My big(gest) lessons and reminders of 2011:

The importance of doing what you love doing in your career.

I never have or will regret joining Moodle HQ but I never have or will regret leaving Moodle HQ this year either. Thank you Martin & Moodle HQ. I love Moodle and its community but I am really happy to be a Moodle volunteer again and get paid (less) to work with teens that I dare say majority of teaching colleagues would not want to see in their class.

The importance of expectations.

You don’t significantly change or disrupt status quo by doing more of the same (way) but harder. Changing expectations shifts things dramatically.

Picture the expectations of a kid (and his surrounds) who has been told, overtly and covertly by the system of mainstream schooling, that most he can aspire to be is a dumb poor loser with some dead-end job as his only option (like many in his family). Suddenly, he completes a great project in the field he is passionate about. He is told, for the first time in his life, that a local university is offering courses in that field, and that, on the basis of things shown and in all sincerety,  going to uni and/or getting a well paid, challenging job in the industry is a realistic option for him in a couple of years if he puts in the effort. I saw the reaction of this kid and his parents. And it gives me tingles as I write this.

The value of Big Picture.

Big Picture is not a panacea for all our educational ills. It also isn’t for every kid out there. It requires a special kind of educator to really ‘get it’ too. But from what I have seen, learned and experienced this year after working in a Big Picture school and seeing some great work of kids and colleagues in BP schools around the country and the world, it is an approach, a state of mind rather, that truly empowers.

‘School’ is deeply ingrained in our societal DNA

It is soooo damn hard to ‘forget’ what ‘school’ looks like and does. In a ‘school’ you learn to play the game (usually called ‘what does the teacher or test want me to say’) then pass … and largely forget. There is a teacher, the knower, and a bunch of students who need to be ‘taught’ stuff prescribed by often someone else and contextually remote. You need a grade to show how much you are worth. Above all – you don’t ask (tough) questions. Things like: ‘What are we doing this for?’ And if kids don’t learn, the teacher says ‘I taught them that but they didn’t learn it’ (akin to a realtor saying ‘I sold them the house but they didn’t buy it’ …).

No wonder it takes us a very long time at our school (yes, we are one, but a Big Picture one) for kids and parents to come to terms with statement/questions like: “What are you passionate about?”, “What is worth learning?”, “No, I am NOT going to tell you what to do next, but I am happy to figure it out WITH you.” “You (student) know more about this (topic) than me (teacher) already so I am going to learn with you.” Crazy stuff huh? Or is it? Ask yourself why (not).

The value of networks

You have no idea how grateful I am of my, well our, network. This goes particularly when I see you from around the planet interacting with kids at our school, kids who, in most cases, have barely left their suburb all their life. Things like comments to ‘John’s’ motorbike website or ‘Billy’s’ ‘World Of Drugs‘ wiki project (one I am hugely excited and hopeful about in 2012) are small but priceless.

Every comment here on Human, every @ reply on Twitter, every *Like* on Facebook, every email, Skype call, shared document or other interaction reinforces my liking for Stephen Heppel’s observation: Previous century was about making stuff FOR many people. This century is about helping people help each other.

and finally … drumroll …

Watching students flourish in front of my eyes in moments during the year and particularly during their Big Picture exhibitions reminds me why I want(ed) to work in education: not to be “the knower” in some field and bang on about it as if it were the most important thing in the world but watch and help others becoming knowers (of) themselves in the fields they chose and share.

PS. If I don’t post anything before Christmas/New Year it probably means I am playing with my own kids and enjoying a bit of holidays. But I do check in here and Twitter …

Have a peaceful Christmas and a wonderful New Year. Kiss your kids and loved ones and tell them you love them. Often. And mean it.

                          

I borrow the post title from a book by John Abbot (@21learn) and Heather MacTaggart I am about to order. You can read more about the book and explore the excellent site of Born To Learn animation series and (of) its associated organisation 21st Century Learning Initiative.

I’ve seen many a 21st century call-to-arms but this one, for my 2 cents, stands above the pep-crowd with its simplicity, research support and an easy-to-grasp genealogy of current mainstream schooling. Bit of confirmation bias perhaps here but you know …

I am embedding the three clips here, in no particular order. They could be used in so many presentations, sessions, workshops and similar gathering to stimulate truly important conversations.

If I were showing these at a staff meeting, teacher education or similar, I would strategically pause the third clip (Class Reunion) at exactly 2.48 into the clip and ask the room for responses.

They may just frame the essence of the(ir) view, purpose and reasons to be(come) an educator.

Enjoy!

Born to Learn from Born to Learn on Vimeo.

The Faustian Bargain (Trailer) from Born to Learn on Vimeo.

Born to Learn: Class Reunion from Born to Learn on Vimeo.

Thank you Geoff for sharing, thank you John and Heather for your work.

                          

A re-read of an old gem (Postman’s speech ‘Informing Ourselves to Death) and a brief conversation with @pcoutas at our local Sunday morning markets prompted me to note a few questions that just scream to be asked every time people talk about ed-tech tools and their use.

• What problem will use of [insert a tool] solve? (or asked differently ‘if [insert a tool] is the answer, what is/are the question(s)’?
• Why is that (not) a problem to [you/others]? (or rather ‘who cares’, at this point refrain from ‘why should they care’, important to listen, not talk!)
• How important is this problem to [you/others] ? (and how do/will you find out…)
• What will be gained and what will be lost as a result of using [insert a tool] ? (technology giveth, technology taketh away…)
  

Be honest. If you don’t have or generate locally and contextually (no universals please!) sound answers and generate a bunch of questions as you go along – you are either selling or being sold snake oil.

                          

Yeah right.

I’ve never liked ‘gurus’ showing flashy wares and ideas, especially right at the start of school year with so many things to get ready before the kids arrive. I’ve never liked being considered one either.

So, I thought we’d use the 45 minutes for a guided chat about things we are kinda all good at – talking about our needs. Needs of teachers I spoke to and, importantly, the kids they teach. In the context, shoot a few Moodle ideas past them and see how use-full or use-less they may be. But it was about the hole, less about the drill.

I even flashed these sort of things as a visual reminder:

and …

EVERY group sat a little stunned at first. Believe it or not, the ideas did not flow very freely. The replies ranged from encouraging (‘enthusiasm’, ‘motivation’, ‘meaning’ …) to downright pathetic (‘textbook’, ‘ways to easily memorise a range of acronyms we use’). We’d eventually get about 5 – 10 needs on the board to work with.

And behold the question “Why DO you teach?” asked as the conversations began to flow. Many felt a little threatened even!

