How I organise my inbox

I receive, on average, 70-100 emails a day. This is not, in itself, a stunning fact. Many people receive more. But I thought I would share the way I manage this flow, in the first half hour of the day, for any other Type-A folk who are interested. Step 1: Make sure I have a […]

Can you explain my mail?

This came to me, hand delivered, yesterday. Nearly two sides of handwritten letter on a sheet of A4 refill. In a day when pretty much everything I read is digitally produced, I can’t recall when I last saw such a sustained, handwritten piece, certainly not a letter. But what makes this so surprising is that […]

#eqnz

The Christchurch earthquake – and the tragedy unfolding in its wake – has stunned us all. But, in between the stories of bravery, local heroism and national response, there have been occasional moments where something has caught my attention because it is odd or unusual. For me, it was the moment in Parliament on Tuesday […]

Don’t believe the hype

Thanks to Tim Kong for putting me on to Gartner’s hype cycle: a quick way to capture the way we move through periods of infatuation, with particular reference to technology. Any Principal grappling with their ICT budget will recognise this! I’m not sure how useful it actually is, other than describing a pattern that people already […]

Teachers’ views on technology: snapshots from the frontlines

This is a neat selection of videos that explores the way different technologies are being integrated into teaching and learning. The New York Times asked teachers to submit videos that explored how technology had changed the way they teach… The overwhelming themes that emerge are: Trust the students – be prepared to work with them. […]

Tips for Skyping with the kids: they’re not performing monkeys

This morning, I was part of a Skype session between grandparents in the UK and two children under six in New Zealand. This was not the first time we had undertaken this type of conversation – but each time it often takes more organising than a school play. We want everyone to be able to […]

Wave goodbye…

We were big adopters of Google Wave at work, even in its BETA version. We thrilled at the excitement of synchronised editing from different places in the country. We were intrigued by the action replay of what we had composed. We found it a great way to live blog from conferences, creating back channels that […]

Hands up for invisible tech

Steve Braunias, a keynote speaker, gently mocked the inoffensive little pun in the title of the NZ English teachers’ conference last week – but we WERE ‘enthusENG’, and for many of us, the focus was elearning. Workshops ranged from using Digistore for planning to exploiting creative affordances for presentational tools to support the teaching of […]

What would Pixar do with elearning?

The short film that precedes Toy Story 3 – Day and Night – is a fabulous example of how filmmakers can make the most of the opportunities that are inherent in 3D. While it’s a bit hard to appreciate this in 2D on your computer, this clip, and the making of Day and Night, show […]

Tell me you see a difference between board and screen..?

If there is no difference, then we need to talk. This video by mokmcdaniel – Online Student Experience – highlights in grim tones, how depressing it is to be in a world in which exciting teaching and learning (with and without technology) is possible, but not happening for him. While part of me can appreciate […]