http://beta.aalf.org/blogs/ The latest 10 posts from members of the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation! http://beta.aalf.org/blog/SusanEinhorn/view?PostID=766 We at AALF have from our organizational start been guided by Professor Seymour Papert’s (considered by many as the ‘father of educational computing’) visions of learning in a technology rich world. Among these are that computers are not just for adult researchers but are the ‘children’s machine’ an idea that has been so thoroughly adopted, at least outside of schools, that it seems almost obvious (think of the popularity of the ‘digital native’ vs. ‘digital immigrant’ meme) Of course, Professor Papert didn’t predict it being the children’s machine for doing worksheets, but rather for learning in ways not possible before – providing learners with a rich environment that lets them explore and ‘mess around with’ ideas, and create, not just objects, but their understanding of the world. He often wrote and talked about ‘learning to learn’ that metacognitive ability to understand not just what we were studying, but how we approached learning, our strategies, abilities to debug our misconceptions, and new ways we devise to explore previously held beliefs. The use of programming environments, such as Logo, weren’t designed to create coders but to explore big ideas in mathematics by developing both mathematical and computational thinking, the latter an approach used to problem-solve while at the same time exploring the process of one’s own learning. Professor Papert believed the best way these explorations could happen was if students had sufficient access to computers – not once a week lab access, or access via a cart available when occasionally schedule, but by each child having his or her own personal, portable computer and anywhere, anytime learning. Professor Papert began working with children and computers in the late 1960’s – yes, almost 50 years ago. Although the term ‘computational thinking’ hadn’t yet been coined, his approach clearly defined it. He shared his vision of a portable ‘children’s machine’ with Alan Kay, who, in 1972 sketched out the Dynabook, very similar looking to many of today’s tablets. Laptops brought the possibility of bringing the vision of each child having a computer of his or her own to reality. The first school to implement 1:1 did so in 1989-90. While there is clearly a growth in the number of 1:1 initiatives, most students still only have limited access to technology. While we wait and debate over giving our students personal, portable, fully functional digital devices or even partially functional devices, the world is changing. Not only is information massively abundant and available in exponentially growing ways but it feels like no field is not being reinterpreted through the lenses created by big data and computational thinking. As schools somewhat cautiously begin to explore how technology connects to whatever discipline we teach, there is an explosion of examples to look to as inspiration. I’m not just talking about disciplines that seem to have a natural connection to technology, like, biology (Biology is the New Software) or chemistry (Chemistry on computers? Nobel Prize goes to scientists who led the way ), but to almost all disciplines that define our future and understanding of the world. For example, data analysis and computational methods are being used to predict insurgencies (Spreadsheets and Global Mayhem), to shape the thinking of journalists (Teaching Journalists to Think Computationally), to explore language and its development (Exhaustive Computer Research Shows Shift in English Language), and to get a new view of the Humanities (Humanities 2.0: Promise, Perils, Predictions). And beyond traditional academic disciplines, the arts are being radically changed by computation and technology – whether it’s architecture (How Technology is Changing Architecture), visual arts (DevArt: Google\'s ambitious project to program a new generation of artists), music (‘Algorave’ Is the Future of Dance Music (If You’re a Nerd) ), and even fashion (New Skins: Computational Design for Fashion Workshop – The Premise and Process behind the Verlan 3D-Printed Dress). As the latter article states, “Computation is now a medium that permeates popular culture.” So, if computation is becoming so key to some many disciplines and our very culture, what can schools do to not just prepare students in the future sense but to reflect this cultural reality? Some schools are beginning to rethink how they teach everything, for example, here’s how one school is linking not just technology but coding to all areas of the curriculum (Coding the Curriculum: How High Schools are Reprogramming Their Curriculum ). You may not be ready to code your curriculum in this way, but there’s a decided need to rethink what we’re teaching and why. Schools need to create learning environments that more accurately reflect our new digital culture as they prepare students for the world beyond school walls. Tue, 04 Oct 2016 15:46:00 EDT Susan Einhorn (SusanEinhorn) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/kward/view?PostID=1214 What potential does 1-to-1 teaching and learning provide for students and teachers? I think one example that best sums it up is found in the following email message I received from one of my year 10 (sophomore) English Language Arts students. Sheryl\'s correspondence stated: \"Dear Mrs. Ward, You expect me to think too much. I know it\'s good for me, but it makes me tired. Can you please just give me the answer? Your appreciative student, Sheryl\" Little did this young lady know that she had made my day...perhaps my school year, considering that this was just 7-weeks into the school year! The wise educator asks, \"What elements had to be in place in this 1-to-1 classroom in order for the student to recognize that she was thinking deeper and this was hard work?