Teachers flip over it!

Number #11 in The 15 Gadgets That Changed everything this decade the Flip camera has become a legend in 3 years...

This is a small review for the Flip camera, a camera with several points of difference that make it a great teaching tool. I was first introduced to this ICT in my role as a facilitator in the ECE ICT PL Programme 2009. Over the year it was trialled by ten early childhood centres and proved itself to be worthy of personal, centre and association purchases.

Teachers love the flip because;

It enables you to film children without interrupting their flow of play

Reactions to filming, children assume it is a phone and ignore it, you can hold it right beside them and record without them beginning to show you their funny faces for the camera...or feel shy with it aimed at them.

You can place the Flip on a shelf and record away without the camera shutting down to save power

It has a pop out USB connection and loads straight to your laptop

The quality of footage is equal to most video cameras and surpasses digital cameras as the sound clarity is great

The memory is more than enough, several short movies and presentations can be filmed before a download is necessary

It is light and can hang on a lanyard around your neck and not hurt children as it inadvertently swings away from you

Simple to use, no fancy buttons that you never end up using

Price, now available late last year in retail stores for under $400 its an easier investment to make in a video camera than the more expensive models

So what are the benefits for children's learning?

Increased opportunities for learning experiences of children to be used by the team for digital storytelling, DVDs of learning to be sent home

Accessible to all-amatuer film makers with a steady hand will find this so easy it increases their use of video for reflection on learning

Affordable (well for those centres with adequate budgets for resourcing and those who obtain grants) potentially you could get four members of your team a Flip each for instead of sharing one video camera-which in the heat of the teachable moment can be tricky...not to mention looking for batteries for it or feeling surly as someone forgot to put it on charge!

Potential-could be used as a loan camera for families to record significant events to share back at the service...weddings, birthdays, a child's visit to school..dental nurse...marae

The Flip has a great battery life, charges as its connected to your computer NO MORE CORDS YAY! This means you might want to use it instead of using the film function on your digital camera as that takes up so much memory.

The only downsides to the Flip I can see are;

Unintentionally children and adults learning to use the Flip may delete videos-as it is a very subtle movement from DELETE to DELETE ALL. You could avoid this by downloading it before you use it as this is simple and fast OR even better empowering discerning young film makers to review their footage and delete when necessary as part of the process.

The screen to preview your footage and shoot is a lot smaller than a handy cam, even your cellphone, so previewing is best done after downloads.

Last word: No one gadget is better than another for long, I am not sure of its competitors, there will surely be some. As sure as the sun, the moon and the sky there will be something better, more versatile and cheaper out next year... for now we are well and truly flipped over it!

Provocating discussion and planning for extreme change in our futures

In this Ted Talk Ian provocates ideas on innovation to come, the ability to regenerate limbs and make the special olympics obselete, the archaic system of governance to cope with global changes to communities, lifestyles and the threats of biochemistry.
Ian also makes sure we consider, who is left out of all this, the poor, the illiterate, he is a realist and I like his thinking. While I am excited about innovation, the more powerful man becomes over the planet and its resources, the more potential there is to share for the greater good and think beyond one's self or to continue to widen the gap between cutures, between rich and poor, young and old, literate and illiterate.
I believe like Ian that the world needs a new model of leadership, one that has representatives of all cultures, gender, age and skill base. I have been thinking about distribution of wealth and power since coming across this image of the APEC economic summit. While Obama would now make a nice visual replacement for Bush in this powerful group, the mix is still sorely lacking females and youth...

My wish would be that children are a huge part of that future leadership model, part of economic and other planning for extreme change in their future communities;
There are many things that can be achieved at local/community level to ensure that children receive the support they need to develop well, are protected from harm and are actively included in the life of their community/city. Children and young people are more than capable expressing their opinions on and influencing decisions about their community/city.

For example did you know that UNICEF NZ is promoting the concept of CFCC? - an initiative based on the Child Friendly Cities programme, inspired by initiatives in Europe. CFCC aims to awhi local authorities to consider the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC) as a framework for community development and growth so that children and young people are valued as important stakeholders in any decisions made about urban and community planning. Isn't that a great start!

