Tech Stream

Tech Stream 049: Education Special

24 April 2010

Listen and download: MP3

Many students in Australia and elsewhere now have their own laptop for use at home and in the classroom. (Flickr: Christy Tvarok Green)

How is the use of technology changing the way we think about education, and what are some of the new ways we can foster productive and co-operative  learning environments through the use of computers?  What will the classroom of the future look like? We’ll tackle these questions and more in the Tech Stream this week with a special program focusing on education and digital technology.  Follow the MP3 link above to listen to or download the radio program, or read on for more information.

Our guests this week were taking part in a conference organized by the Australian Council for Computers in Education. ACEC2010 – the Australian Computers in Education Conference is a biennial event which this year took place in Melbourne. The theme was Digital Diversity, focusing on how “styles of learning and thinking offers us new pathways for building the right knowledge and skills to adapt to constant change.”

Joining us in the Tech Stream are:

Silvia Martinez, President of Generation Yes.

Alan November, author and international leader in education technology. He’s the founder of November Learning.

Helen Otway, assistant principal at Manor Lakes P-12 Specialist College, a school in the south west of Melbourne.  She also runs an education focused blog.

Michelle Selinger, Director of Education Practice in the Asia Pacific region for Cisco.

Chris Rogers, a professor of Engineering  at Tufts University in the United States.

Andy Penman, a primary school teacher who showed us some of the interactive whiteboards from Team Board Australia.

Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to speak with Chris Betcher, another keynote speaker at the conference.  He’s the co-author of “The Interactive Whiteboard Revolution”, a book and online community focused on the effective use of interactive technology in schools.  You can read more from Chris though at his blog – chrisbetcher.com – which also includes some of his thoughts and experiences from ACEC2010.

We spoke with Michelle in the program about a project called the “Hole In The Wall”.  A few years ago a computer scientist in India installed a computer, connected to the internet, into the wall of his office, facing out into a poor slum area. The kids there were of course immediately attracted to it.   With no training, and very little previous experience, they soon knew how to use the mouse and keyboard and start surfing the web.  The story of Dr Sugata Mitra and his experiment can be found in this interview from Businessweek in 2000 and this PBS’ Frontline: World video story.

And for a glimpse into some emerging technology trends in education you can download the 2010 Horizon report from Australian Policy Online.

I’m keen to hear your thoughts on this program, especially in regards to the use of interactive whiteboards in classrooms, the rollout of one-to-one laptop programs in schools and any of the other ideas explored in the Tech Stream this week.  You can leave a comment below.