Laurie O’Donnell

It seems like only yesterday that I blogged about my decison to leave LTS to work for myself. It felt like a big step on the 25th March announcing to the world that I was moving on after 8 years. I really liked being able to blog and tweet my departure (what did we do before web 2.0?) and have been delighted with the number of friends and colleagues who have been in touch to either wish me well or check out my mental health (’leaving a public sector job with a pension during a recession – are you crazy!’)

Still got far too much to do before I leave on 30 June but last week I got a big boost when my colleague Marie Dougan, LTS Glow Programme Director, was appointed as Interim Director of Learning and Technology. Marie will be great in this role and I wish her all the best in taking forward the major work of the directorate I have led: Glow; the LTS Online Service; and our work in new technologies including games based learning.

These are challenging times for schools, local authorities and the public sector economy in general. LTS has made a major contribution to the learning and technology agenda which will be increasingly important to education in the years ahead.  I have been hugely privileged to have the opportunity to lead and manage some of this work over the last 8 years. More than that I have been incredibly lucky to work with some fantastic colleagues who have pushed the boundaries of Scottish education a little bit further forward. Colleagues who have remained positive and optimistic about the future, despite the many challenges, and never lost sight of the importance of making a positive difference to the work of our teachers and to the life chances of Scotland’s young people.

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.

Just finished reading Carol Dweck’s ‘Mindset – The New Psychology of Success’.

I think this is an important book for anyone involved in education and very worthwhile for the general reader. Her theory is that there are two basic ways of looking at the world – or ‘mindsets’. One is a ‘fixed mindset’ in which intelligence, talent, ability and skill are fixed. Success in the fixed mindset is about showing how smart you.  The other view is the ‘growth mindset’ where success follows learning and failure suggests more effort is required rather than being a statement on any innate qualities.

Dweck draws on the creative sphere, sport, business leadership  and importantly from the world of education and parenting to construct and illustrate her argument.

Lots here for teachers and parents especially around positive and negative labels. Most teachers and parents understand how negative labels, eg stupid, clumsy etc, can be destructive. Dweck’s research also points to the destructive nature of positive labels, eg clever, smart, skillfull, talented, creative etc. These positive labels tend to build a fixed mindset, create a fear of failure and consequently hinder both learning and long-term success.

Dweck has recently been working with Winning Scotland Foundation and LTS is currently exploring a small scale pilot of her Brainology computer program.

Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, launched our new curriculum today.

Have a look at our shiny new home page and Scotland’s new curriculum.

This has been a really big task for everyone involved.

From the point of view of the LTS website it is hard to believe how far we have come over the last few years under the leadership of Patricia Kemp (overall responsibility for LTS Online/editor in chief) and Emma Walsh (responsible for the technology that underpins the site).

Lovely tribute from Merlin John on his great website MJO.

Being described as ‘Scotland’s ICT leader’ made me smile and I am sure will raise a few eyebrows (including my own!).

The latest version of LTS’ Connected eZine is now available: