ITmadeSimple! Blog

Cyber Smarts Feedback

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 08:18:00 GMT

Generally after I run Cyber Smart sessions there is not normally a lot of feedback, parents tend to go home with a headful of items to consider arounf their use of technology and the internet and what their children are doing. The following is one of emails from parents that reinforce the work I do with students, parents and teachers.

"Hi Tony,

Your session with the children had a great impact in my daughter. I'm so grateful to you and the school for this!

As soon as she got home she told me that she understands now why she has to delete the people she doesn't know. Her followers list is now 123 from 175. Considering that I was able to convince her to delete just 2; yours is a fantastic outcome!

The issue in here was not convince her to delete the followers actually, my first intention was for her to understand the main reasons why she shouldn't let estrangers in her online experience, not just Instagram And I reckon you've got that objective completed.

I've also check some of the links and they are great!"

Remember to have a chat with your children/peers about what they do to be smart online!

Safer Internet Day - A few left links from the left field

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 13:00:00 GMT

Seeing as it is Safer Internet Day I thought I would add a few sites many are not aware of. The first site ti check out is:

Terms of Service; Didn't Read

This site covers the major tools and online services that most (practically all users don't read)

http://tos-dr.info/

20 things I learnt about Browsers and the Web

Great example of an HTML5 Book - all kids must read and know.

http://www.20thingsilearned.com/en-US

How Secure is My Password

Just check out hos secure your password is...

http://howsecureismypassword.net/

Adjust your Privacy

Maintain your privacy

http://adjustyourprivacy.com/

I hope you had a chat with your children and friends about being smart online. Every day should be Safer Internet Day - make it so.

Google Certified Apps for Education Trainer

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 13:00:00 GMT

Good news today I have finally completed all the details and requirements to be certified fully as a Google Apps for Education Trainer. It has been great connecting with another network of amazing people and validating the skill and knowledge that I have been developing and building on for the last 5 years.

You can check out my marketplace vendor details here, am expecting my listing to be approved any day.

If you are looking for any services around the planning, implementing, professional development and application of Google Apps for Education or Business please feel free to contact us.

Google Apps for Education Sydney Summit

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:00:00 GMT

Today I was lucky enough to be involved in the Google Apps for Education Summit held at MLC in Sydney. It was great to catch up with so many online friends and be apart of the first summit in Australia. It was also great to hear that another Google Teacher Academy intake will be occurring later this year in Sydney. Applications close for the next group on Feb 28th so it would be great to see a whole new bunch of Australians become involved in the GTA program.

I was fortunate enough to hear Jim Sill speak at the morning session, Jim was entertaining, passionate and bit of risk taker during the session. All in all a satisfactory day with many people going away with new skills, ideas and resources. Check out the resources for yourself.

On the Friday day I presented on using chrome and the amazing resources and tools available within the browser and through the Web Store, you can access my Presentation and Notes.

Follow Up on Student Cyber Safety Day

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 11:14:00 GMT

WOW is all I can say. Last week I ran a full day cyber Safety session with 105 year 5 and 6 students. The experience was amazing I am so proud of the students for the effort and work that they put in. On the day all the students were prepared and ready to put in a big day concentrating on the task at hand, one which they had selected in groups of 2 or 3 (see previous post).

So how did it all pan out....

At the start of the day I had worked out with the class teachers 4 students that would not be directly involved in group work but would be assigned to record the day. These students were asked to come in a little earlier so we could make sure things were sorted for the day. I had five forms of recording the day: photos via camera, video via iPod touch, video via Flip camera and audio via microphone recorder with the fifth element being a GoPro camera capturing still images every 30 sec. The following video is a slide show put together using some of the still images taken by my recorders on the day, I say some of the photos as these students didn't hold back on taking photos at the end of the day there were over 1300 images captured from the day.

There will be more artefacts from the day as we get them downloaded and edited.

Check back here in the next few days with more details about the day and the amazing work that the students created.

Student Cyber Safety Day

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:14:00 GMT

This coming Wednesday (17th Oct 2012) I will be working with 105 year 5 and 6 students (10, 11 and 12 year olds) on developing cyber safety and online smart materials for other students and parents. These students over the past 2 years have been involved in a range of activities relating to this area. This coming Wednesday they will be involved in something different.

Students have the following task:

"In one day they will be required to build and create a resource or resources to help make other people smarter when they are online. Students will be able to select the area or idea they wish to build their resource on and the manner in which the information will be presented.

On the day students will also be able to bring in technology from home to help them build and present their materials and information.

Students will have access to websites and resources not normally allowed during school time.

Students will be responsible for the management of their time and resources and will have until 3:30pm to complete their work."

