As part of Anseo.net’s competition to win a HD Flip Cam, participants answered some questions about the Web 2.0 tools that they use in school and at home.  In this article, we’ll examine the results and explore some of the reasons behind the results.  It’s worth pointing out that the people who probably took the survey are IT literate and probably have some form of interest in ICT in education.

There were 152 responses to the survey which asked the following questions:

• Which of the following web tools do you use at home?
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • Google Apps
  • A Blog
  • Twitter
• Which of the following web tools do you use in school? (with the same responses)

Source: http://www.penn-olson.com

For each item that was selected, a point was given.  Therefore if I answered the first question, selecting two items, my “school use score” was two.  Likewise if I selected 3 items in the second question, my “home use score” would be three.

The first interesting thing to note was that the total score for home and school use was:

471 for home use and 241 for school use

Using web 2.0 tools was almost twice as likely to happen at home than at school.  While, this is unsurprising to most teachers, it does support the commonly held view that children are “switched on” outside of school but are forced to “switch off” once they come to school. Having said this, 44% of teachers surveyed said they use YouTube videos in school, with 42.5% using Google Apps and 42% using a blog.  Comparing these to home, 90% use YouTube, 48% use Google Apps and 42% using a blog.

Some teachers pointed out that they would use YouTube in their school if it were not for their school’s web filtering policies.  Thankfully, the NCTE has relaxed their rules on YouTube and other tools but many schools have not changed their level of filtering.

The biggest disparity in the survey was the number of teachers using Facebook for school use against home use.  84% of teachers surveyed use Facebook for home use but only 14% use it for school use.  To be honest, 14% was a higher figure than I expected.  There are a number of issues around the use of Facebook with students for school use – such as loss of control and, lack of privacy and lack of security.  There is also the perception of the line between work and personal life.   Coupled that with the fact that the secure version of Facebook does not work on the NCTE School’s Broadband filtering, there are some issues with security in general.

Source: http://howtoblog.org/

It was heartening to see that blogging has grown in popularity with teachers since I last surveyed them two and a half years ago.  Back then, only 20% of teachers said that they would even feel comfortable using a blog, (I can assume that much less than that used a blog at the time).  With over 42% of respondents using blogs in school and at home, this is a major leap.

Twitter is all the rage amongst a wide variety of generations.  I was speaking to a second level teacher who said that her 13-14 year old students are obsessed with it yet the older teenagers prefer Facebook.  Twitter is being used by all sorts of celebrities, salesmen and educators.  For the first time, one can have conversations with people one would never have access to. There is the famous example of the rugby fan who was demonised after tweeting a rugby international.  However, it’s not just celebrities.  I can contact teachers all over the world with a tweet.  Twitter is beginning to be used by teachers thanks to initiatives like Edchatie and various projects run by individual teachers, e.g. @mrquinnsclass and @superkiddos.  The figure of 15% of respondents using it for school was higher than I expected.  Having said this, Twitter usage at home was over 3 times more likely.

Finally, it was good to see that the use of Google Apps was reasonably similar with around 42-45% of teachers using the service both at home and in school.  With Google adding more and more features to its products, it may not be long before more teachers jump on board.

Overall, one could look at this survey in two ways.  In a positive way, it’s good to see that teachers seem to be using web 2.0 services and that the figure is growing.  Certain services like Facebook and Twitter might need more time to be trusted by teachers and we will explore these over time.  Another way of looking at the survey is that there are over 30,000 teachers in the country and less than 1% of them took the survey.  The teachers who did take the survey are more likely to be teachers with a positive disposition to technology.  It is quite obvious that 15% of teachers (4,500) are not using Twitter in school.  However, rather than being pessimistic about this, at least we have a start.  Web 2.0 usage is on the increase in schools.  The word “blog” is generally not met with a puzzled look and there is colloquial evidence that many more teachers are using technology in some way in their classroom, be it printing online posters or showing shapes on an Interactive Whiteboard.  Over time, we’ll convert more to technology.  After all, as Jesus said: “The geek shall inherit the earth”…or something along those lines.

