ICT & TLC

One of a long, long list of positives that came out of the 2008 Knowledge Bank Online Conference was that I was introduced to Wordle. The Wordle site describes it as “a tool for generating word clouds from text that you provide”. For those who may not be familiar with the term “word cloud”, greater prominence is given to words that appear more frequently in the source text. The Wordle site allows you to enter your own text, a URL or even a delicious username to generate your word cloud. Word clouds can then easily be added to the Gallery, generating its own URL. It is one of the few sites that doesn’t require you to sign up for an account! You can also easily print your Wordle or use a screen grab tool to save your word cloud to import to another application.

Initially, I was attracted to Wordle because of the tools available to customize your word cloud. The site gives you the ability to alter the font, colour and even direction of the words. It wasn’t until after I created my first Wordle that I realised that there was much more to this tool!

After posting a link to the site on our school’s twitter page, I started to receive some wonderful ideas, especially from the Director of Early Learning Centre, the wonderful Lisa!

I thought the use of VoiceThread might be a nice way to not only share a few simple Wordles with my colleagues but, more importantly, to get them to share the way they are using Wordle. I would love to hear about your ideas, so please feel free to add to our VoiceThread. If you do not have a VoiceThread account, please post a comment.

For me in my role as Staff ICT Trainer, I enjoy using Wordle to enhance presentations and give staff a “snap shot” of a particular topic. Wordle is yet another example of a simple yet highly effective tool that is only limited by our imaginations!

When Jim Stynes was asked about his school days in the June 2008 issue of iteach, the newsletter of the Victorian Institute of Teaching in Australia, he was asked the following question:
“What contributions do teachers make to society?” Stynes replied,
“Many help shape the minds and souls of our greatest students and prepare them for the challenges ahead. Unfortunately, some still don’t recognise that kids have souls too that need nurturing, no matter how resistant or damaged they may be.”

Reading this made me think of an article I had read earlier by The Revd Dr Timothy Gaden (Dean of the Theological School & College Chaplain, Trinity College, University of Melbourne) after he gave a presentation at my school. I was unable to see his presentation but was told that it was a “hot topic that had generated a great deal of spirited discussion”. Tim spoke about “the education of the whole person” and how, as teachers, we need to be mindful of the powerful role we play in nurturing our students. As it is something that I am quite passionate about, I eagerly read Tim’s article passed onto me by our School Chaplain. I am very grateful to Tim for allowing me to share his article and write about it in this blog.

Tim began his article by describing the teachers that left a lasting impression on him.

“I hardly remember anything that they taught me, but I remember them. And you will have your own memories of teachers who taught you. It is unlikely that you, any more than I, remember them because of what they taught. I bet that you remember them for how they taught, for who they were as people.”

He then quoted American Psychologist, Karl Menninger, “What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches.” (How I love this quote!)

I had not even reached the end of the first page, yet what I was reading was having a huge impact. I was thinking to myself, “Yes, I bet it was a spirited discussion!”

He spoke of teachers going to class, himself included, with a “big, fat syringe” of content that needs to be taught in order to cover the curriculum so that students can achieve good exam results.

If you are unable to read his 4.25 pages of brilliance, I would encourage you to think about where you fit in. Are you a teacher who is a mentor, who nurtures the learner? Or are you under pressure to focus on the content? Maybe you are a balance between the two? At this year’s ICTEV Conference, Tasmanian Educator, Margaret Meijers, said in her keynote address, “Teachers are still clinging on trying to be the experts.”

So what does all of this have to do with ICT in Education? To me, ICT provides the perfect opportunity to empty that “big, fat syringe” of content in exciting and engaging ways for our students. However, there are some instances where the right tools will also provide us with the opportunity to “educate the whole person” and connect on a level that can often not be achieved via traditional means.

I have seen a perfect example of this with Andrew Douch, a Biology teacher who has an amazing rapport with his students with an incredible ability to connect with them. Of course, in Andrew’s case, being a warm and friendly person certainly helps! However, his use of emerging technologies has helped him to connect with his students in a very special way. You only need to look at Andrew’s facebook page and read the endless posts from past and present students to see that he is admired by many.

I think at times we completely underestimate the impact we have on our students. Our influence may not become apparent for many, many years to come. And what an incredible vocation it is, to have the opportunity to shape people’s lives.

Search for, email, embed and tag your favourite quotes at Quotes Daddy. Blog post image created with Mutapic, an online tool that allows you to create original artwork.

