Life=risk

Presenting at conferences

2009-05-28T20:38:00.001+12:00

While this is not high on my agenda of things to do, I am going to find myself doing this later on this year. I will be attending the Ulearn09 conference to speak about Tablet's and learning. Here is my intial idea for the summary of the presentation:

Tablets, tablets everywhere and now what to do with them?

Do you know what a tablet is? Or more importantly what can you do with one? This will be an informative session which introduces two teachers using tablet PC’s in their Year 6 classrooms. Come on a journey with them to discover what a tablet can do for a teacher and student. See what examples of work have been created and pick up ideas to use back in your own classroom. OneNote, ArtRage and handwriting technology will be explored. The children will be also be giving their feedback on what it is like to have a tablet to use.

My niece.....not scared of technology

2009-03-22T16:15:00.002+13:00

I had a great weekend in Rotorua. When we were in Warehouse Stationery I couldn't help but take this picture of my niece. She is a true child that has grown up in a digital world not knowing life without the Internet, mobile phones and computers. So I watched with interest as she sat at one of the digital photo computers clicking, experimenting and just fiddling around with the software. There was no fear!

Digital Natives.....What digital natives?????

2009-03-11T19:46:00.002+13:00

After observing my children interacting online and with the Tablets that I am currently using in my classroom I am wondering when I am going to see the Digital Native come out in them. I am more of a digital native than them at the moment. They are not naturally drawn to technology, they are quite content on using books and don't seem too concerned with wanting to use their tablets. My question is .... Are digital natives only digital natives if they are playing computer games or talking on a mobile phone for the purpose of saying in touch with friends and entertainment because at the moment I am not convinced that the younger generation are techno savie.

Leadership

2009-03-06T07:10:00.003+13:00

Currently I am beginning my paper 'Issues and perspectives of Educational Leadership'. At first glance, I have no idea about the readings but as I begin to think more about the paper things are beginning to click. It makes me think about technology and leadership. Are there enough leaders in schools who know enough about technology to encourage its correct use? Are they making the right decisions?

The paper suggests that Leadership does not come in a package nor can it be learnt as a skill. But my question is then: How do you get it?

Life without the mobile

2009-02-09T09:17:00.003+13:00

After an excellent weekend away I wondered to myself driving back from Auckland. What would we do without a mobile phone? Throughout the entire weekend I was constantly organising to meet people using my mobile. I wonder whether I would still have those friends if mobiles didn't exist or in fact, I would have never met them in the first place. On Saturday night as I was eating dinner at a very nice restaurant I cast my eye at the table to see 6 mobile phones sitting at the dinner table. Bareing in mind that there were only 4 people sitting at the table I can help wondering whether having a mobile phone is all its cracked up to be. Being contactable any time, any where. I don't think I could live without one, but has society become mobile dependent and would I get mobile phone withdrawals if something happened to mine?

University

2009-02-05T21:09:00.002+13:00

I have decided after much deliberation to continue on with my Master of Education with two papers this year. The first one I have decided to do is about Education Leadership. I am interested in this area of education. How do you develop a successful team of people that are creative, innovative and dynamic? People who can take risks and explore new possibilities? Hopefully being able to look at the issues and ideas behind Educational Leadership may lead me to acquire some of this knowledge.

The second paper is Educational Research. I have been told..... if you are going to do a thesis then you have to do a Research Methods paper. "OH" I said in reply!!!!

What have I got myself into...................at least I only have myself to blame :0)

Bring it on I say..........

Thank goodness I have Internet again!!!!

2009-02-05T21:01:00.003+13:00

Its amazing how much you rely on the Internet and a school network to communicate with other staff members. The School has suffered from a virus which has infected the Network for the past week or so. This meant that no communication via email or access to the Internet.

I now understand why people were fitter 10-15 years ago. If you had a message for someone, you had to go and find them to deliver it to them. I must have wandered around the school more times in the past week than all last year, because I have to physically locate the person I needed. Was it a bad thing? I am not sure. But I am sure glad it is all back up and running!!!

