Your digital consultant » for teachers

Webspiration beta window closing

Simon Robinson — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 22:20:55 +0000

Got a little note in my inbox today informing me that Webspiration beta sign ups are closing Wednesday 18-March. Now this will be US time so Australian readers will have until maybe midday depending on what time zone “the switch” is in.
So get in fast people before time runs out on this awesome service and you have to pay top dollar for it.

A lesson for us all

Simon Robinson — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 09:06:36 +0000

iWork ‘09 Torrent Carrying OS X Trojan [Updated] – Mac Rumors

A security alert posted this morning by antivirus vendor Intego reveals that the company has discovered a new Trojan horse that is being carried by pirated copies of iWork ‘09 circulating on a number of torrent sites.

Largest security vulnerability when using your computer regardless of operating system is user behaviour. In this case you could call it karma. If you’re using torrents to download stuff especially if it’s movies, music or pirated software you’re risk profile increases significantly. You better know what you’re doing (i.e. have a quarantine machine or similar.)

Pimpin’ and protecting your tech

Simon Robinson — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:10:40 +0000

Gelaskin by Tim Sorsdahl

Originally uploaded by jonrawlinson

You have paid good money for your laptop investment so it’s not so strange to want to protect it a little and make it last a little longer. “But how can I do that without looking all untrendy?” I hear you ask. Well, I got a “bit o’ love fo’ ya”
Gelaskins, according to the site “…are removable covers for protecting and customizing your portable devices.” There are heaps of designs you can get from some well and lesser known artist (see pic). The gallery of covers is a bit slow to browse through on the site but well worth the effort. While you’re there you can get a matching skin for your iPod, iPhone or Blackberry.

If putting a massive sticker on your laptop makes you a bit nervous instead you can be “da biza” and “da shiza” with some kit from Foof. Truly trendy sleeves for your iPod, camera and laptop so next time you pull out your piece of technology everyone will go “Ooooh! That person is super cool and hip”. The website is super elegant and very browseable and all Foof-bags are handsewn in Australia.

Daylight savings, the brain and learning

Simon Robinson — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 01:05:22 +0000

I have a bit of a thing about brains and I have posted before (on my other blog) about young brains, sleep and learning.
Some schools start later in the day specifically to address the issue that the majority of children seem to become “night owls” during adolescence. A recent report presented at the 2008 Australasian Sleep Association Conference suggests that parents need more guidance in setting bedtime rules to assist teens with the morning wakeup. There are simple (but tough to implement!) strategies, the most important of which concerns light. Reduce light exposure in preparation for sleep and increase light for waking.
So where does daylight savings fit in? Effectively having the sun rise and set an hour later each day seems to be counter-intuitive to what we know about young people and their brains. Am I the only one that thinks daylight savings disadvantages adolescents?

RSS The trailer

Simon Robinson — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 01:17:57 +0000

I espouse the virtues of RSS constantly and I have alluded to how useful I think it can be for students and educators. Sue Waters then put the pressure on so I felt compelled to deliver. I see it as a trilogy, “RSS in three parts” (Quick! Reserve the movie rights!). Basic, intermediate and advanced. In each of the sections I will endeavour to include strategies, experiences or ideas as it applies to teaching and learning. Like backing up your data, therre is truckloads of stuff about RSS and it’s derivative services written by far brighter people than I but my hope is to tailor it somewhat to suit the audience and to save you some legwork. Here’s an outline of what to expect;

Ep1 A quick intro (Basic)

Quick introduction, reading your feeds and bookmarking your feeds

Ep2 Share the feed-love! (Intermediate)

Sharing your feeds – Friend feed, Google Reader
Embed in your site

Ep3 Work that feed baby! (Advanced)

Combine, filter, syndicate and other things you can do to “work your feeds”

That will do for a start anyways. Ep1 coming soon…

What, who ar why?

Simon Robinson — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:56:49 +0000

Why do you teach? Is it the subject or the students?

He mentioned that there must be teachers out there who joined the profession because they have a love or admiration of the subject matter and that the students are secondary to that motivating force. That statement intrigued me. Would there be teachers who enjoy the subject, say Science or Mathematics, and have become teachers simply to impart their knowledge and love of the subject? Where does that leave the students?

This post started as a comment on John’s post (which I subscribe to) but I sort of got some steam up and felt it was better to post here with a ping back. So here goes…

I’m not so sure about the primary school teacher hypothesis (you’ll have to go and read the post) but a question I often “go fishing with” is;
“Are you a teacher of *insert subject* or a teacher of young people?”
My hypothesis goes a bit like this.
A teacher who ties their identity to their subject matter is likely to be more threatened by change and blindly resist. A teacher who has the best interests of the young people entrusted to their care at the forefront of their minds is more likely to evaluate things on their merit and act accordingly. Who will be happier in their job?
Another angle (can you tell I have done some pondering?);
Someone asks me, “So what do you do?”
“I teach at a school?”
Now in my experience there are two common follow up questions that stereotype two paradigms.
One says, “So what do you teach?”
The other says, “Do you teach primary or secondary?”
You with me?

Terminology and acronyms

Simon Robinson — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:16:02 +0000

I have decided I don’t like the term LMS (Learning Management System.)
It just implies that its all controlled and stuff.
I feel that online learning spaces as they are currently viewed by most (i.e LMS or CMS system) is fundamentally flawed (for high school students at least.) The names themselves “Learning Management System” implies a level of control that stifles rather than encourages curiosity, exploration and ultimately powerful learning. In my opinion, customisable, personal spaces for participants that can be easily connected with others in the learning community offers more opportunity and the freedom of expression that most young (and old?) people seek. The democratic power of technology is perhaps what ultimately scares traditional educational structures. I think we need to embrace that fear (anyone read Dune by Frank Herbert?)