[Year 12 IPM] Computer Lab usage

Wed Sep 6 20:47:15 EST 2006

Shift happens

You can't deny it or legislate against it.

Live with it.

Embrace it.

Mark Scott

________________________________

From: ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au on behalf of Stephen Digby
Sent: Wed 6/09/2006 8:03 PM
To: 'Year 12 Information Technology Processing and ManagementTeachers'Mailing List'
Subject: RE: [Year 12 IPM] Computer Lab usage

Hate to always be the voice of reason, but I am firmly against "change".  I
am only in favor of "improvement".  The problem with many changes that are
proposed is that the case for them as improvements is not made.
Recalcitrant is a good word as it refers to the refusal to accept authority.
It is in the "unreason"able exercise of authority that recalcitrant behavior
can be a virtue - think of many issues not doubt dear to many hearts -
corporal punishment, enforced numerical grading, enforced letter grades,
enforced ranking reports, etc etc...   Would YOU be recalcitrant ?

Please let's focus on rational debate about what are improvement options and
why they ARE improvements, rather than on an "authority" that tells us that
some changed classroom technology or layout is an improvement.

============================================================================
==========
Stephen Digby, Learning Technology Manager
mailto:admin at cheltsec.vic.edu.au 
Cheltenham Secondary College www.cheltsec.vic.edu.au Ph: 613 955 55 955  Fx:
9555 8617
============================================================================
==========

All that glisters is not gold.
Shakespeare: From The Merchant of Venice (II, vii) Portia is a beautiful,
virtuous, wealthy woman who is being wooed by numerous suitors. She is not
free to decide on her own whom she will marry because her late father ...

-----Original Message-----
From: ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au] On
Behalf Of Bell, Cameron P
Sent: 06 September 2006 12:44 PM
To: Year 12 Information Technology Processing and Management
Teachers'MailingList
Subject: RE: [Year 12 IPM] Computer Lab usage

Depends on the culture of the school too.
I think wholesale systematic change is hardest for schools to deal with.
I am sure we have all had dealings with some teachers that have the "this is
the way we have always done it" attitude and fight change. They often have
the loudest voice in meetings and have the "fear-factor" in their favour.
Other schools have leadership that encourages change and - dare I say it -
"taking risks". A culture like this can help reduce the effect of the
nay-sayers and will provide the resources to facilitate change.

I have also had a few teachers close to retirement refusing point blank to
learn any new systems or procedures. I have been told "I am retiring next
year, I am not going to worry about learning something new now." On the
opposite side, you have those who just want to keep learning - regardless of
their age or circumstances. I really admire that, as that is exactly the
attitude I would want to instill in the students - life-long, ongoing
learning.

So that change can happen, how do you encourage "recalcitrant" (for want of
a better word) teachers to accept that we must constantly change and adapt
to new circumstances so that it is not seen as a burden, but an opportunity?
Would love any additional strategies people can suggest.

Cameron

-----Original Message-----
From: ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au]
On Behalf Of Murray O.
Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2006 11:17 AM
To: Year 12 Information Technology Processing and Management
Teachers'MailingList
Subject: RE: [Year 12 IPM] Computer Lab usage

Mark
I disagree with you.
Based on my experience, I think teachers are highly adaptable to change be
planned or unplanned. That being said I too get frustrated at trying to
facilitate change in schools.

Can you tell of other professions or groups of adults that change quickly?

Regards,
Oliver Murray
Web Developer
Westbourne Grammar School
www.westbournegrammar.com

-----Original Message-----
From: ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au]
On Behalf Of Mark Scott
Sent: Wednesday, 6 September 2006 10:30 AM
To: Year 12 Information Technology Processing and Management
Teachers'MailingList
Subject: RE: [Year 12 IPM] Computer Lab usage

We are talking teachers.

This is a species renown for not changing quickly.

Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au]
On Behalf Of jturner
Sent: Wednesday, 6 September 2006 10:11 AM
To: Year 12 Information Technology Processing and Management
Teachers'Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Year 12 IPM] Computer Lab usage

The big mistake people continue to make is seeing technology as the catalyst
for sustainable change in education when it should be people.
Technology is invaluable whatever its peculiarities but learner centered
means people at the center.
John

On 05/09/2006, at 3:41 PM, Mark Scott wrote:

> I have said it before and no doubt I will say it again.
>
> The biggest advantage in introducing student owned laptops into a
> school is that it can be used as a catalyst for change.
>
> You can start to talk about learner centred classrooms instead of
> teacher centred ones.
>
> ... and of course this is not the only strategy you try, just one of
> several.
>
> Mark Scott
> Luther College
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au]
> On Behalf Of Michael Walker
> Sent: Tuesday, 5 September 2006 3:06 PM
> To: Year 12 Information Technology Processing and Management
> Teachers'Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Year 12 IPM] Computer Lab usage
>
>>>> Laurie Savage<sav at pvgc.vic.edu.au> 09/05/06 12:07pm >>>
>>> And now we have a generation of people who cannot do the simplest
> calculation in their head.
>
> Laurie
>
>>>> Mark Scott wrote:
>> They said the same thing about calculators back in the early
> seventies.
>
> Ah generalisations, you've got to love them... 8^)
>
> I would argue that with the use of calculators, you don't need to do
> the simplest calculation in your head. However, it requires a
> different skill set to check that your calculator is giving you an
> accurate answer rather than no skill set at all, hence the higher
> emphasis on estimation that occurs in teaching maths now than when I
> was at school. Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis...
>
> I would also argue that those kids I know of who have trouble
> performing the simplest calculation aren't all that flash on using the
> calculator either. I would suggest that a greater cause is lack of
> interest for whatever reason from boring teaching methods in previous
> years showing the kids how irrelevant maths is to lack of support at
> home for doing homework and school in general. Now there's a can of
> worms or three...
>
> Although I don't think laptops are a cure for all ills, I suspect that
> under some circumstances they can be a useful tool in the hands of the
> right practitioner, and in others are a complete waste of time when
the
> circumstances of the school and students are taken into account. To
> give some examples, I am sure that in some laptop schools, the laptops
> are an expensive pseudo notebook / electronic textbook whose primary
advantage
> is larger capacity, neater handwriting (typing vs scribble) and better
> searchability. Obviously Mark's school is not one of them based on his
> response. That's not to say schools with poor use of laptops don't
> exist, and anecdotal evidence would suggest that they do. On the other
> hand, the same applies to schools who have changed their teaching to
> make good use of new teaching methods available from every student
> having the tool and having been taught a proficiency with it.
>
> On the other hand, I would suspect that there would be scenarios where

> a
> $2000 laptop would be a poor use of family or school resources for the
> perceived benefits compared to alternatives. Would a struggling
western
> suburbs secondary school be able to justify making every student buy a
> laptop, even on finance? Would alternative approaches such as good use
> of Moodle with external access be more appropriate in terms of bang
for
> buck?
>
> I would suggest that neither black nor white are correct and that
> although there is a place for laptops in schools, it would be silly to
> try and suggest that it would be desirable for every school in the
> state and every student in the state to have a laptop and be in a
> laptop program. Or to suggest that every maths student in the state
> can't do simple calculations in their head...
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> http://www.edulists.com.au - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe
> IPM Mailing List kindly supported by http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au -
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> http://www.vitta.org.au  - VITTA Victorian Information Technology
> Teachers Association Inc
>
> _______________________________________________
> http://www.edulists.com.au - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe
> IPM Mailing List kindly supported by http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au -
> Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority and
> http://www.vitta.org.au  - VITTA Victorian Information Technology
> Teachers Association Inc
>
>
Dr J Turner
Head of Information Technology / VCE Coordinator Presbyterian Ladies'
College BURWOOD Victoria 3125

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