Microsoft and me

The word Microsoft is known worldwide. The term is all around us, in education, in healthcare, in industry, retail,entertainment, business and banking to name but a few; but do we all know exactly what it is?

To be truthful, I don't have a full appreciation for it's capabilities and worth, but that is ignorance on my part. When I attended secondary school computers were not part of my education, unlike today.

My experiences of Microsoft are word , office, execl and powerpoint. microsoft - official homepage. It's shameful to say but I have not really embraced the world of technology until joining the pcet course. Being inspired by Mandy our lecturer and fellow peers , this was an avenue I needed to explore.

Microsoft applications I used in the workplace were for writing reports, letters, emails and patient details on spreadsheets. I basically taught myself, learning from error. However, sadly the It system were I worked was not very reliable, which increased my frustration with IT!

On a personal level, I only used word for assignment writing. Exploring word I discovered it's uses' such as font, italics etc, but again only learning from my errors.

Wordle - words galore

Wordle is a word cloud that generates lots of text into one,wordle.com. This generates some colour and design into teaching aids instead of a list of words that just generate down the page or in table format. Wordle enables the user to use different layouts, fonts and colours. The finished clouds can be saved to present in your work or printed off.

Barriers to the effective use of technology in education

Are WE one of the main barriers to technology in education ?

 Personally, I was very anti-technology at the beginning, however I am beginning to see the benefits of it's use as a tool. I believe it can never replace the knowledge and skills of the teacher however can enhance it. How can I expect students to embrace technology if I am reluctant to embrace this world myself.

Minton (2005) believes barriers to education are not unlike phobias, the only way to overcome them is to face them squarely.

Whilst reading around the topic of barriers, it became apparent only one of the barriers was peoples fear   of technology and  resistance to change. The rest were external factors from educational / governing bodies.  Geography, also played a part. Bigger cities and towns would have an abundance of ICT facilities, where as smaller rural or deprived areas less so. theguardian.com/technology/2001/mar/16/internet.communities
telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6900319/Free-computers-for-deprived-families.html. These two articles highlight the need for action and the steps being made to ensure equality in education.

It would be interesting to do a study on whether the more technology resistant teachers worked in the rural deprived areas, and the more technology minded teachers in the inner cities? Yet, this is another blog for another topic!


I found many blogs and articles on barriers to education, but found www.useoftechnology to be quite interesting as they have some good topics of discussion, which make you think out of the box about teaching delivery and overcoming those barriers. They also have details of some good applications and programmes you can use for teaching, to engage the students.

Technology is a major part of education whether we agree with it or not. At the beginning of my pcet course I was very sceptical of how technology could really enhance learning and teaching ( a big barrier there - resistance to change), but, a few weeks on I am glad to say I can recognise it's benefit.  However, it is not as easily implemented as one thinks. Different schools and educational establishments have differing levels and opportunities to integrate technology into their everyday class and lecturers. This saddens me to think some students miss out, which could be a detriment to their progress.

The site / blog above highlights the explosion of technology to the point where some jobs could become obsolete in years to come, with greater opportunities in the world of technology. I understand we are moving into a world governed by technology, but surely some things cannot be replaced; such as the touch of a reassuring hand, the soft tones of an encouraging voice or the skill of a professional. Yes, I believe all these can still remain but with the help of technology for students and teachers.

The barriers are ever so present, however, all can be overcome with planning and intervention. The barriers are:
1. Lack of professional development / training.

2. Resistance to change / lack of confidence.
3. Lack of innovation.
4. Access / lack of resources
5. Cost / funds.

All the above except for point two need to be addressed by organisational, governing bodies/ structure. We are evolving into a very technology led world, yet unless the developments are established for all to have opportunity and support, how can we expect point two to be overcome.

 So, are we standing in the way of taking technology forward? Maybe we need to embrace the change and innovate the idea not only in our workplace but also for our personal usage.

Minton,D.(2005). Teaching Skills in further and adult education. London. Thomson learning.

Tedtalks

This clip is 20 minutes long, but it really is 20 minutes well spent. Anyone wanting to be a teacher should take inspiration from this thought provoking talk.

Being introduced to Ted talks for the first time proved a little embarrassing . Again my ignorance of technology galloped along until I realised Tedtalks was a website and not a member of the class.

https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization. 
https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_how_to_escape_education_s_death_valley. 

I decided to explore the ted talks website to see what all the chat was about, WOW what inspirational people. I decided to share Sir Ken Robinson talk on how to escape educations death valley. Along with his humour , he also strikes an alarming fact on college 'drop out' rates, a staggering 80% of american students.

Exploring the reasons, he soon identified it was because education was led by the culture of conformity, command and control and not student led. American students did not engage with education.
He recognised students are different, at different levels. Some prospered in the arts, others the sciences, yet did not have opportunities due to restricted curriculum.

