Education Review Tech Guide - Jul 2013

Issue 2 2013

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contents news 06 EduTECH conference

EDITORS Antonia Maiolo (02) 9963 8618 antonia.maiolo@apned.com.au

Teachers talk about technology

Amie Larter (02) 9936 8610 amie.larter@apned.com.au

08 Dispute over laptops

JOURNALIST Aileen Macalintal aileen.macalintal@apned.com.au

10 Skipping school

Who should pay?

08

PRODUCTION MANAGER Cj Malgo (02) 9936 8772 cj.malgo@apned.com.au

feature 14 Policy outline

Online education and the election

SUBEDITOR Jason Walker (02) 9936 8643 jason.walker@apned.com.au

18

SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES (02) 9936 8666 subs@apned.com.au PUBLISHED BY APN Educational Media (ACN 010 655 446) PO Box 488 Darlinghurst, NSW 1300 ISSN 1834-7967

tech gear 18 iPad alternatives

Low-cost options for schools

software 20 Manage learning

Free software connects teachers and students

security 23 ICT protection

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The importance of staying up-to-date

cloud 27 Emerging technology

What you need to know

30 Cloud computing The sky’s the limit

eClassroom 32 Blurring the lines

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12 High speed learning

Teachers give NBN an A+

GRAPHIC DESIGN Ryan Andrew Salcedo ryan.salcedo@apned.com.au

PUBLISHER’S NOTE © Copyright. No part of this publication can be used or reproduced in any format without express permission in writing from APN Educational Media. The mention of a product or service, person or company in this publication, does not indicate the publisher’s endorsement.

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the opinion of the publisher, its agents, company officers or employees.

New app tracks truants

35

Social media in the classroom

35 Embrace e-Learning

Creating tech-savvy teachers

ER Techguide

5

news

Conference

on technology inspires teachers The third annual EDUtech 2013 brought together industry educators from across the country and the world, to scope out opportunities in future learning. By Lara Caughey

T

housands attended EduTECH 2013 at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, to explore how educators can utilise new technologies in classrooms to enhance students’ learning experiences.

The event showcased more than 150 technology supplier exhibitors, featured more than 50 keynote speakers and five master classes discussing topics such as the integration of new technologies into teaching practices.

EduTECH is Australia’s largest education technology exhibition and it provided attendees and delegates the opportunity to collaborate and discuss issues across the entire education technology sector from K-12 education to corporate and government learning.

The exhibition is now in its third year running, with the consistent popularity of the K-12 curriculum, and brought teachers, industry figure heads and decision makers together to bridge the gap between different learning communities themed around utilising new technology.

Conversations surrounding the digital world including e-Learning tools, virtual learning spaces, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), mobile phones, social media, Cloud computing, 3D modeling tools and learning apps were on the lips of attendees.

Internationally acclaimed expert on creativity and innovation Sir Ken Robinson, PhD and author of Out of Our Minds and The Element, was a guest speaker from America. He spoke about creativity and the use of technology in the classroom.

6

ER Techguide

“Technology is transforming the way we work, how we think and how we communicate,” he said.

“There are tools at our disposal now which make it possible to teach and learn in ways which were not possible a few years ago making it possible to connect beyond our traditional learning groups; and giving us access to ideas and materials we didn’t have before.

“The path of education has already being reshaped. Teaching as a profession has to tailor strategies and curriculum to the particular needs and attitudes of individual students using technology.”

Europe’s leading online education expert Professor Stephen Heppell said technology was inspiring new physical and virtual learning in schools and also in universities.

“Learning spaces have become bigger, more agile and multi-faceted,” he said.

“The whole thing here is to build enough agility to restore and teach good ideas.

Online, it is really important to create those now moments.”

Professor Heppell forecast the future landscape of the learning development culture was bound to change. “For sure, there will be global and commercial systems in place. It is hard to imagine we’ll still have an Australian or English curriculum because children will be working in global systems,” he said.

“We’re also seeing the power of people crowd sourcing, sharing and sourcing, and it is an opportunity for people to get together and build something pretty special.”

Founder and chief executive officer of Edinburgh-based company NoTosh, Ewan McIntosh, explored the impact emerging technology and trends such as BYOD are having on the way students learn.

Senior partner and founder of US-based November Learning Alan November spoke about children wanting to have a global voice. “I would say to teachers don’t be shy, build your global network and see what other teachers are doing,” he said.

“Teachers should get a website, then promote their website through Twitter and publish students’ work to let them have an audience. Through technology, teachers can harness a huge amount of data quickly which can help them learn about the unique learning needs of their students.”

Exhibitor Click View Queensland regional manager Peter Crooke said the event was extremely important to the emerging learning environment in the educational sector.

“Digital engagement is only going to gather more momentum,” he said. “This event has brought together classroom educators and decision makers in the e-Learning sector.

“This conference was all about the pulse of schools and it is the best environment to bring so many industry figure heads together.”

In 2014, EduTECH is set to be bigger and better, with a total of seven congresses, 200+ exhibitors and 3500+ attendees. Sugara Mitra, educational researcher and winner of 2013 TED prize, has already been confirmed as a keynote speaker for next year. n

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The latest news and resources for schools and teachers At Education Review we pride ourselves on being at the forefront of ever changing teaching practices.

We provide an independent source of news, and cover the issues relevant to teachers and the classroom giving an informative, practical and insightful view into day to day life in schools.

• Latest updates in technology and enhanced teaching strategies • Comprehensive coverage of a diverse range of topics • VET in schools and higher education • What’s happening in public and private schools • Analysis of major issues facing the education sector • Weekly news update emails.

Enjoy the convenience of having Education Review delivered directly to your door. Your subscription also includes 4 issues of Education Review Techguide which serves to demystify new technology and present case studies of ‘best practice’ solutions in our schools.

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e b i r c s b u S today C omprehensive and diverse range of topics  I ndependent and insightful articles making our publications essential reading ll our websites feature interactive areas A where users can comment directly on the conversation and debate the topics that face your industry, today and in the future elivered free of charge, and you will  D also receive weekly online updates and special content.

APN Educational Media is a division of APN News and Media, serving the education and health sectors. It has a stable of publications, which combine to cover all aspects of secondary, tertiary and further education, together with a range of related professions and careers.

Using the latest technology to address this range of niche publishing markets, the company has access through its books, magazines, newspapers and the internet to virtually every teacher, university student, academic and health professional in the country.

APN Educational Media has identified the importance and dynamism of the education and health sectors and is growing and adapting with these industries, working in successful partnership with a large range of educational and health institutions and industry bodies.

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news

Union takes VIC govt laptop scheme to court A plan to make Victorian teachers pay for work laptops out of their own pockets has gone to the federal court.

By Aileen Macalintal

T

he Australian Education Union is suing Victoria’s education department over the program “Notebooks for Teachers and Principals”, which rents laptops to state school teachers, instructors and principals.

AEU Victoria deputy president Justin Mullaly said the tools of the trade should be provided to the teachers and principals for free. “The requirement for teachers and principals to make a payment for what is an essential device so that they can work with students using ICT, along with a whole wide range of admin duties, is one that should no longer be continued.

“It’s simply not fair for teachers and 8

ER Techguide

principals to have to pay for a tool of the trade,” Mullaly said, adding that teachers cannot keep the laptop after it’s paid for.”

“We are pursuing this through the courts and it’s no doubt a real issue for principals and teachers in Victoria,” he said.

Aside from ceasing laptop deductions, the AEU wants the education department to return with interest all deducted laptop payments made since July 1, 2009.

Mullaly could not say how many teachers are expected to be paid back, or how much the government will have to pay, as the case is still underway.

A spokesman for the education department said he could not comment on matters currently before the courts.

“However, the department is constantly working to provide schools, teachers and students with access to the best possible resources to support teaching and learning for ICT,” he said.

The spokesman said this includes

curriculum computer panels with competitive products and pricing.

According to their website, the Victorian government has established authorised suppliers of laptops and services at discounted prices.

Prices range from $420 to $1200 for categories that include entry level notebook, standard level notebook, enhanced level notebook, and Apple notebook.

The department leases laptops for cycles of 42 months to those who want to contribute towards the costs.

“The program supports and encourages principals and teachers to effectively integrate the use of learning technologies into the classroom and administrative practices of schools.

“Principals and teachers taking part in the program are expected to demonstrate a commitment to ongoing professional development in the use of learning technologies,” according to their website.

Other resources to support Victorian government schools include central provision of a specialist technical support, licensing and software from Microsoft, Symantec and Adobe for secondary schools, filtered internet, scalable broadband fibre service and ICT funding. n

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news

Tracking

truants P

Students wagging school can now be tracked with a new app.

By Aileen Macalintal

10

ER Techguide

arents and schools can now use GPS to locate truant students via their smartphones. The app uses GPS to display the child’s location on a dynamic Google Map. The parent can also use Google’s Street View feature to see the student’s location in 360-degree street level imagery.