Or as one teacher put it: “Nobody really gets asked these questions.” Rarely, if ever, do teachers ask these themselves. It’s all assumed, we all know what happens at school and what the school and teachers are there for, we all ‘innovate’ but it basically changes bugger all while giving the impression of progress and change.

I am NOT  bashing teachers here. Quite contrary, I understand so many of them, barraged by things to, often mindlessly, tick and do while lacking time, space, even increasingly a reason for these questions (other than stuff like ‘raise scores’ etc.).

A friend noted in reply to my email containing a few gems collected over two days: “I often reflect that all of these controlling, narrow and limiting views of education are expressed by people who once showed wonder, imagination, a sense of fun, and often got into teaching because they wanted to have a positive influence on the lives of young people. How is it that they are who they are today? Not easy to answer, but important to try nonetheless.”

While I did cover my brief and talked about Moodle and ‘technology’ over the two days, I was glad, while sad and often a little horrified, to talk about the ultimate technology and weapon for change – asking good questions and wrestling with them.

I wish all my Australian & New Zealand teaching colleagues and their students a great school year 2011 (first day today for most). Turn the crap detectors on and use them! Make it matter.

And if you think I can help you in some way in doing that, you know where to find me.

                          

This afternoon, I found an absolute gem that I just have to share – a course called ‘Translating Learning Outcomes in Moodle‘ by Srinivas Chemboli, Lauren Kane (@l_kane) and Lynette Johns-Boast from Australian National University in Canberra (presented and available as part of the 2010 Australian Moodlemoot I happened to miss )

This resource speaks to the educator and Moodle fan/user/improver/researcher in me, particularly after the recent conversation(s) with Mark Drechsler (see the post, presentation & comments) about Moodle course design, key features of a ‘good Moodle course’ and a long standing distaste for ‘technocentric’ thinking (as Papert explains in his seminal paper). I have been banging on ‘people and learning first, technology last’ for, huh, some time now (strangely, I still have a job with a software maker ). This course/resource fits the bill very, very nicely.

I invite you to have a look and explore at the course yourself. In a nutshell, it starts with ‘what do we want to learn’ down to ‘what Moodle tool(s) to use’. A very nice, diagrammatic flow that would complement Joyce Seitzinger’s excellent Moodle Tool Guide for Teachers poster. But it is more than a flow in a sense that the user actually gets asked some questions along the way. And that’s the reason for the title of this post…

Imagine Moodle standard shipping out with a ‘wizard’ (for lack of better word…) that guides the teacher or whoever we choose in the course as a community to create activities, resources and other? A wizard based on the insights of Srinivas, Lauren, Lynette and their team at ANU that starts with a problem, idea, learning/teaching goal and ends up (!) in choosing the appropriate Moodle tool(s) for the job, in the very context where it is used.

Imagine the delight of ‘tech integrators’ in changing their role to ‘learn-with-tech integrators’ (which is what they really are most of time but titles often betray ). Imagine educators seeing Moodle not as a piece of software but a way to help and encourage meta-thinking about teaching and learning needs of people they work with. Or as Punya Mishra aptly states:

“Learning about technology is different from learning what to do with it”.

A word of caution!

Whatever the ‘wizard’ and its qualities, it will never, ever, ever, ever be a panacea, an all-fitting solution or perhaps even a substitute for great teaching. Or as another apt line, this time by Tony Bates, goes:

“Good teaching may overcome a poor choice of technology, but technology will never save bad teaching.’

Teaching and learning (the separation of these two terms is so superfluous sometimes…) has always been a bricolage, endless contextual adjustment of things, not an automated process because it is/they are essentially some of humanity’s biggest and oldest ‘wicked problems‘.

But sometimes we just need a little bit of helping hand to set us off on our exploring, moodling ways.

Thank you Shrinivas, Lauren and Lynette!

                          

Introduction

Reading Wikipedia like Britannica sucks. Reading Wikipedia like Wikipedia is mind-opening.

Cory Doctorow (http://www.edge.org/discourse/digital_maoism.html)

What is mind opening about reading Wikipedia? Click ‘Discussion’ on a popular or contentious Wikipedia entry and you’ll see. The history, variety of views, contributions, changes, updates, the links, the enormity of effort across even one entry will (probably?) ‘hit’ you. It’s free, intellectually brawling, universal, instantaneous and pretty damn accurate (I won’t elaborate on ‘truth’ of either – more on that some other time, blame the French ).

To borrow Doctorow’s quip – reading Moodle like a textbook sucks. Reading Moodle like Moodle is mind-opening. But how do you read Moodle? How do you know a good Moodle site or course when you see it (beyond a pretty theme …)? What set of skills and understanding do you need to read it? Create it?

These questions will be the focus of the next few posts, a series loosely called ‘What makes a great Moodle course?’ The aim is to flesh out a few core questions to help Moodle users not just create and participate in courses but to support and enhance sharing of courses through Moodle 2.0 ‘s new feature called Community Hub. And please, this is only a ‘thinkaloud’ …

The first post will explore a (not ‘the’) definition of a ‘course’ and invite you to ponder a particular view, long held by Martin Dougiamas, the creator and lead developer of Moodle. The next post or two in the series will explore the convergence of technological, content and pedagogical expertise in a great Moodle course, then imagine a great Moodle course as primarily a communication and creation tool. Finally, we will bring it all together and suggest some ‘point format’ guidelines for developing, nurturing and appraising Moodle courses.

Now, this may seem like an individual effort but I would hate it to be so. I would love to hear what YOU think makes a great Moodle course and share it in probably the easiest way possible by contributing to our SynchIn pad (a version of the old beloved Etherpad) or, of course, in the comments below. Because “we” know a lot more than “me” on this one

So … what is a course?

When asked this question, most people would probably answer something like “a course is a structured body of content and activities that students enrol in, complete tasks and get graded by the teacher to see how well they have done at the end of it.” Yes? No?

But what if you see a course essentially as a community (Martin’s remark that has lingered with me since my first few days at Moodle HQ). What if you even replace the word ‘course’ with the word ‘community’? A few things change …

Whether online, blended or offline, communities, particularly the most successful ones in terms of participation and engagement, have a lot in common:

• They are not inert, linear, static, fully set and pre-determined things.
• Roles of members are defined but flexible enough to cater for changes should the circumstances require so.
• There are understood rules and consequences for breaching them in order for all to feel safe.
• In a community (unlike a network, more on that perhaps another time…), one cannot just ‘(un)friend’ or ‘(dis)connect’ but learn to deal with, work things out.
• Its members are responsible to each other in pursuing a common set of goals. Interdependence through contribution and participation is implicit and made explicit in its design.
• There are multiple channels of communication, not just top-down announcements.
• Participation and learning are active, done mostly through challenges, feedback and mastery not by passively going through the laid out material.
• Changes, adjustments, improvements are essential and welcome at different levels and different areas – everyone improves, not just one type of members at one thing.

