WeCreate

Royal Society

"A chance for Wellington region school leaders and Boards of Trustees to discuss copyright solutions for more innovative sharing, and better reuse of educational resources in New Zealand schools."

So I went along because I am interested in ways we can share our resources and therefore be able to use resources shared by others.  I also wanted to know more about using resources "within the law" and also to try to find out how I can have my students do this also. 

A guy from the Ministry spoke first, but I didn't catch his name.  He talked briefly about the investment the Ministry has made in working with other agencies and creating policy, etc about the sharing and ownership of schools' resources.

Wayne MacIntosh
OER Foundation
"Sharing to learn" to "Learning to share"

WikiEducator - largest and most production resource sharing in the world of education
Share, Remix, Reuse - "Legitimate plagiarism?"

Shoulders of giants - education, by nature, steals from others, especially the past.
Embrace your repsonsibility to lead

Collaboration lowers cost of creating resources
OER and Creative Commons can overcome the forced cost of copyright materials, which are restricted by copyright for the purpose of gaining revenue.

Format, location and CC licence need to be decided before authoring begins, so that hands are not tied later, i.e. if you author a piece based on existing resources but you don't know where you got original ideas from, then you may not be able to share it. 

Profiles of schools on WikiEducator, shared resources on Moodle in shared repository.
= Should teachers in schools share on behalf of school, or as individuals??
Can do both, perhaps up to BOT to decide as owners of materials.

In NZ, our collective agreements are silent on intellectual property, unlike most other similar sort of contracts in developed world.
Though it is included in tertiary contracts.  Why is there a difference?

Ownership of resources created by teachers??
Legal ownership lies with BOT, in all cases unless otherwise agreed.  Info on TKI
What needs to happens so can teachers share their resources?  And so we can take our resources with us when we transfer to a different school?

Teachers might argue that resources made in their own time on their own laptops are their won property. This is incorrect.  If you create something for the purpose of the position you are currently employed in, that creation is the property of your BOT.
And this resource will carry the default licence "All rights reserved"

However, the copyright act, within which the above falls, was written for print based resources. What about our growing collections of digital and online resources?

Jane Hornibrook
Creative Commons NZ
jane.hornibrook@royalsociety.org.nz

Policy = NZ Government Open Access Licensing Framework = NZGOAL
School BOTs are included in the scope of NZGOAL and are invited to apply it.

Schools should make it policy to use default licence CC BY (Creative Commons Attribution = meaning others can use it if they attribute the owner correctly) then add other conditions.  It is too restrictive to start with closed copyright and then open.  Start open and then think of conditions.

Team apporach needed within institutions in order for policy to be applied, maintained and kept live.
Who knows the policy?  If it is being used properly?  Who is applying it?
Who is in charge? Who is igoring it?
Kiwi-can-do attitude has lead NZ to have the first govt to adopt an open policy.

WikiEducator has online courses on how to use WEd, inlcuding seminars.

Be aware of use of published resources within our own resources.

CC is not an alternative to C (copyright) it builds on it and works with it.
Licensing is proactive - you must apply a new set of rules and conditions.
Make sure you publish under NZ CC licences - as different regions.countries have different rules and responsibilities.

Philosophical differences
Freedoms given to group of users V. Freedom of the content

Currently all resources created in schools, according to NZ copyright act, default to "All rights reserved"

CC does not take away rights of owner/creator/C holder - it just gives permissions.
Licences are irrevocable.  Licences cannot be taken off once applied.  Specific licence permissions need to be carefully considered before licences are applied.

Originals will always be available under original licence.
CC doesn't restrict commercial value under copyright.


What do we do now???
BOT needs an IP policy that allows freedoms but keeps properties.

Albany Senior High School
on OER/WikiEd
= win/win for BOT and creative staff
Recognises staff, see policy here

Also asserts BOT has no legal right over student work.

A minor can apply a licence and release under copyright, however, this cannot be defended in a court in their own right.

Moodle 2.0 Training

Julian Ridden

http://training.moodle.com.au/20/

Demo Tour

Profile page has:

• Calendar so students can see all due dates

the little three bar grey symbol on top right of each gadget will "move this to the dock"... very cool

Survey tool
Collates feedback and creates graphs

Questions:

Can students be automatically enrolled in course, or do teachers have to enrol individual students??
Can I embed a google map?
Can I embed other web apps?

