tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21070607586293961842024-03-14T10:37:25.495-07:00Blogger in Middle-earth“To share one’s goods; to speak the truth, not hiding one’s heart from others” J K BaxterBlogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.comBlogger321125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-65225975880201506312019-01-18T21:10:00.000-08:002019-01-18T21:21:43.475-08:00Those Who Cannot Remember The Past <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #0c343d;">James Dewey Watson is 90 years old. The plot to remove honours from Watson and to taint his reputation has been simmering for decades. The same can be said of the other scientists who shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology. Their elucidation of the structure of DNA was the greatest science achievement of the 20th Century.<br /><br />When I was at school, the names were Watson, Crick and Wilkins. That trio was synonymous with the way science had become integrated from traditional biology, chemistry and physics. Towards the end of the 20th Century, New Zealand born Maurice Wilkins' name was dropped from that prestigious group. The structure of DNA became attributed to the work of Watson and Crick. Wilkins had been targeted in the move to discredit all three scientists because he was the X-ray crystallographer. The moves had always been to discredit the prizewinners for their alleged use or misuse of data obtained by the X-ray chrystallographer, Rosalind Franklin, who was seen as a rival to Wilkins.<br /><br />There was always controversy surrounding Franklin's ability to work with Watson, Crick and Wilkins and the contribution that she had undoubtedly made to the work of that team. There was also controversy over who should have been given the most credit for crystallographic studies that contributed to the elucidation of the structure of DNA in 1953, Franklin or Wilkins. However, Franklin died some years before the Nobel Prize was awarded for the work on DNA, so there was no way that she could have been given recognition through such an award. Nobel prizes are not awarded posthumously.<br /><br />A considerable and accumulating lobby against the famous scientists was made by feminist groups over the years and they used a range of reasons for their campaigns. Latterly, their thrust was of the lack of science honours awarded to women. Rosalind Franklin was featured several times as an example of a female scientist who missed out, notably with reference to the Nobel Prize that was awarded to Watson, Crick and Wilkins after her death.<br /><br />The momentum for castigation against Watson increased substantially after he was questioned for his controversial opinion of average IQ related to Africans who were native to Africa, which he made known in 2007 – and a new reason for castigation was found. By that time Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins had died, both in 2004.<br /><br />James Watson was the last remaining part of the target that was DNA Nobel Prize winners. He has now been hit a bullseye with the ultimate condemnation. He has been stripped of all his academic honours including his Nobel Prize award.<br /><br />The popular narrative holds that there is no difference between the average IQ of individual races. I don't believe that Watson was stating anything other than the truth when he voiced his opinion about race and IQ, an opinion based on hard core evidence obtained from many studies by different researchers. His attitude was certainly not racist, no more than that of Albert Einstein who has been castigated recently for notes he scribbled in his own private holiday diary, over 100 years ago, on aspects of Chinese culture that he disliked.<br /><br />Watson's recent castigation is uncannily similar to that of Galileo's in the 17th Century. Galileo was undoubtedly a brilliant scientist who was maligned by those who defended popular narratives at the time and sought to castigate him for his beliefs that differed from those narratives.<br /><br />In the words of George Santayana,</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><br />"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."</span></span></span></div>
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Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-18954942494530968192016-07-30T16:30:00.003-07:002016-07-30T16:36:09.459-07:00And The Answer's a Lemon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Isn't it amazing the junk you can find on the Internet? YouTube is a haven for pranksters who make money out of deceit. They broadcast their fraudulent junk on a huge scale. The most recent I came across is this one. It has made over 16,000,000 hits in a few months. It is not scientific and it wouldn't work. It is charlatan snake oil. As well, it's ethically fraudulent and morally misleading. Anyone who is unfortunate enough to have all the resources available at the time they desperately need assistance is in for a shock if they try this for the contraption will not make fire.<br /><br />The broadcaster demonstrated how this contraption produced enough electrical current to set fire to a bundle of steel wool and dry paper.<br /><br />I'm appalled at the vast amount of so-called quick and easy fixes to be found on the Internet and that are neither quick nor are they fixes.</span></span></span><br />
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<br />Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-52513155282468488312016-02-11T11:15:00.002-08:002016-02-11T12:05:39.857-08:00Einstein was Right<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We've seen light waves from space; now we can see gravity waves.<br /><br />A hundred years ago, Einstein said that gravity waves existed but they'd never been detected. We now know he was correct. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Antennas of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in Washington State and Louisiana have just detected the gravity 'sound' of two black holes coalescing a billion light years away. Previous to the observation, the black holes were responsible for the phenomenon well known as <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a</span> pulsar, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">like</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> the famous</span> PSR B1913+16 in the constellation of Aquila. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The black holes collapsed a billion years ago, sending out gravity waves and now remain as a single black hole depleted of some of its mass due to the release of this energy.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Check out <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/12/science/ligo-gravitational-waves-black-holes-einstein.html?_r=0" target="_blank">the blurb</a>.</span></span></span><br />
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Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-83375347577117717732015-09-26T17:40:00.003-07:002015-09-26T18:26:03.794-07:00Food for Thought<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The <a href="http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/education/students-computers-and-learning_9789264239555-en" target="_blank">latest OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) result</a> is that computers don't help student learning.<br />
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In <a href="http://landing.deloitte.com.au/rs/761-IBL-328/images/deloitte-au-ps-education-redefined-040815.pdf" target="_blank">a recent paper</a> by Peter Evans-Greenwood, Kitty O’Leary, Peter Williams, Deloitte, 18 Sept 2015, the authors write, "(E)ducators need to turn their attention to creating environments and platforms where students can learn what they need to learn when they need to, and instilling in them the habits of mind, attitudes and behaviours that will enable them to thrive in today’s (and tomorrow’s) knowledge-rich environment."<br />
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Food for thought?<br />
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<br />Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-57509262673516042842015-03-18T21:21:00.000-07:002015-03-24T15:16:41.993-07:00The Myths about the New ‘P’<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The US Federal Government, through FDA, has just recently approved the manufacture and use of Palcohol following the false start over its approval last year. <br /><br />Palcohol is sometimes referred to as 'powdered alcohol' which is a misnomer since Palcohol is not powdered alcohol at all. It is a substance created and manufactured by Mark Phillips, an Arizona businessman. In its rawest form, a preparation like Palcohol consist of pure alcohol held in a matrix of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclodextrin" target="_blank">cyclodextrin</a>, an edible white powder, like starch and that is soluble in water. Cyclodextrin, if eaten, is non-toxic, is not sweet, is not digested and is a contribution to dietary fibre. Raw Palcohol looks like icing sugar.<br /><br />Palcohol has yet to reach the market place in a commercial form, but<a href="http://safeshare.tv/w/qurOOxlTbA" target="_blank"> several states</a> in the US are already preparing to the ban the sale of this substance if they haven’t done so </span></span><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">already</span></span>. <br /><br />There’s been a recent revival of activity on the Internet about this now not-so-new consumable, most of which is wrong and has been spread around through ignorance. I applaud Phil Mason's (Thunderf00t's) initiative in swiftly <a href="http://safeshare.tv/w/reOkhyhjVS" target="_blank">identifying invalid data</a> circulated via the Internet last year. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here’s just some of the myths associated with Palcohol:<br /><br /><b>It can be used to spike drinks.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />While this might be true, it would be very difficult to spike a drink successfully using Palcohol. First, the substance has to be stirred for at least a minute for the powder to disperse. Then there is the matter of the volume of powder required to spike the drink effectively – Palcohol contains only about 10% by volume of alcohol. To have the equivalent effect of a single shot of vodka would require almost half a cupful of the powder – not something easy to conceal, never mind dissolve in a standard drink.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br />Snorting Palcohol gets you drunk superfast.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />This myth is hilariously funny for it would mean snorting about half a cupful of Palcohol to get the same effect as drinking one shot of vodka. What is funnier is that even one snort of the powder would cause the consumer unbearable discomfort and pain.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><b>Palcohol is easier to conceal than liquid alcohol.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Pure alcohol forms only 10% of the volume of the Palcohol that holds it. A far easier and more discrete way to conceal alcohol would be to hide the liquid in a suitable container – a practice that has been used for centuries. Palcohol is just too bulky for any useful amount of it to be carried discretely.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><b>Alcohol is heavier than Palcohol so airlines could save millions on fuel costs by providing Palcohol instead of traditional alcoholic drinks. Similar savings can be obtained through lower shipping costs for resorts that rely on imported alcohol.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />This is almost as funny as the idea that snorting Palcohol is a quick way to get drunk. Palcohol contains about 50% alcohol by weight, so clearly it would be far cheaper to transport liquid alcohol than the twice as heavy equivalent amount of Palcohol.<br /><br /><b>Palcohol presents a higher risk than alcohol on its own.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Palcohol certainly does not present any risk to the consumer greater than that already presented by liquid alcohol. In many ways the risks are lessened due to the form that the alcohol is in when received initially by the consumer. An example of this is Palcohol’s inability to flow like liquid alcohol, so it presents a lesser fire risk. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />However, there is one risk that Palcohol now has the potential to present due to the recent publicity of it as a possible banned substance. It is well known that if any substance is banned, consumption of it inevitably increases. When it's eventually released to the market, I predict that the sale of Palcohol will skyrocket initially due to this publicity and level off to an extent that we may never hear much of its existence again.</span></span><br />
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<br />Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-50554103845529495272014-11-03T11:53:00.000-08:002014-11-04T19:55:40.979-08:00How I Can Understand Science<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span>
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Science is often difficult to understand because it requires thinking. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If a person is not a thinker he or she won't understand a lot of what they read in Science. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This misunderstanding is often interpreted by the non-thinking reader as confusion in what Science is trying to put across.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It then becomes a cycle that feeds itself and the reader begins to feel that Science is rubbish and contradicts itself. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The reader then forms the belief that people just look around for the scientific facts that back up their position and in part, the reader is right. That's because some of the people who do this are non-thinkers. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So the answer is: "read, digest (that means think) repeat. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">No one learns everything on the first pass." - <a href="https://twitter.com/medschooladvice" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Dr. K</i></span></a></span></span><br />
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Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-14804585029624737572014-11-01T16:09:00.003-07:002017-04-28T19:42:11.429-07:00Homeopathy – A Cure for Ebola?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #0c343d; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">New Zealand Green Party Member of Parliament, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steffan_Browning" target="_blank">Steffan Browning</a>, has recently caused a stir by supporting a petition appealing to the World Health Organisation to use homeopathy in the treatment of the deadly disease ebola. Browning later posted his support to Facebook. The <a href="https://www.change.org/p/dr-daniel-kertesz-who-end-the-suffering-of-the-ebola-crisis-test-and-distribute-homeopathy-as-quickly-as-possible-to-contain-the-outbreaks" target="_blank">petition</a> was launched by the controversial Australian homeopath, Fran Sheffield, on the change.org site.</span></span></ul>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">New Zealand Green Party co-leader Russell Norman said that the action of his colleague in signing the petition was “unwise”. Browning’s support for the use of homeopathy to treat ebola was dismissed as “barking mad” by New Zealand’s Prime Minister, John Key.</span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathy" target="_blank">Homeopathy</a> is a well-respected system of alternative medicine that has enjoyed a long history. It dates back to before 1796, the year when the principles of homeopathy were laid down by Samuel Hahnemann. There are many prominent people around today who have used homeopathic medicine for various ailments and found it to be effective.<br /><br />In the practice of homeopathy, “remedies are prepared by repeatedly diluting a chosen substance in alcohol or distilled water . . . <br />. . . dilution usually continues well past the point where no molecules of the original substance remain” – <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Wikipedia</i></span>. This means that if pure water is used as the dilutant, the final liquid is actually purer than tap water. <br /><br />I find it hard to believe that anyone could have suggested using this method to prepare a remedy for any human ailment other than thirst. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fran Sheffield claims that <a href="http://homeopathyplus.com.au/Homeoprophylaxis-Human-Records-Studies-Trials.pdf" target="_blank">homeopathy is effective in curing a range of diseases</a> including viral, bacterial and protozoan infections and that “appropriate homeopathic medicine is likely to be just as effective against the ebola virus”, an <a href="http://www.lightparty.com/Health/EbolaCure.html" target="_blank">opinion shared by other homeopathic practitioners</a>. <br /><br />In 1988 there was an attempt to provide some explanation of how homeopathy might work. The <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/101504125/Jacques-Benveniste-s-Memory-of-Water-1988" target="_blank">findings of Jacque Benveniste</a> and the work of others in the field suggested that water seems to have a ‘memory’ for minute amounts of substances that it comes into contact with. The suggestion was that this ‘memory’ possessed by water may offer some explanation of how homeopathic preparations could have a biological effect. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The existence of this special property of water, suggested by Benveniste, has never been proved unequivocally despite scientifically rigorous work done to achieve this by teams of scientists in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcBHKMJDHaU" target="_blank">Horizon studies</a>. I believe that it is significant that these studies were <a href="http://www.vithoulkas.com/en/writings/controversies/2214.html" target="_blank">fiercely rejected</a> by the community of homeopaths. <br /><br />How much does the power of belief play in the apparent successes and subsequent support that homeopathy has garnered over the centuries? How much does the weight of authority play in how this belief persists? <br /><br />The professional body of homeopaths seems to support the action of Fran Sheffield and condones the distribution of a petition (that also solicits donation of money by way of sponsorship) through a posting on the Internet. Why else would such a petition remain online? Apparently it has gathered over 5000 signatures and counting. Thank goodness <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/30/homeopaths-offer-services-fight-ebola" target="_blank">scientists are condemning this type of action as irresponsible</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">By the way, I use a PC to publish my posts. I might just as well claim that <br />if I connect the mouse, keyboard and screen to the box that the PC was <br />first packed in and then connect it all to the Internet, it works fine and <br />saves power.</span></span>