Mark Fortunatow, CEO of MGM Wireless, said more than 1000 schools nationwide currently use an MGM SMS solution for attendance management.

As of June 3, more than 900,000 parents can download the free app for Apple and android gadgets.

“MGM Pinpoint is a complete solution that helps schools manage the critical and complex area of student attendance management,” said Fortunatow.

Once a student is absent without an explanation, the school management system will take note of this and will initiate

an automatic process. An SMS text message about the student’s unexplained absence is sent to each parent’s phone.

When the parent enters a PIN and clicks the link in the SMS message, it connects to the MGM Pinpoint app, which should be installed by a parent.

The software will only report tracking information from the time students leave for school in the morning until they are expected home in the afternoon.

“We have involved school principals in the development of all our innovations for school attendance management using SMS and mobile devices. This includes our customers in education departments, public schools and independent denominational and non-denominational schools,” said Fortunatow.

He said the schools who attended the app’s launch at Methodist Ladies College in Sydney in April were highly receptive.

“Their feedback is that it’s a tool that takes attendance management to a whole new level. It meets the expectations of parents in a technological age where there is high prevalence of news stories about missing children, and therefore a higher perceived risk,” he said.

He also reported that independent of MGM Wireless, Flinders University

news

professors and students have analysed the ways in which MGM Pinpoint has the potential to completely change the education sector’s approach to attendance management.

“Like any technical solutions, there are positives and negatives,” said Rob Livingstone, a fellow at the University of Technology at Sydney.

Livingstone said there is no risk of access to private information relating to individual students. However, data storage could be a technical risk in terms of how the information is secured.

“You only need to look at some of the major security breaches from some of the well-known systems and applications,” he said, “Wherever you have information sitting on a database there could be intentional or unintentional release of information,” citing deliberate attacks from a cybercriminal or organisation as an example.

Another concern he raised is the effectiveness of the app. “At the heart of it, I’m not sure how a phone would actually be seen as a fool-proof way of getting around the truancy issue because the kids could switch the phone off.”

Livingstone went on to say that

a number of schools have rules about switching off phones to avoid distracting students from study.

He said, “If a child does deliberately wish to be a truant they just need to leave the phone on their locker or hand their phones to a friend while they can be truant, and do whatever they want to do, which paradoxically could increase the risk, should something happen to the child who is now without a phone who is not able to make an emergency phone call.”

Trust is one of the broader issues, he said. When Livingstone asked his daughter how she would feel about the app, she told him she would have seen it as showing a complete lack of trust.

Commenting on the privacy issues surrounding not only Pinpoint but other such technologies, he said it is very common for IT providers to state privacy policies upfront.

Providers are also cautious about security privacy, saying they do not sell information.

However, Livingstone said, “The very last thing on their customer privacy policies is they are subject to change at any time, and we encourage visitors to visit and review the site regularly for any changes.” n

Keeping it private

“MGM Wireless upholds the highest standards of student privacy, safety and welfare measures,” said the company. Here, they offer some useful information: 1. MGM Pinpoint links are generated only if the student is missing without an explanation given to the school and only if an Absence SMS is sent 2. Absence SMS texts are only sent to the nominated primary parent contact 3. Parents use a unique, secure PIN code to gain access to the location 4. The location link is unique – it is only available for the day of issue and only during school hours, e.g., from the time the student leaves home to the time they may arrive back after co-curricular activities

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ER Techguide

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news

Superfast

broadband

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learning A study conducted by National Broadband Network shows that school children are reaping important educational benefits from an NBN connection.

By Aileen Macalintal

T

he study involved NBN-connected schools, including Willunga High School, South Australia and Presbyterian Ladies College, Armidale, NSW. At Willunga High School, students who are connected to the NBN both at home and school moved from delivering C-grade work to achieving A-grade results in the course of eight weeks.

Principal Janelle Reimann said, “The NBN has facilitated a revolutionary change in the delivery of content and co-contribution of learning input. Students who used to hand in C-grade work are now producing A-grade work.”

Kate Cornick, general manager of education at NBN Co, said this is the result of more collaborative learning approaches which teachers have adopted through the reliable high-speed broadband connection.

Cornick said teachers can engage and stimulate today’s tech-savvy students via the NBN with visualisation tools, such as 3D video, to help them grasp difficult concepts or view realistic environments.

“Services provided over the NBN will open up better learning opportunities for all Australians and can help equip all our students with high-quality skills for the 21st century,” she said.

Teachers were surveyed on the potential value of the NBN in schools. They were asked how the NBN may improve their own professional development, and how it will enable them to teach in more powerful ways. They were also asked how high12

ER Techguide

speed broadband could increase the quality of students’ work.

“The results were overwhelmingly positive,” she said, as 96 per cent of teachers said the NBN may help students achieve Kate Cornick more and increase their work quality, while 86 per cent said, “it would help them to teach in more powerful ways.

“Strong anecdotal evidence provided by teachers also suggests that the NBN may greatly benefit students’ learning and motivation, both in the classroom and at home,” said Cornick.

Afterwards, the teachers integrated the NBN into lessons and homework activities.

PLC Armidale students were able to connect with experts at UNSW’s Museum of Human Disease to see dissections of healthy and diseased hearts via HD videoconferencing.

Cornick said, “Today’s students are tech-savvy – they are constantly collaborating outside the classroom via social media and other forums and they demand the same level of collaboration and potential for self-directed learning in the classroom.”

The NBN has given teachers the potential to meet this demand through

immersive and interactive learning experiences that spark students’ curiosity and enthusiasm in science, inspiring them to pursue excellence in the field, she said.

The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy said, “The NBN will help remove many of the barriers to education such as distance, time and cost.

“This is particularly significant for people living in regional and remote areas, who may not be able to access the specialist training that is available in larger cities.”

“The government also understands that education no longer stops at the school gate. That’s why it is important to have the NBN rolled out to all Australians.

It will help extend learning to the home and workplace and provide everyone with richer and more flexible education opportunities,” the department said.

For example, Year 10 students in Willunga (SA), Gunghalin (ACT) and homes in northern Tasmania are taking astrophysics classes over the NBN, delivered by the John Monash Science School in Melbourne. The Sydney Opera House will also use the NBN to conduct virtual performing arts workshops led by companies such as Bell Shakespeare and The Australian Ballet, and eligible new migrants are participating in a trial of highquality English language tuition through virtual classes.

The nationwide rollout is due to be completed by 2021. n

news

June 201 3

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13

feature

Policies

in education

The two major parties have begun outlining their education policies for the September election, with frustratingly few details.

by Fran Molloy

14

ER Techguide

I

n the lead-up to the federal election in September, education policy will be under the collective microscope – but detail from both parties remains a little light-on, a frustrating situation for schools needing to plan the future of funding for their technology programs.

But the lack of detail won’t be such an issue when schools have more flexibility, according to the federal opposition.

“We would like to see a system of schooling in Australia where schools are provided by government with as much flexibility and autonomy as possible over their teaching budgets, ICT budgets, and extracurricular offerings,” Opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne told Tech Guide.

Although the Opposition’s education policy has not been spelled out or costed, all indications are that it will follow the current funding model, with a yet-to-be confirmed indexed increase to cover inflation.

“The current funding model does work, it’s not

a broken model with the current indexation in place, that would be a $6 billion increase to schools over the next funding quadrennium, that’s what we’ll do,” Pyne told the ABC’s Fran Kelly in February.

Opposition policy Decision-making on technology will also be relegated to school level, said Pyne.

“It has never been the Coalition’s policy to mandate that every child must be provided with a laptop computer (the 1:1 ratio), as we believe that each school should be provided with as many decision-making opportunities as possible to determine how government funding is to be best spent in order to support their individual needs,” he said.

“Labor cut $600 million in the last budget for the computers in schools program. The federal Coalition has always warned Labor this program would be very expensive to maintain, and the program blew out by $1.2 billion.

feature

engagement in ‘rich’ constructivist learning activities,” he said.

Based on this, it seems unlikely that initiatives such as the ‘flipped classroom’ will have wide support from the opposition.

“Evidence suggests that it is clear that some teaching strategies are working for students, while others are not,” Pyne said.

“Evidence suggests that Australia went through a major change to the way we teach in schools about thirty years ago, but that this change has had negative impacts,” he said.

“This was highlighted in a National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy in 2005 and in a major report by Australian Council of Education Research into teaching practises. What this research tells us is that pedagogical approaches to teaching have changed – in both teacher training courses and in the delivery of effective literacy programs in our primary schools.”

He says that student-centred constructivist pedagogy approaches have dominated teaching in primary education at the same time as there has been a decline in literacy and numeracy standards.

“These reports concluded that teaching in the early years, should be based on what experts refer to as ‘explicit instruction’ approaches rather than ‘child-centred’ learning.”

