21C Learning

Talent Show (click to play this fab 3 minute clip)

Acceptable Use Template (Select & copy, then paste into your own word doc)

About this Acceptable Use Agreement AUA template
The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has provided this template to assist school communities to develop agreements as to what constitutes acceptable use of internet, netbooks and other digital technologies in their community. 

In reaching this agreement:
-         schools should:

• review their expected values and behaviours for the use of technologies and articulate these in their Student Engagement/Wellbeing Policy.
• articulate how they will meet their duty of care in the use of digital technologies (Part A)
• modify this template to reflect their school and ensure that students and parents/carers, are involved in developing the agreement
• communicate with and support parents/carers, students and teachers to ensure they fully understand the agreement (see Family Information)
• ensure every student has signed the agreement prior to accessing digital technology (Part B)-         teachers should:
• discuss the agreement with their students and ensure they understand each dot point, negotiating with students where necessary (see Family Information)
• develop a classroom environment that promotes safe and responsible behaviour online
• ensure every student has signed the agreement prior to accessing digital technology (Part B)-         parents/carers should:
• read and understand what the school will do to support safe and responsible use of technology (Part A)
• read through the agreement and discuss it with their child to ensure they understand each dot point (Family Information section)
• consider how they might support safe and responsible behaviour online at home-         students should:
• read through the agreement with their parents/carers and their teacher to ensure they fully understand what they are agreeing to (Part B)
• negotiate appropriately through representative groups or directly with teachers and parents/carers about issues or changes to improve the agreement
• sign and abide by the agreement (Part B)
  

  This AUA template has:

   

  1      an About the AUA information sheet
  2      Part A of the AUA – The school’s support for safe and responsible use of technology
  3        Part B of the AUA – The agreement to be signed by the student and parents/carers.
  4        A Family Information section

  [Insert SCHOOL NAME] believes the teaching of cybersafe and responsible online behaviour is essential in the lives of students and is best taught in partnership between home and school. 21st century students spend increasing amounts of time online learning and socialising. These online communities need cybercitizens who do the right thing by themselves and others online, particularly when no one is watching.
  Safe and responsible behaviour online is explicitly taught at our school and parents/carers are requested to reinforce this behaviour at home.
  Some online activities are illegal and as such will be reported to police.

  Part A –The school’s support for safe and responsible use of technology

   [Insert SCHOOL NAME] uses the internet as a teaching and learning tool. We see the internet and mobile technology as valuable resources, but acknowledge they must be used responsibly.

   Your child has been asked to agree to use the internet and mobile technology responsibly at school. Parents/carers should be aware that the nature of the internet is such that full protection from inappropriate content can never be guaranteed.

   At [insert SCHOOL NAME] we: Schools will need to modify these according to what they provide. This is an important statement of how you demonstrate your Duty of Care for students online. Only include programs and features you have or will initiate this year at your school. 

  • develop our teaching knowledge to support 21st century learning
  • have policies in place which outline the values of the school and expected behaviours when students use technology and the internet.
  • provide a filtered internet service
  • provide access only to the DEECD search engine Connect (www.education.vic.gov.au/primary or www.education.vic.gov.au/secondary which can be used to restrict students to using websites that have been teacher recommended and reviewed
  • provide supervision and direction in online activities, and when using technologies for learning
  • support students in developing digital literacy skills
  • have a cybersafety program at the school which is reinforced across the school
  • use mobile technologies for educational purposes (e.g. podcasts or photos from excursions)
  • work towards setting tasks that ask your child open-ended questions, so they cannot copy and paste all answers from the internet
  • provide support to parents/carers to understand this agreement (e.g. language support)
  • provide support to parents/carers through information evenings and through the document attached to this agreement for parent to keep at home
  • work with students to outline and reinforce the expected behaviours in the Ultranet*.

   * The Ultranet is a password protected online learning space for all Victorian government school students.  In this space your child will be able to use tools to communicate and collaborate with other students from their class/ school both at school and at home.  The Ultranet will be active at [insert SCHOOL NAME] from [school to insert date]

  Part B – The agreement to be signed by the student and parents/carers

  See Family Information for support information.

  When I use technology, both at school and at home I have responsibilities and rules to follow. I agree to:

  • be a safe, responsible and ethical user whenever and wherever I use that technology
  • support others by being respectful in how I talk to and work or socialise with them and never write or participate in online bullying (this includes forwarding messages and supporting others in harmful, inappropriate or hurtful online behaviour)
  • report to an adult if I feel uncomfortable or unsafe online or see others participating in unsafe, inappropriate or hurtful online behaviour
  • seek to understand the terms and conditions of websites and online communities that I might upload my content to, what rights I may be giving away, and how this may impact on my ‘digital reputation’
  • be aware that content I upload or post can be used in ways beyond my control (anyone can see, change or use it)

   When at school I agree to:

  • behave according to my school’s Student Engagement/Wellbeing policy
  • protect my privacy rights and those of other students by not giving out personal details including full names, telephone numbers, addresses and images
  • use appropriate language when talking to and working with others online and never participate in hate mail or acts of harassment
  • use the internet at school for educational purposes and use the equipment properly
  • use social networking sites for educational purposes and only as directed by teachers
  • not deliberately enter or remain in any site that has obscene language or offensive content (e.g. racist material or violent images)
  • abide by copyright procedures when using content on websites (ask permission to use images, text, audio and video and cite references where necessary)
  • think critically about other users’ intellectual property and how I use content posted on the internet, not simply copy and paste information from websites
  • not interfere with network security, the data of another user or attempt to log into the network with a user name or password of another student
  • not reveal my password to anyone except the system administrator or classroom teachers
  • not bring or download unauthorised programs, including games, to the school or run them on school computers
  • talk to my teacher or another adult if:
    • I feel that the welfare of other students at the school is being threatened
    • I come across sites which are not suitable for our school
    • someone writes something I don’t like, or makes me and my friends feel uncomfortable or asks me to provide information that I know is private.
    • I accidentally do something which goes against the rules and responsibilities I have agreed to 

  When I use my mobile phone, iPod or other mobile device I agree to:

  • use it for learning purposes as directed by my teacher
  • act responsibly and not use the device to find, create or send information that might be harmful, inappropriate or hurtful to me or anyone else.

