Yes, it's that time of the year again as we all take a look back at the previous 12 months. Personally, looking back over the year, it has been an unique year in the life and work of the digital-teacher...
During the month of January people in the media seemed to suddenly "get it" with regards to Twitter. The press went crazy for it after several big name celebs started using it. Suddenly Twitter was no longer a geeky tool for webheads to use - it was going mainstream, and later on in the year it proved how it could be used to report news quickly (the Hudson plane crash), report news from unreportable areas (the disturbances in Iran), and how it could be used as a social pressure tool to force changes (think Trafigura, or Jan Moir as just two examples).
The yearly BETT show saw the launch of 2DIY from 2Simple software - a straightforward piece of software that let pupils created their own games, quizzes and activties that could be embedded into learning spaces / VLEs / MLEs as working flash activities. It showed potential from day one of using it, and proved throughout the year to be a remarkable (and flexible) learning tool. I've used with every class in school, and the pupils were amazed with just what they could do with it.
March 2009 saw my school begin its training for the county provided learning platform solution. I went along with my Headteacher, and we both agreed that what the solution offered us we could already achieve with our current website system. We opted out of the county solution - and went our own way with a bespoke VLE solution; a decision that over the course of the year would lead to several highs, and lows,but in the end seems it to be working fairly well now.
Augmented Reality was also a word that sprang into the language during the year. From a few websites that allowed you to use a webcam and a small square code to create virtual images in the palm of your hand (the GE energy website springs to mind), and a few forward thinking companies who introduced it (a star trek website, and lego in the US using it within stores), it began to be discussed in an educational context. As the year ended 2Simple demonstrated new software that included AR features for pupils to use within their work.
During Easter my world ground to a halt as I suffered a heart attack at the beginning of the school holidays. The result of this was being signed off work for the entire Summer term (although I did begin my phased return to work as the term ended). Although consigned to home for this period, I was able to continue with some work (school policies / website updates) through the Internet. However, this health scare has led to a rethink of priorities, and no longer do I stay up working on the computer until the early hours, or take on extra work related to the world of the digital educator.
The Rose Review was released at the end of April - an interesting read with a common theme of integrating ICT into all aspects of the curriculum, although with an election looming in early 2010, it still remains to be seen how much of the review will actually become the new curriculum.
The government also announced that science SATs would no longer be given to Year6 pupils (as of 2010). Following the farcical 2009 SATs marking disaster, this was hardly suprising - although the insistance that English and Maths SATs would continue left many teachers disappointed.
During the summer break I began work on the schools own learning platform solution - using a range of free online resources as opposed to the unfeasibly large cost of the local authority solution. In the end we opted for Typepad (paid for) for the school website and pupil learning spaces, Google education apps (free) as a cloud based document creation / storage, and email service), wikispaces (free) for lesson resources and materials, and a range of paid for and free online resources (2Simples Online Tools / Kerpoof / Sherston Channels) to use within lessons and at home. This was a large job - setting up the whole LP for the whole school did take some time, although in future it will be much quicker as only new arrivals will need to be set up.
As September loomed I prepared to return to work full time following my health scare. I'm pleased to say that I made it to the end of the term, although I was exhausted as half term, and Christmas, approached. It was good to be back in the classroom, although I did make some changes, and no longer run around like a blue arsed fly mending computers / IWBs / and other ICT tech as I did before. My health is now my number 1 priority.
Network problems during the autumn term began to drive me mad, as problems with pupils logging onto the school network ran on and on. Several technician visits later and the problem is almost sorted (hopefully) - but I'll find out as we roll into 2010.
Google Wave limped into existence in a (sorry for the pun) wave of over egged hysteria, and quickly limped away again as many people struggled to see the point of it, or how to use it, without their friends receiving the hallowed Golden ticket invites in the early days. Maybe in 2010 Wave will show its potential and take off - once everyone is able to sign up and use it.
October saw the school celebrate 100 years of education on the current school site. We had a great day of celebrations on a Saturday, with many former pupils returning to share their memories. The use of technology before the event had ensured that we had a special celebration section of the website up and running with hundreds of photos of the past, as well as former pupils thoughts, memories and comments. An interactive school timeline was also created with key events from the history of the school.
Throughout the whole year, my personal learning network on Twitter has grown and includes some truly inspiring educators, and I want to say a massive thank you to everyone of you. Your ideas, thoughts and suggestions have reinvigorated me and turned many a spark into a burning flame. Thank you all, and I hope 2010 proves to be even more creative.
A few of the brilliant online finds of the year...
- - Embedit.in (a great service that will embed .pdf / word and publisher files into a webpage / post. You can also use a small amount of code to place this feature automatically throughout a website)
- - Etherpad (a fantastic online collaborative writing tool. Unfortunately bought by Google and closed down at the end of the year. However PrimaryPad has taken the EtherPad code and continued running with it)
- - Timeglider (a brilliant free timeline creator)
- - Pixlr (an online image editing application)
So, what will 2010 bring? Will schools embrace and blossom with learning platforms during the year? Will games based learning become the big thing in schools? Will Twitter actually make any money this year? Will Google merge with Starbucks and Tesco and finally takeover the world? Who knows, but it'll be fun clinging to the coattails of those trailblazing in educational ICT, and watching it all develop.