Things I don't like:

• page editors default to double spacing... very annoying
• "Moodle" has decided that I must have certain features, like page descritpions, but then it gives the option to not display the description... 
• When adding and removing content files, I have to save the whole page in order for that to take effect!
• When I'm in my course, why can't I click on the "bread crumb" to go back to my list of courses?
• When trying to add a gadget, the search box doesn't stay at the top and you can't modify your search without starting the search again
• Takes about 3 times as long to embed a YouTube vid.  
• I can't seem to format the layout of my text on a page.  It centers stuff when I think it looks dumb to be centered.
• I really really hate the double spacing!!!
• I would really like to be able to move my navigation blocks around, but no
• It is really not easy to see how to add stuff and edit it.  E.g. how do you add a page in the "Wiki" function????
• there seems to be strange places for things
• Wiki pages don't connect!!  Therefore, it's not a wiki
• And pages in wikis can't be deleted
• I don't like having to scroll back up to the top of the page to turn on editing.  The top menu stuff should freeze in place so it can be used further down without scrolling.
• All menus and set up pages seem overly confusing - too many boxes that aren't necessarily labeled logically
• It seems to be a kingdom of control, rather than allowing students to gain knowledge and understanding logically and in a modern context (We must put a time frame on quizzes so students don't go out to net to find answers) If it is formal assessment where it is not open book, is it good practice for them to be completing it online?  How can we maintain good assessment practices?  Surely formative assessment or general classroom learning can be flexible enough to allow open book use of net.
• This isn't built for efficient use of teacher preparation time.

I feel like I need to acknowledge some positives.

Some cool tools, like wikis (although these don't work), surveys could be really cool - esp. as data gathering, quizzes/

However, these seem like they would take ages to set up. 

Big Brother functionality seems good - seeing who is doing what, how long it is taking them, how many times they are adapting their answers...  However, how much of my time will be taken up with taking advantage of these tools?  Do I have time to read and check all this analysis???
Or- is it just "Big Brother" for the sake of it?

Undecided.

julian@moodle.com.au

Netsafe

Notes from Netsafe seminar at Wellington East and some of my thoughts...

Netsafe and Netsafe schools kit - part of the ministry, but not.

For young people, ICT is the norm.  They mainly use it for communication and sharing media.

Mobiles and consoles are net capable so most traditional net safety ideas no longer apply.  No longer family PC in shared space where net usage can be open and, if need be, monitored.

With 5 million (?) net connected gaming consoles in NZ, we need to rethink our net safety strategies.

Peer and self action is very important for cybersafety.

When something goes wrong, young people go to their peers, rather than going to adults.  Adults who will probably need an explanation of what Bebo/Facebook/YouTube etc is before they can even comprehend the problem or have a realistic solution.

Shotgun v. Facebook

Basically, if you were to allow your child to use a shotgun, you would give them rules and skills so they could deal with any situation that may arise.

Apparently (hopefully getting this story correct), a young person said something like, "My parents don't mind me using a shotgun, but they won't let me use the internet."  

Obviously, this seems absurd, but there is some reality there.

Last year I had the pleasure of attending the Media Studies conference and one of the speakers there, Julian McDougall, talked about this exact thing.
When planning a field trip to a farm (my example, not Julian's), there might be the slight possibility that students are charged by an angry bull. As teachers, we plan for this, we write it into our risk management documentation, and we take our cell phones and a first aid kit. But we still go on the trip.

Isn't it the same with the internet? There are risks, sure, but if we are aware of the risks and make sure our students and supervisors are aware of how to deal with the risks, we can still go on that field trip (i.e. use the web).

What we need is to create an educated environment around young people about being safe.

Safe from what?

Cybersafety used to be all about avoiding porn.  Let's face it, it was the big scary thing on the net, and still is.  There are other things just as big and scary, but what are they? 

I think we need something of a list of actual risks, so that we can plan for ways of dealing with them.  My fear is that we will end up restricting our net usage so much, that our freedoms might become overly protected unnecessarily. 

How do we model good ways of avoiding the risks?

First we need to know how to protect ourselves and help our students to protect themselves. Check this out - just a few ideas about how to control the tools you use. There will always be settings for privacy and access.

If our students are using web apps, we need to make sure they are setting appropriate privacy controls.

What else?