Gonski and government policy

“State governments or schools in the non-government sector may or may not decide to continue the 1:1 ration of computers in their high schools beyond 2013.”

While decentralisation is a key philosophy for the opposition in education, Pyne was keen to note that his party was supportive of online learning.

“Teaching strategies have long generated debate and ideological controversy, especially as to what constitutes ‘best practice’. I am not suggesting that simply one approach to teaching will meet the needs of all students. One size does not fit all. We certainly support online learning.”

He believes that teacher-up-front classroom instruction for basic literacy needs to come first. “But there is a strong case that students should have the basic knowledge and skills (best provided initially by direct or explicit) instruction before June 201 3

Pyne is on record as saying that the Gonski reforms were “unworkable and grotesquely expensive”.

But the federal government’s Gonski reforms got a much-needed boost when NSW premier Barry O’Farrell signed an agreement with prime minister Gillard at the end of April in a deal worth an estimated $5 billion dollars for NSW schools.

O’Farrell, who had previously decided to cut $1.7 billion from the NSW education budget over four years, has made a pragmatic and widely popular decision to gain an additional $3.25 billion of commonwealth funding, and at the same time distinguish himself from his more ideologically-driven counterparts in the federal Liberal party.

The National Plan for School Improvement based on the Gonski reforms is the keystone of the ALP’s education policy, but getting state premiers to sign up remains a challenge.

A spokesperson for the minister for education, Peter Garrett, said, “The National Plan for School Improvement will deliver a fairer approach to funding along with new education reforms that will benefit every school in Australia and ensure our students get the support they need.

“Under our plan, extra money will help schools buy new curriculum resources and pay for modern technology, which might

include equipment like Smart boards, computers, iPads and tablets so students can capitalise on the NBN.” While technology isn’t specified in funding models, its importance continues to be highlighted in the current government’s rhetoric.

“It’s critical our young people understand technology in all its forms so they can fully participate in the global economy and get the high skilled, highly paid jobs of the future,” said the spokesperson.

Recurrent funding Angelo Gavrielatos, the federal president of the Australian Education Union and one of the key drivers of the ‘I give a Gonski’ campaign, says that there’s no detailed reference to online learning in the government’s current education policy, but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to be funded.

“We need to appreciate that Gonski money is recurrent money,” he says.

Unlike fixed-term programs like the Digital Education Revolution, he continues, schools will have a reliable funding model to allow them to plan and implement online learning if that’s what they choose to do.

“Ultimately, the school funding reform announced by the federal government and as signed up to by the O’Farrell government will deliver, in NSW alone, an additional $5 billion over six years,” Gavrielatos says.

“Those moneys will be targeted to address disadvantage. Schools will be able to implement a wide range of successful programs, including where appropriate, online programs, to provide every child with a greater opportunity to succeed.

There’s no doubt that schools will be looking at a variety of programs – extension programs, remedial programs – all of which will assist children to better reach their full potential.”

Not enough for small schools?

Chris Watt is the federal secretary of the Independent Education Union of Australia, which represents Catholic and independent school teachers.

He says that although the Gonski reforms will deliver additional resources where they are most needed, it won’t be enough for many schools to extend what they are doing into further online teaching because they have other more critical obligations.

“My concern is that a number of lowerfee, less-resourced schools will struggle to meet the resource demands just to meet the national school improvement plan,” he says.

“They would have no chance of doing any new or even continued work around the online learning stuff because while there might be some cost benefit over time, setting it up, having models that are ER Techguide

15

feature

sustainable and workable, and having the technology to support the work, just won’t be in the realm for a number of schools.”

However, that assumption was challenged by the spokesperson for minister Garrett, who said, “The National Plan for School Improvement funding arrangements include several loadings on top of the per student amount. One of the loadings is based on school size to ensure smaller schools get the money and support they need to provide the highest quality education.”

A full national curriculum, with bipartisan support Norm Hart is president of the Australian Primary Principals Association (APPA) and says that both parties have supported the introduction of the Australian curriculum.

“Primary principals are happy that we now have a set of curriculum documents that are accessible to all teachers, though we continue to worry that there is too much in that curriculum,” he said.

Online learning needs to be integrated into existing core curriculum deliverables rather than being an add-on, he said.

“We need to be making some decisions at a higher level than the classroom teacher about what gets left out so that we can have a reasonable amount of

time left to do the work of culture and socialisation that primary schools need to do in every classroom,” he said.

The spokesperson for Garrett said, “Under our National Plan for School Improvement, teachers will have access to comprehensive online resources to support the delivery of the Australian Curriculum.

“Digital teaching and learning curriculum resources are hosted in the National Digital Learning and Resources Network (NDLRN) and can be accessed directly using Scootle.”

Nearly all Australian teachers can already currently access Scootle directly, with those in government schools in NSW and QLD coming on board shortly.

Hart says that technology in classrooms is a core issue for primary school principals and APPA made submissions

to the senate enquiry into the NBN, as schools have some special considerations under the NBN rollout.

“Primary schools are sometimes the only institution in an area needing high-level internet activity,” he says.

“Systemic schools require connection to the system, teachers need professional learning and students need to connect to the world in a way that students in other parts of Australia just take for granted,” he says.

“We’ve got some really special needs in primary schools around online learning that I think need to be recognised and make sure that, at the very time when connection to the Internet could lower the disadvantage of remoteness, we don’t exacerbate that disadvantage having schools that can’t connect at the same level as schools in the city.” n

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The latest news and resources for schools and teachers At Education Review we pride ourselves on being at the forefront of ever changing teaching practices.

We provide an independent source of news, and cover the issues relevant to teachers and the classroom giving an informative, practical and insightful view into day to day life in schools.

• Latest updates in technology and enhanced teaching strategies • Comprehensive coverage of a diverse range of topics • VET in schools and higher education • What’s happening in public and private schools • Analysis of major issues facing the education sector • Weekly news update emails.

Enjoy the convenience of having Education Review delivered directly to your door. Your subscription also includes 4 issues of Education Review Techguide which serves to demystify new technology and present case studies of ‘best practice’ solutions in our schools.

subs@apned.com.au | www.educationreview.com.au

e b i r c s b u S today C omprehensive and diverse range of topics  I ndependent and insightful articles making our publications essential reading ll our websites feature interactive areas A where users can comment directly on the conversation and debate the topics that face your industry, today and in the future elivered free of charge, and you will  D also receive weekly online updates and special content.

APN Educational Media is a division of APN News and Media, serving the education and health sectors. It has a stable of publications, which combine to cover all aspects of secondary, tertiary and further education, together with a range of related professions and careers.

Using the latest technology to address this range of niche publishing markets, the company has access through its books, magazines, newspapers and the internet to virtually every teacher, university student, academic and health professional in the country.

APN Educational Media has identified the importance and dynamism of the education and health sectors and is growing and adapting with these industries, working in successful partnership with a large range of educational and health institutions and industry bodies.

APN Educational Media is not just covering the education and health industries - it is a part of them.

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ER Techguide

tech gear

There are a variety of tablets for schools to choose from, and while iPads dominate the education tablet market, many schools are opting for alternatives.

By Fran Molloy

A

s cloud applications in education become more appealing, many teachers and their ICT advisors are finding that tablets are the ideal device for students to use in class; they’re portable, intuitive to use and prices are dropping fast.

It’s hard to believe that it was only three years ago that Apple started the tablet revolution with their launch of the first iPad in April 2010.

The iPad is now on its fourth generation, but major IT manufacturers now offer tablets on both Android and Windows platforms, with the Microsoft surface (launched late 2012), which boasts a detachable keyboard, now also a serious contender.

Oakhill tablets a success Jeannette James teaches at Oakhill College, an independent De La Salle high school in Castle Hill, NSW. She says that the college has a one-to-one environment for Years 7–11, with Year 12 on a BYOD arrangement.

“We integrated tablets last year in Years 7 and 9, and this year, Years 7, 9 and 11,” she says.

The school chose the Acer Iconia 700a tablets, while 2013’s Year 8 and 10 are on the second of a two-year contract for an older model, the Acer Iconia 500a, both running Android.

Rethinking the Nexus Graham Wegner is the assistant principal – learning technologies at Woodville Gardens primary and early childhood June 201 3

government school in South Australia.

Woodville bought twenty Google Nexus 7-inch tablets, which are about the same size as the iPad mini, and include wi-fi, a front-facing camera and other similar features to the iPad such as a microphone, GPS, a gyroscope and accelerometer, and run on Android.

Initially, the decision seemed a good one. “Our tech support got them connected fairly easily using an app called ProxyDroid,” he says.

The android tablets seemed to be less hassle than the iPads, he said, which dropped their internet connection easily.

Because the school was on a Windows network, network log-on dialogue boxes would pop up on the iPads – an ongoing frustration – and the Nexus tablets were just $250 each, whereas the iPad mini was around $400.

