Changing Information to Imagination!

For a while now I have been thinking how weird it is that we talk about ICT as Information and Communication Technology . I am starting to think that we should be a little more creative in the way that we use ICT and maybe we need to start with the title. Perhaps, this is a good time to change the 'I' in ICT to Imagination and Communication Technology. We should be attempting to get learners to imagine the best use of the technology and to imagine themselves in a new way - what is their web 'prescence'? what is the profile that they leave on the web?

I do find that (and maybe this is a peculiar Northern Irish thing) children today are NOT good at following through the potential of what the technology actually creates. For example, they will spend more time on bebo writing comments to their mates than they will actually typing up a piece of homework. They will spend an hour having an MSN chat with a mate - when the same content could have been covered it they had actually picked up the phone and spoken for 5 minutes! And, dont even get me started about text messaging! The fact that they are communicating and networking socially is good - but is it enough? How does learning fit into this?

I think that teachers are essential in opening up the amazing world of ICT to students and showing how this web can be used to enhance their learning and their imaginations. How can we make learning fun? How can we make the actual process of knowing how to use and communicate through a computer, not just fun but something that makes the kids rush home and boot up their computers!

I think I might address a few ideas about imagination in ICT in my next few posts!

Apart from being a Geography teacher . . . . . . . .

A few of my students have recently been asking me this question! Apart from being a Geography teacher . . . what else can you do with a Geography degree - so i this useful link that might help !

The AAG (Assoc of American Geographers)

Or try starting here

Prospects.ac.uk

Or earthworks

How important is Geography?

I came across a very cool web site called My Wonderful World

One of the links looked at the whole aspect of geographical literacy. How much do young people today actually know about the world that they live in.

"Geographic illiteracy impacts our economic well-being, our relationships with other nations and the environment, and isolates us from our world," said John Fahey, National Geographic Society president and CEO. "Geography is what helps us make sense of our world by showing the connections between people and places. Without geography, our young people are not ready to face the challenges of the increasingly interconnected and competitive world of the 21st century."

Geography is under threat! With changes to the curriculum already in advanced stages, subjects like geography are gradually being squeezed out. We need to be careful to protect one of the few subjects left that actually combines knoweldge or our world with a practical demonstration of this knowlege in action.

How important is Geography to you?

Computers vs creativity

For many years the simple cry from teachers when asked about the use and purpose for computers in the classroom was that we did not have enough. However, in most classrooms there is enough and they work all the time and they allow users to work on a stable network and surf the net. But, has the leap in creativity been made? Do the teachers know how to actually maximise the use of these machines for learning.

Unfortunatley I think that the answer inside most classrooms is no. We still use the computers as a reward, an incentive to work fast, and excuse for dead time and for low level research that could more easily be carried out in different platforms.

Teachers need to think more creatively when it comes to ICT. They need to start thinking more about how these computers can be maximised for learning. They need to consider how students access, process and publish information. They need to provide opportunity to allow students to experiment and be creative with the use of the computer themselves and best see how this could help learning.

I had cause to visit a very good school today. I saw computers being used - but little of what i saw was actually creative. It did not inspire. It did not challenge perception or thought. Yes, we can have all the computers in the world but we need to know how, exactly how, to use them to effectively aide teaching and learning.

This is something I intend to come back to in future weeks as I think through what are the best ways to support and encourage teachers to grasp the nettle of innovation. One thought I have is perhaps to set up a small conference/meeting for geography teachers within the local area to share ideas and learn about creativity in ICT and Thinking skills. If you have any comments - let me know!

Conversation not delivery

David Warlick noted about Online learning, "Learning is taking place through conversation and not delivery".

The more that I experience the joys of what some call web 2.0, the more that I realise that I am learning because my world is getting bigger. I am looking for information from people from all round the world and bookmark them so that I continue to learn from people that I respect. Blogging gives me a framework for learning. It, in itself does not actually promote learning. The learning comes from my desire to optimise the expereince that I have online. My learning therefore comes because I contribute, I think, I type and I post. I comment on the thoughts of a student or a colleague or someone I have never met.

Blogging allows me to communicate my thoughts with the world - in the hope that maybe, just maybe, someone in the world will read and talk back.

Blogging is not just some gimmick. It is a valuable learning tool that allows students to communicate and learn together. If we want our students to connect socially, we need them to connect interactivley as well!

Bono Making Poverty History

I came across this cracking video of Bono talking about the impact of the Making Poverty History campaign. What do you think? Did the MPH campaign have a global footprint? Did it leave its mark? Bono has become the spokesperson for many. I recently saw some of the interview he did for the Willowcreek leadership summit and was amazed by his intelligence and commitment to poverty issues. It is too easy for us to whisper . . 'it's easy for him' . . but we should be taking courage from his example and making changes ourselves and try to reach out to others . . .

Educational Blogging

I am starting a little experiment this week with some of my classes. As a new blogger myself - I have been thinking about the different ways that blogging could be used by different students to help them in their studies. I have come up with 2 ideas that i hope will help some of my students not just to develop their ICT and blogging skills, but hope that they will also add real benefit to the particular courses that they are studying.

The first is for my Year 14 A level geography class. I have created a team blog that will allow all my students to take part in an online discussion about what they have been learning. This is a reflective activity and should allow the students the opportunity to think about what they have learnt, how they have learnt it and to share their ideas with other students in the class.

The second is for my Year 14 Travel and Tourism class. They have to complete a group/team project where they have to organise and book a real holiday trip for students in the school. I am organising them into a phoney travel company called Slemgo Travel Corp. and they all have to take a particular role in the company and help to develop the holiday and sell it and manage it for the rest of their peers. This is not an easy activity to do and hopefully the blog area will allow a share space for ideas and input that the kids in the class can control.

The big question is - can blogging really be used by these young people to help them to learn more . . . .