Thursday Sept. 24th 2nd day #SLF09

The second and last day of the Scottish Learning Festival. I couldn't possibly write about all of it so I want to mention a few key items.

A/ Sessions were very interesting, it is wonderful to know that as educators we are all facing similar challenges in working with and creating the 21st Century learning atmosphere, I can't say the learner as they already exsist but they need to the skills to succeed, this is where we as educators have to step up.

B/ One of the great features of the conference was a wall they called Conference in Pictures, there was a gentleman there who talked to the participants and then in seconds creted a cartoon of their main idea and the thoughts they had about education. I took some great photos. He would be amazing to have at a pd session or when you are trying to capture the thoughts of many. I guess after the conference all the cartoons are then made into colour hardcopy posters that will appear on the SLF and LTS website.

C/ Video link with a school in Aberdeen, well I had a great time with students from a variety of schools. One of the schools had 2 level 6 and 2 level 7 students running their booth, they also had a live link with their school. It was great. I have connected with the teacher and am looking forward to making a connection with the one to one students at Corpus Christi.

D/ Intel, man they can be creative. I had the pleasure of chatting with this robot, yes we chatted, it came up to me and asked me all kinds of questions and then offered to do a spin for the camera, told me it liked my camera etc. I have a picture here but will later post a podcast of the conversation with the computer.

E/ Oatcakes, I was treated by a group of students who had travelled by plane from one of the north islands to join the conference. They told me all about their island, their school, traditional foods and they even taught me some Gaelic.

Wonderful day of learning and meeting new people. Interesting to me that the integration of technology is progressing but at the same time the issues of engaging students continues to be front and foremost. I was most pleased to hear that the ideas of assessment, peer assessment, feedback loops, critical thinking, analytical thinking are all being discussed in this Education system too.

A few pictures from the Day One at the SLF/conference..... #SLF09

Well the displays were definitely interesting, here are a few pics from the conference. Also wanted to note that they are using Twitter, Blogs and Flicker to collect all info from attendees on the conference. Interesting and very good way to use this new medium of social networking. Just have to add #SLF09 to blogs and twitters and they will scan and add to their website results.

Wednesday Sept. 23rd - Scottish Learning Festival and School Site Visits

First I have to say, I love SKYPE!!! Being able to connect and talk to my family while i am so far away ahs been an absolute dream. With the built in web camera I am able to see them at home and they are able to see me here.

Okay, on to my day. First I took a Taxi to St. Clare Catholic Primary which I discovered is located about 25 minutes car ride from city center. It is one of the last communities to the NW of Glasgow before you leave town. The school is located in a beautiful old community however it is a realatively new school.

It has many open bright spaces, two stories with a nursery that shares space. The nursery I have learned takes children from 6 weeks old, imagine teaching in an area where you can go visit babies on your break?

The school has @ 257 students from Level 1 to Level 6 which I seem to have translated from our K to Gr. 6 class. Level 1 is 4 and 5 year olds. The cool connection for me with this school is the name of the Headmaster which happens to be the identical name of my former principal at Corpus Christi. She showed me around the school and introduced me to the students. They were delightful and aside from uniforms and an accent just like my former students at Corpus Christi.

Technology is part of the Curriculum of Excellence here in Scotland and different schools are at different stages of working towards integrating but like us their main focus appears to be Student Engagement not just the technology. Building learners for the future, not just passing "standards".

I could write about St.Clare's for hours but I will move on to my next visit. I was honoured to see the children, speak with the staff and learn from them. I look forward to maintaining a connection with them in the future.

Notre Dame Secondary School is an all girls Catholic secondary that begins at about age 11 to age 18, our 7 to 12 grades. Here I was greeted by the Headmaster and Prinicpal Teacher, the headmaster and I could be mirror images when it comes to teaching style, beliefs and passion for teaching and learning. She invited me to join one of her classes where I had the opportunity to speak to the girls, I brought gifts from our MP Neil Brown of Alberta/ Canada pins (badges they call them here). They were thrilled to receive them and were very excited to hear about school in Canada. They then proceeded to show me some of their presentations for a News and Views series. The students choose the topic, research it, then compile in a format of their choice and present. The rest of the class provides feedback and then they edit, revisit etc. Topics interestingly are exactly what our students would want to research and discuss.

