Comments for Learning, Teaching and ICT http://mvass.net The Online Diary of a Classroom Teacher Thu, 18 Aug 2011 13:14:02 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on About by Class Blogging as a Classroom Window to the World « ICT for Teaching & Learning in Falkirk Primary Schools http://mvass.net/about-2/comment-page-1/#comment-10959 Class Blogging as a Classroom Window to the World « ICT for Teaching & Learning in Falkirk Primary Schools Thu, 18 Aug 2011 13:14:02 +0000 http://mvass.net/?page_id=223#comment-10959 [...] Vass at Carronshore Primary School in Falkirk Council has made available her Masters Dissertation: Children’s Online Voices – A Case Study “Can Weblogs, Wikis and other associated emerging soci... This provides thorough information on why classroom blogging is effective, and the benefits to [...] [...] Vass at Carronshore Primary School in Falkirk Council has made available her Masters Dissertation: Children’s Online Voices – A Case Study “Can Weblogs, Wikis and other associated emerging soci… This provides thorough information on why classroom blogging is effective, and the benefits to [...]

]]> Comment on Glow Blogs and Wikis – A Closer Look by roberts73 http://mvass.net/2011/04/25/new-post/comment-page-1/#comment-10690 roberts73 Fri, 03 Jun 2011 05:24:32 +0000 http://mvass.net/?p=3863#comment-10690 The growth of our Glow wikis has been slower. The children understood the blog  The growth of our Glow wikis has been slower. The children understood the blog 

]]> Comment on ePortfolios and Transition Stages by Rose-anne Camilleri http://mvass.net/2011/04/27/eportfolios-and-transition-stages-2/comment-page-1/#comment-10638 Rose-anne Camilleri Fri, 27 May 2011 15:35:38 +0000 http://mvass.net/?p=3966#comment-10638 I love this site margaret. I am an eLearning teacher in Malta and am studying eportfolios and their implementation in the primary classrooms. Thanks lots of examples and info. I love this site margaret. I am an eLearning teacher in Malta and am studying eportfolios and their implementation in the primary classrooms. Thanks lots of examples and info.

]]> Comment on ePortfolios and Transition Stages by Learning, Teaching and ICT » ePortfolios, Assessment and Transition Issues http://mvass.net/2011/04/27/eportfolios-and-transition-stages-2/comment-page-1/#comment-10544 Learning, Teaching and ICT » ePortfolios, Assessment and Transition Issues Sat, 07 May 2011 18:42:50 +0000 http://mvass.net/?p=3966#comment-10544 [...] Although, like Jaye ,I’ve seen blogs and wikis peter out in the past when children move from Primary School to Secondary, I’m hoping that they won’t ‘wither on the vine in Secondary School’ this time as Jaye predicts in her recent comment on here . [...] [...] Although, like Jaye ,I’ve seen blogs and wikis peter out in the past when children move from Primary School to Secondary, I’m hoping that they won’t ‘wither on the vine in Secondary School’ this time as Jaye predicts in her recent comment on here . [...]

]]> Comment on ePortfolios and Transition Stages by Jaye Richards-Hil http://mvass.net/2011/04/27/eportfolios-and-transition-stages-2/comment-page-1/#comment-10537 Jaye Richards-Hil Thu, 05 May 2011 09:59:24 +0000 http://mvass.net/?p=3966#comment-10537 Thanks for your kind words. Some great work here on ePortfolio's, and it would be such a shame if this was allowed to wither on the vine in secondary school, but I fear this is exactly what will happen... secondary staff just don't, by enlarge, engage with GLOW for all sorts of reasons. Most of these have been around since the inception of the project but remain to date unaddressed. I won't bore you with an anti-Glow diatribe but in my mind he only way we're going to address this fractured learning journey which is P7 to S1, is to adopt a middle stage approach with less emphasis on distinct subjects and more multi-location work by primary and secondary staff. This would allow the good work started in primary to be continued into secondary. It would also go a long way towards allieviating the anxiety felt by many children going through the school change process of transition. Why stress kids with having to worry about subject choices, or even subjects during P7, S1 and even S2. 'Themes' such as Literacy, numracy, health and well being, etc could cover all the curricular work. Plenty of time to worry about exams and tests and results and subject choices later in S3 if you want to... lets bring the fun and engagement back into education, remove the stress from our children, and stimulate a lifelong joy for learning... Thanks for your kind words. Some great work here on ePortfolio’s, and it would be such a shame if this was allowed to wither on the vine in secondary school, but I fear this is exactly what will happen… secondary staff just don’t, by enlarge, engage with GLOW for all sorts of reasons. Most of these have been around since the inception of the project but remain to date unaddressed. I won’t bore you with an anti-Glow diatribe but in my mind he only way we’re going to address this fractured learning journey which is P7 to S1, is to adopt a middle stage approach with less emphasis on distinct subjects and more multi-location work by primary and secondary staff. This would allow the good work started in primary to be continued into secondary. It would also go a long way towards allieviating the anxiety felt by many children going through the school change process of transition.

