Laurie O’Donnell

Interesting new development from Google. Thanks to @jonesieboy for tweeting  about Google Wave

Interesting research commissioned by C4 on how the 12-24s use technology.

Top-line stats are:

• They personally own 8 devices (including MP3 player, PC, TV, DVD player, mobile phone, stereo, games console, and digital camera)
• They frequently conduct over 5 activities whilst watching TV
• 25% of them agree that “I’d rather stay at home than go on a holiday with no internet or phone access”
• A quarter of young people interviewed text or IM (instant message) friends they are physically with at the time
• They have on average 123 friends on their social network spaces
• And the first thing the majority of them do when they get home is turn on their PC

As the father of a 12 and 16 year old I am not at all surprised. My girls have lots of gadgets (no wonder the UK’s electricity needs continue to grow at 4% a year when I see how many chargers we have around the house); they have lots of spare capacity when watching TV (usually because most [not all] of what they watch isn’t very challenging – try doing 5 things while watching ‘The Wire’ and keep up with the dialogue!); in our family it’s a 50% vote for no holiday without mobile comms; I get calls on the house phone from a daughter who is upstairs phoning me on her mobile ; they are connected in a way that is really stunning and; our wireless network is on from before school in the morning until last thing at night.

The survey suggests two questions for me – ones that I think I know the answer to. Firstly, how does the experience of our young people compare with their counterparts across the world? Secondly, how does their school experience compare with their out of school use of technology?

More good news for Glow While I was in Barcelona I was delighted to hear that Falkirk Council has signed the Glow Customer Agreement (effectively the licence to make Glow available to teachers, pupils and parents in the local authority area).

That takes us to 31/32 of the Scottish local authorities. My understanding is that Fife Council is in the process of signing the Customer Agreement and this will be a significant milestone for Glow as we complete the full set of local authorities.

To paraphrase Winston Churchill we are approaching the end of the beginning for Glow. To my mind it really starts to get exciting now as we explore the benefits of having a truly national system.

The IMS Global Learning Consortium press release with all of the winners from the 2009 Learning Impact Summit has now been published. Looking down the list I think our competition was from only 5 continents rather than 6 as previously claimed.

LTS press release with comment from Cabinet Secretary Fiona Hyslop.

Glow has picked up another prestigious award.

This time taking the top award at the IMS Global Learning Impact Summit in Barcelona. Great news for the Scottish Government, LTS and RM. Brilliant to get international recognition for the ambition, complexity and scale that characterises Glow.

PS Should also have given due credit to all the teachers, local authority officers, librarians, technicians and others who have worked hard to make Glow the success it is today.

Well done to Patricia Kemp and the website team at LTS. Another first for Learning and Teaching Scotland  as we launch a unique resource on Apple’s iTunesU to support the professional development of teachers and other practitioners across Scotland and beyond. LTS is the first schools oriented organisation in Europe to make some of its digital content available in this way as we follow in the footsteps of HE institutions such as the Open University and Oxford and Cambridge Universities.
The LTS press release makes the claim that:

‘Anytime anywhere, teachers can access a free online repository of rich digital content using Apple’s iTunesU technology. Teachers can watch a wide range of videos including case studies showing classroom practice, presentations from leading international education thinkers and video learning materials. This initiative, the first of its kind in Europe for the school and early years sector, puts the power of technology into the hands of practitioners allowing the free dissemination of resources, knowledge and learning. LTS, in partnership with HMIE and the Scottish Government’s ‘Determined to Succeed’ programme, hope that this new resource will engage with all education professionals in the field and will support the next generation of teachers as they implement Curriculum for Excellence.’

This opportunity follows on from a visit to Apple’s HQ in Cupertino California last autumn that I had with my colleague Andy Pendry, Glow Technology Adviser. We were impressed by the way that Apple’s iTunes infrastructure was already being used across the world to support education. At the same time senior education staff at Apple were impressed with the approach we have taken in Scotland to support professional learning and development. Hence the invitation to make the LTS Online Service  the first ‘K-12′ site in Europe for iTunes and our willingness to take up the opportunity to present some wonderful content to a global audience.

On Monday and Tuesday of next week I will be speaking with colleagues from the Glow contractor, RM, at the IMS Global Learning Impact 2009 event in Barcelona.

Glow has been short-listed for the Global Learning Impact Award for 2009. Based on the scale and ambition of Glow I think that it will give the other projects a good challenge. Win or lose it is a good news story for Scotland and for the Scottish Government that Glow is being considered for an international award.

Let’s hope that later in the week I am blogging about winning. If not then I at least I will be able to console myself  by what I hope will be an interesting event in a wonderful city.

Global Learning Impact Award 2009
From the IMS website:

Purpose:
The Learning Impact program is facilitated by the IMS Global Learning Consortium (IMS) for the purpose of recognizing outstanding applications of technology that address the most significant challenges facing the global education and training industries.

Thesis:
Improving the quality of and access to education is the global challenge that underpins all other global challenges. Harnessing the potential power of new technologies that can enhance the reach and effectiveness of education is a compelling priority for society. The IMS Global Learning Consortium is a unique collaboration of corporations, educational institutions, and government organizations that can play a significant role in recognizing advances in technology that address key educational challenges worldwide.