Thomas Ryberg :: Blog
http://www.pontydysgu.org/2008/08/dont-throw-the-baby-out-with-th Sort of like that saying. I don’t have much time ot post here - am constantly traveling - but will make a few quick commnets from the road (as an aside - countries like Estonia put other countries to shame when it comes to intrenet access - free fast wireless access is available almost everywhere).
Maybe it is juts the people i am talking too, buut there seems to be growing appreciation of the importance of informal learning and learning acquired in the workplace. At the same time I am slightly concerned that this appreciation for workplace and informal learning is being counterposed to formal training and qualifications. In this respect I think people are mixing up the schooling system and formal learning. Yes - I completely agree that our formal schooling system is out of date, frequently ineffective and promotes formal accreditation at the expense of learning. Putting it simply there are better ways to learn - and the money spent of formal schooling could be much more effectively deployed elsewhere.
But this is not to say there is no place for formal training and learning and for qualifications. Qualifications can play an important regulatory role - both for quality and in terms of preventing employer exploitation. Moreover such qualifications can prove aspirational - especially for young people. Yes - there are many issues around curriculum (I will return to this issue in a further post). Formal learning and training can provide a structure for learning. And formal learning and qualifications are not in opposition to informal learning - the two can go together.
I think there are problems in a fast changing economy as employment and work tasks and roles are fast changing. There is no guarantee that training for one particular occupation will guarantee employment in ten years time. Yet, all the empirical surveys we have carried out show that those who have undergone a formal training programme - regardless of subject - are more likely to participate in on-going learning in the future. Thus, even though the link between qualifications and employment may be weakening (especially in liberal market economies such as the UK) there remains a macro economic benefit to the provision of formal learning opportunities.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SupercoolSchool/~3/375595191/best-of 
Here are the posts of our amazing virtual speakers in this years EduBlogger Even:
Just wanted to send out a big THANK YOU to all of our amazing speakers and participants!
You made this event very special with your fantastic posts and the great discussions. YOU GUYZ ROCK!!!!
There are so many passionate people out there who are devoted to improve the future of education and change the world to the better and bringing some of you together for one day, was a special honor for us!
Another big THANK YOU goes out to Max, who helped us organize this years EduBlogger Event08.
Without him this event wouldn't have been possible.
Much power to you!
Steli Efti
http://www.pontydysgu.org/2008/08/more-from-john-pallister-on-e-p Joehn Pallisetr is a UK based teacher who is enthusiastic about e-Portfolios. He blogs now on a group he has set up on Google. If you are interetsted in e-portfolios I recommend that you join.
Here is his latest post:
“Things still seem to be at the confusion stage it terms of what schools ‘must do’ and what learners ‘must have’. It would be a real shame if we were just to go for the minimum when we have the opportunity to harness the technology and media to provide our learner with something that can really help them. To simply provide them with some text based templates to fill-in, is unlikely to inspire them or
support their thinking, development and progression.
At this stage it might be worth sharing some of the experiences that led us to introduce ePortfolios. Ten years ago we were looking for some way for our Year 12 students to evidence the ‘deliver a short presentation’ requirement of the Level 3, Key Skills Communication Unit. We introduced a requirement for all Year 12 students to deliver a formal presentation, to an external panel, about their career plans.
This required them to research their options, discussing them with their Tutors, careers advisors and parents. We built on this over the years and five years ago introduced a 30 minute end of review
interview for all Year 12 students. This interview was originally introduced to provide opportunities for students to evidence Improving Own Learning and Performance, Level 2 Key Skills. We expected, in the
first 2 years, students to bring their Progress File into the interview. The interview was set up as a competency based interview [some questions etc given in http://www.e-me.org.uk/resources/AStudentGuide.pdf].
We wanted to provide students with more appropriate ways to store andpresent evidence of their learning, achievements and planning; we developed and introduced ePortfolios.
We soon recognised that although the ePortfolio itself was really useful, it was the ePortfolio process that was even more valuable.
I came at things from a Personal Development Planning angle and this has influenced my thinking on ePortfolios.
