4 seasons in one day

On Friday, I presented here so it wasn't an everyday conference experience: psyching up for my session; presenting; coming down from the adrenalin and not being able to focus on what's in front of me for the obsessive need to read how my talk was affecting Twitter (no big hype, but much more attention than my daily grind generates).

So on Saturday, I resolved to leave my computer in my bag during sessions and just to be there (although I am a vehement advocate of the myth of multitasking, I am as distracted by proximate screens as anyone else). As a result, I absorbed the message and the feel of the talks rather than the details, but I since I spend the rest of my life deluged by website and app tips (and there will be more again tomorrow), it is good to use the conference as a time to reflect and to absorb the philosophy of the presentations. As a result, I hope that the bigger picture will emerge.

And it has happened. Saturday was one of those days where each session seemed to continue a dialogue I had had in the previous one. The thread which ties them all together comes from my own head, I suppose, but it is as if the speakers choreographed a dance to a solution I have been seeking.

Here's my issue. I have realised recently that if I, the ICT Facilitator, do not expose my students to digital citizenship, no one else will, at least not in the tech-sympathetic way I want to see it happen. I teach a course called ICT in Action with each Grade 7 student once every four days which is intended to give the kids "skills, content and attitudes" that will help them in their other subjects especially when we go one-to-one with laptops in the classroom next year.

But I do not like the way I teach parts of this course. In particular, the digital citizenship lessons follow some published plans that I found on the Net and are dull, dull, dull. I am teaching from the front and trying to get the students doing identical tasks at the same time. Although I have moved away from that model elsewhere in my Physics, ToK and parts of the ICTIA course, it's still happening here. I feel I know what I want the students to come away with and I am refusing to let go. And as a result, I'm sure, they are not learning and we are not creating good digital citizens (which was the idea, obviously).

So back to the conference:

First up, Kim Cofino, whom I last saw presenting back in 2009 in Hong Kong with the same result: not so much the tips (of which there were many good ones, make no mistake), but pure inspiration which works for me as a spur to action. "Learn with technology the way we live with technology" she said, with Snapchat as a current example. That made me think: she is right, of course, and I should be getting out of my comfort zone and risking more. Taking risks is what I had suggested, in my session the previous day, everyone should do. If I am not even making it happen in my own course, however, I need to make a change and take a jump in the dark. My school is deeply suspicious of the use of social networks. But it's clearly bonkers to teach about responsible use of social media in the abstract when the examples are literally a click away.

At the next session, Cate Jarvis gave an excellent overview of the tools we can use for teaching digital literacy. It reminded me of some which I have lapsed from using and now resolve to revive. Most memorably, though, Cate admitted that she hasn't found a satisfactory way to bring across to students the skills of authenticating information. That's how I feel too, and thanks to Cate for being brave enough to say it in front of a group of strangers. This realisation linked in my mind with Kim's session and made me think again that I must work harder to develop a new course.

Tricia Friedman, did a great session on blogs, reminding us that it is about the writing, reflection and interaction and not the tool. She demonstrated it wonderfully by making us create instant blogs (called fblogs by Tricia) on big sheets of paper, a great activity which I look forward to applying to students and teachers when the occasion arises. This made me realise that blogging is one of the activities I am not developing enough with my classes. Three sessions and three takeaways.

And so to Antoine Giusti who presented about collaborative tools and, in particular, the moment when he gave the students more freedom to develop their own understandings in his science lessons. Antoine still provides materials and activities, and monitors closely their progress, but the students exercise a high degree of independence in how their groups tackles the tasks (though some may take the lead in an activity, all must contribute and demonstrate their understanding). Can I adapt this approach for teaching Digital Citizenship? I think I can!

The last session of my day, with Sandra Lipkind, was the one I had been looking forward to: Filmmaking 101 for teachers. Basically 60 minutes of golden tips for someone like me, starting from a position of ignorance, who wants to teach students to create films as well as making my own films better. There were so many good ideas and terminology: everyone will be impressed when I start talking about 'master shots', dollies and Foley. In fact, I have a project right now, making a movie with a group of students, so the great advice couldn't have been more timely.

So that's a sequence of arbitrary choices based on a general interest, which turned out to lead me down a road of realisation of how I have been diluting the innovation in the teaching I do in the hurly-burly of the working week. Who knows if I shall find the space to develop, but the intention (and more importantly, the inspiration) are there at least.