Would have loved to join in your meal but I was on the other coast at a conference. Look out for the next Wordstar Users Group at Little Creatures.

Just for the record, I don’t think that Chris or I can claim “strapping a jet engine onto a horse and cart” as our own. I thought it was Seymour Papert maybe.

I’ve certainly seen it around for a long time with cartoons too.

However a Google search for “strapping a jet engine onto a horse and cart” leads straight to Chris’s words referring to my list at various places so there’s the proof!

All the best

Bryn

So glad to have stumbled upon your cathartic rant! You are not alone. In fact, I will seek to emulate your proven leadership in all things 2.0! Coincidentally, my high school’s name is Belmont Secondary (in British Columbia, Canada) and I’m embarking on a ‘viral journey’ and your blog was just the insight I was searching for. I’ve dabbled in wikis, podcasts, google docs and voice threads but haven’t had the nerve to reach out beyond my classroom walls – sounds silly, doesn’t it?
While contemplating a project-based learning experience for a grade 12 class, I was looking for examples of moderated discussions, on a digital platform, to prompt students to voice their opinions about how they might change high school, and why. I am most interested in the feedback your question generated.
On another coincidental note, I was approached to lead an inservice on the ways technology can support diverse learners. Since you’ve been there and done that, any advice? I’m definitely not a technophile but I have become fascinated with the level of engagement on the part of students when they use technology to help them ’show what they know’. I won’t lie – I also appreciated how the wiki made assessment, editing and feedback a much less onerous task.

Cheers,

Pam

Your comment about ‘acting in our own individual spaces’ is exactly what it feels like for me at the moment. http://www.lol4life.co.uk My efforts at video lessons are massively time consuming, hugely expensive on equipment and server storage and as yet I have no idea whether I will ever be able to earn a living from it or even part of a living!

What’s stopping other people in their ICT tracks? I sense, especially in England, that teachers are beset by the changes constantly demanded from them by Government. The present culture massively driven by the meeting of targets plus the continuous testing of students that pervades the education system, reduces the time/energy teachers have to spend on working towards radically changing their approach using ICT. Lack of training is also an issue.

If like me you’ve undertaken learning online, you know the benefits that the Moodle environment can afford and yet even I cannot demonstrate it to start with. Until I have enough students signed up to a course to generate a discussion, it is not obvious to those who haven’t experienced it what can be achieved. Chicken and egg…….or some sort of leap of faith on the part of others.

If you’ve got any students who want to have a go at a sample free course posted on my website then point them in its direction and, in the spirit of unashamed advertising as I have so little time for pr, why not link together with other schools in Australia, the Southern Hemisphere, the world, the universe……..and give it a go!

At the moment a kindred spirit trying to break out.

Regards

Sarah