So why have I rambled on? Simply to encourage people to interpret the‘P’ in ILP, as ‘Process’. It then links in with Assessment For Learning; Development Planning; PLTs and of course, the ePortfolio Process. The ‘P’ as ‘Plan’ can be very easy to produce; very easy for the learner to ‘tick off’ as done; easy for schools to present to others to suggest that learners have done the job, but, the important bit, the process can be easily forgotten.”
http://www.pontydysgu.org/2008/08/consultation-paper-on-a-framewo
As promised more on the Training of Trainers. The presentation is based on research we are undertaling through the TTplus project. The project aims to support and improve the continuing professional development of trainers and has been examining the context in which training takes place in enterprises and the effectiveness of present policies and provision for the training of trainers.
The project is developing a framework for the continuing professional development of trainers and examining different measures and mechanism for implementing the professional development framework.
The research undertaken by the project showed that the number of trainers in Europe has increased. These ‘trainers’ include full time trainers, people with a formal training responsibility and all those for whom supporting the learning of others is part of their job. It also concluded that many of these people do not have effective or adequate access to continuing professional development opportunities or support or recognition for their own learning.
It is clear that if the standards of training are to be raised, improving the training of trainers must be a priority. However, given the heterogeneous nature of the group and the range of sectors and occupations in which they work, it is difficult to see how this could be standardised, or indeed whether it is desirable to do so. Certainly some sort of common framework would have advantages. It would provide a degree of coherence to what is a very fragmented field. It would increase the visibility of trainer training and in so doing, increase awareness. It could also stimulate the establishment of communities of practice between trainers.
The TT-Plus project has the objective of designing a framework for professional development for trainers in Europe. One approach to this is to develop an accreditation framework. Educational accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which an organisations’ services and operations are examined by a third-party accrediting agency to determine if applicable standards are met. Should the facility meet the accrediting agency’s standards, the facility receives accredited status from the accrediting agency. Such accreditation often takes the form of a ‘kitemark’ or quality mark designed to show that the organization has met the standards.
The challenges in designing an accreditation system for trainers are three-fold:
Firstly, how can a framework reflect the TTPlus project research findings and be –
- Inclusive enough to accommodate the diversity of people labeled ‘trainers’ and the diversity of contexts in which they work.
- An instrument for improving the quality of practice
- A process to improve and increase access to training opportunities for trainers
Secondly, how can a framework incorporate the best features of previous approaches whilst minimising their disadvantages. Specifically how can a framework:
- Identify ‘gaps’ in organizational or individual trainer ‘performance’ AND simultaneously facilitate the learning necessary to close the gaps
- Provide recognition and reward for both individuals and organisations.
- Be relevant and sensitive to a range of occupational identities
Thirdly, how can a single framework be flexible enough to allow sectoral, local, regional and national variation whilst still maintaining transnational coherence and a shared European approach?
In short, how can standards be improved without standardization?
The project has produced a consultation paper outlining a possible solution based on a set of common or shared elements and another set of elements where there are choices or divergences to be made at country, organizational or individual level.
The paper elaborates on six ‘components’ of the frameworktogether with linking mechanisms.
- A set of principles
- A set of standards
- An infrastructure
- Processes and mechanisms for applying them and documentation.
- Tools and materials to help those engaged in the process
- Exemplars of evidence
The full consultation document can be downloaded here - Framework for the Professional Development of Trainers.. If you are involved in the training of trainers - or are just interested in te topic we would like to hear your views on the Framework
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SupercoolSchool/~3/374603092/edublog EXTRA BONUS SPEAKER: Peter Bihr - Web Strategist
Edublogging is blogging about education - no more, no less. So let's
have a look at how we can harness the power of blogs to improve our
learning & teaching experience, shall we? Let me give a summary up
front: The two most important things I see are your network and your
tools.
First and foremost: network!By networking I don't necessarily
mean networking in a strategic
let's-meet-up-and-start-something-big-together sense, although that
might be very helpful at times. No, it's even simpler! Just look at
what's out there and connect with them. There's plenty of blogs and
blogging educators out there. Plenty of organizations. Maybe even a few
of your students.