I can think of one extraordinary kindergarten who respect children's ideas and their rights to plan responses to learning. Carlyle Kindergarten in Napier notices children's wonderings and interests and involve them in planning mini-excursions outside the service. Children select where they would like to go to extend their knowledge, for example on bus conducting or mechanics, and which of their peers would also benefit from this experience with them because they share the same passion or questions, awesome mahi team :)

Some other ideas are...

Co-writing learning stories with children and deciding on next steps for learning
Timely and proactive consultation with whaanau on collaborative responses to the learning story

Active consultation with children on the content and arrangement of group times, rules, routines

Joint decision making in positive guidance opportunities-let the children come up with solutions for consequences to behaviour with respect to each other's wairua

Providing access to children to the most current and relevant information on their world through the internet

Protection of children from harm-take an active stance on educating what it looks like to be a good friend and the expected treatment of others-role model respectful relationships yourself-do you yell across the room at children when you would not accept this treatment yourself?

Instant response to observations of neglect and harm-connecting families with support agencies and advocating for no tolerance to violence-emotional or physical

Giving children choices in the planned and emergent curriculum, a voice in their learning, why not consider doing discussing planning stories and learning opportunities in small groups as opposed to as a team in non-contact


In the future its going to be vital that children have a strong sense of their rights and the rights of others. They will need to make decisions on things we can not yet imagine, the more opportunities we give them to do so, the more likely they are to make great ones!

Just in case you havn't heard of UNCROC or want to familiarize yourself again with children's rights under the convention click here.

Bananas, MJ and the Internet for education and entertainment

There has been a dramatic shift in the way my children entertain and educate themselves since Google and You Tube came into our lives. I remember hearing about You Tube and thinking why would people put their movies on the net and I scoffed and thought if I want to watch that mind-numbing junk I will check out America's Funniest Home Videos, not!.

Well I couldn't have been more ignorant at that stage, now my children and I find songs we love and the funniest gems to share with friends. You Tube not only entertains-for free, but educates-for free! The next time you think "I need to do a course on that" check out what you can learn on you tube on that particular subject, there are video tutorials on just about everything, how to change a bicycle tyre or make a collage in Picasa 3, a free creative photo application I highly recommend.

I am writing this post is to highlight the FUN and FACTS that can be found by surfing around in You Tube, maybe I'm teaching you to suck eggs or hopefully this will encourage you to use it more in the classroom, in your living room and own learning.

During a family evening we watched Michael Jackson you tubes and the children felt compelled to get up and dance to the point where creativity ignites and Hannah begins to choreograph their moves :)...



...doesn't MJ do that to everybody? his music had no boundaries in terms of age and culture, a bit like the internet although, i'm not so naive to think everyone has access to it. Take Sweden for example, where men have twice as much access than their Japanese counterparts, while Swedish females have triple the average access to internet that females in Japan to read more, click here Isn't this interesting? and surprising given Japan's techological innovation (stats link). Sweden it seems looked to the future long ago and is committed to everyone having high speed broadband, even in remote areas;

Sweden is among the world's leaders in information technology, computer hardware, software, and services. It has the highest number of phone lines (combined fixed and mobile) per capita, as well as the highest percentage of Internet users in the world. Some 74 percent of Swedish companies and 45 percent of households had Internet access in early 2000. World Bank (2000)

The great social commentator and literary genius Stephen Fry debates with Biz Stone, Founder and Chief executive of Twitter on the power of social media for good, he tries to remind Biz that the internet is accessed mainly by the white, liberal and privileged, its a different story in Africa though. Thinking of Aotearoa, even closer to home, we are still on dial-up in most Early Childhood centres and homes due to the high cost of access. I hope all children can one day experience, free wireless internet in their communities.

Just as it is every child's right to become literate, he or she should have the right to become a skillful user of ICT. Children should be able to operate a computer and its functions, and experience ICT as a tool with vast possibilities for communication and information retrieval/sharing. ICT (including the Internet) gives children a medium in which information can be presented in both a linear and a nonlinear and associative way. Children's spontaneous thinking uses associations; ICT challenges young children to associate one thing to another in creative ways (Alexandersson & Pramling Samuelsson, 1998, p. 6).

