Articles

by Allen Wolmer
It is a shame, really. All that money spent on computers, projectors, and SMART Boards. And so much of it being unused or underused. Even when there is robust infrastructure in place (LANs, PCs, Servers, Tech Support, etc.) it still happens. Why?
My experience using and training other teachers how to use SMART Boards has shown me that there are a few critical but often ignored aspects of deployment that can impact success:

  • The implementation and training must be tailored for each grade/subject combination. The ways an elementary school Language Arts teacher teaches, and what those lessons look like, are quite different from what a high school Math teacher does, and what those lessons look like.
  • The focus of the training must not be on the Board itself but rather on how it is integrated into the education process. This includes classroom instruction, differentiation, and creation of online resources, e.g. “flipping”.
  • The transition to using the Board must involve as little effort as possible, at least at first. As teachers become acclimated to using the Board, they will not view enhancing their lessons as an undue burden. If, on the other hand, teachers perceive using the Board to be a lot of work, then the probability of success is low.
  • Finally, rather than training every teacher how to use (and implicitly expecting them to use) every feature and tool in the SMART Board and its excellent software, SMART Notebook, training on only those features needed in the particular classroom makes the acquisition of these skills by teachers easier. It is rarely spoken out loud, but when teachers are presented with a new              technology, they may fear that they may not be able to master it. Rather than embarrass themselves by failing, teachers may avoid using the Board instead. That is when one sees SMART Boards being used as projector screens for PowerPoint presentations.

My experience from teaching high school math (Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, and Calculus) with a SMART Board, and training other teachers as well, is that a deployment plan featuring Lesson Evolution has a higher chance of success than will otherwise be the case.

For now. Aside from addressing those critical deployment issues, what else does this method do?

  • If a teacher has multiple sections of the same subject, the lesson can be replayed using simple tools that pace the lesson and focus the students.
  • Lessons naturally evolve, as additional examples are added in the classroom, with no more effort than writing on the Board, which the teacher would have done anyway.
  • In a similar manner, lessons can be easily differentiated with almost no effort.
  • Time is actually saved in the classroom, as the pace of the lesson is no longer determined by the speed with which the teacher can write, but the speed with which the students can learn. In my classroom, this usually amounted to a 30% reduction in time required for a given topic. This allowed for enrichment, differentiation, and exploration.
  • Additional technology, e.g. on-screen calculators, animations, etc., are added by the teacher as/when teachers are comfortable doing so. At that point, this work is neither actually nor perceived to be a burden.

Below are examples from a number of my own Calculus lessons. The initial pages are from the 2007-2008 school year, and the page labeled 2010-2011 is from the school year. You can see the evolution of the style and the increased effectiveness through the use of simple SMART Board tools such as the Screen Shade and Table Cell Shades. In addition, each lesson has been enriched by the addition of multiple pages.

                                                                                            In summary, SMART Board deployment must take into account the multiple teaching styles in different subjects and grades, must not impose a substantial burden on teachers, and must allow teachers to smoothly transition to the technology at their own pace. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Al Wolmer is an engineer by education who has been fortunate enough to pursue his passion: teaching and training. He is a SMART Exemplary Educator, SMART Certified Trainer for Notebook and Math Tools, and for the past eleven years have been the Head of the Math Department at Yeshiva Atlanta High School. He is also an AP Calculus Reader for the College Board. In addition, Al has presented at numerous regional, national, and international conferences on the effective use of SMART Boards and SMART Notebook software in the high school and college mathematics classroom.

By Laura Fitzgerald

Bilingual ESL/Dance/Health/PE Teacher

Spirit Coordinator-Dance, Cheer, Mascot program

Lacrosse Coach

Certified PT, Kettlebell, Zumba instructor

Leader of the Shanghai PE Professionals technology group

@Concordia International School Shanghai

We all know that childhood inactivity is a tremendous global problem.  How would you respond if I told you that the power to revolutionize Physical Education lies in the power of the iPod?  Given the popularity of various tablets and smart phones, an iPod might sound old-fashioned, but it’s exactly what I’ve needed to boost student motivation, enhance instruction and track student success in the gymnasium.

Historically speaking, the Physical Education field has not excelled at collecting student achievement data to drive the curriculum, instruction and assessment methods of a program.

However, with the implementation of the iPod program this school year, as semester one comes to an end, it is clear to see that there is tremendous power in the ability to collect, organize and manage student achievement data in more meaningful ways.

Observation

Without the iPods, many students can comfortably play the role of a competent bystander.  Sure they can observe a game; touch the ball every now and then, but they never actually have to apply the skills that were taught.  The competent bystanders never receive corrections that are specific to their bio-mechanic deficiencies, nor improve performance in a game-like situation.

With the iPods, students are competent performers.  Students have built online portfolios of their psychomotor skills, and perform movement analyses for each unit.  During game play, I can now objectively track their progression with time on skill, success of skill, and provide a percentage of skill improvement.

The iPods have allowed for peer coaching opportunities.  Using the video application, students have videotaped their peers performing a skill, drill, or game play and provide immediate feedback via video commentary, with cues that they’ve learned.  This further reinforces the skill concepts and improves retention.

The improved ability to observe and peer coach has enabled students to work quickly in a cooperative fashion to solve challenges.

Reflection

Without the iPods, many students go through the motions of class, the motions of exercises without really knowing how or why they were doing movement.

With the iPods, students can better reflect on why conditioning certain muscles will lead to improved performance.  With more advanced methods of data collection, students have made their conditioning more purposeful, by fitness category and/or intensity.  For instance, some have seen that improved core strength led to improved cardiovascular performance.  In their entry activity/daily fitness blast, students choose their own exercise in the pre-determined fitness application.   The students have been learning how to use a new fitness application each month.   The applications we have used include Gorilla Workout, RipDeck, Sworkit and Fit Star.   Allowing students a choice in their fitness blast has improved the intrinsic motivation for achievement, differentiated instruction, and improved support for visual learners.  This also allows students to reflect on their physical activity preferences and how they relate to a lifelong participation.

Discussion

Without the iPods, the class focus is on competition and athleticism.

With the iPods, the class focus has shifted to cooperation, teamwork and new communication opportunities.  Upon entering the gymnasium, students click on my teacher website home screen button, and review the discussion posts from the previous class.  In a flipped classroom design, they may have already watched and responded to TED talk videos, amazing pictures or articles about famous athletes that I’ve posted to generate discussions.

After completing their fitness blasts, students are able to post results and provide feedback to one another.  During the team game play, students are able to post their video and commentary to their student website.  The students have also had the opportunity to videotape one another in post game “interviews”.  During these interviews, players compliment other teammates and coaches review key highlights and improvements.  Offering these discussion opportunities in different capacities has engaged students in more profound ways.

Evaluation

Without the iPods, it is common to evaluate a student’s progression and achievement in a subjective manner.

