• My Bronze INGOT class are responding well to using Moodle and the use of chat has calmed down a lot. I was delighted to notice a couple of students exploring the Moodle site from home.
  
  
• I have now started a Bronze INGOT class for a small number of staff. Again, using Moodle, so I'm hoping a few ideas may eventually be translated into some other subjects, not just ICT
  
  
• At half term, we will begin work on a second small computer network in the Physics Lab.
  
  

Next month, I'm planning to visit a State School with a small group of staff, with a view to seeing how ICT is being used elsewhere. I have mixed feeling about this, because the issue for our Steiner School is not so much which computer systems to use, but why use them at all?

I feel privileged to be among a group of teachers who are committed to the Waldorf approach to education, and in my experience it really does produce remarkably healthy, happy and well-balanced young adults.  So it's up to me to show how ICT could actually benefit these tried and trusted methods that have been carefully evolved over many years, well outside the state school system.

Interesting times! 

In December a new group of pupils arrived, and we agreed to use MSN chat with startling results - the room went quiet. However this places great onus on them to achieve the tasks set out.

Next step: previously absent pupils catch up using lesson materials on Moodle. 

The school has responded favourably to my proposals for extending the network, so next is to discuss the proposal with the College of Teachers. I should explain that most Steiner Schools don't have a headmaster, instead decisions are taken by the College as a body. Takes longer, but then things do (or don't) happen.

For 2007 I want: 

* IT classes using Moodle

* Teachers receiving INGOT certificates 

* Network extended and used in Physics Lab

Meanwhile I took a couple of decisions. The first was to install Moodle (not Elgg) at our hosting site, which went very smoothly, and I've started building some simple lesson pages at http://rsskl.org/moodle. I can't say my first attempt at introducing Moodle to pupils was a success, however. As soon as they saw "chat" they were off exchanging the kind of jibes they do from home, not very good use of school time.

The second was to install K12LTSP in place of Edubuntu. I tried the latest Edgy Eft because it supports dual LAN cards, and came badly unstuck with the network configuration. K12LTSP on the other hand installed everything flawlessly. I'm sure Edgy came unstuck through my ignorance, but I was running out of time.

One piece of good news is that my proposal for developing the school network looks like getting accepted provided I can pin down the costs.

I wonder what  HM Inspector would make of today's outward chaos. Two - sometimes three - working on the scanner, two off to the library for more pictures, at least four working on their presentations. But still, two students way behind and needing constant attention to nudge them to the next step.

Afterwards, a minor correction to /etc/samba/smb.conf cured all, and every Linux and Windows workstation can now "see" each other - bar one. One, I can deal with.

But Elgg isn't set up yet. Next week is half-term, so I can devote more time to fixing the haphazard Internet connection and then downloading and setting up. 

1. The great majority of this age group (14-15 yrs) are already adept at using the PC, particularly typing, emailing, web browsing and chat. Even the few who haven't been so exposed to IT learn the skills very quickly

2. It's just not working, to combine classroom-style teaching with tasks at the workstation. The adept ones grasp what's required very quickly and need more. At the same time, my attention is likely to be on the slower ones, or answering individual questions. There just isn't enough of me to go around!

3. The IT Room network still doesn't make it easy for some of them to show their work to each other via the projector. I'm the techie as well as the teacher, and even simple things like printer sharing take time. We're just not there yet!

4. Elgg might just provide some solutions. It's certainly arrived on my horizon at the right time. By putting Elgg on the server which they can all access:

  * All must go through the exact same steps to create their account and enter some details about themselves.

  * They can view my blog with instructions on the tasks for each lesson.

  * They can upload their work to a central repository.

  * They can go through the steps to establish their circle of friends.

  * They can view and comment on each other's work without needing to print it out, or get ereryone's attention to present it.

It will need some careful thought about rules, for instance, no personal comments, obscenities, etc. Once they get going, the sanction of being excluded from their community will become very powerful, much more so than being excluded from the classroom!

The fact is, Elgg is very likely to represent the kind of work environment these students will enter in a few years time. We will all be learning lessons that are much more relevant to today's online environment.

Let's give it a try!

The layout of the IT room itself doesn't help, and there's not much I can do about that. Workstations are small, walled-off cubby holes facing the wall around the room, with a large empty table in the middle, so the students are either facing their work, or else looking at each other across the room.

My attempt at holding their attention by using a projector, standing beside the screen, fell very flat. Nevertheless they did make progress with their project, to prepare a presentation, and next week we should begin to see some results.

I've spent a load of time clearing out the IT Room of old papers and bits of hardware, and reinstalling the network around an Edubuntu server. About teaching I've learned that it's vital to get the students working on their own as much as possible, and also, that they are already adept at using Windows PCs at home. 

The IT Room isn't connected to the Internet yet. I'm slowly getting the machines properly networked, with at least 5 Linux thin clients and 5 Windows XP. All are using OpenOffice.org and Firefox, and the next step will be to implement Moodle. I've been hugely lucky in having a projector on loan from a local firm.