My Director of ICT often talks about attending Professional Development and Conferences and finding the “gold nugget” - that one special thing that you can take away with you. The Education Expo is held each year in Sydney and is a free community event showcasing all-things education and with a focus on eLearning. I had never attended the Education Expo before so was very keen to see what it was all about.
There is something quite appealing about a short visit to a busy city like Sydney. Maybe because my new home is so different! Could this expo really be as big as they say? And will I find a “gold nugget” today? Yes and yes!
The first thing that caught my attention was the huge Mathletics display. It was certainly a very clever setup. A number of computers for children to compete against each other using the program with LCD screens displaying the participants’ results. As I walked back-and-forth throughout the morning, the Mathletics area was constantly buzzing with activity. There is certainly no doubt that students love this concept.
The makers of Mathletics have now introduced Spellodrome, the same type of concept for Spelling. It looked promising but I had not struck gold – yet.
I met the friendly crew at the Australian Defence Forces stand who were very keen to hear about our Aviation Program. Roger Barrow has run ‘Ad Astra Aviation’ as part of our withdrawal enrichment program for gifted and talented students in Years 7, 8 and 9. Upon hearing this, the officer was only too happy to give me a generous handful of materials including free flight simulator DVDs. There are many fabulous resources available from the Australian Defence Force Academy and officers will also visit schools to give career talks.
I was very impressed with a financial literacy program called Kids Money. I spoke to Greg Smith, the program’s creator, financial advisor and writer for Woman’s Day. I believe that teaching our children financial literacy from a young age is something that we overlook as parents and something that is sadly lacking in our curriculum. Yes, we cover ‘Money’ in our Maths curriculum, but do we teach our students financial literacy? The only program that I know of is ‘Earn & Learn’. I wonder if there are other Primary School teachers including finacial literacy in their curriculum?
The program makes use of a variety of resources such as:
> A cleverly designed money box that will make you immediately realise that the days of one cute piggybank are gone!
> CD with spread sheet software designed to help children keep track of their money
> Picture story books with appealing characters and stories to illustrate and teach different aspects of financial literacy
> Colouring book
> Web site with supporting activities
I purchased the items for my own daughter and am keen to see her response. I can also see great possibilities to include this type of program in our primary curriculum. But how can we introduce it? I have one enthusiastic staff member who has used ‘Earn & Learn’ and the ‘Cash Flow for Kids’ game with his students at previous schools. Perhaps this program could be introduced as part of a Special Curriculum Project at our school? A Special Curriculum Project allows a teacher to submit a curriculum idea that is supported through funding for equipment, resources, professional development and time. The teacher presents his/her progress throughout the year to the school’s Curriculum Committee. I am hoping that a Special Curriculum Project could be the “kick start” that is needed to introduce something like Kids Money to our students.
So, was Kids Money the “gold nugget”? Yes, the first one, that is. Soon after I found my second…
Having recently purchased an Eee PC that runs on the Linux Operating System, I was excited to see a Linux stand at the Education Expo. The Linux folk are definitely not your usual Computer Geeks (and I use that term as a compliment). I love the Linux philosophy, maybe because it is basically one of “sharing”. They are so passionate about software development and about encouraging students to explore the possibilities outside Windows. As an ICT educator, I believe that it is part of my role to make students aware of and, if possible, give them experience with Windows, Mac and Linux Operating Systems. That was one aspect of being a primary ICT specialist that I really enjoyed – giving students a taste of different aspects of ICT.
At the Linux stand I met the lovely Melissa, who introduced me to the One Laptop Per Child computer. A nice, compact computer running on Linux, although I’m not sure about the rubber keyboard. That might take some getting used to! Apparently it retails for around $300 – a great buy.
However, what really impressed me was the Optimate PC by Optima. Apparently it retails for around $400 and, in my opinion, will definitely give the Eee PC a run for its money! It runs on Windows XP and not only appears to be very robust, but weighs less than 1.5kg. If I hadn’t have just purchased an Eee PC, I would definitely be looking more closely into the Opimate PC.
Finally, I was also able to pick up a CD featuring open source educational software that runs on both Linux and Windows. I will be exploring this further to see what can be added to our school network image in the future.
So yes, I did find a “gold nugget” - a couple of them in fact! Not only was I treated to a bit of “time out” in Sydney but also to a great Education Expo!