With the iPods, students are evaluated in objective ways.  For instance, with the Footsteps pedometer application, students are assessed on their ability to move 3,000 steps or more in one PE class.  Students are able to generate graphs, charts and visuals with their digital data to show progression.  Parents can easily monitor their students’ portfolio on their website to view progression, even throughout multiple years.  Furthermore, with digital, instantaneous assessment, paper waste is reduced.  Data is public for all to see, rather than hiding in a filing cabinet.

Revision

Without the iPods, students don’t get a “re-do”.  If they are terrible at a skill, they will probably stay terrible.

With the iPods, the students are motivated to fix their mistakes.  They are motivated to set strategic goals in order to improve health and fitness.  They are motivated to improve skill attainment, to improve game performance.  Students are willing to practice at home, using their drill notebooks from class, in order to improve.  Likewise, students are more willing to improve, because they see their deficiencies for themselves, rather than relying on the teacher’s feedback.  The dynamic of mentorship rather than direct instruction has been fulfilling and much more authentic to a genuine learning process.

As I reflect on the task of implementing iPods in the gymnasium, I am proud of the work that has already been done.  The most challenging part has been being ahead of technology; thinking too far outside of a box that doesn’t even exist yet.

However, I am looking forward to the second semester, for another chance to further refine the iPod implementation.  In the future I’d like to develop my own PE applications, but also help students develop applications that are specific to their performance needs.

Either way, this is an exciting time to be teaching Physical Education with iPods in the gymnasium, as the opportunities for improving curriculum, instruction and assessment are endless.

by Yasemin Allsop, ICT Coordinator, Wilbury Primary School

Looking at recent articles online, It wouldn’t be wrong to suggest that the new Computing Curriculum has definitely received an incredible amount of attention from both educators and industry leaders. Interestingly, I have been receiving so many emails from teachers around the country, asking me questions related to the implementation of these changes into their school curricula, and they are not necessarily in the same context. What this means is, the starting point for schools will be very different for teaching the new computing curriculum, as they face different issues. Schools, even within the same local area have such different experiences of using technology for teaching and learning, it is very correct to suggest that their previous experiences will surely affect the way the new computing curriculum is adapted. If we add the variances of  infrastructure and the approach of leadership in the school, which are very important parts of this change process, you can see that we need to have a very clear plan to complete this transformation.  It won’t be happening by just getting a scheme and trying to teach without setting the main principles according to the needs of the learners and teachers.

So, what is the main idea that we need to focus on?  Miles Berry’s short sentence in one of our Twitter discussions answers this question in a very simple and clear way.  He described the move from ICT to computing as;

“Computing is the new ICT.  More to computing than CS; more to CS than coding; more to coding than Scratch.”

I think this one sentence perfectly clarifies the misconceptions around the new computing curriculum. Recently, there are so many articles and items of news focused on programming, people have started to think that the new curriculum is all about coding and nothing else. This is very dangerous, as it may result in ignoring the main elements of computing which includes digital literacy, computer science, Information technology and E-safety.Then again, limiting computer science to only coding activities and coding to the use of Scratch; although I love it, will make us miss a very important opportunity to support learners to develop higher level critical thinking and problem solving skills which are the  foundation to learning in any area, both at school and outside. I won’t be explaining the elements of the new Computing Curriculum here, as there are so many very good examples already available online, however, I will share a few tips which I have found to be very useful when making sense of these changes and getting ready to teach them.

HOW SHOULD WE BEGIN?

Although it is really difficult to summarise our journey of getting ready to teach the new computing curriculum in a few sentences, I will try to share a few tips that might be useful as a starting point.

PLANNING. Keep your planning, simple and jargon free. Start with working on basic-draft planning with your students and colleagues.

Involve school leaders, teachers and learners in both the design of the planning and also the ways of teaching them. Make sure that your planning clearly shows progression across the age groups  and your school has the infrastructure to meet the technical requirements. Do not file your planning document, it is not your P60.  Turn it into a working document by evaluatingand re-developing the content with your learners, so that it will be relevant to their needs and interests. If you get stuck, or just want to find out how others are doing, have a look at the resources people are sharing on the internet, join forums and discussions. CAS has forums for both primary and secondary stages where, you will always get help from enthusiastic members. There is also a resources section for people to share teaching materials, which I have found to be invaluable. We don’t need to re-invent the wheel, we just need to develop our own by looking at the examples already created.

LEARNING SPACE. Every part of your classroom is a learning space, so use it.  In my experience, by confining children to sit in certain places and limiting their movements within the classroom, also limits their thinking and freedom to learn. When they feel comfortable and free to move and interact with other learners, the space turns from a static-controlled environment into a  dynamic lab. This enables them to explore, discuss ideas actively both independently or with others which, provides in depth learning experience. Having control of their own learning experience, empowers students to learn. It is also a great opportunity for teachers to stay in the background and spend time not just observing children to evaluate their learning, but also gaining an insight into how they learn, which will be very useful when designing and evaluating activities.

PEDAGOGY. We may think that, if we give children a digital tool; tablet, laptop, PC etc and ask them to make their own digital game, they will all just get on with it and enjoy it. This may be true for some, but not for every learner. I know we are fed up with hearing the word ‘differentiation’, however this is still a very vital part of teaching. We need to be aware that from blogging to coding, for all the activities that involve the use of technology require certain skills to be used.  The learners in our class will have different level cognitive resources but also language skills thus, their ability to accomplish the task will be varied. Some will engage with the activity, but some will be lost. It will be the job of the teacher to guide the children to reflect upon their learning by helping them to develop their metacognitive skills when they are stuck at any stage of the task. This means, teachers need to be aware of the strategies to manifest the desired outcomes and have knowledge of the learning approaches that work well when teaching with technology.

CONSTANT TRAINING.  As learners, teachers  will have not just different experiences of technology, but also approaches to teaching and learning. We can’t expect quality teaching without providing teachers with quality training. When I say training, I am not talking about one off INSET, but rather regular constant workshops where teachers will have the chance to experiment with tools, share ideas with their colleagues and even have discussions with learners around lessons before planning. They need to understand not only the mechanics of the tool but at the same time the strategies to use with which to manifest the desired outcome. Of course, the main aim should be, engaging learners and providing in-depth learning experiences. Most importantly learning to learn with learners is the best way of connecting them with learning and also keeping up to date with the constant changes. So having sessions to just sit and play with students is a must for learning in the digital age.

When we started to plan our Computing Scheme at Wilbury, we first looked at the resources available, then had discussions with our teachers and students. It is still a working document, as our ideas and the tools that we use are constantly evolving. We have designed a one page simple planning guide to help teachers and learners to see the progression, as it is very important to know the learners starting point and where we are trying to move them onto. We then created detailed planning with cross-curricular links.

