More OLPC

David Weinberger is Blogging about a presentation on the $100 laptop.

This whole whole idea fires the imagination in so many ways

Developing countries leapfrogging the developed world in terms of educational access?

What are your thoughts?

 

Technorati tags: olpc, one laptop per child, glowscotland, education scotland, technology

Help me understand

I has been using feeds for a little while now but I am just beginning to realise the power of metatags in technorati.

I added a feed to my aggregator for Islay. It seemed reasonable to see what other blogs are out there talking about the place where I live.

The feeds I am getting are very ........unusual in nature.

What have I got feeding into my aggregator?

Technorati tags: islay, technorati, feeds, gowscotland, education scotland

OLPC - One Laptop Per Child

Nicholas Negroponte has talked at TED about the One Laptop Per Child Programme.

Now we are starting to see more details come out with the user interface. This is an extremely exciting project in which I recognise lots of the reasons for what we are doing here in Islay High School.

Wow

Look and be amazed

Origami - UMPC

 

Origami was the code name for the UMPC.

Link for above video

There is a daily increasing wide range of these types of devices

The UMPC is the device we have identified has giving us most of what we want to give into the hands of the individual pupils.

We want the different learning styles to be catered for. As well the 'normal' read/write style, Visual and Auditory . The UMPC deals with all of these learning styles so long as the course material is designed with these in mind.

The idea is that instead of have pages and pages of photocopied notes with the occasional blurry image in it. We would have the notes held on a server and then picked up by the pupil when required. These notes would contain the text + colour images + Video + animation/flash + sound files. The individual pupil can then use the inking capabilities to add their own notes or highlight important passages or they could even attach voice notes to them.

With the research I have done it indicates that this will deliver the material in a format more likely to include the natural learning style of an individual pupils.

The UMPC is by no means a perfect product but (as Rob Enderle says above) it will evolve. We need to get a structure in place which allows for this evolution to happen within education, for the benefit of individual pupils.

The key is NOT the UMPC. The UMPC is simply a conduit which allows a greater range of learning styles to be catered for across the curriculum.

The real key is the conversion of the courses from paper based to digital. This is where the skilled teacher must have their own input and control over the content. For this reason we plan to bring in consultants from NISAI to sit with the class teacher and support them in the conversion  of the teachers own courses and aid with the inclusion of the correct media.

Technorati tags:  education, Argyll & Bute, training, online resources, education scotland, origami,umpc, glowscotland,

Martin Luther King

Have look at Tom Hoffman's blog to see what this is about

Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King

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

Choosing Tablets

Tablet PC's are much more expensive than an equivalent laptop. So why not just get a load more laptops?
The reason for going for Tablets is that they are the main computer for that member of staff. The teacher can prepare work, simplify the administration, as they can do with a laptop but with a Tablet PC they can use it for a secondary job.
We decided to use the tablet to act as an interactive board (Along with a projector of course). As the teacher writes on the the tablet it appears on the screen. The teacher is not in the way of the projector and the image can be as big as the screen allows. The teacher can bring in video, sound ........ in fact anything that the interactive whiteboard can do a tablet can do as well. With the added advantage of not being limited by the size of a board.
This then makes the total cost (Tablet and Projector) less than the cost of an IWB (Interactive Whiteboard), projector and computer to run it. It also means that the technology much efficiently used. Less time sitting switched off as its used for more than one purpose.
Our next stage is to install wireless projectors. These will then mean that the signal from the tablet will be carried to the projector without a cable. Freeing the teacher to be anywhere in the classroom.
Once the pupils have the UMPC's then anyone's work can be put up on the screen.
A truly interactive, collaborative school?
del.icio.us tags: Islay, argyll and bute, Scotland, interactive white board, IWB, Tablet PC, UMPC, education
Technorati tags: Islay, argyll and bute, Scotland, interactive white board, IWB, Tablet PC, UMPC, education

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