“Our upper primary classes are using them as just-in-time devices for research, quick note taking, video reflections and literacy support,” he says.

“I wouldn’t use them as a one-to-one device, but the one-to-one concept is not really going to work in our school community – the concept that works for us is the right device for the right task.”

A couple of months later though, Wegner says that the Android devices have lost their shine. “We have had issues with the Nexus 7’s having to be re-imaged each time they receive updates, as it wipes out the ProxyDroid app that connects them to the school network,” he says.

“Having the devices sitting in the IT office waiting to be “fixed” is not that conducive to good learning use – so in that context, iPads are what we are going to be spending our budget on for this year.”

Android market yet to mature Apple continues to dominate the education app offerings, says Michael Graffin, a relief primary teacher in WA who recently completed a project with Edith Cowan University developing online learning resources for teachers.

“As much as I like Android (I won’t touch an iPhone), there is no comparison between the educational app offerings and usability of the iPads,” he says.

“The Apple iOS system has far superior apps for educational use – in terms of creative and thinking apps.”

Graffin is not a fan of the ‘closed system’ of Apple but says when recently employed to develop learning resources for teachers, he came to the conclusion that it may be a little soon for most schools to make use of Android tablets.

“I was asked to explore the Google Play (android store) as part of the research –

and was horrified at both the poor quality of the apps, and the lack of quality apps for educational use,” he says.

It’s not just the apps that are a problem, he says. “Some issues I see with the widespread use of Android are the sheer number of devices, issues with managing them in DET enterprise networks (which are a nightmare already), and the lack of quality educational apps.”

Windows tablets and hybrid devices a good option Nathan Beveridge is the ICT training and classroom technologies specialist for Brisbane-based non-systemic Anglican schools St Aidans and St Margarets, which share many resources.

The schools use Microsoft SharePoint, a web application platform which functions like a collaborative version of the Microsoft Office software suite.

Because the school uses Windows products extensively, Windows tablets are a natural choice, Beveridge says, and the Microsoft Surface tablet was looking like a good bet, but the timing of their technology purchase closed that off as an option.

“We need to get things started at the end of the year, ready to roll out for the new year,” he said.

Windows 8 is also a little soon off the blocks for comfort. “While we don’t believe in taking years to move to a new operating system, we’re a bit wary of deploying en masse before it is stable,” he said.

“We would have to do a bit of a pilot first to avoid chaos if we found some essential things for us broke.”

The main reason Windows 8 devices missed the boat for St Aidans and St Margarets was the timing of the release of models, Beveridge says.

With the new system to be released in October 2013, it took too long for vendor pricing to be confirmed. “We couldn’t budget properly for them and delivery dates were so unclear or so late that we could never have done a rollout in January and we’re not in a position to do a rollout later in the year.”

His team evaluated some Windows 8 tablets for students and other models for teachers, but ended up selecting a Windows 7 Dell laptop-tablet hybrid that allows the screen to be pivoted and folded back so that it operates like a tablet, without losing the full-computing capabilities.

There are lots of considerations that influence choices, such as the shorter battery life trade-off when choosing a thin form factor computer or a model that has ‘captured batteries’ not easily replaced.

“The Windows 8 tablets might get a look-in for our next rollout – but who knows what will be available by then?” n ER Techguide

19

software

Edmodo uncovered A

s the management of student learning becomes an increasingly online affair, more and more Australian schools are looking for software solutions that help them efficiently administer the business of education.

Known as learning management systems (LMS), there are a number on the market. One that is rapidly growing in popularity here in Australia is Edmodo – a web based LMS that claims to connect teachers with students, administrators and parents across an intuitive, webbased interface.

What’s more, it’s free, making it attractive for schools looking to keep a lid on their technology budget.

Australia is second only to the US in terms of the number of teachers and students now using Edmodo, designed specifically for the K–12 classroom and accessible from any internet-enabled device.

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ER Techguide

Teachers can manage student records, deliver assessment and homework tasks, track student progress, communicate (either individually or as a group) with students, colleagues and parents, run online class discussions, polls and quizzes, manage deadlines for set tasks and interact with learners across the globe.

Edmodo in Australian schools The fact that Edmodo can be used on iPads and iPhones as well as desktop and laptop computers was a drawcard for Gilroy Catholic College in Castle Hill in Sydney.

“We are a one-to-one school and we have about 1300 devices on site every day,” says leader of e-Learning, Monique Dalli.

“The school was actually looking to create our own LMS from scratch; however the comparative cost and time commitment made this prohibitive. Edmodo has been a great solution because it does everything we need.”

Dalli is the school’s Edmodo

Learning management systems are increasingly popular. Now comes one that’s free to use.

By Cathy Wever

administrator, a role she says is made easier by the support offered. “Despite it being free-of-charge, the team at Edmodo provide excellent support. Their response times have been very fast if I’ve ever had a query.”

Edmodo is accessed an average of eight times per day by each student at Gilroy Catholic College.

Dalli says its ease of use means it’s can be used across all subject areas, to varying degrees.

“We even have a group of students who have started an advanced iPad group on Edmodo – it’s a forum where they can play around with scripting and coding.

They are working towards making an app as a Year 7 group.”

Lessons in social media Dalli also likes the opportunity Edmodo provides for students to learn about social networking in a controlled environment.

“Edmodo looks and feels a lot like Facebook, which students love. Social networking is a growing issue for teenagers because they are often not taught how to use it. The teacher can view everything, so it helps students learn how to behave online and how to think carefully about what they post – important lessons in the digital age!”

At Davidson High School on Sydney’s northern beaches, english teacher and Edmodo guru, Bianca Hewes agrees the program helps students hone their social networking etiquette.

“It’s social media with training wheels,” she says. Hewes began using Edmodo when there were just 500,000 users worldwide. Now, there are almost 19 million.

“Edmodo has grown organically, responding to the needs of teachers.

It’s very user-friendly unlike some LMS products, which can be clunky and also very expensive.”

software

Making international connections Hewes says she’s not excited by technology “just for the sake of it”.

“What excites me is making teaching and learning more effective and this is what Edmodo does.

It’s helped me deliver the curriculum in more engaging ways and connect with students and teachers around the world.

“Last year, one of my classes connected with an English class in San Francisco who were studying the same novel – The Catcher in the Rye. The students discussed themes, made and shared movies, sent and responded to questions … it really enhanced their understanding of the text and was fun at the same time.”

The ability to connect easily to students in countries across the Edmodo network means teachers can use the program to develop students’ intercultural understanding – one of the three general capabilities within the Australian Curriculum.

While at Gilroy Catholic College, parents use Edmodo to view their child’s progress or to contact teachers, at Davidson High School the parents are not involved.

“Parents already have lots of ways to contact teachers including email, phone and face-to-face.”

June 201 3

Managing challenges Hewes says in her early days of using Edmodo, the NSW Department of Education would sometimes block the site on its server.

“Now, with a large Edmodo community across NSW schools, the Department knows it’s not a social media site and knows not to block it.”

Another challenge schools can face if using Edmodo is that it features American groups and communities that are not relevant to Australian students. Schools also need to be mindful of the significant bandwidth required to enable hundreds of students to use the web all at once.

Nambour Christian College in Queensland is using Edmodo as a stopgap LMS while the school transitions to Microsoft Sharepoint.

“As well as being used in classrooms, sports coaches are using it to share tips and tricks and deliver game fixture announcements,” says digital learning coordinator, Adam King.

“Edmodo has been very helpful in terms of informing us about what we want Sharepoint to be able to do.”

King says once Sharepoint is introduced, Nambour Christian School will move away from Edmodo.

“I find it’s a bit limited and not good for digital assessment. Students can use it to hand in their assignments, but for teachers to receive and correct the work it’s not so seamless.”

The company recently launched Edmodo Apps (only in the US) where teachers can access both free and paid apps that integrate with the platform. n

ER Techguide

21

security

The issues of

ICT security

Technology is increasing so rapidly that it’s hard to keep up to date with its real effect in schools across the country.

By Louis White

I

t took about 75 years for the telephone to connect to 50 million people. It took television 13 years to reach that same size audience. Today, it takes a popular iPhone app about 10 days.

The transition from using technology as a leisure device for fun and ease of communication to one that most companies totally rely on for every transaction has evolved at a rate faster than anyone could have expected.

The Australian government allocated $12.9 billion in 2012-13 for Australian schools in the May 2012 budget – $8.3 billion for non-government and $4.6 billion for government. This has been planned to increase even further in the future.

But of Australia’s 9529 schools (according to ABS stats in 2009), most fight independently to secure and manage their IT equipment and security. Most schools now have a dedicated IT person in charge of equipment and some teachers double up with their IT teaching and sourcing hardware and software.

Every year, there is new hardware and software on the market and ABS data reveals that almost 80 per cent of families have internet access at home.

