Project management is a topic that I teach in many of my classes. Whether its working as a member of a team or as an individual managing the project is a critical skill that the students need to develop. If the students are working as an individual, I get them to use the waterfall or cascade method of project management. This is the classical cycle of: Define the problem Design a solution Develop the solution Debrief When the students are working in groups a better approach is the agile project management method, where the tasks are clearly defined and of short duration, where there is regular feedback and updates. Explaining agile projects and the process to the students can be a little complex, but I have discovered a very good video resource that I use with them. When you look at the video you can also see how the core concepts of the Sprint - Defining the tasks and assigning the roles, the Daily stand up with its three core questions: What did you do yesterday What will you do today What are the obstacles or impediments preventing you progressing, and the project review can fit very nicely into every day project based learning. We know from John Hattie’s Meta-research in Visible Learning that feedback has a huge impact on on the learning of our students. Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJflDE6OaSc - Agile, an Introduction.

In this update there’s some excellent professional development and IT resources, stuff on QR codes and an interesting article or two from the BBC 1. Commoncraft video - Web Browsers - http://www.commoncraft.com/video/web-browsers This is another excellent product from the commoncraft show. This video looks at the basics and features of web browsers. A very useful tool for professional development and within IT courses. Consider becoming a member, its cost efficient and ethical. 2. Seven things you should know about projecting from mobile devices - http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7082.pdf This is another useful perspective from Educause. We have all seen the amazing growth in mobile devices, the ability illustrated by iPhones having applications like "keynote" which allows you to present from your iPhone or for the really game, edit and create your presentation. This is a useful view. 3. QRstuff http://www.qrstuff.com/ have you played with QR (Quick response) Codes? Increasingly we are seeing these versatile codes appearing everywhere. So much more than a barcode they can send you emails, text messages and much more. QRstuff is an easy to use site that allows you to create and generate QR codes. try this link: 4. BBC Future - http://www.bbc.com/future This is an interesting series of articles and columns that I have recently discovered while browsing around on the BBC site. Today’s article is an interesting one - Is email evil? http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120328-is-email-evil This is a site to book mark and visit often.

Here are a set of resources from Microsoft for working with Windows and MS office in the classroom. This is useful set of materials. accessibility in the classroom - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/Accessibility.aspx Mathematics 4.0 in the classroom _ http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/Mathematics-guide.aspx - this includes a step by step guide, plus links to the download of the product as well Bing (Microsofts search engine) in the classroom  - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/bing.aspx Windows 7 in the classroom - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/windows-7.aspx this also has videos as well to help you out. One note in the classroom - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/one-note.aspx again with videos to support the professional development. Microsoft Office in the classroom - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/microsoft-office-system.aspx  - videos and other resources. Digital Storytelling in the classroom - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/digital_storytelling.aspx Free tools from Microsoft - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/free-tools.aspx - this is Autocollage, photo synth and Movie maker live Product How to’s - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/how-to/Pages/index.aspx Microsoft Free Products - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/Pages/free-products.aspx some interesting software here like the chemistry add in for word, the mathematics add in, flash cards, songsmith, Kodu game lab and more. Check out this as well - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/faculty/Pages/free-software.aspx  Templates - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/Pages/templates.aspx This is an interesting set of templates, some of which are quite useful. Critical thinking in the classroom - http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/critical_thinking.aspx - This is an interesting one with set of lesson plans, students hand outs and teacher resources for: Searching Plagarism Citing web resources Validity and reliabilityt Civil Discourse Panoramas of the wonders of the world - http://www.panoramas.dk/7-wonders/  They call this the new wonders of the world but these are interesting and useful resources which give a 360 degree perspective on some of the fascinating places most of us will never visit. Check these out: Colosseum - http://www.panoramas.dk/7-wonders/colosseum.html The Great wall of China - http://www.panoramas.dk/7-wonders/great-wall.html Petra - http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen2/full24.html Taj Mahal - http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen/fullscreen23.html Machu Picchu in Peru - http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen6/f2-machu-picchu.html Christ the redeemer in Rio de Janeiro - http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen6/f40-rio-de-janeiro.html Chichen Itza in Mexico - http://www.panoramas.dk/7-wonders/Chichen-Itza.html There are more in the archive - http://www.panoramas.dk/archive.html For the more IT minded, they also have a useful page on how to make VR - http://www.panoramas.dk/panorama/index.html and also the software in both Windows and Mac flavors to produce panoramas - http://www.panoramas.dk/panorama/software.html