Sound like qualities of a good Moodle course? Well, sounds a lot like a party too… as Lee Lefeever of the CommonCraft fame explains the thing about online communities in his usually succinct way:

A blank Moodle course (well, an entire site really…) is essentially an incredibly versatile wiki, hence the Wikipedia reference at the start. By design, a wiki is a platform for a community. If imagined this way, the question then becomes not whether a (your?) course is a community or not, but rather how does a (your?) community cater for its members and their needs, passions, welfare and interests by using Moodle.

And when you see it like THAT, the imagination and mindset matter more than the technical skills. And so they should.

Like

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The world of water: http://www.flickr.com/photos/snapr/484776493/

“Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.” (Chinese proverb)

At the start of this week, we opened Water! – a demo Moodle course designed to show not what Moodle can do but primarily what people can do with Moodle (while of course showing some Moodle features). Big difference between the two!

The response has been phenomenal! We got to ‘capacity crowd’ of 40 within 36 hours of me sending the first tweet about it. 40 people, mostly moodlers but not all, are happy to spend approximately two to four hours over the next few weeks and play students, most under fake names, to generate sample course data. And they seem to be really enjoying it (well, most of them at least…).

Water! is a very simple course about something that we all use and need – safe, clean, fresh drinking water. It does not require a great depth of content knowledge at all. It features just a few standard, out-of-the-box Moodle activities and it isn’t linear. Deliberately, NO knowledge of Moodle is necessary to participate – just a basic ability to click, link, upload and follow a few instructions. The only two things needed are an open mindset and imagination.

For now, Water! is there for us to gather sample data. Once we generate enough of it (posts, replies, answers, questions, attempts, submissions, comments, pictures, links etc…), we will then offer the course (together with sample data and explanation of every activity!) for free to anyone to enrol in and play in, even download for their own place of learning for people to get involved and have a play in this ready-made sandpit.

Because the Chinese proverb at the top is right on. Being a student in something first, where you get to see real examples, get to try and safely muck things up a little with others and just like others, but at the same time SEE and get ideas you could use in your own context is sorely needed in supporting our kids and educators. And not just in using Moodle either…

Now, this is the first taste of Moodle’s new educational demo site. The idea is to have courses like Water! in up to ten broad areas of learning (eg. Arts & Media, Maths, Language, Second Language, Natural Sciences etc). These courses will not go to great depth of content knowledge or technological knowledge (ie Moodle features), both of which often make things hard to understand, but to tickle that area that really makes it all go – sound pedagogical use.

I am passionate about Moodle but I am helluva lot more passionate about great teaching and learning with it.

PS. If you would like to give Moodle a try and actively participate as a ‘demo student’ in the upcoming courses similar to Water!, please head over to http://mec.moodle.net and create an account. I will register your email and send you a notice when the next course becomes open (as stated, Water! filled within 36 hours!) if you wish. NO Moodle experience necessary!

                          

I am still messing around with layout, pages etc. but all in its good time.

To celebrate the occasion at the end of an amazing year I sat in a pub one long afternoon, racked my brain and came up with a list of people I have either connected with for the first time this year, extended a face-to-face or online relationship in 2009. Symbolically, the list is 140 ‘characters’ long to represent that 2009 was a sort of “The Year of Twitter” for me.

This list is awfully unfair to MANY people whom I don’t mention below but with whom I have learned, laughed, argued, annoyed, had my stuff passed on by (re-tweet) etc over the year. The 140 names below also isn’t some sort of ranking of all-important leaders with thousands of followers (many of these guys have only a handful of followers!). If your name is NOT on the list .. please don’t shoot but let’s strengthen this amazing web of people.

I am going to show this to anyone who doubts ‘social media’ and its potential. This is investing in the best possible resource there is – PEOPLE!

Have a safe and merry Christmas and a great New Year 2010!

And now, my longest ever Christmas card (a #follow2010 of a kind) … Enjoy

The Locals (Western Australia)

Sue Waters (suewaters) – Thank you Sue for being an incredible helper and good fun to hang around with. Addicted to iPhone (but ) one of the kindest, hardest-working people I have met. I leave Edublogs with heavy heart not because of the brand but because of you. Sorry, this ‘mamma WordPress’ is pretty cool and she has been calling for a looong time. Best wishes to you and your family in 2010, have a great Chrissy.

Sue Hickton (evilsue) – The ‘other’ Sue. Only crazy water polo players talk s**t like we do sometimes. Oh, I have enjoyed the planning for a joint project – I hope we pull it off in 2010 (well, at least you). I will not forget Natanui’s hair in a downpour while kicking a goal in a hurry.

Jo Hart (johart) – Really got to know each other this year, sure we will actually see each other in 2010. Apart from tones of really useful stuff, our ‘chores of suburbia’ vs chores of a farm series were a treasure. Thank you for all your help with Web 2.0 Expo and your time, really appreciated.

Phil Hart (philhart) – Thanks for the above too and your amazing energy to sustain the passion for quality education (and the smiles ) Yes, Jo was a good catch was she not? Looking forward to a visit in 2010.

Bryn Jones (freoman) – Thanks for all the beers, chats, calls, quirks, wonders, laughs and wisdom this and every other year. PD at LC !? Have a great 2010.

Simon Carabetta (sicar)– Mate, if you are not a legend yet, you are one in the making. I am in awe of what you have done this year at school and how well the future is looking up. Your energy is contagious among the staff and kids alike. Oh, and marriage? A fine institution.

Russell Montgomerry (montgorp) – thanks for all your timely, quick replies and a mutual understanding of ‘the way things are in our edu-landscape’ so many times. Yes, I love Gravity J

Elise Randall (meelup) – You may only have tweeted once so far and have a handful of followers but in my eyes you are one of the best teachers I have seen in schools. This social networking caper will give you (further) wings, no doubt. I plead with you to share with the world the gift you have. I’ll miss our ‘chats’ at the new school but will stay in touch. Have a great Xmas and a wonderful 2010. You deserve it.

Veronica Emery (mrsemery)– You are wiser than a bunch of professors put together. You common sense is impeccable, your heart in the right place and my goodness can you do some good work with ‘the proletariat’. Love your guest post this year. You see, all these people were once total strangers to me too, look now ;D

Jaeik Jeong (jaeik) – Better late than never hey. I really wish we had ‘hit it off’ earlier than we had, still might have to tap you on the shoulder for those promised Apple goodies.