   To this end, when using my mobile device as a phone, I will:

  • keep my phone on silent during class times and only make or answer calls and messages outside of lesson times – except for specified learning purposes
  • protect the privacy of others and never post private information about another person using SMS messages.

   When using my mobile device as a camera I will:

  • only take photos and record sound or video when it is part of a class or lesson
  • seek permission from individuals involved before taking photos, recording sound or videoing them (including teachers)
  • seek appropriate (written) permission from individuals involved before publishing or sending photos, recorded sound or video to anyone else or to any online space
  • be respectful in the photos I take or video I capture and never use these as a tool for bullying.

   This Acceptable Use Agreement also applies to students during school excursions, camps and extra-curricula activities.

   I acknowledge and agree to follow these rules. I understand that my access to the internet and mobile technology at school will be renegotiated if I do not act responsibly.

   I have read the Internet – Acceptable Use Agreement carefully and understand the significance of the conditions and agree to abide by these conditions.  I understand that any breach of these conditions will result in internet access privileges being suspended or revoked.

   Student Name
  Year Level                                                                                Student Signature       
  Parents/Carers Signature                                             Date                                                                                        

   If you have any concerns about this agreement or ideas for making the agreement better

  Contact [Insert SCHOOL CONTACT]

   For further Support with online issues

  Students can call Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800. Parents/cares call Parentline 132289 or Visit

   http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/report.aspx

   © State of Victoria 2010 

  This work has been created by the teachers listed below as employees of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Victoria and copyright is owned by the Crown in right of the State of Victoria.  It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes, subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source and no commercial usage or sale.  Reproduction for the purposes other than those indicated above requires the written permission of the Department of Education and Training. Requests and enquiries concerning reproduction and copyright should be addressed to the Liability Management Manager, Department of Education and Early Childhood, 2 Treasury Place, Melbourne, VIC, 3002

Reminder: The 60 second science video competition will be held again in 2010  www.60secondscience.net

Recording Links to our recent online conference for science teachers :
Recordings link: https://sas.elluminate.com/mrtbl?suid=M.9DD63A447128DA3F5C74FA54EEDD0C

CYBERSAFETY for STUDENTS

Part 1: Malware

In these postings I will give details on the major security risks to students on the internet, and how they are mitigated.

A recent posting to this list reminded me that not everyone has a clear idea of how to be safe on this interweb thingy. Remember when we used to call it ‘the information superhighway’?

There are many scary stories about viruses, trojans and malware … and a paranoid response might be ‘I do not participate on private sites, the risk of encountering malicious malware seems too great.’

But what is a ‘private site’? And how can you tell if a site is ‘private’ or not? Answer … you can’t. And saying you are never going to visit wikis and blogs and nings and other social networking sites, means you will miss out on much of the richness of the net. This is a bit like saying you will only drive your car on the freeways.

For many students, most of these risks are prevented by the hardware/software/practices and policies implemented by the school, state education departments or governing bodies, and their ISP (internet Service provider). However, many students are now ‘connected’ 24/7, via mobile phones, internet hotspots and home networks. So how can students be protected from these risks?

So rather than discuss how schools mitigate risks, I will focus how we can protect our home networks. Most home computers are PC’s with a Microsoft operating system, so this is the focus of this posting, though much will still be relevant for Mac and Linux users.

I have net-savvy 11yo and 13yo children … we discuss the internet in the same way as we discuss newspapers, TV and movies.

Major Risk #1 “The greatest risk is your own behaviour”

Major Risk #2: Malware, spyware, viruses and Trojans

Q. How can I keep my kids safe online and stop getting malware, spyware, a virus or a Trojan on my home PC?

In order of importance ….

A.       First, by having the family PC in a public place in the home, where the screen can be easily seen from the kitchen/living area. We can discuss what to do when something ‘pops up’ on the screen, how various applications work, what to do with electronic ‘chain mail’, and how to share our skills. Bedrooms are for sleeping, reading, listening to music … they are not places for mobile phones, DS’s or internet connected devices.

Second, by having ‘automatic updates’ turned on for your operating system. The good news is that it is now turned on by default in XP, Vista and WIN7. On the second Tuesday of each month, Microsoft send out ‘patches’ to repair recently discovered security holes. Adobe products should also be updated regularly.

Third, by having an updated antivirus/security program running on your system. AVG, Avast, NOD32 are all good and popular free antivirus programs that have worked well for me in the past, but the ‘nag’ screens are often a pain. I have been a trenchant critic of Microsoft for many years, but I have recently been trialling their free ‘Security Suite’, and I am very impressed, it is lightweight (ie unobtrusive) and updates itself with the latest definitions very effectively.

Fourth, by using the most recent version of Firefox or Safari as your browser. If you must use Internet Explorer, make sure it is IE8, as previous versions have more vulnerabilities. If you are a bit of geek, you might want to add ‘noscript’ to Firefox or disable scripting in IE8.