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Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-62567760247205873602014-10-10T16:59:00.000-07:002014-10-14T15:23:51.035-07:00Equality – BLOG ACTION DAY 2014<br />
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<ul><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a <br />precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance. </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">–</span><span style="font-size: small;"> <i>Kofi Annan</i></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There is a principle behind and beyond the words of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kofi_Annan" target="_blank">Kofi Annan</a>:</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span> <br />that effort towards eliminating any form of inequality must start and work in tandem with effort to overcome <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_inequality" target="_blank">gender inequality</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />We live in interesting times and there never was a time needier of united humanity than today. I was much moved by Emma Watson’s <a href="http://safeshare.tv/w/kPNxfiYrvG" target="_blank">United Nations speech on gender equality</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />She made me think again about this fundamental and hugely important humanitarian principle – “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities”. Emma approached this principle from the standpoint of feminism: “the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes . . . it is not the word (feminism) that is important, it's the idea and the ambition behind it.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Inequality is any difference that may lead to disadvantage, however slight, experienced by an individual or group of people. In many instances, the complete elimination of inequality is not possible, through factors that are simply beyond human control. Complete elimination of inequality is often a fictional, utopian state.</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> However, the word inequality used here refers to the practical circumstances where inequality can be diminished or eliminated by human thought and action.</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <br /><br />There are two general types of inequality, one occurring when individuals or groups in the same or similar circumstances are treated differently and the other occurring when individuals or groups in different circumstances are treated the same way. Either of these inequalities results in a disadvantaged position for an individual or group.</span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Many barriers will be met in any attempt to achieve equality, to whatever aspect of humanity that equality applies. A lot can be controlled by human thought and action. However, for most people, there are many barriers that are extremely difficult to moderate or remove. Prejudice is one such a barrier.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Prejudice is a preconceived notion that is often the root cause of discrimination, committed either deliberately or unconsciously, in ways that can result in inequality. This happens specially when exercised by and within social groups. Such destructive partiality exists in individuals and is fostered in social groups throughout the world. It can exist in seemingly subtle ways that are nevertheless still expressions of prejudice or partiality. Gender partiality leads to gender inequality.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <br />Emma Watson mentioned in her UN speech that gender inequality is a matter for men too. I post links </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">here </span>to two videos as examples of one aspect of gender partiality in relation to violence. They show recent social experiments on how bias can influence the actions of individuals among groups in certain situations.</span><br />
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<a href="http://safeshare.tv/w/qmpjczpXrb" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">video 1 </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">–</span></span> Bryant Park, New York</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://safeshare.tv/w/SApCVaAAAh" target="_blank">video 2 </a></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://safeshare.tv/w/SApCVaAAAh" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">–</span></span> Fitzroy Square, London</a> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />Unmistakably, preconceived opinion about gender difference is a factor in how both men and women react differently according to the situations shown in the videos. They depict a measure of benevolent sexism that exists within societies everywhere. That aspect is among the many thousand manifestations of gender inequality that occur in societies throughout the world. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />The <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/03/shocking-statistics-girls-world-equality_n_5870458.html?cps=gravity" target="_blank">horrific statistics</a> presented by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_USA" target="_blank"><i>Plan International USA</i></a> for the International Day of the Girl, 11 October 2014, puts into perspective the magnitude of inequality experienced by girls and women worldwide as a result of gender prejudice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />Over a period of half a century, affirmative actions taken to redress the recognised effects of gender prejudice in society have yielded limited success. Often, affirmative action made matters worse and tended to polarise opinion rather than consolidate desired principles. Emma Watson has told us “it is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals”.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />The HeForShe movement is one that permits men and women to unite unashamedly and work towards the elimination of gender inequality. Please take this opportunity to visit the <a href="http://www.heforshe.org/" target="_blank">HeForShe site</a> and register your support for this honourable cause.</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">HeForShe is a solidarity campaign founded by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN_Women" target="_blank">UN Women</a> for gender equality.</span></i></ul>
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<ul style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">#BAD2014 #Inequality #BlogAction #HeForShe</span></span> </span>
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Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-89569939258326775332011-02-25T16:41:00.000-08:002011-03-04T16:04:00.013-08:00Appeal for the People of Christchurch City<img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 132px; height: 36px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDgXEGa-yyIwkCzRxRsAT6X3d-JCMi-WW0rk-qgpf9waajUos7aiuivUcHciIWSwwCITTBz3K3TznJZBHYGeT1XwbQHIHNRy46qgc41katmyVco-7mna6TkGeqYHWJThMlvGSxaiCH7vM/s400/blackscripttenakoutoukatoa.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5577795327579536882" border="0" /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChristChurch_Cathedral,_Christchurch" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXD0qLGEvCYVeijF7iR99AldXifNwVPV7gfCZkBYsVAxUn5NdjZg3AJUGWUmBglM2DcAJ0XVxbnN64RI0DBDAAAZWukfVJUzoOeu5VhfSsQETBmtaJSgarmzC7r-QXj2sCcMzbcOKsFvg/s400/ChristchurchCathedralWindow.png" title="Christchurch Cathedral Window" alt="Christchurch Cathedral Window" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5577837296603297698" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;">At 12.51 pm on Tuesday, 22 February, <a href="http://www.google.co.nz/images?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-GB%3Aofficial&channel=s&biw=960&bih=468&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=images+of+Christchurch+City+%2B%22New+Zealand%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=" target="_blank">the beautiful city of Christchurch</a>, New Zealand, was devastated by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake.<br /><br />This was only one of the hundreds of aftershocks, following the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that shook the city on the morning of Saturday 4 September 2010.<br /><br />Miraculously, few people were injured in this huge shake for the city was asleep when it struck and despite its magnitude, its centre was 30 to 40 km west of the city centre. Christchurch was well on the way to recovering from this earlier devastation when the second major shake struck on Tuesday at a depth of only 5km.<br /><br />Tuesday’s shake caused devastation that reduced many of the homes and buildings in the inner city to rubble. Over 120 people so far are known to have died, crushed by falling debris or within collapsing buildings. Over 200 people are listed as missing. Hundreds are injured, many of them severely.<br /><br />The people of Christchurch have a strong spirit and they have a fine mayor in <a href="http://www.3news.co.nz/Quake-presents-extraordinary-architectural-opportunity--Parker/tabid/423/articleID/199946/Default.aspx">Bob Parke</a><a href="http://www.3news.co.nz/Quake-presents-extraordinary-architectural-opportunity--Parker/tabid/423/articleID/199946/Default.aspx">r</a>, whose civil defence leadership skills are second to none. But the people of Christchurch need you.<br /><br />Please help by donating to the <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);" href="http://www.redcross.org.nz/donate">Red Cross 2011 Earthquake Appeal</a><br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.redcross.org.nz/donate"><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;">http://www.redcross.org.nz/donate</span></span></a><br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" >or to the <a style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.christchurchearthquakeappeal.govt.nz/">Christchurch Earthquake Appeal</a></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.christchurchearthquakeappeal.govt.nz/"><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" >http://www.christchurchearthquakeappeal.govt.nz/</span></a><br /></div><br /><br /><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 48px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTVw5zZzU83aewr8d4qk7uJ-srOoaxMK93PPff9GSXJCBqdIlrtOUYYE9Z-ofJj0HnahqT8xOADBuIBX_Y9wRWaEFsHhCETMBAcOY4EVcMVQ0l7Lt3xN0hoYIa2m4M6q4CYVcC4qiXGbk/s400/BlackScriptPeaceInHarmony.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5577795332897506866" border="0" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYVvIDIQDGi3DZT-Ox9iMyiBlJm7hkh7vYfc2t0yCIxmkuQskNE77RsiZRIynJ6WveLav_aaWjZ0zB70iDSzmzWobakBwwQ7DDVmZYGBTh90MkNRetR-CjaB9ZcVAVGT2Rzfa_wsBrwSM/s1600/rougePeaceAndHarmony.gif"><br /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrVYsrlSgy0o5sjR-WR-U1wr2rPR9cWFD0OCWqLISWQJ0PNvvXml_GYlkEp0T1LB_kHg6JOz7u94qhxGAYoMLTlgE_s4XTQ78FmJcpa3oRw1qjXwh1F8l5_OBjAW-n5y7TXzw5ZXPh-98/s1600/Rangimarierouge.jpg"><br /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Q_ozv5N7oocJQjtoxaq4ID-5Q_iTefTiWEMGKAu04oH3RM0tSgVbPsiXBf8HSKOsc6wqoiKG2lxbEFUwJjDITIn3CePDO5LkK712urBPp7sAbOD9Mw0xVR9gIvHDVEBChZJAwPDH1VI/s1600/haerera.gif"><br /></a>Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-86474669935311246122010-12-04T17:57:00.000-08:002010-12-22T18:11:01.651-08:00The Value of Instruction<img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 95px; height: 28px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1zaYhINPki6kqkhBMQ6dWQFDNPCLlVCMPI8z5OJNkRkP-WSQBPUUCEDd5ec2S_SKHqmSOJMDSaagBbB7dxboiofcDKKM2n8RxxTwQFW9WQHYSRigaM3NxVMTZAjGMYBbQb8suz91IgD8/s400/kiaoratatou.gif" alt="Kia ora tātou – Hello Everyone" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547014745175024898" border="0" /><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 317px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvamKMh3fY43hCyjszOIyXBFT0uWOepPsYhaJJOOp9_ODsXxJrc-Nbz0NPdMn3xJkasTsbfOhwXNnBI8g0roUqYHGbKdGQP6b20VDffg_3vnavUzPdz2yJS8aLp-R5OCRkBcZ8P5eHJ0Q/s400/easelTheValueOfInstruction.jpg" alt="The Value of Instruction" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547014498068205746" border="0" /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><blockquote style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">“A long time ago, in Newsday for November 15, 1994, Billy Tashman said with reference to a large, government-sponsored field test of different instructional approaches: ‘The good news is that after 26 years, nearly a billion dollars, and mountains of data, we now know which are the most effective instructional tools. The bad news is that the education world couldn’t care less.’<br />The same holds true today." <span style="font-style: italic;">James Kauffman</span></span></blockquote><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><br />When I first began teaching, I bristled with the desire to instruct, inspire, coach, and enlighten. I’d just been through <a href="http://www.education.ed.ac.uk/">Moray House</a> College of Education, Edinburgh, where my tutors and mentors truly recognised the worth of excellent instruction.<br /><br />Yet for the past 30 years and more, I have felt like a disillusioned school teacher who is old fashioned, out of date and not really understanding what’s happening in education. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">The other day, a good friend and colleague passed on to me a recent article from <a href="http://www.tcrecord.org/">Teachers College Record</a>, by James Kauffman. It was written as an introduction to his recently published book,<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >The Tragicomedy of Public Education:<br />Laughing and Crying Thinking and Fixing</span>.<br /><br />As I read through Kauffman's article, I recalled how I felt <a href="http://newmiddle-earth.blogspot.com/2009/07/historical-prophesy.html">when I read</a> Shelley Gare’s book,<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Triumph of the Airheads and the Retreat from Common Sense</span>.<br /><br />I experienced déjà vu at every page.<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Kauffman">James Kauffman</a> is Professor Emeritus of Education at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><br /><br />In his review article, entitled <a href="http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=16168">Reforming Public Education: A Tragicomedy</a>, he explains how some people, working within education, fail to recognise the most important factor in improving learning:<br /><br /></span><blockquote style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">“Truly ridiculous statements about reforming schools have been made by generally intelligent people who happen to botch thinking about education. Too often, their silly statements are taken seriously, making matters worse. Some would-be reformers ignore what produces most learning — instruction.”</blockquote><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Kauffman draws attention to all the areas of stupidity in education that I’ve complained about, for decades . . . </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">. . . about improving teaching:</span><br /><br /><blockquote style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">“They might say we need better teachers without defining “better.” People aren’t necessarily better teachers because they’re smarter, know their subject better, or have taken more courses. We need standardized tests, but good teaching isn’t easily measured as “value added.” “Better teacher” doesn’t necessarily mean “higher average pupil gain score.” Good instruction is defined by what a teacher does.”</blockquote><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">. . . about pursuing change without recognising what needs to change:</span><br /><br /><blockquote style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">“On January 2, 2010, Kevin Huffman published in The Washington Post his heartfelt opinions about how to reform education, including suggestions that we recruit talented teachers and fire bad ones, base policies on student achievement, and get parents to demand what’s best for their children. He quotes a U.S. Senator from Colorado, who says that the education system must change, but he doesn’t say how. Any change will do? Sorry, Kevin and Senator, with all due respect, we don’t need just any kind of change. Unless it’s the right change, we’ll get nowhere.”</blockquote><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">. . . about the </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">misunderstanding and </span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">misuse of statistics:</span><br /><br /><blockquote style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">“One reason the “thinking” of so many earnest reformers is tragicomic when it’s taken seriously is that you can’t have all of the children (or teachers or any other group we measure) reaching any percentile higher than the first group any more than you can have all of the children (or teachers) above average.”</blockquote><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">. . . about setting education goals that are absurdly unachievable:</span><br /><br /><blockquote style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">“No Child Left Behind (. . .) set the goal of universal proficiency of students by 2014. That goal is a will-o’-the-wisp that anyone else who understands the most basic mathematical-statistical realities knows is impossible.”</blockquote><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">. . . about teaching methods inappropriately applied to all learners:</span><br /><br /><blockquote style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">“Direct, systematic instruction is more effective than other approaches like “discovery learning” (essentially, letting kids find out for themselves) and a lot of the other popular but failed ideas about teaching. Go to <a href="http://www.adihome.org/">www.adihome.org/</a> to find out more.”</blockquote><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">. . . about using test scores to judge success.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Kauffman lists his criteria for judging success:</span><br /><br /></span></span></span><ol style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);"><li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">effective instruction,</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">students’ engagement in productive activity,</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">homogeneous grouping for instruction,</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">positive emotional climate,</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">clear school-wide expectations,</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">positive support for desired behaviour,</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">involvement of parents and communities.