BYOD: Bring Your Own Deceit

March 25, 2015March 25, 2015 Simon McKenzie

(#Bloggermore2015 5/26)

Self Deception
Image Source: www.alameleadership.com

Interesting title, you say! Unfortunately, the deception is mine; but let me explain. The IT Strategic Planning Committee at my school has decided the time is right to go BYOD. Or possibly BYODD or even BYOT. Lord, how educators love their acronyms. While the decision can be relatively simple, I’m sure you’ve all heard BYOD called “Bring Your Own Disaster.” Trying to get my head around all the possible advantages and pitfalls, I wrote a guest post for my good friends at Fractus Learning. So, to the deception; the next paragraph is a short extract from my article “BYOD: Bring Your Own Disenthrallment.” By pasting the extract here I will cleverly create the illusion of having done another blog post. Deception! And, by then directing you to Fractus Learning for the remainder, I create traffic to my full article. Deception!

“I fully understand that teachers are entitled to work/life balance; their own children have to be taxied to dance lessons, there’s grocery shopping or a well-deserved rest. But, it would seem to me, that teaching is one of the few professions where individuals do not see it as imperative to keep up to date with the latest trends. Just yesterday I visited the dentist for a filling. How would I have reacted if he had performed dentistry without anaesthetic and wielding a rusted, nineteenth century implement? (BYOD: Bring Your Only Dentist!) The teachers at my school are by no means in a unique position; I have come across this same dilemma before. But, by the same token, the claim “I don’t have time for this” simply no longer holds … My day has the same 24 hours gifted to everyone else.”

To read the remainder, please use THIS LINK to take you to Fractus Learning.

BYOD: Bring Your Own …

This weekend I am off to Perth to deliver my first conference keynote. I promise to be back next week to comment on the experience and give you access to the presentation. Honest, NO deception. And, of course, as always, I would be delighted to receive your feedback and comments.

Teaching Digital Citizenship

March 2, 2015March 2, 2015 Simon McKenzie

(#Bloggermore2015 4/26)

Well; here’s my now customary opening … Yes, I know this post is overdue, I’ve been busy, so, so busy … whinge, whine, moan … hope for sympathy from readers. I have, in fact, been busily working on my application to become an Apple Distinguished Educator which I finally submitted last night. I know; brilliant isn’t it … already struggling to keep up, I decide to chase another commitment. Still, I seriously hope I am selected for the 2015 intake. I’d love to add that tiny little apple to my Twitter name.

Now, putting aside further self-indulgent rants, I should focus upon the actual subject of this post. One of my first duties at my new school was to present introductory lessons in digital citizenship to Year 8 and 9 students. I didn’t want to go down the track of “you must” or “the consequences will be” and so I set out to create a presentation that would be fun, informative but with a obvious message. Tomorrow evening I will be repeating the presentation for parents and so I have added further slides. I think it is unfortunate that so many parents see the school as being solely responsible for ensuring their children’s safety and reputation in the digital realm. The final slides, based upon an excellent webinar I attended with Tanya Avrith, put some of the onus back upon parents.

My digital citizenship presentation was uploaded to SlideShare and so I now offer it for your use and adaptation. You will certainly need to delete or modify at least one slide which gives details of a school based competition … and of course, the title slide too! All images and YouTube clips are credited on the final slide.

Digital Citizenship from Simon McKenzie

Write Better-er With Grammar-ly

February 12, 2015February 12, 2015 Simon McKenzie

(#Bloggermore2015 3/26)

This is my 34th year as a classroom teacher of History and English. I shudder to think how many student drafts and completed essays I must have read. But, I’d hazard a guess that it would be closing in on 100,000 pages. And don’t even get me started on the number of spelling and grammatical errors I’ve struck through with a flourish of red pen. Would it be a million? Or more? I know that it was common these past few years for me to be grammatically outraged.

… and this is just one week’s worth!
Image: Copyright Chris Morgan at www.cxmedia.com

So, with that particular rant done, let me turn to the actual subject of this post. Grammar-ly is a comparatively new arrival into the realm of web applications which we call “grammar checkers.” The developers proudly boast that Grammarly will locate ten times the number of errors, in spelling, punctuation and grammar, than a word processing program … and you know what; they’re right. Having experimented with a test document, I decided it was worthwhile to include some screen shots. As you’ll see in the first, Grammarly did locate a large number of errors.

Just look at the errors … fortunately it wasn’t me that made them!

The feature that I most applaud is the explanation given as to the nature of the error. Take a look …

The error explained.