After getting used to the idea it is an all girls school I toured the building and took photos of some of the work and the spaces. This school like St. Clare believe in honouring and celebrating student work, student learning and student engagement. Although St. Clare is fairly new Notre Dame is over 100 years old. The building site is a historical site and although it went through some revising the original building had to be left as is and only restored. Original tile on the walls makes it a very unique building as do the people that walk the halls.

Again I could go on forever about Notre Dame but I will save some for my reflections later on. I proceeded via Taxi to the SECC center to attend the Scottish Learning Festival. This is on the River Clyde in a complex collection of buildings that are used for conferences, SECC standing for Scottish Exibition Conference Center. The "Armadillo" is where the Clyde Auditorium is located and where the keynote speakes presented. Including Carol Dwerk author of Mindsets.

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/slf/aboutslf/index.asp

Tuesday Sept. 22nd Edinburgh

Well with the death of my computer I was unable to receive the emails confirming some of my school visits. Thank goodness I was able to check on my ipod late Monday night and discovered that there was a need to reorganize my times. This gives me a chance to go to Edinburgh on Tuesday. I will venture to the trainstation again and be off for a 50 minute ride to see the castle and hopefully walk the Royal Mile while making my way to visit Holyrood Palace.

Ah, all is well. The train was amazing, the tour bus incredible and I was able to walk yet another hill to the fabulous Edinburgh Castle. Amazing is the only word I can us and it doesn't justify it. I felt an incredible urge to get emotional as I walked up to the entrance. I said a prayer and thanked God for getting me there as I went through picked up my audio tour and began my next adventure.

Technology, do we think of audio as technology? We should, these handy devices they give you (for a price) contain bits of information that have been recorded to provide background sounds to make you feel like you are there back in time, in the lulls you have beautiful Scottish music to listen too. Each location has a sign with a number that you enter if you should want more information. With the hundreds of people walking through the gate each hour, or less how could one possibly have tour guides ready to give all that information in all those languages, but alas technology to the rescue again and you smile as you see fellow tourists walking and smiling, looking and thinking and you realize they too are entranced by the voice on the recording and gathering up as much information as they can as they soak in the view and the ambiance of this magnificent place. The tour bus also provides an audio tour, they have taken it one step further, you plug your earphones into the wall of the bus and you have a choice of 8 languages, you hop on and off at your stops and the audio continues from where you left off. Palace of the Holyrood, also provides the audio and it gives you indepth knowledge of the working Palace. I had a fantastic day again and head home on the train, oh, one bit of technology wasn't working today to the dismay of a few individuals, the trainstation toliets have a machine that you need to put in 30 p inorder to proceed and someone's money got stuck making other que up which I don't think they really wanted to do. I found it quite interesting myself.

Off to see schools tomorrow and start the conference, can't wait!
Oh, that silly monkey Marty got into that last shot!

Monday Sept. 21st, Ontour to the Highlands/ Loch Ness!

So the computer is dead, I am using my ipod touch to find out where I need to meet my bus that I booked my online tour with from Calgary. It says it is in St.George's Square by the information center. Well I have to be there by 8:20, so Google Maps help me out which side of the square am I going to? Tada! Quick as a flick I know I have to go to the north side of the square. Now I can grab a coffee at Starbucks and get ready to go.

Timberbush tours picks us all up at 8:20. The bus has @ 22 people. No one exchanges money or tickets but our names are all on a list, I hear at least 5 other languages, internet again? I think so! Connecting us all from our respective countries to a tour company and an interest in seeing the Scottish Highlands and Loch Ness.

It is a windy and rainy day. (technology, nope, just the plain old typical weather!) The sun does break out and is wonderful at Urchardt Castle. The boat on Loch Ness is also wonderful as is the entire day as we travel up into the highlands and back down again to Glasgow. I can't help but wonder with the farming and the textiles, how much is traditional and how much is now using modern technology? Is this good or bad???

Stirling Castle Sept. 20th Sunday afternnoon

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I made my way to Queen Street Station, wow!
Quickly popped a credit card in the machine, picked Stirling, out came a ticket, put it in another digital scanner, the gates open, I am now on the platform, train leaves in 3 minutes, on the train I go. Arrive in Stirling 40 minutes later, pop the ticket back into another machine and the gates open and I am out on the streets of Stirling. I love it when technology works!
The streets and buildings of Stirling are simply amazing. I loved weaving my way through the center and up the very steep hill to make it to the castle. When I say steep I mean STEEP! The castle was amazing and the history behind it incredible. Many children, youngsters here today with their familie as there is a re-enactment today.

