Professional Documents
Culture Documents
This report provides some personal perspectives for the above Conference.
The Conference came as a key time for Australian education computing. With the Federal Government’s Digital Education Revolution (DER)
policy up and running the implications for schools are most significant. The opportunity to interact with people involved in the policy
formulation and implementation was appreciated.
Overall I was left with an impression of a lack of forward progress, with similar stories reflecting changing technology considerations but not
in structures or levels of embedding needed to do justice to ICT-related school learning. There is still too much “if…only” or “look at me”
presentations. There remains the dilemma of differing values attributed to examination-measured learning compared to learning arising
through the purposeful, creative application of technologies in learning environments that facilitate responsible student management and
ownership of learning.
• The increasing gap between the student view of what ICT offers and the limitations provided within school approaches, be it through
lack of student voice (Moyle) or mismatches between intended learning aims and unintended outcomes (Cox). Students want
unfettered access to ICTs to explore, think and learn. Identity, control and sharing are key issues for our young (Cox) who are
experiencing conceptual change through expanding representations (This confirms my observations)
• The lack of any causal relationship between ICT use per se and learning. Successful educating depends on the mediating environment
(Newhouse) and the likelihood is increased by whole-school vision and commitment. Skill development can lead to increased
confidence, but certain pedagogical skills are needed for meaningful use. The cultural uniqueness of each school also needs to be
taken into account in setting targets (Cox). What warrants consideration is not only student learning objectives, but also consideration
of Learning Environment Attributes, Teacher ICT attributes, School ICT capacity and School Environment attributes (Newhouse).
• The uncertain value of IWBs for supporting education change, rather than merely upholding embedded practices. This depends on
teacher pedagogical preferences, but concerns were raised with a propensity to focus computer integration as maintaining locus of
control in systems and teachers over students. Related to this is concerns with technocentrism (primary focus being technology goals)
• Against this the importance of the development of creative thinkers (Reznick) involving a pedagogical approach of Imagine > Create >
Play > Share > Reflect > Imagine. In this the potential of Web 2 to facilitate sharing and knowledge construction.
The ISTE calls for teachers to transform learning through ICT use that involves
• Advocacy for change • Sharing for change • Showcasing for change
• Taking on risks for change • Then using resources to embed change
My papers
Questions Arising
1. What are schools and school systems going to do about linking to student controlled technologies such as laptops and mobile phones?
2. With fully functioning laptops for under $500 and increased technologies available through ‘cloud computing’ shouldn’t schools at least be
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able to answer why personal computers are not on the booklist (or whatever name it should have in the 21 Century)?
3. What approaches, values and relationships will schools adopt to add value to changes in student learning and approaches to schools
brought on by the increasingly influential digital world?
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4. Will the potential for eportfolios to help facilitate 21 century digital learning be realised?