• good searching skills
• online profiles
• providing banks of good sites 
• guiding their net use in class
• creating communities online where students access content in "controlled" environments (I'm thinking of class/subject sites or Moodle environments)

But what else do we need to do?

Apparently NAG 5 has something to do with all of this, so I looked it up and you can too:

Each board of trustees is also required to:

(a) provide a safe physical and emotional environment for students;

(b) promote healthy food and nutrition for all students; and

(c) comply in full with any legislation currently in force or that may be developed to ensure the safety of students and employees.

Schools are very good at setting up a cybersafety policy, but then they assume averything is covered and there will be no problems.  This needs to be more active and pro-active.

Cybersafety policies used to base risk definitions around traditional media (magazines, newspapers, TV, film, porn).  This needs to make a more definitive shift to the digital world where content is differnet and largely user created.  What happens now?

Schools are also very good at preventing students from getting in harms way, but not very good at providing students, and teachers, with the skills to get back out.

Oraganisational Risk Reduction

Usually, schools' risk management policies centred around keeping the school out of the media/news.  

Instead, we should be focused on protecting young people.  

Student centred.

Model safety.

Digital citizenship

Activity engaged in by young people on the net:

• research 
• communication
• games
• media consumption
• publishing content
• banking and trading

...all of these have benefits and challenges

NZC - all this links to the KCs

Digital literacy

Digital citizenship links NZC KCs and values to digital literacy and cybersafety skills.

Critical thinking skills

Challenges

Meaningful

Honesty and integrity

Rights - privacy, freedom of speech, etc

Participate

Contribute

Modelling - use the skills you wnat them to use

Not just for safety, but for ethical reasons too. (e.g. pirated music, films, etc)

Protecting studnets from copyright infringement just as important.

Netsafe's structure for safety

Learn - focused on students

Guide - for schools and parents

Protect - policy, infrastructure, support

Top 500 passwords

How to create a password

and make sure it is unique

and remember it

and not share it

MyLGP - community of teachers on NetSafe.  some really good stuff

The Scam Machine

Some EDtalks videos to watch

I haven't watched all of these, but they look good:)

Online dangers and responsibilities - not so virtual

Brett Lee

The key to supporting young people’s experiences of challenge in cyberspace

John Fenaughty is the Research Manager at Netsafe NZ

From e-safety to digital citizenship

Martin Cocker is the Executive Director of Netsafe NZ

Through the eyes of a child - the dark face of the Internet

Brett Lee

There's heaps more on the EDtalks site

Be safe

Web 2.0 Tools Sharing

Smart FM - not just language learning.  Can be for definition and concept learning.

Cmap - mindmapping tool

xtranormal  animating small scenes like this

issuu

StumbleUpon

Voki

ULearn 2010: Animate Senior Students

Creating supportive learning environments

Really cool

many uses

Create short animations on anything

xtranormal

ULearn 2010: Mimio

So, I was booked to go to the Processes for Learning breakout that is on right now.  But I got to the room and saw it was the same woman from yesterday's keynote and from the instructional design session.  I turned around and found a session on Mimio across the corridor so here I am.

Mimio

I really want one of these!


Magnetically connects to the board

ULearn 2010: What every instructional designer needs to know

Lane Clark

Human cognitive architecture (HCA)
Cognitive load theory (CLT)

She started with rules for us to use/not use the pens.  Don't colour with the pens.  Put the pens back in the case...

What happens in the brain in order for learning to occur?
If you forget it after several months, did you actually learn anything?  Yes
Apparently, if nothing has changed in your long term memory, then nothing has been learned.
How do you know?  We only teach our studnets for a set amount of time.  Is that amount of time within the realms of long term memory?
If I only needed to know my learned stuff for a short, specific term, then does it matter that it does not exist in my long term memory?  Didn't I still learn it?  Does she mean that I didn't learn anything for my life long learning bank?


John Hattie

Now we are listening to Lane and recording our notes on a template she has given us.  We must use different colours and we can't write in sentences.  We need to use pictures.

Working memory v. long term memory
How long is long term?  What is the span of working memory?