Suzette Irvine (suzettei)– After all that excitement, the Hale House dynamic duo just wasn’t to be. Never mind, we’ll get Moodle & more going.

Martin Dougiamas (moodler) – Mate, I respected you in spades even before you accepted my dare to change your Twitter profile pic . I hope your words about work at Moodle come true one day (soon!). Have a great 2010 and happy travels ( and happier returns!). You have started something amazing.

Shane Elliot (ikawhero) – This may have a been a ‘hi, good to meet you’ year but I reckon we’ll hit the straps in 2010. I for one look forward to it. Best for 2010!

Matt Ferrinda (mferrinda) – I always thought of you as Sue Waters’ ‘protégé’ (and she does mention you too!). Hope your trip to Indonesia was valuable, look forward to perhaps meeting in 2010.

Jean Anning (janning) – Ah Jean, how do you do it? You must have bitten your tongue, rolled you eyes and sighed so many times working for the certain illustrious employer. Your friendship and attempt(s) to cheer me up at several low points at different times of the year were legendary and well received. Thank you.

Kathryn Greenhill (sirexkathryn) – Never got to have that coffee at Murdoch but change of jobs seems like it has worked for you well. Still got those boots from USA?

Jane Lowe (janelowe) – Hey Blogmeister. More get togethers in 2010? Thanks for the pile of RT and kind words over the year.

Paul Reid (paulreid) – Has Charlie bitten your finger yet? It’s always a pleasure to bump into each other, ever since the SLICT heydays. ECAWA conference was fun!

Paul Fuller (paulfuller75)– Your golden touch with tech & kids is something MANY of us should look up to. Glad to have finally met this year too! Best wishes and have a great holiday.

Penny Coutas (pcoutas) – The French have 3 words for it: procrastination, procrastination, procrastination. Tried QR a cat yet? Great to meet, Blend soon?

Janine Tate (janinesensei) – Here is to a micro-local-meet-up at Blend some time soon. Up for it?

Danielle Horne (kukukukuku) – You may have a funny Twitter nick but you are one of the best local ‘finds’ of 2009. All the best in 2010 Danielle, coming to our next meet up?

Frances (developit) – Thank you for some cool links over the year (love some of the Twitter tools you pointed). Good to meet you at Bar Camp this year, have a restful festive season.

Peter Spicer-Wensley (pspicerwensley) – Ain’t we fighting the good fight! Best wishes to you & Allison and “I-know-I-am-not-going-to-spell-it-correctly” daughter Hope your Japan trip is as good as your kewl iPhone apps.

Kim Flintoff (kimbowa) – When you ‘expand’ on echalk or other places, people listen and learn. I know I have this year, a lot from you. Fatherhood is a wonderful thing too, isn’t it?

“Ex-students at BCC“– I am going to mention these guys in a group: they are my fantastic, funny, occasionally-swearing-their-heads-off (not all of them) on Twitter, but thoughtful ex-students from Belmont City College. Wherever the road takes you guys, we are only a few keystrokes away. Thank you aelita_poole, seanecoffey, torethard, jamiejenkins87, eton_dreamer, justmadson, farzy17,

Sarah Mitchell (globalcopywrite) – Here is to another local with many nice and useful exchanges. I wonder how your ‘life in Perth’ campaign went?

Vic Gecas (vgecas) – for all the times we bump into each other and keep in touch. Hope Dhaka IBO venture is working out well, think of you many times when Perth gets humid and sticky.

Australasia

Darcy Moore (darcy1968) – Here is to our wonderful friendship and turning-legendary exchanges of dinosaur-quokka-aeroplane-abstract dancing clips. Have a great Chrissy with your beloved girls!

Tony Searl (tonysearl) – A tough year that last one for Mr Searl but aren’t we all glad to have you back on deck lucid as ever. I won’t pop the age question, promise Have a great one my friend.

Julian Ridden (moodleman) – Mr Moodle Google, after your brief and long awaited Perth visit you now have another admirer in Perth – Mr4 says you are “really cool”. Thank you & family for wonderful hospitality in May this year, hope we can repay one day soon.

Rhys Moult (rhysatwork) – The Connector from Adelaide. With a range of talents like yours, I am sure 2010 is shaping up good already. Thanks for traveling along this crazy Road 2.0 since my very starts.

John Larkin (john_larkin)– You just make it to Perth JL and I will tell you in person. Thank you for your friendship, advice, resources and wit shared over the year(s).

Simon Borgert (simonborgert)– I knew we’re onto something when we early in the year we exchanged pics of Lego our kids built. One of the fastest and sharpest @repliers out there with a wicked sense of humour. Never lose it!

Stu Hasic (stuhasic) – Ah, the sense of the ridiculous when dealing with ‘certain employers of a kind’ is something quite comforting to share. We’ve done that many times this year, loved it.

Chris Betcher (betchaboy) – Great to have met in person (geez, you are a tall bugger too). I’d strap a pile of teachers to your blog to read it. Keep feeding that bee under the bonnet and thanks for all your comments & RTs over the year. If coming to Perth, you know what to do, right?

Rob Abbey (roadster5555)– I may not be Mr Rhizome as you called me earlier this year (working on it), but I absolutely loved our sometimes deeper exchanges about this crazy edu-business of ours. A tumultuous year ending for you, hoping 2010 is a bit calmer. First Wave is always first, thanks for the invite & great to meet this year in person!

Mark Drechsler (markdrechsler) – We need to go for a beer one day Mark, I reckon we won’t stop talking for a while. Great to have connected this year, still kicking myself about the Moot but that ain’t the last of us sure.

Kerry Johnson (kerryank) – Loved the inclusion of my bad hair in SICTAS video, thank you. I would love to expand on some of your more random and questioning tweets one day “explain postmodernism…” Hmm, over Twitter? OK: WTF. Have a good break.

Dean Groom (deangroom, sorry, can’t find Palatino, 14 pt ) – Still not sure if your deliberately disappeared after the Sydney symposium going for a beer? Great to have hooked up this year, some classic posts on your blog. School of Air in Oz? Yeah, bring it on.

Judy O’Connel (heyjudeonline) – The master who is just funny and wise. Loved sharing a few days in Sydney in May, here is to more !

Jenny Luca (jennyluca) – Done your reports Jenny? Me too! Some very kind words spoken each other’s way this year, I reckon all true too. Have a great break and please continue to inspire.