I have organised a few staff meetings on the new curriculum to share the changes with my colleagues. We also had practical sessions organised by our digital leaders. I think allowing learners and teachers to explore the tools together moves learning to a different dimension. As learners and teachers become actively involved in designing and deciding activities, learning becomes more relevant to both of them which, makes learning a more fun and positive experience. So, just sit down and have a chat with your students. You will be amazed at how much they know. I have to admit I learned more with them, then researching on the Internet.

USEFUL WEBSITES

  • A guide for primary Teachers by CAS and Naace.

http://www.computingatschool.org.uk/data/uploads/CASPrimaryComputing.pdf

  • Very well organised website with brilliant resources for teaching Computing Science, by Phil Bagge, CAS Regional Coordinator and CAS Primary Computing Master Teacher

http://code-it.co.uk/

  • Really good website for planning resources and activity ideas. I love the powerpoint for introducing the new computing curriculum to staff.

http://primarycomputing.co.uk/

In conclusion, although there is still confusion around the elements of the new computing curriculum, thanks to organisations such as CAS, Universities and many enthusiastic individuals, I think schools have a good support network available to prepare themselves for teaching the  new curriculum. Of course, this is only possible if the leadership team see the impacts of skills developed through computing activities on students learning in the whole and support teachers who are trying to lay the foundations for the new computing curriculum.

by Eileen Bach, English Teacher

Concordia International School Shanghai

The ideal situation is to take students to museums, preferably those that maintain or recreate the original context. But, if you cannot go to the mountain, then there are ways to bring the mountain to you!

Multiple types of lessons may incorporate images from, or virtual tours of, museums to support interdisciplinary course work. Both major museums with online collections, such as The British Museum in London, and lesser-known institutions, such as New York’s Fenimore Museum of American Folk Art, Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum of Anthropology & Archaeology, and The Morgan Library, offer many of their stellar collections online. These online collections may be brought to life vividly right in your classroom. What follows is a sample of lessons ranging from teaching a particular art form, such as Vanitas Paintings, to illustrating ideas by using images and recordings from museum archives.

TYPE: Using museum images to illustrate ideas

Example: Sutton Hoo treasures, supporting a unit about the English epic, Beowulf

Museum: The British Museum

URL: http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights.aspx

Images used to showcase Anglo-Saxon culture “…love of beauty, joy in creation, perfection in craftsmanship [flourished] in the Dark Ages” (R. Bruce-Mitford)

Assignment: Pseudo-archaeology

Enrichment: Poem “Junk”

TYPE: Using museum images to teach a particular form

Example: Vanitas paintings, supporting a unit on visual literacy (Advanced Placement English)

Museum: Johnson Art Museum

URL: http://www.museum.cornell.edu/HFJ/handbook/hb118.html

Image used separately following instruction from http://www.artisanart.us/lubin.html

Followed by text from the Johnson Museum site.

Assignment: Apply understanding to new image.

Enrichment: Create your own vanitas still life

TYPE: Using museum images to enrich a unit

Example: “Bound for Freedom’s Light: African Americans and the Civil War”

Museum: The National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC

http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/exhbound.html

Assignment: Telling a story through vintage photographs

Enrichment: Walt Whitman’s Civil War era notebooks, available through the Library of Congress at:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/whitman/wwntbks.html

TYPE: Using museum images as a “hook” to interest students in a topic.

Example: The Puritan

Museum: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

URL:http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/american_paintings_and_sculpture/the_puritan_augustus_saint_gaudens/objectview.aspx?collID=2&OID=20012380

Assignment: How can you identify this man as a Puritan? What conveys this?

Enrichment: Poem “Upon the Burning of Our House”

TYPE: A Virtual Tour to set students in a particular time and place

Example ONE: Virtual tour of Dickens’s house in London

Museum: The Dickens Museum

URL: http://dickensmuseum.com/vtour/

Assignment: What elements make this home Victorian?

Enrichment: “A Child’s Christmas in

Wales” (post-Victorian writing but Victorian in sentiment and setting)

Example Two: The Peabody Essex Museum

URL:http://www.pem.org/visit/yin_yu_tang.php

Assignment: What elements characterize Chinese homes?

Enrichment: Architectural symbolism in Chinese homes, e.g. the vase as a symbol of peace

TYPE: Using museum archives (both images and recordings) to bring history to life.

Example ONE: The Voting Machine

Museum: The Smithsonian

URL: http://smithsonianimages.si.edu/siphoto/siphoto.portal_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=detail&negNum=200426275&action=detail

Assignment: Used as illustration to

accompany “The Declaration of Sentiments”

Enrichment: Compose your own Declaration of Independence

Example TWO: The Foundling Hospital Museum

URL: http://www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk/oralhistory.php

Assignment: Used with studies or stories linked to poverty (Nickel and Dimed, Grapes of Wrath)

Enrichment: Dorothea Lange’s Depression-era photographs

Example THREE: The Peabody Museum

URL: http://www.peabody.yale.edu/collections/hsi/hsi_whatami.html

Assignment: Which of these items might have been Victor Frankenstein’s? For what purpose?

Enrichment: What is Maxwell’s Top?

OTHER MUSEUMS OF INTEREST:

This is an eclectic list, based upon my personal experiences and prejudices!  Please add to this list!

The Art Institute of Chicago

http://www.artic.edu/

The Clark

http://www.clarkart.edu/museum/video-tours/

Fenimore Art Museum of American Folk Art

http://www.fenimoreartmuseum.org/fenimore/collections/american_folk_art

The Frick

http://www.frick.org/virtual/index.htm

The Louvre

http://www.louvre.fr/llv/musee 

visite_virtuelle.jsp?bmLocale=en

The Morgan Library

http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/defaultExhibOnline.asp

The Pitt Rivers Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology, Oxford University

http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/collections.html

Rijks Museum

http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/meesterwerken

Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art

http://www.fenimoreartmuseum.org/files/fenimore/collections/thaw/exhibit1/

vexmain1.htm

The Uffizi

http://www.uffizi.com/

Victoria and Albert Museum

http://www.vam.ac.uk/activ_events/do_online/films/index.html

And remember those noted in the sample lessons:

The British Museum:

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/

highlights.aspx

The Johnson Art Museum:

http://www.museum.cornell.edu/

The Library of Congress:

http://www.loc.gov/

The Metropolitan Museum of Art:

http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/

The National Portrait Gallery:

http://www.npg.si.edu

The Peabody:

http://www.peabody.yale.edu/collections/hsi/hsi_whatami.html

The Peabody Essex Museum:

http://www.pem.org/

The Smithsonian:

http://smithsonianimages.si.edu/

by Paul Ladley

If Elvis had been singing about games based learning, he might have demanded,”a little less action, a little more conversation”

Even individually played games can generate conversations. “Have you seen this?” “How did you do that?” Any teacher who has used games in lessons knows that these classes were far from quiet! “Individual” games are often played by pairs of pupils who prefer to work this way.