Working Memory:
All conscious processing occur in your working memory
3-4 items dealt with at once
30sec limit if not rehearsed
only applies to new, yet to be learned information

Long term memory:
Store schema (mental representations of information)
if working memory can draw on schema in long term memory, then limitations of working memory don't exist
Huge stores allow easy recognition of characteristics

What is learning?
Novel information processed in working memory... stored in long term memory in REM sleep (best time for review is just before sleep. Concept mapping, etc)
Problem solving places a huge burden on working memory
Learning is inhibited if working memory is overloaded

Cognitive Load Theory (CLT)
the ease with which information is process in working memory

Intrinsic cognitive load = intellectual complexity of material

• inherent intellectual complexity of material.  
• cannot be controlled.
• elements cannot be understood in isolation
• understanding information imposes heavy WM load = simultaneous 
• can artificially separate whole into simpler bits but could compromise integrity of material and learning

Extraneous Cognitive load = way information presented
instructional techniques require learners to use working resources on activities that do not contribute to schema development

• searching information
• writing when writing outcomes are irrelevant to the learning
• trying to record and listen and watch simultaneously

Known as ineffective cognitive load
Instructional designers have complete control over this.


Germane cognitive load = learner investment

• known as effective cognitive load
• when intrinsic adn extraneous cognitive load leave sufficient wm resources, learners may invest extra effort in schema construction
• motivation results in an increase in cognitive resources devoted to a task and therefore contributes to germane cognitive load

Implications:
Extraneous

• know the schema associated with the learning
• teachers need to unpack curriculum so that instruction can be strategically designed
• 
  

Intrinsic

• recognise level of complexity inherent in material
• collect baseline data
• Provide strategically designed immersion opportunities that focus on prerequisite schema development
• if learning must be broken down ensure learners see the big picture at the beginning and end

Germane

• ensure wm not overloaded capacity not overloaded due to Ext and Int
• only then will learner invest
• still no guarantee they will invest
• recognise the power of a learner's level of personal motivation
• learning must be relevant and purposeful tot he learner today - before you start the learning, it's too late at the end
• cater to MIs - this promotes success
• provide criteria for content, process, skills
• success = positive emotions = success = increases germane cognitive load
• success is the only option
• ensure there is no danger, stress or threat = limits learning = decreases success = decreases motivation = decreases germane load

Differentiate through tools, not activities
References I found:
http://www.simongrant.org/pubs/val/text.html 
Wikipedia - good overview

ULearn2010: MLearning

Nathan Kerr
Robert Douglas
Dr Noeline Wright

Paper notes handout of slides, etc.  Refer to these.

Vodafone
Strong association with schools
Podcasting to mobiles

What is MLearning?
Any device that allows student to learn any where, any time.
Mobiles
iPods
Netbooks
Laptops
PSP
etc

Encourages sharing of content and product
videos, etc

From notes: Students wanted their mobile devices to be "communications Swiss army knives"
Access
Create
Manipulate
Critique
Publish
Collaborate

Content
Students want both teacher created and student created content, because they want to see the "standard" and variations of that standard.

MLearning encourages collaboration the most.

NZQA
They don't encourage text language (?)
Schools have their own ability to write up their own assessment activities
"If it meets the assessment criteria, why not?"

Further research needed

WordWall
In class response system
Not MLearning, but using a cellphone interface to respond to learning in class.
Can be short or long text, vote, etc.  All entries appear on screen as responding. 
Could this be done with mobiles?  texting in to a forum or collaborative environment?
Deliberate planning and interaction by the teacher is vital.

(Why do the presenters, in order to prove the worth of the experience they are presenting, always choose positive responses from the "bad" kids?  Does that make the response more relevant?)

Mobile devices as computers?
Issues:

Access

Networks

Internet

Budgets

Pedagogically applied technology improves student outcomes.
Capability improving
Usability improving
Cost plummiting

Cloud computing - how does this change the dynamic?

3G data or school wifi?  wifi = 0 cost to the student
But schools need to control and monitor use.

Internal IT support should be pedagogically aware for most effective support and provision

What schools need:
Robust policies for use
Clear communication of policies, possibilities and value to all parties
Include expectations for theft, misuse, abuse

You can't leave them to their own devices
(finally, someone not using PowerPoint)

Planned
Guided
Supported
Linked
Valued

Any where, any time
Easy to access any time, especially outside of specific learning environment/classroom, therefore reinforcing and embedding learning by revisiting and reviewing

Value in videoing teachers creating diagrams/equations/practical processes/sentence structures/etc.
Therefore, should we create podcasts and vodcasts of those learning moments?  Yes.  
In a lesson where you know that skill might need to be taught and retaught several times, get a student to video it and up load it straight away.  Video can then be used where ever, whenever.  

