/stop-wasting-time-with-qr-codes#comment-166Hi. I have noticed a lot of teaching buzz around the use of QR codes too. It's been interesting to read how they're being used but I think it's a fad and it's quite a stretch to proclaim that it's increasing/benefiting student's learning. Possibly in the short-term it's just making an otherwise boring class interesting. Maybe the hype might help loosen mobile use bans at schools though and I think that would be a good thing. Here in qld, there has been whole-school bans on BYOD, such a pity and something I guess I'll have to try and change oneday. Elke2012-05-10T22:08:47urn:comment:166/wordfiller-2-launch#comment-161Hi Lucas & Co. Just want to tell you that I accidentally came across your wordfiller program and love its potential! A few suggestions though: It would be great if you can customise the following as a teacher preparng lessons (while in the program) not by editing the coding like you geniuses are!): *Being able to change the font (of the topic/resource -which seems to dissapear once in the quiz) and the font of the written passage. *Being able to change font colours. *being able to customise the background colours or even replacing them with background images behind the written passage... or even the ability to include a small image along side the text, which would relate to the topic! I am a 7-10 Visual Arts Teacher. while I think the nuts n bolts of the program you have created are AWESOME, its a bit "Plain" as far as visuals go. Not that I am expecting you to modify it to become more visually exciting, I am suggesting you include the options to customise the visuals so teachers like myself (and yourselves) can modify these basic elements to make them suit the students and how they take in information. One last suggestion, If I wanted to switch from one resource to another during class, I would end up showing the ANSWERS in the text box if my screen / interative whiteboard was on display for the class! Some of my kids would figure that out pretty quickly, year 9s or 10s especially. I suggest a toggle switch to view/hide the text while selecting a resource from the "library". 2012-03-27T17:05:20urn:comment:161/introducing-a-20-percent-time-concept-into-education#comment-143The main difference between the people at Google and students are that the employees at Google already have the prior knowledge and understanding to work on a project. Sure their interest level is high so they are engaged, however they know how to do it or at least have some idea on how they will actively tackle what they are trying to achieve. These employees also have the critical thinking and logical skills so as they can move on and work out what would be good for their project. In a school system and definitely in a Gifted and talented program there may be time for this but then again their might not be. The debates raging around these days of how much is too much homework is one that will not be settled any time soon. So if you start sacrificing class work and making it home work, there not only may be an adverse reaction but the 20% time may be counter productive. 2012-01-17T00:01:30urn:comment:143/key-learning-moments#comment-142AGREED 2012-01-15T13:11:07urn:comment:142/wordfiller-2-sneak-peek#comment-139Nifty!!!2012-01-14T01:56:13urn:comment:139/wordfiller-2-sneak-peek#comment-138Hey Amy, Thanks for your comment! I'm working on getting this live before incorporating it into some other math based software I've written. This would include class management and record keeping. Immediate feedback Is an awesome Idea, I'll try and sneak it into this version. At the moment the Kinect software has to be installed, there's no other way. I will be publishing a version without the Kinect integration that will unpack itself and will require no instillation other than the generic .net framework Thanks for your comment, really appreciate it. Lucas.2012-01-12T07:11:28urn:comment:138/wordfiller-2-sneak-peek#comment-137I think this is a very simple to use tool that many teachers can pick up easily and use. I like how WordFiller makes it easier for teachers to create their own IWB resources. While you can make the same cloze passage activities with software such as Smart Notebook, WordFiller makes it a little easier as you don't have to muck around with locking objects, changing colours of objects, etc. The integration with Kinect will also make it engaging. This sort of activities will help students who are kinesthetic learners. Some things I would suggest though is to think what sets WordFiller apart from a non-technology version. Besides the self-checking tool, at the moment it is very similar to cut-and-paste activities or attaching magnets to the words on paper having students put the words on a magnetic whiteboard. Perhaps put something there that cannot be easily done without technology such as allowing students to enter their names and recording how many tries they took to get a particular answer correct so the teacher can adjust learning instruction accordingly. (This will take a lot of coding though) Also consider having the option to give immediate feedback to students. So instead of clicking "Check", it'd be good if the line turned green and a sound plays as soon as the correct word is placed in the space. Finally, can the program have a .jar version as well? Most teacher computers and laptops cannot install .exe files without getting special admin access rights. This is a small thing but it's often something that prevents teachers from trying out new tools because they can't install it easily. Overall though, this is a really good tool. It offers a quicker and easier way of doing these kinds of cloze passage activities.2012-01-12T07:01:01urn:comment:137/blogging-is-a-gateway-drug-to-technology-in-education#comment-131@Lisa, I Haven't heard of this before? Got a link to some new articles or something going through the details / justifications? Lucas.2012-01-07T13:14:14urn:comment:131/blogging-is-a-gateway-drug-to-technology-in-education#comment-127What do you think about the practice of the large district where I teach: Most of any address that has "blog" in it, esp. as associated with WordPress, is automatically blocked, usually with no explanation given. What can teachers do to speak out