Where to start? Have a look at Technorati. There are institutional blogs like the UNESCO Chair of E-Learning. And don't dare missing out on Vicky Davis' website, Vicki can be found online using the alias CoolCatTeacher.
If there's one person to watch in this space, it's vicki. She's
everywhere, from YouTube to Twitter and back. (More on these tools
below.) And there's a very neat project called the Open Educational Resources Map, a Google Maps-based list of organizations and players who contribute to the ever-growing world of open educational resources:
Heather Ford (blog), director of the Icommons
organization and one of the most active persons fighting for Internet
rights along Europe and America, created some months ago this Open
Education Map that seems to be a very interesting project.
Everybody can contribute to this map, it's a global collaborative
effort.
Once you start looking around, you'll find plenty of interesting stuff
out there. Get to know the people who make it. If you get a chance, say
hi. Start simple: For example by writing a comment on their blog.
Have you networked your students yet? Says CoolCatTeacher Vicki Davis:
I find it ironic that pet networking would probably have a higher success rate than educational networking, and yet, Classroom 2.0 has almost 11,000 members, and I actually meet people on there.
Know your tools (and experiment)!
Once you know who's out there, it's time to look at your own stuff.
What tools do you work with? If they get the job done well, then all is
good. No need to read any further.
Still with us? Then maybe not all is quite perfect yet and you're ready
to take a few new tools for a spin? Again, don't be afraid of new
stuff. With a bit of commons sense you won't hurt anybody, and nobody
gets everything right the first time they try. Be prepared for a mishap
or two, and don't get discouraged. (Who said being a teacher means not
learning any more?) There are plenty of tools out there that may make
your life easier, and help you get your message across.
Again, let's have a look at the Cool Cat Teacher - on her website
you'll find 16 links to social media tools, sharing services or other
web outlets. Just to name a few: On del.icio.us she shares links, on Flickr photos. Videos go to YouTube, small info bits on Twitter.
Then there's a whole bunch of wikis she contributes to, a number of
blogs, an event calendar. There's even more.
The point is not to be on each and every service, or to drink all the
Kool Aid: It's to think about what makes sense, and then just doing it.
If you're facing problems, questions, obstacles, worry not: "When in trouble or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout."
Be prepared to experiment a bit, and just ask your friends, colleagues,
or online acquaintances. Chances are they've run into similar problems
and are glad to help.
http://www.pontydysgu.org/2008/08/training-trainers/ Last week i took an all to short four day holiday in Romania. But this week sadly it is back to business. And tomorrow I am off to Jyväskylä for the EARLI conference. Wednesday evening I travel to Kuressaari in Estonia for a meeting of the b-learning project. And Friday it is back to Bremen. Phew! In fact I did not plan such a schedule - I managed to double book myself.
Anyway in Jyväskylä I am presenting a paper from the TT-Plus project on the training of trainers. The paper is officially co-authored between myself and Pekka Kamarainen - although I have to say he has done most of the work. Given my limited input, I feel able to say that I think this is a very good paper. The abstract is below and if you are interested you can download the full paper. I will also post my presentation slides for both meetings as soon as I have finished them.
In search for common ground: Starting points for analysing the professional situation of trainers in six European countries
“This paper gives an account on the working hypotheses of the European cooperation project TTplus (“A framework for continuing professional development of trainers”) concerning the diversity of training cultures and on the distribution of training functions. Then, the paper examines some methodological starting points for analysing the European training cultures with the help of sociological concepts like ‘contextual images’ (Ritsert, Bracher) or e-portfolio -related concepts like ‘use cases’ (Rees-Jones). Based on these grounded reflections the paper provides justification for the ‘controlled but explorative’ research strategy (Bracher) that was applied in the empirical studies. In this context the paper discusses the role of concepts like ‘instances of good practice’, ‘instances of change’ and ‘instances of innovation’ for the research approach of the project. In the concluding reflections the paper discusses the relevance of such a research approach for European knowledge development into the professional development of trainers.”
