Nathaniel did a fabulous job not only preparing his presentation but sharing his new knowledge with the class. He really spoke to the class with a view to imparting his new wisdom- not even a script! Some international speakers couldn’t have done a better job. Nathaniel is eight.

I videod Nathaniel’s presentation on YouTube and added his slideshow. Please forgive the low volume and the fact that my data projector sits on an unused fish aquarium table that my father made many years ago. The video is a little wobbly because I was videoing with one hand and lifting the data projector so Nathaniel could show the bottom of the graph with the other!

http://moturoa.blogspot.com/2010/06/fifa-country-homework.html

We didn’t stream the lesson but that would have been an interesting innovation.

I still have a few more that I want to write about, and then I plan to try and post some thoughts about what the common threads are… once I get my head around that I’m hoping I can get better at predictably redesigning learning tasks to be effective examples of ICT integration.

Interesting post – especially since your last talk I heard was on the oft-overlooked audio as an element of teaching/learning.

ICT integrator is one of my current responsibilities – though I am still officially a teacher as I’ve got a maths class. I agree with all of the points you raised above, including the title itself. Consultant is probably a better word but even that has negative connotations.

I have nothing against powerpoint, per se, as it’s just another tool (perhaps often ab-used rather than effectively used). My daughter worked on something similar in year 6, 2 yrs ago (topic must be in Stage 3 too as Charlie O’Sullivan stated). Back then, she also had to create a powerpoint. They were meant to embed a video but I ‘planted a seed’ that she create her own. She created a video of herself acting as a news reporter -she had to research a real disaster and write her script as well. I helped her edit her video – learning how many ‘takes’ are required to make it good is precious learning in itself.

I find that the best thing about your task is the integration of purposeful collaborative work (as against individual work or just students in “groups”) plus the requisite technology to facilitate it. Even if the group ended up creating a powerpoint, the task would’ve still been a success in my mind.

I look forward to your future posts on this.

I wouldn’t recommend that you say this either. I think the problem is that ‘in a perfect world’ our jobs should not exist. There are not any ‘red pen integrators’ about. So any title we give ourselves to me reflects just how imperfect education is at present.

Cheers

Peter

At a couple of schools I visited late last year, they used the term “Coach” rather than Integrator. It seems to me to give a better indication of what the role is about.

Cheers
Peter

Anyway, I’ve been thinking the same thing lately and wondering what I’d change it to. As you know, I usually describe myself as a teacher if someone asks, but that doesn’t really describe what we “integrators” do in this role either… Suggestions?

You said : “It’s a hard line to walk sometimes, since it often forces me to cross that line between giving advice on how to use the technology and giving advice on how to teach.”

I understand what you are saying, and good on you for doing this. This is a cultural issue in most schools, but we have to work towards a culture where this is a line that all teachers fell comfortable crossing all the time. The more we talk about teaching, in every context, the better we all will be.

Just one other thing, it is not important but I have always thought it odd is that you call yourself and ‘ICT Integrator’. I think you and I are on the same page about the importance of ‘teaching’ and I have always wondered why ‘teacher’ or something like that is not in your job title.

Cheers

Peter