</span></span></li></ol><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Check out:<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpAFlbncygM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpAFlbncygM</a></span><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-size:85%;" ><span>The Tragicomedy of Public Education: Laughing and Crying Thinking and Fixing</span>,<br />James M Kauffman, FULL Court Press, 2010</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-size:85%;"> – ISBN 1-57861-682-4</span><br /></span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://www.attainmentcompany.com/pdfs/DESK_COPY/DC_tragicomedy.pdf">The Tragicomedy of Public Education – DESK COPY</a></span><br /></span></span></span></span><br /><br /><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 81px; height: 28px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1iEYoKtv_Cpn0QcT193A2w9okkClof4fMgQiTeN_IItDjoyCzQLVmp6nQr0fpJuzziQlwvIWP12LyephlNIwVGrFVCVk4hCnfefryTzKymxhj3hXGUUZ0Zwof5qYA0Mq7rj2b41cY1y0/s400/ngamihinui.gif" alt="Ngā mihi nui – Best wishes" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547014749243878770" border="0" />Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-39852341036817376032010-10-16T04:14:00.000-07:002011-12-28T16:10:27.355-08:00Nor Any Drop To Drink - BLOG ACTION DAY 2010<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDZ9tmXIl7PmZReB4T6LPn3doyxcPt48b3kekeXxqRiNU0M2GfXQks0qCUSmAeybqoRoF1VvsYkDqRyFQOhKIE5AH43GEteOxDA_-_Pkqa6YQATUYazx8I_up7iL7stAQWL33zJkuwwwk/s1600-h/WakatipuLake.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 131px; height: 28px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZXggBqV-EZkLfR_X9eSyX0o-M3rB-qqIPJvSFyYK-MxjkdZNFSPuOIerrB6P2UVLDAZiowGqsbBOENtlpoih7b2ScEYBS46FbvuRc22xokoBYig1bNNeMYHfCztMw7IzcJid-w3cE7aw/s400/tenakoutoukatoa.gif" alt="Tēnā koutou katoa – Greetings to you all" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284786210172845250" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDZ9tmXIl7PmZReB4T6LPn3doyxcPt48b3kekeXxqRiNU0M2GfXQks0qCUSmAeybqoRoF1VvsYkDqRyFQOhKIE5AH43GEteOxDA_-_Pkqa6YQATUYazx8I_up7iL7stAQWL33zJkuwwwk/s1600-h/WakatipuLake.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228713861026709426" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="Lake Wakatipu" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDZ9tmXIl7PmZReB4T6LPn3doyxcPt48b3kekeXxqRiNU0M2GfXQks0qCUSmAeybqoRoF1VvsYkDqRyFQOhKIE5AH43GEteOxDA_-_Pkqa6YQATUYazx8I_up7iL7stAQWL33zJkuwwwk/s400/WakatipuLake.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >A rare commodity</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Water is amazing. It is truly the universal solvent. While there are solvents that can dissolve some things far better, there is none that dissolves as many different substances as can water.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >It’s all to do with the structure of water’s molecule – that particle scientists refer to when they talk of the tiny bits that some things are made of. Water molecules can cluster together and share parts of each other to form other discrete particles that have unique affinities for different things.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Sugar is made of molecules. Common salt consists of two very different bits, called ions that are positively and negatively charged.<br /><br />Though sugar and salt look very similar, their fundamental differences, at the sub-microscopic level, make these substances behave so very differently. Very few solvents can dissolve both sugar AND salt for this reason. But water can.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >This strange property of water – the ability to dissolve molecular substances as well as those that are made up of ions – is one reason why it is extremely difficult to obtain pure water.<br /><br />When it rains, droplets of almost 100% pure water form high in the atmosphere. Yet it’s not long before this water has dissolved all sorts of substances, often before it reaches the ground. Pure water is actually an extremely rare substance.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Repositories for everything</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Near-pure droplets of rainwater that drench the land eventually find their way into the oceans. There is a little bit of everything to be found in the world’s oceans. This is because water dissolves just about everything.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Gold is one of the world’s rarest and most precious metals. Yet we are told that the world’s oceans contain enough dissolved gold to provide every person with a tiny piece weighing over 8 tonnes!<br /><br />Gold is just one of the billions of substances that water washes into the world’s oceans, every day. The seas and oceans throughout the world are repositories for all that is washed off the land.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >End to fresh water</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >All over the world, beautiful freshwater lakes represent a half-way house for water that makes its way to the sea. These wonderful reservoirs are topped up by rivers and streams fed by water that takes many paths, from slow percolations of ground water to direct runoffs.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Fresh water reservoirs contain water that has had only a relatively short time in contact with the earth. Most contain water that is near pure. They have enjoyed a place in the eye of the beholder for thousands, perhaps millions of years. Lakes, and the streams and rivers that contribute to them, have served living creatures with necessary fresh water during that time. But this service is literally drying up.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Something in the water</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Supplies of drinkable water are dependent on readily available fresh water sources. The demand for water of this purity is increasing every day. I’m told that about 24 litres of fresh water can be used during the entire production of just one hamburger. Yet the world’s fresh water supplies provide water only at a worldly rate.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >That rate is huge, and hitherto has been unvarying. While that rate is now not sufficient to provide the world’s demand for fresh water, there is much now happening on the surface of the earth to actually decrease the rate of this provision.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Wastes from farming, industry and the effluent from the people who rely on these present day processes are fast diminishing the usefulness of water sources. Many fresh water reservoirs are now becoming polluted and the level of pollution and the occurrence of this are always increasing.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Now running to ground</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >About 20% of the world’s fresh water is drawn directly from the ground. It is seen as a way of safeguarding against periods of drought while providing an almost unvarying year-long supply of fresh water – water that slowly percolated its way through the ground. Such water sources are still vulnerable to pollution, however, as surface pollutants can percolate through the ground and contaminate the ground water. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Moreover, the removal of ground water at a rate higher than the natural recharge rate means that these sources diminish in time and can affect water replenishment of nearby reservoirs.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A global contribution</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Further to this, some people who support theories of global warming believe that the usage of ground water may actually contribute to global warming, a proposed climatic effect that may also contribute to diminishing the supply of available ground water.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >The world’s use of fresh water is now outstripping the rate of its supply. And there are factors brought about through industrialisation and land use that are serving to reduce the suitability of otherwise useable fresh water.<br /><br />Clearly the world’s populations cannot continue to consume water the way they have been up till now – and it will take more than just a token act of water conservation.</span><br /><p style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);" align="center"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 90px; height: 27px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRyxn01CczsX3Qy1ThyphenhyphenLz4aydj_Z3WdPU7WrGcFgxsX_N8suFeT3WH1jHW_SdLk3CW7c2Yeh4dVDkKV3aiOVQYh5OOIRTbmgjbWis5l9h52oOmSXnL_87Xx5OparLIDqmpIh5334pw0x4/s400/catchyalater.gif" alt="Ka kite anō – Catch ya later" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284786209846177138" border="0" /></p>Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-27786391451655221742010-10-12T21:37:00.000-07:002010-10-26T14:15:19.864-07:00AADES LEADERS' FORUM 2010<div style="text-align: center;"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 131px; height: 28px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhBdJsS6xvGFhgWbJaRWq7c_fHdtiRCv73rBT0WZNsrETtk6sBSCW5GKOAjddIS-PRxaRLdqO6bDHHZFOnT87r7TYIb3DYtS9HSS05EMBl7V3FMwx-Y5Db5pdOJyyLHueU_MtDTuhDp6c/s400/tenakoutoukatoa.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527386921595208290" border="0" /><a href="http://www.tekura.school.nz/AADES2010/"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 39px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzKS_D0eKQodLJ6Yin0scVrhJvplGUxVhOv7GeARpKlPMQPC0dm82K4V8Y8bK5ddPZZG6h5GtZj0H7Nhf-bBfjlQL403rzPSLaapNMlqAL2ZGEgS4MYTjXdiMfltpe_9NMW6Y_W-f5kys/s400/AADESLEADERSFORUM2010.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527386921288324322" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">AUSTRALASIAN ASSOCIATION OF DISTANCE EDUCATION SCHOOLS<br />29 September - 1 October</span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Venues: Te Kura (Day 1) and Te Papa Museum of New Zealand (Days 2 and 3)<br />Wellington, New Zealand</span></span><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></span><br /></div><br /><a name="top"></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ></span><blockquote><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >SUMMARY:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >I was privileged to attend the <a href="http://www.tekura.school.nz/AADES2010/">AADES Leaders' Forum 2010</a>.<br /><br />This was a well attended three day event, with speakers from New Zealand and afar. While I attended all three days of the Forum,<br />I did not attend every session and there were some that were held concurrently. However, I report on all the keynote speeches here. </span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >This was essentially a listeners’ event, though there was a little opportunity for participation from the floor.<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><a href="http://newmiddle-earth.blogspot.com/2010/10/29-september-1-october-venues-te-kura.html#day1">Day One</a> consisted of a late afternoon powhiri held at <a href="http://www.correspondence.school.nz/">Te Kura</a>.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://tukaha.wordpress.com/profile/">Marcus Akuhata-Brown</a> was the facilitator for Days <a href="http://newmiddle-earth.blogspot.com/2010/10/29-september-1-october-venues-te-kura.html#day2">Two</a> and <a href="http://newmiddle-earth.blogspot.com/2010/10/29-september-1-october-venues-te-kura.html#day3">Three</a> of the Forum, at </span><a href="http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/pages/default.aspx"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >. His humility, balanced approach and sense of humour were evident in the elegant way he conducted the programme.<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">A feature of the Forum was the Māori music and harmony. Each guest speaker was thanked in a traditional way by music and song, a true mark of respect. It is a credit to <a href="http://www.worldlyleadership.org/speakers.php?ks=Hollings">Mike Hollings</a> that he joined in with every one of those musical occasions (I’m sure he engineered them all) most times accompanying on his guitar. This part was altogether a most memorable, entertaining and cultural contribution to the atmosphere of the Forum.</span></span></blockquote><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><a name="day1"></a><br /></span><div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >DAY ONE</span><br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >The Forum began mid-afternoon with the gathering of staff, contributors and visitors and a powhiri in Kauri room, Te Kura, followed by congenial time for refreshment.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >Then followed brief welcoming addresses from Mike Hollings, Trish McKelvey and the Chair of ADDES, Bronwyn Stubbs, as well as short speeches from Karen Sewell and Janelle Cameron.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Karen Sewell</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" ><a href="http://www.workbase.org.nz/Conference/Article.aspx?ID=666">Karen</a> spoke of the future that lay in the education of children. She spoke of the trauma that children suffered during and after the recent Christchurch earthquake, and how Te Kura had stepped in extremely quickly to provide support with this.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >She talked of the complex and uncertain future that children will follow. Education must transform, not reform ‘the system’ in order to permit children to navigate intricate pathways. Teachers have a part to play in changing our children’s future.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Janelle Cameron</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" ><a href="http://me.edu.au/p/jcameron24">Janelle</a> spoke of the digital divide – how she was still grappling with the technologies – how the digital age seems to overwhelm many people of her age.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >Her metaphor for the happenings in learning today was like “a train going through (a station) and not stopping”.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >She referred to the Internet and its use as a teaching tool and to what she called “Bloom’s Pedagogy”, the new “Digital Taxonomy” and their part in teaching today.<br /><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Day One closed with drinks and nibbles and a chance to network.</span><br /><a name="day2"></a><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://newmiddle-earth.blogspot.com/2010/10/29-september-1-october-venues-te-kura.html#top"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-style: italic;">Return to top</span></span></span></a></span><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >DAY TWO</span><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hekia Parata</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hekia_Parata">Hekia</a> gave us a National Party view of where teachers are at in 2010. She spoke of them focussing “on teaching rather than learning”<br />(I think she was referring to their learning rather than the learning of their students). Hekia explained that teachers do not seem to learn from learning, and referenced this to education research.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >She referred to the mind/brain as the most important part of the being. Yet kids, all over the world, are still sitting in classrooms being taught by a single teacher using traditional teaching methods.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />Hekia specially referred to the 1 in 5 students that were clearly being failed by the system – that schools focussed on crowd control rather than on learning.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Hekia’s description of Ruatoria formed a large part of the manifesto-like speech she delivered. She spoke of her family/ brothers, sisters/ community and what they did when she was a child. </span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />Hekia spoke of the demography of New Zealand and of how many children were uninspired at school.<br /><br />She spoke of the money New Zealand borrows every year to spend on education and the community. Hekia referred to the 1 in 5 ratio and that for many, the model is not working. Her concern was mainly about what she called “brown students”, and referred to their place in the diverse population that is evolving in New Zealand.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >She spoke of professionalism that customises skills to give a service, and that such a service was needed by the 1 in 5 children in New Zealand: those that needed to find a job, for instance – a sector that “deserved all the attention teachers can give”.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />Hekia summarised her speech by referring to the triangle of Identity, Community and Education: three important areas that provide the basis for learning in an individual.</span><br /><br /><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgG4vFJcuOnFrWgecy9TL5g2VNlY4U_af-g0WrA_UFBT7OWTR5OPvSLr4d8_aXzrMUGvQLFL2Sej5NAm4vUsfx6_34Lw4rJORhN3_wHGiVetPhjc0j0zDFENaez8KcjqFL4f9VvlMOQvY/s320/EdTriangle.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527602671383054722" border="0" /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Liz McKinley</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><a href="http://www.education.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/home/about/research/starpath-home/our-people">Liz</a> examined some of the statistics on Māori success in education from the <a href="http://www.education.auckland.ac.nz/webdav/site/education/shared/about/research/docs/starpath/Starpath%20Annual%20Report%202008.pdf">Starpath project</a>, University of Auckland. Her quote from Niels Bohr, “Nothing exists until it is measured”, summarised her approach.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >She also examined some recent government statistics of Level 2 NCEA results, from 2003 to 2008, comparing Māori with non-Māori. Only 40% of Māori learners get to year 13. Less than half of these go on to study at tertiary level. She showed graphs indicating that in percentage achievement and in success rate, Māori learners were substantially behind learners from other ethnic groups.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Liz analysed these results in a number of ways: that 32% of Māori learners in a year 13 group will eventually go on to further study – that 18% of those will have achieved university entrance qualification – that 6% will actually enter university – that 2% will finish the courses with a degree – that 0.4% will go on to doctorate study.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >She explained that Starpath, led by The University of Auckland in partnership with the New Zealand Government, is a research project (now in its 6th year) that focuses on the educational outcomes of New Zealand learners who under-achieve at secondary school. Starpath utilises:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >research teams</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >,<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >5 high schools,<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >1 university and 1 technical institute.