There have been two recent court events in the United Kingdom that reinforce the key underlying principles of digital citizenship: Middle School Digital Citizenship Senior School Digital Citizenship Looking after yourself Respect yourself & Protect yourself Looking after others Respect others & Protect others Looking after Property Respect Intellectual Property & Protect Intellectual Property Source: http://edorigami.wikispaces.com In the court case involving Cricketer Chris Cairns and the prosecution of the student who tweeted about stricken footballer Fabrice Muamba we see examples of people who did not consider that comments made in public mediums like Twitter can be libelous or illegal. In Cairn’s case, comments have seen him awarded a substantial amount of damages and costs and in the Tweets about the footballer, the young man has been jailed for 56 days. Source: http://taliamark.com/blog/images/Twitter-Logo.jpg We used to say "email in haste, repent at your leisure" this must now extend to these other mediums as well. We and our students must be considered and deliberate in what we say, whether this is via email, blog posts or instant communication mediums like twitter. At school, we ask the students to consider how they would feel if the comment they were making was said about them. To put themselves in the other persons shoes. And if the message isn’t suitable, appropriate or "nice" then don’t say it. The recent court activity is adding yet more imperative to this. This is Respect other and Looking after others. It also raises the issue of the digital footprint. That once something is said, it is un-erasable. Our digital footprints are permanent, and the comments we have made can be retrieved, taken out of context, interpreted in many different ways and served back to us. I don’t think that in either of the cases above there was any doubt about the meaning of their tweets, but they are un-erasable. Resources: http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/The+Digital+Citizen http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Digital+Citizen+AUA Middle School Digital Citizenship.pdf acceptable use agreement 1.1.pdf

This is an interesting interactive article hosted on the BBC website. The article asks two pieces of information from you, the first is the country you are in and the second your pre-tax monthly wage. It then calculates your wage against your own countries average wage and the global average wage. Its fascinating The URL for this interactive is - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17543356 Its also worth while visiting that master of statistics, Hans Rosling at gapminder -  http://www.gapminder.org. Check out the Wealth and Health of Countries - which relates well to the Global pay scale question. If you have a spare hour, I wold recommend that you check out the Joy of stats video, broadcast on the BBC and hosted on the Gapminder site. Comparing life expectancy and wage for Nepal and NZ. Interesting, you would have thought the gap would have been bigger.  

But I guess this is more than computers and computing, its actually all about ICT - information and communications technologies. Many of us may have seen the recent release from Google about a project they are working on called Project Glass. http://g.co/projectglass and perhaps you have looked up the video on youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c6W4CCU9M4 Aside from the privacy and security issues that the boys on Facebook (yes Andrew and David) mentioned, and these are real concerns too. This is a great project and it heralds what we can expect to see in the future. But this is not alone and its also worth looking at this offering from Corning the glass company - A day made of Glass - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cf7IL_eZ38 The potential here is amazing and again we will be increasingly challenged by issues of privacy, security and anonymity. We are heading towards an incredibly information pervasive society, where connection is ubiquitous and constant. While in some ways I find this exciting, I also find it challenging. are we going to get to a point where there is no OFF switch. We already know that the OFF switch on most of our devices does not actually mean OFF it means standby, it means don’t display, it means hide and process in the background. The BBC has on their website a number of very interesting articles in a column called Future. These are some that also relate to the future of ICT: Voice Control - http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120323-future-interaction-voice-control Touch screens - http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120316-future-interaction-touch-screens Gesture control - http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120221-future-of-interaction-gesture Brain Control - http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120229-future-interaction-brain-control BBC Future - http://www.bbc.com/future Challenging, frightening or exciting, these are the heralds of the next stage in the development of ICT. We would be foolish to think we are going to be able to stop these developments (and I for one would not want to do that), but we must be aware of the risks as well as the advantages that these present.

I went into my local library over the weekend and I was disappointed that they had got it wrong. They had the self service check out where you could scan your book and swipe your card, but they still had it wrong. They had a nice performance area with several levels of seats, but there was no one there. They had a wide selection of fiction works, media to take out and magazines. They had an extensive array of reference materials and even some computers, but they still had it wrong. They had staff who were experience and knowledgable. They had a long and wide service desk and this was part of the problem. I walked into the library, rummaged around, found a book and left all with out ever talking to the librarians. This was where it went wrong. The librarians with all of  their accumulated wisdom, extensive experience, passion for books and understanding of system, stayed behind there thick, wide desk. They were the end point of the process if I had to withdraw a book or item that required a charge or required some degree of intervention. Other than that I was on my own. Why is it that the experts with the passion for books are the last point of call? why are they the end of the process? Why are they only relevant if I need help or if I need to pay? Surely in the modern library, the librarians are the starting point of the journey. Wouldn’t it be great if they can out from behind their fortified issues desk and became relevant to me as I tried to find the object of my curiosity rather than as the cashier? I struggle too in the days of self check out, where you can demagnetize the book yourself, issue it at a compact workstation where you can perform the cataloging functions as to why they need a huge desk that keeps them separate from the customers? Why are libraries, even ones built in the last few years, still designed with the librarians as the end point. Where the apparent role of the librarian is to protect the book stock or to issue the book. Walk into your own library. Does a librarian come and greet you and ask how they can help? Do they share the accumulated wisdom and scholarship they have? Do they exude the passion and love they have for reading? Or do you have my experience and never encounter a librarian at all? And what will happen soon when eBooks are much much more common.    