Kellie McGraw (kmcg2375) – Oh, you English types. I described you to a colleague who wanted to connect with you over Twitter as ‘one cool chick’. Howzat for English and study of context? Thanks for all your kind words, quick exchanges and encouragement over the year. Hope to meet in 2010, bugger about that Perth conference date L

Roger Pryor (pryorcommitment)– “From school planning to planning school”. You have no idea Roger how much sense this made to me when I saw you tweet it. Thank you so much for all your help with our Vietnam War project and your story too, much appreciated.

Yvonne Murtagh (southoz) – Big thanks for the help with the Vietnam War project earlier this year, kind comments on 2 Minute Moodles Vimeo channel and a bunch of RTs over the year.

‘Cpaterso’ (cpaterso)– If I ever need Indochina specialist I know where to find a great one. I had an interesting chat with a history teacher after reading your ‘un-official’ bio of Uncle Ho. Fascinating stuff, hope we stay in touch. Thanks for your help with the Vietnam project.

Jen Millea (girtbysea)– Canberra may not be girt by sea but I’d love to catch up if I am heading that way in 2010. Thank you for fishing me out from the wilderness and involvement with the SICTAS project. An eye opener of many kinds.

Rob Rankin (robinoz) – Used that Twitter workshop yet? Thank you for your RTs and a recent entry on our Expo Etherpad. Much appreciated.

Charlie O’Sullivan (primaryschoolau) – I sincerely hope you got Moodle off the ground and running. Thank you for all our little exchanges over the year and your recommendation of my resources – I just hope they came handy.

Lauren O’Grady (lillylauren)– So good to see you back where you belong – in the mix with kids! Enjoy 2010 and glad to have re-connected (mea culpa :-/ )

John Pearce (mrpbps)– Thank you John for dropping in to our Expo, plus your words of encouragement at the low points of the year plus some fantastic work you are doing and sharing with others. Best wishes!

Pru Mitchell (pru) – Thank you for giving me a chance to present for EDNA in Perth earlier this year, loved the experience and getting the locals ‘into it’.

Kerrie Smith (smik09)– We (my class and their crazy teacher) may have disturbed you one morning with a Skype call but it was an eye opener to many things we had done later on. Thanks for agreeing to be my referee to a position I had applied earlier this year.

Alison Hall (alihall)– That Moodle Whiz! I’ve never seen anyone move faster than you (and well too) on features of Moodle at a workshop. You had them flying a half an hour! Well done, no doubt not the last we have seen each other this year.

Kim Yeomans (kimyeo) – Thank you Kim for all your kind words, RTs, questions and interest this year. Had to chuckle at ‘your magic Tomaz’ tweet last week it came when we had a network crash and no magic was going to restore it in a hurry. Still, glad to have stirred a bit. Have a nice break.

Keith Lyons (520507) – So glad we have re-connected this year. I still do look forward to the suggested ‘fellowship of the ring” earlier this year. Sport and social media have enormous potential!

Michael Rees (mrees) – How could I not be glad to have connected with a (one of the leading) Aussie tweeting academics? Thank you for some great questions over the year, RTs, comments and some intriguing posts this year.

Brendan Brooks (hyperbrendan)– After so many RTs, it would be hard not to say thank you at the end of the year. Cheers mate and have a great 2010.

Alex Finlayson (mrafinlayson) – The man I have to go DM with to say hello J Nah, not really. Some inspirational stuff, you ARE DOING THE BEST THING my friend. Sorry about your stoush with ‘certain institutions’, strengthened many people along. Enjoy a warm Xmas!

Tabitha Roder (tabitharoder) – The OLPC whiz from across The Ditch (how that is pronounced is of course open to interpretation). Yes, I do read your blog (just another lurker…), love the OLPC stuff. Magic! Have a fantastic year Tabitha. How is the new car going?

Roland Gesthuizen (rgesthuizen)– Out of so many things, won’t forget our exchange about ‘responsibility’ and your case of a kid living in a car and doing well. Yes and here is to resilience and realization of some of the things you/we have been on about for years. Ah, teachers …

Zaid Ali Alsagoff (zaidlearn)– Zaid, very honoured to have put me on the ‘juicy professional list’ . Love your resources and your excellent reflection on Finnish education system (compared). Best wishes and I hope I drag my butt one day to Malaysia. We have some friends there and we have been promising and promising to them…so I won’t get you in the same loop. But I will look you up, if you don’t mind.

Patrick Truchon (ptruchon) – Patrick, thank you for all your intriguing questions and a stack of RTs over the year. Really grateful.

Andrea Hall (ajh432)- Thank you so much Andrea for your speedy ‘reference reply’ for the certain (possible) PhD supervisor. The power (and tentacles) of Twitter hey. Best wishes in the coming year and a happy festive season.

Clay Burrell (cburell) – “M.Jackson peaked at 5, puberty killed him” … I know we often remember the funniest and the outlandish (hmm, maybe not so much there) … appreciate the randomness of your tweets and lucidity of thought. Thanks for RTs, have a great 2010.

Ariellah (ariellah)– I know South Africa isn’t exactly Australasia but then we’re all neighbours in this e-world anyway. Many thanks for the kind words, followfridays and RTs over the year. They have not gone unnoticed!

America (building links …)

Ira Socol (irasocol)– Oh man, I am so going to hold you to that ‘we’re coming next year’ line. Found a friend for life this year. Thank you, have a great Xmas… don’t know about the Gunners title with your leg out now?

Deven Black (spedteacher) – Care to be cloned Deven? You bring life to education and wonderfully grounded view on things. I trust your mainstream classroom this year is just as exciting (in many senses of the word) as your SpEd classes. Best wishes and thank you for some great exchanges, comments and conversations.

Sherryl Nussbaum-Beach (snbeach) – Are we going to bring PLP to Perth or what? When you/we do – count me in! Love your passion and no-bull ways of getting (to) people. Ever since your last presentation in Perth I have been intrigued by the differences between a community and network. The more I look at it, the bigger the difference [will actually write a shoot from the hip post on that, got one brewing]. You rock and here is you(r family) and to many get togethers in the future.

Steve Hargadon (stevehargadon) – There probably ain’t many people who would treat Steve H. as a child…well, unless you are stuck in a car with a child lock Steve, loved our conversation(s), thank you for all the amazing work you do connecting people around this crazy world of ours.

Joseph Thibault (globalclassroom) – I have recommended Global Classroom to many people over the year(s0 and for a bloody good reason too – you  guys are doing a good thing, love the community aspect. Hope to meet one day too, love a passionate moodler.