He asked are kids being labelled as ADHD because education does not understand them? With all these ideas he researched other countries education systems, particularly their 'drop out rates'. Surprisingly, Finland has a  0% 'drop out'. Spurred on and armed with collated information an initiative evolved:
                                               ' No child left behind'

His future vision is somewhat basic yet so effective. Education needs to be devolved back to the school and teachers as ' they know best'. Present education policy is based on mechanistic conceptions, but true education is a human system not a mechanical one.

Investing in good teachers, broader curriculum choice, resources, students and support will see the future generation grow and prosper.
As my dear mum would say "feed a passion and it will grow'

The talk was inspirational as it brings back the basics of education and the skills of teachers as education is an individual experience and not uniformity.

Wales in the seventies

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04q1s49/wales-in-the-seventies-1-schools-out
Just watched a good programme about Wales in the seventies on BBC1 Wales. It focused on children's experiences of education and how changing society influenced their education, beliefs, values and futures. It highlighted the external influences of music, rock concerts, religion, television and how freedom of speech changed the way children saw and wanted to be educated. Even in the seventies education was changing even before the explosion of technology.

Kids demands or education

Was meant to really get to grips with the blogging world this weekend, however the demands of our beloved children always seems to come first. The plea's (from me) that I have to blog falls on deaf ears!!! Kids!!!!
As any dutiful parent I ferried my daughter to meet her friends in the very noisy busy http://www.swanseachristmas.com/waterfront-winterland. I safely handed her to another dutiful but willing parent, returning in two hours to collect a very excited, hyper child who wanted to tell me all about her experience.
I strolled around swansea in the pre xmas hustle and bustle. I felt myself swaying along with the rush when it dawned on me how much technology is around us and how a simple stroll can actually educate you along the way.People using mobile technology on the go, I was amazed surfing the 'net' whilst walking - amazing, I can just about talk while walking! Shops promoting on-line shopping, customer service via Facebook. Even signs stating percentages off items, you work out the cost. It's only when you stop and think do you realise and appreciate that we learn everyday.

I collected my daughter, who yes was talking as if she only had two minutes to tell me all about her afternoon, when I realised how much she had learnt in those two hours. Children absorb so much more than us, without consciously doing it or making a fuss, they embrace every new adventure and learn. So I am taking a leaf out of my daughters book and embracing the world of technology.

So before you dismiss a simple trip out, think of it as a new experience and absorb all the new information.

Technology, blogging and me in education - Good, bad or indifferent ?

Half term week. The fear still persists about the 'Blog'. This is really worrying me. Read some information on the  internet and discovered people actually make a living and career out of blogging, HOW,HOW,HOW ???

I really need to do a lot of background reading on the pro's and con's of blogging and its use in teaching and learning. I think it's going to be hard to convert me to blogging, at this stage it's unlikely!! I decided to do some reading on the basics of technology and its place in education. It's a mine - field out there.

I spoke to my children on their opinions of technology, the resounding answer  " what would we do without it". At first this alarmed me to think my children were dependent on computers, internet etc, I didn't need it at their age! So what's changed?  THE WORLD!

 Technology is advancing, the benefits of ICT is global, we can't ignore it, we move with it. From a young age children are exposed to ICT whether it be electronic reading devices to computer games. The Rapid acceleration in the development of computer games and the investment in ICT in schools ensures that children are proficient in its use and are up to date with new developments (Cuthell 2006).

Embracing Cuthell (2006) words I decided to attack the world of technology, put the fear behind me and face the future, otherwise how can I facilitate learning when I can't  even use a smart board.






Cuthell, J.,(2006) Computers in the school; Technology and Teacher Education. Vol. 23 Issue 1/2, p99-110,12p

Fear Fear Fear.

Thursday 23rd October 2014 Enrolled onto the Pcet course at Townhill Campus yesterday. Felt quite nervous as the class had been together for a month, so felt like an intruder in an established group. However, I was wrong as they welcomed me into the class. The session was my dreaded subject of ICT, I have an immediate fear of the computer / technology world. Mandy the lecturer was obviously passionate about the subject and her knowledge astounded me. Everybody in the class seemed to follow her instruction, soaring ahead with the task in hand; NOT ME, even more fear arose. I sat there thinking 'What am I doing here'. I am a nurse with twenty six years experience, yes we use technology but not like this.This is certainly taking me out of my comfort zone. I don't do social media ( don't see the purpose of it?) I hardly text and have a faithful basic Nokia phone, the idea of an I phone does not ignite any interest at all. https://twitter.com, https://www.facebook.com/http://instagram.com, http://kik.com etc have no purpose in my life. Why tell strangers if you are having a bad day or a coffee? Really!I then find out our first assignment is a Blog - NIGHTMARE, I don't even know what a blog is. Came home feeling scared and alone in the technology world. Will I ever get into this blogging.