The video here is a prototype, but the infrastructure shown to use it is low tech and therefore accessible to schools.  Just imagine the educational collaboration possibilities with such technology.  Judging by the article this came from it might not be that far away either…

http://www.sonyclassics.com/layercake/index_flash.html

As I work in schools with a wider and wider range of teachers, my ideas for the layer cake are starting to crystalise.  I was working in a school recently and the teacher I was with had an “Aha!” moment.  She had made a pedagogical, if not that then a conceptual breakthrough about e-learning and how it might look and be delivered within the space she teaches in.  It is her quote that is the title of this post.  I am still working on the full variant of the Layer Cake post, but do not want to release it too early, until I have fully ironed out the wrinkles myself.  However, in parallel with the Layer Cake e-learning methodology that I am developing I am also developing support materials in the form of templates, resources and rubrics etc to support teachers once I am not working with them.  I shall be devoting more time to this entire endeavour in the coming days and weeks, but work is un-relenting at the moment, which is good!  It is also clear that there is a desperate need for retro fitting the new paradigm/pedagogy/methodology, call it what you will that is e-learning to good many schools and teachers alike.  All new inquiries welcome.

Time and again over the last couple of days the presenters and keynote speakers have all moved away from the shock of the new type approach, i.e. new tools, toys and tricks, the bling of ICT and peeled this away to ask us to look at empowering students and  teachers alike.  It is as though the last several years have been a process of removing the layers of an onion to get at the heart of what e-learning is.  This is an interesting point, because in recent years we have liked to precede words with i or e to give them cachet of techieness or educool.

Today has been a continual mantra of its not the tools its what you do with them.  Sylvia Martinez started the morning by challenging us with the statement that if what we are currently doing with ICT (the purchasing lots of kit model) and it is not working, then do not do more of the same.  We need to look at how we are using the ICT tools in our class and ask what is effective.  For me this was a bit of an ‘Emperor’s new clothes’ moment.  If just putting equipment in a room and concentrating on training staff how to use the equipment is not having an impact on learning, then we need to concentrate on the e-learning model.

This brings me neatly to the point where I can start to allude the much longer post I need to write.  For many teachers there is much confusion over what this e-learning thing is.  To which I am going to say from now on, drop the ‘e’ and you will have a clearer picture.  Now lets pick a tool identify its educational potential and use it well, once this has been mastered, we can add another and so the L4YER C4KE can  be made.

Written offline - 7 April - Hotel has no Internet!

After a grueling day one at ACEC2010 with two keynote presentations and seven breakout sessions, a common theme has made itself abundantly clear.  The key to e-learning success is not based around increased capital outlay on the latest and greatest technology, rather successful integration should be based on a rather more mundane and fiscally more attainable target, sound pedagogy.  However, therein lies the problem.  Schools are finding it easier to purchase new technologies that promise to deliver the e-learning nirvana of integration rather than attack the pedagogical issues of delivery.  Alan November reminded us of this early in the day, saying that we need to ensure that the plan for teaching and learning that currently exists within schools is the right one, before we layer on the technologies, which can then mask the inappropriateness of the underlying pedagogy.

Whilst this message is not new to me, it has made me think all day long about the approach that I should be taking in a school as a facilitator.  I am working on a post as alluded to in a previous post based on a conversation that I had whilst flying over the Melbourne and reflects the kinds of conversations that I have regularly in schools as a facilitator.  The conversations are loosely based around the following kind of statement:  “Well we have purchased the equipment, now what? What is e-learning and how can I make it work in my class?

I have spent the last couple of days, three actually, creating training videos for a client.  In total I have created 11 tutorials, covering 8 skill sets necessary for their staff to master the basics of the software programme they have invested in.  The structure of each tutorial is the same.  In the first instance the skill is demonstrated with an audio track and on screen prompts.  Then the tutorial becomes interactive, it is a complete repeat of the first half  but the audio track, mouse animation and onscreen prompts disappear.  The user has to move stepwise through the video emulating what has just been shown to them.  All correct moves are confirmed and all incorrect moves are supported with prompts.

