Award – Exceptional Professional Contribution March 29, 2007
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in General.3 comments
I don’t normally write directly about work, but today is an 
exception. I want some type of record that my kids/grandkids will look at one day and know what I achieved. Forgive the indulgence.
This evening, our school’s Board of Governors put on a cocktail party for the staff. I’m one of those people who’ll attend with no real reason (don’t go to eat the food as there are always things I’m allergic to), other than to meet the President of the Board – which to this point I had not yet achieved in 3+ years.
So tonight, I had a quick dinner with my kids – 4 year old Olivia’s favourite – sausages and chips (yuk!!), but she eats it and she’s a fussy eater. Then I went off to the Cocktail party. On the way, I stopped at a hardware store to buy some paint for our home renovation and ended up getting there late. I slipped in with some friends while our Principal (Rod) was giving a speech. Rod just finished talking about some new developments and then started thanking or congratulating people for finishing studies or giving presentatioons at conferences, etc.
4 or 5 minutes after arriving, Rod stated that there were some “awards for educational contribution” to give out and he called me out first. I was so flabbergasted, that I didn’t even take in what he said. I heard some friends congratulate me and I finally met the President of the Board as he presented me with a certificate. We didn’t say much, but I achieved an aim. Maybe next time he is at our campus, we’ll actually chat.
So what’s the big deal??? It’s nice to be recognised within a large organistaion (3 campuses with over 2oo staff) as someone who makes a difference and is showing the potential with New Technologies.
Later, I chatted with Rod and he mentioned “blogs” and that he didn’t know what they were exactly. But he knew about them. That’s exciting! I promised that if he gave me three minutes, I’d teach him something. So Rod, if you do read this, press the “add a comment” button at the top and leave a short note to see how the read/write web works.
And thanks to the encouragement I get from other educators in the bloggosphere. It is very much appreciated.
Uniforms of the Future – Pt 3 March 24, 2007
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in Class Activities.comments closed
As promised recently, I wrote an assignment on this topic. It covers gadgets used by Dick Tracy and Maxwell Smart, then looks at Nike+ runners, Levi Jeans and the Kenpo jacket, all having gadgets embedded into them. With all of these free plugs, you’d think I would get something from them, but alas no.
Students then design their own uniform for the year 2017. I’ve tried to write it so anyone can use without too much ediditing, so please feel free to use it. (except I’m trying to force our students to use Photoshop).
Anyway, here it is – let me know if you use it and the student results.
Anyone interested in joining a proposed Music Festival via VideoConference? March 7, 2007
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in General.add a comment
Gary Hodges, a good friend and colleague was buzzing today. His Year 9 Business class has been putting together a real life project revolving around the Music industry and they are in the process of organising a Music Festival at school. As part of the day’s activities, his students will raise money which will be donated to one of the school’s main charities (Cambodian Housing Project).
He was likening the activity to Band-Aid, the Bob Geldof inspired charity work where musicians gave their time freely to raise money for Ethiopia’s starving. Definitely not in the same league, but a start. He then had the thought:
Wouldn’t it be great if we could telecast it?
So, is there anyone out there who would like to beam in via VideoConference (using http protocols) and take a look at the Year 9 Business Studies class and their attempt to raise money? It won’t be high tech, modern concert gimmicks, but a chance for some local talent to strut their stuff in front of the school community and perhaps, nationally or internationally.
If you can’t participate, but think it is a good idea, can you please send a message of support so the students get an idea of what they could do in the future. Perhaps even link this to your site for wider exposure.
This all depends of course on our IT technicians having the VideoConference equipment set up correctly (something I’ve been asking them to do for over a year and it still isn’t quite right). A lot of whatifs and maybes, but the idea and potential really excite me. Exact details to be confirmed – I think Friday March 16, midday-ish (Melbourne, Australia time).
Thanks
School Uniforms of the Future – Part 2 March 7, 2007
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in General, Mobile Phones, classroom.add a comment
I’ve been thinking about school uniforms of the future recently – whacky ideas really (see School Uniforms of the Future), where I wrote about Dick Tracy, Maxwell Smart and some current Nike shoes, Levi jeans and a jacket that have been adapted to incorporate an iPod.