Staff
Pedagogical experience
Technological risk
Learning with studnets
Is digital pedagogy different, really? Then what is pedagogy?  Is learning dependent on environment of learning, or can learning happen anyway?

Does learning need to be fun?  Does fun meaning entertaining?
No
Fun is ... challenging, engaging, critical, new, collaborative.  Not just entertaining

Students still need to be taught how to learn via the technology. Learning to learn via technology.

ULearn 2010: Keynote - Lane Clarke

ThinkBox - Ideasys

Let's read quotes from slides
Predict the future
"you can change today, so you can own tomorrow"... pause...
as if we need to think some more on that

What does it mean to learn?
(this is a room full of educators.  We know all the things learning can be)


Lane's ThinkBox info
The irony of this info is that at the top of the graphic of the box that holds all her tools, Lane has written "think outside the box"


Lane has just suggested that doing "animal projects" with children is not the best way for us to teach them because it is not real world and as adults we don't do animal projects.  Animal projects are real world for kids, because kids are interested in animals.  I think it is the process of doing the "project" that is real world learning... transferable.

Okay, so encourage students to create questions as they are learning, but how are they learning the content in the meantime in order to ask those questions.

So, Lane looked at friends photos two years ago and wasn't interested because she said it wasn't relevant to her.  Then when she wanted to go to those places she wanted to see the photos because they were now relevant.  Yet she started her "lecture" telling us about being life-long learners.  My question is:  If she is a life-long learner, why wasn't she interested two years ago?
Doesn't the term life-long learner imply curiosity and a continuously inquiring mind?


So this is a session on the process of inquiry based learning.
Lots of good practical "tools" for the inquiry process.

However, it is really a promo for her thinkbox products.

Once again, a keynote speaker tell us that this generation will lead change and will be more advanced than ever.  Isn't that the nature of each new generation, since the beginning of time?

ULearn: Cool Stuff

Paul Reynolds - seeking to discover the deeply reflective places (EdTalks)

Vodafone
podcasting to mobiles

ULearn 2010: Keynote - Steve Wheeler

Transformation and Inspiration through Social Media

Teacher is the inspirer, not the social media

P   O   W   E   R   P   O   I   N   T
is so uninteresting!!!!

Trends!!!!
Mobile use!!!
Students have mobiles!!!!

Really???
BORED!


A time of change... when hasn't there been a time of change!  Let's get over it and get on with it.

"Teenagers send text messages and we ban them in schools"  WTF!!

Once again, we are being talked to about the fact that teenagers use mobiles, etc. 
Why can't we move to discussing ways of using the technology effectively?

Where's the TRANSFORMATION?

Where's the INSPIRATION?

If I weren't sitting fourth seat in from the aisle, I would be very tempted to leave.


Natives?  Immigrants?
Teenagers texting? 
How old are this guy's ideas?

ULearn: Game Based Learning

Spending 10000 hours on any one activity makes you an expert. 
Gladwell

Decline in literacy and numeracy, but increase in gaming

Gaming as a context for learning

Breakout wiki

ULearn 2010: Googlefest

http://sites.google.com/a/ptengland.school.nz/googlefest/

How to set up a google account...

How to use various search functions...

* = wildcard

Google as a calculator

World clock = time: london

Weather: christchurch

Google instant

Wonderwheel

Timeline

Images search - use advanced function to determine usage rights.

Google Search Stories

Literacy activity

Research activity

Possibilities

Google Earth Tours:

Fly in and out

upload images - from Picassa

add text comments

Embed video - from Google Video

Add voice comments

...Downloads as kmz(?) file

Use this to plan Classcial Tour 2011!!

Lit Trips - plot places in texts, journeys of characters, texts set by author, by genre or era...

3D Tours in Google Earth

Underwater tours - try California, Great Barrier Reef, Monterey

Google Maps

Tom Barrett in UK

scribblemaps.com does similar to My Maps 

Can export files

Google Alerts

enter search term and define timeliness and get updates

Schools "should" have this set to get what is being said about school

Teacher's Dashboard - brochure

for tracking and easy access of student accounts

example

Student accounts from primary, intermediate to secondary to life...

How does this happen?

export option in the teacher dashboard or do it manually

Reflection:

Teacher Dashboard would be cool as!!!

