Latest News in Modern ICT and eLearning
Latest News in Modern ICT and eLearning:
________________________________
Newsletter: 25/04/2012 Create your own iBooks - Course
Create your own iBooks
Presented by John Rudkin B.Ed. (Hons) Design Education
Apple Distinguished Educator, Member of NAACE
Create iBooks, simply, quickly..........
You are investing in iPads, iPods and similar devices.
How can you get the best out of these modern, flexible learning and organisational tools creatively?
Available free on the Mac App Store, iBooks Author is an amazing new app that allows anyone to create beautiful Multi-Touch textbooks — and just about any other kind of book — for iPad. With galleries, video, interactive diagrams, 3D objects, and more, these books bring content to life in ways the printed page never could.
You are investing in iPads, iPods and similar devices. How can you get the best out of these modern, flexible learning and organisational tools creatively?
LEARN about publishing for Education in the 21st Century;
Learn about taking your teaching resources and turning them into ePublications;
Develop Interactivity;
Take you teaching to the next level with an educational expert recognised by Apple.
Details: john@johnarudkin
Web: http://www.johnarudkin.net
Tel: 07708 933705
COURSES IN SCHOOL AVAILABLE from £100.00*
Not so small print: Terms and Conditions apply. Contact john@johnarudkin.net for details.
*********************************************************************************************************
IT in Schools
Suddenly, it has all become simpler and more versatile!
OFFER:- Contact me for a FREE, no obligation consultation.
If you can, fill in my brief survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/89CZJ7Y
Here's what some have graciously said about me.......
"As we move forward in the council with a different
culture it's true to say that you helped to pioneer a much more positive
way of responding to ICT difficulties - that every challenge is an
opportunity for creativity."
Sue Harrison, Service Director - Learning, Schools and Communities, Blackpool
*********************************************************************************************************
“John is dedicated, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable. Few people I worked
with had the same 'history' in education or the same passion for using IT
to help students succeed.
While I and others moved from the education space into more traditional commercial
roles John stayed true to his principles and dedication to education.”
Derek Baker, Senior Manager, Education Solutions Group, Apple
*********************************************************************************************************
"John, I hope people out their know how much of an expert you are.
Long may you be around to help people...."
Geoff Reeves, Business Adviser to the Orvia Group
*********************************************************************************************************
“John is a passionate advocate and tireless worker for the effective use of
technology in learning. He is a good communicator and reliable partner in
any work-based project. And he has a lot of good experience to draw upon.
So versatile; committed; passionate and engaged are his watchwords.”
Nigel Paine, CEO, SCET, Head of People Development BBC
*********************************************************************************************************
“John is an excellent manager and expert on Apple Mac systems.
The time I spent with him was richly rewarding as he has a good grasp of
strategic thinking and planning needs in the context of ICT and its use in the
community.”
Stephen Musgrave, Regional Manager, Open University
*********************************************************************************************************
“I have known John since 2001 when he led one of four feasibility pilots for the
South Yorkshire eLearning Programme, a complex and large-scale European-funded
programme to increase the IT skills of South Yorkshire in schools, libraries,
small businesses and community outreach centres. As Project Director for the programme
I was impressed by John’s passion and understanding of new technology and his ability
to engage with and build a community of teachers and trainers in the implementation
of a shared virtual learning environment and online learning resources.”
Christine Lewis, Cross Government and EU Strategic Alignment Manager, UK Ministry of Justice
*********************************************************************************************************
“When Computers were something that cost as much as a 3 bedroom semi and the
internet had not even been christened yet I met a teacher called John (Mr) Rudkin.
A friend of mine who went on to become a leading TV and Theatre dsigner introduced us.
Mr Rudkin taught us Design during which he imparted some really strong guidance
(an alien concept to many of his peers) they call it mentoring nowadays.
He told us all that we could do whatever we wanted to do, simple really, but he backed
it up with support, guidance and encouragement.
This set me on a path to a career in IT that I have enjoyed every day since.
Thanks Mr. Rudkin.”
Martin Carroll, Director of IT Security, Rolls-Royce
*********************************************************************************************************
Learn more about johnarudkin.net: Go to http://www.johnarudkin.net.
Call 07708 933705 to talk to John Rudkin at johnarudkin.net.
email: john@johnarudkin.net for a no obligation chat, or arrange for a visit.
- it only takes a moment to change the future
Retention Policy in more ways than one.
Retention Policy?
iPads in Education
Students at Jefferson Christian Academy were surprised (today) with news they will be getting an iPad next year.
http://www.johnarudkin.net/resources/JCA-students-to-get-iPads-in-2013.mp4
See:
http://eastjefferson.myfoxal.com/news/schools/108842-jca-students-get-ipads-2013.
I’m sure this story about iPads in Education will be updated and unfold. As schools around the world, the USA (and a small number in the UK), it seems that many have argued the pros and cons of bringing technologies such as iPads into the classroom.
I fear one thing they often forget to do is talk to the students. The reaction at East Jefferson is wonderful. I feel sorry for those graduating, but the pizza will, I am sure, be good, but how do you deal with the “just-misseds”. iPads in Education really are becoming recognised as valuable learning aids.
What is an even bigger issue I fear is that changes in the way ICT is perceived and supported from UK central government needs to be informed about the possibilities that new technologies bring. You find plenty mored about that subject across my blog, and across my website. So, while we deliberate and ignore what plainly is right in front of our eyes (this stuff really does work!), how many more UK students will miss out on an education that brings them up to date.
If you want to know the arguements for and against new technology in education, call me.