Fifth, by not going to porn/illegal-download/torrent/p2p or ‘file-sharing’ sites like Limewire, Kazaa etc. Email used to be the main vector for malware, but now just by visiting and infected site and having scripts enabled in your browser is enough to install malware. You son or daughter may think they are downloading Linkin Park’s latest single from Limewire, but it may instead be a Trojan that steals your internet banking password.

Sixth, do not click on links in unsolicited emails, and only open attachments you are expecting.

Notice that I have not mentioned net filters. They don’t work and they create a false sense of security. The previous Federal Gov’t provided a ‘family net filter’ a couple of years ago. It was cracked in 4 hours by a Melbourne 15yo. Likewise the current Government’s filter will not achieve its stated aim. The internet is just too complex. The bad guys move too fast, and the truly bad guys use filesharing programs that are untouched by filters. My 13yo found out how to circumvent the school’s filter in Term 1 of her secondary education. You could spy on your kids and install a keystroke logger, or do geek things like installing OpenDNS or creating whitelists and blacklists in your browser, but I believe a combination of trust, openness and education will be ultimately more powerful, and protect my kids even when they are over at a friend’s place.

Stay safe everyone …

In Part 2,  I will cover passwords and phishing, botnets, identity theft, how to set up an account without giving away the keys to the kingdom, and your ‘internet footprint’.
In Part 3,  We will look at how to establish the veracity of information we find on the net.

PART II

In Part 1, We discussed how our behaviour online is the greatest threat to our security, and how we can do six simple things to keep ourselves and our students reasonably safe.

Now in Part 2, we will cover bullying, backups and botnets, identity theft, how to set up an account without giving away the keys to the kingdom, and our ‘internet footprint’ on Social Networking sites, Virtual Worlds. Passswords and phishing.

In all of this it is vital that we balance our concerns about exposure to harmful things on the Internet against the real benefits gained from exposure to positive things on the Internet. For example, I think it’s an over-reaction to say ‘No webcams in our home.’ To begin with, most netbooks and notebook computers now come with a built-in webcam, so banning webcams is a temporary strategy at best. Better to say … ‘No connected devices in bedrooms’. Webcams can do great things …. Our family has had fabulous times using webcams and Skype to have free video-chats with interstate and overseas friends and family. They are much-loved family events.

1.    Cyberbullying: via mobile devices, email and social networking sites.

What do kids like? Talking with their peers! And thanks to ubiquitous digital technologies, now they can chat 24/7 anywhere, anytime. Sometimes chat can turn to bullying.

Q. How can I stop my child from being bullied?

A. You can’t, but you can give your kids some guidelines to deal with bullying if it does happen.

First, mobiles can be charged in the living area/kitchen rather than bedrooms. At night, there is no need for mobiles to be in children’s bedrooms. When a message arrives, it is reasonable to ask ‘who was that?’. After all, it is the parent who is paying the bills, and open communication and frank discussions between parents, students and teachers is a great habit to begin early. All students should know that Australia has specific laws that prohibit the transmission of threats, and police will be very happy to track down offenders. And just like on the internet, we leave very clear tracks whenever we use phone networks. Most social networking sites have a ‘report abuse’ button, and administrators are happy to take action to de-list offenders. True, the real baddies can move stealthily around the internet using VPN or TOR technologies, and can evade phone detection by using ‘throw away’ mobile phones, but your average teen bully is NEVER going to throw away their precious phone. What the car was for my generation, the mobile phone is for today’s students.

BASIC RULE: Tell your students to NEVER respond to a cyberbully. It is the response that is the cyberbully’s oxygen.

ALSO: All students and parents should be familiar with the school cyberbullying and network acceptable use policies. If your school does not have these, it should. If bullying occurs and involves threats, police should be notified.

Cyberbullying is a huge area that I won’t go into further detail here, but excellent info is available at http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/

2. Backups – ‘The dog ate my memory stick’ – or – ‘Mum washed my thumb-drive’  – a student’s excuse for the 21^st century.’

Q. How often should I back up my data, documents, photos etc?

A. Once a week. There are two types of hard-drive. Those that have crashed, and those about to crash. All hard drives fail. Google has a huge number of hard drives deployed in their system, and to their credit they have kept track of how the first 100,000 of their hard drives behaved. They found that if a drive didn’t fail in the first three months (thankfully covered by warranty), then they failed at about 8% per year. That means that if your computer is 3 or 4 years old … a crash may not be so far away. Also thieves have been known to steal not only your PC/laptop, but also your backups. Francis Ford Cappola lost 15 years of unpublished scripts and photos when his computer AND his backup were stolen. Now that we are all using digital cameras and videos … and we don’t often print hard copies of all our family pics …. how would you like to lose all your family photos? That’s right … me neither. The good news is that there are ways to rescue a crashed hard drive, but that’s often expensive … better to do our backups regularly!

Q. How should I do my backups?

A. Use the 3:2:1 principle. We should have 3 copies of every file. 2 at home on different storages, and 1 offsite. In practical terms this means we have one copy on our machine, one copy on external storage eg CD/DVD/Memory stick/ external hard drive, and one copy offsite. A nice, free backup program I use is Synctoy, which I run once a week. It’s a free Microsoft download (yes, I know, another MS recommendation from the trenchant MS critic, but it is good, slick and easy to use.) Some people do their offsite backup ‘in the cloud’ using services like ‘carbonite’, but I don’t have much bandwidth where I live, so I prefer using external hard drives. External Memory is getting cheaper by the day … a 1 terabyte drive is now about $130, and can hold 10 years worth of high quality family archives. I keep one TB drive at work, and one at home.