</span></li></ul><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Liz spoke of the need for evidential material that schools require in order to make informed decisions – that schools were not getting help with bringing all available useful data/ideas/strategies together and with aligning these so that they could be used to improve learner outcomes.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >She explained that schools do collect data on student learning and achievement, but the data is not centrally stored. She asserted that schools do not feel that ownership of this data is important. She stressed that there was a real need for concerted strategies so schools could usefully collate data related to student achievement and use this to accomplish an improvement in learner achievement.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />Liz spoke of the Academic Counselling and the Target Setting (ACTS) programme and how they improved final year NCEA completions. The biggest gains were made by Māori and Pasifika students, with 16% more Māori students and 20% more Pasifika students achieving important learning in NCEA Level 1 Numeracy and Literacy.<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Liz concluded by warning that gains for Māori learners were lessening - that many schools had a plethora of programmes, 84 in some, based on teacher interest rather than what could benefit the learner. She appealed that this was actually a moral issue that needed attention, by all parties including teachers in order that it be addressed effectively.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Bentham Ohia</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Bentham, CEO of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te_W%C4%81nanga_o_Aotearoa">Te Wānanga o Aotearoa</a>, gave an overview of the Open Wānanga – a “Māori Higher Learning Tertiary Institution” of 37,000 learners – 40% of those do not have a secondary education.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >He put a number of questions:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><ol><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >What counts as knowledge? What knowledge counts? Who decides?</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >What counts as success? What success counts? Who decides?<br /></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >What counts as assessment? What assessment counts? Who decides?”</span></li></ol><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br />Te Wānanga o Aotearoa is unique:</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br /></span><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >kaupapa wānanga</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >unique programme-offering delivery</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >home based kaitiaki (guardian) supported</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >monthly cohort enrolments</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >centralised support</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >minimised restrictions.</span></li></ul><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Viv White</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><a href="http://www.nsn.net.au/viv_white">Viv</a> spoke briefly of Big Picture Education Australia (<a href="http://www.bigpicture.org.au/">BPEA</a>). She then looked at some learner statistics and other related learner information:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br /></span><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >14% learners not learning or earning – 50% in some places<br /></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >20% fail to complete year 12 – 50% in some places<br /></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >complex social background<br /></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >distance education is not immune to the same problems that exist in F2F systems.</span></li></ul><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >She stressed how serious these facts were and that a new model was called for.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Viv then put the question that I had asked her at TCS Forum in May this year(!) – basically:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >“Can we create a Big Picture Distance Education model?”</span><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Viv then returned to the Big Picture model:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >1 learner at a time (which is how Te Kura works)<br /></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >small by design<br /></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >advisory 1 – 15 | 1- 17 |<br /></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Learning Training Internship.</span></li></ul> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Learners could achieve improved outcomes: engagement – graduation – tertiary learning. She spoke of beginning with network connections – developing a community of practice and commitment to collaborate – building a system of influence: not with critical mass but with critical connections (BPEA and Te Kura).</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Jen McCutcheon</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><a href="http://nz.linkedin.com/pub/jen-mccutcheon/20/475/a86">Jen</a> defined authentic learning in the context of Te Kura, explained the process and outlined some of the approach used – one that focussed on the learner in context. She spoke of how it relies on rich conversation between the Learning Advisor, the learner and whanau.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />Jen explained how finding the centre of what interests and impassions a learner was an all important part of that process. It’s then that a start can be made on building relevant programmes around the learner and nurture these with frequent ongoing discussions.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Jen went on to define what constituted a ‘rich conversation’: goal setting – identifying ‘aspirational’ goals – career exploration – interviews and talking with people – job-shadowing – resetting goals. She mentioned the part that Gateway, Star and other programmes can play in the development of this process.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >She described the ‘tail of underachievement’ and mentioned the consequential 25% of people aged 15 to 19 years who are unemployed.<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Westley Field</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><a href="http://globaleducation.ning.com/profile/westley">Westley</a> is Director of Online Learning, <a href="http://www.skoolaborate.com/">Skoolaborate</a>. He began his delivery by demonstrating an online delivery/facilitation by an avatar in Second Life (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life">SL</a>). Westley then Skyped his friend, Chris, who was the person behind the SL avatar.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Westley spoke briefly of the developments in online learning at <a href="http://www.mlcsyd.nsw.edu.au/page/public">MLC School</a>. He spoke of how technology makes the routes to achievement more facile, and not just in learning but also in creating commercially useful objects, such as the Doritos commercial he showed us and that was made for $150 by a teenager using readily available equipment.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >He encouraged that we should “try things new” – to “move forward with real action”. He spoke about personalised (online) learning. He spoke of how to get the attention of learners if they have computers in their hands. He spoke of how “knowledge”, and how to use it, takes on a new meaning with the developments in technology, Google and the Internet.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />Westley talked about giving people experience in the use of technology – in particular giving young learners safe, ‘unblocked’ experience in technology use. He spoke of the technologies that can change learning, including the development of the e-book such as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle">Amazon Kindle</a>.<br /><br />He referred to the improved success by learners using online learning productively with other learning methods compared to those learners who are in the classroom without such technology.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sandy Dougherty & Nathaniel Louwrens</span><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Sandy and <a href="http://twitter.com/nlouwrens">Nathaniel</a> gave a presentation on their experiences in trialling <a href="http://www.activeworlds.com/">Active Worlds</a>. The study was to evaluate Active Worlds as a learning technology and also its suitability in a distance education setting.<br /><br />They demonstrated a treasure hunt that had been built in the 3D environment of Active Worlds. Some of what they reported was about their own initial experiences in the 3D environment – some of the seeming ‘chaos’ perceived by people who are new to this technology – which later developed to a successful resolution.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Their intended focus was to be on working with learners collaboratively and how to get learners to work together. The reality was slightly different.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Sandy and Nathaniel found that young learners (years 7 to 10) learnt the technology skills for themselves very quickly, skills that the teachers had taken 2 terms to learn. They also reported that the learners preferred online (txt) chat rather than using the voice chat, though they were comfortable with the teacher using voice chat in instruction.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >Sandy was careful to get useful (and fascinating) feedback from her learning group, to which she put a number of questions. Asked how they learnt, Sandy’s students gave a number of interesting answers, among which were ‘playing’ and ‘practicing’.<br /><br />Asked if they needed a teacher there was met with a resounding, “YES”. The children preferred the teacher speaking to them rather than using the chat box. The common feeling expressed by learners was that the whole learning experience was “awesome!”</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >About the technology . . . learners felt that though it was a bit clunky, it was like playing a game that was really school. Navigation in commercial games technologies tend to be far more facile in comparison and the 3D renditions are often superior to what they experienced in Active Worlds.<br /></span><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span><a href="http://newmiddle-earth.blogspot.com/2010/10/29-september-1-october-venues-te-kura.html#top"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-style: italic;">Return to top</span></span></span></a></span></span><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /></span><a name="day3"></a><br /><div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >DAY THREE</span><br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mike Hollings</span> – Walking in Two Worlds</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" ><a href="http://www.worldlyleadership.org/speakers.php?ks=Hollings">Mike</a> spoke of the money poured into education and the efforts that are not actually achieving learning. He cited Cisco’s <a href="http://www.cisco.com/web/about/citizenship/socio-economic/docs/LearningSociety_WhitePaper.pdf">The Learning Society</a> and stressed that the cost of education should be tax-efficient.<br /><br />A successful education system has to be based on the principle that it is for everyone and must embrace ones personal culture while at the same time supporting innovation. He stressed that there was a need for a huge change in present systems. He cited Phillippe de Woot’s need for societal educational metamorphosis and referred, once again, to Allen Curnow’s Landfall into Unknown Seas:</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" ></span><blockquote style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">“Simply by sailing in a new direction</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><br />You could enlarge the world.”</span></blockquote><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" >Mike spoke of leadership today and the huge diversity of theories that are based largely on western ideas. He asked of leadership, “what could we learn from other wisdom?”</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" >He drew attention to how Māori people spend a lot of time ‘going back’ to their cultural places, communities and the related pursuits. The educational system in New Zealand does not acknowledge this cultural aspect as much as it does that of western cultures in activities such as music, opera, and dance.<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" >Mike gave an overview of some of the wisdom from Māori leadership, and how it focussed on the needs of people and the resources they needed – the understanding of communities and their tribal/cultural boundaries. Māori leadership qualities are not necessarily accepted or respected in the wider community in New Zealand. Mike listed some of the elements of that leadership:</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" > </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br /></span><blockquote style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Manākitanga – <span style="font-style: italic;">hospitality</span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Rangitiratanga – <span style="font-style: italic;">weaving people together</span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Whanaungatanga </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">–</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"> <span style="font-style: italic;">interdependence</span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Wairuatanga – <span style="font-style: italic;">spirituality</span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Kaitiakitanga </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">–</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"> <span style="font-style: italic;">guardianship</span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Whakapapa – <span style="font-style: italic;">genealogical connections</span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Te Reo Rangatira – <span style="font-style: italic;">Māori language</span></span></blockquote><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" >Mike observed that community intellect is at risk when languages are lost. He also spoke of the worth of trust and the value of openness – that for trust to exist, intentions must be clearly understood and patently visible.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" >Mike summarised the thrust of his speech by saying “we cannot (always) rely on western systems”. He referred to the importance of locality in determining who we are and where we are at in New Zealand. He used lines from the poem Lost, by David Wagoner, to illustrate this:</span><br /><br /><blockquote style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Lost</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-style: italic;">Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-style: italic;">Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-style: italic;">And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-style: italic;">Must ask permission to know it and be known.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-style: italic;">The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-style: italic;">I have made this place around you,</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-style: italic;">If you leave it you may come back again, saying Here.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-style: italic;">No two trees are the same to Raven.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-style: italic;">No two branches are the same to Wren.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-style: italic;">If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-style: italic;">You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0); font-style: italic;">Where you are. You must let it find you.</span></blockquote><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Jen McCutcheon and Viv White</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" >This was a panel session introduced by Marcus Brown where Jen and Viv spoke freely of their vision of the Big Picture.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" >Jen gave a brief summary of the Big Picture process including some of the best practice used. There then followed a brief session of questions from Marcus and from the floor. Jen and Viv both spoke to the questions that were asked.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Brenda Frisk</span><br /><a href="http://nz.linkedin.com/pub/brenda-frisk/6/10/324"><br /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" ><a href="http://nz.linkedin.com/pub/brenda-frisk/6/10/324">Brenda</a> summarised her vision of what she called “visual knowledge” and its place in 2010. She spoke of the need to reduce the barriers that may exist between people and their use of available technology, and also of the need that industry has to learn to manage technology. She posited that teenagers lose trust and respect for people in industry when they see that they do not have skills to use the technology effectively.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" >Brenda spoke of tacit knowledge, implicit knowledge and cultural knowledge and their use to the people employed in a company. She emphasised the need to have online portals for children to access at any time of the day.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" >She spoke of the frustrations that an organisation has in finding and in accessing data with technology and that there was a need to have technology built for people, not just for the technologists to use. Its property and function need to be relevant, evidential, contextual, credible and collaborative.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" >Brenda spoke of two important reports, the <a href="http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2010/">Horizon Report</a> and <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/netp.pdf">Learning Powered by Technology</a>, and summarised some of the key elements brought out in these. She then spoke further on visual knowledge and explained and demonstrated how 3D (stereoscopic) visualisation could give a better perspective in viewing machines and other structures in context.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Hine Waitere</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" ><a href="http://www.wananga.ac.nz/about-us/Staff%20Profiles/Pages/HineWaitere.aspx">Hine</a> introduced herself from her tribal background, then spoke of ako, a pedagogical concept that encompasses both teaching and learning as parts of the same process. She illustrated how ako had been brought out in the Forum with reference to those presenters who had told of their experiences in learning (and teaching) during their presentations, and the stories they told.