Milton Ramirez (tonnet) – How could I miss the man who got some of the juiciest, coolest, most serendipitous links I bookmarked this year. Best wishes for 2010.

Tom Whitby (tomwhitby) – The Master Tweet Connector! Thanks for all your support, RTs and the PLN Ning (must be keeping you busy that beast too with so many members…)

Chad Ratliff (chadratliff) – 140 chars just doesn’t do justice to some very interesting twitter-sations we had this year. I sincerely hope we bump into each one day in person soon. Merry Christmas.

Monika Hardy (monk51295) – You will never know the amount of swearing over 12 seconds TV and school network block I stuffed around with when contributing to your awesome VoiceTHread Have a great holiday & 2010 and thanks so much for the pile of RTs and funny moments we shared this year.

Melissa Techman (mtechman) – We must be breathing the same ‘care for kids’ air across the oceans Thank you for all your support over the year and some very, very kind words. On a bad day, they hold things together. Best wishes!

Michael Kaechele (concretekax)– They say an RT is a form of flattery… I’ll take it as a positive my friend and THANK you for passing my (sometimes) nonsense on on so many occasions. Coming from a fellow teacher is a special honour.

Steven Anderson (web20classroom) – Geez, you must getting every realtor, lifestyle consultant, fake nail salon and sticker-business wanting to follow you now with your Tweeter of The Year fame Well deserved. Thank you for all your tireless efforts with #edchat and so many other bits and pieces over the year.

Louise Mockford (lmockford) – If you had a dollar (Australian is rising in value too ;-P) for every RT of mine I’d say you’d be able to come to Australian sun a bit in these days of winter chills… THANK YOU Louise for some lovely tweetersations over the year & best wishes for your study too.

Alec Couros (courosa) – Caught the glimpse of the Bolivian assassin yet? Thank you Alec for the stuff we shared this year, been an honour. Here is to the kick-ass open international school. It’s when, not if.

Dean Shareski (shareski) – Yes, you do some cool ed-tech stuff but the clips of amazing hockey goals is what I REALLY appreciated this year Great to connect Dean, hope to go to a hockey game one day together and save the world afterwards. BTW, showed your ‘just tell me what to do’ post to a few raised eyebrows… at home too!

Dave Cormier (davecormier) – Man, you qualify as an honourary Aussie. Your ‘see how we go with this, throw it out there’ style is contagious, loved some of your ideas over the year(s) [yeah, just don’t ask me which ones I didn’t ;-P]. The first one to write ‘Deleuze for Dummies’ wins?

Diana Dell (dianadell) –Diana, thanks for all your support this year. I treasured our Skype chats, even though they dried up a little in the late 09. Ah well, as they say ‘a friend is like the sun – always there, even if unseen.’ Beach house, beach house, beach house…  Happy holidays!

Larry Ferlazzo (larryferlazzo) – I want to be in your class Mr Ferlazzo. And then I want to hang around a bit more because you’ve got the positive energy that few people have. Visiting Perth soon?

Dan McGuire (sabier) – Dan, have a I told you’re a bloody legend! Thank you for all your comments, contributions, RTs and stories to help to me and my students over 2009. Best wishes to you and your family in 2010.

Charlie Roy (caroy) – You know when a bunch of kids from my class who have rarely gone a few block from school know where Peoria is you made a dent in their lives. And mine! Thank you for all your assistance with our class/school projects, comments (“oh, this guy is good Sir…”) and stuff we shared over the year. Merry Christmas and best wishes in 2010!

Bri Brewer (edu4u)– Thank you Bri for your help with our school Web 2.0 expo. Kids teaching teachers is not a new idea but it is one of the most powerful ones going around. Here is to that!

Patrick Malley (ptrkmkl) – Honoured to be put on list of ‘moodlers to follow’, hardly justified the inclusion with some of may random stuff. You are responsible that I don’t (well, usually) start tweets with a . [dot]. Pet hate still? Take care mate & all the best.

Paula White (paulawhite) – Yours was one of the first profiles I showed to my mum when she said ‘Twitter is all for young people’. She was… impressed. Here is to some more of great sharing across the oceans in 2010!

Hadley Ferguson – Thanks for your insights, comments, quips, RTs, encouragement, virtual drop in to our Web 2.0 expo and reminders over the year, very glad to have connected. Best wishes in the coming 2010, here is to more of what we started this year.

‘Learnteachtech’ – Another one of the people I have connected over Twitter this year and with whom the 140 character limit just doesn’t help sometimes. Thanks for your support and conversations this year.

Phyllis Zimbler-Miller – Huge ‘thank you’ for your help with the Vietnam War project. It was just so stunningly easy to collaborate across the continents and times. Glimpse of the common future perhaps. Best wishes!

Miguel Guhlin – Moodlers are generally an awesomely open and communal lot but this amigo from Texas is one of the best. Thank you Miguel for getting me into the Classroom 2.0 LIVE pickle and all your support, good humour and awesome links this year. When in Perth…you know what to do, right? (well, let me know before of course )

Kim Caise & Peggy George – The friendly Classroom 2.0 Live crew that put me at ease before the Classroom 2.0 LIVE show in March this year. You guys are doing some fantastic work. Did you know that? Best wishes to you and your families.

Jerrid Kruse – Love reading your eloquent insights and the occasional rapid-fire tweets on topics that can’t be done justice in 140 characters. Your ‘dangers of online education as the cheap option’ was a helluva memorable piece. Keep pushing, probing, asking, arguing. Best wishes!

David Britten – So moving to do some PD here are you David? With some kids at the front (or rather in the middle)? Glad to have connected this year. Thank you for stuff we shared this year and your RTs.

‘UrbanEducation’ – We share so many views and experiences, but what I would really like to share one day is a piece of fairy bread Made it? Thank you for wonderful insights over the year. Merry Christmas.

Kyle Pace – Yes, you know that 1000 tweet is going to haunt you. The invitation to Perth stands! To a great 2010.

Glen Westbroek – I have blown up the green “Think! … solve problems” sign you shared this year to 12 x A4 sheets and stuck it on the wall of my class. Kids got the idea real fast! Best wishes Glen.

Andrew Wetzel – Still looking for that business model of being paid for sharing freely… Thank you for all those rapid-fire exchanges this year & Merry Christmas.

Venus Evans-Winters – For all the fake an injust roles people have to ‘perform’ these days thanks to someone like you to at least point them out, consistently. Some fights are worth fighting for…and you’ve got yourself a fellow in the fight right here in Oz. Best wishes for the festive season and 2010 on.

Jon Becker – How is the Family 2.0? Thanks for your insights and banter at sometimes oddest of times. Happy holidays (and stay healthy).