3. Botnets, phishing and Trojans – and how to avoid them

The good news is that if you follow the 6 points listed in last week’s post, your chance of encountering these is VERY slim.

Q. What is a botnet?

A. A botnet is a fleet of zombie computers all infected with a hidden virus program. Most email spam is delivered by botnets. Botnets have also been used to attack websites for nuisance or blackmail purposes. There are millions of un-updated computers on the internet that are parts of botnets.

Q. What is phishing?

A. Phishing is a way of stealing our password/login information. Obvious targets are our online banking, our ebay or paypal account. Just remember that financial institutions will NEVER email us asking us click on a link in the email to verify/update/unlock our account by entering our username and password. Online commerce is quick, convenient and presents great opportunities for consumers, but we need to be wary, and watch for the padlock symbol, the HTTPS:// preface in the address bar, and watch for when the address bar turns green … all indicators that we are in a secure site.

Q. What is a Trojan?

A. Trojans are rogue programs that lay dormant on an infected machine, which watch and collect usernames and passwords, then transmit them to the Trojan controller. Trojans can also act as ‘back doors’ to make the infected machine part of a botnet.

4. Identity theft, and how to set up accounts without giving away the keys to the kingdom

Q. How does identity theft occur, and how can I stop it?

A.   Identity theft occurs when someone gets hold of our personal information ie Full name, DOB, address etc., and uses it to open a bank account/credit card/phone account in our name. We can prevent identity theft by carefully guarding our personal information. (We use a shredder at home to shred personal mail, old bills and credit card statements, rather than letting them all go to the bins) Unfortunately we are often required to fill in an online form to access a variety of services on the internet, to download products or applications, or to join groups or social networking sites. It amazes me that so many webforms ask for personal information they don’t need and should never have. Unless we are signing up to have something delivered to our home, there is really no need to put in our real address. Likewise we should NEVER put in our actual DOB. Many of these forms just don’t work if you leave a field blank, but our dog’s DOB will work just fine! J Another good strategy is to have a ‘disposable’ email address ( I have a couple of Hotmail accounts for exactly this purpose, and it really reduces the amount of spam that arrives at my regular email address.)

5. Our Internet ‘Footprint’

Q. How can I make my internet footprint work for me, not against me.

A.  By remembering that once we put something out on the phone network or the ‘net’ … it stays there! Any photo or email we send can be copied and pasted up onto a website or blog and made public. Anything we post to Twitter, or comment we make on someone else’s blog, Facebook wall or on any website is there forever, and usually we will have NO control over it and can’t remove it. Any picture or text we transmit over the phone network/internet can end up anywhere. Oh, and yes, we can leave our footprints in Virtual Worlds as well. (for students, there are only 2 ‘safe’ Virtual environments I know of … SuperClubs Plus and Quest Atlantis … both are very well moderated … I’m sure there are others, but I don’t know them) … Meanwhile, Google is indexing everything … and by everything, I really do mean EVERYTHING … (did I say everything?) … so finding information about anyone is easier and easier … try it … Google yourself (or your children) … you may be surprised at the size of your footprint. Students should be making sure that their ‘footprint’ portrays them in the best light possible. Future employers and future partners will definitely be looking at their footprint, so now is the time to start to develop good habits online. Already Governments use facial recognition software linked to internet databases to look for baddies at airports. The cat is out of the bag … and my crystal ball tells me that before long we will be able to walk down the street, take a pic of someone with our mobile phone … and immediately find out a hell of a lot about that person … this is not science fiction … this exact technology is in use now …. my bet is the open source community is already working on this.

6. Passwords

Q. What are good passwords, and why do we need good ones?

A. Good passwords keep our money safe and our identity safe. There are 90 different characters on our keyboard, so if we use a 1 character password, it won’t take long to crack. If we use a 2 character password, there are 90 x 90 or 8,100 variations … by the time we get to 4 characters there are 65 million combinations … it sounds like a lot … but this is a small number for a modern computer. Good passwords are between 6 and 8 characters at least … a combination of upper and lowercase, numbers and other characters.
Good passwords are changed regularly … and are not easily-guessed words that are vulnerable to a ‘dictionary attack’ …  and please students, don’t use the same password for your internet login, your banking account, your email account, your Facebook account etc … that would be very foolish.

To reiterate … In all of this it is vital that we balance our concerns about exposure to harmful things on the Internet against the real benefits gained from exposure to positive things on the Internet.

In Part III, we will look at how we can determine the veracity of material we find on this Interwebby thingy.

Stay safe everyone … Brendan

CORALS & LUNAR CYCLE:

For scientific analysis of the effect of the moon on coral spawning, just google ‘effect of moon’ + ‘coral spawning’ … there is a plethora of studies of varying quality.

The fact that coral spawns in synch with moon does not support any theory that the moon effects human behaviour.

I cannot find any peer-reviewed studies that statistically link moon phase with behaviour. Nor any theory that suggests any testable mechanism for this to happen.

A starting point for those interested is http://www.skepdic.com/fullmoon.html

A metastudy which examines 100 research articles and concludes that there is no evidence of the so-called ‘lunar effect’  is at by Kelly, Ivan, Rotton, James & Culver, Roger (1986), “The Moon Was Full and Nothing Happened: A Review of Studies on the Moon and Human Behavior”, and can be found in Skeptical Inquirer, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 129-43

Everything has a natural explanation.” The moon is not a god but a great rock and the sun a hot rock.” Anaxagoras, ca. 475 BC

 

Open Invitation: Better Science mini-conference ‘Engage me Now!’

