Education Technology in Schools

Twitter Ye Not?

Well, the light bulb moment happened and I'm micro-blogging with Twitter (trailing way behind the prolific Ms Barrow).

I opened an account in 2007, and well ... didn't get it. Now I'm a convert and my account is flourishing. My problem is that I like to spell correctly and construct sentences like what I was taught. Now I have to resort to short txt mssgng whr u tke out da vowls. I was taught that it is the consonants that give the facts and the vowels that convey accent and emotion ... so we'll see where it goes. If you're interested, I'm @asynchro.

Will schools jump on the bandwagon or be left behind?

The title of this post is the opening of a web 2.0 in education report based on research responses from school administrators in the US. Some of the report's statements and findings raise interesting questions.

"... digital media - and particularly web 2.0 applications - are a standard feature in the lives of young people ... it mnakes sense for schools to avail thmeselvesof the opportunities these applications provide to enrich the learning environment of classrooms. But is this happening? Are schools welcoming web 2.0 or shutting the door on it?"

The report identifies three school responses to the opportunities and challenges of implementing web 2.0:

• Trying to protect students and instructional time by banning Web 2.0 or setting policies to keep it “safe.”
• Preserving existing programs and practices by using technology in a way that “fits” into what is already in place.
• Taking a progressive approach based on the idea of discontinuous change that allows technology to transform the organization rather
  than moving it faster and further on its existing path.
  

It is interesting to tie this in with OFSTED's increased focus on safeguarding in inspections. Instead of promoting tighter filtering and blocking, it does exactly the opposite. Schools that assess and manage risk by educating children and young people of the risks can achieve higher ratings than those with a risk-averse approach that accept boiler-plate policies. There is clearly a role for LA's in assessing common risk factors but the message is that schools must be allowed to consider and assess risk independently and apply policies locally. 

Economic and efficient ICT in schools ...

The Audit Commission recently published a report highlighting ways schools can improve economy and efficiency.

ICT, (a major cost for most schools) gets scant mention with a bland statement " ... regular reviews of high cost services, such as administration and ICT, will reveal whether they are meeting the school's aims and objectives". The only ICT specific advice it gives is an example of selling your (overworked!) technician to other schools. Collaboration between schools to gain economies and efficiencies is mentioned, but is not applied directly to ICT where it can have a huge impact.

Interesting read though, and worth a look.

Carbon Reduction! ... ready for the commitment?

A colleague took me through the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) in the context of building energy efficient schools and the ICT used in intelligent buildings. CRC is a new mandatory emissions trading scheme that will affect large organisations (including schools) who qualify based on their electricity consumption during 2008. An organisation has to purchase allowances sold by Government for each tonne of CO2 they emit. The more an organisation emits, the more allowances it has to purchase ... a direct incentive to reduce emmissions.

CRC assumes energy use will fall year on year from a baseline calculated on 2008 energy use. Government will publish annual league tables based on this assumption. The problem for the LA and schools is that Extended services promote increased use of schools before and after school and during school breaks for a range of community uses. Energy consumption by that school will increase, not decrease, and this could be a disincentive for schools considering further opening their doors to the community.

In fairness the cost of carbon looks to be set at £12 per tonne from 2010, and won't be a biggie in money terms. More interesting is whether the press use the information to start school by school local league tables. Schools that are more active in extending to the community may find a sting in the tail, especially if they also wish to highlight green credentials.

The Inst Mech Engineers are promoting a Carbon Meter, Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is continuing to develop intelligent building approaches. As this is imminent, it will be interesting to see the response from schools.