Creatively harnessing ICT in special needs education.
I saw this very interesting article on Ben Goldacre’s Bad Science blog. What a refreshing idea – randomised trials to assess teaching methods. It has to be better than the education-as-a-political-football model that we seem to be currently following.
Now – back to my summer holidays 
Haringey’s schools are short changed because the government gives them less money to teach each child than councils with similiar costs.
Hackney – £6170
Camden – £6161
Islington – £5812Haringey – £4987
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I’ve just read on the BBC website that the Numeracy and Literacy strategies are to be abandoned. This is big news indeed for educators. I hope that this will clear the way for schools and teachers to tackle the issues surrounding raising standards in more creative and localised ways.
Nintendo has unveiled the Nintendo DS Classroom. Looks like an interesting classroom application for the cheap, massproduced Nintendo DS. It enables 50 DS’s to connect wirelessly to a single PC.
Spotted here.
Project Natal is a device announced today for the Xbox360. It’s a motion sensing device that allows you to control video games and Xbox 360 menus with your body instead of a peripheral controller. Natal gives you voice and full-body motion control over your on-screen avatar using an RGB camera, depth sensor and multi-array microphone.
I’ve written before about our use of the Wii Fit in our curriculum. It has been a fantastically motivating tool to help children develop their balance and coordination. Project Natal looks really exciting. This kind of technology be incredibly useful in the classroom.
Take a look at the preview video.
I, like Sue, have been appalled by the recent onslaught of the press, politicians (witness the behaviour of our MPs) and bloggers on Sharon Shoesmith and Haringey Children’s Service.
The death of Baby P is an absolute tragedy. The three people who killed him have been tried and sentenced in court. Clearly, there are questions to be answered by Haringey Children’s Service – and there are several enquiries underway. However – we cannot allow the tragic death of a child to spark a witch-hunt. Working with vulnerable young people is a hugely challenging and difficult vocation – and those who do so deserve support.
We are trying to install a sense of maturity, integrity and responsobility in our young people. I hoped that our leaders would provide a better role model for them.
This is my own personal opinion and does not represent my employers view in any way.
This hilarious Onion article (found here) got me thinking about the way that we learn.
Although the article is a parody – Connor’s experiences of school pretty much match my recollection of my own childhood. School was boring. When I think of the great learning moments of my life, with a few notable exceptions, largely took place outside the formality of the classroom. (friendships, tinkering with computers, my grandparents talking about their childhoods, getting paper rounds, saving money for bikes and so on). Informal learning just seems more meaningful, engaging, memorable and fun.
I’ve started to think more about the experiences that I am providing for my own learners. Luckily I teach using ICT – which lends itself to meaningful, engaging and fun. Do I successfully deliver positive learning experiences to my students?
I hope so. Still – I can always try harder…
I have just watched this video of Michael Wesch’s fascinating presentation to the Library of Congress. He is the man behind The Machine is Us/ing Us (a YouTube video about Web 2.0 with 7 million viewings) and Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University. It’s nearly an hour long – but well worth watching. It’s funny, touching and entertaining.
As seen on Sue Kambalu’s blog.
Note the new URL!
Spurned on by edublogs advertising and Ewan McIntosh’s post I decided to take the plunge. I bought the domain annett.me.uk a few years ago. It’s very cheap – I pay less than £3pa with 123-reg.
After a few technical hitches causing me to lose both my blog and my email over the weekend I now know a little bit more about DNS. I also have an aesthetically pleasing, if mildly embaressing, new URL.
I was just reading this fascinating article about John d’Abbro’s use of ICT in an EBD setting. John was a keynote speaker at the TTP Dinner.
Here is an extract:
“That’s where I think the C in ICT comes in. Once children start feeling and doing better, their self-esteem is raised and they can start to learn more effectively.” A range of projects at New Rush Hall have proved effective at motivating even the most easily bored and distracted pupils. In one project, supported by Apple, the most responsible year 11 pupils – aged 15 and 16 – were allowed to take laptops home in the evenings and at weekends to complete their work. Several not previously known for their love of homework worked for several hours non-stop because they became so absorbed. And although pupils had to be escorted to and from school when they were carrying the laptops for fear of mugging, all the machines came back.
The experience of New Rush Hall (subject of a research project) mirrors my own observations. ICT can, when used imaginatively, have a transformational effect on disinterested, unengaged and disenfranchised young people. Although I’m not sure why learners are so motivated by ICT – it is what I see every school day. I do have some hypotheses:
However, we should remember that ICT is only a tool. John sums it up:
“ICT is brilliant and sexy but if you don’t have the relationship it won’t work,” he says. “They don’t behave because they get an iPod or a laptop. They behave because they are trusted.”
Relationships are key.
What you’ve been saying