about this huge problem (random, huge censorship of students' access to technology)?2011-12-31T20:06:52urn:comment:127/blogging-is-a-gateway-drug-to-technology-in-education#comment-126What do you think about the practice of the large district where I teach: Most of any address that has "blog" in it, esp. as associated with WordPress, is automatically blocked, usually with no explanation given? What can teachers do to speak out about this huge problem (random, huge censorship of students' access to technology)?2011-12-31T20:06:21urn:comment:126/windows-8-in-education-and-the-classroom-series#comment-121Ask not what will windows 8 mean for education. Ask what you want windows 8 to be for education.2011-11-29T14:31:14urn:comment:121/now-using-orchard#comment-111@Kevin, Most probably not, the theme itself is a mash of a fair amount of overrides as well as dependant on a heap of other modules. I may be able to provide just a zip folder containing all of the files, but that's probably as far as I'd go. Lucas.2011-11-27T14:01:05urn:comment:111/the-state-of-technology-education#comment-110It is completely wrong of an IT lecturer to do this. It almost seems as they have no grasp of the subject in which they are teaching. There are some issues with using technology sure, and there are some doubts on what affect the absorption of technology in children, however as a future educator is it my responsibility to be at the forefront of technology? There are always things to learn in this world, I guess its about what is filtering what is needed/required.2011-11-24T22:07:23urn:comment:110/now-using-orchard#comment-109Will you be releasing your theme in addition to the modules? I'm starting to get my hands dirty with Orchard and haven't found a good example of a left side navigation. @foilking2011-11-23T16:08:39urn:comment:109/educational-technology-in-technology-education#comment-120I'm a 'Technology Educator' and I think I'm fairly handy at integrating educational technology into my instruction. However, your assessment of what is the norm is spot on. I've seen thousands of dollars spent on software and hardware that sits dormant because teachers asked for them as part of their 'technology' curriculum, but fail to learn how to use them and integrate them into their instruction. Part of the blame does indeed fall on teachers who don't take the time to learn new technologies and integrate them into instruction. Being a techie is not a requirement for great teachers. It's possible to be an amazing, inspiring educator and not know how to turn on a computer. However, the world is moving on and tech savvy teachers will have a bigger toolbox for connecting with learners and teaching effectively. All teachers should take steps to learn about and embrace technologies that enhance learning. Having said that, district's that are doing the best job at helping inspire and train teachers to use new technology in the classroom are good because they make instructional technology a priority and direct resources towards it's implementation. Poor leadership in educational technology results in failed technology initiatives, frustrated 'techie' teachers and students who exist in a tech-mediated world without a speck of educational influence.2011-07-20T17:11:06urn:comment:120/educational-technology-in-technology-education#comment-119While I am studying Design and Technology / Education, my majors are IT and Engineering. The goal for the time being anyway is to end up as an IST / ICT teacher :) The biggest starting point, as with everything in education is to get them involved as soon as possible. This starts at University where more IT related subjects should be included as part of Education degrees. Taught by actual IT teachers who know what they are doing and are given the chance to try new things. Further to that, there has to be more support from higher up, where teachers can be given additional training courses and technology resources from within the school. It does come back to the old saying that “Those who can’t do, teach” (Those who can’t teach lecture, but that’s another story) applies here so well. The majority of people who can do, end up out doing it, not teaching it. By default this creates a shortage of skills in every subject. Regardless of what we do, be it time off for research, training days, trial days, grants or whatever. We need to make teaching more appealing to those who can do, and empower those who want to.2011-07-18T23:50:01urn:comment:119/educational-technology-in-technology-education#comment-118So What is your solution to encourage active engagement of teachers into IST/ICT? Keeping in mind the prep time, marking time that they need to dedicate to their roles. I personally would like to see more ICT/IST courses for teachers to take during their holidays. That said, as a current uni student studying Info Systems(IS) and Education I see that part of the downfall is with many of the lecturers I have still relying on pen and paper type solutions in our class. That combined with an insufficient way of testing skills and knowledge on PC's seem to be the biggest challenges. All of my IS subjects still rely on tests answered on a Piece of paper.2011-07-18T23:06:30urn:comment:118/redesigning-the-captcha#comment-117Then again, on a blog or the like, where the is no customer or monetization you probably don't have the money to throw at backend staff - so the more fun the better.2011-06-16T09:44:03urn:comment:117/redesigning-the-captcha#comment-116Interesting point on the feeling of security, however I see that the people collecting the data are lazy as opposed to serious. They can't be arsed sorting out the bots from the humans. From a usability perspective I have never met anyone who does not feel a sense of dread when filling out a captcha or the like. I think your point about it not differentiating itself would be an issue - but that could be overcome. My biggest concern is still with the whole idea of putting work onto users that is essentially a bacend problem. Sure if your business model can survive with little respect for users (Facebook) then you will be a very rich mn!2011-06-16T09:17:08urn:comment:116/redesigning-the-captcha#comment-115An inconvenience to thousands for the risk of a few however?2011-06-15T01:24:31urn:comment:115