More and more schools accommodate a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy, which in some ways benefits the schools as it makes it cheaper, but on the other hand, causes more IT security issues.

“It is a nightmare to control,” Geoff Johnson, a retired secondary school IT teacher, says.

“I have worked in both England and Australia and normally you have only one person trying to teach, buy equipment, learn it for yourself, teach other teachers how to use it, teach the children – where there can be a great learning disparity with both hardware and software – while keeping an eye on what is changing in the market.

June 201 3

“You try your best to put IT security at the forefront of your mind, but it is very hard to keep everything at bay because it doesn’t take much for someone to search for something innocent, and then for all hell to break loose. You also can’t control what children are searching for at home and telling their friends.

“Teachers are doing the best job that they can under difficult circumstances.

A lot of schools have minimum budgets and are overly-stretched when it comes to IT resources. In the poorer schools you are relying on hardware to be supplied and that is not always compatible – especially if you have Macs and PCs in your school. I think every school does their best when trying to enact appropriate IT security measures, but it is not always the first priority.”

The problems will only manifest into the future. According to a white paper entitled The Future of Knowledge Work by Tim Hansen, Intel’s technology strategist, “... technology will continue to shrink, disappearing into the fabric of our life,

eventually becoming so small that it will be embedded in our clothes and environment”.

Good luck trying to manage that if you are an IT manager or teacher. Most schools have small IT budgets with very limited security settings on them. Most school IT security consists of basic email and web security combined with firewall from a tier-2 vendor.

“At present, I doubt that schools can keep up,” Carlo Minassian, founder and chief executive officer of earthwave, says.

“Let me give one example. We are an advanced cybersecurity firm that protects critical infrastructure and many other high-level IT targets, yet despite this we still manually disconnect our own web cams and microphones from our highly secure computers after every use. Why? Because doing this is the last line of defence against a hacker who has managed to gain control over your camera.

“My sense is that most schools aren’t taking even this basic precaution despite how common it is for hackers to gain control of cameras and microphones without you ER Techguide

23

security

knowing it – so in other words, students could be being filmed without anyone knowing it. And, frankly, that is probably just the tip of the iceberg. To keep up with necessary technology security measures, you basically need to stay ahead of the hackers and those people intent on gaining control over your systems.

“The current climate, especially in Australia, is one in which most people, educators included, only have a vague idea of the cyber threats that are out there, let alone the comprehensive education and steps needed to confront these threats.”

Earthwave is a privately owned Australian company, with operations in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, which specialises in network security management through integrated offerings.

“The principal cannot simply delegate security to network and system administrators – he or she needs to be involved because the organisation’s most critical assets are on the line,” Minassian says.

“Data administrators can reposition themselves so that instead of being obstacles to a school’s progress, they can help all data owners within the school get the right budgets for the initiatives that matter. IT and security managers need to adopt a similar approach to help

close the gap between the importance of cybersecurity and the attention and respect it receives from everyone in the organisation.”

There is also the issue of online bullying, which is very hard for schools to monitor, even when schools have set up ‘safe’ chatrooms. Social media sites also can’t be controlled. Where does the duty of care start and stop with schools when it comes to IT security?

“A major concern to the school and parents alike is the ever increasing occurrence off on-line bullying using applications such as instant messaging, chat and of course social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter,” Mark Veitch, chief executive officer of Defining Social, says. “The duty of care by schools also extends to the teachers and staff who are also targets of bullying, inappropriate language and racist remarks.

“Attempting to restrict or block access will not work. The implementation of rules and guidelines is important, but it still is not enough to provide a real solution.

Technology should be implemented to support agreed policies to act as a safety net in the case of accidental or malicious misuse of on-line technologies.”

Defining Social is a specialist social media company that emerged from work

e b i r c s b u S today Comprehensive and diverse range of topics Independent and insightful articles making our publications essential reading All our websites feature interactive areas where users can comment directly on the conversation and debate the topics that face your industry, today and in the future Delivered free of charge, and you will also receive weekly online updates and special content.

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ER Techguide

in applications and software management and security. They have worked with Network Blue to develop software called ‘CyberSafeSchool’ to help schools in their quest to block online bullying.

“This software helps prevent cyber bullying, identifies predators, blocks inappropriate content and can even assist schools to identify the victim of cyber abuse and those considering self-harm,” Veitch says.

Veitch believes that the proliferation of mobile devices such as iPhones and iPads are covered with the software development from Network Blue, whether owned by the student or the school.

“There is a technology available today that does have the ability to prevent on-line bullying and potential self harm by students which is a major concern for schools and parents,” he says.

IT security will remain an issue for both primary and secondary schools now and even more so in the future. It is not something that will be solved independently, because the knowledge base of hacking increases every day.

A vigilant attitude and more resources dedicated to the cause of IT security for our children in schools can only be a positive step in the right direction. n

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cloud

10

Top

Things to know about

the cloud

Do you understand the cloud? If not, you’re not exactly Robinson Crusoe.

Where do you start? Right here. By Fran Molloy

C

loud computing is drifting everywhere, and there’s lots of hype about its potential to deliver real benefits in the classroom. Cloud computing needs only a browser and an internet connection; and as the NBN rolls out across the country, more schools are climbing on board.

But before you start introducing cloud computing into your classroom – you should have a good grasp of what it actually means – so our cloud 101 primer for teachers should help.

1

What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing means that you use computer software and computer hardware (such as disk space) that is located somewhere else, and is delivered via the internet.

Usually you only need browser software and a computer or, increasingly, other devices like tablets or mobile phones, which can access the internet.

June 201 3

Most business cloud users sign up for an account with a cloud provider and pay them a monthly or annual fee, but fortunately in the education sector, there is a vast range of cloud services that are free or very low cost, sponsored by governments, and increasingly, by philanthropists worldwide.

A good example of a cloud provider is Google, which offers a free email service.

Users of their business service are charged about $50 a year for each ‘Google apps’ user. These users pay to use software as well as hardware, in the form of space on Google’s hard drives. Google does offer enterprise-wide cloud services and it is rumoured that at least one Australian education department will sign up for this in the near future.

Another great cloud service is Scootle, already available for teachers across Australia.

2 You are probably already in the cloud

About half of the estimated 2.4 billion people who access the internet are regular users of the cloud – and most have been “in the cloud” since long before the term ‘cloud’ became commonly used. If you have an email account with Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo – you’re a cloud user. Ditto if you

use photo storage sites like Flickr, Picasa or Snapfish or if you’ve uploaded something to video site YouTube.

Teachers who use Scootle or Moodle are cloud-savvy already.

3

It’s not in the sky

Cloud providers are companies which run big data centres, which are warehouses full of computer technology that sell disk space and expert technical management services.

Most cloud services are metered – you pay for how much you use.

These data centres are often enormous, with the biggest of them holding hundreds of thousands of servers – small, strippeddown computers stacked in huge racks.

They use huge amounts of power to run and to cool the computer stacks and install all kinds of safety features like dual power sources and battery banks.

Recently, the trend has been to install energy-saving systems and green ratings have become a big selling point for many cloud providers.

Because transferring huge amounts of data is expensive the further you go, and accessing data from an international server can be slower, many cloud companies are now setting up services in Australia to serve local customers.

ER Techguide

27

cloud

cloud provider is responsible for everything – software, hardware, usually backups.

You only provide a browser and usually even your data is stored on the cloud hard drive.

• PaaS means that you use the cloud provider’s operating system and hard drive space, but you install your own software onto their system (this is an option popular with software programmers).

4

Three types of clouds

Tech gurus often talk about different aspects of cloud computing, but for most users, it is actually a really straightforward transaction – you log in through a browser, and just use the service, perhaps paying a monthly or annual subscription.

Cloud computing is usually divided

into three types: Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) – and for most small-scale users, SaaS is the way to go.

• SaaS is the most commonly used type of cloud, especially in education. The

• IaaS means that you maintain the operating system and software, and use the cloud provider’s hardware and tools to maintain the hardware.

(This is more common with corporations, and some large education departments may operate this way; however, to the user, it will be pretty seamless).

5

Clouds are secure

Cloud computing has lots of advantages – including better security. New users often

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The JED T460R is a simple control panel pre-programmed to control projector functions from just four clearly labelled buttons. Compare this with complex, handheld remotes, which get dropped, lost or stolen.

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The T430 and T440 are low-cost, simple controllers with 2, 4, 6 or 8 buttons labelled by function, and LEDs for status. They are simply setup with switches on the back.

A new stylish controller family, the JED T450 series is packaged in a metallicfinish molded case with 4 to 10 tactile keys, which can be customised to suit any installation. It can also control TVs or DVDs. Two keyboard units can control one T452 interface from two locations.

All units have built-in timers, which save power and bulb life by preventing the projector from being left on when a PIR detector finds everyone has gone home.

