Yet another call for action. Are the messages, are the call outs, are the pleas from our students getting through are do we, as NZ Educators, merely think that all the fuss is coming from the US. With us all the way over here, our students are not in the same frame of mind even if they are using the same technology.
My gut tells me it’s wrong. I’m looking forward to getting some 11-18 year old perspective on this, from our students, in our country.
I spotted this video from Principal’s blog at Puketapu school . There school is begining a learning journey into effective use of technologies (Hardware, software, Web2.0).
One of the Education stories of the day was reported on National Radio this morning . School Uniforms pricing and policy is being called into question. Several news blogs and news sites are running the story.
It comes at an interesting time for me as last Sunday a friend of mine was talking about the cost of their kids school uniform as being upward of $700. I thought about this wondered if they had their numbers wrong but on the radio this morning I discover that the cost of a school skirt could be upward of $100! That total bill appears quite enormous. Then I got thinking about the fact that school is said to be "free at the point of delivery". Hmmmm…. I think not.
With the cost of school uniform being… $700. Yearly fees being $500, stationery levy being $50 it all too soon mounting up. And I fear I am only touching the surface.
What areas of ‘voluntary contribution’ have I missed?
I consider the school ski trip and the Japanese lessons with the specialist tutor after hours or the violin practise at 3pm on a Wednesday to be areas where parents have a genuine choice as to whether they opt in or out.
But what about the rest?
I must ask around what a parent has to pay. I was wondering how much it would be for where you are? And what categories that comes under?
Smart Use of Technologies for thinking, Questioning, Wondering
The Byline read:
Very much in line with the goals of the NZ curriculum. Jamie McKenzie shows how ICT can be used to engage all students in serious thought about the important question and issues of their lives. In contrast to the cut and paste thinking and powerpointlessness that can result from the use of new technologies if we are not careful Jamie emphasizes activities that build the comprehension skills of all students, challenging them to wrestle with demanding questions calling for inference, analysis , synthesesis and evaluation. At the same timer he calls for curriculum that is both engaging and authentic, harnessing the curiosity and passions of the young to fuel inquiry.
I would love to share with you some of the learning going on in Flaxmere this year but unfortunately I have made very few notes.
I recorded the session with Jamieson MacKenzie but am unable to share the contents with you in the audio format. As I listen to it again, perhaps I’ll be able to share some notes and thoughts… He is down in Dunedin tomorrow so if you’re down there catch up with him. His message is spot on and I wish I was as animated and engaging as he was.
What I have learnt today is to ask AHEAD of time if I can record peoples sessions. But the few times I have asked speakers if I could share them as a podcast the reasons given for a ‘NO’ answer have never been: “Well, if you’d asked me before…”.
I wonder, perhaps if the bottom line is the real reason. Perhaps these same sessions are repeated over and over and if they are made available publicly the audience number goes down.There is als othe thought then that the message is being diluted, changed and, through blog notes et al., subtly altered from the original.
A distinction, therefore, needs to be made from what is the presentors material to what are mine, and your additional thoughts/concerns/ questions and general wittering.
Wittering, though, has some value. The value in this day and age is the global voice conponent of the message of educational reform. The “witterings” ca not nor should not be ignored.
Then I got thinking about the fact that school is said to be "free at the point of delivery". Hmmmm…. I think not.