Jon Cullen – Gotta like a man who can ask some questions! Thanks for the teasers, replies and some handy links this year. Appreciated.

Allisun (allisunelearns) – Thank you for all you RTs of Moodle stuff and other bits and pieces over the year. With so many shared interests, I look forward to a good 2010, even though oceans separate us. Meh, what’s an ocean these days… Best wishes !

Skip Zilla – To the skeptics and respectful atheists among us! Thank you for all your support this year, much appreciated.

Laura Buxton – Ah, families. We are both educators right but the funny parenting stories just kept coming this year. May 2010 be just as good! Best wishes to all of you.

‘Weemoseus’ – It’s so good when teachers share with teachers, sometimes the more mundane and silly the stories the better. We had a few of those this year and I for one liked them all. Thank you for support this year and here is to more in 2010!

Kelly Hines – We connected over Nings and a spot of matchmaking on my part and never looked back. Thanks Kelly for your awesome cupboard of resources – shown and used many times.

Dianne Duff – The one about the rut, public schools and innovation is still ringing with me… Thank you for all your RTs, peer RT is one of the nicest things (and geez we need those sometimes in the places we work). Regards!

Lianne (prairies) – I have kept thinking about the exchange year since our brief chat a few  months ago. Never know, never know… Thank you for stirring with that one and your support over the year.

Ryan Stanley – I still owe you that chat on social networking my friend. Best to maybe Skype one day? If you ever get sick of cold Alaska in winter and want some sunshine in December .. look me up please, will you? Best wishes.

Katje Lehman – After we shared that poster on innovation [something about your boss ?? ] I actually printed it off for the whole team at school to see. It’s been blown up and laminated since ,D All the best in 2010!

Europe (links to come…)

Drew Buddie – For the love of ski flying, football, gigs and digital serendipity with (almost) reckless abandon. Here is to us maybe bumping into each other in 2010?

Patricia Donaghy – I may have told you this before but you kicked off this blogging thing for me by posting the first comment on the good old (Edublogs) Human in 2008. “Wow, a total stranger read it!” [me, then] Not a stranger anymore but I do hope we perhaps meet one day.

Ian Usher – My 2009 escapade to UK did not come about in the end but thanks for your advice and (advance) help, much appreciated. I bet there is a MoodleMoot just waiting for us to happen and say hello to each other in the flesh. Happy holidays!

Tim Hunt – We may not have kept our ‘sure we will catch up’ after Twizza (that was fun, wasn’t it?) but surely ain’t the last time we share a ligh live. BTW, still have not been to a Moot! Can you believe it? Take care & best wishes.

Russel Tarr – Where the hell do you find time and space to post all these amazing links? Thank you so much for starting that #evaluatethat Twitter club (not very active now, but …), your fantastic resources on Classroomtools and your support. All the best.

Laura Walker – Geez, those (now famous) 9 Things post of yours fit like a glove inside the Twitter Handbook for Teachers. Thank you for your support (“he explains it all…” line from a peer is great to hear) and here is to more serendipity in 2010. Cheers!

Tom Barret – What’s it like when you have thousands of people following you through a job application process? Thank you Tom for some excellent, hands-on idea for the place where the rubber meets the road – the classroom. One can tell in a glance where your heart and mind are. You’re a bloody inspiration! Have a great 2010 and a Merry Christmas.

Nick Dennis – Many thanks for your advice in (the unrealised) move to UK. Hevn’t closed the idea on that completely either…  A school administrator who ‘gets’ this ed-tech stuff looks like is not easy to find, you are a fine [if rare] species

Rodd Lucier – Thanks for the swift inclusion of my stuff on Twitter for Teachers wiki. Every time I show the wiki to educators new to Twitter may heads turn and say [if silently]: “Really? All these teachers? Around the world? Hmmm…”

Shelly Terell – Hey Shelly. Thanks for your help (Web 2.0 expo), RTs, energy and passion in 2009, let’s keep the #edchat going strong in 2010.

Maria Joao – Dear Maria, you said such a nice thing about me this year that it is hard to match. And yes, people do come ‘clear as water’ in this medium over time. Thank you for all your insights, links, comments and support in 2009. Have a lovely Christmas and a great 2010.

Arjana Blazic – See you in Zagreb on June next year, Glogster-whiz. Hvala i sretne blagdane!

Ales Cerin & Danilo Kozoderc The Slovenian innovators par excellence! Thank you for your lines, links and insights into how my homeland is breathing these days in terms of things we seem to be jointly passionate about. See you in June 2010.

Janez Dolinar – How could I not mention my first family member on Twitter and THE open source champion from waaaay back. Fatherhood is a wonderful thing (but not digital ) Srecno!

David Barnes – We may have iced the book for now but I have learned an awful lot from your insights through our chats and your Posterous. Yes, you are obsessed with ‘clear and simple’ and it looks like you have passed it on well. Cheers & best wishes to you and your partner in 2010.

Mary Cooch – For all those shared moments of doubt, laughs, support on things from Moodle to parenting (and the stuffed-up Twitter chat) – thank you! Love your book, your What can Moodle do For You clip you shared this year and your always helpful suggestions in Moodle Forums too. Oh yes, we will meet one day too, I know it. How is that ‘saving the money to come in 2010’ campaign going? Best wishes

Helen Foster – Moodlers are simply one of the best communities to be a part of and to have connected with someone who kinds ‘looks after it’ this year has been a highlight. Thank you Helen for all your support, I am hoping to perhaps work formally with Moodle in the coming year(s)… wink, wink, cross fingers…

Martin Hawksey – Just don’t mention the haggis… Thank you Martin for our recorded chat mid-year, an invitation to Edinburgh (one day, one day) and some good matchmaking over the year.

Berni Wall – Thank you Berni for connecting this year. Loved our conversation about the ‘adversarial education’. Those kinds of insights are invaluable when trying to articulate a position before/when/after going ‘to the trenches’ of schools, classes and parents. Looking forward to a fruitful 2010, thanks for the RTs too, appreciated.

Alja Sulcic – The first Twitter follower from my home land and a great moodler – I just can’t miss to mention someone like you in this ‘Christmas special’. Thank you for those cool clips and  ‘it’s snowing’ tweets when we’re cooking on 42+ Celsius here in Perth. My dream is attend a Slovenia Moot!

AND MANY MORE PEOPLE NOT MENTIONED HERE … (Can somebody please count if I got 140 ?!…)

I end with my oft-repeated ‘sign-off’ line at the end of a (Twitter) day: Kiss your kids and tell them you love them. Often.

