It's actually working…

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Wow, I’m amazed.  This podcasting idea is actually working.  The Virtual Staffroom, my little project to try and share the great  technology integration work done by some of Australia’s leading teachers is actually working.

I got an email today from a guy at the Australian Catholic University in Ballarat, Victoria, asking if he could burn 80 copies of the podcast to CD and give it to a group of pre-service teachers as they train to go out into the classrooms of Australia.  I was blown away.  This is within 48 hours of going live with Anne Baird’s Episode 1.

And then I just checked the iTunes Store, who are now including the show in their podcast directory.  It’s currently ranked number 1 podcast in the Educational Technology section! In fact its also ranked number 10 in the Education section overall.

And this is just the beginning!  Bring it on… 🙂

Burn the Boats

Found this lovely quote on the Borderland blog that really sums up what I see as a huge problem with school as it stands…

My classroom doesn’t work the way I want it to. In the Age of Accountability, I focus on process, and see product as a secondary concern. I’m an ill-fitting peg, uneasy about participating in what, for me, amounts to a charade – emulating archaic practices designed for kids from bygone eras.

Looking at the group I’m with now, thinking about them, and not the generic, bloodless beings called Students, statistical incarnations of demographically catalogued learners, I feel more strongly than ever that I owe each of them more than mere delivery of the curriculum, and concern for where they stand relative to a standard that I don’t endorse.

I have lost track of the number of times I’ve remarked that the dominant content-driven approach to the way we are told to teach is fundamentaly flawed, only to have other teachers respond with “but they have to learn that content or they won’t pass the test at the end”.

They fail to grasp that it’s the system that’s the problem. I reckon it’s about time for a good old fashioned rebellion…

The Staffroom is Live

Yay! Another little project I’ve been working on lately is The Virtual Staffroom, a podcasting project where I’m trying to create a virtual conversation space for leading teachers to talk about the ways they integrate technology into their classrooms.

Episode one launches today with a wonderful conversation with Anne Baird from Wedderburn school in Victoria, Australia.

Head on over to www.virtualstaffroom.net and check it out. It should also be available very soon through the Podcast directory of the iTunes Store.