If I had a green fields school, would I build a library? The answer is absolutely YES, but what would it look like and function like? Well, to answer that question I would look at the characteristic of the students I teach. We know that they are: Information savvy, but often struggle to validate the information they collect technology savvy, but need direction and scaffolding to use these tools for learning Media savvy, but need support to interpret and understand, but enjoy visual media impatient and often require immediate gratification connected communicators and collaborators like to customise and adapt their environment to suit them selves value transparency, fairness and openness So given these characteristic what would I include in my library. Books - absolutely, nothing can replace the touch, feel and smell of a book nor the pleasure of sitting down and reading, but I would not be providing reference books as these are out of date before they are printed and better resources are online. I would also be making available e-books to complement the book stock. Access and connectivity - ubiquitous and easy access to the internet, not via terminals but wireless so the learners can connect any suitable device quickly and easily to the network and leverage this ability to learn. Access to media in its various forms whether this is magazines, books, video, audio, or… making available via the network access to video on demand, to podcasts, audio books recording, music anything and everything Spaces that are flexible and agile, with furniture that can be easily adapted for one person working or a group collaborating. Spaces that equally easily facilitate quiet reflection or video conferencing. I would be encouraging the learners to shift manipulate and rearrange the furniture to suit their needs. I would encourage discussion and group work to suit our collaborators, while cherishing the individual learner - so I would make available spaces that facilitate discussion and quiet reflection. I would have staff who are passionate, enthusiastic skilled and motivated. Staff who take the front foot, and ask and facilitate. Staff who are digitally fluent while grounded in the practicalities of the library, staff who are comfortable in all mediums be they paper, visual, digital or audio. Staff who enjoy and thrive on working with young learners, in shaping their searches, and who ask questions. A library for me would be open and bright, vibrant and alive, pulsing with a passion to learn, discover and explore.  

Educause has just released their latest Seven things presentation. This particular release and update is "Seven things you should know about the evolution of the textbook". To keep in them this publication is available in pdf and ePub formats. They detail the changes that are now available in the electronic format compared to the traditional static format. These include 3D charts and tables, interactive maps, continual updates, and quizzes with instant feedback I have had a limited play with Apples iBook author and the interactive widget that I found included: The Gallery Widget - an interactive image gallery complete with captions for each image The Movie Widget The review widget - this allows you to put in questions and have your readers test themselves and recieve feedback The Keynote widget - embeds keynote presentations (convert ppt to key and insert) The interactive widget - zoom into areas of a images and see additional information The 3D widget - embed 3D models in the Collada file format (.dae) - this is an export option from Google Sketch-up The HTML widget - embed HTML 5 code in your ebook - this opens up HUGE potential How long till we see textbooks like - Al Gore’s Our Choice as the standard. How will libraries issue ebooks?

I hate league tables - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=1081398 Every year the media collect up the data published by the Ministry of education and from this produce a league table showing who is the best and who is the worst, in their humble opinion. Their analysis lacks depth and understanding, it often fails to account for the number of school doing alternative qualification systems like Cambridge and International Baccalaureate. Further, they take the results in isolation from the school, its environment and community. Yes, I hate league tables. I question there worth, I question the outcomes  and the motivation behind them. But, there is a reality check here.  LEAGUE TABLES ARE HERE TO STAY. While the Ministry makes available the data (I am a fan of access to data and transparency), parents search for the best educational outcome for their children and the media continues to look for easy stories, league tables are going to be our constant companions. So, while I don’t like the concept, the prospect of having the ministry of education produce the tables is far more appealing than having the media do it.  Particularly if they based the tables on a range of factors not just achievement in standards whether they are achievement standards or national. I believe it is critical that parents have access to a range of data, and to have this supported by informed, accurate and unbias analysis and evaluation. Something that the media is sadly lacking in some cases.