How long would it have taken them in the 17th century or earlier to make it from Glasgow to Stirling? Not 40 minutes on a high speed train like me! Nor would they have had the information I had about Stirling simply by access to google! Again our world is connected by time, space and travel.

Glasgow; Sunday Sept. 20

Today I ventured out to pick up my Heritage Explorer pass that I purchased online using that wonderful technology the "Internet". No real glitches except that when they say pick up at Glasgow Cathedral they should include the times that the actual person is there for pick up. I arrived at 10:00 am, to read that services would be held at 11:00 but that the Catherdral for tourists opens at 1:00 pm. So off I went a wondering, I looked around and discovered the Necropolis, (cemetery) well for a geneology person like me, forget the technology for a moment and look at these tombs. Amazing, the grandeur, the history, the magnitude! But then let's go back to how data bases are helping people to find their ancestry and trace lineage. It is because of that amazing history that we need technology to help preserve and make it available globally.

After that I went to the service which was very intersting and the cathedral is amazing. I then checked out St.Mungo's museum and returned promptly at 1:00 to get my pass. The attendant then informed me that she would not be open until 2:00 for the pass but I was welcome to check out the cathedral. Having just spent the am there, I said a prayer and made the best of it, I toured the level below which was fascinating. I received my pass at 2:00 and then walked down high street on my way to the train station to visit Stirling Castle.
See the Stirling entry for more about the technolgy that got me there!

Failure in Technology delays blog ....

So, everyone says, "make sure you bring your transformer and adapters", which I did. But for the life of me couldn't figure out how to make the laptop plug work as it has 3 pins and the transformer that changes the current only has two. I have all the right plug adaptors but how do I change the current. Well battery goes dead, and I wait, searching all kinds of stores. Then I stop at a computer store...... well unknown to me, the power adapter that comes with every laptop already converts the current! AH HAH! So I just had to buy a different half to my power cord and ta da, computer that is charging nicely!

So I have a swack of stuff to catch up on but first, just wanted to fill in the Technology part!

Scotland arrived and the technology was there for me!

So I have landed in Glasgow, wow! I still can't believe I am here but just listen to the talking and you know your not in Calgary any more. I arrived at my hotel and asked about using a phone card with the hotel phone, sorry but you will have to use a pay phone on the walking zone. But I have wi-fi with my room so have no fear, with in the first 1/2 hour I am chatting with Guy and Silena via Skype! How cool is that. They are just starting their saturday and I am ready to go find som dinner and call it a night. We had a great conversation, using the webcam Silena could give me feedback on the wallpaper in my room and see me. I even talked to my Mom. With in seconds even chatted with my sister. Now that is global connecting!



Marty is out of the suitcase and ready to go on an adventure tomorrow so we will podcast after. For now I will put up a few pics fo ryou to see!

Love this place already!

Melina

Amsterdam and Technology

Well after an amazing flight over the ocean and with the benefit of being placed in business class I have arrived in the wonderful Schiprol Airport in Amsterdam. It is taking everything in my power not to go outside and check it all out. It has been @ 19 years since I have been here.

Technology of course has changed as I quickly found an internet station where you can pay to use the wireless internet, or their pc's and printers. Touch screen kiosks to help you check your bookings, print boarding passes and even switch seats.

Amazing that most of this technology is taken for granted, I observed people speaking many languages on the plane using I pod touches, I pods, and watching their personal video screens that offered a wide variety of movies, TV shows, podcasts, and language courses along with music.

The fact that it is 3:35 in Calgary and all my family are asleep but I am wide awake and able to communicate through email, facebook and this blog is exciting. They will wake up and know I am okay as I board my next flight to continue the journey to Glasgow.

Stay tunned for the pictures, podcasts and information about Scotland. Ciao for now!
Melina

Sept. 13th 2009

This is the final week of preparation as I get ready to leave for the Scottish Learning Festival in Glasgow Scotland. I hope to blog and podcast about the adventure as the conference progresses. I hope you will join me as I explore the many uses of technology in Education while also exploring the unique heritage and culture of Scotland.

For podcasts please visit: http://littleapple.podomatic.com/