I can’t help wondering how one describes education in a country such as China in terms of a single system. I would imagine that there are parts of China where the standard of education and the technologies employed rival the most advanced in the first world, while there are also parts of the country where the standard of education and access to technology are on a par with the worst in the third world.

esroh riding

9ALL5

DO12″OR

The other was a series of 9 dots, laid out in a 3X3 grid, which we had to try to join up using only 4 lines and without lifting pen from paper (answer at the end of the post, as before):

I was at a table with a biology teacher and a dance teacher. The dance teacher gave it a go, but was struggling to get to grips with the objective. She found that her mind wasn’t wired in a way that made sense of the cryptic exercise, but she managed the 9 dots just fine. The biology teacher was totally disgruntled by the whole thing and, as she herself said afterwards, folded her arms and sulked until someone showed her the right answer. She found herself to be very competitive and not prepared to try if she didn’t have the tools to win.
I had no trouble with either exercise. I’m not quite sure why I didn’t have any trouble with the 9 dots exercise, perhaps it’s because I have done similar things before, and I’ve sussed out the pattern. As to the cryptic clues, I put it down to the fact that I am a sad cryptic crossword puzzle geek. But the lecturer challenged this. Why can I do cryptic crossword puzzles? And then she said the magic word: analogies!

I’ve said it before: I think in analogies and allegories. Everything I learn reminds me of something I’ve learnt before, (almost) everyone I meet reminds me of someone I have met or seen before. I have used this thought technique to enable me as a teacher/trainer all my life. Providing people with knowns to use as a springboard to conquer unknowns. This is like that in such and such a way, but it differs here and here. So and so has eyes just like George Clooney/Bush/Washington. It all fits together.

How constructivist of me!

But in every learning environment, there are people like the three of us. People for whom it just clicks and the light goes on. People for whom the knowledge that there is an answer makes for an interesting exercise – a creative approach, the willingness to make a few wrong suggestions on the journey to the right answer. People who resent being asked to complete a task without being given the tools and a workable (for them) set of instructions from the outset.

Whirling around in my head are thoughts along the lines that our K-12 curriculum no longer allows students the space to be wrong, to have a few creative stabs at finding a solution. There is the requirement to hone in on the right answer like a heat-seeking missile. Where’s the room for creativity there? Surely we are excluding all but one type of thought process from our quest for answers?

I think there is a chance I will be posting more on that point in the near future.

Okay, so here are the answers – how did you do?

horseback riding

all in a day’s work

a foot in the door

The Future of Education is an online confereence being organised by George Siemens on behalf of the University of Manitoba. The presenters are drawn from a wide range of sectors and countries, and the delegates (if the last of George’s conferences was anything to go by) will be an even more eclectic lot. The Elluminate platform absolutely rocks! The presenters are able to make use of a whiteboard for slides, and their presentation is delivered real time over the audio channel. Delegates have access to a chat facility during the presentation, any may pose questions or make observations this way, or by “raising a hand” to request the microphone. Conversations continue after the presentation via the conference Moodle. Considering the logistics involved, a remarkable sense of community is established.

Be there. No, really  – be there!

It looks at family & community; markets; institutions; educators & learning and tools & practices. Each of these is looked at from the perspective of grassroots economics; smart networking; strong opinions, strongly held; sick hero (increasing signs of distress and health problems); urban wilderness and the end of cyberspace (from physical v digital to physical-and-digital).

A lot of what is covered has been discussed on the blogosphere already and, of course, my own area of interest falls largely within the category addressing the move towards a seamless integration of physical and digital learning environments and tools. However, all factors impact one another, so there is a risk involved in focusing purely on my own area of interest, and taking issue with the predictions, without giving the other influences a fair hearing.

This is when I am frustrated by my big-picture limitations in respect of the big picture view. Oh, to have the kind of brain that is able to make all these connections and grasp the potential impact of one field on another!

The post is well positioned to form a pigeon pair with the previous day’s take on Christine Gilbert’s report on the future of schools. Sadly his post contains no link to the original report, which can be read here. Scanning her report, she seems to be challenging a good few sacred cows.

One of the things she calls for is more involvement from parents. I’m not sure how well this will be received by said parents. For as long as the systems appears to be failing their children, I venture that parents will be reluctant to invest any more of themselves into it. If other parents are anything like me, they will be somewhat jaded by the lack of impact their involvement has had to date.