\" I would suggest that understanding effective and strategic foundations are the key to answering this question. Experience has taught many of us that 1-to-1 teaching and learning provides opportunities for teachers and students that did not exist before. While these dynamic and engaging opportunities create a need for change in schools and classrooms, typically these changes are rewarding, and if carefully and strategically designed and implemented, can bring about life-altering experiences for both students and educators. Fri, 01 May 2015 16:57:00 EDT Karen Ward (kward) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/SusanEinhorn/view?PostID=916 How long does it take for a new idea to take hold in education? It was 25 years ago – a quarter century– that the first laptop program was started. We’ve talked about the beginning of 1-to-1 in earlier posts – started in one school in Australia – not only at an all girls school, but in those pre-internet days, the girls were spending their time programming (girls & programming – what a promising start). One-to-one spread to about 80 schools across Australia before the idea moved to North America in the mid ‘90’s, where a number of forward thinking schools took what was then a very daring step. With wires strung across classrooms as the internet entered schools, they began to explore new learning opportunities for their students. But, they were the exception, not the rule. One-to-one was seen as a boutique idea, like so many short-lived education fads. Today 1-to-1 is getting to be almost mainstream, with large districts, states, and even whole countries implementing or planning to implement some form of 1-to-1 for their schools and students. So 25 years - is that fast or slow for change? Since ideas don’t develop in a vacuum, it’s hard to gauge. Other changes have strongly influenced and enabled the spread of 1-to-1. The widespread use of cell phones, tablets, netbooks, laptops and technology, in general, in all areas of our lives, massive amounts of new content and digital learning materials available, much of it free, social media and the growth of online learning communities, MOOCs, and other forms of collaborative learning have provided both the tools and rationale for ubiquitous technology in schools. They have contributed to the growth of 1-to-1 and the dawning recognition of the potentially significant value for learners to each have at least one device to use for learning at school, at home, virtually. But just having a device is only a start, the baseline for change. Necessary, but change shouldn’t stop there. Schools are only just beginning to explore how technology and its accompanying materials and communities let us rethink education, learning, and the role of school within this new learning environment. One-to-one isn’t and was never just about device deployment. It always is about providing unlimited opportunities for young people to learn anytime, anywhere. So, 25 years and counting as the real potential of 1-to-1 begins to be explored. Mon, 05 Jan 2015 14:37:00 EST Susan Einhorn (SusanEinhorn) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/bruceadixon/view?PostID=834 For many years now, the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation has provided thought leadership, advocacy, and a range of resources and information to educators and school leaders across the globe in support of their 1:1 initiatives. Most recently, Susan wrote to tell you of a White Paper that we had published which sought to give policy makers a deeper understanding of the issues and challenges that have faced some of the more prominent 1:1 initiatives around the world. This reflects the growth and maturity of this sector, and the inevitable acceptance by educational leaders worldwide of the opportunities afforded to young people when they have ubiquitous access to technology. We continue to look for ways to support the extraordinary work of people such as yourself, and much of our work of recent times has been in seeking ways to enhance the critical role coaching can play in supporting a shift in teaching practice. As you would expect, the AALF website will continue to be a growing library of resources, research, and stories from educators around the world, and we will continue to develop White Papers and other material to support educators and leadership. Additionally we have recently sought to give you increased access to more articles by a broader cross-section of well-respected writers, by partnering with Modern Learner Media, a company I founded with Will Richardson nearly a year ago. This partnership will provide you with more than 40 articles a year, focused on topics that are impacting education leadership and transformation, commissioned independently of any commercial sponsorship or advertising. This will replace our less frequent AALF newsletter, and you will now have access to the articles through the bi-weekly newsletter Educating Modern Learners, edited by Audrey Watters; in turn this will allow Susan, Justina, and the AALF team to focus on the development of other resources such as the coaching material. For those who want to dig deeper, there is an option to upgrade to a premium subscription to EML, however, there is absolutely no obligation to do so; though this has also proven popular, particularly for school leaders. If for any reason you do not want to receive Educating Modern Learners each week, please let us know. I hope you will find real benefit in the regular articles and links you\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'ll find in Educating Modern Learners, and in turn continue to support the work