Reflections on Naace Conference 2011
Lucky enough to be at this conference this year and would like to record a few thoughts on some of my reflections and interpretations of the keynote speakers
Ewan Macintosh kicked off the conference with an inspiring commentary on the state of education in the UK using technology. His presentation was visually engaging linked through a series of statements e.g.
· We turn off the web – why?
· The web is everywhere- are we aware of this?
· Tinkering with the curriculum- the only thing we can do, in the absence of radical pedagological change
· We must exemplify- this culture doesn’t encourage creativity as it assumes there is an ideal product we want learners to learn
· Learning as a machine v learning as a living entity- learners are treated as machines, taught in rows of desk by a system which is not flexible enough for organic learners
Ewan also challenged us to think of new ways of encouraging and empowering learners
· ICT is truly integrated in society-why not in schools?
· Endowment effect (like costa coffee cards, an example is Nintendogs,in which the player already starts with money in the bank. In education this would be like giving everyone the top grade before they start studying and
· Team teaching – more of this
· Secret spaces for pupils to learn in
· How technology binds us- are we aware of the social mesh which technology creates
· Teacher on call- teachers as facilitators who can be called on to assist in learning rather than on duty
· Makerculture- the majority of delegates asked ,quoted making things as their most memorable learning experience
· Gustavo Dudamel http://on.ted.com/90V9 inspirational example of conductor and leadership
· Opening Minds curriculum http://www.openingminds.org.uk/Site/Opening_Minds_Welcome.html
Ewan’s message was clear and brilliantly communicated for more details on Ewan’s work visit http://edu.blogs.com/
Next up via Skype from Australia was Professor Stephen Heppell http://www.heppell.net/
Prof Heppell was asked to comment specifically about the role of Pisa in measuring international standards of education
His main message from the session is that worldwide creativity needs to be encouraged by educators. In his opinion PISA seeks to stifle creativity by standardising education.
Our children face a world of no certainty and standardised education will not make them agile enough to deal with the future, rip up standards to enable creativity.
Other Thoughts
· People and technology break cartels
· We are facing a Pedagological Egypt
· Outcomes can be measured subtly to suit the needs of nations, no need for standardization a la Pisa.
· Quote of the day “ Pooh-pah pants to Pisa” don’t think he likes it!
Other highlights for me included brilliant breakout sessions from Ollie Bray on gaming and learning pedagogies. Really liked this comparison with good games being built on the same platform as successful learning pedagogies i.e Challenge-Progression-Reward. Ollie encouraged us to be teaching using games and also encouraging game design in the classroom.
Also inspiring Dan Roberts (@chickensaltash), I have known Dan for a couple of years and have followed his progress with the pupils at Saltash.net. Dan’s message is clear – be brave and embrace the use of technologies in learning, use social networking and mobile devices rather than banning them, great stuff (oh yeah results have gone up too!) read Dan’s blog….
http://chickensaltash.edublogs.org/
I could go on (mentions for James Langley, the Lord of Geocaching ,@LordLangley73, Prof Sugatra Mitra (simply brilliant)) but you’ve probably stopped reading ;), just like to say the event was spot on for me at this time in my career and has given me much to reflect on as I prepare to go back into the classroom and meet the challenge of creative learning in uncertain times, don’t mention EBacc anyone.