Interactive Whiteboard GONE!!!!

2009-01-22T19:57:00.002+13:00

As the beginning of the year is fast approaching I sat at my desk looking at my Interactive Whiteboard being carried out of the door of my classroom in preparation for the Toshiba tablets that will hopefully replace them. There were feelings of regret, the Interactive Whiteboard allowed me to teach in a very different way, not necessarily better, just different. I hope that these tablet will enhance this knowledge further. Have I done the right thing? I hope so........only time will tell

Something to think about.....

2008-12-17T15:38:00.004+13:00

Toolishness is Foolishness

2008-12-17T15:25:00.002+13:00

I am contemplating the idea of gadgets. One of the main purposes for technical gadgets is to make life easier (Or so the advertisements say). The gadgets that come to mind are the iphone, PDA's, ipod touch, and laptops. I wonder whether too many gadgets are a good thing or a bad thing.

Me being the complete gadget king I would say that you can never have enough gadgets. But reflecting on what I have purchased over the years I have probably been through about 4 MP3 players, 3 different laptops, 5 phones and numerous other toys which I thought would enhance my life in some way. Unfortunately looking back, it kind of hasn't happened :)

So I am thinking from an educational perspective, what happens???? Is toolishness, foolishness? Do you need to try the tools before you know whether they are going to do the job or not? Will kids make do with the tools that they already have? Will the tools be nothing more than gadgets with no educational worth? And will gadgets last the test of time?

Things in plain English

2008-12-17T15:19:00.002+13:00

Have you ever wanted things to be explained in plain English. Things like Wiki's, Blogs, Twitter and RSS. Well I have found a fantastic website which does that. It's a bit like the online version of 'Microsoft Word for Dummies'.

The site is called: http://www.commoncraft.com/

Blog about the Toshiba Laptop trial

2008-12-15T16:50:00.001+13:00

http://toshibatabletsin6tb.blogspot.com/

Toshiba tablets

2008-12-13T15:26:00.002+13:00

Well, some exciting news!!!! Southwell entered a competition to win 60 Toshiba laptops for two years to see whether they have any educational worth. We were lucky enough to win the competition and now we have the opportunity to work with Toshiba and The University of Waikato to do action research into what educational benefits a tablet laptop can provide. There are exciting times ahead.

When I went to the Toshiba training day there was an interesting presenter who made the comment about innovative practice. Leaders must "Back the runners to run" what an excellent concept. The presenter was from Frankston High School in Melbourne and he showed practical examples of how to use these machines effectively.

http://www.fhs.vic.edu.au/

What out soon for my Blog dedicated to my reflections on how these tablets will be used in the classroom.

Toshiba training

2008-12-04T06:20:00.003+13:00

As the end of the year rushes to a close I have had the opportunity to take a day out of the classroom to attend some Toshiba laptop training. With a huge mission up to Auckland last night it's nearly time to take the ferry from Half Moon Bay into the city.

What's a Toshiba tablet laptop you may ask? Well I have had the opportunity to play with one for a while. It has a rotating screen, it has handwriting recognition software which turns handwriting into typed text and it is incredibly light. What else can it do? I am not sure. I will let you know though :o).

Last full week of school

2008-12-01T16:45:00.002+13:00

Well I am now officially in my last week of school. The children are still working really hard to finish off our Bloom's activities about 'Leadership'. I am impressed with how focused they are and so keen to get things finished.

We have currently been rehearsing for a play called 'Bugsy' it's set in the 1920's and 30's. We had our final rehearsal today. It went okay. We have organized the music so it runs from a laptop backstage. The boy who is running it is doing a fantastic job. Who knew that sound could be so easy!!!! NOT :o)

Well wish us luck tomorrow. The first of two performances. We will rock it for sure

Unconference at Southwell School

2008-11-27T20:11:00.004+13:00

Well I went to my first official Unconference. I thought it was fantastic. Basically it is a group of people that come together to talk about a topic. You talk to who you like, when you like and about what you like. You leave when you want to, and fill the gaps in your knowledge.