of the Foundation around the world. Regards, Bruce Tue, 16 Sep 2014 12:56:00 EDT Bruce Dixon (bruceadixon) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/bruceadixon/view?PostID=796 As many of you are aware from previous columns, over the past two and half years, much of our time has been invested in scaling a support network for 1 to 1 initiatives across the globe. This came as a result of the success of the original 21 Steps for 21st Century Learning leader’s workshops, which we originally developed in partnership with the Ministry of Education in Queensland, Australia around 2003-4. In the decade since we have successfully run workshops for thousands of schools leaders across more than 40 countries. However about four years ago we realized the growth of 1 to 1 was out scoping the reach of the Foundation, and so we had discussions with a number of potential partners with an eye to scale well beyond the reach of our own resources. This ultimately resulted in another partnership, this time with Microsoft, who subsequently funded the extensive development and deployment of a revised series of workshop resources for both school leadership, and workshop leaders ‘white labelled’, Design & Deployment. This has been a most successful initiative, which saw 17 workshops conducted in 7 countries for hundreds of school leaders from more than 20 countries over the past 18 months. Most importantly it also allowed us to run the workshops as Master Classes for 36 workshop leaders from around the world, who are now in turn able to scale the workshops across a much broader network of schools in their own countries and beyond. The last of these was held in Tampa, Florida in late May this year, and subsequently a number of additional workshops have already been hosted by our new network of workshop leaders. Ultimately as you might expect, our goal with this initiative, was to provide school and policy leaders across the globe with the best possible resources and knowledge from the experience of AALF members, and to lay down the foundations for a successful deployment and development of a technology-rich learning environment for their students. As we move forward we continue to seek ways for your Foundation to have the most impact within the scope of our humble resources. Accordingly we believe with the reach the 21 Steps program has had over the past 10 years, we are finally able to focus our energies on what this ubiquitous access now makes possible, and in coming months we are hoping to roll out a new series of workshops focused on Coaching. These workshops offer schools an affordable, flexible and innovative range of strategies to support teachers in the shift in practice that technology-richness makes possible. We’ll keep you advised of the workshops’ development, but if any of you would like to know more, or be involved, please contact Susan at seinhorn@aalf.org . And while we will always seek to be pushing boundaries through the thought leadership and advocacy we seek to maintain through various articles, press releases, forum responses, and speaking engagements, we are also looking to increase the benefit you’ll receive through a new partnership with Modern Learner Media. This is an emerging US East Coast publisher which I am involved with, together with Will Richardson, and from next month it will allow AALF to provide members with a more frequent source of news and information addressing topics that I’m sure you will find of real interest. Topics covered recently include: • Understanding the Role of Technology in Learning With Young Children • The Science of the Mind in the Classroom of the Future • Who “Gets” to be a Self-directed Learner? • Assessment and Efficacy- what’s the difference? • What Should School Leaders know about Adaptive Learning • What the Maker Movement offers Learners • Hacking the Textbook. The newsletter, Educating Modern Learners, will now be provided free of charge to AALF members on a weekly basis, and is edited by well-known hackeducation writer, Audrey Watters. The newsletter contains no sponsorship or advertising, and will carry, on a weekly basis, independently commissioned articles by respected commentators and experts from around the world. Additionally members will have access to a premium subscription for other resources such as white papers and books if they wish to subscribe to them. We feel this will be a valuable partnership as it will again allow us to extend the range of resources for our members, at no extra cost to the Foundation, while freeing up internal staff who previously did an exceptional job publishing the bimonthly AALF newsletter. From time to time you will, of course, continue to see news of the work of AALF in the EML, and, most importantly, have access to a much wider range of articles and information that will support your work. As time passes, and the emphasis of our work, finally… finally moves from technology provision, to the ‘stuff that really matters’… unlocking the possibilities for our young people…we’ll continue to look for the best ways AALF can partner and leverage the best resources and support for our members. Regards, Bruce Tue, 17 Jun 2014 14:02:00 EDT Bruce Dixon (bruceadixon) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/SusanEinhorn/view?PostID=795 When I went to school way, way back in the previous millennium, I would find there pencils, paper, crayons, and everything I needed to do my work. As I got older, sure, I had to bring a binder as well as pens and pencils, but everything else was there for me to use. Flash forward to when my kids first went to school. Someone had figured out a great way for schools to save money – have each child bring in his or her school supplies. Each year, starting from kindergarten, we parents received a list of all the items we needed to send in with our child – from pencils, to notebooks, to markers and glue, to boxes of tissue, hole punches, and cleaning supplies. Was this funding shift celebrated? No way. It was met with sadness and many an article bemoaning the sad state of public school funding now that public school was no longer ‘free’. For too many, ‘free’ public school was beginning to be costly. Funding organizations organized charity drives to collect donated supplies for children who couldn’t afford these ever-growing lists of essentials (and, no one denied that at least some of these items were essential). Yes, many people had pencils and paper at home already, it’s true, but the extensive list of what to bring to school was burdensome, and often incredibly detailed, including things like ‘1 box 184 count Kleenex and ‘Crayola 7 inch pre-sharpened colored pencils - 12 count’. And, although the pencils used at school didn’t impact any larger system or create added work for any technician, the type of pencil was clearly specified. No hard no. 5 pencils, no way. No. 2 Ticonderoga pencils, only, please. Unfortunately, no one coined a cute name for this practice. No catchy sound-bytes. No major BYOS (Bring Your Own Stuff) announcements. Big mistake. Flash forward to today. School supply lists continue to grow; no one is happy. But, then something else gets added. “You have some type of digital device lying around at home? Add it to the school supply list. Oh, you don’t? – come on, every child has some type of digital device in his/her pocket, even if it’s phone-sized. Type of device doesn’t matter as long as it can connect to the internet.” “But,” you ask, ‘If one kid has a Macbook Air and another a phone?” “Doesn’t matter. They’ll work it out (although the kid with the phone usually has more to ‘work out’.) Plus, now the kids have ‘voice and choice’ - they can ‘choose’ to use what they want to use and are already familiar with.” (While in reality, they ‘choose’ what they can afford, even, if given a real choice, they’d select something else.) But - instead of quietly adding this item to the already long supply list, some clever wordsmith decided to give this funding ploy a catchy name - BYOD - and make it a ‘thing.’ Now it’s no longer an old uncomfortable pattern of shifting the funding of certain items to parents, a pattern that we’ve learned to tolerate – it’s now the NEXT BIG THING. Really? Call me old-fashioned, but I’d like to believe that the next big thing will be, I don’t know – a BIG THING, something truly transformative. BYOD, a funding tactic, doesn’t seem to qualify and shouldn’t become an end in itself (or the topic of endless conference sessions). Talk of this ‘big thing’ is distracting too many people from focusing on the bigger, more challenging ideas, like what does all this technology make possible in terms of learning, what are the new roles of educators and students now that technology is permeating every aspect and fiber of our lives, and what does all this mean in terms of the meaning and role of school. Educators need to focus here – no one is better prepared than they to tackle these questions. Work these out and you’ll really have the Next Big Thing. Tue, 17 Jun 2014 11:30:00 EDT Susan Einhorn (SusanEinhorn) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/bruceadixon/view?PostID=767 Last time I said I would share some of the experiences of my recent travels. It seems only right to start with vision; right because, well, that’s where all good personal technology initiatives should start…but rarely do. No matter how often you run workshops for educational leaders emphasizing the importance of developing a well articulated shared vision, the importance too often escapes too many. As you are no doubt aware, as part of AALF’s long-term objective of providing support for schools, states and countries undertaking 1 to 1 initiatives, we developed what has become known as the 21Steps for 21st Century Learning workshop, originally in partnership with the Ministry of Education in Queensland, Australia. Nearly 10 years later, I’m pleased to say that not only have we run these two day workshops for school and policy leaders who represent more than 7,500 schools across 25 countries, but we are now combining that with Master training to extend our reach even further. By June we will have trained a further 20+ trainers, who we expect will in turn train many more in their respective countries. This has been a most significant achievement for the Foundation, as we seek to share expertise and best practice to preparatory initiatives around the world, and give their young people the best possible opportunities for their futures. At another time, I will share some stories from the wide range of cultures, and contexts in which we have run those workshops. But to get back to my comments about vision. To emphasize the importance of a clear, shared vision, we always include an activity in the 21 Steps workshops which asks them to choose one of the following statements best represents the vision they have for their school/state/province/District/country’s 1 to 1 initiative. So here is the quiz. From the recent workshops we have run, which statement do you think was selected by the most educational leaders in Mexico, and which one by educational leaders in the US? 1. We are going to address inequity in our education system and ensure every child has access to personal technology. The Digital Divide. 2. We want a school system that lays down a foundation for future economic growth. 3. We want to provide our students with unprecedented opportunities for 21st Century Learning. 4. We want to unlock the possibility of personalized learning for all our young people. 5. We think it’s time to extend the place of learning beyond school walls to better embrace informal learning opportunities. 