Moodle is a tool for creating online courses and virtual learning environments (VLEs).  When you do a summer course online, it is likely that it has been created with Moodle.  With Moodle, the developer provides you with the course content, dividing it up into modules and filling it with questions, reflections and discussion fora.  In the background, Moodle is calculating the time you have spent online and what percentage of the course you have completed.  While there are hundreds of alternatives to Moodle, the reason it is so popular is because it is completely free.

The NCTE are spending this year, according to a recent article in the Sunday Business Post, on creating a VLE for all schools using Moodle.  As Moodle is free, it shouldn’t cost the taxpayer a lot of money for this.  However, is it the right choice at primary level?

Being honest, Moodle isn’t pretty.  It has a clunky navigation system and it is frustrating to get around it.  However, as adults, we generally can get around this and work away independently.  Young children need a simple interface and I don’t believe Moodle offers this.

However, Alex Findlay, the VLE development consultant for Stockport Local authority in the UK, disagrees.  Findlay’s  role is to support schools in developing their VLE and provides all primary schools in Stockport (approx 100) with a Moodle.

Findlay says: “As we speak, approximately 50 schools are somewhere between the developmemt stage of teachers creating their areas and the full integration of the Moodle into their school. Of those 50 schools, half of those have over 90% of pupils logging in at the very least once a month.”

My problem with Moodle is its look and navigation.  I have not come across a Moodle that would appeal to a child between the age of 5 and 12.  While Findlay agrees that Moodle can look “a bit bland” compared to other commercial products, it’s the quality of the content that sells it to him.  ”The trade off of not looking attractive is the ease of use of the Moodle. It is very easy to add content.”

Stockport Local Authority even drafted in an Irish company, Synergy, to design “skins” for Moodle to take the harsh edge off them.  Some examples can be found here:

http://vle.orrishmere.stockport.sch.uk/
http://vle.pownallgreen.stockport.sch.uk/
http://vle.northcheshire.stockport.sch.uk/
http://vle.bankslane-inf.stockport.sch.uk/
http://vle.gatley.stockport.sch.uk/
http://vle.cheadle-pri.stockport.sch.uk/

Findlay finds Moodle very simple to use. but acknowledges some of the tools aren’t slick but with adequate training for teachers, he believes it will take no time at all for teachers to be able to create good quality content for children.  Findlay argues that a simple interface and a simple learning curve beats the commercial products that might look more pretty but might also have a steeper learning curve.  The feedback he has received is very convincing.

According to Findlay, “Another of my infants schools surveyed the parents about their VLE and 90% strongly agreed that the VLE made them feel more infomed about their childs’ school life. ”

Time will tell if Moodle is the right choice for primary schools.  Will Irish teachers be turned off by Moodle’s bland and clunky interface or will its ease of use see it through?  One thing is for sure that teachers won’t use the system without buckets of training and with Ireland’s money-well running very dry at the moment, it will be interesting to see how that will work.

A final parting question is to ask do primary school children need a VLE at all?  In my opinion, we need to be very careful about rushing into a random bunch of activities for children that only tests quantitatively.  A good VLE should allow children to create their own content and to share it.  Qualitative assessment is as important at primary level.  The best of luck to the NCTE who will have their work cut out for them creating a complete curriculum’s worth of courseware over the year.  If this is done well, and Moodle gets a decent look, this could be a fantastic triumph. If it’s rushed, badly designed and clunky, our Moodle will just be a muddle and won’t be used at all.

With a new government in place, a few decisions between the two parties had to be made about education policy.  The policy document began dramatically stating that a “revolution had taken place” in Ireland so I was expecting some revolutionary ideas for education, specifically at primary level.  Revolutionary ideas were certainly there but overall, it was none too exciting.

Wordle is always a good way to find the major points of any article so I created a Wordle image of the education section.

A Wordle image of Fine Gael and Labour's Education Policies

The main word which jumped out at me was “Literacy”.  I expected this because Labour had already planted the idea of focusing on literacy in a big way in their pre-election manifesto.  A word which didn’t jump out was “Numeracy”.

Delving into the report, it looks like principals are to gain more autonomy, (read responsibility), in schools.  This is a double-edged sword, as in many ways it is a very good thing.  However, without adequate management and leadership training, many principals will not know what to do with their new found powers!  One such power outlined is the ability to delegate management responsibilities to teachers.  Some would say this spells the end of Positions of Responsibility.  Others would say that this is happening anyway in team-based schools.