I have just come across information about The Education Show to be held at Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne on Friday 8^th and Saturday 9^th August. This is another exciting free event that not only features an expo but free seminars for educators as well.

One of the most exciting things I have been involved with since working at my current school was the organising of a one-day ICT Conference for our staff at Lorne. And one of the nicest moments I’ve experienced was standing on the podium at the end of the conference getting ready for the prize give-aways. As I looked around the room filled with more than 120 staff, they looked so happy and excited. (Although maybe this was because they were minutes away from heading home!) Throughout the day people had come to me with positive comments and you could see that there was a great “buzz” in the room at the end of a great day.
I wanted to recreate that moment of fun and appreciation for all things ICT. At a recent Professional Learning session for all staff, we decided to present “Web 2.0 Top Ten Tools…and a few more!” Staff would be asked to bring their notebook computers AND mobile phones! (Hmmm…now that could stir up things a little!)
The highlights of the session were the prize give-aways. I created a couple of Voki characters (thanks to John Pearce for that site) based on staff members and we used them to play “Who Am I?” I challenged staff to “think outside the square” and I could see heads nodding as they started to think of ways to use Voki with their students.
We had asked staff to turn on their mobile phones and write their number on a raffle ticket as they entered the auditorium. I was amazed at the number of people who came to me nervously with comments like, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t bring my phone today,” and “Lucy, you’ll probably think I’m really silly but I don’t really know how to use my phone. You’re not going to ask us to do something hard are you?” “Do you know how to receive a text message?” I asked. “That is all you need to do.” A couple of tickets were drawn throughout the session by our Director of ICT who demonstrated the use of web2msg, a free online text message service. “Congratulations,” the message read, “Please claim your prize at the end of the session.”
So how did I become a Web 2.0-holic? I have my colleague, Matt, to thank for that after he put me onto the Go 2 Web 2.0 site. This site is a complete directory of Web 2.0 Tools and is updated daily. I find myself checking this site at least a couple of times per week to see what’s new. Narrowing down the sites to show everyone was such a difficult task. I could easily run a full-day program! A long list of Web 2.0 tools are available via my delicious account and under ‘Web 2.0 Favourites’ in the right hand links list. However, these are definitely two of my favourites, perhaps because of their direct relation to mobile learning:
Poll Everywhere: This site allows you to create online multiple choice, yes/no or opinion polls. You can download a PowerPoint 2007 slide to insert in your slideshow that gives you LIVE results as staff or students submit their responses. In Australia, users can currently only submit responses to a poll via the internet. It is just a matter of providing a link to your audience. In the US however, it is also possible to submit responses via text messages. I have been in touch with the developers and begged and pleaded for this feature to be available in Australia. They are keeping me posted on the developments!
I demonstrated Poll Everywhere during the Web 2.0 presentation as we attempted to answer the age old question, “What is your opinion of Turkish Delight?” As the results came in and the slide magically changed before their eyes, it was priceless to hear the “wows” in the audience. What a fabulous way to get instant feedback during a staff presentation or with students. I hope that more Australian educators will discover Poll Everywhere and also beg and plead the developers to extend the text message feature to our country. Imagine the flexibility this would offer teachers in terms of mobile learning!
Mobile Study: I have Andrew Douch to thank for this fabulous tool. Mobile Study allows you to create quizzes that can be completed online or downloaded to a mobile phone. A mobile phone with internet capabilities is required. However, once the quiz is downloaded it is stored in the Games & Apps folder (or equivalent) and can be used over and over. What also impressed me about this tool was the way in which incorrect responses are handled. When the student gets to the end of the quiz they are then given the opportunity to redo any questions they answered incorrectly. They are basically able to do this as many times as they wish until they have answered all questions correctly. Again, imagine the possibilities in terms of mobile learning! Apart from completing quizzes in class students could complete one for homework or on a excursion.
The only drawback that I can see at this stage is not actually with Mobile Study itself but rather with the lack of satisfactory and affordable mobile phone plans that include internet access. After trialing Mobile Study with a group of students who completed a ‘Basic Aviation Flight Theory Quiz’, they expressed disappointment at the high cost of internet access via a mobile phone, unless Telstra was your service provider.
So, did anything positive come out of the session? I know that I am very fortunate to work with such wonderful staff. The day after the session I had non-stop queries about Web 2.0 tools and positive feedback. My facebook status update read, “Lucy is answering queries about Web 2.0 tools and it’s great!” Shortly after, I received a wall post from Wes, a colleague in Queensland saying, “Wow Lucy, that is great that you are getting questions about Web 2.0. I still get the same old question, ‘Do I have to save this on my USB, ’cause I’ve lost it’.” Don’t get me wrong, I still get those questions too and probably always will. However, it is nice to think that you might be helping others to take even “baby steps” in the right direction.

