Our hidden learners

Thirteen years ago, Graham Nuthall published his seminal research ‘The Hidden Lives of Learners‘. It’s a wonderful read that takes us into the heart of what actually happens in the classroom. A key idea to be learned from this research was that we cannot tell, just by being in the room with students, what they […]

Students, computers and learning: 5 takeaways from that OECD report

It was with breathlessness more suited to the daily rag that the BBC ran the headline Computers ‘do not improve’ pupil results, says OECD while the Register yelled “Don’t bother buying computers for schools, says OECD report”, prompting an outpouring of reaction that, predictably, asserted the opposite. Still, we are sensible professionals who are quite capable […]

Have you joined the tech revolution?

Governments, including here in New Zealand, frequently rely on OECD data to guide policy-making decisions. In recent years, that data has largely been from PISA (you can access the 2012 topline results for science, reading and maths here) and TALIS surveys. In the last few years, reliance on OECD data has come under scrutiny for being too narrow in its […]

Voice and Choice: Growing great citizens for a connected world

The following notes were the basis for my recent keynote to a large cluster of Whanganui schools, with thanks for the opportunity to speak with nearly 300 teachers. Over the past years we have become aware that ‘one size fits all’ no longer fits anyone, that the ‘industrial models’ of education – legacy thinking – are being rapidly debunked […]

The impact of digital technology on learning

I recently saw the following piece of research – “The Impact of Digital Technology on Learning” – pass across my desktop, via DERN (the Digital Education Research Network). Overview In their intro to this report, DERN states: “Taking into account the scarcity of rigorous research into the benefits of teaching and learning with digital technologies, [this […]

National Digital Forum Conference: Where education and GLAM collided

A belated post but only because the riches of the National Digital Forum conference [#NDFNZ] have been percolating and settling. On one level, going to this event as an educator feels a bit like sneaking in on someone else’s guest list, the focus largely being the GLAM sector. But increasingly I feel the benefit of reaching […]

Cross posting

No, I’m not angry, or even mildy peeved. But all my blogging juices have been channelled into posts on other blogs recently – and why should you miss out? Beware. Some of these links may take you the blogs of my employers. Necessity is the mother of invention: an overview of how Christchurch schools have […]