As a principal, I was glad to see that maintenance issues would be devolved locally and that frontline services (I read that as teachers and SNAs) would be protected.

I was disappointed that the document focussed on second level for literacy and numeracy when speaking about the outcomes of the PISA report.  There is much that could be done before a child reaches the age of 15 in the primary school before PISA intervenes with statistics.  While some teachers have disregarded the findings of PISA, I am certain that if literacy and numeracy was examined at primary level, we would see vast improvements in the medium to long term.  Sadly, I think politics is interested in short term fixes.

Literacy is the main focus of this government’s plan and they dedicated a full section as to how they will tackle literacy.  Their answer?  Teach it for longer.  My school will now have to teach literacy for 2 hours per day and integrate it into as many subjects as possible.  Without proper training, subjects like geography, history and others may become reading comprehension exercises.  If we are to teach literacy for two hours per day, we have to get rid of some subjects or lessen the time spent on them.  We also need to train teachers in different methodologies (active learning, collaboration, project based learning, using ICT, etc.)   If we don’t, some teachers will just teach the same way but for longer and, consequently, results won’t improve.

I welcome the merging of the NCTE and NCCA.  It could be the first step in integrating ICT across the curriculum in a meaningful way.  Hopefully, they will retain enough funding to be able to produce good quality curriculum resources.

There were other pluses.  The reversal of the cut in NEPS psychology services was one and a big look at patronage was another.  In particular the last sentence that seemed to be sneaked in:

People of non-faith or minority religious backgrounds and publically identified LGBT people should not be deterred from training or taking up employment as teachers in the State

was very interesting.  It acknowledged that there is a problem.  This sentence is one that is close to my heart as a person of a minority religious background.  I hope the sentence wasn’t just thrown in at the end to be largely ignored.  There is little to no multiculturalism amongst teachers in primary schools.

Overall, I think the joint policy has some good ideas.  I think the focus on literacy is flawed. The lack of focus on numeracy at primary level is just as bad.  However, everything else has merit and I hope Ruairi Quinn is ready for a mini-revolution.

There is a link, trust me.

I am a member of the IPPN but that doesn’t mean I can’t disagree with some of their initiatives.

According to recent media, some primary school principals are worried. These principals reported that children in their schools were becoming more anxious, worried and negative about the recession, their future in Ireland and lack of finance in their families. Due to the lack of research and data from principals and students in Irish schools, I have no idea if this is happening or an accurate statement. From my experience, I haven’t witnessed students worrying about these grown up concerns but let’s just say that these concerns are real as I have no reason to distrust them really.
Jedward and their idealistic positive view of life.

Jedward are symbolic of the Celtic cub, the children who have had everything they have ever wanted laid down at their feet. Clothes, holidays, toys-their parents gave the “Jewards” whatever they wanted. There was plenty money around, the good times would go on forever and their parents never had these luxuries when they were little. Why not treat your kids to a new toy every time you went out to the shops? Jedward are also symbolic of the whole X-Factor phenomenon. X-Factor tells you that you can be famous, rich and happy! You can be famous without even being talented! Guess what else Jedward told the children of Ireland. You can do or have anything you want in life. All you have to do is wish for it. Want to be a TV presenter but have no talent, can’t read or speak properly? It doesn’t matter! All you need is a bit of luck and a bit of hard work and it’s yours!

An attractive proposition, yes?

However, we all know life is simply not like that. Even if you are talented, study enough and know the right people doesn’t mean that you will be a success. Which brings me to emotional intelligence and the positivity week being proposed.

Emotional intelligence-positivity and self control

Numerous studies into success in school, college, work and relationships tell us that the key factor for this is emotional intelligence and not the traditional IQ quotient. This is not to say that intelligence is not important. It is, but emotional intelligence is much more important. IQ cannot be changed, it’s fairly static but emotional intelligence can be improved every single day. Emotional Intelligence is based on key skills. Skills that everyone can access and develop. Daniel Goleman is the more popular author on the subject of emotional intelligence with Mayer-Salovey-Caruso and Reuven Bar-On both developing assessments that measure emotional intelligence.