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />She spoke of Māori carvings and <a href="http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/site_resources/library/Education/Teachers_Guide/Teacher_Resources_Library/Maori_Education_Kits/Maori_03TukuTukuEdKit_1_.pdf">tukutuku</a> and how these also have stories to tell. They are different forms of literacies. Hine spoke of her appreciation of landscape but also recognised that there was much there she did not understand.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" >Hine read the story, <a href="http://metamorphose23.multiply.com/journal/item/28/BUTTERFLIES--By_Patricia_Grace">Butterflies</a>, by Patricia Grace, depicting ‘difference’ without a need for that difference to be fixed. She went to the heart of this idea by referring to how the grandfather did not correct the teacher, but simply explained where she was at.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" >She also illustrated how teachers have power and authority to direct ‘values’. She asked,</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">“What are the values that lie at the core of our (teaching) practice?”</span><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" >She then talked about the tail of young learners who struggle with their ‘education’, listing the 5 Ds:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;" ></span><blockquote style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Deficit</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Deprivation</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Disadvantage</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Difference</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">Diversity.<br /></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span><a href="http://newmiddle-earth.blogspot.com/2010/10/29-september-1-october-venues-te-kura.html#top"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-style: italic;">Return to top</span></span></span></a></span></span><br /></div><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 81px; height: 28px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk-rB6ARNmNTdxbdFdNzEqTUZsu_K1G88yXwhSw9ioS-96d1mxVYsAxmxgzYe6ZGfYRSuruD2Ie6iYo9_FzyiYb-qT9xGC8yo6iyenS2JI683k5kUJgpObCwt75RtgYQwDjRduHcfqJ5s/s400/ngamihinui.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527386928412137666" border="0" />Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-72990381143108137332010-09-14T17:43:00.000-07:002012-06-28T18:45:58.024-07:00Learning, Literacy and Learner Skill<img alt="Tēnā Koutou Katoa - Greetings To You All" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516935330900392786" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIzsCIv57CmmjUqWYNd3mtM0GdVgyJQz-xZTHa_HdcSt9e5lfCxDXu-rPpt_wgKlSCDdnbASK2JHzope6_IyAEgGqh36H8v9_y8Y2VD74AVbbloGegpJb9B6HL4VsJ8z8N7EcLEzRZ_Eo/s400/blackscripttenakoutoukatoa.gif" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 36px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 132px;" /><br />
<img alt="Wordle Array" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516954301881414002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGl4v24ZTqr4yWMMBSkVQ3CsA38mNwOhgqetOTS-qxgEtMHGIIO1iO4bWx66Ocp3wmxfyjpKIo9tdYMgHWzHjgtKVl3LJX6o4p04mFWPsk-L4Vl_MAqfzWncE872NW8sswEiybMZCRkRY/s400/wordle.gif" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 279px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><br />
<span style="color: #003300; font-family: arial;">This year, the New Zealand Ministry of Education displayed a list of terms in a draft instruction sheet for learners of Chemistry.<br /><br />The proposal is that page 3, labelled for student use, may assist learners to reach the standard and achieve a rudimentary qualification in secondary education (<a href="http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/qualifications-standards/qualifications/ncea/">NCEA</a> Level 1).<br /><br />Learners at this level must have a “comprehensive understanding” of aspects of basic Science. Here’s a sentence from the draft sheet:</span><br />
<blockquote style="color: black;">
<span style="color: #003300; font-family: arial;">A comprehensive understanding means you are able to link ideas to integrate the relevant chemistry through elaborating, justifying, relating, evaluating, comparing and contrasting, or analysing.</span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #003300; font-family: arial;"><br />The <a href="http://www.odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Bloom/blooms_taxonomy.htm">new Bloom’s Taxonomy</a>, a tool for teachers, lists the same and similar terms as in the sentence shown above. It is understood, however, that teachers using Bloom’s taxonomy are either familiar with the meanings of the terms or have the initiative and required education to find out about these for themselves.<br /><br />Terms like <span style="font-style: italic;">justifying</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">evaluating</span> are not easy to define clearly, even for some teachers. Most teachers do not draw a clear distinction between the processing skills of <span style="font-style: italic;">contrasting</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">comparing</span>, say.<br /><br />Yet these are just a few of the difficult terms that are found in a draft instruction to NCEA Level 1 learners.<br /><br />As teachers, of course, we must teach/coach/train our learners to be able to recognise the difference between such terms as contrasting and comparing. The learner needs to be introduced to what each of these analysis processes has to offer.<br /><br />Why do we end up asking kids to get their head round the lingo that teachers may well have difficulty grappling with? I wonder if this intellectuality is really beyond the stage that most NCEA Level 1 learners are at, given that many already have difficulty with literacy at this level.<br /><br />It seems that responsibility for learning continues to devolve.<br /><br />It is as if learners are now expected to know the meaning of terms (or at least acknowledge their existence) often before they have the chance to get any real practice in the skills they are the labels for. These are skills that learners may not yet have the developmental ability to permit them to understand.</span><br />
<img alt="Ka Kite Anō - Catch ya later" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516935334913808002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTqGM531hDDz9CrwF8aRDXPjlpuxA_Ay62TmfKFlttQ2HRpEzNFVT08oWyFMhy0ZSDudWqCEwxB2xUAXxeeELrQ0eC69WCIoNsdj8lkLVmR2upMP4dK785aXfo85zJ8TIRBxbQn3z9jIs/s400/blackscriptcatchya.gif" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 37px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 90px;" />Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-71971935989121343902010-08-11T19:52:00.000-07:002010-09-09T18:26:03.293-07:00An Apology To Stephen Hawking<div style="text-align: center;"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 132px; height: 36px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2S0GR1K-vzqq1fu21pCwTHSTH0df4Fx0-73BGIUuDIYX7RfUGu_qIhcUHdWMnlpE9Wp-C_8r5ClBJyRyUT19ZwPzMZdFuQXyPs5DO02s1jrdQzqvqe-CUizy0o3L0u71UTwQOPRa2tDU/s400/blackscripttenakoutoukatoa.gif" alt="Tēnā koutou katoa – Greetings to you all" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354202404538715074" border="0" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfEymqU5Cd71oq-PPtWLrCDd98mm7OLfyuQWwmS5owLDhZcLjSBeMI3lQ-9hzdIVVQT9SLW9V7MvcAwpOZ0jvxrcEoVu-_vw9-hrkk5FcdtM3dlGwClfhqB9uc9OAt7pjyF7VEbpQve2A/s1600-h/LakeTaupo.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfEymqU5Cd71oq-PPtWLrCDd98mm7OLfyuQWwmS5owLDhZcLjSBeMI3lQ-9hzdIVVQT9SLW9V7MvcAwpOZ0jvxrcEoVu-_vw9-hrkk5FcdtM3dlGwClfhqB9uc9OAt7pjyF7VEbpQve2A/s400/LakeTaupo.jpg" title="view full size" alt="Link to image of Lake Taupo" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354202420761992626" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:78%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); font-style: italic;">photo courtesy Jack Allan</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >In April 2009 I wrote a futuristic verse. It was a contribution to meet<br /><a href="http://budtheteacher.com/blog/">Bud the Teacher</a>’s <a href="http://budtheteacher.com/blog/2009/04/21/npm2009-prompt-21/">deal</a> to write a poem a day for the whole of that month. The verse looked only a little way into our possible future.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >In the last stanza I predicted that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking">Stephen Hawking</a> might never have had a chance to say what I assumed had been running through his mind.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" ></span><blockquote><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" ><br />“It’s been a long time since Cataclysm.<br />They said in the beginning it might be<br />quite a journey. And so we are all here<br />in one form or another. No one knew<br />it would be so simple to start it off.<br /><br />Even </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Fermi">Fermi</a></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" > didn’t, though more than most<br />he had the insight. ‘So where are they all?’<br />was what he put to them, knowing full well!<br /><br />Fermi? He’s over by the supernova.<br />Can’t get him away from it. Addicted<br />they say – he always was fanatical.<br />Apparently he was among the first<br />to congratulate Hawking when he got here.<br /><br />Hawking knew all along of course. It was<br />only a matter of time. And before<br />he let it all out it was far too late.”<br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" ><br /></span></blockquote><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" >I may have been wrong about Stephen's timeliness. I hope I was.<br />If so, I offer him my sincerest apology.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="255"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tT8tjXVEwd8?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tT8tjXVEwd8?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="255"></embed></object><br /><br />Let’s hope that Stephen’s advice is timely, to assist us to survive so our successors can tell a different tale a few hundred years from now.</span><br /><br /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 105px; height: 37px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzaprfRfM0hIJBiJ4JifXASKgXBTL7WzXnn4SDmZ34b1S2nAbJ4ojAjm2SgVq0aSapveHDdZJ_zxu8kPTMDkFpb-GylAli-EZQaHEgm4-jtATkr5YyUyTifSS2xRHhmPuIypuL2vi8zgc/s400/blackscriptbestwishes.gif" alt="Ngā mihi nui – Best wishes" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354202416864301762" border="0" />Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-80594556767139990482010-05-28T22:42:00.000-07:002010-05-30T17:38:08.963-07:00Where Has Education Gone?<img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 132px; height: 36px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg05OS5DdlagjfCkRG2kEYgwjaq-6ePE6IkwSBecCagYv8CNrzXrZ7m-twrjK42JigQtc_wwl1SF2TFM7nKxmFWzz7K1NGfUv3vJNP9ZPwouiOTyHvWXwd87GvxaPCtnKS48jBRCaXPE34/s400/blackscripttenakoutoukatoa.gif" alt="Tēnā koutou katoa – Greetings to you all" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476563882460162290" border="0" /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 387px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbdopoQc1HIId_Tn9YbXdHvn7JBujRPwU1onIY_WLvwtfD_DN0UEBU7s3zm6FEOcoL0AJS7PW5XEyz9RJ2yNfPVuGvqqqWmA38in7v7PvC8YRZCbUg4Sf-L5vW4lDjzqf7VRt9YCsSZzc/s400/Rapungakore.png" alt="The Skill Mastery Hyperdome" title="The Skill Mastery Hyperdome" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476577238972350962" border="0" /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">The Skill Mastery Hyperdome - SLENZ Project - Foundation Studies Build, <a href="http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kowhai/129/139/31">Kowhai</a></span></span><br /><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:arial;" ><blockquote><div style="text-align: center;">Authentic learning is a solution to some of the problems<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">that arise in schools, workplaces and in society today.</div></blockquote></span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Isn’t it funny that at a time when training is being heaved out of the workplace by a change of organisational thinking, it must find in-roads to secondary schools where, purportedly, it is desperately needed?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Last week, I attended the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Correspondence_School">Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu</a> All-School Forum 2010. This was an international occasion for Te Kura.<br /><br />Three Keynote speakers - <a href="http://www.nsn.net.au/viv_white">Viv White</a> from Australia, <a href="http://www.bigpicture.org/elliot/">Elliot Washor</a> from the United States and <a href="http://www.manukau.ac.nz/about-us/leadership-team/profiles/dr-stuart-middleton,-director,-external-relations">Stuart Middleton</a> from New Zealand - gave their perspectives on ‘authentic learning’ in schools.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Stuart could not attend the Forum. He gave a recorded presentation outlining how he saw the history of what has happened globally to education in the past 50 or so years, and how those changes are impacting on what is happening to the youth in society today.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);font-size:130%;" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_of_school_leaving_age">ROSLA</a></span><br /><br />Clearly, the raising of the school leaving age, by several years, has brought about changes in how education is delivered. It has also altered how society looks on school-leavers who go about looking for jobs.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">A number of associated changes have accompanied all this.<br />The origins and reasons for the changes are complex. But the situations for prospective employment of school-leavers are implicit. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Over 40 years ago it was acceptable for kids to leave school without having any formal qualification. There were plenty of jobs for them. They were trained and educated on-the-job, and stories of their successes in life are numerous. Education through ‘the university of life’ was not an uncommon occurrence. As well, night classes became very popular. These provided a useful adjunct to the education of that group of learners</span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">.</span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">But the gradual societal changes, brought about through the raising of the school-leaving age and the programs introduced to schools to cope with these, meant that jobs for inexperienced and unqualified youths became less and less plentiful. What’s more, the general calibre of those jobs is now of a lowly nature and night classes </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;">are disappearing</span></span></span>.<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);font-size:130%;" >Hands on</span><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Today there is a desperate need for kids who are likely to leave school early to be introduced to vocational possibilities during their remaining school years. It’s being recognised that preparation for the workplace in a hands-on manner and while kids are still attending school, is an effective way to accomplish this.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It so happens that the standards-based qualifications system adopted in New Zealand early this century was adapted from the trades schemes. Argue as you may, there is more training taking place in schools today than was delivered there 40 years ago.<br /><br />It’s now recognised that the vocational access routes available for learners in schools are still not enough, a situation which is driving ‘authentic learning’ schemes into schools. I agree that more of this is now needed. I just wonder at what society is doing to education.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);font-size:130%;" >Knowing what to do</span><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Education is supposed to be preparation for life. It has been said by many educators that “education is knowing what to do when you don’t know what to do”. When schools become geared to providing training for kids so that they can step into a job as soon as they leave school, isn’t there a possibility that ‘preparation for life’ will have to be diminished and/or postponed? When does that start if it has been displaced by the need for more immediate training in schools? </span></span></span><br /><br /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 177px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhie6zC4HjpWgTvDl7vqqYAX7nJGi8C8lVN56pyMW4Z1QUyPMKWDTKfXOnWiPvYYPj-3G_iJ8i1Q4OfwK6oDlr7dtUTOUkVJnDnelOgdraZ_YJ_MskDfVyt-7P9aYO_gmD9tjFcZQyptZU/s400/StairwayOfLearning.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476563912284210434" border="0" /><br /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 263px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4t7BWu9Wnbq18KprNNNduQO6cVCsij6zZA-5YAe4qRaeSLWlx3yK1U5GnNY_Xsq-smuDUPPBTnv0poQ2MnB4vNkn_5_e_IrJCLosB6lC2ZMTsjx45sDCiYpu2Smhnp_wkacP9IzqGG8I/s400/WhereHasEducationGone.png" alt="Where Has Education Gone?" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476567833047033634" border="0" /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Listen to </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/national/ntn/2010/05/26/elliot_washer">Elliot Washor speak on Big Picture Learning with Kathryn Ryan</a>.</span></span></span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 48px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMt-fW7Ox6PNKxnrGDrVfF4BJ1LcQag7A6alm2Wr2e-eFf5ntCgpzn_S7wtpcSsSV6bkxqD-L_jGzlo25-jjfj80dM5P3BonMuRFuDarj0wF7iGl1upBlPj5yZxRIG5J_Db9tMFcXDlss/s400/BlackScriptPeaceInHarmony.jpg" alt="Rangimārie - Peace In Harmony" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476563890586323298" border="0" />Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-74936461686778174442010-05-10T20:10:00.000-07:002010-05-11T17:46:20.419-07:00Journey<div style="text-align: center;"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 132px; height: 36px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitoVtB4x0x-LsTdSpNjNk09_OaU4GNRfAqnhAzFdmKMZBpUKTYUT6cH_XCgBkpXujamRSb49hNgmub7k1n-_zHFWe43H7iYmQeGgfiJp-pZynIgIf4rV_-FAEx5FnTxxSeDxxqspIdjcE/s400/blackscripttenakoutoukatoa.gif" title="Tēnā koutou katoa - Greetings to you all" alt="Tēnā koutou katoa - Greetings to you all" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469845147331098626" border="0" /></div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuXQQ3VG6Y_B1kry-FyV-v0GHJbrV4YUmLOCNyLoeNfMAN_lH0vkxRbJUIVyRh_zRujpOtwEb3IVuFw3f7kBhAs3VNFmMfAQXgI-rtAOxIESmJ-6p_a17DOhHi7QME09n9HmvVcrZ7IsU/s400/perception.png" title="A Simplified Johnstone's Information Processing Model" alt="Johnstone's Information Processing Model" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469845685005177538" border="0" /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />As teacher, I often tramp the journey. Most of the way, I learn more than I teach, which is fortunate as I’m bored easily.