Why stress kids with having to worry about subject choices, or even subjects during P7, S1 and even S2. ‘Themes’ such as Literacy, numracy, health and well being, etc could cover all the curricular work. Plenty of time to worry about exams and tests and results and subject choices later in S3 if you want to…

lets bring the fun and engagement back into education, remove the stress from our children, and stimulate a lifelong joy for learning…

]]> Comment on Glow Blogs and Wikis – A Closer Look by mvass http://mvass.net/2011/04/25/new-post/comment-page-1/#comment-10521 mvass Thu, 28 Apr 2011 19:26:18 +0000 http://mvass.net/?p=3863#comment-10521 Thanks for your comment. Jaye - much appreciated. It really got me thinking about the bigger picture. I tried to reply to it earlier but temporary blog hosting problems prevented me from doing that. As it turns out, your comment got me thinking so hard, that my original comment thoughts turned in to another blog post :-) http://mvass.net/2011/04/27/eportfolios-and-transition-stages-2/ Thanks for your comment. Jaye – much appreciated.

It really got me thinking about the bigger picture. I tried to reply to it earlier but temporary blog hosting problems prevented me from doing that.

As it turns out, your comment got me thinking so hard, that my original comment thoughts turned in to another blog post :-)
http://mvass.net/2011/04/27/eportfolios-and-transition-stages-2/

]]> Comment on Glow Blogs and Wikis – A Closer Look by Shirley Campbell-Morgan http://mvass.net/2011/04/25/new-post/comment-page-1/#comment-10437 Shirley Campbell-Morgan Wed, 27 Apr 2011 20:52:17 +0000 http://mvass.net/?p=3863#comment-10437 Hi Margaret I feel more and more that eportfolios are the way of the future and that today's pupils need to be creating these positive digital footprints. My pupils really seem to agree with this. I could see a successful eportfolio being given to an employer as a cv. But just not sure how easy it will be to encourage the work to be continued at secondary. I'm going to give it my best shot though! Hi Margaret
I feel more and more that eportfolios are the way of the future and that today’s pupils need to be creating these positive digital footprints.
My pupils really seem to agree with this. I could see a successful eportfolio being given to an employer as a cv. But just not sure how easy it will be to encourage the work to be continued at secondary.
I’m going to give it my best shot though!

]]> Comment on Glow Blogs and Wikis – A Closer Look by Catherine Miller http://mvass.net/2011/04/25/new-post/comment-page-1/#comment-10421 Catherine Miller Tue, 26 Apr 2011 21:31:34 +0000 http://mvass.net/?p=3863#comment-10421 Just testing to see if blog access is working okay from here. All seems fine. Hope you get back on again soon :-) Just testing to see if blog access is working okay from here. All seems fine. Hope you get back on again soon :-)

]]> Comment on Glow Blogs and Wikis – A Closer Look by Do we set up our children for failure? « Mimanifesto – Jaye’s weblog http://mvass.net/2011/04/25/new-post/comment-page-1/#comment-10393 Do we set up our children for failure? « Mimanifesto – Jaye’s weblog Tue, 26 Apr 2011 08:01:18 +0000 http://mvass.net/?p=3863#comment-10393 [...] is an extended version of the reply posted on Margaret Vass’s excellent blog, in response to a post she made on her work with Blogs and Wikis with her primary [...] [...] is an extended version of the reply posted on Margaret Vass’s excellent blog, in response to a post she made on her work with Blogs and Wikis with her primary [...]

