Re: [LUG] Penzance School spends £300,000 on an iPad for every pupil

You used paper and ink you say..? I take it there were no iPads available? Or would that have been ridiculous and impractical..?

Like you say, the good teacher, the dynamic teacher, the sensible teacher, is one who considers all the tools at her or his disposal.

> Date: Sat, 5 Nov 2011 10:15:42 +0000
> From: zleap@xxxxxxxxx
> To: list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [LUG] Penzance School spends £300,000 on an iPad for every pupil
>
> On 05/11/11 08:54, tom wrote:
> > On 05/11/11 01:04, Julian Hall wrote:
> >> On 04/11/2011 12:19, tom wrote:
> >>> On 04/11/11 09:53, Jack Oley wrote:
> >>>> You make some good points, Anthony. I was also somewhat disturbed
> >>>> to read about the head saying that "perhaps" iPads will "replace
> >>>> pens and paper". This is a learning establishment we're talking
> >>>> about here, isn't it?! IT should enhance aspects of traditional
> >>>> learning (and vice versa), not be a sweeping, gratuitous
> >>>> replacement. It seems that some people think that IT is some sort
> >>>> of panacea or holy grail. Jack. Teacher and ITophile.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> > Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2011 08:36:38 +0000
> >>>> > From: anthony@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >>>> > To: list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >>>> > Subject: [LUG] Penzance School spends £300,000 on an iPad for
> >>>> every pupil
> >>>> >
> >>>> > Hi,
> >>>> >
> >>>> > This was in the Cornishman yesterday:
> >>>> >
> >>>> >
> >>>> http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Cornwall-school-gives-pupil-teacher-iPad/story-13743002-detail/story.html
> >>>> >
> >>>> >
> >>> IT CAN be a panacea and a holy grail. I would personally say that it
> >>> will, in the long term, replace a huge amount of the current
> >>> teaching experience.
> >>> Currently it is being used by the deluded/dishonest* and/or greedy
> >>> to try and foist proprietary wares on people to generate revenue
> >>> streams.
> >>> As a teacher make your lessons HTML and sharealike them so other
> >>> teachers and students can use them, share them and improve them. If
> >>> we can get teachers to share lessons rather than every teacher
> >>> spending their lives preparing the (nearly) identical lessons that
> >>> every other teacher is preparing then perhaps teachers can get
> >>> around to teaching.
> >>> If we continue to make it easy for companies to introduce these
> >>> toxic methods into schools we'll keep going backwards.
> >>> Tom te tom te tom
> >> If I understand you right, you're basically talking about a Wikipedia
> >> for teachers? A shared resource where, for example, all GCSE History
> >> teachers can come together and say 'OK week one we will teach X, and
> >> Y is how we will do it'. The only problem with that approach I can
> >> see - and in theory it's an excellent idea - is that pretty much
> >> every teacher has a different style of teaching, and you could get
> >> into a vicious circle of some changing bits that don't suit their
> >> style, others changing different bits, yet more changing others, then
> >> the original author putting it back as it was, and so it goes on. I
> >> think perhaps if it was limited to Heads of Department or perhaps
> >> counties to keep the membership of each Wiki small enough to avoid
> >> the problem it could work well, then possibly each county submit
> >> their results to a national Wiki. That way you could get a range of
> >> different choices to suit every teaching style, yet still be a
> >> combined effort giving a degree of uniformity across the board.
> >>
> >> If the system worked as intended, they would only need to update it
> >> when the syllabus changed. It would also have the advantage that the
> >> quality of material and structure would not vary with the experience
> >> of the individual, so that the content of a newly qualified, or
> >> conversely about to retired and jaded teacher, would be no different
> >> in content to one who was in mid career and enthusiastic. Also, on
> >> that point, you would get input from all levels of age and expertise
> >> to give the courses a more rounded feel.
> >>
> >> Julian
> >>
> > A wikipedia but more atomic and layered and structured.
> > 1)The lowest level is simple facts - self contained stuff - a physical
> > law, a declination of a verb in a language: small paragraphs. These
> > are pretty much static and unique
> > 2)The next level is nearer, if you like, a lesson which collects these
> > paragraphs with some further explanation. These doclets ( (page sized)
> > hyperlink to the lower facts.
> > These can be created by individual teachers from other lessons as part
> > of their...
> > 3)The next level is the 'course' level - collections of the above
> > lessons with further info to create a course again hyperlinking to
> > lessons (sort of head of department/school level)
> > 4) curriculum level - linking to points required from 1) but naturally
> > creating subsets/templates of 2 and 3 - government level
> > 5) search engines/management tools and wikis for sharing
>
> Lessons are also dynamic and subject to change, a few years ago I was
> studying AS level chemistry partly as something to do as I was working
> during lunchtimes at the school, we were discussing what happens when
> propane is used as a fuel and the reactions that take place, I suggested
> we do this with the molymod construction kits, which we did, it put
> the concept of the reaction in a different way to 2d pictures on paper.
>
> The same thing happens during coaching sessions, I tried something a few
> seasons ago, so as a coach I had a a4 sheet with ideas on, just in pen
> and ink and notes, more of a prompt sheet, but the ideas could be
> changed and adapted. It was good when as a coach you want a different
> idea quickly.
>
> If you are a good teacher you will take a basic lesson plan and be
> adaptable and keep lessons dynamic, what happens if your lesson plan
> involves going out side and looking at leaves, on the day its torrential
> rain, you may not be able to do that, or in sport you plan to use
> the field and 3days of rain means the field is out of bounds, ok I can
> teach tag rugby on the playground but it needs quick alteration of the
> plan to allow for safety.
>
> There are also sites out there with lesson plans on them, teachers do
> use and share resources certainly within the same school. and we share
> teachers with other schools, so what you are suggesting does happen but
> not exactly as you describe.
>
> Paul
>
>
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