Download the full paper here
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SupercoolSchool/~3/373704651/helping BONUS SPEAKER: Alexa Joyce - Communications & Development Manager, European Schoolnet (www.eun.org)
Many kids find learning science dull and boring - but research (for example, the Rocard report)
indicates that hands-on science, where kids "become" scientists in the
classroom through inquiry-based techniques helps overcome this
perception. By inquiry-based science education, we mean processes where
children are investigating issues that they find interesting, and even
designing their own experiments to help them verify hypotheses.
At the same time, there are two great trends colliding right now:
science is becoming more open and participative (the UK's Gardenwatch
for the public schools
is a great example), while the the technical tools for carrying out
scientific work are getting cheaper and cheaper (for example, MIT's Scratch and Xplora's web experiment). Open source software, freeware and free online services, and open content for remixing
are all contributing to this, along with the arrival of cheap
electronic sensors and remote-controlled laboratory tools. These trends
can only help in getting inquiry-based learning into schools, and help
to create the next generation of scientists.
Here are some examples of interesting "cool tools" for science
education.
a)
Climateprediction.net is
"the largest experiment to try and produce a forecast of the climate in
the 21st century." It's a downloadable client based on BOINC, the same framework that was used to build the famous SETI@home
tool. It's a British project from the University of Oxford. Schools can
download the client, and run the global climate model. There are
teaching resources for all kinds of levels a available and a discussion
forum for school participants. The visualisation tools are great!
b) Concord consortium probeware
Concord provides a wide range of exciting science methodologies and projects. Their probeware
tools combine low cost sensors with analytical software, so that
students can run experiments, and track their results in real time.
Even a basic temperature probe can be used to run a huge variety of experiments and investigations,
on thermal conductivity of skin, thermodynamics and more. Once kids get
the hang of the tool, they can come up with their own ideas to
investigate.
c) Sustain.no
On this Norwegian site, teachers and students can join running
experiments that other schools are involved in. Together, schools can
collect and share data, and compare their results. There are lots of
different projects available to join. An interesting one is Global POP. 31 schools so far collected data on the level of environmental pollutants in fish.
These are just a few examples of tools that combine technology with
science to make the learning process more authentic and motivating.
What other tools are out there that can help kids get more enthusiastic
about science, and play the role of researcher while in the classroom?
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SupercoolSchool/~3/372963307/educati SPEAKERS: Alfonso Dehesa - Universidad San Pablo-CEU & HJ Barraza - ukini innovation labThe importance of education around the world is imperitave due to
the current global necessities. It is more important to have an
adequate education, though. We are always facinated by what geniuses
and prodigies do. Confucius, Da Vinci, Bethoven, Einstein, Hawking,
etc. have been the superstars of human history and their names continue
to thrill human emotions when talking about each of their own special
subjects.
Creativity is a fundamental and natural capacity of human beings.
We all are creative, although some manifest it more. Why? Have you ever
experienced to be fluent in anything like when you are in a meeting and
just dominate on the subject and everybody listens and gets amazed by
what you say? That is when you become fluent on the subject and know
that you are good at something. That fluent behaviour is creativity in
action, not just imagination.
We all have something we are good at, but, will we be succesful in
that in the end? That depends on how much practice you put into
it. Think about a 11 year old boy likes soccer but flunks at school and
the parents get him out of his soccer team to focus more on school. So
years go by and by the age of 20 he plays a soccer match with his
buddies. He's not going to be close as good as he would've been if he
continued training for those other 9 years. Creativity requires
practice.
Do you think Reimann (mathematician) didn't have fun? At one of
the most tedious subjects for the alumni of every school in the world,
he was a genious. When being 12 he discovered the calculation we now
know as the Reimann sum which is an aproximation to know the total area
under a curve. Remember, fun is emotions of joy and happiness. We all
experience emotions like that when we do what we want.