Company was good, food was good, venue was fantastic. There weren't as many people as I would have liked but still an interesting collection of ideas.

google UNCONFERENCE some good definitions.

Mini laptops

2008-11-17T19:10:00.005+13:00

Interface magazine has published an article about mini laptops for individual computer access. I wonder how this will pan out long term in schools. It could go one of two ways in my opinion.

The first way - schools will jump on board with little long term thought about the implications of such machines. Will the children want to use them, what will happen when they break, who will be responsible to buy them and what will the long term benefits be? Are they going to be a novelty for a while and then a big white elephant like the OHP (Overhead projector)

However, success will lie in the hands of the teacher who uses the technology. They need to be educated about what it means for every child to have access to a laptop. They also need to understand how to integrate these laptops into everyday teaching and learning. Hopefully they will be more than publishing machines where Word is over used and web 2.0 applications are under utilized.

http://www.nz-interface.co.nz/articles.cfm?c_id=13&id=44

2008-11-09T20:51:00.000+13:00

Just my sense of humour!!!

iPod touch

2008-11-09T20:42:00.003+13:00

Well, I have weakened and brought an iPod touch. My initial opinion is that....it is fantastic. There are lots of features I didn't realize it had. You can download applications for it and the best thing is that they could possibly have some sort of educational value. There is a whole section on educational applications that I browsed through, there are brain developing games to file management. Apart from that it is going to make my life a lot more organized. Thank goodness LOL

As long as you are connected to WiFi you are fine. An iphone without the phone. Perfect I say.

Google Docs

2008-11-03T20:13:00.004+13:00

I have decided to experiment with setting up all of my children in my class on Google docs so they can publish their narrative stories and invite other students and myself to edit them and make suggestions. It is very interesting because I have had an email from a parent showing concern over their child having a gmail account as everything can be done via their joint email and they see no reason why their child would need one.

I am worried about this, I believe that cloud computing will be the way of the future and if parents are stopping their children from even experiencing these things then these children are going to be disadvantaged in the future. The Internet can be a scary place but with educated kids this can be limited. Its not about educating the children, its also about educating parents that still want education to be the chalk and talk of 20-30 years ago.

Ever wondered what an Avatar is??? Here is one!

2008-10-30T20:25:00.001+13:00

Get a Voki now!

http://www.voki.com for more details.
It would be a cool way for students to publish their narrative stories. They can even upload their own voice so the advatar can actually sound like them. The best thing is that its all free and Web 2.0.

I'VE PASSED!!!! and Change

2008-10-30T20:07:00.001+13:00

I have officially passed my Postgraduate Certificate in eEducation. Sounds flash don't you think :) Now the challenge is to decide what papers to do next year. The last comment from my lecturer made some interesting points about change

The lecturer was from the University of Waikato. Some good advice for any institution going through periods of change:

'I think the thing that stands out here is the need for all involved in the change to understand the purpose and rationale for the change. This may be at a practical or at a theoretical level – with theory probably being the ‘harder sell’ to teachers! In my experience where change fails it is the result of poor articulation of purpose and a failure to establish a clear rationale based on improvement. As you point out- policy does not do this – effective leadership does, and it is the inclusive approach and trustworthy attributes of an effective educational leader that is the making or breaking of any such initiative.'

Thanks heaps Garry, given me lots to think about.

What should I study next???

2008-10-27T19:37:00.002+13:00

I am trying to decide what I should study next at university. I don't know what postgraduate qualification I want. Any suggestions???

Final assignment summary

2008-10-25T14:05:00.000+13:00

My two university papers finished AT LAST

2008-10-25T13:37:00.001+13:00

I have officially finished my last university assignment to get my Postgraduate Certificate in eEducation. The last assignment was summing up the major learning from the year of study. The main ideas I have found are summarized in my conclusion.

