Bromley ICT Forum Blog

There is an exciting new feature for schools and colleges on the JANET Collaborate site - “VC Partners”.

JANET Collaborate VC Partners enables schools and colleges to find another partner school or college to videoconference with. The JANET Collaborate VC Partner opportunities are open to all schools and colleges in the UK and abroad. The first partnership has already been formed between Year 1 classes from schools in Wigan and Exeter.

To find out more about how you can find a videoconference partner, read the full news story on JANET Collaborate.

Link to the full VC Partners news story here or copy and paste the URL below into your browser:

Tim Boundy, JANET Collaborate Project Manager. collaborate@ja.net

(from Neil Adams NAACE)

Climate change is very much in the minds of many young people, but how do we know that the dire predictions are true? It’s all about the application of silicon chips rather than crystal balls and gives ICT teachers a route into discussing models, at least with brighter students or as a summary of the principles that have already been taught.

Models are based on variables and rules designed to represent a real world situation, whether of the travel of a roller coaster, the flight of a moon rocket or changes to the environment. The variables represent known quantities like the global temperature and levels of carbon dioxide, whereas rules are mathematical statements of the assumed linkages between the parts of the system. A simple rule may state that if the level of carbon dioxide doubles the global temperature will rise by 2C. Of course it is not so simple, since a further doubling of carbon dioxide would be expected to raise the temperature rather more.

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(from Pippa Grayson NAACE)

The vast majority of the teaching force still do not use web 2.0 and distributed resources on the internet.

What are the barriers to them doing this at the present time? At present the main barrier to even becoming aware of such facilities is probably time and institutional buy-in to the whole process. Whereas their students are happily at home with social networking sites and the process of friendship groups and online communities, their mentors do not have the time or the facility to start learning about these processes.

One of the main barriers to enabling teachers to engage and risk take using web 2.0 is the fact that they are working within an outmoded system of institutional pedagogies based on the shifting sands of rapid reforms, which have left everyone punch drunk at the scale and speed of tweaking the system. There needs to be a rapid overhaul of professional development based on action research and communities of practice within the teaching community, with new roles and practices based more on the models used in current business practice rather than an outmoded curriculum.

Interested in thinking about Naace’s role as an innovative community? Come to this FREE to members event and contribute towards the future direction of Naace. Taking place at Harrow Teachers’ Centre on the morning of 17th May, you can find the full programme and booking instructions at: www.naace.co.uk/618