6. Research now shows 1 to 1 improves academic outcomes, and consequently we want that for all of our students. 7. Providing 1 to 1 access to personal portable computers will extend and improve our assessment alternatives. 8. 1 to 1 will allow us to replace physical textbooks and provide expanded resources for our students. 9. Providing students with their own personal portable computer, gives our students the ‘learning medium of their time’. 10. By implementing 1 to 1 we will expand pedagogical opportunities for our students and in turn allow us to have higher expectations. 11. 1to1 will allow students to be better informed and make better decisions about what they do and learn in the classroom, becoming true self-directed learners. I really like the exercise, as it always tells me something about the people and their countries’ priorities. Obviously there are some statements that would appear to be popular, no. 3, 21st Century Learning for example, and also obviously some overlap. But the choice for Mexico was no.11....for very interesting reasons. The current Mexican government is very committed to improving their education system, and to do that they are looking to initiate a 1 to 1 program that will potentially reach more than 11 million students. They have had the foresight to start in the elementary grades, at Grade 5 level, and their academic and technology leadership is committed to overcoming what to many would appear to be very challenging circumstances. One of those is teacher quality, particularly in remote areas, where the level of teacher preparation can be extremely limited. Accordingly there are boldly exploring the ways in which a child with their own personal, portable, fully-functional computer might be able to compliment and extend their teacher’s expertise if it allows them to be better informed and make better decisions about their learning. Ambitious, but I think something to be applauded for its intent, and potential impact. On the other hand...and yes, you know where this is going...some recent workshops across the States would suggest that one of the main levers for 1 to 1 in the US is no.7..to drive online assessment. A sad reality, associated with the obsession with common core. When we developed the list and included that vision statement, our optimistic view was that people might see 1 to 1 offering more creative formative assessment options…but unfortunately online testing is currently winning out in the States. If this is of course simply a means to an end, and ultimately it does enable millions of American students to get access to a laptop when they otherwise would not have, then maybe there will be a hidden benefit...but...as I said at the outset, it just depends on how whether the assessment vision continues to dominate, or a more enlightened perspective evolves. As I said, the vision exercise tells us a lot about intent and commitment, so we would really value hearing from you as an AALF member, as to the vision statement that drives your initiative within your school, District, region or State. I’m really interested in your thoughts. Tue, 15 Apr 2014 12:52:00 EDT Bruce Dixon (bruceadixon) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/Jspencer/view?PostID=765 Get the conversation started with this month\\\'s quote from Neil Postman in Teaching as a Subversive Activity: \\\"In order to understand what kind of behaviors classrooms promote, one must become accustomed to observing what, in fact, students actually do in them. What students do in a classroom is what they learn (as Dewey would say), and what they learn to do is the classroom\\\'s message (as McLuhan would say). Now, what is it that students do in the classroom? Well, mostly they sit and listen to the teacher. Mostly, they are required to believe in authorities, or at least pretend to such belief when they take tests. Mostly they are required to remember. They are almost never required to make observations, formulate definitions, or perform any intellectual operations that go beyond repeating what someone else says is true. They are rarely encouraged to ask substantive questions, although they are permitted to ask about administrative and technical details. (How long should the paper be? Does spelling count? When is the assignment due?) It is practically unheard of for students to play any role in determining what problems are worth studying or what procedures of inquiry ought to be used. Examine the types of questions teachers ask in classrooms, and you will find that most of them are what might technically be called\\\"convergent questions,\\\" but what might more simply be called \\\"Guess what I am thinking\\\" questions.\\\" *Do you agree? Do you think students are not encouraged enough to ask substantive questions in the classroom? What shifts are you making in your own classroom? What are the challenges? Watch the AALF 21 Steps to 21st Century Learning video entitled Explore Contemporary Learning. How does the learning experience for the students in the video compare to the experiences Postman describes? We\\\'d love to hear what you think! Join the conversation and let us know! Tue, 15 Apr 2014 12:50:00 EDT Justina Spencer (Jspencer) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/SusanEinhorn/view?PostID=744 You may not have realized, but a few issues ago we changed the name of the AALF newsletter from One-to-One to the Anytime Anywhere Learning Report. This may not seem like such a huge change to you, but to us, it’s significant. First and foremost, as an organization, AALF has always been focused on rethinking where, when, what, and how our young people are learning and the role of school within their every day, everywhere learning environment. A