Collaborative games based learning (GBL), such as Sustainaville a whole class simulation, take conversations to a different level. Gameplay is structured around rounds and phases to encourage conversation. The learners talk in their teams, between teams, at a class level and with the teacher. The game anchors these conversations allowing a natural set of questions to flow during the course of the plan > do >review phases. A demonstration of Sustainaville can be found at:

http://www.games-ed.co.uk/sustainaville-demo.html

 

These conversations are at the heart of the learning; they are inclusive and are not formalised / one-way. It is through these questions that learning flows. Together the class constructs their understanding, and makes tacit knowledge (emotions, experiences, insights, intuition, observations and internalised information) explicit. Games can be more than a one-off lesson. Simulations such as Sustainaville can anchor a topic: students can research aspects of the simulation plus write and present reports based on their experiences.

 

By blending in with a standard pedagogical approach, GBL offer an innovative way to deliver in three key areas: improving attainment, generic skills and employability skills.

1. Improve attainment / narrowing the gap:

  • Develop emotional intelligence and improve behaviour leading to better
  • Supports different learning styles – see table below.
  • Cross curriculum delivery and shared learning experience across subject groups.
  • Reluctant learners and boys – learning games cater for different learning needs and are intrinsically motivating.
  • Students can learn from mistakes during game play without worrying about
  • Project-based learning motivates, engages and provides a tangible use of learning
  • An ‘in the curriculum, but out of class’ approach will enable learning hours to be increased by providing homework missions.
  • Supporting the flipped classroom. Games are played at home and the analysis & learning reflections are done in lessons.

2. Personal, Learning and Thinking Skills / Soft Skills: 

Improve skills such as communication, negotiation, decision-making and emotional intelligence – 21st century skills

Self-esteem – learning games provide inclusive activities accessible to all.

3. Employability Skills 

Experiential learning / learn by doing: opportunity to enhance learning by applying it to a “real” world setting.

Project-based: developing games, scenarios and e-Learning with young people, provides a focus for learning and develops a business / project mentality.

Conclusion

GBL goes beyond being fun, not that there is anything wrong with that, to offer an innovative approach to tackling key issues in education and beyond. Careful planning and execution of GBL will ensure that learning outcomes are delivered and that GBL doesn’t become fad.

by Leon Cych, L4LTV

L4LTV is a project that has been in the pipeline for over 5 years now but has only recently come to fruition. It is a web based niche TV Channel designed to push out professional development content over tablets and phones. The content is made by teachers for teachers and disseminated freely through informal teacher networks, social media and the emerging alternate media portals such as YouTube, iTunes, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Blip, LiveStream, Justin TV, Twitch and a host of other media aggregators.

As yet the larger media firms are not publicising it although they have offered encouragement. It is not well known beyond a core group of teachers on Twitter and it won’t have any wider traction unless professional

associations and larger media firms give us some publicity. At the present time I do not see this forthcoming as, I suspect, they are trying to do something similar with their very own lucrative teacher networks surrounding their media empires and content but our business model is about community and supplements theirs – think of us as the cleaner fish for big media companies.

So, we do have the advantage of starting with grass roots involvement and resources and lots of enthusiastic teachers who know the value of open and distributed knowledge. Wenger’s professional communities of practice (1) underpins what we do, not purely commercial concerns, so we have the jump on them – for now.

Teachers’ TV

 

After Teachers’ TV was scrapped in the UK by the current government I co-ordinated a project with a number of dedicated teachers to download and archive the programmes available online. We were able to do so under the licenses current at the time. Many people still have that archive of videos on a hard drive and many schools still use that resource which was downloaded, catalogued and indexed to local drives by a team of about 50 teachers. The incoming government then sold off the rights of the programmes to several commercial firms and the content was saved and put online as a commercial resource by various media and educational companies for free.This, despite the TV Channel being scrapped, was a positive result; however there was one drawback. There was no platform for featuring ongoing practice “by teachers for teachers” and the current “archive” was precisely that – an archive of a time and a place growing older by the minute.

Basically, it was a loss leader for any big TV company to run Teachers’ TV but there was government subsidy and kudos and you were indirectly supporting a small of industry of indie filmmakers who had the knowledge and kit to put out films. The process of making programmes involved the company with the main contract subcontracting out to several independent film makers the task of filming and delivering programmes on various aspects of the then curriculum. Of course that is a top down model that is not very agile and vulnerable to changes as the curriculum, exams, practice and anything you can think of, changes, does that sound familiar? To use media in that way is like trying to offer up food already past its sell by date. Like the Red Queen in Lewis Carroll’s Alice through the Looking Glass – it takes all the running you can do to stay in the same place and you have to run twice as fast to get anywhere! The old media practices, kit, industry were too cumbersome to do this.

A lot of the content for Teachers TV was top down – I wrote the spec for some of the first series of programmes on the use of Social Media. These were then contracted out to smaller media companies who made the films and delivered to a shrink wrapped “standard” model. That was when most schools were doing the same thing in the same way to the same curriculum. How things have changed in the past few years…

Teachers’ TV was always very much a top down venture designed by government to create a free to air TV Channel on Freeview boxes in people’s living rooms in the UK via a set top box.

Teachers’ TV was only aired at set times of the day and it was included on an EPG (Electronic Programming Guide) – it was very niche programming not ever likely to hit the big time in Television viewing so that is why it was also disseminated online. An innovative step you might think but already the viewing habits of “niche” audiences were changing. As well as teaching I was working for an “indie” media company in Soho at the time building classical music and Shakespearian CD resources and I was tasked with putting in a bid to take over the contract of the channel before the decision was made to scrap it.

It was interesting to read the mechanics of how it worked. The main viewership was Teaching Assistants at the time I remember and I also remember how YouTube started to come in and dominate the video viewing habits of younger people in particular.

YouTube made my job redundant and the rise of smart phones, DSLR Cameras, cheaper lighter film equipment and the sudden rise of thousands of “niche” channels on Blip TV and You Tube showing you how to do stuff that film industry insiders had known for years but had not disseminated unlocked a whole cave of delights in the media industry and transformed it over the course of a couple of years – in the “real world” the education on how to do specialist film stuff was being delivered over YouTube – I lapped it up and bought the kit. The music and TV moguls are still reeling and not knowing quite how to cope with the changes. I saw it coming and I thought there must be a better way – so I built my own TV Channel.

