Teacher's Blog
During this year’s Innovative Education Forum in Manchester, we were lucky enough to have two keynote presentations from Michael Furdyk, of Taking IT Global, and Professor Sugata Mitra. We received great feedback from attendees on both of these presentations, and we were fortunate to extend the reach of both keynotes by streaming them to teachers on GLOW and NGFL CYMRU.
We also had professional video taken of both keynotes and have received the “polished” versions of the presentations which we are making available to you on our YouTube channel at THIS LINK. We hope that you’ll continue to be inspired by both of these speakers and that you’ll share the videos with your colleagues.
A special thank you goes to both Michael and Sugata for allowing us to share their great work with teachers who might not have been able to attend the event.
On my way to work last Thursday, I listened to Radio 4’s Today show interview Secretary of State Michael Gove about the creation of England’s new national curriculum. It was one of those mornings where I arrived to work before the story was finished, so I sat in my car in the Microsoft car park for another few minutes, listening to what Mr. Gove had to say. (A BBC article about the interview, as well as a link to the interview can be found HERE.)
The interviewer asked a couple key questions that came into my mind as I was listening to the Secretary of State. (In my own words, below)
Mr. Gove stressed that he was looking at how our education measures up against other countries around the world, which is a natural reaction to the recent release of the PISA results. However, if we also look at the new McKinsey report on “How the world’s best performing school systems come out on top,” we see that the most successful systems focus their energies on the quality of teachers, rather than what they teach. Specifically, the report says:
The experiences of these top school systems suggests that three things matter most: 1. getting the right people to become teachers, 2. developing them into effective instructors and, 3. ensuring that the system is able to deliver the best possible instruction for every child.
(As an aside, this report is based on research conducted in 2006-7. It places England on a list of countries on a high-trajectory for improvement, based on the reforms that the government was introducing at the time, which were seen to be raising student outcomes. I wonder if England would still be on that list today?)
As teachers, what do you think? Do you need more prescription on what you should be teaching? Do you think a renewed focus on teaching the facts is needed? What do you think will improve your students’ learning – and improve the education system as a whole?
Let us know by posting a comment…
Stuart and I have blogged about Shout – Microsoft’s partnership with the Smithsonian Institute and Taking IT Global to help students around the world learn about environmental issues and tackle real-world scientific research. As part of Shout, we’re offering free “web events” – seminars for teachers with scientists at the Smithsonian that will help you start environmentally-focused projects in your classroom.
We are pleased to invite you to attend the next Shout Web Event “Study the Land”. This event will address the questions of how the scientific study of plants helps us address urgent problems such as loss of species and habitats and how can your students do something about these global issues? Register now for one or all three of our lively, interactive webinar events to listen, learn, and exchange ideas with our presenters and others who care about our environment. In addition, choose from several real-world activities, challenges, and projects—to involve young people in making a difference.
For more information and registration visit: http://www.smithsonianconference.org/shout/conference-study/
Shout Session 1: A Natural History Approach to Plant Study and Conservation
11 am EST (Eastern Standard Time) / 4 pm GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)
January 26, 2011
with Gary A. Krupnick, head of the Plant Conservation Unit, and Alice Tangerini, scientific illustrator, National Museum of Natural History
Shout Session 2: Smithsonian Tree Banding Project: “Climate, Classrooms and Trees
1 pm EST (Eastern Standard Time) / 6 pm GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)
with Geoffrey “Jess” Parker, forest ecologist, and Joshua Falk, education specialist, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Shout Session 3: Charles Darwin in the Islands: Evolution, Adaptation, and Sustaining Our Natural Heritage
7 pm EST (Eastern Standard Time) / 12 am GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)
With W. John Kress, director of the Consortium for Biodiversity, Smithsonian Institution, and curator of botany, National Museum of Natural History
We look forward to seeing you there!
If you have not had a chance yet, please join the Partners in Learning Shout Community where you can get updates, connect with members on projects, and access resources: http://us.partnersinlearningnetwork.com/communities/20dd024d17f847399d626d3af108fd13/Pages/default.aspx
The 2011 BETT show is running all this week in London. Myself and Dan Roberts are presenting on the Microsoft stand on one of our favourite subjects, free applications for the classroom.
Our main theme for our presentation is ‘value for money’, but being free is not the only the criteria need, to be real value for money any application has to have an impact on Learning.
To illustrate this idea we will be demonstrating and discussing the following free applications with the delegates who spend time with us on the Microsoft stand this week. If you visited the stand, thank you, we hope you found it valuable, here are the links we mentioned.
- Flashcards are are great example of Web 2.0 technology. These allow teachers and students to build great revision resources, that can be shared online. - http://flashcards.educationlabs.com
-The Microsoft Partners in Learning Network supports professional development for teachers and schools through shared resources ,events in the UK and a network of connected teachers.
- AutoCollage , as a member of the Partners in Learning Network you can download this great application, and create a single image collage from up to 54 separate images.
- Mouse Mischief – Connect up to 25 mice to a single PC with this free plug-in for PowerPoint. Allows you to create interactive quizzes and activities.
- Math Add-in for Microsoft Word and OneNote – Create and visualise equations and maths concepts, including 3D graph plotting
- Community Clips – Create and record your own instructional videos with this free screencast software.
If these free applications have whetted your appetite for more, then you can see a longer list here.
Happy New Year to you all, we hope you enjoyed your Christmas Holidays. I am sure your return to school will have prompted you to think about a number of things, including how long is it to half term ! But, you may also be thinking on embarking on some research in your school to measure the impact of the strategies and polices you have implemented around school transformation and 21st century learning.
The Partners in Learning Network now has a free tool called Partners in Learning School Research. Developed in conjunction with top-class international research organisations and running in countries all over the world, it allows you to measure new and existing teaching and learning practices in your school. Details are explained on the site, but once your teachers complete the questions (which takes about 20 minutes), your school gets a data-driven, action-oriented report with concrete examples of how your school can develop its innovative teacher and learning practices to develop students’ 21st Century skills.
You can can sign up for this free tool at http://www.pilsr.com/
Please let us know what you think and how you are using this tool by leaving your comments on our blog.