The Mid Year ITGS examination had a number of questions on Databases and DBMS. Its an interesting section and one that the students find challenging. Teaching databases can be done by a theory session - this tends to be dry or by practical activities. My students have been constructing a multi table relation database using Open Office Base as the tool. Its free product and uses SQL to develop queries. The students constructed 2 tables, the first is a contact database and the second is the 2010 sales figures. The students set up a relationship between the primary key in the customer contact table and the primary key in the second table. They then went manually through the process of entering data into the fields (columns). The next stage was writing queries. The students quickly got bored with data entry in columns, but once the tables where completed and they started write the queries they became keener and keener - The logical flow of SQL and the easy success as they experienced made the process fun. The next stage for the students is to create a form for data entry and then to develop reports to produce and outcome in a usable texted based format. To help the students, we read out the SQL text to explain the task that they are undertaking: for example: SELECT Customername, Address, July_Sales, AUgust_Sales FROM CustomerDetails, Sales WHERE Country = ‘Germany’ So this section would be Show in the report (SELECT) the following fields customers name, their address, and the sales for July and August FROM tables CustomerDetails and Sales for all customers who are in germany. Getting the students to read out what the query means is a great way of insuring they understand the process. All in all the Logical structure of SQL, linked with the practical nature of the task makes this a fun way for the students to learn  about: fields records tables relationships queries SQL structured queries language Forms Reports

Infographics are a very powerful tool for learning. While we do have learning preferences -  Visual, Auditory, Read/Write or Kinesthetic - our dominant sense is visual. Further we process images faster, some estimate 60,000x faster than text.  Infographics when they are well designed effectively carry a message to us and our students that is easy to interpret and more engaging than a body of text or a table of figures. Here is an infographic on Data that I stumbled across recently. This will be useful in my IT classes but it also frames the amazing growth in data and devices to use and access this. The graphic is (of course) out of date - anything published is immediately out of date. For example the statistics on you tube are inaccurate. Here is the latest update on youtube uploads - http://technewscast.com/technology/tech-buzz/youtube-two-days’-worth-of-video-uploaded-every-minute/ I plan to use both of these graphics with my ITGS class. The inaccuracies in the data infographic will be useful and illustrate the changes that have occurred, but the message behind it is still valid and very useful. Having the students consider the data and then challenge it is a critical element of not only digital citizenship, but also higher order thinking - Analysis and evaluation source: http://9.mshcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/YT-48-hours-3-billion-infographic-r4.png source: http://mozy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/physical-storage-vs-digital-storage.png The

On Friday I had the privilege to present the opening keynote and then 2 workshops in Whangarei at the Whangarei elearning Cluster’s Vision Day. The topic of my keynote and  presentations was digital citizenship. In the keynote I outline the digital citizenship model we have developed and for the workshops I developed an analysis tool that looks at the policies and acceptable use agreements that the schools have. The analysis tool attempts to look at the holistic approach to digital citizenship and questions involvement from all three sides to the triangle - students, the school and the community. I would appreciate any feedback. AUA analysis tool The tool attempts to be holistic and cover the cyber safety elements from a variety of angles and approaches. It should raise questions and provoke thought. The major sections are: Purpose of your policy and matching this to your AUA Suitability to the audience (Including readability) Implementation of the policy and AUA Support resources Access and filtering Monitoring and consequences Review and evaluation Community involvement Each section has a series of questions that question and challenge Senior School digital citizenship guidelines

I have been working on Digital Citizenship guidelines for the younger students. In so many of the example of Acceptable use agreements we see online the language ised is considerably beyond the vocabulary and understanding of some of the younger students. I have also been trying to crystalise the "essence" of the agreement into a simple series of statements or guidelines. At the Vision day last week in Whangarei, Morningside School shared with the workshop their school philosophy. Be Safe Be Kind Be Sensible I like these and they fit with each of the three aspects of digital citizenship we use for the middle school. Here is the latest attempt - I have run it through the Lexile readability analyser  and SMOG tools SMOG = 12.4 Lexile = 710L Digital Citizenship Guidelines Junior School Looking after me. I will only go on the computer when I have permission. I will only go to pages I am allowed to go to. I will only share pictures and stories about myself when my teacher tells me to. I will talk to my parents and teacher about all of my online friends. I will tell my teacher or parents if anyone is unkind to me on the computer. Looking after others. I will only say nice things about people. I will ask before I share a picture or story about a person. I will only go to places that are nice and I will tell my parents or teacher if I go to a place that is nasty, unkind or rude. Looking after stuff. I will not download movies, games or music. I will check that the information I get on the web is correct. I wont leave rude or unkind messages on other people spaces.

