As Jan Davis used to say….

Ponder

“What really makes the biggest difference in education is brilliant teaching…creative curriculum and delivery.” Sir Ken Robinson

I was reading the comments to Will’s excellent post about schools and creativity and read this reference by Steve. Will’s post points to some of the issues we’ve been talking about concerning technology at FA. We have the freedom to create the kind of school that works, don’t we?
(And if you want to see the full video of Sir Ken, I posted it a few weeks back here.

The article is definitely worth clicking this hyperlink. Go ahead, click!

Thoughts about Lausanne Laptop Conference

My head is full and spinning. Hearing from folks at The Urban School made me optimistic that we are on the right track. Seeing how many schools are moving to 1:1 computing is energizing!
I am looking forward to meeting up with FA teachers again to talk about the program.

I was surprised how few people at the laptop conference were blogging themselves. I have learned so much the past few years, though I have to admit my own blogs are more link-filled than reflective. I would like to change that.

Will’s recent post is worth reading. What is getting in the way? Lack of time? Fear of change? I can’t believe it’s a lack of interest.

Another Session-Tuesday am

Using Video and Images to Enhance Scientific Understanding
A counterargument to the alarmist speakers:it’s important to differentiate facts, he says (Urban School). Don’t worry if you are not podcasting, blogging, downloading iTunes books and lectures all at the same time.

Urban School focuses on depth over breadth, value student ownership of their work

What are some of the benefits of students visualizing their understanding?

Students have the ability to see/relate dynamic processes

Interactive Physics his favorite software

a molecue–if you can’t rotate it, you can’t understand it (Odyssey helps you do this) He gave students an assignment to make their own animations to demonstrate their understanding of a chemical concept (took one lab class to do this)

Using video analysis software, they can immediately create graphs and tease out meaning of it

Students understand the relationship better, the question is much more like the scientific method…models the scientific method. Then used video analysis software to analyze (data studio?)

Students who struggle with math are helped with this visual learning–begs question: how necessary is the math? When so much of science is analyzed on the computer…
All learners benefit

He uses these for review, instruction, and keeps all vids online

(using clay) iMovie or Movie Maker

Dynamic processes require a dynamic medium

He took his students to a trapeze school; students each required to "swing"; each student wearing a motion detector; videotaped

They focus on finding ways to increase student understanding –choose software that matches task (all software is not necessarily science software)

Tech dept does not teach software to students–all tech skills are taught by teachers in the classroom