 Theme is ‘Secondary Science: ‘21st Century teaching for engagement and deeper understandings’

Delivery: in the Elluminate online virtual room

A huge success! We will repeat this in 2010 (twenty-ten NOT two thousand and ten)

To see, hear, fast-fwd and rewind these sessions for those who missed it … goto ..

Recordings link: https://sas.elluminate.com/mrtbl?suid=M.9DD63A447128DA3F5C74FA54EEDD0C

Format : 2 online sessions of 70 minutes duration.

 

Session B : Thursday 3 December 4pm – 5.10pm
Participant link: https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2007026&password=M.BBD38DF5D0F80638AA29AFE046E4E7

Introduction to Elluminate [5 minutes]

Presenter 1: Brendan O’Brien @ Hume region
Topic 1: Sharing ideas for putting a rocket up junior science [20 minutes]

Presenter 2: Sam Hoffmann @ Ararat –
Topic 2: Class Blogging and Science wikis that work [20 minutes]

Presenter 3: Heath Matheson @ Mount Beauty –
Topic 3: Animated Podcasts in the classroom [20 minutes]

Presenter Bios:

Michael Barnard is an experienced teacher of mathematics and physics at Wodonga Senior Secondary College, and is also an integral part of the Excellence in Mathematics and Science Program at that school. Perhaps you don’t feel as if you are taking full advantage of the Digital Learning Objects that are provided by The Learning Federation. This session will demonstrate how the “It’s a Drag” vehicle braking distance simulation can become the basis of an engaging  lesson that caters for a range of abilities. The task involves collecting data then using a spreadsheet as a tool in its analysis.

Heath Matheson is a science, maths and ICT teacher at Mount Beauty Secondary College. He is an active participant in the Hume Region E-Learning Leaders Program and enjoys experimenting with ways of improving student engagement and learning outcomes using ICT. In particular Heath has experimented with the use of PowerPoint and Podcasts. Quite the opposite of ‘death by PowerPoint’, Heath has found simple ways of utilising PowerPoint to enhance rather than destroy student engagement. 1. By creating animations in PowerPoint to dynamically demonstrate a science concept. 2. By using (free!) additional software, adding narration to animations to create animated podcasts which students can share with peers and use to help revise for exams.

Sam Hoffmann is a Science, Mathematics and Biology teacher at Ararat College.  He has been involved in a number of pilot programs for junior science including ASISTM funded minerals education unit and a federal government initiative ‘Science by doing’.  He was introduced to using blogs and wiki’s in class last year and has been enthused by the creative opportunities to engage and involve students in thinking about science using  ICT.  He will use his 2008 year 9 science blog and a year 12 Wikispace as a model of how students can interact with scientific thinking and take control of their own learning. 

Chris Wines teaches Physics and Chemistry at Ballarat SC and lectures in Science Education at the University of Ballarat. He has been tinkering with applications of ICT to enhance effective learning in his science classrooms for a number of years. One of Chris’ favourite activities is using video to analyse the motion of common everyday objects, especially toys, to help engage the students and help them relate science to everyday life. Chris will demonstrate how he uses Video Capture and datalogging software to easily obtain relevant data from an experiment and how this data can then be used as evidence of the concepts being taught.

Adrian Camm is the Head of Mathematics at McGuire College and has responsibility for senior Mathematics and Physics. He is now taking a leadership role in promoting effective use of emerging technologies across all faculty areas. Adrian is a member of the Powerful Learning Practice International Cohort and is engaging with international educators on 21st-century learning. In this session he will show how social networking sites can be used to assist student understandings of science and prepare for exams.Brendan O’Brien is an ex-physics, science and theatre studies teacher who has worked on the science in schools program, is a primary connections consultant and currently team leader for Hume Region to deploy the Ultranet into 165 regional schools.

 

Session A : Thursday 19 November 4pm – 5.10pm
Participant link: https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2007026&password=M.BBD38DF5D0F80638AA29AFE046E4E7

Introduction to Elluminate –  [Brendan- 10 minutes]

Presenter 1: Michael Barnard @ Wodonga –
Topic 1: Digital Learning Objects [20 minutes]

Presenter 2: Chris Wines @ Ballarat –
Topic 2: DataLogging and/or Video Analysis [20 minutes]

Presenter 3: Adrian Camm @ McGuire Shepparton –
Topic 3: Using Nings for VCE [20 minutes]

 

TO SIGN UP: CLICK HERE

How to connect to Elluminate Virtual Rooms:
Getting  Elluminate set up is an easy task which takes between 3 and 10 minutes depending on your Internet connection.
To download Elluminate and to configure your computer go to http://elluminate.com/support/ and follow the instructions.
Some computer/school proxy settings may initially prevent you from connecting. This is easily fixed … phone the helpline   1800-267-338  1800-267-338    1800-267-338  1800-267-338    

You will also need speakers and a microphone – we recommend a microphone headset

Practice Times: practice sessions for presenters only Wed 4 Nov and/or Tues 10 Nov 4pm-5.10pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvI1k01PVP4

Some fantastic podcasts on this list … great for driving, mowing the fields, gym, cooking tea or while your spouse is watching Midsomer Murders … hehe

http://www.collegecrunch.org/entertainment/15-podcasts-that-will-make-you-smarter/

Principals were recently asked to submit their key questions about 21st century learning …. here are some answers …

Question 1. What are the key elements of 21^st century learning and can we identify them in classrooms currently?