Sir Ken Robinsons states in his book, Out of Our Minds: Learning
to be Creative, that there are three important steps in the development
of creativity:
Finding your medium
Becoming an expert
Playing free within it
In order to let creativity flourish in students we need to have
a vaster and broader field of studies for them to discover their true
abilities. Not just math and grammar should be the most important
subjects, but also soccer, ballet or even painting. Every subject is
important because we some are good at painting but some may be good at
math. That way students can find their medium, find what they're good
at. About becoming experts and playing free within that area of
expertise, that mostly depends on the students. But, if they have fun
doing it they won't want to stop being those experts the world needs
now.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SupercoolSchool/~3/372928966/collabo SPEAKER: Cynthia Jimes
Senior Research Associate - Institute for
the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME)
In South Africa, a group of young scientists recruit volunteers from
across the world to help write free science textbooks online for South
African schools. In India, five organizations pool their expertise to
collaboratively write training materials targeted toward managers of
community IT centers in villages across the country. In California, a
group of community college instructors meet on Connexions to revise a
statistics textbook that will be offered free to community colleges and
other students in the U.S. and beyond.
Across the world, educators, scientists, trainers and other
individuals are coming together to create freely available open
educational resources (OER) using Web 2.0 tools. In doing so, they are
developing innovative new materials that draw on the expertise of
diverse individuals and that meet the needs of teachers and learners in
search of free, high quality content, that facilitate a participatory
learning culture, and that mitigate the high costs of education by
offering alternatives to proprietary materials.
But what do these efforts have in common? How are they inspiring,
facilitating, and maintaining engagement around collaborative content
creation? The Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in
Education (www.iskme.org)
has been studying these and other efforts as a way to support future
OER projects and individuals in—among other things—collaboratively
creating content to be used, reused, localized, and improved upon by
others. Six key lessons gleaned from ISKME’s work around the
collaborative content creation process include:
Match Technology to Authors’ Needs. Whether your authors are a group
of scientists skilled at LaTeX, or a set of high school teachers new to
Web 2.0, the key is to continuously streamline the peer production
platform and associated technologies to the authors’ technology skills
and current ways of working with technology. Doing so will help to
facilitate workflow and ongoing content contributions.
Establish an Iterative Workflow Process. Establish a workflow
process that allows for an iterative cycle of writing, feedback, and
editing. Short feedback loops have surfaced as especially important to
the workflow process, wherein, for example, assigned editors are
matched to content areas and provide rapid feedback to authors.
Keep Assignments Small. Break content assignments into small,
manageable chunks so that they are more manageable for authors to work
on and complete. ISKME’s research has shown that doing so helps to
increase authors’ ability to consistently complete assignments within
expected time frames.
Set Up Two-Way Communication Channels. Establishing two-way (as
opposed to top down) channels—through which authors and project
coordinators can communicate, and ask and answer questions—supports
community engagement and continuous improvement of the content creation
process. It is important that within these channels, authors feel they
can confidently ask questions and receive relevant answers—even to
novice questions; thus, facilitating a culture of openness and
acceptance within the project’s communication channels becomes central.
Allow for Peer Pressure. The group effect works. ISKME’s research
has shown that as the size of a peer production group increases,
authors are more likely to stay involved over longer periods of time
and contribute content on an ongoing basis. On the whole, authors who
work individually were found to create less content over time than
those working in groups.
Serve Pizza! Projects that promote or facilitate face-to-face
meeting spaces alongside their online peer production platform will
likely benefit from increased content contributions from authors.
Face-to-face meetings provide a way for authors to interact and
motivate one another as they create content. They also provide support
for questions that arise from authors along the way, and contribute to
a participatory culture that values constructive and diverse feedback.
In setting up face-to-face meetings, it is a good idea to give authors
something to look forward to. Pizza, coffee, sweets—whatever it takes
to create a fun, enticing environment.
Recognizably, the shape, size, goals and dynamics of each and every
collaborative content creation initiative will vary. The key is to pay
heed to what is unique about a project, and draw upon, adapt and
localize lessons from the field such as those above to support its
efforts. For more information about ISKME’s work on OER and content
collaboration, and for links to its research reports, visit www.iskme.org.
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