This will be a BIG day for the students to direct their own learning and focus on the areas that are most important to them. They will also have access and use technology that is their own and they are comfortable with. It is interesting to note that the teachers seem to be more nervous about the day than the kids - which is great.

The students need your help, during the course of the day they will be posting and sharing work, ideas, questions and calls for help. If you have time or your class has time it would be great to connect via comments, twitter (@itmadesimple), skype, hangouts or through other means.

Please feel free to contact me on any of the above or even email - I know the kids are excited about the day. Linking with others on the day would simply top it off for them.

Google Apps for Education New Zealand Summit

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 23:05:00 GMT

Looking forward to being part of the Google Apps for Education Summit in New Zealand. If you are heading along to uLearn make sure you join the learning and fun. I am looking to heading across to Auckland and checking out everything that is happening with ICT in NZ and catching up with lots of online friends and PLN members.

Kickstarting #MOTM13

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 13:54:00 GMT

A few days ago I was watching my twitter stream and I happen to see a tweet from someone I respect and follow. Dan Donahoo @ddonahoo posted the following:

"Another fantastic "internet of things" @ kickstrater I just backed LIFX: The Light Bulb Reinvented"

I am a great fan of Kickstarter and have backed a number of projects - part of our family rules is that when anyone finds a project we like the look of we share the idea with the rest of the family and we then cast a vote as to if it is worth backing (we also do the same thing with Kiva but that is another story). The LIFX was a no brainer it actually captured all our imaginations with the design, connectivity and possibilities. Both of my children wanted the light bulbs as soon as possible - so we jumped on and backed the project. We got in at backer no 157 with a cumulative total of around $20,700. We have since watched in amazement as this project has received amazing support and as of writing this blog post it currently sits at 5,035 backers with $753,786 pledged to the project.

What is also interesting is that there is an Australian connection to the business and idea - something to explore further later.

After backing the project I had a few online conversations with Dan about the project and the idea of the Internet of things - he pointed me towards a number of other devices and tools that look really cool but also have a really different approach to connecting with the environment, people and instructions. This has got my appetite wet for more on this whole area which is simply starting to explode. The great part is that Dan will be speaking at the MOTM13 unconference which will be held next Feb 2013 and is shaping up to be an amazing event. There are still places available although the numbers are capped at 50 people to keep the event and experiences a little more meaningful and intimate.

If you are interested in the Internet of Things and these devices check out the LIFX project and if you want to explore, play and talk about these devices and potential in education and for education to spawn them then come along to MOTM13. See you there...

Flipping the Classroom - VITTA2012 Reflection

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 07:50:00 GMT

At the recent VITTA Conference (#vitta2012) I sat in a sales pitch/happy slapping/future exploring/Sort of Keynote session with Craig Rispin (@craigrispin). Whilst the session was mildly entertaining it seemed to preach an educational development that is sweeping the US and starting to gain traction here.

The ' Flipped Classroom' notion is based on the idea of creating learning resources for students to access outside of school so that when they are in school they can focus on the learning. This sounds great and I would argue that many good teachers I know do this naturally and many without any ICT involved. The Flipped Classroom takes a lot of high level skills for teachers to pull off effectively and what concerns me is that many teachers/schools say they are flipping their classrooms but most are just using a different method of delivery outside of school but then not actually developing and letting the students explore, pull apart, examine, report, refute and discuss the learning.

School timetables are so crowded that the classroom discussion and free thinking that the 'Flipped Classroom' is meant to open up get swallowed so that more content can be covered for better assessment results not better learning.

Our mate the Futurist Craig used the listed video as an outstanding video around this development - really Craig you need to come back from the future get into a classroom in the present and take time out to understand what needs to occur. Anyway this is my public comment to the video - would love to have a discussion (some discussion has started on my Google+ page):

"Great for the teacher but what you should be doing is getting your kids to make the videos and content, this would demonstrate they understand the learning. Students should be presenting this material not you. You should be facilitating the understanding and development of knowledge and how it might be interpreted & manipulated. All you are doing is presenting video or what you would do in your class. Please tell me how you are challenging your students thinking not changing the way you deliver."

Community Connect: Out and About with the Ed Tech Crew

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 14:00:00 GMT

I had the pleasure of participating in the 2nd Community Connect session tonight talking about my experiences in the development and production of the Podcast I am a co-host called the Ed Tech Crew. It was a great webinar with a really good audience and some very goo questions.

We talked about our experiences, views and developments around connected teachers and connected comunities and the changes we have seen over the last few years.

You can listen to the session here. It was great to be connected.