'E-education is multi-faceted, only when all facets are brought together can quality teaching and learning occur. These significant factors include, but are not limited to, a theoretical understanding of what eEducation is, a competent enthusiastic educator that is willing to take a risk when developing and creating an innovative learning environment and learners who are confident and willing to collaborate and interact in a virtual world. Learning must lead technology, where ICT is an integral part of the learning and teaching progress.'

Good advice

2008-10-14T18:54:00.000+13:00

I got some really good advice the other day. When participating in professional development make sure you set yourself 3 goals before you leave.

One goal should be very short term, something that you could do tomorrow in your classroom.

The second should be something that could be achieved within the next 2-3 months.

The third is a long term goal. This should be something that will significantly change your learning and teaching environment within a year. Interesting concept.

I am going to give it a go! :)

Term 4 - Has kicked in already

2008-10-14T18:32:00.000+13:00

Well I have begun term 4 with a bang. I have tried a number of things from the Ulearn08 conference already in the classroom. I used wordle.net today. The kids thought it was fantastic. We are doing the topi of leadership and I set them the task of finishing the sentence A leader is..... and the group had to come up with a top 10 things that a leader needs. I transferred all of their ideas into wordle.net. Try it, it's awesome!!! The actual is below.

Dinner last night

2008-10-09T13:43:00.000+13:00

Well we went out to dinner last night. It was a Greek restaurant and the meals were huge. Honestly I think the lamb was about half a sheep. LOL.

Taking responsible risks

2008-10-08T15:27:00.001+13:00

A couple of Breakouts finished

2008-10-08T15:17:00.000+13:00

Hey I have just finished a couple of breakouts - The best I think for me was meeting a lady called Karen Boyes. The breakout was called Developing creativity in the classroom. It was an awesome session. Lots of great ideas with a really enthuastic presenter. What is really interesting is that she didn't refer to ICT very much it was more about what a creative person does and what a teacher can do about developing creativity in other people.

Lunch was great and Christchurch is looking very sunny at the moment.

Here is the main Key note space in the town hall in Christchurch

2008-10-08T09:50:00.001+13:00

Ulearn08

2008-10-08T09:42:00.000+13:00

I am currently sitting in Christchurch at a conference called Ulearn08. It is a conference about Information Communication Technology and the three key ideas this year at the conference are COLLABORATE, INNOVATE and EDUCATE. This conference is for 3 days. Should be interesting will post later to tell you more.

I think I might start using my blog

2008-10-08T09:39:00.000+13:00

I haven't used this blog for pretty much a whole year and I am wondering why? I think it has to do with time, where to do you find time as a teacher to do other things that don't involve teaching? Well I am going to make an effort to write in my blog more often. I have even bookmarked it.

Life=Risk--Motivation

2007-12-18T19:58:00.001+13:00

I like this youtube video. It works for me some how

Why is it always about someone else?

2007-12-18T19:26:00.000+13:00

At the moment life is quite interesting. I am feeling as though I am doing things for everyone else rather than for me (Is that being selfish?). I wonder if I am being too nice? Being supportive of other people is always important to me but I am finding that it is getting me down at the moment. Lots of people are taking from me but very few are doing any giving. So hence writing it here so it makes me feel better about what I am doing and how I am feeling. On facebook, friends suggest I am most generous. That's all well and good but I am getting fed up of being that. Is it ok to feel like that? I think it is!

Me

2007-12-18T18:58:00.000+13:00

My name is Tim Bullock. I live in Hamilton, NZ

I am 28 years old

Things about me:

I take life pretty seriously at times (maybe a little too serious :o) I choose friends carefully but keep them forever.

Why set up this blog?:

I thought I would record down my life so I can reflect on what I am doing and to help me process my decisions for the future.

Ponder for a moment, stay for a while or come back often.