21^st Century learning ensures a clear set of skills, attitudes and values are taught that enables students to have every opportunity in life. Importantly, 21^st Century learning represents a way of closer linking of families, schools and communities

21^st Century learning is 24/7 anywhere, anytime, life-long learning for anyone and everyone. It centres around giving kids choices in their learning – a negotiated curriculum around real-world, relevant tasks involving a variety of collaborations.

21^st Century learning is personalised, listens to student voice and is aligned to the way students live. It incorporates and exploits their confidence with digital technologies.

In secondary years 7, 8 and 9 especially, 21^st Century Learning involves a recognition that the nature of knowledge has changed, that content is no longer ‘king’ in conveniently narrow ‘subject boxes’, and that the nature of understanding and how one learns is far more important than what one learns.

*note: the VCE and its assessment paradigms will still dictate a content-driven curriculum at years 10,11 and 12, however this does not limit such teachers to 19^th and 20^th century pedagogies. At this level there is a great opportunity for a more diverse and engaging range of 21^st century pedagogies.

One common misconception is that in senior high school it is an ‘either/or’ choice. i.e either I deliver the content, or I use engaging teaching strategies. This is a false dichotomy. Teachers can deliver the required mandated content at senior level as well as employing a wide variety of engaging, personalised pedagogies.

See Adrian Camm’s Physics ning, http://vcephysics.ning.com/ and Andrew Douch’s  podcasting in VCE Biology. http://biologyoracle.podomatic.com/

Question 2. What are these 21^st century learning skills?

The 21^st Century learning skill set has been developed by a range of collaborating bodies at www.21stcenturyskills.org . Some of these skills are already incorporated in many good teaching programs and many are evident in VELS standards.  The skills are:
• Accountability and Adaptability—Exercising personal responsibility and flexibility in personal, workplace, and community contexts; setting and meeting high standards and goals for one’s self and others; tolerating ambiguity

• Communication Skills—Understanding, managing, and creating effective oral, written, and multimedia communication in a variety of forms and contexts

• Creativity and Intellectual Curiosity—Developing, implementing, and communicating new ideas to others; staying open and responsive to new and diverse perspectives

• Critical Thinking and Systems Thinking—Exercising sound reasoning in understanding and making complex choices; understanding the interconnections among systems

• Information and Media Literacy Skills—Analyzing, accessing, managing, integrating, evaluating, and creating information in a variety of forms and media

• Interpersonal and Collaborative Skills—Demonstrating teamwork and leadership; adapting to varied roles and responsibilities; working productively with others; exercising empathy; respecting diverse perspectives

• Problem Identification, Formulation, and Solution—Ability to frame, analyze, and solve problems

• Self-Direction—Monitoring one’s own understanding and learning needs; locating appropriate resources; transferring learning from one domain to another

• Social Responsibility—Acting responsibly with the interests of the larger community in mind; demonstrating ethical behavior in personal, workplace, and community contexts

• Personalised and based on rich information about the student, what they know and how they learn best.

Question 3. What measures will show effective 21^st century teaching and learning?

• Improved student outcomes – NAPLAN data; new (locally generated) assessment data that reflect the 21^st century skills
• Improved school survey data
• Improved VELS data – Personal Learning – teamwork, collaboration

Question 4. What makes 21^st century learning different for all stakeholders?

• SCHOOL – a 21^st century school will have structures in place that create effective *PLT’s that focus on teaching and learning rather than ‘organisation & management’– *PLT’s that incorporate coaching, collaborative, sharing, no ‘secret squirrels’; an organisation that learns together, that sees itself as a learning organisation rather than a deliverer of a ‘product’.
• TEACHERS – a broad range of pedagogies; exploitation of technologies; transfer/sharing of anecdotal records formal and informal assessments; ‘no excuse for not knowing what your kids know!’. Good teaching has always meant teaching kids what they don’t know, by building on what they do know, good teaching never assumes the kids know nothing.
• STUDENTS – choice; student voice being heard; students teaching others including their teachers; sharing responsibility for the learning occurring in the learning space; real authentic learning opportunities beyond the classroom; ‘wall-less’ 24/7 classroom; global; accessible anywhere, anytime.
• PARENTS – real-time knowledge about what is expected of their child; what their child is good at; what their child has achieved. An opportunity to be a part of a community – 2-way communication; contribute in some way to the life and the school; a stronger bond; connected with the school
• WIDER SCHOOL COMMUNITY – connectedness;
• EMPLOYERS –  adaptable, flexible employees who are capable of learning on the job and problem-solve, collaborate, teamwork;  
• AUSTRALIA – is a stakeholder as we need our future employees to effectively compete for our economy
• GLOBAL – globe needs our kids to collaborate and solve problems; knowledge of systems

*NOTE: the concept of PLT’s is currently being broadened to PLC’s (Professional Learning Communities) to recognise the impact of web 2.0 and social networking

Question 5. What will curriculum look like in 21^st century?

In Australia, a national curriculum is imminent. Hopefully, as well as content, it will encompass skills and attitudes and be …

• Based on real world, collaborative, multi-disciplinary tasks
• Rigorous, rich and have relevant tasks

Question 6. How does 21^st century fit into a small rural community?

In the 21^st century, isolation and the tyranny of distance are no impediment to rich, relevant, well-resourced and challenging learning environments. While many students grow up and stay in small rural communities, they still have the need for life-long learning skills, those that do move away will be competing for jobs in a global marketplace. 