I can certainly see a whole range of benefits for authors, students (especially at senior secondary and tertiary levels) and education professionals. Grammarly conducted a study amongst freelance writers which concluded that writing ability (and accuracy) can have a considerable effect upon career opportunities. The results of the study were presented in infographic form in The Huffington Post. Pleasingly, Grammarly have given me permission to include that infographic here.

Proof that writing skills certainly do matter.

Grammarly has already attracted more than four million users around the world. There is a great Chrome extension and further versions and updates are on the way. If you want to know more than my bare bones review then please use this link grammarly.com/grammar-check

PS: I do wish auto correct wouldn’t keep changing Grammarly to Gram Marly … sounds like a Jamaican reggae star!

PPS: Yes, I did run this blog post through Grammarly … no further comment will be made on the errors!

My Top 5 iPad Apps For 2015

January 26, 2015January 26, 2015 Simon McKenzie

(#Bloggermore2015 2/26)

To Australian readers … I hope you are enjoying our national holiday; even though, in most parts of the nation, tomorrow will see students returning to school for the first day of the new school year. I thought this might be an opportune time to share five of my favourite iPad apps; apps that will have a big role to play in my year. One is new (at least to me) while the rest are returning for another year of great service.

1. ThingLink continues to introduce new features at regular intervals. The ability to take an image or video and add a variety of links (such as further images, information, video or questions) has countless possibilities in the classroom. I have found ThingLink particularly useful for teaching visual literacy and interpretation in Senior History. If you’ve never seen a ThingLink, this link will take you to one of mine

https://www.thinglink.com/scene/311319169452736514

2. Socrative provides teachers with the opportunity to quickly create quizzes or polls. Students can easily respond either from the companion app or from any Web browser. Socrative will even email you the results with valuable analysis. Great too for exit tickets and for younger students there’s the Space Race game … which I’ve been known to play with very enthusiastic Year 12s!

3. Trading Cards quickly became one of my favourites. As the name would imply, teachers and students can make trading cards for a range of uses. The cards are especially useful for student revision but are also a novel way to deliver otherwise “dry” content. A great app from ReadWriteThink; the partially completed example below shows you the possibilities …

Trading Cards; great for History but suitable for all subjects and ages.

4. Weebly will undoubtedly be familiar to many of you and it continues to be my “go to” app for building websites. You will also find that students quickly adapt to the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) design method. Once published, the site can be accessed from any device. The available features in Weebly are too numerous to list here but the link below will take you to one of my sites as an example. (*You should consider, as I have done, buying a PRO subscription for even more features.)

http://elsinoreinashmore.weebly.com

5. Workflow is the new kid on my block. I’m certainly not an experienced user of this app but I’m excited about the possibilities for time impoverished teachers. Workflow allows you to “connect apps and actions together to automate things you do on your device. To build a workflow, just drag and drop.” You can add any workflow to your home screen as an “app” and then launch it with a tap. Check it out; I’m sure you’ll be as impressed and excited (or is that relieved?) as I am.

Well, that’s it for #Bloggermore2015 2/26 … I’ll be back within two weeks for another exciting instalment.

The Year Ahead: #Bloggermore2015 1/26

January 7, 2015 Simon McKenzie

It’s been a big few months; new address, new state, new job, new-rotic! (You knew I would get a joke in early.) Most of my long service leave has been devoted to renovating and painting our 1930s cottage in the beautiful Barossa Valley of South Australia. I’ve even discovered that YouTube is a great resource for the DIY challenged like myself. It seems there’s a “how to” video for just about any repair job around the house … and some even ended up looking (vaguely) like the picture.

I didn’t do this … honest!

But now, my new position as eLearning Manager at Faith Lutheran looms large on the horizon. Yesterday I spent an hour in discussions with the school’s new principal and was certainly encouraged by his focus on learning and the significance of educational technology. My main responsibility will be to mentor my colleagues in the use of technology in order to redefine and enhance learning. No wonder I’m excited; but I’m also realistic about how much time I’ll have to devote to this role.

I also have two “big gigs” booked for later in the year. In March I will be delivering my very first keynote at the State Conference of the History Teachers Association of Western Australia. (HTAWA) I will also be returning to EduTech in order to present alongside fellow History teachers Jacques du Toit and Matthew Esterman. So, by now you’re probably wondering (at least I hope so) about the rather obscure hashtag in the title of this post. Yes, it is a direct nod to the J.K.Rowling website Pottermore but it is also a challenge to myself. Though, of course, you might want to join me! Over the past year my blogging has become, at best, irregular. What I plan to do, therefore, with time at a premium, is to share the details and observations of my year in a series of 26 posts … one per fortnight with an aim of restricting myself to an achievable 200-400 words in each post. Please keep me honest and on track.