Alerts would be quite cool too

Earth tours... would be great to have time to do this.

SHE DIDN'T EVEN TALK ABOUT SITES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blogs:

And Yet IT Moves

Peter Looms - Leading E-Learning Change

What is E-Learning?

What is the value of using video in learning?

Why do we need to discuss the topic of common technologies and whether they are "designed" for education?  Who cares?  Why aren't we talking about HOW we can use any of the technologies available to us?  From ANY industry or area of society.

Wordle??? NO SHIT!!!!

I am really tired of coming to courses like this and being told a whole lot of stuff about "e-learning" and ICT for learning IN GENERAL!!!

I thought I was coming to this to learn how to approach e-learning change with the people I work with and how we can promote positive benefits of using e-learning strategies and technologies.

This guy is from a university in Denmark.

Why can't we have sessions with school teachers and how this has been addressed and worked for them?

OMG!!!  He just suggested we think about "something called Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats"!!!!!  As if we might not have heard of this cliche and static theory of learning.

He isn't making it relevant either.  More like "ooo I should show I know a bit about education by inserting comments about learning theory... here..."

Kotter's eight change phases

1. establish a sense of urgency = DO IT NOW!!! not next year.....

2. Create a coalition

3. Develop a clear vision

4. Share the vision

5. Empower people to clear obstacles

Money

time

6. Secure short term wins

7. Consolidate and keep moving

8. Anchor the change

Four quadrant expectation management (look up)

Explicit expectations

Internal stakeholders

External stakeholders

Implicit expactations

NABC model

OMG!!!  He just suggested we think about "something called Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats"!!!!!  As if we might not have heard of this cliche and static theory of learning.

He isn't making it relevant either.  More like "ooo I should show I know a bit about education by inserting comments about learning theory... here..."

OMG!! he can't actually answer a question without referring to a previous slide to find the answer.  He just referred to a learning theory based on thinking and he has just shown he cannot think independently for himself.

I also can't think outside of my lesson plan because you just asked something I have planned for this afternoon.   Arrgh! stop thinking so much, I haven't planned to answer that question yet.

I would rather talk about how to go through the process, rather than vague lecturing on the fact that other institutions have gone through the process.  What is the process???!!!!

How do we make it work???!!!

I don't think our school is really that reluctant across the board.  I want to know how we can do it WELL.

I like the idea of the "Lone ranger"
I think people need to be free to explore what works and then bring it to a collective e-learning strategy.  How do we know what to plan to implement if we don't know how the tools can be used and implemented?  Three amigos, baby!

I hate action research!!!!!!!!

I think the point that "podcasts are boring" is dumb.  Make them better! Make them interesting!
They should not be just lecture style lessons.

Thinking Outside the XBox (v2)

Audio and Visual Creations

Gaming for Learning

Ewan McIntosh

Exploring ideas and sharing experiences with gaming in education 

 

Google search Podsafe music

FreeSound

Creating Podcasts

Audacity

Basics to consider:

recording volume

This is what I made with my friend, Diane:

Posterous

Thinking Outside the XBox (v1)

Wellington Loop Professional Development Day:

Gaming for Learning

Ewan McIntosh

Exploring ideas and sharing experiences with gaming in education 

Putting your ideas across and communicating ideas is the number one skill employers are looking for, in any industry.  Coming up with creative ideas is crucial and collaboration is key.

The opposite of play is not work, it's depression.

Engagement 
You have to fail to win

Engagement isn't synonymous with fun, it's also about challenge, driven concentration and reaching achievement - winning is always possible.

Epic nature of video games - epic goal

Flow - Time flies.  Consumed by the mission undertaken.

Borrow the lessons from video games as contexts for curriculum learning.

NAME levels of achievement v. World of Warcraft 200 levels, though shorter achievement goals, get increasingly harder.

Gamers are their own boss; in charge of their own destiny.  Even when playing collaboratively. 

The Tinkering School - TED Talks

Calamity becomes the learning point.  Exploring by doing.  Tilting towards completion. 

Entrepreneurial Learning

Take risks

Build teams to make their ideas happen

Not the most creative, but prepared to jump off a cliff without knowing the answer why... yet

Guitar hero in English

Playing the game is not the point of learning, it is the context for learning

How does motivation show itself?

Don't take quiet as unmotivation.  

Any student, any gender can engage in any context.