So it got me thinking that this would be a great research and design project for students (both Primary and Secondary). After researching, present the open-ended question With technology converging and getting smaller, what will your school uniform look like in 2017? I could see the boys would get right in to the technology side of the project while the girls could get in to the fashion side of things. Perhaps a group project with a boy and girl matched together for the project – if numbers allowed and boy germs didn’t contaminate the girls and vice versa (how silly are they???).
The project would have students investigate
- Dick Tracy’s wristwatch radio
- Maxwell Smart’s shoephone.
Research could include interviewing Mum or Dad or some other older person. The research would not have to be written evidence, but could be recorded on their mobile phone or the Sound Recorder in Windows or other recording device if they have one (eg video interview). Discussion in class could revolve around these interviews being Primary sources of information (as opposed to Secondary sources of information which would include the Internet).Students would then be required to do some research on
- Nike+ runners and Sport Kit
- RedWire DLX Jeans
- Kenpo jacket
and find a common link between them.
Once the research is completed, a report (can be any format) is to be presented on each item. Then the open ended question – With technology converging and getting smaller, what will your school uniform look like in 2017? Students would be free to be serious, silly, creative, etc.
I think I’ll use it soon with one of my IT classes. I’ll write it up and post a reference here in the next few days.
YouTube, BBC and the Victorian Government March 5, 2007
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in General.1 comment so far
Recently, I wrote about the ban placed on YouTube in Government schools. Then the very next day, BBC announced plans to work together with Google (owners of YouTube) and allow clips of its news and other programs to be made available to users of YouTube.
Fantastic! YouTube users now have access to a great service.
And as a teacher, I look forward to the day where I might choose to use a clip from BBC in my class, just because I know it is there and I didn’t think to record the previous night’s news. So whenever there is a ground breaking news item or natural disaster in the world, I know that I can access YouTube and use it in class. Without organinisg to record the news, just in case something big would happen. How cool? An excellent example of using this wonderful resource in class. Probably more useful to Primary or History – Geography – SOSE teachers.
(Why is it that most news items are “Bad News” items???)
I wonder when the Victorian Education Department will reverse its decision to ban YouTube in its schools now? Of course, they won’t reverse the decision as they wouldn’t dare look stupid, would they?
School uniforms of the future March 4, 2007
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in General, Mobile Phones, classroom, podcasts.2 comments
In the 1970s, I watched the Dick Tracy cartoon where the detective, Dick, would speak into his watch and communicate with headquarters. In the 1960s, Maxwell Smart from Get Smart was a popular show where the bumbling hero spoke into his shoe phone and had all sorts of gadgets.
Recently, Nike and Apple got together to release the “Nike +” running shoes and iPod Sport Kit, designed for use by joggers.
The Sport Kit allows your Nike+ shoe to talk to your iPod nano. The sensor uses a sensitive accelerometer to measure your activity, then wirelessly transfers this data to the receiver on your iPod nano. See source
With these shoes and iPod, joggers can now listen to music that syncs with their running tempo. A slow jog delivers a slower beat, a sprint changes the music to a more upbeat song. I really hate jogging, so I can’t see myself ever getting these items.
I remembered seeing an article about Levi releasing a new pair of jeans for the iPod with an “invisible” pocket to hide the iPod while it had a special controller in the watch pocket. 
I also found that jackets are now available where the iPod fits to the inside of the jacket and the sleeve becomes the controls.
What gadgets will students have in the future? We are getting closer to a convergence of technologies where mobile phones and cameras and GPS and voice recorders and music players and computers will be incorporated into one device. How long before these devices will replace laptop or desktop computers and become part of a student’s tools?
So if jean, shoe and jacket companies can make special items for the iPod, what will the school uniform of the future look like?
Will school uniform committees be brave enough to allow students to wear clothing that allows these new devices to be worn in such a way that they can be used in class? Will they consider student safety as they get to and from school by ensuring these devices are hidden from view?