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ER Techguide

cloud

worry about privacy with the cloud. For ultra-high end users such as banks, private clouds are used – where the services and infrastructure are delivered via a private network rather than the internet, which are far more expensive to maintain.

However, a recent report by the Cloud Security Alliance in San Francisco shows that cloud servers overall have tight security, and the biggest threats are from theft of user credentials – log in ID and passwords – usually from users on lesssecure home or school networks.

Privacy issues around blogs and social media use in education can be addressed by choosing cloud services that have inbuilt privacy designed with schools in mind.

Some examples include Edublogs and Edmodo.

6

Clouds are serviced

The technical expertise and the expense of maintaining computer networks in schools take resources from face-to-face teaching.

Using cloud services reduces the workload on local computer staff because routine maintenance such as software, operating system and hardware upgrades are taken care of by the cloud provider.

Schools need only maintain the computers or tablet devices and ensure a secure and speedy internet connection.

The ability to outsource backups and other key operational features is another advantage.

7

Clouds are scaleable

Cloud computing has remarkable scalability. Because a cloud provider has many thousands of computers in racks, they can cope with unexpected demand by sharing things like hard drive space and processing capacity to deliver smooth response times if, for example, one website suddenly gets a huge number of hits.

In a school situation, this allows heavy use of a particular area of a cloud-based resource without the system locking excess users out, meaning that you can be sure that your system will handle multiple users and let several classes – even a whole school, work collaboratively on a project.

8 Cloud use is growing in education

While comparable statistics have not yet been collected in Australian schools, US technology reseller CDW recently published its 2013 State of the Cloud report which surveyed hundreds of school IT professionals and found that 40 per cent of K-12 schools used cloud storage in 2012, and in one year, cloud adoption had grown by around 15 per cent.

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9

Clouds save money

Those surveyed in State of the Cloud who used cloud resources and applications, reported savings of around 13 per cent of their budget, on average, with most projecting their average savings at around 25 per cent of the budget over four years.

Hardware costs alone can be prohibitive for schools, so using cloud services can replace ongoing capital costs (or recurring leases). Cloud computing can let schools avoid upfront infrastructure costs.

10 Clouds encourage collaboration

Using cloud-based systems can encourage communication and collaboration between students, teachers, even parents and school administrators.

Cloud technology can allow students across a classroom to access the same information, contribute to a class forum or page, and even work together on a homework project outside the school, with an audit trail showing various versions and allowing teachers to check who has made which contribution. n

Deluxe Headphone with Headphone/Microphone Combo Connector – (LS-H-4) More and more iPads, tablets, ultrabooks have been using in schools.

These devices normally come with only one audio jack, which is called headphone and microphone combo jack (TRRS connection).

However, traditional PC headphone comes with two connectors. One is for the headphone, while the other one is for the microphone. This creates a problem - we cannot use the PC headphone’s microphone in iPads, tablets, or ultrabooks, since there is no separate microphone jack in those devices!

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LS-H-4’s also feature a pair of high quality speakers for crystal clear sound and a handy in-line volume control making it much more convenient for student’s to control the volume without having to touch the computer (or tablets). LS-H-4’s also feature a “tangle free” flat 1.2 metre cable; an in-line microphone with fewer moving parts, which means less part to break.

At $12.90 ex-GST, again, Little Sun offers unmatched value good quality headphones to schools!

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cloud

Keeping ed.

in the clouds

Cloud is just one of the emerging technologies that are challenging educators and policymakers.

By Rob Livingstone

T

here are compelling benefits in using cloud technologies in the school context. These include apparent low initial cost (if not free), immediate and universal access to systems without the need for IT support or special classroom technology, and the fact that classroom teachers are no longer expected to be self-taught, part time IT experts. All that is needed is a website, login credentials and you’re good to go!

Based on compelling demonstrations and promises offered by the various cloud vendors, you’re convinced that you’ve found an ideal web based ‘cloud’ solution that is perfect for your needs, and you’re keen to start the implementation.

You are, however, a little concerned about certain aspects of the system such as privacy and security.

In this article, I hope to offer you a perspective on these and other key issues as you embark on your journey into the classroom of the future.

Cloud underpins the commoditisation of learning No industry is immune from the disruptive influences of emerging technologies. The publishing, music and retail sectors are amongst the long list of industries affected 30

ER Techguide

by their customers driving them to new business and operating models.

For the education industry, the global reach of technologies should be recognised as a systemic challenge to teachers, school principals, educational policy makers and governments alike in working out how best to harness the upside potential, whilst mitigating the numerous downsides and risks of these new technologies.

Knowledge work can be done by anyone, anywhere in the world who has access to the internet.

The fact that school and university students can now freely outsource their assignments at a cost of a can of soft drink, to low-cost countries through sites realassignmentwriting.com and dissertationindia.com is one such disturbing trend.

As these assignments are handcrafted, automated plagiarism filters are rendered ineffective.

Lesson: Resist the temptation of implementing compelling technologies without objectively exploring and clearly understanding the benefits as well as the known pitfalls, not only for the immediate future, but for the expected lifespan of the system.

cloud Identity crisis in the cloud At the heart of any cloud or e-Learning solution is the identity of the student, most commonly taking the form of a login and password.

The risk of identity abuse and/or theft using online learning solutions is well understood, and effective measures should be put in place to mitigate the risk of a systemic failure of the school’s e-Learning environment.

Many public cloud applications allow the options of signing in using the student’s Facebook, Twitter or other social media credentials.

If a student is using their personal social media credentials to log in to a school mandated cloud website, the risks associated with identity management should be assessed.

Lesson: Review how your internal policies and processes mitigate electronic identity abuse in your school. Test their effectiveness, and seek evidence of this effectiveness.

Comfortable using the words ‘privacy’ and ‘cloud’ in the same sentence?

With public cloud systems, you generally have no idea where and how the data is being stored. Each country has its own legal and regulatory peculiarities in terms of information security, rights of access, and so on.

For schools, the stakes become greater when it comes to storing any information that could lead to the identification of individual students.

Australian privacy legislation is currently being tightened, and there is an added onus on schools to be aware of their obligations in respect of child protection as well as existing Australian privacy legislation.

Lesson: It is imperative that the cloud

vendor’s contracts and agreements are read and clearly understood in the context of the system’s intended use.

The data you extract may be non-readable in other systems without specialist IT involvement. Ask the questions.

Cloud security – an oxymoron?

Lesson: Ensure that your decisions relating to a particular solution take into account the prospect of vendor ‘lock-in’, and be clear on the processes by which you can retrieve all your data in a form that is readily usable.

Given that you generally have no real control over the security measures implemented by the cloud provider, be aware that the vast majority do not guarantee watertight security. In fact, most vendors limit their liability to subscription credits and ‘best endeavours’.

Security breaches are almost a fact of life, and nearly all major vendors have suffered a breach in one form or another.

Nevertheless, using a reputable cloud provider may be relatively more secure than that PC or server sitting in the classroom or on your campus.

Cybercrime is a multi-billion dollar business with some of the smartest brains employed to crack systems. Recognise that there is an ongoing arms race between the cloud providers and the cybercriminals.

Lesson: Determine your response in the event of a cloud security breach – before it occurs.

Vendor lock-in Many vendors will do their best to have you work with their particular cloud or technology family. The Apple product set is a well known example of such a closed ecosystem.

Well-designed cloud based solutions should be device agnostic to meet the demands of students that need to be learning anywhere, anytime and on any device. This allows you to consider a BYOD policy, which avoids the expense of schools needing to support aging laptops and other mobile devices.

The most commonly discussed question relating to vendor lock-in is, “Can I get my data out?” The next most commonlyasked question is “Can I use this data?”

When the cloud evaporates Not all cloud providers will survive the race to the bottom on cost, which is being driven in large part by the global cloud giants Apple, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.

The continued reduction of cloud compute costs that underpins the public cloud is great news.

But there’s risk here, too. The most obvious risk is that your vendor will be forced out of business. A less obvious challenge is market consolidation, where vendors acquire each other, which can result in a progressive rationalisation of products and services.

The situation you don’t want to find yourself in is one in which your vendor gives notice that it will be changing or withdrawing certain products or services on which you depend.

Lesson: Know your exit or transition-out strategy for mission critical systems should you need to exercise that option at a point in time that suits you.

The technology environment is a volatile, rapidly-evolving mix of fantastic opportunities for the astute and pitfalls for the ill-informed. The good technology decision of today may be at the expense of the better technology decision tomorrow, so be well informed of the options, and enjoy the journey of possibilities. n Rob Livingstone is the director of a Sydney-based IT advisory practice.

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31

eClassroom

Social media’s

ethical dilemma Should social networking sites be used in the classroom?