Question 7. How does 21^st century learning ensure that the students have the right skill set for their futures?

Refer to Q.2 – the 21C Skill set – a starting point is a curriculum audit against this skill set.

Question 8. How will a 21^st century school draw on the available resources of family, community and business connections to strength the curriculum?

By embedding 21st century learning beyond the curriculum into the whole school culture and catering for all the stakeholders (see Q. 4)

Question 9. Is the open classroom an essential part of 21^st century teaching and learning, and what does it really look like?

No, classroom design is not an essential part of 21^st century teaching and learning, it is the resourcing and use of the learning space/studio that is essential. Many schools are constructing open classrooms because they best allow student access to a wide range of resources, and allow for many variations in student groupings during the school day.

Question 10. How do we ensure our teachers and communities are ready for 21^st century classrooms?

They are ready. It is the role of the leader to support teachers and communities as the transition happens around them. See Q 26, 30, 31

Question 11. What infrastructure will be made available to support 21 century classrooms?

Over the last 10 years, including the last 18 months, there has been an unprecedented resourcing of school facilities and infrastructures including
BER/NPF/NSSCF/DER/Ultranet readiness/WAP Refresh/Bandwidth upgrades/Extra Tech support 

Question 12. How do we manage resourcing issues?

The key to effective resource management is in comprehensive planning, ensuring strong eLearning Planning is embedded in the school Curriculum Plan, AIP & Strategic Plan.

Strategic planning includes the creative use of coach staff in preference to specialist staff to benefit all teachers and classrooms. In a primary school, having a specialist ‘ICT Teacher’ and have the different class groups ‘rotate through’ the computer lab can be very counter-productive if the teaching staff see eLearning as the responsibility of the specialist ICT teacher. Better to find ways for the highly skilled ICT teacher to do some in-class coaching and help teachers to use a wider range of pedagogies.

Question 13. How will new learning spaces facilitate 21^st century learning?

New learning spaces facilitate 21^st century learning via flexible groupings for students and enabling access to a range of shared resources. In these spaces students can make informed choices about which resources to access to best facilitate and represent their learning.

Also, see Q.9

Question 14.  How will Special Schools fit? Will they become isolated to their cohort or will they interact across?

Some Special schools have already demonstrated the benefits of 21^st century learning for their students via a digitally rich curriculum.  Rather than becoming isolated, Special Schools are forging stronger links with other institutions. Already Special School students are benefitting from blended learning and accessing a variety of programs from different providers.

eg VCAL, TAFE, Secondary Colleges

Question 15. How do we equip our students/staff/parents for a shift in paradigm and who else is involved?

A great question, implying a cultural change and a diverse range of stakeholders.
For students, it involves choice; student voice being heard; students teaching others including their teachers; sharing responsibility for the learning occurring in the learning space; real authentic learning opportunities beyond the classroom; ‘wall-less’ 24/7 classroom; global; accessible anywhere, anytime. It is also clear what it is NOT. It is not banning mobile technologies. We do not want schools to be the only place where students feel disconnected from their world. For staff, see Q. 26, 30 and 31. For parents see Q 24 and 27. Other stakeholders are discussed in Q4.

Question 16. How do we bring all staff on board with the provision of this learning?
First, by building teacher capacity, then by supporting teachers to take risks.
See Q. 26, 30 and 31

Question 17. How will classroom practices change?

The change in classroom practices will be obvious. Teachers will be using a wider range of pedagogies, and exploit a wider range of resources. Increasingly, they will cater for the needs of individual learners. There will still some teachers who will still regularly hit the ’25 copies’ button on the photocopier, but this practice will diminish and will be an indicator of changed practice.

Question 18. Which has highest priority – technical, structural, or management?

None of these is a high priority compared with visionary leadership. Most of the technical and structural elements are provided for the school by DEECD and these are managed via the school Strategic Plan, AIP and eLearning Plan. A Principal who models 21^st Century Learning him/herself, who can build structures and processes which support effective PLT’s, and who demonstrate a confidence and competence with a 21^st Century technology, will be able to lead the school with authority and passion. They will not merely ‘talk the talk’.

Question 19. What PD will be available for teachers?

A wide variety of PD is available to teachers. Increasingly high quality PD is available via Elluminate and the Knowledgebank PD-online Calendar http://www.trumba.com/calendars/knowledgebank . Schools should first look at the possible champions currently on the teaching staff. How can their expertise and enthusiasm be transferred to others? Regions, networks, cluster and Ultranet coaches also offer ongoing PD for teachers. One-off, ad hoc PD is not recommended. The preferred Professional learning model is based on the Seven Principles of Highly effective Professional Learning, where learning is ongoing and ‘close to the classroom’. http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/edulibrary/public/teachlearn/teacher/ProfLearningInEffectiveSchools.pdf
Specific PD on the Ultranet will be made available state-wide. Specific PD can also be found behind the ePotential Continuum. This question is also addressed in Q. 26, 30 and 31. Note that that the effectiveness of teacher PD is doubled if the principal is also learning with the teachers.

 

Question 20. How will students of ranging ability be supported in 21 century classrooms?

In a 21^st century classroom, teachers have a great range of data available which informs them of the achievements, abilities and needs of each and every student. There is an unprecedented opportunity to deliver a highly personalised curriculum and learning experience to every individual student. See Q. 17

Question 21. What do we predict students will need for skilled employment in 15-20 years?