I have a son who has trouble with handwriting and spelling. My hope is that by the time he gets to secondary school, he will be able to use a voice recorder to record his thoughts, stories, answers, essays, etc. and have his computer convert it to text for him. Imagine a uniform that had a microphone in the lapel of a jacket that was so designed to record only the wearer’s voice. This could then be turned into podcasts or text as described above.
Will classrooms of the 21st Century still be contained within 4 walls? I hope not. Imagine students taking their tools safely from learning site to learning site and using the tools at their disposal. A camera, computer, mobile phone and GPS for safety. It is conceivable that these will be in one device in the future and small enough to fit within a sleeve or pocket or even on the student’s wrist.
Of course, many teachers would argue that all of this is coddswallop. I’d argue I could teach many innovative things if this were to occur. Would students be easily distracted? Of course. But give them a real, rich and relevant learning task and they will stay focussed and interested.
So what will the uniform of the future look like?
Mentoring – online March 3, 2007
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in General, classroom.add a comment
Last year, I “met” Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach through my invovlement in the K12 Online Conference. Sheryl was one of the organisers of the conference and led an international discussion using Elluminate that I participated in. It was a thrill to have a real-time discussion with many “big names” in the education blogosphere.
Recently, Sheryl got in touch and asked me if I would like to join her class of pre-service teachers and participate as one of many “online-mentors” from around the world. I was intrigued and agreed.
Sheryl as it turns out is a lecturer/professor at The College of William and Mary and has two classes of pre-service teachers. Using tapped-In, a global, on-line classroom has been established where Sheryl and her students pose various questions or seek assistance as they develop new units of work for their subjects or teaching rounds. As a result of the questions students have posed, I have been challenged several times in the last few weeks to refocus on my own teaching style . Thinking through their questions and my practices and then reading responses from other mentors has allowed me to become a better teacher.
Anyone can see this group and request to join it.
Thank you to both Sheryl and all of her students for this great collaborative project that has truly enriched me (and it has only been going for about month) .
My State Government has banned YouTube in schools March 1, 2007
Posted by Joseph Papaleo in General, Mobile Phones, Screencast.1 comment so far
The Victorian State Government today announced that YouTube would be blocked in State Government schools. Why? (Read an article here or here)
Maybe there were too many students using it in class to look at innapropriate material instead of focussing on their work? Good guess, but no. Maybe because the extra bandwidth was too costly for the Government and they were trying to cut costs. Another reasonable assumption, but wrong again!
The reason is cyberbullying. Late last year, a group of teenage boys filmed themselves while assaulting a young girl and then making DVDs. The DVDs were distributed in the local area and it was then uploaded onto YouTube. Once this story got into the media, there were many commentators calling for the banning of YouTube in schools (as well as other technological tools).
While I am appalled at the actions of this group of boys and other cyberbullies, there is no way in the world blocking YouTube in schools will stop cyberbullying. While students are at school, bullying will continue to exist in school yards and classrooms, with and without the use of technology.
Naturally, other independent schools will follow suit (if they haven’t done so already) and block YouTube. What concerns me is that YouTube can, be a useful tool. I am currently playing with vodcasts for use by my Year 12 Further Maths class. I have started creating short videos on how they should be using their graphics calculator to solve various problems. YouTube (or podomatic or mogopop or other similar services) would have been an ideal way to distribute these helpful vodcasts. I also plan to use some YouTube videos I’ve found as part of some of my class projects (I’ll post an entry about these one day soon). But now with this ban, many schools will not be able to find crative ways to use YouTube.
So I now have to ask. How will my State Government stop students using YouTube out of school hours? Will they get ISPs to blacklist YouTube? Will they also ban all mobile phones at school and at home to prevent those nasty SMS bully tactics? Maybe they’ll even ask Telstra to close down its phone lines between 8:00 and 10:pm every day to prevent a student bullying another student by phone.
Sorry Steve Bracks (Victorian Premier) and Jacinta Allan (Education minister). You have got this one wrong!
BTW, YouTube removed the video from their site within a very short time, but there would still be many copies of that DVD circulating about. Maybe we should destroy all DVD players too!