"Learning through ICT in Swedish early childhood education from a pedagogical perspective of quality", 2003

I think the more people experience the wealth of information there is on the internet and it enriches there lives, the more communities and countries will move to this collective and collaborating platform, but for now I feel one of the 'privileged'. So I will make the most of it, my children are going to be all the wiser, fitter and happier for it!

Education
Take for example your everyday Banana, in my daughters search for the ultimate smoothie recipe, we learnt how Monkeys open their bananas...!



Entertainment

Then we were entertained by the rapping banana, several times I might add, and you can't help but crack up...



But my favourite you tubes off all are the sesame street collection. Easy and quick to watch, they intermix comedy and messages on values, literacy, numeracy, friendship.. and in this one the magical and essential act of using your imagination.



Professional development and community education for people to feel comfortable and confident with ICT in home and educational settings will be essential as we need to monitor the creative opportunities and pitfalls of internet access, while this post highlights the two great entertainment and education aspects of you tubes, it won't forget to mention that there is alot of junk on there too and adult content in you tubes which are disguised as children's. I always encourage you must view them first by yourself if you are not sure, this is pretty quick as you can tell in the first few seconds if a you tube is appropriate for children.

Now here's my pondering and provocation, in what ways are children accessing the internet in your home or teaching environments?

Low Level of Quality= The lowest level of quality related to ICT in education settings is when only one computer is made available for children to use, either individually or together, at the teacher's discretion.

Good Level of Quality= ICT is directed toward specific educational use, and designed to challenge children's creativity. Digital cameras are also being used more and more frequently for advanced digital documentation of children's learning and multimedia programmes, which allow children to express and create their own experiences in text, sound, and pictures, are mostly used in combination with various research and/or development projects. At a good level of quality, children communicate, discuss strategies, solve problems, and have fun together while they use both games and educational programmes, they find their computer use to be meaningful.

"Learning through ICT in Swedish early childhood education from a pedagogical perspective of quality", 2003

Choosing the extraordinary...

To read Detavio's inspirational Blog, click here Detavio describes himself as a 'servant leader', I have not heard that description yet, but it resonates with me, one who leads through serving others. I feel that naturally as teachers, this is what we do, serve colleagues and families and discover somewhere down the we are leading them in new directions they might not have seen possible. Equally so they reciprocate this for you as their facilitator, coach, teacher and friend.

Is not the strongest influence the stories and passion of others? Energy rubs off on me and I search for like minded souls, I definitely like what Detavio has to say and will keep reading and choosing the extraordinary actions within moments. Detavio also writes about 'going hard' and not settling for the current situation, although fantastic and the best you may have known, there is more if you just imagine and work as hard as Jordan, Obama and the Mother Teresa's of this world. Here is what Detavio defines as the act of going hard at your life...

"Making a commitment to stand, fight, and push the limits in order to follow our passions, be the best in the world, build upon our strengths, and ultimately reach our maximum potential."

Resourcefulness: Something out of nothing

It always amazes me and makes me feel incredibly proud when I see my children create their own magic from the resources around them. This year, a new year and full of new challenges, one of mine will be to be as content and resourceful as my children. This summer we stayed on the western shores of Lake Taupo, a remote camping ground adjacent to a Marae. The best part about the remoteness was no electronics or toys, which didn't bother my girls at all. Bryony spent an hour creating this sand sculpture of her best friend Grace on an island. I think its gorgeous, it uses the gifts from papatuanuku and makes me smile.

The ECE ICT Professional learning Pilot has ended and now our team has rebranded as CORE Achieve.
Lessons learnt for me;

Positive attitudes to new learning accelerate growth and changes in teaching pedagogy
Relationships of trust and admiration are integral to facilitator effectiveness
Every child deserves a teacher who views them with 'capable' goggles on

and some of the best ideas come when you are mulving your to-do list over at 2am in the morning!...

This Blog now has the purpose of sharing my whakaaro on ako, the intertwined phenomenon that is, teaching and learning.

May this year bring the strengthening of children's rights to be adored, respected and provided with endless creative opportunities. I hope to be as resourceful as my children and create some magic for Kaiako, Tamariki and Whaanau in Tuwharetoa, Tairawhiti, Kahungunu... and who knows where else :) in 2010.

Thank-you Sunny Days Team :)

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Invitation to Taupo-nui-a-tia rohe