Learning Technology Forum

Wednesday and Thursday this week saw Learning Technology teachers from primary and secondary schools in the Parramatta Diocese gather for a two-day forum.

The presentations from this forum will be made available via podcast - and I hope provide the links for you when they are available .

The forum was opened by Kevin Jones, and as Head of Curriculum he was able to provide some clear insights to 'set the scene'.

Kevin focussed on the beliefs that underpin/enable/epitomise 21^st century learning, and the approaches that will enable (if not ensure) quality 21^st century learning. Some of the key points were about the beliefs that must drive our understanding and the staffroom approaches that help us be more effective.

The Beliefs
Learning in the 21^st century is about

• student “centredness”.
• Student ownership
• Student choices
• Student responsibility

The Approach
Collaborative work practices (staffroom approaches) will help us meet the learning needs of our students.

These practices must include use of technology that enhances collaborative work practices for:

• Programming Organisation of assessment
• Marking to standards
• Evaluation
• Cross-curricular approaches

As Kevin explained, "Our approaches and practices have to reflect our beliefs about individualised learning". "We need to think about our own approach" "We need to think about what our current practices indicate about our beliefs about learning".

Then we will engage more effectively in how to use the tools.

I followed with a presentation on Engaging the google generation through Web 2.0. For this session I drew from the article of the same title published in SCAN, Vol 25 No 3 August 2006.