I just watched another wonderful video from the TED conference. Sir Ken Robinson discussing creativity, education and our direction as educators for the future. His presentation is very entertaining, causing me to laugh out loud on several occasions, but it is effective because it resonates at a deeper level. As he spoke, many personal conversations and experiences sprang to mind.

Often in our education system, it is seen as a terrible waste, if someone with academic ability pursues the arts. When I was in Year 10 at high school, we had to meet with a teacher to discuss our subject choices for the following year - the start of the VCE - our final years of high school, and what was perceived to be the doorway to our career choices for the rest of our lives. I wanted to study a mix of Chemistry, Maths, English, Art, Music and Drama, and I was sure there would be an argument, so I took my father along. Everything went smoothly - I was encouraged to diversify, and the teacher was very supportive. I cannot remember which staff member I met with that day, but I thank them for their support. The following year I was over confident - I went to my meeting alone…and was harangued for an hour as the teacher tried to make me change my selections, saying I had to choose Maths & Science OR Arts, not both. Why? Why could they not see that the creative skills that are fostered in art subjects can be very valuable in more academic fields, particularly in the area of problem solving and creative thinking? Especially now, when so many commentators speak on the importance of creative thinking to the business world.

Robinson also mentions fear of failure as being a major cause for the lack of creativity in many adults. It reminded me of the story of Thomas Edison. He felt we should not see mistakes as failure, rather, as an opportunity for learning. Edison made more than 1,000 attempts to invent the electric light bulb. A colleagues asked “Don’t you feel you are a failure?”. Edison replied “Not at all. Now, I definitely know more than a thousand ways how NOT to make a light bulb.” A few days later he was successful. In contrast, Sir Joseph Wilson Swan, who demonstrated the theoretical concept first, gave up trying to develop a working light bulb after only three attempts.

I hope that views like Robinson’s continue to spread in the Education world. The Principal at one of my schools forwarded the link to this video to all of his staff, asking them to watch it. It is a powerful message, and hopefully the ripple effect will continue to spread.

Teachers are busy people.  I don’t think any of us could ever say we have all the time we need to plan and deliver our curriculum, as well as keep up with professional reading and undertake professional development. Luckily the Internet gives us many ways to get the latest education information and resources with minimal effort. Blogs, Podcasts, Email Newsletters, RSS feeds…… there is a wealth of information out there.

 I thought I would share some of the resources I receive regularly.  Please feel free to add your favourites in the comments.

I receive a couple of email newsletters on ICT in education.  I admit I generally only skim them, but often something great catches my eye, or I can come back to them when I have more time. I get Terry Freedman’s ‘Computers in the Classroom’ and two from The George Lucas Educational Foundation, ‘Edutopia News’ and ‘Technology in Education’. There is also one for ‘Project Based Learning’ and they can all be subscribed to here.

I am building up a list of Education related blogs that I subscribe to, and try and read regularly.  Some I have only just started reading, some I have followed for awhile.

Cool Cat Teacher Blog, a Blog by Vicki Davis , eLearning Technology ,Tony Karrer’s blog , Derek Wenmoth’s Blog and the Infinite Thinking Machine. I also subscribe to eHub, where Emily Chang Blogs about several new Web 2.0 tools everyday, the Podcasts at the Virtual Staffroom and Common Craft’s In Plain English.  If you don’t know how to subscribe to blogs etc with RSS (Really Simple Syndication), then head over to Common Craft and watch the RSS in Plain English video .

I’d love to hear which blogs or newsletters you find the most useful, so please share in the comments.

I am spending some time today trying to publicise my various blogs, so I am now listed with Blogarama .  Apparently my ranking goes up if I link back to them, so here goes…..

I wrote a discussion post on Edubloggerworld this morning about the fact that online education communities seem quite slow to gain momentum.

“I wonder sometimes why sites like Edubloggerworld for educators don’t get up and moving more quickly. I am heavily involved with various artists forums online, and they are much more active spaces for sharing, learning, discussion etc.

…
Having been used to those communities, I find it frustrating that things move more slowly on education sites, there are few replies to posts, new threads, etc.

I know one answer will be that we have to reach a critical mass for that to happen, but as I have witnessed in the glass community, that happens much faster in other fields. Every new education community I have joined has been slow to get off the ground, and eventually, I will stop coming and checking, as there is nothing new to read or respond to.

Why is it that teachers seem so reluctant to utilise this amazing learning/sharing/social opportunity? I think that education communities online have huge potential, but I am concerned that my patience will not last till that potential is fulfilled.”

Sue Waters mentioned in her blog the following statistics:

• 90% of users are lurkers (i.e., read or observe, but don’t contribute)
• 9% of users contribute from time to time, but other priorities dominate their time
• 1% of users participate a lot and account for most contributions: it can seem as if they don’t have lives because they often post just minutes after whatever event they’re commenting on occurs 

I’m not sure where those statistics come from, but I’m fairly confident that the balance on the glass forums leans more heavily towards a higher concentration of active users. I’m actually trying to get some statistics from the forum owner at the moment, just out of curiosity.

So the question remains - how do we either raise the ratio of active participants, or increase the overall number, so that small percentage can keep things rolling along?

 I think its tough for educators… as I replied in the edubloggerworld thread “I think one of the reasons momentum can be slow to build compared to other communities, is because in the other ones, people have joined initially as part of their leisure time, and related to something they are passionate about. I know that teachers can be very passionate about their work, but many of them do see use of technology as a chore related to their work, not as fun, relaxation, social activity etc. And they are VERY short of time at work - many of the teachers I work with struggle to find time to check their email, never mind participate in a forum or social network.
Unfortunately - that aspect isn’t likely to change anytime soon - the only way a space like this will be utilised effectively is if teachers see enough value in it to warrant giving time in their busy schedule.”

It will be interesting to see how this community develops - hopefully the momentum builds, because I think educators have a lot of value to share with each other.