Just a couple of quick updates in this On the Wire Post. 1. Commoncraft videos - http://www.commoncraft.com - There are two new videos that are going to be useful in the classroom. The first is called "Social Media in the Workplace"  The video has the following blurb which nicely summarises its use: This video takes a look at how social media sites like blogs, Twitter and Facebook are changing how companies think about external communication. It includes points on: How social media sites are making organizations rethink external communication How one company confronts a crisis - and learns how social media can help The role of empowering employees to participate The role of policies and guidelines in social media participation source: http://www.commoncraft.com/social-media-workplace-video The second video explains the technology behind "BitTorrent". Just like the previous video it has a outline of the teaching points: This video teaches the basics of how BitTorrent’s technology works to make downloads faster when more people are involved. It includes points on: How files are shared on the web and what makes BitTorrent different The BitTorrent application and how it’s used How trackers, peers and hosts work together to deliver "pieces" of files How anyone can use BitTorrent to share or download files Source: http://www.commoncraft.com/bittorrent-video 2. Educause - 7 things you should know about modern learning commons - This is a paper looking at modern learning commons as a concept. It is a little different from the usual educause publications, but Teaching and learning technologies are not just about the tools but also about the space. http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7071.pdf This reminds me of Ian Jukes, Ted Kelly and Ted McCain’s Book - "Teaching the Digital Generation - No more cookie cutter schools‘ Agile and flexible learning spaces which can quickly be adapted into a wide variety of r=arrangements are going to be increasingly important as we adapt our teaching and learning spaces to suit the "digital generation" To check out all the resources - http://www.educause.edu/Resources/Browse/ELI%207%20Things%20You%20Should%20Know/33438 7 Things You Should Know About the Modern Learning Commons

In this on the wire update I am looking at a couple of brilliant  resources for video. 1. Mediastorm - African Air - http://mediastorm.com/publication/african-air This is a seven minute mini documentary that looks at africa in its diversity from the air. the air part of this mostly from a powered paraglider. Its stunning and the mixture of still, moving images and interview show africa in its diversity and beauty. Its a great piece for stimulus material for humanities and the social sciences etc. The other material produced by media storm is well worth looking at. There is a disclaimer weith this that some of the content is challenging and needs to be checked by the teacher prior to showing to students. The themes are very valid but orientated to an adult audience. - http://mediastorm.com/pub/projects source: http://mediastorm.com/sites/default/themes/mediastorm/logo.png 2. Commoncraft Show - Computer Viruses and threats in plain english - http://www.commoncraft.com/virus-video Another paper styled video from Lee leFever and the crew at Commoncraft.  As their blurb suggests this video examines the threats to computer etc. "This video explains computer viruses by comparing them to human viruses and focuses on the role of prevention in being protected.  Major points include: A basic look at computer viruses as computer programs that can spread like a disease and can be prevented by anti-virus software. An introduction to worms, how they cause damage in networks and can be prevented by software updates. An introduciton to trojans, how they trick people into downloading a virus and how awareness is important for prevention." Source: http://www.commoncraft.com/virus-video 3. Resources about Youtube - Youtube has announced that it has a creative commons licience for material hosted on the site. This is great news for many of our students who will download and reuse content frequently. So here are some resources to help understand this and also youtube itself Creative Commons and Youtube - https://creativecommons.org/tag/youtube Youtube key events timeline -http://www.youtube.com/t/press_timeline Youtube press kit videos - http://www.youtube.com/t/press_b_roll Youtube statistics - http://www.youtube.com/t/press_statistics Consider these facts froim the Youtube statistics page Traffic More than 13 million hours of video were uploaded during 2010, and 35 hours of video are uploaded every minute. The equivalent of 150,000+ full-length films in cinemas each week More video is uploaded to YouTube in 60 days than the 3 major US networks created in 60 years 70% of YouTube traffic comes from outside the US YouTube is localised in 25 countries across 43 languages YouTube’s demographic is broad: 18-54 years old YouTube reached over 700 billion playbacks in 2010 Have a look at CITIZENTUBE which is youtube’s news channel - http://www.citizentube.com/

