Reflections on the ICT Conference

I have been thinking today about the words and messages from both Marco Torres and Dr John Ingram.

Both have lead me to thinking about different things.  Marco Torres has left me thinking about the question.  As educators questioning is so important.  It allows our students to think.  We are not there to fill them like empty glasses, but to provide them with opportunities to think.

I am continually amazed at the lack of thinking skills many students possess.  I am not sure if it is generally the younger generation, wherein they find it easier to just ask to get the answer than to try and work it out for themselves, or whether they are truely too scared to make a mistake that they wont actually have a go and risk getting it wrong.  Maybe it is a combination of both.

Thinking is such an important skill, and like everything it needs to be practiced.  So next time we want our students to do something or behave in a certain way, think about the question.  Are we asking the correct question to achieve the desired outcome?

Dr John Ingram also got me thinking about our curriculum.  Basically he said while we teach a content based curriculum we are preparing our students to succeed in the 1950s!  While this may be an extreme comment, or not, with the rapid growth of technology and new information what do we need to equip our students with?  Again it goes to thinking.  Really we need to ensure that students are equipped with the knowledge and knowhow to access information and dephier it.  Why cant our curriculum be based on assisting students with the knowhow to succeed in a world that we dont even know what it will look like by the time they are in the wrokforce, with their jobs not even have been invented yet.

I know there is the standardised tests etc etc but what are they really telling us?  What is really important?  The questions ... the questions ...

Lynbrook Conference

Well I am inspired after attending the Lynbrook ICT conference and have decided to create a class blog.  The conference was very inspirational, and I hope my students enjoy using the online tools to enhance their learning.

We were lucky to have two amazing keynote speakers Marco Torres from the USA and Dr John Ingram from the UK.