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Not my thoughts though. The thoughts of Eric Schmidt, head guy at Google, in an interview with the BBC Radio 4’s Start the Week. Eric Schmidt on a digital future Hat-tip for the link to the always excellent Stats Chat

Malaysia announces plan to place Christian faith at the centre of education. Which of course it doesn’t. But with a bit of text editing, that blog post about the power of Google to transform education becomes this. “As a parent of three kids, I have the same aspirations as many other parents and educators—to provide them with the best opportunities to learn and discover their passions. For many students, the Christian faith has become an incredible resource for the classroom, offering tools to work collaboratively, share and research. School systems of all sizes—from a single primary school to an entire country such as the Philippines—have “Gone Bible” in their schools and embraced the gospel to transform education. ...

Or Dell. Or Yahoo. Or Facebook. Or Google. I wrote most of this post last November, but I was reminded of it today, after reading this article The Future of Education? First ‘Samsung School’ in Canada Opens. I joked about opening a Yates school, but maybe it’s not a joke anymore. How long before the naming rights of schools determine how a school operates and how students are taught. I had the privilege of attending the NZOS Awards this week. Hosted by the erudite and engagingly droll Toby Manhire, and brought to you mainly by the word “bats hit”. I was there as part of the group eqnz group, who were nominated in two categories: People’s Choice and Open Source in Social Services. The award in Social Services went to the SoupHub and WCC’s Housing Computer Hubs, both worthy winners. ...

In my role as IT/e-learning lead teacher I get lots of queries and requests for help. But two questions put to me this week got me thinking. Q1: “I am getting a lot of can’t send undeliverable messages-have been for over a week. On my class computer under outlook I have a whole lot of unsent because they won’t go. Could you have a look at some stage as my parent emails are not making it at times-even when reply to sender.” ...

This statement, appeared on the VLN recently. “The rate of change in education is too slow for our priority learners - Māori, Pasifika, students with special educational needs? Do you agree or disagree?” If you removed the phrase “education” out of this statement, would it make anymore sense? “The rate of change in society is too slow for our priority learners - Māori, Pasifika, students with special societal needs?” “The rate of change in parents is too slow for our priority learners - Māori, Pasifika, students with special parental needs?” We can do all the whizz-bang work in education and make ourselves sound futurific with flipped classrooms, QR codes, Google glasses and all - but if you look around at society - it’s still pretty similar to what we’ve always had. ...

Isn’t what you think it is. In a weekend when the local online rag, had articles titled “Is private school a good investment?” and “Welcome to the world of a teacher-less classroom” I found this article in the New York Times made a far more thought provoking argument about the issues surrounding education. It’s quite powerful reading, but not in the breathless and future-faux fashion that the Stuff articles exude. It’s powerful because it’s plain and quite ordinary, although the stats are impressive. The final paragraph sums up the issue of how to fix the failures in education. ...

Tune Up Your BS Detector via @jessicahagy EDIT: Just in case you think I’m being hyper-critical of iPads in education, the author Justin Reich really smashes it with his previous post, which is very aptly titled: If you meet an iPad on the way, smash it. The thinking described there really resonates with me - and as JR points out in the comments, is a key part of his thinking also. ...

invent yourself and then reinvent yourself, don’t swim in the same slough. invent yourself and then reinvent yourself and stay out of the clutches of mediocrity. invent yourself and then reinvent yourself, change your tone and shape so often that they can never categorize you. reinvigorate yourself and accept what is but only on the terms that you have invented and reinvented. be self-taught. and reinvent your life because you must; it is your life and its history and the present belong only to you. ...

This Louis CK clip is always a nice reminder of perspective. I thought of that video clip again as I read this post from the AA blog (which isn’t what you think it is). In it, the author proposes three reasons for why Arsenal fans are currently disillusioned and despondent. Considering the current state of affairs around education in New Zealand, with an ongoing barrage of bad news stories, as well as concerns about the systemic changes that are taking place, I thought it’d be interesting to apply these three reasons to examine the national discourse we seem to be engaged in around education. ...

“If a measurement matters at all, it is because it must have some conceivable effect on decisions and behaviour. If we can’t identify a decision that could be affected by a proposed measurement and how it could change those decisions, then the measurement simply has no value” Douglas W. Hubbard Do we do this enough in education? Honestly and rigorously identify the decisions that could be affected by a proposed measurement. ...