Media Fragmentation – The Rise of “Niche” channelling 

I could see, even then, back in the early noughties, how some TV viewing habits were numbered.I could see that people wanted to consume media on personalised devices, mostly as a “second screens”, if they had the money for a secure internet connection. This is indeed what has happened. People want to consume media on the bus, the tube, at work, in the “down” times when travelling. Screens have become all pervasive and attention has become fragmented or highly focused depending on your viewing habits /discipline…

Community Involvement 

I wondered how one could harness that for good to bring people back together through community involvement. L4LTV was born from that thought over 5 years ago when Twitter and “smart” phones emerged from the miasma of devices coming out into the marketplace. Now it’s iPads and Android tablets – what these have proved to be is another informal platform that breaches (for the better off) the home / school divide and formal / informal learning. Media is distributed on and through them and is so able to be personalised, idiosyncratic and highly focused on targeted niche organisations so you have to think carefully about making media that appeals to professional teachers by reflecting their practice and concerns and you have to make it available freely and easily and what is more you have to give them the skills and access to make it! This is what I am trying to do with the channel – so it is not just a broadcast – it is community training, CPD, events, how to’s and how to make programming yourself at a grass roots level.

To just “broadcast” information is no longer good enough in this fast moving education environment. So the channel has a live streaming “events” remit as well designed to pump prime social networking with and by teachers. To disseminate on a regular basis teacher activity and to reflect on that activity and build community through social channels of activity.

To this end we have launched a “live streaming channel” – we “live stream” teacher activity by going to events and broadcasting like a traditional outside broadcast to the wider teaching community.

I am also working with sponsors to give training to teachers so that they can film “pieces” and practice easily and quickly as the technology to do this becomes easier and easier. I am working with Helen Caldwell at Northampton university to make pop-up screen screen studios where teachers can document their day to day projects and share views and ideas around the media content on Twitter and through the channel or events like TeachMeet etc.

This TV Channel lives or dies by its roots back into the teaching community and what they do day on day – it also acts as a platform for their hopes, desires, concerns aspirations, vision. We aren’t a usual business – sometimes I suspect we aren’t a business at all but an ongoing vision of the process of learning. I guess that is why it is called Learn 4 Life TV.

How to consume or even take part!
We have a live streaming eventschannel here:

This supplements and feeds into the TV Channel. You can see the TV Programme live fortnightly here:

http://new.livestream.com/L4L/L4LTV and then see the archive shortly afterwards here:

http://tv.L4L.co.uk

We then archive the programming more widely through other channels – so you can also view them on Youtube as an archive here:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtgPuUWnxm4bDGljkzFwuWhP0SwVxWY2j

or on iTunes here:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/l4ltv/id783437484

We will shortly have a ROKU Channel which will be global and we have plans to expand in 2014 with the help of dedicated sponsors. We align ourselves with sponsors that have a community business model so our first sponsors are Iris Connect, Igloo in Education, Computing at School and Rising Stars.

This doesn’t come cheap and we welcome sponsors and donations to continue what we think is a growing service to the teaching community. Get in touch by emailing me at leon.cych@L4L.co.uk or filling the form in here:

http://www.l4l.co.uk/?page_id=1777!

RADIO and AUDIO too…

We also have 3 audio stations

One on Audioboo:

https://audioboo.com/Eyebeams

One on SoundCLoud

https://soundcloud.com/L4Lnews and a “live streaming” real time radio channel for “24 hour specials” on holidays etc where people can did into the many many interviews I have done over the years.

http://mixlr.com/l4lnews/me

You can also download an iPhone App of out blog here:

http://www.l4l.co.uk/?p=3464 and lastly you can read the blog here:

http://www.L4L.co.uk and subscribe to a newsletter here

http://tinyletter.com/eyebeams

From January we will be running commercial courses in how to make your own media here:

http://l4lcourses.co.uk/

This should help fund our broadcast activities. Get in touch!

1   http://wenger-trayner.com/theory/

The European Conference on Game Based Learning is an academic conference that has been held annually in various European Universities since 2006. For the first time this year the Programme Committee, together with Segan (Serious Games Network, https://www.facebook.com/groups/segan/) decided to launch a competition at the conference for the best educational game. The aims of the competition were:

• To provide an opportunity for educational game designers and creators to participate in the conference and demonstrate their game design and development skills in an international competition;

• To provide an opportunity for GBL creators to peer-assess and peer-evaluate their games;

• To provide ECGBL attendees with engaging and best-practice games that showcase exemplary applications of GBL .

In the first instance prospective participants were asked to submit a 1000 word extended abstract giving an overview of the game itself, how it is positioned in terms of related work and what the unique education contribution is. We received 56 applications and these were reduced to 22 finalists who were invited to come to the conference to present their games. Four judges, in two teams assessed the games based on a comprehensive set of criteria including sections on learning outcomes, usability and socicultural aspects. A shortlist of 6 games were then revisited by all the judges during an open demonstration session at which conference participants were also welcome to participate. First, Second and Third place awards were given and two Highly Commended certificates were presented. The top three games were quite different in terms of the target audience and the format.

In third place was an app-based early learning game called Lipa Eggs developed by Ian Hook and Roman Hodek from Lipa Learning in the Czech Republic. This game was designed to help pre-school children with colour mixing and recognition and was delivered via a tablet. The gameplay takes the form of a graduated learning system which first allows children to develop the skills to play the game and then develops the learning process to encourage players to find new solutions.

More information about the game can be found at http://www.lipalearning.com/game/lipa-eggs

In second place was a non-digital game called ChemNerd developed by Jakob Thomas Holm from Sterskov Efterskole (a secondary school in Denmark specializing in game-based learning). This game was designed to help teach the periodic table to secondary school students and was presented as a multi-level card game. The game utilizes competition and face to face interaction between students to teach them complicated chemical theory over six phases beginning with a memory challenge and ending with a practical experiment. A video illustrating the game can been seen at http://youtu.be/XD6BPrJyxlc

 

The winner was a computer game called Mystery of Taiga River developed by Sasha Barab and Anna Arici from Arizona State University in the USA. The aim of the game was to teach ecological studies to secondary school students and was presented as a game-based immersive world where students become investigative reporters who had to investigate, learn and apply scientific concepts to solve applied problems in a virtual park and restore the health of the dying fish. A video of the game can be seen at http://gamesandimpact.org/taiga_river

Both competitors and conference participants said that they had enjoyed the opportunity of seeing applied educational game development from around the world and the intention is to make this an annual competition associated with the European Conference on Game-Based Learning (ECGBL). The conference in 2014 will be held in Berlin on 9-10 October and the call for games is now open. Details can be found here: http://academic-conferences.org/ecgbl/ecgbl2014/ecgbl14-call-papers.htm

ICT Coordinator, Wilbury Primary School, London, UK

Dijital Oyun Dizaynı Nedir?

Dijital Oyun Dizaynı Bilgisayar, laptop veya tablet ile programcılık ilkelerini kullanarak 2D veya 3D şeklinde elektronik veya internet ortamında oynanabilen oyunlar tasarlamaktır.

Çocukların kodlama öğrenmesi neden önemlidir?