By Michael Henderson and Glenn Auld

S

ocial networking sites such as Facebook are increasingly being used in classroom contexts (physical and virtual). However the uptake has been comparatively slow since, unlike many other technologies such as word processors, social networking sites do not easily slot into familiar curriculum delivery models and assessment.

Moreover, there has been considerable caution because social networking sites blur the boundaries between professional/ school and personal lives, as well as having been the subject of considerable media focus in terms of cyberbullying and predatory behaviour.

We see the exploration of social networking sites as educational tools to be positive. There is a small but growing body of research that indicates communication and coordination in relation

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to learning activities can be enhanced.

Students and teachers can collaborate over tasks, and provide support to each other, both emotional and cognitive.

Many teachers are turning to social networking sites because it also offers a less cumbersome means of connecting with students than institutionalised virtual learning environments. Another justification, often heard in our research, is that students already enjoy, and are heavy users of, social networking sites for leisure.

This article suggests that there are a variety of ethical concerns we need to consider that go beyond the issue of cybersafety. It is important for us to be clear that this is not presented with a view to scare people from talking about these issues – rather, we are hoping to construct a space where teachers are empowered to engage with the dialogue and implications around the ethical dilemmas they encounter in their changing professional practice.

Much of this work rests on the understanding that both students and teachers have lifeworlds outside of school intimately connected with identities, complex social practices and discourse that influence how they engage or disengage with each other and with texts such as Facebook.

We understand ethics to be a moral choice, which means that teachers have to ultimately decide on their own response to the dilemmas, according to their socio-cultural and professional contexts.

Professional codes of conduct and departmental guidelines are useful, but ultimately do not provide us with a means of understanding the foundation or consequence of our ethical practice.

The following discussions are intended to help equip readers to make their choice, but also to reveal lines of inquiry that need to be pursued further to eventually strengthen their

confidence in such choices.

Should we appropriate students’ social networking identities?

Many researchers and teachers argue that using student home practices in the classroom is the cornerstone of successful pedagogy. Engaging with social networks is more than knowing what buttons to press, but also understanding why and how you interact in that space, which may vary significantly between students, let alone between teacher and students.

SNS represent freedoms in expression, self-regulation and choice in terms of affinity. These may be different from a teacher’s understanding of appropriate expression, locus of control, and equitable and harmonious community spaces.

Consequently, we might be colonising a classroom with ill-matched, poorlyunderstood use of SNS with unintended consequences, and an invasion of their outof-school technological practices and identity.

When students are encouraged to use their Facebook account to interact with the teacher, or with fellow students, they are being asked to behave, converse, share and self-regulate in ways that are different to their already established practices and even harmful to their social network identity.

Teachers need to be sure they have evidence that students want their virtual identities and networks made public in a classroom context before they embark on such sharing. It should not be assumed that all students in a classroom are already in an online social network with each other.

The inclusion of SNS in the classroom, especially ones that students are already members of, risks exposing elements of their out-of-school identities, values, actions and beliefs as well as potentially exposing their extended network of friends to teachers and fellow students who may not otherwise have been ‘friended’.

A review of the literature reveals that despite students familiarity with SNS, they are not experienced in, or necessarily enthusiastic about, using SNS for collaborative curriculum-based activity.

Consequently, we argue that students have the right to self-select texts that

eClassroom

expose their out-of-school practices to their peers in the classroom.

Should we engage students in public performance of curriculum?

There is an ethical responsibility when teachers ask students to tweet, blog, post, share or co-construct their texts with the rest of the class. Whose responsibility is it to educate risk management (e.g. identity management) in public forums?

In an increasingly digitally recorded, networked and searchable world, how can we promise students that their digital footprint (online conversations, interactions, personal details) will be confined to the classroom context, including the specific people in the class and the limited timeframe of the class/subject?

What was once thought private such as emails, or non-searchable, such as predigital texts, have been proven to be at risk of being made public at a later date. A presocial media example is the 2003 public release of Enron’s email database of over one million emails by 176 named former employees which highlights the transience of what is considered private.

A more recent social media example can be found when Google implemented a social media application called Buzz (a precursor to Google+) that put Gmail users frequently contacted people into a personalised network.

Google wanted to offer users a hybrid experience of social networking and microblogging. However they had not realised that their users may not want their contacts to actually be able to see each other. As Rainie and Wellman (2012) note: “all hell broke loose. People in discreet multiple love relationships were outed; psychiatric care relationships became visible”.

Despite Google changing Buzz to make it optional for users, the damage had already been done. Many users were adversely affected and Google had to pay $8.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit as well as agree to independent privacy audits for the following 20 years.

The point here is that online data thought to be private or reasonably limited in accessibility can very easily become public.

Teachers do need to be aware of the risk that content, personal details and entire networks may become public.

How do we recognise and respond to illicit SNS activity?

Teaching with SNS in classroom contexts offers the opportunities of bringing outside and arguably authentic and meaningful texts, discourses and practices into the classroom as well as increasing possibilities of interacting in new ways with wider networks beyond the typical context of the classroom.

June 201 3

However, this also brings with it risks.

There are risks such as those previously described, but also there are risks (or opportunities) to engage in, observe, or become informed about behaviour that is illegal, amoral, immoral, or otherwise illicit.

This ethical dilemma is particularly complex because it is not always easy to identify the actors (perpetrators, victims, regulatory or reporting bodies) or even the illicit nature of the activity itself.

An example is the use of a picture of a movie star or a cartoon character as a social media avatar. Is this behaviour illicit?

They could risk identity theft and breach of copyright; however, the likelihood of being sued may not be very high and furthermore it is possible that teachers would dismiss these concerns even if they did recognise them as illicit, potentially even treating the process as a positive expression of identity.

Another example is fanfiction sites in which participants discuss and create new stories for their favourite series, such as Harry Potter. Such activities are encouraged by educators in the field of literacy.

However, there have been successful cases by some publishers in claiming fanfiction and similar sites infringe on their copyright.

What appears to be an innovative pedagogy could be inherently illegal.

Creating fanfiction or derivatives has been a classroom strategy for decades if not longer. The issue here is publishing the material online, and consequently the extent of the readership, as well as the usage of the material in a derivative or satirical form (the latter being more defensible).

Are we prepared for our social network identities to go public?

Social networking applications also expose teachers’ out-of-school identities, and their networks to a greater degree of scrutiny by their students, colleagues and school communities. An obvious answer to this problem is for teachers to choose to only engage with social networking applications that offer a degree of privacy and control.

However, this is not always feasible, nor is it necessarily desirable, reducing the authentic context to a staged pretext.

Teachers need to consider what the implications are for co-inhabiting spaces that are designed to connect people and share information.

The two most obvious ethical concerns of SNS co-habitation are (a) teachers sharing their private (out-ofschool) identities and practices with their students that might not be congruent with the expectations placed on them as professionals, and, (b) students actively seeking contact with teachers on the networks and in doing so build a profile of

the teachers that may be incongruent with expectations, or even place the teacher in a compromising position.

Teachers need to consider how they will negotiate students who stalk them online as part the dilemma of inhabiting the same network.

In our research, we found that it was not unusual for students to actively search for information about their teachers, including their profiles in online social spaces.

These ethical concerns are valid both in and out of SNS, however, the unique characteristics of social media such as anonymity of the browser, persistence of data including histories of social interactions, and simplicity of searching across networks have increased the potential risk for teachers.

Conclusion Where teachers foster a dialogue amongst students and between teacher and student, they will have a strong foundation in their planning for social networking services in their classrooms. Indeed, Merchant (2011) suggests effective use of SNS in a classroom context will involve learning from, about and with SNS so teachers have a better understanding of the practices associated with these texts.

However, to learn from, with and about SNS both teachers and students need access to them.

While one approach to SNS in the classroom would be to provide access to SNS that is restricted to the classroom or does not offer public consumption or wider networks, this response found throughout educational policy of building walled gardens that have the shape but none of the authenticity, purpose, thrill, or complexity of the SNS that the students have chosen to inhabit outside of school.

Within these walled gardens students cannot engage in the ethical dilemmas and social practices associated with SNS that will be a part of the full participation of their future public and private lives.

We argue that social networking services should be explored as an educational space, however, we need to do this mindful of not only cybersafety issues as well as professional conduct guidelines, but also ethical concerns centring on the respect of both student and teacher lifeworlds that extend beyond the classroom context. n Dr Michael Henderson is senior lecturer in educational technologies, Faculty of Education, Monash University.

Dr Glenn Auld is senior lecturer in language and literacy, at the School of Education, Deakin University.

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33

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eClassroom

Embracing

online

classroom

learning

You don’t have to be tech-savvy to introduce online learning to students – often, it’s just about being the facilitator of change. By Fran Molloy

A

s schools embrace computers and digital learning, there are more expectations that teachers will incorporate this into everyday teaching.

But you don’t need to be a tech-expert to deliver online learning in the classroom; nor do you need to abandon everything you’ve developed in teaching over the years.