It was my turn to speak to the Education & Science Select Committee today. They are currently holding an “Inquiry into 21st century learning environments and digital literacy”. Submissions for this closed back in May, so it’s been a while since I wrote mine. When presenting to the committee, one gets about 15 minutes to talk and get questioned. I wrote up these speaking notes to keep my talking brief. The comments and questions from the MPs on the committee were positive and engaged. I really enjoyed being there. While I don’t know what impact my submission will make, it was in a small and personal way, empowering to be part of the bigger process. ...

Tonight my Dad is on UAE 419, out of Christchurch via Sydney, bound for Bangkok. He wasn’t meant to be. Last night before dinner he was playing with his five granddaughters, who were alternatively squealing in delight and fake fear as he chased them around the lounge. He made sure there was ice-cream for dessert. He ran the bath for three of the girls and helped to get them ready for bed. Then he sat down and together we watched the ABs beat up on the Wallabies. He whooped and cheered, as he is wont to do. ...

Buried deep within the Ministry’s website are these pages. If you’re at all interested in the future of NZ education - please take the time to peruse them and consider what they mean for the shape and feel of schools and learning. Public Achievement Information page Flyer for parents on PAI Timeline for PAI - 2012 - 2017 PAI - The Case for system-wide improvement PAI - Use of Data - Expected Outcomes ...

Your job is to know your child well enough to make a good call about whether he can manage a particular situation. Will you stay up worrying? Probably, but the child’s job is to grow, yours is to control your anxiety so it doesn’t get in the way of his reasonable moves toward autonomy. This past week, the Minister has announced the website which collates and publishes all of the national standards data which primary schools have submitted. The print media have joined in with rather withering attacks against the education sector, including this from the NZ Herald and from the Southland Times. They serve the purpose, as most editorials do these days, to inflame opinion and cause long threads of commentary for justified indviduals. Which in this day and age, is a win-win for the advertisers whom these media outlets rely on. ...

I was invited onto Kim Hill’s Saturday Morning show, for the weekly session known as Playing Favourites. I was asked to chat about my former life before coming into teaching, and then there was about 10 minutes of discussion on the state of education in NZ. I think I was a bit uncertain on some of my responses, but I really enjoyed the experience. [RNZ Audio Player ](https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/remote-player?id=2527152) Playing Favourites with Tim Kong ...

Wilson Miner - When We Build from Build on Vimeo. We shape our tools and our tools shape us.” As more of the tools we live with every day become digital instead of physical, our opportunity – and responsibility – as designers is multiplying. We live in a world of screens, and we are the ones who decide what goes on them. We are in a unique position to have an impact – one that lasts longer than the next redesign or the latest technology. What happens when we stop thinking of ourselves not just as developers or experience designers, and take up the mantle as a new generation of product designers for a digital world? ...

We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us. - Marshall Mcluhan : Understanding Media, 1964 The Ministry of Education is starting their roadshows about the Network for Learning. I’ve been reading a few things about this new initiative, and reading frustrations expressed by some in schools about the ongoing UFB initiative and the issues around implementing that technology. I’ve also heard some ugly stories of demanding educators harrassing providers. As a friend in the industry said, it wasn’t the complaint itself, it was the sense of demanding entitlement from said educators. ...

We found that modern mechanical invention, instead of disenchanting the universe, had really afforded the means of exploring its marvels more surely. Instead of going around the world with a rifle, for the purpose of killing something … this bold youth simply went round the globe to see the people who were on it; and since he always had something to show them as interesting as anything that they could show him, he made his way among all the nations. ...

SPOILER: I’m conscious this post may cause people to tell me I’m wrong. I’m OK with that. Please comment from your perspective, and your expertise. In that horrible way of education, the soon to be inaugurated Network for Learning, is known by the shorthand: N4L. Because, you know, it’s for the kids. Or possibly, it’d get sued by the National Football League for using the obvious acronym. ...

Most successful school systems grant greater autonomy to individual schools to design curricula and establish assessment policies, but these school systems do not necessarily allow schools to compete for enrolment. In countries where schools have greater autonomy over what is taught and how students are assessed, students tend to perform better. Within countries where schools are held to account for their results through posting achievement data publicly, schools that enjoy greater autonomy in resource allocation tend to do better than those with less autonomy. however, in countries where there are no such accountability arrangements, the reverse is true. ...