Okullardaki geleneksel eğitim çocukların düşünsel becerilerini geliştirmede yetersiz kalmakta, bundan dolayı öğrencilerin okula olan ilgisi de günden güne azalmaktadır. Öğrencilerin bilgi düzeyini sadece sınavlarla ölçmek, onların beynindeki işlemsel düşünme yeteneklerini ve hayatın her alanında faydalı olacak transfer edilebilen becerileri göz ardı etmek eğitimde yapılan en büyük yanlışlıklardan biridir. Problem çözme, iletişim kurma, takım çalışması, yaratıcılık, kritik düşünme ve ileri seviyede teknoloji bilgisi edinme çocukların bilgisayar oyunu yaparak geliştirdiği transfer edilen becerilerdir. Her şeyden önemlisi, Oyun Dizaynı çocukların eğlenerek öğrendikleri yeni bir eğitim mekanıdır.

Bu gün yeni bir teknoloji çağında yaşamaktayız. Çocukların teknolojiyi kullanmayı öğrenmesi artık yeterli değildir. Teknolojinin nasıl çalıştığını ve oluşturulduğunu bilmeleri gereklidir. Programcılık öğrenmekle, çocuklar direk programcı olamazlar ancak, kodlama yapmak onların problem çözme ve mantıksal düşünme yeteneklerini geliştirmekle birlikte, matematik, bilim ve teknoloji gibi bir çok derslere de destek olur.

Dijital Oyun Dizaynının Faydaları Nelerdir?

Çocuklara ve Gençlere yaşamlarının her alanında kullanabilecekleri transfer edilebilen beceriler öğrenme imkanı vermektedir. Bu beceriler ise, problem çözme, iletişim, takım olarak çalışma, planlama, karar verme, değerlendirme, kritik ve işlemsel düşünme transfer edilebilen ana beceriler olarak sıralanabilir.

Niçin Çocuklar ve Gençler Dijital Oyun oynayarak ve tasarlayarak daha iyi öğreniyorlar?

Öğrenmenin ilk adımı motivasyondur. Eğer çocukların ve gençlerin öğretilen konulara ilgileri yoksa onlara hiçbirşey öğretmemiz mümkün değildir. Öğrendikleri ezbercilikten öteye gidemez dolayısıyla beceri ve yetenek geliştiremezler öğrendiklerini başka alanlarda kullanamazlar. Oyun dizaynı öğrencileri öğrenmeye motive eder ve çocukların kendi öğrenmelerinden sorumlu olmalarını teşvik eder. Oyun dizaynı ezberciliği değil problem çözme yeteneğini geliştirir. Dolayısıyla öğrenciler bir alanda değil hayatın alanda karşılaştıkları problemleri çözebilecek yetenekler geliştirirler.

Dijital oyun dizaynı öğrencileri motive eder mi?

Bugün çocuklar genellikle zamanlarının büyük bir kısmını dijital oyunlar oynayarak geçirdikleri için onların bu konuya olan ilgisini programcılık bilgisi ile birleştirerek işlemsel düşünme güçlerini arttırabiliriz.

Dijital Oyun Dizaynı ve Programcılığın arasındaki ilişki nedir?

Programcılık Dijital Oyun Dizaynının bir parçasıdır.  Çocuklar programcılık kodlarını kullanarak oyun dizayn ederler. Fakat Dijital Oyun Dizaynı programcılığın yanı sıra oyun okur-yazarlığını içierir. Dolayısıyla çocuklar sadece oyun yapma teknik bilgilerini değil oyunu anlama dizayn etme yeteneklerini de geliştirirler. Her ikisi de sıralı düşünmeyi sağlar ve matematiksel düşünmeyi geliştirir.

Dijital Oyun Dizaynı ve Programcılık ile ilgili Türkiye’de atılması gereken ilk adım nedir?

Dünyada ve Avrupa’nın her yerinde programcılık ve oyun dizaynının okullarda öğretilmesini geliştirmek amacıyla devlet ve iş dünyasının desteğiyle araştırma ve uygulama grupları kurulmuştur. Bu gruplar dijital oyun dizaynı ve programcılık konusunda müfredatı hazırlama, öğretmenleri eğitme ve okul sonrası kulüpler gibi görevleri üstlenmişlerdir.

Dijital Oyun Dizaynı ve Programcılık akımının başarılı olması için gerekli olan şartlar nelerdir?

  • Çocuk ve gençlerin ilgi, yetenek ve ihtiyaçlarına göre nitelikli bir eğitim programının hazırlanması
  • Öğretmenlerin düzenli olarak bu konuda eğitilmeleri, yardıma ihtiyaçları olduğunda gidebilecekleri bir sanal merkezin olması
  • Uygulamaların daha da geliştirilmesi için bu konuda bilisel araştırmalar yapılması ve üniversitelerde uygulamalı eğitim verecek merkezlerin kurulması gerekmektedir.

Dijtal Oyun Oynamak ile Dijital Oyun Tasarımı arasındaki fark nedir?

Dijital Oyun oynama çocukların bilgisayar veya farklı elektronik araçlar kullanarak oynadıkları oyunlardır. Çocuklar burada tüketici konumundadırlar. Oysaki Dijital Oyun Dizaynında çocuklar programcılık bilgisini de kullanarak üretici konumuna geçerler. Piaget’in dediği gibi çocuklar en iyi yaparak ve deneyerek öğrenirler.

Dijital Oyun Dizaynının İş Dünyasına Katkısı Nedir?

Bugün dünyanın her yerinde yapılan araştırmalara göre iş dünyasının teknoloji alanında nitelikli işgücüne olan ihtiyacı önümüzdeki 8 yıl içerisinde %20 artarken bu ihtiyacı karşılayacak teknolojiyi meslek olarak seçen öğrenci sayısı 2001 yılından beri %50 düşmüştür.

Niçin geleceğin çocukları ve gençleri meslek olarak teknoloji ağırlıklı branşları seçmemektedirler?

Bunun sebebi okullarda teknoloji derslerinin çok can sıkıcı olması ve içeriğinin iş dünyasının ihtiyacını karşılayacak şekilde tasarlanmamış olmasından dolayıdır. Bunun sonucunda da çocuklar ve gençler üniversiteye geldiklerinde meslek olarak Teknoloji konusundaki meslekleri tercih etmemektedirler. Dijital oyun dizaynı çocukların teknolojiye olan ilgilerini uyandırmakta ve ileride meslek olarak seçmelerinde etkili olmaktadır.

Dijital Oyun Dizaynının işgücünde kadın erkek eşitliğini sağlamayla bir bağlantısı var mıdır?

Kız öğrenciler genellikle meslek olarak teknoloji ağırlıklı branşları tercih etmemektedirler. Dolayısıyla iş dünyasına baktığımızda teknoloji alanında çalışanların birçoğu erkektir. Eğer Dijital Oyun Dizaynı ile özellikle kız öğrencilerin teknolojiye olan bakış açısını değiştirebilirsek ve onlarda teknoloji konulu mesleklere karşı ilgi uyandırabilirsek böylece teknoloji alanında çalışan kadın erkek işgücü dengelerini sağlamış oluruz.