For the specific skills required, see Q1. Future student needs have been looked at extensively and critically over the last ten years especially by www.21centuryskills.org and the OECD. Intel Corporation, Cisco Systems and Apple have also conducted extensive research and published excellent papers on this theme. http://download.intel.com/education/EvidenceOfImpact/Kozma_ICT_Framework.pdf http://www.cisco.com/web/about/citizenship/socio-economic/globalEd.html
http://images.apple.com/education/highschool/media/ACOT2_Overview.pdf

Question 22. How is the framework going to cater for increasing low socio economic factors in classrooms?

While schools cannot provide answers to all issues of social inequality, in a 21^st century learning environment, there is a more accurate and complete picture of individual learners needs, achievements and circumstances. There are closer links with support agencies and service providers. Schools already ensure that resources are provided fairly in the school setting and schools are becoming community hubs  with school resources being made available over extended hours.

Question 23. How do we support the ‘drivers’ amongst our staff to broaden the skill base?

Leaders have developed a great range of structures and strategies to support change agents in their schools. See Q. 26, 30 and 31

Question 24. How is it transferred from school to home?

While the current netbook projects are doing this very effectively, this question reflects 19^th and 20^th century learning, where the school was the repository of knowledge and skills. In 21^st century learning, there is a recognition that all stakeholders contribute to the whole. See Q. 27.

Question 25. What knowledge as teachers will we need to lead our community and what skills, abilities and knowledge do we want kids to have?

As teachers, we will need the same 21^st century skills, abilities and knowledge that our students need. We will be learning with them. For detail of these, see Q.1.

Question 26. How do we build teacher capacity to use the technologies, facilities and teaching & learning practices to improve student learning outcomes in 21^st century learning?

Teacher self-knowledge and effective PLT’s are the keys to building teacher capacity. Teacher P&D plans should be developed within a PLT context and be informed by the teacher’s response to the ePotential survey and the associated ePotential Continuum resources. A culture in the school where rigorous P&D planning is taken seriously is an essential element of building teacher capacity.
Recently, research evidence indicates that ongoing Professional Learning that is conducted within a PLT,  coaching and mentoring context is significantly more effective than one-off ad hoc teacher PD. Interesting also is the finding that the effectiveness of teacher professional learning is doubled if the principal is also learning with them.

Question 27. How do we engage families?

Beyond all the effective strategies that schools already employ, we can engage families by giving them an effective 24/7 access to the school and all the information that a parent/guardian needs to support the student’s learning path. This is much more than having the policies, subject outlines and latest school newsletter available on the school website. By definition, in a 21^st century school, there are multiple effective two-way communication modes. The Ultranet will be playing a key role in 2010 and beyond. Parents will not have to wait for the half-year report to find out how their child is going at school.

Question 28. How do we manage the confusion between 21^st century learning and ICT?

21^st Century learning is about the 21C skills (see Q.1), the effective use of new learning studios, diverse pedagogies, personalised curriculum and the exploitation of resources. While ICT and eLearning are subsets of 21^st Century learning, they are not necessarily the prime focus.

Question 29. How do we incorporate I-phones etc into classrooms and control misuse outside of classrooms?

The use of mobile devices to enhance learning is clearly going to increase. It should be made clear however, that mobile devices will not be used all the time every day and will not be used to replace handwriting. What is clear is that teachers and students will have a greater range of ‘modes’ to learn with, and to represent their learning with. The first step to incorporating such devices into programs is to support innovative teachers via endorsement of their P&D plan and flexible budget lines in the school’s eLearning Plan. The school has no legal duty-of-care to ‘control’ misuse of mobile devices outside of school hours. This is covered by the Telecommunications Act. However by having an effective cyperbullying policy the school is building a culture of ethical behaviour which links clearly to the school’s well-being policies and restorative practices programs.

 

Question 30. How do you best build teacher capacity & understanding with use of electronics devices?

The first step to build teacher capacity & understanding with use of electronics devices is to support innovative teachers via endorsement of their P&D plan and flexible budget lines in the school’s eLearning Plan. This knowledge of the technology and the accompanying appropriate pedagogies is transferred to other staff via effective support for PLT’s. If there are no teachers at this stage, then TPL is a most effective strategy.

Question 31. How do you get teachers to task risks?

a)   By nurturing and enabling coaching and mentoring as part of standard practice in the school. Where P&D planning is resourced, given respect and taken seriously at the individual level, unit/faculty level, and the whole school level.

b)   By having PLT’s who meet regularly to plan, trial and evaluate new teaching strategies and the use of new resources.

c)   By enabling teachers to become members of a broad range of learning communities beyond their school.

The idea is not to create new PLT’s, rather, to place 21st century learning firmly on the agenda of PLT’s that already meet and plan regularly. Having clear, sharp, shared and short-term goals is a very effective way for PLT’s to operate and engage with the changed practice that comes with 21st century teaching and learning.

Question 31. So what is 21^st century learning?

21^st Century learning is a way of describing optimal teaching and learning.

*PLT – the notion of isolated PLTs is outmoded in 21^st century schools. This has been replaced with PLC’s. Professional Learning Communities recognise the reality that members now bring knowledge and understandings that are gleaned and shared  by global communities of practice via web 2.0/social networking on the WWW.

And now, some reciprocal Questions for Principals

Ask yourself “How do teachers target the 21^st Century skills in my school?”
What do you think of the list? Can we add more? Are there some that can come out? and ….

How do I model 21st Century teaching and learning?

 

Is this sad … or what? Is the school going to be the one place that students will ’switch off’ their connection to the world as they walk in the school gates? Now that’s REALLY sad! We can do much better than this!

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