<br /><br />Even the well trodden-paths bear fruit. But I have to be more aware when pacing there; vigilant, else I miss what is to be learnt.<br /><br />As teacher, most of what I learn on the well-tramped lanes happens as I watch others less familiar with the paths. This learning is the most enlightening, yet so difficult to pass on to others.<br /><br />I’ve begun to understand why.<br /><br />As teacher, all learning is a journey. How can a learner explain the destinations to someone who has never been there and seen what they’re like? There is often no measure to compare, no gradation to gauge against, and no foundation to build upon.<br /><br />And so learning, once accumulated, is not necessarily always useful. At least, not as useful as we might think it should be. And so it is that the adage of teachers ‘filling jugs’ doesn’t really work, no more than their teaching does.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.rsc.org/images/AHJ%20overview%20final_tcm18-52107.pdf">Johnstone’s Information Processing Model</a>, a simplified version which heads this post, suggests that there is a real need to tread the ways often. It implies that learners may not be wholly aware of what’s to be learnt on the way, nor of its significance even if they were.<br /><br />It also reinforces that perhaps <a href="http://newmiddle-earth.blogspot.com/2009/12/learning-one-way-street.html">filling jugs</a> doesn’t work so smoothly, that much is spilt in the process – that many approaches may have to be tried before the jugs contain anything useful at all.<br /></span></span><br /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 90px; height: 37px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwczwdTPAlz5QG-9giCcBXNx8uE3GuDobk-XHRx8LLZobH4qZxiiM4szAsuIopi4m2HcHm6kGnU1qphc9KImXnOqKdP6gVaMCPvF8i4zLY-ZgM1mmxRa2-V9QrIRoEi4MkGTgj-rr0TDQ/s400/blackscriptcatchya.gif" title="Ka kite anō - Catchya later" alt="Ka kite anō - Catchya later" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469845164801751250" border="0" />Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-78035051876042606832010-05-07T17:34:00.000-07:002010-05-09T13:46:18.372-07:00The Tale Shouldn't Wag The Dog<img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 95px; height: 28px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8XliAY1SPPlYHGAC1yIFY5prs_Y4nLPS3wtwvQgt78MDX2itdu-8SdXYg2jr-WusmhEmItI7nIIWtj_l9a4AzFmlNDhGG4HjWLdDJfCi8oU0BNmXRnfzhbsFfSDv9OCXyCYAIQwmvK5Y/s400/kiaoratatou.gif" alt="Kia ora tātou – Hello Ever" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468691841575076626" border="0" /><br /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 256px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrcG_WsRjXkNQEy9_jzT5BH0ErOZdVLicGgZRsQANdJMA7qW0FIJJ_kbEd5pcHmIpsL3McMhwI8lBj4FMyldaDlnoD94x1XjPH3ZLMtqR9mGx8NWxz_HzvQA2SHJoDuyz92-qg5VT7u30/s400/MagArticle.png" alt="Funtime Comic article" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468691831621240466" border="0" /><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />I finished writing a print-based learning resource a few weeks ago. I say finished – it was really only a draft before I passed it on to the editors.<br /><br />I put a copy of it on the Science database and was grateful for feedback received from our now huge Science teaching cohort. It was good to get comment from colleagues who, like me, had been plunged into the sweat of writing learning resources to deadlines.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Storyline an interest</span></span><br /><br />Among many aspects of the draft discussed was its storyline. This attracted interest from my colleagues as it was seen as an effective teaching feature. It also made me think more deeply about strategies I’d used in creating the storyline in the first place. I realised that I hadn’t really planned it.<br /><br />It became clear with more thought and discussion that a storyline in a learning resource should not be a starting point for writing. My past experience has shown me that building necessary learning around a plot can be difficult. It’s a manufactured process that has the potential to limit severely pathways the writing may follow.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:130%;" >A different approach</span><br /><br />Adhering to a storyline can stymie other useful teaching ideas that may otherwise emerge. It can lead to contrived resource components that do not satisfactorily contribute to effective learning.<br /><br />The storyline that seemed to work so well in this resource was created using an entirely different approach. Here’s how it came together for a <a href="http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/ncea/">NCEA</a> Level 1 generic learning resource on writing a scientific report.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:130%;" >Staid and boring stuff</span><br /><br />I started on the second chapter simply because it was the one I had in mind when I put my fingers to the keypad. My plan was for Peter to write a report of something he did during his holidays and hand it in for his Science teacher to assess at the start of term.<br /><br />I had practically finished that chapter when I'd already decided that it was boring, principally because it involved doing homework for a teacher. Undaunted, I continued with chapter 3, then drafted chapter 1 and was half way through chapter 4 when I really couldn’t pursue my ideas any more. The resource was becoming all too staid and boring.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:130%;" >Change tactics</span><br /><br />I went back to chapter 2, stripped it down and rewrote it introducing a friend, Mahi, an intelligent M</span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 51);"><span style="font-family:arial;">āor</span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;">i girl who could write good scientific reports.<br /><br />It was she, not the teacher, who read Peter’s brief report of his visit to a museum exhibition on colossal squid. It was she, not the teacher, who desperately wanted to see the exhibition after reading Peter’s report.<br /><br />And it was she who tried to follow the deficient instructions in the report. As a result of these shortcomings, Mahi missed out on her planned visit to the exhibition – all good material to use for teaching about informative report writing.<br /><br />I switched back to rewrite parts of chapter 1, simply introducing the characters Peter and Mahi. I then flicked to the other draft chapters incorporating the growing relationship between Peter and Mahi as friends who supported each other with their interest in Science.<br /><br />Here’s how chapter 1 begins:<br /><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Reading magazines<br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br />Peter found a magazine page that had an article about a car that ran on water instead of petrol.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Activity 1A</span></span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br /><br />Read Peter’s magazine page shown below.</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br /><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZlFGrdglbvE3NLb8dXQSjY9eiBJNOX6tJri0NbDZ3KF5SNU5sPCZ8M6ypf94cjyo37UKAWvL3hZh_Ba4WeuP9BbPRbKA0eXV1JTq8b79aUVKquF29-pr5PzasO7KnR26yUPALdHJ2_Yo/s1600/MagArticle.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 205px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZlFGrdglbvE3NLb8dXQSjY9eiBJNOX6tJri0NbDZ3KF5SNU5sPCZ8M6ypf94cjyo37UKAWvL3hZh_Ba4WeuP9BbPRbKA0eXV1JTq8b79aUVKquF29-pr5PzasO7KnR26yUPALdHJ2_Yo/s320/MagArticle.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468697844927432562" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">1 What is the name of the magazine that this page came from?<br /></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">__________________________________________________________________<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">2 Explain two things you see on the magazine page that might suggest that the information about the car is not true.</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />__________________________________________________________________</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />__________________________________________________________________</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />__________________________________________________________________</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /><br />Peter wanted to find out more about the car, so he went to a car showroom and spoke with a salesman. The salesman laughed at Peter and did not believe that a car like that could be made. Peter still wasn’t sure if the information in the magazine was true.</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /><br />3 Explain two other things Peter might do to find out if the story in the magazine is true.</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />__________________________________________________________________</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />__________________________________________________________________</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />__________________________________________________________________</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />__________________________________________________________________</span> </span><div style="text-align: right; font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Check the answer guide</span></span><br /></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></div><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:130%;" >Proof of the pudding</span><br /><br />The rest of the resource fell into place using the theme of collaborative learning between two school chums. Peter followed up Mahi’s library research into giant squids and colossal squids. He then asked her for help when drawing a graph for the report he was writing.<br /><br />Instead of Peter handing in his report for a teacher to mark, he chose Mahi to help him improve it. This permitted a chummy dialogue between two friends that was not only fitting and appropriate, but had the potential to enhance learner interest.<br /><br />All this was laid over a framework of teaching and learning. I got a real kick out of how easy it was to incorporate a story line in a learning resource, and from the supportive feedback I received from colleagues.<br /><br />The proof of the pudding will be when I examine feedback from learners!<br /></span></span><br /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 81px; height: 28px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD1jMaIInfdHhdznjLriIVMOGTxd8OiBv8CWSebEuz2xh8nL0DsKCM4EAZKmfdXKRpZrw9TbhxEgANwLzXwucZCG3Y1K9tApfONjWXmmzvHRH7bqZFYH73iNGv4mtlpWD38Jxi7reeOLA/s400/ngamihinui.gif" alt="Ngā mihi nui – Best wishes" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468691844958918850" border="0" />Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-31563026087882570692010-04-29T19:32:00.000-07:002010-04-30T15:14:20.026-07:00What Are Teachers For?<img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 132px; height: 36px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF7nRC8Gx89DXUA3KEpHH1EW1UQzej86lvNV7SXFKHnqURJ-Qr1eWSARwA42x7XfgXGUdIc8QigE3ciuNLZr10-JU51hHmLh7cXTpwB5y0MCTOsLLQCzv23s6J4o9UdsQQmIkDZJ0KeAg/s400/blackscripttenakoutoukatoa.gif" alt="Tēnā koutou katoa - Greetings to you all" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465753515577588514" border="0" /><br /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 317px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjMBmMtkOrVRhVMi-7usMCBEqBM0omIgaPXl4-bde00sdEZnJ83XJzYIf3n518Qk3xnpav7x2FwQqzQScTwqkDGG0wkw-u0XuUxamts5083dEfP9ECbOU4ODDszTzFg-Vj1lsba_aN-9c/s400/whatareteachersfor.jpg" alt="What Are Teachers For" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465753509082976642" border="0" /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />I have heard it said that teachers are assessors and that assessment is part of the teaching and learning process. I often wonder if the meaning of the word ‘assessment’ is sometimes stretched and perhaps misused in contexts to do with learning.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >Standard assessment</span><br /><br />At the moment, <a href="http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/ncea/">NCEA</a> standards are of two types. There are Unit Standards, awarded to learners who meet all component criteria for a particular standard. There are also Achievement Standards, awarded as Achieved (just a pass), Merit and Excellence.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Re-assessment</span><br /><br />A learner, who does not meet the criteria for a unit standard or for an award in an achievement standard, can choose to be re-assessed after a period of re-teaching and further study.<br /><br />My thinking has never been aligned with the philosophy of teaching to a standard. I don’t believe that’s what ‘education’ is about. However, as a teacher, I have no choice but to accept the assessment system that is now intimately bound with secondary education in New Zealand.<br /><br />At least re-assessment permits the learner to revisit the learning and allows the teacher to do some more teaching.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:130%;" >Re-submission</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nzqa.info/news/releases/2009/190309.html">NZQA</a> is reviewing, again, the process of assessing learners for NCEA standards in New Zealand. The specific issue that I bring to this post is the matter of what’s called a re-submission. I’ll explain.<br /><br />When a learner completes and submits a standard assessment test, and it is not clear to the assessor whether the learner has actually met the standard, the test script can be returned to the learner for amendments to be made. These are performed by the learner under test conditions before re-submitting the test script for the assessment to proceed. This process is called re-submission.<br /><br />Furthermore, during re-submission the learner is not permitted to study on the topic, nor receive any teaching, coaching or advice associated with the standard, before revisiting assessment tasks they performed in the test script. They are only permitted to consider their answers and perhaps amend them.<br /><br />There have been many debates by teachers about what constitutes a case for re-submission. Performing a re-submission is quite different from entering into a phase of re-teaching followed by re-assessment. Teachers like things to be cut and dry. So many discussions at the moment centre on the criteria for re-submission.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:130%;" >A disservice to learning</span><br /><br />As a teacher who is more interested in what learners learn and how they learn, than what they achieve in a standard test, I am often in a bind over the issue of re-submission.<br /><br />I feel that I’m doing learning a disservice if I do not permit (and cannot permit) learners to revisit the learning. This is precisely what happens, and must happen according to the rules for standard assessment, when re-submissions are permitted for learners who are very close to meeting criteria for a particular standard.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">In such instances, I start wondering what my role is as a teacher and educator. I also wonder if I am doing learners a disservice by permitting them to re-submit their test evidence without any further teaching and learning taking place.<br /><br />I feel that if learners are in need of more teaching and learning, then they should be given the opportunity to receive just that. This opportunity is denied learners who gain a standard on re-submission.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">What are teachers for?</span></span></span><br /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 90px; height: 37px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_TqAQjFi6IyrC0qfg1OnJsBnfWamITGryMh-pqPlpgsGFbX4bXvTN16nqojM4pYOFS6thBwc595X-7tf8S69DrkA8Jr5g_1_vNsvCk-wMab_DawTAJi9hFzyv4_9JMUJMktLCzLMjO4I/s400/blackscriptcatchya.gif" alt="Ka kite anō - Catchya later" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465753526565620386" border="0" />Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-79029080660001880252010-04-25T13:49:00.000-07:002010-04-30T15:17:42.827-07:00Day In The Extreme<img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 132px; height: 29px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4JGhAHklQLmcorqiRDlFvqzrbVtutvtMUBxeYhlgQRErM2gVCPkqowXufBgBH7PYXKCDJdCodA024GjWa18y3GwahpfrPKwes-NM6ZHte9-yJIk0ePr_j6ktwcRW8b8bKurRjXCKAIuY/s400/bluetenakoutoutkatoa.gif" alt="Tēnā koutou katoa – Greetings to you all" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464181338937910914" border="0" /><br /><a href="http://newmiddle-earth.blogspot.com/2010/04/extremes-in-sentence.html"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 102px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja5PC8vs6dRWDnzBK5vY6BqzEQ3zVO9wM7GHqXDiQ3IMTiR60XuN3JrdAWLru9CuO0b5ySMjS7NnknBSjKO8yx1GQy9xkdKkqsrAnJ9hJk2CxMZuq4ENIzp4yUJSy1gUcFeKA4q-ssKpk/s400/ExtremesInASentence.jpg" title="Link to 'Extremes in a Sentence'" alt="Link to Extremes in a Sentence" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464249856619929042" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />What a wonderful cornucopia of extremes in a day! I am delighted to report a baker’s dozen of contributors and their extreme creations:<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/05109916636552623596">Cheryl</a> enjoyed . . .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">I spent the day shivering in a snowy storm, skiing trails that went from powdery snow in fog, to cream cheese snowy views across the valley where there was sun.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/06367868612834399503">Gail Poulin</a> busied . . .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">I spent a busy day with my husband as we worked like soldier ants lowering stumps, covering the area in wood chips, transplanting bushes, and finally relaxing peacefully on the deck with a beverage and watching nesting birds at the feeders.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 102, 0);"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/11910904367068063554">Virginia</a> completed . . .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">I started the day with an empty calendar for the month of May and now every day is filled with at least one thing and many times two.