Moving from pen and paper to an online classroom can mean big changes, admits professor Julie Kiggins, who is the sub-dean of primary teaching at the University of Wollongong.

“Your whole language has to change when your class moves from writing in exercise books to sitting in front of laptops; instead of pens down, it’s laptop lids down.”

Kiggins, whose faculty arranges placements for nearly 2000 student teachers every year, says that there’s a huge range in the level of technology usage across different schools – and even within schools. Associate professor Sue Bennett runs the IT subjects that are taught to student teachers at the University of Wollongong and says that there’s still a place for traditional teaching. “Our motto has always been that the technology should only be used for what is appropriate,” she says.

Bennett says that there’s no expectation that teachers will turn up at school one day, laptop in hand and everything else abandoned.

“The technology should not take over. Quality teaching needs to stay the main focus of what you do as a teacher, and then you look for ways in which technology can help you do that better or more flexibly. The technology is really there to enhance what you are doing already,” she says.

June 201 3

ER Techguide

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ER Techguide

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to help teachers choose to give their students opportunity to play with technology if it’s appropriate for that learning.”

Cleaves says that one of their most effective tools has been a peer coaching program.

“We use a teacher who’s experienced with technology and keen to use it, and we coach them and then they help other teachers to integrate, and in doing that, they provide this whole area for talking about what we do as teachers,” she says.

Around 450 classroom teachers across NSW public schools have been trained and accredited as peer coaches and another 90 have been accredited as facilitators – who can train new coaches.

“It’s really important that these coaches are people who do the work in a classroom so that they can talk about their experiences. People are more willing to listen to that sort of training and they can use it at the time that they need it, which is right there in the school while they are teaching.”

Conferences, tweets and meets

Bennett also provides occasional in-service technology training for teachers at schools in the region and says that there are many excellent teachers who deliver ‘stock standard’ class teaching, that don’t see a need to introduce technology across everything they do.

“A common way that a teacher might approach the introduction of online learning is to set up a website; it might be a wiki or a blog space, so that the class can do a certain project and then use the site to work together on that.”

The teacher then becomes a facilitator of the project, which might extend across a whole term or even longer, helping the students when they need assistance, she says.

“That’s a way to be a bit more flexible and it’s a way to also introduce some autonomy to the students while you’re introducing technology.”

It won’t happen overnight Phillippa Cleaves, who is the project manager of Technology for Learning at the NSW Department of Education and Communities, agrees that moving from being a pen-and-paper teacher, even when you have no fear of technology, will never happen overnight – and nor should it.

“Some of those pen and paper resources are still very valid – we don’t want to go to 100 per cent technology, we want to integrate,” Cleaves says.

Until December last year, Cleaves managed professional learning across NSW under the Digital Education Revolution program, with 15 staff across all ten education regions. “We created resources such as online, self-paced learning for teachers,” she says.

Support staff on the ground provided ‘elbow-to-elbow’ support with schools and ran events for teachers.

“There’s just no point in using technology for the sake of using technology – you use it to enhance what you’re doing. We want June 201 3

Cleaves also facilitates conferences such as the Inspire Innovate conference in south-western Sydney, which is about teachers sharing their practice. “Teachers come along and share what they’ve been doing with iPads, for example, what they’ve been doing with the laptops, with Adobe Photoshop or with Microsoft OneNote – it’s very much teachers sharing with teachers, what they are actually doing in classrooms.”

Cleaves says that most regions will have a big conference each year, around this topic.

“It’s really important that teachers share with teachers. People coming in and giving a one-day workshop and then leaving, that does nothing, but sharing practice at the grassroots level is effective and lasting.”

Formal conferences are just one way that teachers are interacting, she adds – there are many small local groups, as well as online networks, such as mailing lists for teachers interested in technology and Twitter discussions.

Cleaves says that Twitter is a popular place for many Australian teachers to discuss not just technology, but challenges in education generally.

“There’s a very cool professional learning network on Twitter at the moment, with teachers chatting using various hashtags like #auedchat and #ozprimschchat.”

Some can be a specific time, while others run constantly; and they are not all about technology. “I think the English teacher’s one is on Tuesday nights. Their chats include things like how to get kids to do narratives and so on; they have great discussions around it.”

She says that Twitter users have created an ad hoc community themselves, but other communities exist through email lists, Facebook and other social media.

“These ad hoc communities are another avenue for professional learning that’s very powerful.”

Cleaves says that there are often social media workshops held at regional education conferences, but many teachers find out about it through a colleague.

“In a conference session, we might give people specific hashtags to follow because that gives a bit more meaning to the firehose that comes when you’re on Twitter.”

For those looking for hashtags to follow, a list of Australian education Twitter chats has been collated in a public document by teacher Jeanette James, at http://bit.ly/AusTeachTweets.

Some of the teachers, school principals and education consultants who participate in these chats on twitter save them using tools like Storify or Edmodo, so that the links and thoughts that have been shared in real-time can be used later on.

Meet the Teach Cleaves says that another useful professional learning tool is ER Techguide

37

eClassroom

TeachMeets. TeachMeets are informal meet-ups where teachers share ideas, usually held after school one afternoon from perhaps 4:30 to 6pm, and are cross-sectoral, between government, secular and independent schools.

Everyone is encouraged to contribute an idea, share a teaching tool or website or just be willing to talk about challenges or solutions they’ve experienced in their own classrooms.

“TeachMeets are about teachers sharing what they do and they’re the most inspirational thing to go to. A group of science teachers last week had one at Taronga Zoo.” A central website lists TeachMeets in Australia by state and territory at www.teachmeet.net/

Free courses and resources Some vendors are getting in on the sharing act too, with software giant Adobe now offering a free five week online course for teachers.

Classes are run by live webinar, with the most recent run in March and April on a Tuesday evening from 7pm Sydney time for an hour and a half.

One recent course, Digital Creativity in the classroom, covered photo imaging, animation, and how to use it across the curriculum, using video, and how to bring everything together into online resources using blogs.

Greg Hodgson is a senior leader at Chalfonts Community College, a high school in the UK, who co-ordinated a recent Adobe Generations class for Australian teachers.

“The most important part of Adobe Generation is the fact that we are building an online community, and we hope you will be part of that learning community, sharing and collaborating,” he told wouldbe participants in the introduction to a recent class.

Cleaves says that the Adobe classes are excellent – they’re free, and teachers come out with a certificate at the end.

Teachers can register for upcoming classes at anz.adobegenerations.com.

Another professional learning resource is PLANE, which is open to all educators in Australia, is accredited at Professional Accomplishment level with the NSW Institute of Teachers and includes over 100 hours of accredited professional learning programs.

PLANE is an acronym for ‘Pathways for Learning, Anywhere, anytime – a Network for Educators,’ a project developed with Commonwealth government funding.

“It’s a first,” says Cleaves. “It includes communities; you can build a professional 38

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learning portfolio which lets you build a resume of your ICT skills.”

PLANE includes games-based learning, and ways for teachers to incorporate games in their own teaching and learning.

Cleaves says that there are a wide range of resources that cover the gamut from early adopters who are out doing innovative things and testing out the latest technology, right down to teachers who haven’t used technology much in class yet, who need some help to get started.

In NSW, the Department of Education has partnered with Google so that their 750,000 students and 85,000 teachers can use Google Apps for Education through existing staff and student portals.

“We are moving towards more collaboration and opening up more cloud tools,” Cleaves says.

Tools like edublog, e-Backpack, and other sites to allow sharing within schools are now available, she says, and a community of trained ‘Google champions’ – around two dozen teachers across the state who are sharing what they’re doing and running training in schools.

Learning the function, not the tool Wollongong University’s Sue Bennett says that there’s much greater interest from teachers now in using tools that are already online.

“Things we might refer to as Web 2.0 tools like blogs, wikis, and podcasts are becoming really easy for teachers and students to use,” she says.

“I’ve seen great uses of podcasts and videos, where students might create a tour of the local area, then share the audio or video online, in a private groups, sometimes with parents and sometimes even wider with the community.”

Technological expertise is really not necessary, she adds. “The key for teachers is to get a bit of exposure to the different tools available, but think about the learning environment as you do these things.”

Bennett says that she tries to prepare student teachers in her program to think about the classroom as they learn the technology.

“There’s a lot of variation in skills even in younger people coming into university these days, so we try to give them really quick exposure to a lot of tools.”

Student teachers often aren’t in the mindset of how to use technology in the classroom, so Bennett’s team uses lots of practical examples of how these are used in the classroom.

“We try to get them to come up with a lot of their own ideas on the ways that they can make teaching links with the curriculum.”

Bennett says that whatever technology they are able to cover over the four-year teaching program is likely to have changed significantly by the time her students graduate.

“We want them to get into the mindset of continuing their professional learning afterwards and learn how to conceptualise what it means to be using technology in your teaching.” n