When do changes stop being Pilots?

When I talk to people about our project they usually say "So, is this a pilot?" My answer is the same, "No its not a pilot, its a change to a way of working."
As Nicholas Negroponte says at TED, we have moved past pilots. So when does a pilot shift to being a change?
I feel that we have reached a pivot point and we are ready to shift our perspective from paper with some electronic based material to electronic based material with some paper.
The plans we are putting place are all their to support education and the curriculum. Nothing is particularly new or radical.Its using it as the main delivery medium.
As I usually say say at the end of my entries...... so what do you think?
I really mean this. Please come back with comments, criticisms, observations, points, questions
thanks
Ian

Technorati tags: glowscotland, school, education scotland, argyll, islay, umpc

Conference XP

As Andrew Brown as said Collaboration is a vital component to a curriculum for excellence.
I think this is where the Apps that come with IWB's have had the biggest advantage. They have been exciting and active. Where presentations from PowerPoint have been scripted and lifeless. In the Campus Technology online Mag they talk about breathing the life back into Classroom Presentations. Its an excellent article.
The Client we have been assessing the use of is Conference XP. Though I am really excited by the whole Glow shared whteboard space.
The concept of everyone in a classroom having access to the same space at the same time is very exciting one and one of the main reasons for this project...... but not the only one.
Technorati tags: islay, glowscotland, classroom collaboration, argyll

Google Sketchup

 We have been developing the use of Google Sketchup.

I think this is a good way of introducing the concept 3D drawing.

We have been using Pro/Desktop for a few years. This a great application but has a sever learning curve to get you going. Even with the help of the CADinSchool site.

The pro/desktop application from PTC is a full CAD package. In schools this can be bought for £90 for 300 licence's. As you can see this alone makes it an interesting package but you can only get it at this price if you complete the training.

Do you think this a model for the future? Educational use at a reasonable price but only if you have invested the time in learning how to use the app properly.

Google Sketchup I saw as the way of introducing this professional level CAD work in S1/2 but the senior courses are using it too. Do I stop them? Do I direct them to use a much more complex application? So long as the results are what they design and not simplify their designs to make them easier to draw.

The framework to introduce Sketchup in S1 is to take a woodwork model they have already made and redraw it on the computer.

In S2 after drawing the school we are investigating old villages on Islay and starting to draw the buildings in Sketchup. The next part is to place these old villages on Google Earth. The pupils have responded extemely well. They are starting to realise how large the population of Islay was (15000 compared to 3500 now). 

Technorati tags: Google Sketchup, Islay, education scotland, CAD

Islay High School - A future?

This post has been transfered over from http://islayian.spaces.live.com/
Well I have finally admitted that I DO need to Blog about what is happening in Islay High School (I think its rapped Andrew)
As a School of Ambition and Excellence we are some way down the route of these 4 strands
1. Developing the leadership potential and capacity of the whole school, Staff and Pupils
2. Introducing Vocational Courses to the curriculum
3. Removing the age and stage restrictions from the certificated courses.
4. Developing the use of ICT to support the curriculum
I am heavily involved with the ICT strand so that is what I will be talking about mainly. Though, of course, the other strands will be brought in as well.
So what are we planning in the ICT Strand?
Every Teacher has a Tablet PC
A wireless network
Wireless Projectors in every teaching area
A presentation space in the Assembly Hall
A Media Server
A Class Server
Existing courses digitised
S1 'Benchmarked' for IC3 Giving them individual curriculum in S1/2
Once these are in place then give every pupil a UMPC computer
All of these are in Partnership with Microsoft and Dell. Maybe more partners in the future
We have just started down this route. I am sure we will have lots of challenges ahead.
I am hoping anyone who reads this will come forward with ideas and suggestions.
So what do you think?............
Ian

Technorati tags: glowscotland, school, education scotland, technology, umpc, microsoft, dell, handheld, islay