Happy 2010 to all!

Tomaz ‘Human’ Lasic (@lasic)

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Welcome!

It’s over! Our four day school Web 2.0 Expo extravaganza over the last few days of school year was largely (and I don’t use the word lightly) adjudged as ‘a success’, ‘eye opening’, ‘interesting’, ‘informative’, ‘fun’, ‘enjoyable’, ‘a bit crazy’, ‘unusual’ by a range of people around the school (eclectic and funky as our cover clip )

For four days, three teachers (Simon Carabetta, Jaeik Jeong & myself) and about a dozen student-helpers (13 to 15 years old), put on a ’23 things’ of a kind for our school community to inform, teach and stir about ‘Web 2.0′ and its culture-changing potential that is starting to be realised in our societies yet (still) largely outside school walls.

To ‘walk the talk’, we not only set up stations, but also created the event’s wiki (largely student work!), even a Ning (well, sort of … ), got a bunch of students to start up their blogs, Twitter, set up RSS readers, fooled around with Skype, Etherpad, Twiddla, Moodle etc.. We had a number of educators from around the world dropping in virtually via Etherpad (copy of excellent contributions here, thank you SO MUCH to all who have contributed), we had encouraging tweets from around the world … all in all, we were ‘doing’ Web 2.0.

But out of the four days of messing up, playing, teaching, learning, succeeding, working together, guessing and generally having a ball, the last day will remain seared in my mind forever.

Until the last day, we had very few staff that came to the expo. They would bring groups of students down but then (most of them) didn’t quite engage with the expo in any way. “That’s for the kids, not for us…” was the general sentiment, with few notable exceptions. With the whole thing PRIMARILY for staff, we weren’t making the dent. The matter was raised at our regular morning ‘war briefing’. We made the decision that the last day was going to be ‘catch-a-teacher’ day.

It was pretty simple really. Student-helpers were encouraged to approach a teacher, invite them to the expo, try to work out and ask what the teacher might be interested in to learn…then demonstrate, teach and help them learn (about) a particular Web 2.0 tool and how it could be useful to them (the teacher). We also asked our student-helpers to note down on the central ‘tally’ board what teachers they taught what.

Students took up the challenge very seriously and we had them literally chasing teachers down the halls to invite, talk to, teach the teachers. With most teachers agreeing to come (even if out of courtesy if not curiosity) it was an incredible sight.

Catch-a-teacher ... live

Catch-a-teacher ... come in

And this is what the tally board looked like after only a few hours!

21 teachers, 10 different tools, 4 hours - ALL by students!

Yes, I repeat: teachers are far less likely to say no to a student than a ‘tech integrator’ with a resonable (tech) proposition for teacher’s problem/idea in class. It just works!

Another highlight of the day was the technically so damn easy yet so profoundly different (to ‘regular school’) Skype conference of our ‘helpers’ with a good friend Ira Socol. I saw Ira tweeting, hooked up over Skype and within seconds the whole class said ‘Hello” to Ira and his dog (“with a weird name Sir…”) in Michigan. We soon shared a screen with Google Earth on it where Ira literally showed us around his neighbourhood, place he works, we zoomed out to see and learn a bit about the Great Lakes (some of the kids watching have not been further than a few blocks from their place in their life!), cracked a joke or two and after a few minutes thanked Ira for his time. After the event Ira tweeted:

I read the tweet aloud to claps, cheers and hollers of approval at our post-expo ice cream ‘debrief’ (yes, we did treat the awesome crew

Yum! Well deserved.

The sense of community, appreciation, working together, problem solving, the JOY of learning, particularly on the last day of our Expo was palpable. Many of our student-helpers ‘got off’ on it, dare say far, far more than many a lesson in the year just finished. There it was, a working rhizome of education I dream of, where roles/status/label/credit did not matter, only what we can learn, share, help, improve. Sure, it was quite an intense day, but one where the students saw the potential of what many of us have been banging on about for … years now.

Before we took our parting group photo, I asked the student-helpers is they would like to attend a school organised and run a bit like our expo – passionate, hard-working, following people’s interests, funny, a bit messy and unexpected, unclear at times but always valuing learning of all kinds: “Yes, sure, we’d love to…” I replied with just a line: “Demand it for your own kids.”

Just imagine! Or as a colleague quoted in his farewell speech yesterday: Logic will get you from A to B, imagination will get you anywhere.

And since I mentioned farewell speeches – I delivered mine yesterday too (copy here). I will miss the people of Belmont City College (and my first Moodle, my baby ). They matter.

Thank you!

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While the expo is the brainchild and organisational baby of ‘three amigos’ (Simon Carabetta, Jaeik Jeong & yours truly), it is the students as volunteer helpers that are the real drivers and superstars.

During the first day, we had a bunch of kids creating blogs, wikis, even a newly born Ning dedicated to the expo. We had a wonderful but usually very withdrawn student, who doesn’t have Internet access at home, absolutely flourishing after setting up his Gmail account (first ever) and within 45 minutes TEACHING (!!!) five other kids how to set up RSS through iGoogle (very “hole-in-the-wall”-ish). We had teachers saying things like “wow, this Skype is really neat!”, or “do you think we could set up a Ning with our pen pals in Hawaii?” (OK, we had our share of stuff-ups too )

When asked about Ning, I simply pointed my colleague who asked the question to a self-appointed ‘Ning specialist’ among our student helper crew and 30 minutes later I saw them in deep conversation about “settings and updates”.

I said it before and I repeat – magic happens when students help teachers. I have not seen a teacher who refused help with tech when a kid says “did you know Miss there’s a really good way to do … Do you want me to show you?”

If I said it, it would not stick nearly as much (if at all).

For the occasion, I made an ‘introduction’ clip about Web 2.0, based on a fantastically funky YouTube clip by Kutiman (Thru-You-01 Mother of All Funk Chords) . The wording is appropriate because it is through the changing web (shhh, don’t mention Web 3.0 yet) and through the people that I for one hope to see the changes happen. Real ones.

I hope you enjoy the re-mix, feel free to share (see CC licence). I knew we were onto a good thing with it when a Year 10 student clapped when he saw it first. Students – the yardstick that matters by far the most in things ‘educational’. (if YouTube blocked, version here)

PS. We are hoping to bumble through our next few days just as well A message to people who were happy to ‘drop in’ – look out (& pass onward if you like) for tweet(s) with a drop-in link. Sorry, but it’s a little “crazy good as we go”. Any line, sound, tweet, comment from ‘the outside world’ will be read and appreciated, thank you.

(If you see an ad on top of the post… not my idea(l) Sorry)

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