I departed the supertanker in August of 2009 and joined Team Solutions on 6 month contract.  That short but happy and productive contract has now ended and I am now out on my own as in independent facilitator.  Next year is already looking to be a full and productive year.  I will be working in many schools and also for some commercial clients too. I am spending the summer organising my computers and resources to meet the needs of the many different schools that I am scheduled to be working in.  I am blocked out for specific schools on specific days for all but a few days of the entire academic year.

I will be at Learning @ Schools 10 and have submitted a couple of proposals to the organisers and am waiting to hear if I have been successful again.  I am also intending to go to Ulearn10 in Christchurch, but that is much later in the year.

I am looking back at the last year and am very pleased with the journey that has brought me this far.  As the year closes, I am now eagerly anticipating the challenges of the coming weeks and months.

ToonDoo a cloud cartooning utility which I was singing the prasies of at Ulearn09 and have been using in classes here and in the UK for the last couple of years has just added a new service, specifically aimed at educational institutions who want to use the site but are concerned about privacy etc.  The new service is called ToonDooSpaces.  It is free to sign up and trial for 15 days, but after that and if you want to continue, there is a charge.  However as the books in and cartoon strips are embedable and always have been in ToonDoo then maybe your blog or Wiki will offer you the walled garden security that some are seeking.  For those of you that want ToonDoo and privacy, this new variant offers you a wider range of privacy but it will cost.

I have just added a new resource to the resources page, the new resource is called Aviary.  You can check what I had to say here.

My second presentation of Ulearn09 was scheduled for breakout 7.  In other words the graveyard shift, the penultimate session of the conference when people are at their most tired after three days of exposure to continual innovation, integration, exhibitors, networking and socialising.  Prior to the conference I could see that the session was fully booked with the maximum of 25 delegates, I was very pleased with that as the presentation had  been marketed in the following way:

90 minutes?  So many tools, so little time!

A tool a minute? David will try to illustrate 90 different tools in 90 minutes. With so much on the web being free and a perpetual beta world of trying the coolest thing, it is easy to forget just what is still there or how to effectively use what is already out there in a classroom. In this session David will run through as many free programs, tools and web based utilities as he can in 90 minutes. He will name, document, share the links to and illustrate how he has used the tools in a class situation (or how they could be if he has not). Even if you know of 89 of the tools already, the 90th tool could just be what you are looking for! Come along for a high energy dash through as set of tools that will make a big impact on all areas of your ICT integration strategy, except your budget!

What I was offering was a list, with only a minute per  tool this session was going to be far from hands on!  Yet it was booked out.  I have to say I expected that not many delegates would come to a session so late in proceedings, with planes to catch, conference fatigue and no time to play during the session being the causal factors.  Prior to the start of the session and as people were drifting in, I spoke with several of the delegates and they were all really excited at the prospect of this session.  Apparently it had been fully booked within minutes of the bookings section of the Ulearn website opening.  It was evident that the session had touched a nerve as people  came in their droves despite their fatigue.  I stopped counting at 50 attendees and several came in just after I launched into my presentation.   I hope that all that attended did indeed walk away with at least one tool that they had forgotten, or was new to them and are inspired to integrate that tool into their classroom from Monday onwards.  Certainly from the feedback forms that were completed (20) all rated the session and the content very highly and all gave very positive comments, clearly there is a need for this kind of session to be repeated and to more than 50 teachers.

Of course what needs to happen now is for each of these tools to be unpacked in detail in the form of hands on tutorials, practical workshops and integration sessions, a service I am happy to deliver, please call if you would like to discuss this further.

I have just got back from another exciting annual marathon that is Ulearn.  I had hoped to present three full sessions this year, but was only picked for two, better luck next year.  The conference was its usual mix of inspiration, affirmation and networking.  This year a good deal of my energy went into the networking aspect.  I have made some promising new contacts that are opening up exciting new leads, all of whom need to be followed up in the coming days and weeks.  Below is the presentation slide show that I gave in breakout 1