We can discuss, but let me show you how, where and what evidence there is for making the change, and the massive benefits it brings, not only to your students, but to your school as well.
Do it. Don’t wait.
e john@johnarudkin.net m 07708 933705
________________________________
Influential Bloggers
Introducing the Top Ten Most Influential Bloggers
Borrowed from: nstallings on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 13:22
After many weeks of voting, the winners of the Top Ten Most Influential Bloggers contest are in!
Let Me Add:
1. Ollie Bray I @olliebray
more to come….
blog comments powered by Disqus
Many thanks to our readers and members who voted. We hope this list provides you with some great new E-Learning resources!
________________________________
Why Education's Time to Shine has arrived
Why Education's Time to Shine has Arrived….
OK, we can now see that most schools have, in the main, embraced the digital world. The same is true for an increasing number of third sector organisations - and of course HE and FE have been there for a long time, but they face some slightly different challenges. For all of Education (capital “E”, things are now just on the cusp of the next great leap forward) that is exciting. That is why I am excited also. Changes in the way Education is funded has also brought it own opportunities. For anyone who works in Local Authorities, this is now a great threat, but again, opportunities abound among the negativity to effect positive changes like never before. Schools are now, like other organisation in HE, FE and the third sector, able to decide for themselves what is, or what is not important. You see, where importance lies, there also the costs must be taken into account.
Not an easy job with budgets tightening. But wait. If LEAs are no longer Top-slicing, does this mean more money for schools? WE wait and see.
Most areas of the UK now have effective high speed broadband. It may not have been true until the last year or two, but even remote communities are being targeted with help and funding. This means remote learners are catered for (although this may not stretch to all homes quite yet). As broadband speeds increase, so does the maximum possible, and so there will always be the laggard areas….withough the latest, greatest, cable enabled. It isn’t always necessary, however.
The Web gives lifelong learners the tools to become autodidacts, enabling them to emulate the greatest thinkers and researchers in human history - but with the advantage of access to a greater body of knowledge than they ever might have dreamed about. This is for everyone, from toddlers to care home residents……. it’s all there….if you can get to it.
The Web hasn’t just given access to knowledge, it has also opened up a far more important advantage. Communication, and further, collaboration and interglobally at that……. yet it also allows us to find friend, trusted sources of advice and recommendation. All of this is unlocking a faux dreamlike “sweetie shop”, where diving in and consuming needs tempering and controlling.
Knewton, a technology company from New York City provides an insight into the possibilities education offers through a wonder infographic that I share below.
THis is not a story that is rose tinted in any way, but it gives a platform from which a few people are saying - now, now is the right time for education to take the lead. ICT will be at the heart of this change simply because, after 30 years of experimentation, the advantages and the disadvantages are beginning to form a pattern we can understand.
If you haven’t done so, go back to the 1980s and read some of the pioneering work Apple did on the impact of Education in learning.
Try to read some of the work done by Stephen Heppell and his team at Ultralab through the 90’s and into the “noughties” - espacially around the millenium - where the engagement of valid sponsorship started popularising the web.
Tread the path of Apple’s “eWorld”, the Apple Learning Interchange, and now the growing ADE (Apple Distinguished Educator) population.
The Internet has brought digital content, mass distribution and personalised learning clearly into focus.
JohnARudkin 2011 all rights acknowledged
________________________________
Welcome
Welcome to the new johnarudkin.net blog
Many more years ago now than I care to remember, sometime in my second year as a Design and Technology teacher — at the time at All Saints (as was) in Blackpool, I toyed with trying to actually understand what was going on in education. This wasn’t about the theory of education, but more about what I had seen and experienced, and how this all related to individuals or pupils.
I was teaching in a school with some very modern thinking - I’d been brought in by a forward thinking Head of Department to bring support for Design to a fairly traditional Craft, Design and Technology Department (CDT). There was nothing wrong with that traditional work, but changes in the way CDT was being perceived challenged thinking.
I started bringing new facets into the department, thinking about modern materials, the use of graphical design and model making, and a new way of thinking. It was Design.
The problem many had in moving to this new way of thinking and doing was more one of moving from the “one-size-fits-all” methodology, to one where, as a teacher, you followed and guided where the students needed to go to fulfil their design realisations. Yes, at times it was somewhat chaotic, but among the chaos, one think had to be the prime focus of the teacher — and that was the growing awareness of the world being woven by the students own mind, wrought in the very materials they used and learned about by doing. Mistakes - there were plenty, but at some point that year I got a model in my mind of what was happening to the student.
I actually drew it out at the time, and it became my model for understanding how the students progressed. It was very simple (and a diagram — from the time — is shown above).
The diagram show a sort of inverted cone. Imagine this is the path the student takes in learning about the world.
That path is constrained by the “pupil’s world” — the things like environment, family, concept of worth and value.…
The cone (or the students progress) is sliced into sections. Reality would make these fuzzy as the world is not naturally sliced up like this — but the concept is left intact. Indeed, education confuses the picture of the world by “subjectively” sectioning the picture.
The area the diagram focuses on is the “Here and Now”. The Present, where Education either lives of dies by its relevance to the learner,
So, whenever you observe a student, his or her “level” is determined by his or her experiences, the success of previous learning encounters — and the freedom with which education allows them to explore the facets of their experience.
I liked the concept so much, I made a “concept trophy” of this model, and handed it over to be awarded annually as the “All Saints Design Prize”.
I wonder where it is now?
JohnARudkin 2011 all rights acknowledged
________________________________