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Keeping it real in 2011

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…I feel that right now we’re going through some of the most exciting and innovative changes in the use of technology in schools. I know where I want our school to be – it’s the journey that is the challenge.
Chris Dicken

You may or may not have heard of Chris Dicken (@chrisdicken) outside Northamptonshire. Within the county borders – or in our office at least – he is a living legend. He’s a great teacher and has been an ICT Coordinator in the county for 21 years. He has seen the mandated initiatives come and go and has probably seen the ‘wheel’ reinvented many times in many a county ICT project over the years. Yet he has been a keen supporter, facilitator and tweeter of the Northants BLT network from the outset.

His post, ‘Happy New Year. Same old… same old?’ articulates both the age old way of keeping things fresh as a teacher.

…what challenges will you put in place for yourself? What are you hoping to have achieved by this time next year that will leave you feeling that you have changed something in your teaching?

He is taking the challenge of exploring the use of the BLT Classroom Technology Toolkit in his classroom this term after successfully ‘pitching’ along with his pupils to use the iPads and iPod Touch. He will be sharing his experiences on his blog for others to see and build upon.

As an ICT coordinator, he also describes the challenge of encouraging those colleagues who don’t necessarily share the desire to be on the same learning journey using ICT. That challenge is of course, nothing new but it somehow seems all the more acute, in the present climate that we find ourselves with the almost unparalleled  opportunities to engage children in their learning using technology.

There are no simple solutions to avoiding the ‘same old…same old’ in 2011 but a healthy frustration with the status quo, a willingness to explore new technology and to share and learn with others is not a bad place to start…


Epilogue…

Great as it to see Chris Dicken blogging, he won’t thank me for this because he is a classic example of the Northants teacher. He gets on and produces great stuff at the chalkface and then assumes it is nothing special and that everyone is doing the same. Therefore, just to make him feel better then I’ll share his weaknesses too. He never stops taking photos except when he’s eating… as this short video shows during a scrumptious school dinner – South Korean style. I could have shown a video of him driving his Caterham but I made the editorial choice not to make him look that cool ;-)


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