Just Chat To Us
At the Learning 2.00 Conference a couple of weeks ago, one of the best sessions I went to was one that Jabiz (@intrepidteacher) set up with some of the kids who were helping out as part of the ‘Geek Squad.’ Of course the conference was about education and what is best for our kids, so Jabiz thought we should ask some of the kids themselves.
Here are some notes on what we asked them and what they answered:
When asked if they would or do put more effort into blog posts because they have a global audience they said they would and that blogging is a way of communicating to everyone.
There was a great conversation about exams and their relevance. The kids were saying that they wanted an overall grade about how they progressed – not final exams. They didn’t feel that this showed what they could really do.
“There has to be a point in me learning it
When am I going to need this in life?”
We asked how do you know that the information you find on the internet is correct? – well, that’s where teachers will come in. Teachers having blogs will help a lot. The kids were saying that they need to know how to search and need to know the real life applications. These students were saying how they make sure they comparing resources – as it is much easier to get more information from several resources
Some advice from the kids on how to encourage kids to engage with technology outside of class -
Film making and blogging are good places to start.
How would you like to be assessed? –
This was my favourite part of the conversation. Being as into technology as we are, all us teachers were expecting something like ‘get us to make movies’ or ‘get us to blog’ or anything like that. But no, the kids came up with the most simple answer that really does make a lot of sense:
“Just have a chat to us.”
We said “Oh you mean like IM?”
“No, just face to face. Just have a chat to us to see what we know.”
Who’ve thought?! They just want us to talk to them!
Having real conversations as assessment tasks – how on earth do you assess this?! Jabiz had a great idea – record a converation with the students, then get them to edit the conversation and hand in an ‘audio essay’ for their final record of learning and assessment for a unit. Great idea!
I really appreciated having a chat to these kids. They had a lot to tell us – not that there weren’t things we didn’t already know about what many kids thought, but it was great to be reminded of those perspectives in the middle of a conference about education. After all, the kids are what we are all about.
The tweets I was sending out during this session (in reverse chronological order!):
kids: in class if there is something you want to hear – you will listen
kids: class need to be relaxed – silence invites talking!
kids: class need to be relaxed – silence invites talking!
kids: exams not real – you write your answers then it’s given to someone who doesn’t know you
kids emphasising the point that there has to be a point to what they are learning! imagine that!
assesing kids via f2f conversation or with IM
kids saying that real conversation would be great assessment task
@israelgreg if something is not effective then is it really innovative?
damn – typing too quickly! interactiVe 
kids: the biggest thing you can do is make it interactice
kids: do something that is interactive – anyone got any questions for 3 international kids about techn in classrooms?
kids: most boring lessons are when you are told to read pages and do questions – make it interactice
kids: sending private messages through games – something that accessible at home
kids: making class more interactive with games please!
this session is asking kids about what really does engage them…
question to 3 kids about how overwhelmed they feel – talk about homework timetables
China – Here We Come!
This blog post finds its way to you from the great country of China – also known as the Middle Kingdom. I’m actually writing this as I sit in seat 36A on China Air flight CA178 from Melbourne to Shanghai. I’m heading to China with 4 other staff and 20 students from 5 different schools in the Grampians region of Western Victoria, Australia. We will be in China for 6 weeks staying at Nanjing Number 1 Middle School in Nanjing. Each of the students have to complete their own research project on a topic they have already begun to prepare. Some of the projects are on these topics -
- comparison of recycling systems
- comparison of education and curriculum as far as leaving school and being prepared for work goes
- response to natural disasters
- introducing AFL football to the local community
- fresh produce and the local market system
to name a few! The students have picked some great things to research. Of course they will learning a bit of Chinese along the way too.
Each day we will start with a short Chinese lesson to give the students enough language to get them through the everyday things, and then they will be working on their projects, going to classes and possibly meeting up with some students who will help them with their Chinese.
I just can’t wait to see the expressions on these kids faces when they get to Shanghai! Most of these kids have rural backgrounds, and most of them have never been on a plane before. We went to Melbourne two weeks ago for an official launch of the program and it was for many of them, only the second or third time they had even been to Melbourne. And they’re getting off a plane in Shanghai! This will be fantastic. Join us for the ride!
I’ll be keeping two blogs while we are in China – this one which will focus more on my personal reflections and how I’m using technology with the kids while we are away, and technoChinese which will be more of a diary and will have more detail as to what is happening with the kids on a day to day basis. technoChinese is also the blog my students back at Hawkesdale will be reading.
I am hoping to be uploading photos to Flickr, but that depends on it bing blocked or not. If it is then hopefully Slideshare is working or something else!We’ve been told that we have the use of a computer lab which will be great. I’m hoping to be able to get an internet connection in my room. I’ve brought two computers with me – my MacBook and little Asus EeePC which I am using right now to write this post into an Open Office.org Writer document. I’ve got my mobile phone (a Nokia E51) which I won’t be using with a Chinese SIM card, but can still use the audio, video and bluetooth functions on. I’ve brought my old phone to be one of the hopefully several mobile phones we have that will work with Chinese SIMs in them. I told the kids they had to get their phones unlocked from their networks, but for some this was too expensive, so we are going to make do with a few old phones that are hopefully no network-locked! See how we go. I’m also doing some of my own research by getting the kids here in China to take photos with their phones and send them to my Year 8 class in Hawkesdale. More on that later.
So, there you go – or there I go really! We’re on our way to China – though, we’ll be there by the time you read this! – and ready for the adventure of a lifetime.
Learning to Change Changing to Learn
What should we stop doing? What should we start doing? What should we keep doing?
I’d be really interested to hear your thoughts.
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