]]> Comment on Glow Blogs and Wikis – A Closer Look by Jaye Richards-Hill http://mvass.net/2011/04/25/new-post/comment-page-1/#comment-10389 Jaye Richards-Hill Tue, 26 Apr 2011 07:17:47 +0000 http://mvass.net/?p=3863#comment-10389 The transition is what interests me. These are examples of some great work by a class and teacher who work together for most of the school week. On going on to secondary school however, this sense of continuity of teaching and learning is lost, replaced by a fragmented experience of distinct subjects where very often, joined up learning is a foreign language ! My feelings about this have always been extreme frustration. I saw this myself with my P7 kids coming into their S1 year. All the great joined-up learning habits; the cross curricular focus on skills across the curriculum just dissipates and the children quickly abandon skills and learning methodology developed during their formative years in education. The psychology shifts to one of almost Watsonian behaviourism as the 'Tabula Rasa' mindset of many secondary subject teachers comes into play and the children react by making choices about what they do and don't like, and therefore, learning becomes, in many cases for some subjects, a self-fulfilling prophesy of success, failure, or mediocrity. They travel, heads down, from room to room. Queue up at the door. Some smile as they feel good about this subject. Others carry a more worried look as they condition themselves to failure. Others just slump into a sort of torpor, merely doing just enough to get them through the next fifty minutes or so. The joined-up approach of the primary curriculum is gone, replaced by seemingly worthy 'subject specialist' lessons and teachers, many of whom, it is sad to say, regard the keen and eager new S1's as eventual exam canon-fodder. Oh for a 'middle school' approach in S1 and S2 with fewer teachers and learning themes rather than subject distinctions. Will it ever happen? will the supremacy of the secondary teacher who defines him/her self as a 'Subject Specialist' (Biologist, geographer, mathematician etc) be replaced by those who recognise that teaching is a vocation one should be proud and privileged to define oneself as ? Will ACfE deliver this sea-change? my old school is now making children choose their examinable subjects two thirds of the way through S1 !! If I had my way, they wouldn't even get 'distinct' subjects until S3... Sorry Margaret, rant over. Oh for your approach, and that of the many like you, in secondary schools. And there's no offence meant to the twiteratti who, I suspect, share many if not all of my concerns. The transition is what interests me. These are examples of some great work by a class and teacher who work together for most of the school week. On going on to secondary school however, this sense of continuity of teaching and learning is lost, replaced by a fragmented experience of distinct subjects where very often, joined up learning is a foreign language ! My feelings about this have always been extreme frustration. I saw this myself with my P7 kids coming into their S1 year. All the great joined-up learning habits; the cross curricular focus on skills across the curriculum just dissipates and the children quickly abandon skills and learning methodology developed during their formative years in education. The psychology shifts to one of almost Watsonian behaviourism as the ‘Tabula Rasa’ mindset of many secondary subject teachers comes into play and the children react by making choices about what they do and don’t like, and therefore, learning becomes, in many cases for some subjects, a self-fulfilling prophesy of success, failure, or mediocrity. They travel, heads down, from room to room. Queue up at the door. Some smile as they feel good about this subject. Others carry a more worried look as they condition themselves to failure. Others just slump into a sort of torpor, merely doing just enough to get them through the next fifty minutes or so. The joined-up approach of the primary curriculum is gone, replaced by seemingly worthy ‘subject specialist’ lessons and teachers, many of whom, it is sad to say, regard the keen and eager new S1′s as eventual exam canon-fodder.

Oh for a ‘middle school’ approach in S1 and S2 with fewer teachers and learning themes rather than subject distinctions. Will it ever happen? will the supremacy of the secondary teacher who defines him/her self as a ‘Subject Specialist’ (Biologist, geographer, mathematician etc) be replaced by those who recognise that teaching is a vocation one should be proud and privileged to define oneself as ? Will ACfE deliver this sea-change? my old school is now making children choose their examinable subjects two thirds of the way through S1 !!

If I had my way, they wouldn’t even get ‘distinct’ subjects until S3…

Sorry Margaret, rant over. Oh for your approach, and that of the many like you, in secondary schools. And there’s no offence meant to the twiteratti who, I suspect, share many if not all of my concerns.

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