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 0);"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/17917358324891648329">Mr Wood</a> experienced . . .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">The day began cold and grey, then became hot and sticky, and just after it got wet and sticky, it became sunny and warm.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/14522340125847874714">Kabod</a> facilitated . . .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold;">I delicately discussed "Stirrings" in The Giver over and over today with silly, pubescent Seventh-and-three-quarters Graders.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">Ken waxed . . .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">In 24 hours, our bathroom was transformed from a functional facility and possible retreat to an empty wooden box with holes in all sides that the wind whistled through.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Anonymous sighed . . .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255); font-weight: bold;">Yesterday morning I got to play with my granddaughter in the morning and had to kiss her good by in the evening. I wouldn't get a chance to see her in person again till June.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><a href="http://blogwalker.edublogs.org/">Gail Desler</a> expressed . . .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">I spent the day with 6 dedicated, innovative, caring 5th grade teachers, 5 of whom received "pink slips" this month (where in the heck did the expression "pink slip" come from - and what's the terminology in your district?). Difficult times in California.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"><a href="http://blkdrama.wordpress.com/">Bonnie</a> extemporised . . .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204); font-weight: bold;">Could there be anything more extreme? We left on a plane from Tel Aviv, Israel on Monday night at midnight and arrived at Newark airport, New Jersey at 5AM and there's a 7 hour time difference. So getting back to normal, well what's normal anyway?</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/11256829192145162528">Elona</a> announced . . .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-weight: bold;">My students were working away quietly at the begining of the class and then the fire alarm went off.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><a href="http://tracyrosen.com/">Tracy</a> activated . . .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255); font-weight: bold;">A flurry of activity to get parent permission for 25 students in 15 minutes for a last-minute opportunity to attend a day-long literary festival, after which I stayed at the school in the quiet of my classroom for the day :)</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><a href="http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/">Kevin</a> initiated . . .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">Between coaching youth baseball, writing a grant proposal, composing daily poetry, working on some educational pieces for a website and watching my three boys run-run-run, the week of school vacation has been anything other than restful.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 0);"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/05200029041350131878">Cynthia</a> ebulliated . . .</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">The air was already oppressively humid at 7:15 a.m., and then the rain began; however, the seniors were able to have their crawfish boil at 1:00. Yum!</span><br /></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 93px; height: 39px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp3m1QTAruMeNyYeM1WUda_KJjVVLqV-OU7Dlskm7FWkR8DLw9WXke3x6RfzTxaEwIQx9WBjbHBbybBwsuXP-CmoLbHDUJLoko7qoPO5LEX5xMgXEazvvokvDPkudyY-hdWNFdkWoJNbE/s400/bluecatchyalater.gif" alt="Ka kite anō – Catch ya later" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464181342464254354" border="0" /></span>Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-1966923186131447182010-04-21T01:08:00.000-07:002010-04-21T15:33:52.545-07:00Extremes In A Sentence<img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEUsoiArsJ57TXnTml9377i7z62CAaJQ44zTQIOIQ0S80Xq4cycBxw1CL-ZjZM9F2F09VyZAIqgdgZfSuS2uUsmSL8MmjVUOmb1NlY1WjM3-jU75VcOuE5GWcevytsqu2TM-L1qGBKqMc/s400/dayinsentenceicon.gif" alt="Day In A Sentence" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462506897812782610" border="0" /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 131px; height: 28px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZzqJVn1Pb9-cM4i6BNiLgA03K_mfmx6VJ-b0BjJTwwjXVcxh3JCc1cHkDbK6QKVGueDlferFpJkL0WAG5UsI8i6gql6jFxxvQuI4hqTXpthwnaA3SelbsOhOZI0bfWD4PCJHKedfGwfs/s400/tenakoutoukatoa.gif" alt="Tēnā koutou katoa – Greetings to you all" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462500037280410450" border="0" /> <span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><br />Yes. I know. It's been over a month now. I have been immersed in resource development and other things - overseeing bathroom and kitchen refurbishments at home, while catching up with my family who have been on leave recently.<br /><br />This week I am, once again, privileged to be hosting Kevin's Day In A Sentence. <a href="http://pearsonfoundation.org/NWP/ProfilesInPractice/2008/kevin-hodgson/index.html">Kevin Hodgson</a> (<span style="font-style: italic;">aka</span> <a href="http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/author/dogtrax/">Dogtrax</a>) has kindly let me host this week's DIAS.<br /><br />Just to put you in the picture, Kevin is an energetic, community minded teacher who is forever creating new ideas to involve people in people activities. One of his most successful ventures in this direction is his weekly Day In A Sentence. People are invited to summarise in one sentence a day out of their week.<br /><br />There's been a lot in the news lately about Earth's, now famous, gastronomic eruption in Iceland, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyjafjallaj%C3%B6kull">Eyjafjallajökull</a>. This amazing phenomenon stirred again most recently, a clash of the Earth's hottest and coldest elements, to bring about a truly global effect.<br /><br />This week's theme for Day In A Sentence is to summarise in one sentence the extremes of your day. So sock it to us, hot and cold, wet and dry, happy and sad, whatever . . .<br /><br />. . . just give it all to us in a sentence by <a href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2107060758629396184&postID=196692318613144718">clicking here</a>, or by leaving your sentence in a comment at the foot of this post.<br /><br /></span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-family:arial;" ><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 90px; height: 27px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhuWgvhl9HHjymSCzU1J1ixoIo7uYzfoZUGzKdliWWuvOXRCBYPs1QqS641Xut2ZkJMpk20QWuHEttm4HrL53fXTmA59zEEk2jKbZVilEdsg_TbbN6QBIA0agb3rxAyYjy6zQ2NJencb8/s400/catchyalater.gif" alt="Ka kite anō – Catch ya later" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462500043827891042" border="0" /></span>Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-50083838677024673902010-03-09T01:56:00.001-08:002010-03-09T12:06:47.195-08:00Authentic Elearning?<img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 132px; height: 29px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdIEqarlVbKpAiahZl1ITfzJVVgxGAKp7Ew8bh72nqf-jCJWYYJ-6YHWFGWTFmUQUUVZ5yMb48JFcke9n7YluqVLpCq0hewevnXAe_d19-rKQi5FAqFH1o9LLjzEhhr8KyhvEcDJBXzn8/s400/bluetenakoutoutkatoa.gif" alt="Tēnā koutou katoa – Greetings to you all" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446571520653296162" border="0" /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://slurl.com/secondlife/Badger/31/223/401"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu4FAbkImA_cAxejn7HtAARp_UaGay9u0iUOKAczYCdpMiWAFKcCZoOgESi-jj2XtzUXS2hRNvHaoTstyFBmuSDVFUK_ZAwoHQi6voWbM5CIs4YEQTvoJopDVS5EWh3JcGCEt4angn_Ik/s400/SculptedEarth1.png" alt="Sculpted Earth by Magnuz of Sweden - Badger" title="Sculpted Earth by Magnuz of Sweden - Badger" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446587356579326674" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />When a learner is in an environment that is relevant to what's being learnt, the likelihood for effective engagement is high. Learning by doing is supposed to be one of the most successful ways to learn.<br /><br />Both these factors – the relevant environment and the doing – are thought to provide jointly the greatest incentive for a learner to take interest in what is to be learnt. They form the basis for what is referred to as <a href="http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI3009.pdf">authentic learning</a>.<br /><br />For as difficult as such situations are to establish and sustain in face-to-face situations, elearning environments can present major barriers to authentic learning that are almost impossible to overcome unless the elearning vehicles are <span style="font-style: italic;">in situ</span>.<br /><br />Typical examples of these are online tutors for word processing, graphics applications or other computer functions where the learner is involved in using mouse and keyboard to operate a tutorial directly relevant to the application.<br /><br />I cite the <a href="http://www.correspondence.school.nz/departments/esection/science/science_rlo/pe/y10/southern_sky.html">Southern Hemisphere planisphere</a> with a built-in tutorial as one example of an <span style="font-style: italic;">in situ</span> learning vehicle in a junior Science elearning resource.<br /><br />The examples given above are all very well, but unless a considerable component of what is learnt is transferable to other purposes, the learning acquired by the learner has limited use elsewhere. One of the characteristics of authentic learning is the transferability of the learning to other situations or disciplines.<br /><br />Two examples where generic and transferable skills can be learnt are online instruction in touch-typing, and the use of a flight simulator as part of training to become an aircraft pilot.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 236px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjNHxYvoumGEYGHNgJlqMCftBtpXwcFWzuE3kBIQvkfKTMHPf0t4v2THlrWXdOHT0m-3SWMqYyLlMya3sgyuE6MTdXHWuUgkZZ8KqmG4pkYvdpKAT_MbUnBU5hZaIevcBtx1hcqbTirdw/s400/JewelleryWorkshop1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446571547361380674" border="0" /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;">Kallan and Tuxedo presenting a session in building in SL</span></span></span></span><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Recently I was privileged to share in the facilitation of a session sponsored by ISTE, teaching people online to manipulate and assemble prims, the building blocks of Second Life (SL).<br /><br />As well, part of the duties I perform as an <a href="http://secondlife.iste.wikispaces.net/docents">ISTE docent</a> in SL involves assisting and teaching newcomers to that environment by the use of text and voice chat. The learning facilitated in these situations is authentic.<br /><br />People who come into SL need to acquire new skills. Most who stay to use that environment want to learn skills that can only be acquired online. But other than exercising skills in associated disciplines such as art and design, the skills I teach to newcomers are only useful in Second Life. And here is the conundrum associated with authentic elearning.<br /><br />Apart from learning that is directly associated with the elearning application or platform, how is authentic learning achieved online?<br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgez-3INtQ-ddKC3VhGToWXUbB9sD13eZ9k8LMiujPkFfasivcDdCQ_B8HBVcKno1-Bi3aRjO08zvbiNspjtMLh3UvrsKeW-jYzHihD_nnwAVdbiFpxP5Kz0DhFpVYILMdAhYCk6CzYFvs/s1600-h/SculptedEarths.png"><br /></a><br /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 93px; height: 39px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKfh09Jp0ASpimIAl6mpInGmGMcDLZgcPpNZsXXYFU-S49U8nAjZ-eA7e2GdaHBu2tWpVWFuv379wYFFmY15QQ9FKMqJvv8Vt1zRjRaXvfhFnV244PFTQsTn7oDuletI8_XoGTSiGOU1M/s400/bluecatchyalater.gif" alt="Ka kite anō – Catch ya later" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446571527236862082" border="0" />Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-53236986451079983282010-03-03T13:43:00.001-08:002010-09-14T23:20:14.442-07:00A Hierarchy of Learning<div style="text-align: center;"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 131px; height: 28px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuh0fgM-KyGGQgbDodeU2WQfCTw4EJHV4DLR89ftG4L-5NxZgUsGPCLFCe_E8IlaMw5flASbKYdfrofBr6qXXZzHM8kup4uTXDsURi3h9NyKAXBWFpNQw-p1FExPeZLw9b4oSUb-osD8c/s400/tenakoutoukatoa.gif" alt="Tēnā koutou katoa – Greetings to you all" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444526931651306738" border="0" /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 71px; height: 21px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwLifng4NuHxinByH9ktfw1ZtGqcKD59YMujmGtJr7K1d3wDFmS_NYlTJe4axKBA3rpbFH6_uprJ_HUpLktR4xYPaEuWPmn0of__YhGS1A8h0CXM4RzMJ7HZWDgnu9tgaUE2EjPcvLpZI/s400/300thpost.gif" alt="300th Post" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444936686850638514" border="0" /></div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 314px; height: 292px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSOeiTOwPG11KASV54rM9wrCmZ1hfdxgKV_6k3OpzKU6jXpeO0Uh7aD8tvX35tOEjq-ylnDLA5SEWVFlN9BzTbJMcOQXZJC4m5HkplEFaSiWAOGLLvvp1K8Ou33xGDSMEF5nx_tx6FGMw/s400/HeatExchange.png" alt="Heat Exchanger - artist ken allan" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446092488436780594" border="0" /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />My work environment has been a bit noisy lately. The school is having the roof renovated. The building’s air-conditioning units have been disconnected during the time of this refurbishment.<br /><br />It being summer, there’s a need to open windows and to bring in industrial air-conditioning units to maintain a workable atmosphere within the building. At the beginning of this week, contractors wheeled two of these units into the space close to my office area, plugged them into the mains and switched them on.<br /><br />Other units were similarly introduced at points throughout the building. The Science teachers who worked in the areas, including myself, viewed this activity with amusement. It was evident that the contractors knew nothing about thermodynamics.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:130%;" >It sucks</span><br /><br />The heat exchange part of an air-conditioning unit operates in a way similar to a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerator">refrigerato</a>r. In normal use, the unit sucks warm air from the room through a cooling unit and filter. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;">Fresh air from outside the building is drawn in through windows and other openings to replace the heated air expelled during the process.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;">The resulting chilled air is blown back into the room while the removed heat is air-pumped to the exterior, usually through a duct in a window.<br /><br />In the case of the units that we observed, there was no such venting. Instead, the hot air from the action of the cooling unit was being pumped back into the room. It was as if a fridge had been turned on and its door had been left wide open. In such a circumstance, the fridge does nothing more than make a noise and heat the room.<br /><br />The overall effect of the air-conditioning units being used in this way was not unlike that of using large blow heaters. In no time, people started to complain about the rising temperature.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:130%;" >A little learning</span><br /><br />Science is a wonderful thing. Its principles are being utilised in just about every piece of technology that contributes to our lives today. Of course, an understanding of scientific principles isn’t always necessary to use or install the equipment that puts these principles into effect.<br /><br />There are at least three levels of understanding that can allow one to realise the significance of a scientific idea, such as the thermodynamic principles that were put to use in the construction of the air-conditioning units:<br /><br /></span></span><ol><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;">It works provided certain conditions are met according to a recipe for installation. For the air-conditioning unit to be effective, it has to be functioning and have its required vents clear, one of which has to be ducted to the exterior.<br /><br /></span></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >It works as it follows the thermodynamic idea that heat can be pumped by using a small amount of energy that is eventually released as heat (which is why the fridge with its door open does nothing more than heat up the room).<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >It works, and its function can be explained by thermodynamic principles:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">a) energy can neither be created nor destroyed,</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">b) heat energy is released when a gas is compressed so that it condenses to a liquid and this same heat is taken in when the liquid is allowed to evaporate </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >– this</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" > is what happens in the heat exchange unit of a fridge,<br /><br />c) some energy will always be wasted when heat energy is pumped using mechanical means – <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy">entropy</a> is always increased as a consequence</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">.</span></span><br /></li></ol><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Understanding at level 3 can be achieved by senior secondary school Physics students.<br /><br />Level 2 can be understood by able students of Junior Science.<br /><br />Working recipes that define the factors that are important in level 1 need only be followed when it comes to the correct and appropriate installation of a piece of technology in general circumstances.<br /><br />The example that I unpack here shows how related learning can apply at various levels to the curriculum. What is significant is that the most elementary levels of learning are still important to the correct use of technologies that involve sophisticated principles in their design and construction.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:130%;" >Sorted</span><br /><br />As it happens, the contractors were notified by Science teachers about the correct use of the air-conditioning units which were immediately switched off. Appropriate locations near windows were then found. Necessary ducts to the outside of the building were fitted correctly to the machines within 24 hours.<br /><br /></span></span><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 119px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjK90V01GO1lSqUa2-AiiKWfL_obS5upNSkyMJwiJtCEphEb3D7O8adm5AunjhG2TQc4MQvmt0R0G9BDyCrkH9Ey15FcLLxTMGyRFa89X4MwdLcOxprBB7A9N2neJPQRTja-I5-kzKJBM/s400/cicada.jpg" title="Cicada - photo ken allan" alt="Cicada" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444596541038421074" border="0" /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;">Through all this, the cicadas continued their sibilant summer chorus.