cornerstone of this anywhere anytime learning is that learners have ubiquitous access to technology. Access - when it’s needed, how it’s needed, where it’s needed - is crucial, but it’s not the goal nor focus. The goal of shifting from the name One-to-One is to remove the emphasis that too often remains focused on the technology. Yes, baseline, students each need ubiquitous access, but the shift isn’t just about putting devices into students’ hands. Too many times one to one initiatives become deployment programs. And, although there’s an understanding teachers need professional development, often this ‘training’ is merely focused on gaining technical skills and an introductory knowledge of the hardware, and the how-to of some software, apps, and the web. The truth is deployment isn’t the end, it’s the beginning, and professional learning must be ongoing and centred on pedagogy and the design of learning in these technology-rich physical and virtual learning environments. If a school’s focus is on creating richer, deeper learning experiences for its students, the selection of the device, while not the most important decision in the implementation process, becomes an easier one. It becomes a decision connected to vision and goals, not a spur of the moment decision based on fads or misinformation. Whatever the device, it must not compromise learning. Each student should have a fully functional, personal portable device. What would this include? Clearly, laptops and some, but not all, tablets. Everything else, at least at this time, may be great as a secondary device, but shouldn’t be the only device. Otherwise, teachers and learners limit their options, making learning compromises based on device capability rather than pedagogical reasons. And, yes, we know, for some, ‘one to one isn’t the case anymore’, it’s two to one, or even three to one. It would be wonderful if this was the case for all students, but it isn’t. If you can supply your students with more than one device, or if they’re lucky enough to have a variety of additional options, Great! But one to one should be recognized as the minimum acceptable level, the baseline. And these devices need to be available not only when students are at school or in a specific class, or at home, or at the library, but 24/7, so they are available when (anytime) and where (anywhere) they are needed for learning. Fortunately, more and more schools are moving to one to one. But, often, an educational vision isn’t driving the decision. Which gets us back to the name change. We’re about learning – anytime, anywhere. Our work is centered on helping schools articulate compelling visions for learning from which they can begin to design learning experiences that aren’t limited by time or place or the numerous other barriers that exist. As Sister Suzanne Cooke says in our video The Compelling Case for Change, “This is always about learning.” Tue, 11 Feb 2014 12:24:00 EST Susan Einhorn (SusanEinhorn) http://beta.aalf.org/blog/bruceadixon/view?PostID=743 January is best known as BETT month, in most countries with the ironical exception of the US. First run in 1985 as the British Education Training and Teaching exhibition, this year it attracted more than 40,000 attendees from more than 100 countries. I actually attended the first three in the early 80’s and since then it has grown from a simple education technology show to what has become a week of conferences starting with the Education World Forum attracting more than 70 Ministers of Education. All in all, it is now an exceptional opportunity to network with people from across the globe, and learn what is happening in schools around the world. So what is happening? Well given the scale of the week’s events, and the sheer numbers and positions of people attending, this is a unique opportunity to get a snapshot of policy priorities and technology trends around education across diverse cultures. Well I’d love to report that with such a unique gathering, I saw amazing possibilities; I’d love to report that after nearly 30 years BETT week has become a showcase of the sort of transformations that we hope for each year at ISTE, but never see; but I can’t. You see, as we wander well into the clichéd 21st century, we are letting opportunities slip through our fingers. As I wander through this year’s BETT Show, I wondered just how much we are spending, have spent, on technology for education, for what? Am I having nightmares when I see masses of non-brand trivial sub $100 tablets that are poor substitutes for what you can do with even a pen and paper, and ask, is this the best we can do? Am I seeing things when I wander through masses of software on display that mimics much of the worst of the ‘80’s CML-ware, and am not impressed just because we now call them ‘apps’?...and am I delusionary if I end up walking out of the biggest education technology exhibition on the planet and ask why can’t we do better? What I’ve learnt is that none of this really matters; and in 2014 it’s time we faced up to the reality, that for all the tens of billions we have spent on technology in education, for all the years of investment millions have made of their time, we have only just begun to realize the possibilities. You see, what I did see during BETT week this year, were glimmers of hope. People in countries that we often pay too little attention to, showing courage that is too often lacking in countries such as the US, Australia and the United Kingdom. These are countries we should learn more about, because there is much to learn from them. In my next column I’ll share a little more about some of the countries that I think are showing the way about what might now be possible. As always, I’m interested in your thoughts. Tue, 11 Feb 2014 11:27:00 EST Bruce Dixon (bruceadixon)