Don't approach gaming as a male world, it's just a world like any other.

Skills explored when using Gaming in Learning
Play
Performance
Simulation
Appropriation
Multitasking
Distributional Cognition
Collective Intelligence
Judgement
Transmedia Navigation
Networking
Negotiation

Transmedia Navigation Example
CSI episode where killer not revealed.  SecondLife rooms and labs were created by viewers where people met to nut out the answer.  Real scientists, police people, specialists working on details from show - the body, evidence, crime scene.

Myst 'Exile' in the classroom

Assessment - questioning and reinforcing student answers, validating responses
Technology integration - low tech, one copy of game,
Loved - engagement, interaction teacher with students not to students

Viewing Myst from an English point of view

Music and tone of voice over creating atmosphere of mysterious past

Establishing background story and giving player context and so emotional/personal investment in game and the need for succeeding.

Point of view of player interacting with characters

Mise en scene

Pathways to encounter knowledge that builds capacity to succeed in game.

Narrative aspects of content to lead narrative pathways through the game.

Conflict and disorder contribute to emotional investment and challenge to defeat obstacles and adversaries 

Manipulating narrative to follow preferred path as can return to previous point later. 

Writing focus from viewing Myst

Stimulus for rich writing

Feeling of the water in the scene

Mise en scene, film language

Punctuation pyramid

Vocabulary -visuwords, wordle

Use screen shots to illustrate creative writing online, for backgrounds of presentations, photostory

Write success guides to playing the games as formal writing activities

Games

Rome
Sim Park
Myst
Spore creature creator - biology

Sim City

Hotel Dusk - crime novel pitched as a game

Call of Duty 4 - 16+ modern terrorism. Epic goal = save the world!!

Guitar Hero

Peacemaker - History, solving Palestine crisis
The Incredible Machine
JMOL - build molecules - bio, chem, free plugin for Moodle
Tycoon series
Oolite - Space trader - Social Studies, History, Economics, Marketing, Maths
Ceel Craft
Lightbot 2 - logic, sequencing
Electrocities - city planning, Maths, resource allocation, time, graphs
Smackdown - Professional wrestlers - History, PE - professional, athletics, nutrition, Maths, Physics, animation

Other tools:
Posterous.com

NZQA Moderation Best Practice Workshop

On Saturday, I attended the best practice workshop with the NZQA moderator of Classical Studies.

As there are only three internally assessed achievement standards across Levels 2 and 3, we were able to discuss several exemplars and get into the details of the assessment process.

It was interesting to see the tasks that other schools are giving their students and the quality of work those students are producing.

We spent a lot of time on the research standards at both levels and there was a lot of discussion around the need for correct referencing and bibliography.  As neither standard actually requires either we can only ask students to do both of those for the purposes of authentication.  On teacher then queried why you would bother teaching those skills at all.  I think that is really irresponsible.  Classics is and will always be one of those "academic" subjects where students CAN learn those skills.  Where else will they learn those skills if teachers don't take it upon themselves to teach them.  I think it is a very important skill, especially if students are going on to university study.  We should not be making it okay for students to, technically, steal other people's ideas and work.

When we looked at the communicate knowledge standard at Level 2, one of the exemplars was not achieved and the moderator admitted that it was her student and that she had given the work back to the student for resubmission.  As we are all getting our heads around the rules for resubs, I asked her what she said to the student when she gave it back.  She directed the student to go back to the standard and to look at the criteria carefully, and also to look at the task.  Basically, the student's first submission did not follow the specific format carefully enough and did not communicate knowledge ON SPECIFIED ASPECTS OF THE TOPIC.  A really important point to note when giving back work for resubmission.

I also asked about submitting links to student created websites for moderation.  She said that they preferred student work in its original format, so yes to send links.  Yay! She said she was going to check out who our moderator is (apparently there are about seven moderators for Classics around the country) so we can check where to send those links.  I think sending the links typed on paper for them to type into their search bar would be fine.

One of the best things about going to these workshops is catching up with other Classics teachers and to chat about what topics they teach.  As the only teacher of Classics at WHS, it is really great to have those professional conversations within my subject area.

Also, she took us through the NZQA subject specific page for Classics, which I visit often but I haven't checked out the clarifications or newsletter for a while so must remember to do that. 
Learnt lots, mostly from the discussions, and came away with heaps of exemplars.  Fantastic!