Digital Oyun Dizaynını öğretmede kullanabileceğiniz ücretsiz programlar 

Scratch http://scratch.mit.edu/

Alice http://www.alice.org/

Tynker http://www.tynker.com/

Snap http://byob.berkeley.edu/

Greenfoot http://www.greenfoot.org/door

Kodu http://www.kodugamelab.com/

Sploder http://www.sploder.com/

Sandboxgamemaker http://www.sandboxgamemaker.com/

Adventure maker http://www.adventuremaker.com/

Gamefroot http://gamefroot.com/

ücretsiz iPad programları

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using the educational Platform Moodle for e-learning 

by Boris Vidovic and Sandra Vetma

Listen up, children! I will ask you a question now: Is it more enjoyable, easier, and better to learn with or without the help of a computer? Yes, with the help of the computer. Do all of you like working with the computers? Yeah. Yeah.

The students in the lower grades of Pujanke Elementary School in Split are in high spirits, full of energy and natural interest in the unknown which surrounds them. They like school breaks and playing very much in the same way as their peers do in other Croatian schools. The pupils of the third grade group A, guided by their teacher and mentor Sandra Vetma, appear more mature and more motivated for learning than their peers in other groups. They are fond of discussing many issues with their peers, teachers and adults. It is obvious that they are more informed than their peers, and occasionally more than some of the adults. What make this group of pupils so special in comparison with the peers?  We asked the school principal Mr. Boris Vidovic.

These kids have been using the educational Platform Moodle for e-learning for more than a year. Upon the introduction of the Croatian National Educational Standards (CNES) in all Croatian schools in the school academic year 2006/07, the teachers were given great freedom for introducing modern theories of learning and teaching. The goal of the CNES is to transform the old, traditional way of teaching which was characterized by the dominant role of an omniscient teacher, and passive students accustomed to listen to the teacher into a new modern way of teaching. In the old methodology the students were asked to memorise lots of facts for a good grade. In the new, modern, decentralized school the teacher is a mentor and coordinator of many types of instruction, and the pupil becomes the most important active link in the chain of learning and comprehension. The frontal style teaching is no longer the only method of school work, but rather a collaborative construction of knowledge by all members of the group or team on an assigned project prevails. Through this style of teaching, learning is not limited to classroom instruction, but also outdoors: in real life. 

The introduction of e-learning for the young students is the goal of the Croatian National Education Standard par excellence.

We use Moodle in order to work in an efficient way, to get quality assurance, and to realise some principals of the CNES which are being discussed widely both in education circles and in public. Currently, the kids learn how to cooperate by working collaboratively on a project. They think it is fun to play and work at home in this way. In reality, they learn a lot through work. They do not take it as an obligatory assignment. They work with joy, even at weekends. They have online action plans knowing in advance what subjects and contents they are supposed to do data research. They have really surprised me because they often bring a lot of material to class which we discuss before we start a new lesson.

It should be noted that the CNES originated from the European strategy and vision of education on how to create a knowledge based society: the engine of the economic growth of Europe, in which every individual has to master core and creative competencies which are decisive for a successful life in the New Europe. They signify more than knowledge and skills. They are characterized by flexibility, entrepreneurship and taking one`s own responsibility. Not only is flexibility expected by individuals, but innovation, creativity, self-regulation and internal motivation. Social maturity is also expected: it helps in preventing social pressure, taking different attitudes, making independent judgments and taking responsibility for one`s own behaviour. However, it is of the utmost importance to know how to develop reflection, using meta-cognitive skills, creative skills, and taking a critical stand. It is also important for an individual to know how he or she formulates their experiences, including thinking, feelings and social relationships.

I enjoy making PowerPoint presentations on the computer.

The life of an eight year old student nowadays is in striking contrast with that of an eight year old that lived twenty years ago due to the great influence of digital technology in everyday life, including education.  In the past students learned alone absorbing one bit of information after another, clearly distinguishing a boundary between learning and play.  The students of modern times have developed their abilities tremendously to receive more information by doing many things simultaneously. When they do their  homework on their computers, they simultaneously listen to music with an iPod, watch video clips and chat via Skype.

I practice maths with the help of the computer at home. I find interesting interactive games searching on Google. I give a ring to my friends with my mobile phone and we start playing games online. There is a website where we can practice addition, division and multiplication over and over again until we master them.

The modern student learns intuitively, jumping backwards and forwards, in a nonlinear way. He likes collaborative learning and takes an active lead in the group or team in solving problem based projects or doing research. He finds the Old School boring because he receives information only from the teacher or from a textbook. He attends school as he is forced to. He cannot imagine the New School without the use of a computer which motivates him and empowers him. The computer allows for a high dynamic and interactive multiple communication, different ways of searching for information and constructing knowledge in a collaborative way by a group or team. The help of a teacher mentor is, of course, at the tip of his finger.

I exchange emails with my friends and the teacher. I`ve chatted with all my friends.

The new epistemology of e-learning in the New School is more versatile and of superior quality, than that of the Old School in which uniformed behaviorist patterns prevailed and creativity was prevented.

For these reasons we have introduced e-learning in our school for the youngest students. This type of learning suits the character traits of the young who, without prejudice, accept new digital technologies, in contrast with the mature people who are afraid – according to their words – of these perishable novelties. E-learning contributes in a concrete way by creating a new culture of learning in schools.

These schools become community centres of learning, not only for pupils, but also for teachers, parents and other citizens interested in lifelong learning. E-learning enhances quality assurance through obtaining learning outputs by sharpening various core competences described as quality indicators which have recently been systematically measured by external and internal evaluation to assess the overall performance of schools.

The very act of introducing e-learning was creative and enterprising. The school principal Boris Vidovic and teacher mentor Sandra Vetma procured 10,000 Euros from Croatian Telecom for buying the schools professional equipment. They also designed the strategy and vision for the development of e-learning in our school, provided support to pupils, teachers and parents, and started creating objects of learning. The technical information science assistance was provided from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture and the University of Split. The only problem they face is the lack of the new methodologies for using certain resources and activities which Moodle offers for effective e-learning.

E-learning makes the instruction preparation for teachers, pupils and parents markedly easy. Whilst the Old School action plans were known only to the teachers who kept them in some drawers outside of the scope of public attention, today the actions plans are being prepared every month, collaboratively by all of the teachers. They trace correlation and integration connectedness in all contents and activities with the purpose that the students can better understand the different subjects from all angles and points of view in order to improve thinking, analyzing, synthesizing and making conclusions. The integrated days and outdoor instruction are also planned in this way too. Plans are also expected to be done by drawing mind maps. This kind of planning is easily done electronically in Moodle so that the students and parents can see them and give comments and recommendations. This aids in the refinement of learning by opinion exchanging in the `Forum for the parents`. Moreover, Moodle has a resource called the Calendar where all important upcoming events and activities are announced on a monthly basis.