<br /></span></span><br /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 90px; height: 27px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPokTCeXw1x3bKSH8U1JJjkC3ZY8CPdcyAZQ9_HwfWOUWZrbVghXf1ThOn0ApQw2X9jpZ5NKFlF6jPlNFnH00J9xQ8bT3Fgz6BLIAdC6recZBMdx6aGFyJra-AUrHfssmWHdhsbwKQtlA/s400/catchyalater.gif" alt="Ka kite anō – Catch ya later" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444526924372840562" border="0" />Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-68463071310601321932010-02-28T23:05:00.001-08:002010-03-01T11:38:51.143-08:00Progression, Proficiency and the Expert<img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 132px; height: 36px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx59GdSMECIqgftsUlat8JoFvlzdUE7Pn8NyNtW01FPLGN_N87NGPCN5o0vNatbq5ZQvKMcEYpy9VX09PecrMTPSOajk7xlcGDefon4xQJluQ6ZmogfgqfS6dBm3pBJZNAJmUYA1o4YMo/s400/blacktenakoutoukatoa.gif" alt="Tēnā koutou katoa – Greetings to you all" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443558375611429442" border="0" /><br /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 126px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0WZfolWZi92tIWMyG7OWBiZQXtqy7hbcqfg1KFeFu-3C8LY2unoiC2PkIsPQoosLJOVxL8fyC2pLbYicu0hUpQ8olJRX5G56QDhAqfn6CWSTOrR0iOnHjmLO7xCyioT0rDkd21QjhF0/s400/Versions.png" alt="New Versions" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443558389201814018" border="0" /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />This week I was introduced to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle"><span style="font-style: italic;">beta</span> version</a> of an elearning application I thought I was familiar with and that I’d been using for the past 6 months. I’ve seen one minor upgrade in that time.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Beta</span> is one of the stages of development in software release cycles when the application is made freely available to users, well before the general release date. This practice allows software developers to gather general feedback on design layout and functionality. It also assists with the detection and monitoring of otherwise unknown faults.<br /><br />I prided myself on my competence in using the generally available interface (not the <span style="font-style: italic;">beta</span>). I thought I was at least as capable using it as I am in using many other applications on my PC. But I felt like a newbie when I attempted to use the <span style="font-style: italic;">beta</span> release, even when I appreciated that there were evident improvements compared to the accustomed version.<br /><br />This scenario is not uncommon. I often find that my apparent expertise on a computer disappears. And it’s not failing memory either. It can happen overnight when a new application version is installed or a so-called upgrade is made.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:130%;" >Give and take</span><br /><br />I concede there has to be a balance between the need for a more attractive interface to impress new users who may otherwise be put off with what may appear to be a less attractive interface, and the necessity for regular users, familiar with features and layout of an application, to be able to utilise the new environment with relative ease.<br /><br />But experienced users have the knowledge of functionality and feature. Though they may not know where to find these on the latest version of an interface, they will know to look for them. I feel grateful when I have this knowledge.<br /><br />When I go looking for a feature or function, the prior knowledge that such a feature or function exists in the old version spurs me on to keep looking for it. I always hope that it hasn’t been listed with other, perhaps unrelated options or features to do with a different functionality.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:130%;" >What's given</span><br /><br />Take the introduction of <span style="font-style: italic;">Word 2007</span>, for instance. My expertise with a word processing application literally became virtual when I began working with <span style="font-style: italic;">Word 2007</span>. It took me several weeks of use before I felt reasonably comfortable using the menus on the new release.<br /><br />Even now, there are some functions I know must exist in that application that I can’t find – even using the help menus. How do I know they exist? From my knowledge of feature and functionality my experienced use of past <span style="font-style: italic;">Word</span> versions has given me, of course.<br /><br />What’s more, I had to find out that the <span style="font-style: italic;">Word 2007</span> default <span style="font-weight: bold;">.docx</span> files that could then be created on my PC were unlikely to be readable by others when I sent them as attachments. So a whole functionality, new to me and many of my colleagues, had to be sidestepped in order to achieve necessary connectivity, despite that functionality being given in the default file type.<br /><br />It’s one of the vagaries of change. Despite the best intentions, things will evolve that aren’t necessarily helpful or useful.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:130%;" >What's taken</span><br /><br />In future, the watchword is concept not know-how. The future expert is one who can take forward the conceptual framework of ideas, features and functionality and look for their equivalents in new circumstances.<br /><br />The successful future machine, application or interface is one that can mirror these ideas, features and functionality in a way that permits them to be found intuitively by the expert.<br /></span></span><br /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 90px; height: 37px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIAH5Vm2jenirE8RNS6OVyJnpOhsgS56TYVZh-WxWeh60ru9y89piiUFWPd16s5_CQrZr5QA8scv7opHxBzFevaSC0la_22qvkMaydkjYrwIpgIbWGoQFCGQChRWx0M9w9QssWcPoJtWs/s400/blackkakiteano.gif" alt="Ka kite anō – Catch ya later" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443558382556224114" border="0" /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx59GdSMECIqgftsUlat8JoFvlzdUE7Pn8NyNtW01FPLGN_N87NGPCN5o0vNatbq5ZQvKMcEYpy9VX09PecrMTPSOajk7xlcGDefon4xQJluQ6ZmogfgqfS6dBm3pBJZNAJmUYA1o4YMo/s1600-h/blacktenakoutoukatoa.gif"><br /></a>Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-52934923916143679922010-02-19T18:09:00.001-08:002011-11-16T21:00:12.173-08:00Computer Reality<img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 132px; height: 36px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHka31kGYejpPfiWSm4_-3s25L7RSwDxD5hriD-3VIMXvZJG9oR_V6gHRSS1q4JtY8EVDEoiGqmlCgTQRxvIez5RzHj24CI4iqYY4erW0dXgwvN8PItccCT_XRlLakKdLYs0a_De8xtxk/s400/blackscripttenakoutoukatoa.gif" alt="Tēnā koutou katoa – Greetings to you all" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440142286178784706" border="0" /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIjdvb53r7VSlTmzFKWDD7cVflLUk-QD27fVRUzmekmagoTvTk_OaGs6C_W6j_T8-GsqcXm55MN0Zhy1mtKLSfrleutZDOKP_vFFp2xXpFCaGim014TFoFhfmdA3V1SRRH2So5XjhxcZQ/s1600-h/Remington.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 357px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIjdvb53r7VSlTmzFKWDD7cVflLUk-QD27fVRUzmekmagoTvTk_OaGs6C_W6j_T8-GsqcXm55MN0Zhy1mtKLSfrleutZDOKP_vFFp2xXpFCaGim014TFoFhfmdA3V1SRRH2So5XjhxcZQ/s400/Remington.png" alt="Portable Typewriter" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440892334103815554" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Typists who could rattle out a notice on a Remington Portable knew nothing of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_wrap">word wrap</a>. So-called word processors simulated part of the procedure of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carriage_return">carriage return</a> by using ‘Return’ keys, now replaced by ‘Enter’ keys on the QWERTY keyboard.<br /><br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/a7ySmnxy29Q&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/a7ySmnxy29Q&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />I worked in an office when bound, printed instruction manuals were in their heyday. I didn’t need to read a manual to find out that it was useless either. I could tell from its crisp pages and gleaming cover.<br /><br />The contents of useful manuals fell at my feet when I took them from the shelf. Company experts on procedures were usually those who wrote, added to, or amended manuals like these.<br /><br />Many things we now do in the workplace, and the way we go about them, have arisen through the inclusion of the computer. Much of those were modified and re-jigged, or even scrapped from practiced routines and procedures and reinvented, when the use of computer technology became a mandatory part of the processes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:130%;" >Dissemination of procedural instructions</span><br /><br />One of the artefacts that almost disappeared through all this was the printed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Process_specification">process specification</a> or business procedure manual. It was sometimes replaced by an online version – less convenient in some ways, more facile in others.<br /><br />One argument in favour of this replacement was that updates to procedures could be conveyed instantly to a network of workers. In the past these changes were scribbled on the margins of printed manuals and referred to until new versions were published.<br /><br />But if there is no rigorous and timely procedure for updating an online manual, the user can’t scribble notes in the margins when instructions drift out of date. That is unless they print their own version at some stage. Many do, for this and a number of other reasons. In doing this, however, they may lose touch with subsequent amendments that are only announced on the online version.<br /><br />Sometimes the business procedure manual, if it existed at all, simply disappears altogether, to be recreated in notes and copies of those made by industrious workers who recognise the need for a manual of some sort. Announcements of new procedures or changes to existing ones sent round by email are filed in either digital or printed form by this diligence.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-size:130%;" >Evolving 'expertise'</span></span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"></span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Through this process there evolves a wealth of expertise of varying quality. Someone in need of </span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;"> information about a </span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:arial;">business procedure may skip around a workplace looking for advice from those workers well known for gathering and squirreling away procedural information.<br /><br />And new ‘experts’ come into being.<br /><br />This is all very well, until there is a real need for a unified approach to a specific and important procedure. It is a property of communities that exists in large workplaces, that they are recursively elaborate and capricious in how each separate part functions according to its situation.<br /><br />So what's the solution to communicating unequivocal up-to-date procedural methods of practice to all parts of the workplace?<br /><br /></span></span><br /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 90px; height: 37px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik4PZlAzR_RdNU6m23wKqNmk2W0kZx7EdxzVdTpM43sz-dOFFQT6DmEjwmGgASK0JehCUyXrYY18lj1ZswZIEiAMBWgYBK-LhOZNyqy0XiShVBoCWa3lMZHUbZzLBKXWDWjUuNQ9fBDY0/s400/blackscriptcatchya.gif" alt="Ka kite anō – Catch ya later" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440142295721547634" border="0" />Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-8594474572066537422010-02-17T21:45:00.001-08:002010-02-18T17:22:42.905-08:00Using Elearning Resources and All That Gear<img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 132px; height: 29px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQfXhNIYI6Ky9XBVDFUpIhAmHYHWPSuhTyqjMBgL1LQJgNG4FG6andhSHVi8I6QQXJFgtAH2lqR9QtwWZZYoJjLmYvUIWNDyGViFdY0_8OGbI8XR75P1q2e28n0laHrxw-oj95dKYbyX4/s400/bluetenakoutoutkatoa.gif" alt="Tēnā koutou katoa – Greetings to you all" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439455746364016434" border="0" /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://slurl.com/secondlife/Teal/183/59/22"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 372px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIa0Iwt2hdVuNhvOXBus8Dxldhc7EzOxgiKGPAfa7hC1zP4iqJqtqeuNXtqJ0IvHvU9FGAZcuX76JXMu1Oy01hMKIELjenkVgOoWOZSynYFQwrLPTHg4RVgsttS1HjYTi6Vp_RsJheaVc/s400/TheParticleLaboratory.png" title="Link to The Particle Laboratory, Teal" alt="The Particle Laboratory" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439455763154208322" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ><a href="http://slurl.com/secondlife/Teal/183/59/22"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">The Particle Laboratory, Teal</span></span></span></a></span><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />This week I submitted my plans for three Science learning resources that I will be writing this year. The expectation is that the drafts will have an online component.<br /><br />I say drafts, for when the resources are built and accessible to the learner, the intention is to amend and refine them, as part of an ongoing process, dependent on analysed feedback from the learner.<br /><br />Each resource set will provide teaching and learning material for a learner to achieve an associated <a href="http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/ncea/">NCEA</a> Level 1 Science standard.<br /><br />There will be no formal question-and-answer written tests for these.<br />All of them include reporting of a sort – a way that learners can show their communication skills – as well as demonstrating their knowledge and understanding of the various aspects of Level 1 Science.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: arial;font-size:130%;" >Learning and assessment</span><br /><br />I was heartened by <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/08487014790973980773">Britt Watwood</a>’s response to my last post on <a href="http://newmiddle-earth.blogspot.com/2010/02/elearning-pedagogy.html">elearning and pedagogy</a>.<br /><br />He kindly included a link to the Virginia Commonwealth University Online <a href="http://www.vcu.edu/cte/resources/OTLRG/index.html">Teaching and Learning Resources Guide</a>, which I read. It was a joy to see the inclusion of the terms <span style="font-weight: bold;">formative assessment</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">summative assessment</span>, with appropriate links given so that their use is unequivocal.<br /><br />Summative assessment will take the form of teacher assessment, driven according to assessment schemes written against the NCEA Level 1 Science standards. But the formative assessment that has to occur before that will consist of an assortment of methods including:<br /><br /></span></span><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;">self-marked booklet study</span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;">computer assessed interactive activities</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;">teacher feedback</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;">creating and maintaining learner engagement.</span></span></li></ul><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />For those who are unfamiliar with the term, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formative_assessment">formative assessment</a> is a means used by a learner to reflect on what’s been learnt and understood. A course of action may be followed to do further learning if required.<br /><br />Formative assessment can involve a teacher who provides feedback to the learner. It takes the form of automatic computer feedback in interactive elearning resources. Or it can be a checklist of answers or explained processes to supplementary examples given in a printed resource book.<br /><br />A rudimentary example of formative assessment is a list of answers to clues in a crossword puzzle.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:130%;" ><br />Down to Earth</span><br /><br />One of the standards involves <span style="font-weight: bold;">investigating an astronomical or Earth science event</span>. When writing my draft resource for this standard, I will be pulling on all appropriate techniques in elearning that are available to me and my cohort of learners:<br /><br /></span></span><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;">keeping <a href="http://newmiddle-earth.blogspot.com/2008/12/learning-resources.html">a balanced approach</a> to what is e-offered to the student</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;">keeping in mind <a href="http://newmiddle-earth.blogspot.com/2008/11/elearning-engagement.html">the fundamental principles of creating and maintaining elearning engagement</a></span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://newmiddle-earth.blogspot.com/2009/08/elearning-pedagogy.html">elearning pedagogy</a> (Oops! Did I really use that description?)</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;">use of existing resources appropriate to the teaching, such as the <a href="http://www.correspondence.school.nz/departments/esection/science/science_rlo/pw/y11/graphing.html">learning resource on drawing scientific graphs</a> – this resource provides computer created formative feedback</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;">use of existing internet resources such as the <a href="http://newmiddle-earth.blogspot.com/2009/04/learning-with-webcam.html">wealth of specific webcam portals</a> – these resources can be incorporated as a series of possible internet links</span></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;">use of possible internet resources filtered through the use of specific, <a href="http://newmiddle-earth.blogspot.com/2008/06/learning-objects-other-useful-outdated.html">teacher created criterion focused internet searches</a>.</span></span></li></ul><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />I will keep in mind the usefulness of <a href="http://newmiddle-earth.blogspot.com/2008/11/digital-games-and-learning-objectives.html">games-based learning</a> and will try to remember all that’s considered to be <a href="http://newmiddle-earth.blogspot.com/2009/02/champion-elearning-myths.html">elearning myth</a>.<br /><br /></span></span><br /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 93px; height: 39px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTLqnFnaLuKejKsTuYshxsHrxXPjwikYKuViVwgb4nCzWFRhlQ6Q9AH5szoW6VcLJ56kV4ttXo0tYIPsWhdmI3Hn-bF4VtNQXPqSVyvTwwY-wG8Npu2HiNdtb364CxVrnoM7gbhuf05G4/s400/bluecatchyalater.gif" alt="Ka kite anō – Catch ya later" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439455752630084818" border="0" />Blogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.com0