Over the last few years I have been fortunate enough to attend a number of conferences – all of them enjoyable and highly worthwhile. However, I have to say that the ICTEV Conference provided a number of “firsts” for me! This was the first conference to provide coffee stands for attendees, hence the hot chocolate that had me so wound up for the rest of the day! The “3 Minute Angels” provided a three minute massage to relax and de-stress attendees. And lastly, the gorgeous Autumn weather and the beautiful setting of Melbourne Grammar meant that during every break I bolted for the park benches by the oval with my hot chocolate. I felt very spoiled!
Apart from witnessing the inspirational Margaret Meijers, as mentioned in my previous post, I came away from the Conference with plenty to take back to my school.
> An excellent Excel tool to plot student progress in ICT against the VELS progression points
> A wonderful example of a Year 8 History Blog – just the thing I had hoped to come away with in order to encourage our teachers to start blogging for a wider audience, not just as part of our intranet
> Feeling even more motivated to get Kahootz up-and-running at our school after using version 3 – I don’t think I have heard so many oooh’s and aaah’s in 45 minutes as I heard during the Kahootz workshop!
> And an idea that stemmed from a ‘Virtual Schools’ presentation – why can’t I run an online PD session that does not require face-to-face attendance by staff? I have now set up our first Tablet PC Online Meeting where, for the first time, staff will not be required to book in for a session and attend in person. I am very much looking forward to writing a post about that experience.
So now it’s “time to go”. That is, time to act and implement the many ideas that are now racing through my mind after another wonderful ICT Conference!

I woke at 5:00am on Saturday morning and, as I headed down the highway, I knew it was going to be an amazing day. As the sun rose, it was like witnessing the unveiling of a beautiful canvas right before my eyes. The countryside was truly breath taking.
The first highlight of the day came via the keynote presenter, Margaret Meijers. I was immediately impressed by her humble nature as she made a remark about being nervous presenting in front of so many incredible teachers. This from an amazing educator who has travelled the world and won numerous awards! As I watched, listened, laughed and madly took notes, there were several things that made an impression on me:
“The impact of ICT in schools is only superficial. ICT just sits on top of our curriculum.” (Agree!)
“Some teachers are still clinging on, trying to be the experts.” (Agree!)
And lastly, perhaps my favourite: “Learn how to learn with passion and curiosity.” (Very nice!)

Margaret told the gorgeous story of “The Heffalumps” which she has now posted to YouTube. It cleverly highlighted just how silly the “ban the iPod, ban the mobile phone…” approach can be.
Margaret also spoke of a new technology known as PicoCricket, the next exciting development in robotics that is appealing to both girls and boys. PicoCricket is even more engaging for students because they create their own items, add materials they choose then program their creation to react, interact and communicate. Although still quite expensive to purchase in Australia, it is hopefully another form of technology that will quickly drop in price, making it more accessible for schools. There already a number of movies posted on YouTube showing wonderful examples of the use of PicoCricket.

New Literacies for a New Age (YouTube Full Screen)
New Literacies for a New Age (YouTube)

I first saw the Eee PC at the 2007 VITTA Conference. It was quite impressive – a small, light-weight notebook computer for under $500. I decided to “file that one away”.
My friends and family know that when I put my mind to something, I am fairly determined to do it well – and setting up a blog was going to be no exception!
Wouldn’t it be great to have a device that was portable enough to pop in your bag allowing you to jot down ideas or create blog posts almost anywhere?
Suddenly, the Eee PC was “pulled out of the filing cabinet”!
After a little research into pricing, specs, etc…I decided that the Eee PC could be very useful for “anytime, anywhere” blogging!
And the deciding factor? They had one in pink!
I have to admit, I’m pleasantly surprised. It comes out of the box with everything I need and the simplicity of the Linux Operating System makes it a breeze to use.
My only disappointment is that the quotation marks key doesn’t work and for some strange reason the touch pad and my daughter’s index finger are “incompatible” so she has to use a mouse!
One thing’s for sure though – this type of device is quickly gaining popularity. HP have just released their HP Mini, selling for around $800 and who knows what will come next…