Dec 17
I’ve been thinking about one of the ideas Stephen Heppell highlighted in his keynote at this years VITTA conference.
“What ICT skills would you expect a modern day teacher to have?”
Trying to come up with your own list is a very interesting activity! This would be great for a staff meeting focusing on the discussion of teacher ICT skills. What sort of list would the teachers you work with create? You could make it harder by limiting the responses or asking for items in order of importance. Here’s mine, in no particular order ….
A digital teacher should be able to:
- Manage a group of students online (blog, wiki, Moodle etc)
- Use some web 2.0 tools or new media in the classroom for student learning
- Manipulate digital media eg resize and crop photos, change a sound format for use in a different piece of software
- Contribute to, and facilitate collaboration between their group of students and another school or outside organisation
- Model ethical use of digital technologies
- Proficient in the use of ICT for communication eg email, school intranet
- Perform Internet searches and check for the accuracy of information and sources
- Be proficient in the use of an office suite – word processor, presentation tool and spreadsheet
- Participate in an online community for professional learning
- Basic file management including backing up data and burning discs
One that didn’t quite make the list include:
- Subscribe and follow other educators through blogs, podcasts etc (Personal learning network?)
- Manage a collection of class photos and create a product to share and celebrate the learning
- Use a social bookmarking service and be able to develop a ‘relevant’ network
- Basic troubleshooting of network connections and print services
Leave a comment for things you think I’ve missed 
February 14th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
G’day Darrell,
As you’re reflecting on Stephen Heppell, I thought you might find Bill Kerr’s take on his keynote to be of interest. The comments make interesting reading as well and present alternative perspective on how revolutionary Web 2 tool are (or are not). I’d be interested in your reactions, if you feel inclined.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Hi Graham,
Thanks for the comments. I was just trying to get at some sort of baseline skill/knowledge set that covered applications, connectivity (including the network), communication and community. I have read that post of Bill’s and find it interesting and challenging reading.
I feel the debate is a bit like the Stager vs Richardson debate on web2.0 … they both pretty much agree on lots of points but have a different view on how it can be achieved. Will Richardson sees Web2.0 as empowerment of students – finding a voice, connecting to global audience, commenting on others, and becoming involved in their learning. Gary Stager focuses on empowerment through the use of constructivist software like Logo, one-to-one to learning with computers and the development of strong maths/science principles. I believe there is room for both world views. Students need write and read about ideas, connect to others, discuss ideas etc and they also need some deep understanding of maths/science/ICT concepts. Why can’t we have both?
It shouldn’t be to web2.0 or not to web2.0 … there is a lot of grey in between.
February 15th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Your points are well made and it certainly shouldn’t be an either/or situation in regards to Web 2.0. Where I find a voice like Bill’s to be useful is when I start thinking about skills as you started listing without critically evaluating their worth and then working out what has to move aside in our already crowded curricular scene. The other debate that seems to flare up often is whether school itself is an outmoded idea that Web 2.0 and other future web technologies can replace in some way or that these tools can be used to improve what we are already doing. Idealism and realism twist and counter-attack each other as the revolutionaries from the Stager point of view see the Web 2 evangelists as Johnny-come-latelies pushing a Trojan horse. And yes, I’m still not sure where I sit in all of this.