary has zero effect (Radio 4 link). Do you agree / disagree? What is the most effective (and positive) homework strategy that you have experienced?

A great read

A few images looking at the history of some technologies

Infographic Summary, Archive and Storify from a ukedchat discussion focusing on design skills

UKEdChat Session 1 summary and Twitter archive

Article featuring a Swedish Free School that has been redesigned for a digital generation

Teachers sharing ideas, resources and activities for teaching ICT

It has changed the very essence of daily life and revolutionised the way we work, play and interact. But has technology reached its full learning potential in the classroom? The picture seems mixed. While there is no doubt that technology has changed the admin of teaching, in lessons, technology is often still seen as an add-on or a simple replacement for traditional methods, rather than enhancing learning. But integrating technology into your teaching has so much more to offer.

The June issue of UKED Magazine - Technology special

The June issue of UKED Magazine - Technology special

"Technology has inevitably been inserted to nearly all aspects of our lives today. First and foremost, the use of computerised cash registers have been around for a few decades now. Trying to remember cash registers which operated without a digital display might be nearly impossible. The generation which might be able to do so has been replaced with a new generation who depend on technology to a large degree. The dependence on new technology is starting to 'show signs' of the effect of converting from our analogue counterparts. Below is an example that I recently experienced the effect of technology in a transaction at a doughnut shop."

"It was once said 'It's difficult to make predictions, especially about the future'. There are so many factors, technological, political, societal, which could change the course of learning, but in this discussion we are future-gazing and trying to imagine what learning will look like in a generation from now and beyond."

"As a technology teacher, I always keep looking for new tools to excite my students. During parent-teacher conferences, when a parent comes and asks me how's their child doing at my subject I almost always say, "Everyone is good at technology" or "All of them love ICT lessons". But when I'm alone, I reflect on these statements many times. If everyone already loves technology and is good at it, then what am I here for? What's my role? This is a generation of digital natives. You show a two-year-old how to scroll through the camera roll of your phone once and they won't ask you again. This makes me question my validity again and again."

"Development of technology within the classroom can aide the identification of contextual factors that may or may not contribute to effective use of technology in enhancing quality learning experiences. Factors such as organisational culture, teacher self-efficacy and their confidence and experience in utilising technology, resources and learner engagement all have to be considered to allow for an integrated approach."

Technology is often lambasted for creating lazy, passive cyber couched-potatoes. While the hours we endure bathed in flickering pixel light, slumped in a variety of contorted lurching positions over the input device of our choice is hardly the recipe for a healthy body. Yet, technology is becoming ever more part of our active lives and it is also spilling out into the 'real' world. As teachers, we can insist technology, or we can make it part of our classroom repertoire for PE and beyond.

"Parents who restrict their children's use of new media technologies may be acting counterproductively in the long run, particularly if they invoke afterschool homework time as the reason. Their children's scholastic achievements at college lag behind the academic performance of same-age peers, a University of Zurich study shows."

"Despite the vast array of options when it comes to EdTech, walking around exhibitions you can't help but notice that the technology is converging, and that one black screen looks like all the other black screens, the 'solutions' are solving the same things and the high prices, alas, are also ubiquitous. But what impact is this having on learning? Few educators truly use the full capabilities of the tech available to them, due to a lack of time, training, or ideas for how it can be deployed, and some teachers can allow the technology to take precedence over pedagogy and learning."

I'd like to share a couple of videos with you that I have used recently in the courses I teach. I find these videos particularly interesting because they show such contrasting approaches to learning and in particular - for want of a better word - e-learning.

"Teachers in England are being invited to join a professional development opportunity through EarthEcho International sponsored by the Northrop Grumman Foundation. The 'EarthEcho Expeditions: What's the Catch?' programme leverages the rich Cousteau legacy of exploration and discovery to bring Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education alive for today's 21st-century learners and their educators. The free, expenses-paid opportunity is planned to allow secondary school teachers to participate as Expedition Fellows to learn first-hand from scientists and engineers the consequences of fisheries mismanagement and how this can be changed for the better with new technological approaches and discoveries."

In my first post in this series - Getting students' attention - I mentioned the use of backchannels. This post should give you more information about the use of backchannels within the classroom. If you are working in a classroom where your students have internet connected devices, either through wifi or their mobile phone, using a backchannel can have a transformative impact on the way you can use technology with your students...

Girls who play video games are three times more likely to choose physical science, technology, engineering or maths (PSTEM) degrees compared to their non-gaming counterparts, according to new research from the University of Surrey