The last couple of weeks have been busy as we have written the mid year reports. We have a new reporting format that looks at the students contribution to learning and this has made report writing more intense than usual. Like any form of change its uncomfortable, but it is probably worth it. Probably, well the proof of the reports is in the feedback to the parents. It does however raise questions for me on the value of reports themselves. Most schools report on their students every semester of may be twice a semester. This limits the value of the report in terms of feedback, once a semester or term is hardly timely, and there for of little value. Most comments are word count limited - how can you express a students progress in 60 words or less - you might as well use twitter Most comments are written under time constraints and pressure. This limitation hampers effective reporting As a formal statement and summary of the terms/semesters work reports are a useful tool for summary, but a poor tool for behavior or attitude change. Reports are often out of date, once they are written by the teacher, proofed by what ever method the school uses and then delivered, the time between writing and delivery is often a period of weeks. The information is outdated. Many schools are moving to an online reporting tool for assessment data, where parents can log in and access their son ordaughters grades and attainment. This is more timely, but is limited to a number, letter or percentage grade, or in the case of achievements standards Not achieved, achieved, merit and excellence. This is more timely, but lacks the depth and detail. So what is a happy medium. In a perfect world it would be a combination of the two. An attainment grade and a timely, current and appropriate comment which relates to the students learning at the time. This would be updated to show progress within the lesson and unit. Essentially, it would combine formative and summative assessment to show progress, learning, development and finally  achievement. That would be in a perfect world. Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world. The time pressure and constrains on teachers, the burden of administration, moderation and assessment mean that such utopian ideals are unrealistic. Such reporting systems would be of huge benefit to the learner and parents alike, we know from John Hattie’s research in Visible learning, that feedback has one of the highest effects on learning outcomes for the students. This feedback needs to be timely and appropriate. To help engage our parents in their children’s learning we must provide them with suitable feedback too. A synopsis of the terms or semesters work has little value for this. So what would I want if I was King for a day? source: http://www.projects-abroad.com.au/_photos/_global/photo-galleries/en-uk/sri-lanka/_global/large/teaching-volunteer.jpg A reporting system, online, that staff entered regular (weekly, fortnightly or in some cases daily)  learning summaries. The summaries would be both formative and summative, Timely and appropriate. A reduction in teaching time to facilitate teachers to report. A reduction in the administrative burden A focus on formative assessment in the class. Balancing responcibility for learning between the student, teacher and the home. We have all seen the extremes of parental involvement ranging from the almost in your pocket parents to the one that are so distant that they are completely disengaged. Similarly we the students who are spread along the engagement spectrum, some responcible for their own learning and some divorcing all responcibility and blaming the teacher, school and anyone else in the vicinity. I would want to see mechanisms in place where parent, students and teachers have an appropriate balance each understanding their roles, and their limitations.

This infographic is from the outset interesting, but its also challenging. It raises some questions that some would prefer not to answer. Should we be teaching hand writing? Is text language acceptable in class or examinations? Is our written language changing - is it evolution or devolution?  Should this technology be allowed in schools? How important is the pencil or pen any more? Are kids to dependent on technology? Consider these comments: In 1815, it was reported at a principal’s meeting that students depended too much on paper. They no longer knew how to write on a slate without getting dust all over themselves. What would happen when they ran out of paper The National Association of Teachers reported in 1907 that students depended too much on ink and no longer knew how to use a knife to sharpen a pencil. According to the Rural American Teacher in 1928, students depended too much on store bought ink. They did not know how to make their own. What would happen when they ran out? They wouldn’t be able to write until their next trip to the settlement. In 1950, it was observed that ball point pens would be the ruin of education. Students were using these devices and then just throwing them away. The values of thrift and frugality were being discarded. Businesses and banks would never allow such expensive luxuries.. In 1988 it was declared that there was no good evidence that most uses of computers significantly improved teaching & learning and that most schools would be better off if they just threw their computers into dumpsters. (Source - Ian Juke and Lee Crockett - Literacy isn’t enough) source: http://9.mshcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Generation-Text-Final.jpg

These two videos are quite thought provoking in different ways. The first is project based learning explained, by the common cvraft show - http://youtu.be/LMCZvGesRz8. Isn’t this how we should be teaching? The second is from TED - Mike Matas: A next-generation digital book - http://www.ted.com/talks/mike_matas.html Traditional publishing company will need to adapt if they are to remain competitive and viable. What will this mean for education?

The Rugby World Cup has a lot to answer for. I was speaking to my ITGS  students about why we had changed the order of our units to do health and IT first and politics and Government and IT next term. I said to them that doing Politics and Government next term was more appropriate for timing of major events later in the year. There instant reply was a rather perplexed look about why the Rubgy World Cup  had anything to do with Politics and Government. They had forgotten the election later in the year. Groan But the RWC has had another effect (other than forgetting general elections). To cope with this event the length of terms have been changed. The first 3 terms are now longer and T4 is shorter. The effect of this is very noticable on students and staff. There is a general tiredness evident in all. For primary students this is very noticeable, there is an increase in sickness as the younger students are worn out. I know of doctors who are advising parents to keep younger students at home to rest. While there is always a drop off in performance in the last weeks of term, it seems to me to be more pronounced with the longer term. I have noticed and my colleagues from other schools (secondary) have noted an increase in secondary student absenteeism. Student and staff are tired and in some cases plain exhausted. The level of stress across the board is high, I would pick that blood pressure is also elevated too. As a education professional, I like most teachers have fielded comments (some times tongue in cheek and some times serious) about the number of "holidays" teachers recieve. This morning I started my "to do" list for holiday work, I got upto 14 items and as I drove to school added mentally a few more. If I asked a person in business to define a holiday, it would not be an opportunity to catch up on the pressing work I haven’t had time to complete at work. I think for us as teachers holidays are defined as "extended non contact periods at a variable locations" Will teachers and students return to school rested and recovered? I hope so. Will they have a break? Perhaps Has the change in term length had an effect? an impact? Oh Yes, is it a good one? Oh NO! The RWC has a lot to answer for……. perhaps we need to consider how we arrange our terms and consider when breaks are and for how long. Do we need to, in our industrial and communications based society, stick to the agricultural holiday model that sees a long summer break, originally to allow students to help with the harvest?