Sharing and Best Practice please!

Here is a reflection and just a thought.

Gaming=Learning - Theorists and philosophers date back as far as the 1700’s relate to how children best learn and that is through play and activity. Learning through games, play and activity is not a new thing it is only the ICT idea that is new. There is a development going on in UK schools using Drama in all curriculum areas that is proving to be effective helping children to engage in their learning. Ewen also referred to different schools using active play for learning. … learning through play is nothing new. I believe many teachers maybe thinking, here we go again….. same idea, different tools. What we do need to know is, what is ‘Best Practice’ when it comes to ICT and lets get on with it.

Interesting read below thanks Karla, about Ewen’s online workshop. Online learning is a thing many are doing now to increase our knowledge. We have people within our community who are doing some form of training online through the computer. In addition to this I attend a weekly live class that uses interactive audio, visual and has chat option through Adobe® Acrobat® Connect™ Pro Meeting. A university lecturer spoke at conferences and conducted research throughout UK and Europe but still at the same time continued to facilitate the course I was attending, online, while she was traveling. My colleagues are usually scattered throughout NZ but this course had participating students scattered worldwide. Seems ironic when lecturers from NZ go to the UK to talk about ‘E-learning and Change with Digital Technology’ but speakers come here from the UK to speak to us! (Not sure if this should be a question mark?)

A good read is, ‘Catching the Knowledge Wave? by Jane Gilbert, (2005), thanks Dave. Jane talks about the knowledge society and the future of education. Interestingly in her next paper, ‘Knowledge, the Disciplines, and Learning in the Digital Age’, she comments, ‘ICT use in schools is often little more than digital busy work’, (Gilbert, 2007, pp115). Here’s the reality, ICT is embedded and is not an addition to the lives of our kids. What teachers need to know is how to use it effectively in the learning environment. What is Best Practice? Why bother?

I am looking forward to learning about ideas that are ‘Best Practice’. Ideas that will help teachers to feel confident that they are spending quality time finding out how to implement effective ICT into their teaching. I ticked everything in the survey simply because I want to know as there will always be different and new ideas and ways to do things. Not information overload and ICT dazzling but ‘knowledge worth knowing’. 'Sharing' and exposure to 'Best Practice', please!