Even the daily preparation for the classroom becomes more simple and easy. The teacher is able to do the work on a computer and then show daily tasks to the students using an LCD projector, thus reducing the use of chalk and paper.

To develop the lateral thinking the students can easily draw mind maps on the computer.

The students have computers in their classroom which they use every day for e-learning their various school subjects. They do not have a special subject called Information Science or ICT. They do not need to go to the computer lab, either. They practice ICT skills intuitively in their everyday work at school and at home. The immediate feedback which the pupils obtain, strongly motivates them since they know if they have answered the questions correctly or they are in need of additional practice.

The parents can monitor their child`s work and progress either from home or from work if they are online. They can see how long their child has spent in learning and how many times they have tried to solve certain tasks.

The students especially like communicating via the Chat room.  They can, not only talk amongst themselves, but are also able to talk with their teacher and principal on Saturdays and Sundays from 7 to 8 pm. The teacher or principal can take this opportunity to ask the pupils what was good and bad in the previous week as far as the learning is concerned. They usually give them an assignment. For instance: who is Ivan Mestrovic? The kids should search for information about his life and work using the Internet. Their teacher Sandra Vetma also sets tasks within the resource Tasks, which should be completed within a set time limit. The finished work are then graded.

I chatted with the teacher, my friend Filip, Marko and with the principal.

When the kids do mini research projects using the search engines and children`s data bases, they in fact get to know the first elements of research work which seems to them as if it is play. They spend hours online searching for some information which they use to lead a discussion amongst them by using the Forum feature. They discuss who has found certain facts and whose information is more accurate. Reflecting about the findings stimulates their mental processes.

I’m Tina. I’ve written a story on the computer. I found images on the Internet. I opened the PowerPoint and inserted the story and images, bound them together and then printed it.

The kids are fond of doing their homework using the PowerPoint format. Some of them insert dynamic images which they have downloaded from certain web sites to embellish their tasks.

I downloaded many animations. It took us at least 4 hours. I downloaded them. I navigated to other sites.

A wish for aesthetic embellishment of their e-works, shows that the brains of the young digital Homo Sapiens function using both hemispheres simultaneously: from the one in charge for abstract-scientific to the other in charge for language-artistic processes. This is the way that opens creativity: combining science and arts into one creative whole which has been recently named cross-pollination or cross-fertilization on which creative cultural industries are based. This shows that the kids are all heading in a good direction which leads them to science and the arts applied in the new environment.

E-learning greatly involves the parents as the crucial educational factors in the process of education. While the parents used to come to the Old School only a few times a year, nowadays they can monitor daily what their kids do because they are given privileges by the Moodle administrator to watch all their activities, including grades of their respective children. The parents frequently discuss among themselves using the Forum, and with the teacher and the principal.

This is my room where I learn using the computer, doing maths, write stories and search various other things.

Last year he started using this electronic platform. I`ve noticed he has tremendously improved himself. Before, his only contact with the computer was playing the games, but now he can do serious tasks. He is interested in many things, he learns via the Chat which allows communication with the teacher, and with his friends from his class. They exchange various addresses as to where they may find different data which is needed for in and out of school activities.

Here`s the mom. What will she say? Is the use of the computer a complete waste of time? What do you say?

Definitely not! When the kids are online and connected to the electronic platform Moodle, the kids and the parents can see the classroom action plan for the upcoming month, for all the subjects and activities which are announced so the kids can be prepared in advance. We know when the integrated days are planned, learning, field instruction. This means that every one can be informed: the kids and their parents. A communication is also possible between the teacher and the parents. You do not need to wait for the regular consultation time once a week. If a parent has an urgent question, he can easily ask the teacher for advice, and be informed about school and instruction or about his own child.

We still remember when everyone was watching TV; the computers started to be widely used not a long time ago; nowadays mobile phones are in use. This is all inevitable. It will be used more and more, but I think that there is no going back. The sooner the children start using it, then their communication over the Internet will help them to learn faster and better, and this is the goal, isn`t it? This is a different kind of communication. We see that the kids accept it much faster than us, the older people, and they need less time to master it.

The partnership of the school with the parents and the local community creates a positive atmosphere for cooperative work. It promotes lifelong learning and galvanizes creative forces in the students. It establishes the school as a community of learners. In the broader global context it is the place of free flow of information, where different forms of collaboration exist, and where the sharing of knowledge and work – in real time – without regard to geography, distance and language take place.  This is in addition to the asynchronous learning and professional development.

E-learning is only a project in Croatia for the time being. There is no doubt that it will become part of learning at school and at home very soon.

If someone took these computers, it would be very difficult and ugly for all of us. We will be working without any sense. It would be much harder to learn without the computers.  It would be much harder to work without the computer. I always visit the children`s site Pujanke and spend a lot of in chatting with my friends.

I`m Irena. I think that the computer helps me a lot in learning.

For me it is better to learn with the computer than only with the book because it is more fun.

I`m Ela. It is more easier to learn with computer than from the book. From the computer we find more than in the book. It is enjoyable: It is nice to learn with the computer.

If today’s students enter the labour market in 15 years without developed ICT competencies and remain unused to e-learning, they will be lost individuals, deprived of the tremendous educational potential which e-learning offers. The people who want to stop the wave of technological progress solely based on the grounds of their own complacency, will mutilate the kids not to be full-fledged and respected citizen of the New Europe and the New World with the high degree of education and required competencies. They must be aware that all their attempts of retaining the petrified vertical structures of the Old World will be swept away with the unstoppable horizontal digital processes such as: open-sourcing, out-sourcing, in-sourcing, off-shoring, supply-chaining, in-forming mobile and work flow software which gains the power of a typhoon on account of converging and collaborating of these processes. This force crushes all traditional organizations – including schools and universities, firms, consortiums and the national boundaries enabling users to have a great efficiency and high quality.

Schools should be thoroughly designed and a new organization conceived based on e-learning.

It is beyond any doubt that in tomorrow`s digital world, every work, learning, amusement and play will be conducted with the aid of a computer, especially with the  advent of quantum computers.

We believe that our project of e-learning will not remain a dry twig and dry flower on the Croatian education tree, but rather that our labor will bear a thousand flowers on the tree of Croatian e-learning, which symbolize New Schools.

I`m Ivan, I`ve done a PowerPoint presentation with the story named: The Brook.

We must glue some images. I downloaded the images from the Internet at home.

The advantages of using Moodle are for both the students and parents because every month the parents and the students can see the action plan for the current month. They can see all the subjects which will be taught, the integration days, and out-field instruction.

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