Positivity is a rose tinted view of life
Some ideas for “Positivity Week” are random acts of positivity like calling children’s names out when it’s their birthday or celebrating children’s achievement. These are good ideas but I would say most schools are doing these things anyway. These positive acts needs to be coupled with a few key emotionally intelligent competencies. Optimism is one of the skills that is measured in emotional intelligence, so is happiness. Positivity is hugely important-the evidence that shows that angry thoughts, anxiety and depression makes people more prone to disease, prevents recovery and heightens the risk of death in ill people. So, positivity or optimism, to use the correct emotionally intelligent term is an absolute for any child in our schools. What does an optimistic person look like. It’s not just someone who thinks positively in the face of adversity. It’s certainly not someone who is in denial about their circumstances or future. And most definitely an optimistic person is not someone who thinks that everything will turn out right no matter what they do.

An optimistic person is someone who is hopeful about their future. A person who can set themselves goals. A person who can work towards those goals, no matter how small and know how to work to reach those goals. Optimism is about having the realism and foresight to realise when the goals have not been achieved, to know when they have to change their focus and most importantly, to know when to stop.

Working with optimism and self-efficacy in the classroom

Recently, I worked with a group of 9 year olds on emotional intelligence and goal setting. Our term’s focus was on individual goal setting. Nothing to big, they’re 9 year olds! However, the children mostly thought of big goals! I want to  be a famous opera singer! I want to learn the piano! I want to be an astronaut! I explained that these were long term goals, we only had 6 weeks. We refined the goals. They changed to “I want to practice my singing every night” “I want to ask my Mum about piano lessons.” “I want to find out about the life of an astronaut”

I think this type of goal setting could be used to work on any anxieties that primary children might have about their future in Ireland. Make them a part of the problem solving process. Optimism and positivity needs to be grounded in realism. Yes, we used to have more money. Now, we have less. Fact. But, what can we do to help or change things? What can teachers, parents, society do to change things. Goleman speaks about negative thoughts in his Working with emotional intelligence book. He is against the idea of suppressing negative thoughts. He advocates the use of emotional self-control, which does not mean holding your negative feelings like anger, sadness and fear in. It means choosing when the right time is to express them and harnessing these feelings to a positive outcome. He tells us that anger can be an intense source of motivation, shared sadness can knit people together and the urgency of anxiety can prod the creative spirit. Children are capable of all of these things, even more so than adults who feel that we have to hold all these feelings in. Ireland should be a place where the bad times spur us onto better. Children should be encouraged to talk about how they are feeling but they should also be moved to a possible set of solutions or goals.

Optimism and how to deal with setbacks can be learned. Self-efficacy or the belief that one has control of the events of their lives and can meet the challenges as they come up. If children can talk about their worries and negative feelings, they can realise that they can bounce back from failures. They can begin to approach things in terms of how to manage them rather than worrying about things that might go wrong.
So, I don’t see anything wrong with talking to children about bad things if they want or need to. Positivity week needs to carried out correctly. Yes, let’s be optimistic but not blindly so. What strengths do we have that can carry us through? What ideas do we have for the future of our school or Ireland? Can we set goals to achieve them? What happens if we fail? This could be an interesting time for children of Ireland. They are the change we need. They are the future politicians and leaders of the country. Look at Bertie, our Brian Cowen and Brian Lenihan. Masters of the positive spin. Masters of denial. Masters of denying their sadness or failure.
Research on emotional intelligence and positivity
I was very lucky to carry out some studies in the area of emotional intelligence in the Lifelong Learning Centre, IT Carlow last year. Brian Bennett was one of my tutors. He’s also the Registrar and Lead researcher in the area of emotional intelligence in the IT. He had some thoughts on this, which tie in what I’m trying to say.
“My initial thoughts on such a week is that it can make being positive or optimistic seem like an avoidance or suppression of so called negative information…which is very important to being adaptable and being realistic….a better alternative would be to have a week whereby children generated suggestions on how to deal and cope better with the current issues they are facing…developing ways to deal positively with these issues. Giving children a voice to express their way of getting along is valid …optimistic problem solving approach.”
So bit of honesty and problem solving are what we should be focusing on. Maybe then, we will have a parent who can say no to their children without causing them to get upset because they can’t have the latest game or toy. Or a parent who might be able to explain that you’ve got to work hard for what you want in life. For, I fear, this is really what 8 or 9 year olds may be really worrying about.