ITmadeSimple joins the Apple Consultants Network

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 14:00:00 GMT

Today I would like to announce that ITmadeSimple has joined as a Member of the Apple Consultants’ Network. As a ACN consultant we will provide professional development and training to support the implementation of Apple products, technologies and methodologies.

Draw Something - Simple Literacy

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 13:37:00 GMT

For the last four weeks my daughter and I have been undertaking a drawtastic journey, we have been setting aside time together to use the 'Draw Something' app to guess and draw images with online people we connect through via the game. The basic structure of the app is a little like pictionary where you draw a word selected for you, you then send the drawing to an ingame person you randomly connect with who has to guess the word. You then receive drawings of words from other people that you have to guess and so it goes. (Note - not once have we had an issue with anything inappropriate being drawn or shared but that does not mean you don't supervise)

One of the main reasons for using the app initially was that my daughter has struggled with her reading and literacy skills over the last year and this was one strategy we wanted to try to see if it would help.

I have been amazed at what this simple yet powerful app has achieved. Not only do we sit together and talk about words, guess words being drawn for us, discuss the meaning of words and where you would use them we are also having enormous fun.

My drawing skills are rather simplistic whilst my daughters are very good and developing at a rapid pace. Tonight we were both treated to a special experience - we were luck enough to connect with an online 'friend' that had amazing artistic ability. With our new friend we would simply watch the drawings in awe at the simplicity and artistry before we would even try to guess the word (even if we knew what it was early on). Tonight was one of the best nights playing the game with my daughter on fire guessing harder and harder words getting her spelling right but we were treated to images drawn with skill.

This is an amazing app for students to talk and explore the idea of words and conveying for meaning.

Transit of Venus - working with students

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 09:17:00 GMT

Tomorrow I am working with a range of students from my old High School in Alice Springs around the Transit of Venus. These students will be working to develop some artifacts and resources from the day, they will have direct access to a team of scientists from NASA that are working at the school on the day to following the transit.

It would be great if anyone wanted to make contact with the students on the day or even posts some questions/ideas for the students to research and collect information on.

Be great to get some ideas/input from my amazing online network.

The links for the webcasts of the Transit of Venus are:

Main site: http://www.ccssc.org/transit2012.html

Alice Springs Blog: http://ccsscvenustransit2012.blogspot.com

Gobi Blog: http://ccsscvenustransit2012gobi.blogspot.com

NASA Edge and TV: http://venustransit.nasa.gov/transitofvenus/ (Click on the arrows to see the other live feeds, ours will be of the setup at CMS and possibly the scope views.)

By the Numbers - Facebook

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 02:15:00 GMT

With the impending Facebook IPO just around the corner (and don't you just love the fact that Facebook makes all its money from us as users yet our access to its shares will be nonexistent - that's another story) a few interesting numbers have been released in the run up to the share listing.

These numbers highlight the size of Facebook and why social networking needs to understood by educators and school communities but more importantly thinking around where it might fit, what tools we could use and how we could use it to enhance learning and interaction. Children are accessing social networks in greater ever numbers, this will be a tool our children will need to know how to use effectively and efficiently with a clear understanding of how to manage the different views into our lives (personal, professional, social).

Something to think about.

Mashable Blog Article "Facebook Now has 901 Million Users" 23rd April 2012

Posting Images Online - taking responsibility

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:00:00 GMT

It has been an interesting few weeks in regards to online and social issues and information.

Recently an historic NSW court ruling in Australia found a jilted male lover responsible for posting private and personal images of his ex partner online (6 images in total). This is only one of a handful of cases where a successful prosecution has been carried out. When talking with older students about cyber safety it interesting to have some very challenging conversations about the responsibilities around online actions. Many students and adults that are confident online users are aware of the social and reputation consequences of inappropriate postings online; however many see no real legal consequences for these decisions and whilst we need to be careful of over legislating rules and regulations we need to ensure that society as a whole sets better expectations around what is acceptable or not.

For me this is where our parenting skills disappear, because they become absent in regards to engaging with their children when they are online or using various forms of technology. All the technological tools available our children means they can quickly and easily become engaged, involved and focused which generally means they are quiet and not annoying parents. For parents many have no interest, understanding or self confidence with the use of technology, games or activities our children are engaged in but this is no excuse. We have to start making time to watch, listen and talk with our children about what they do online. We need to be careful about applying our personal judgements around what our children consider fun and interesting, we do need to provide knowledge and skills so our children make smart and informed decisions and we need to provide clear guidelines about what is acceptable to share online about yourself and others and what is not.

Make time this week to find out 3 things you child likes to do online or with technology that you did not know before.

Ref The Age Article "Man jailed over nude Facebook photos" 22nd April 2012