Are grades a true reflection of Individual Merit?

What you see in one time frame
 is not always
what is there in total!

Musing from a Google+ Post!

I was perusing the Google + posts and come across one from +Jeannie Crowley  who was sharing +Brendan Storming post about the article http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/an-a-student-regrets-his-grades/article7359620/?service=mobile by +Afraj Gill .  I was intrigued how the Finnish school system has spread as an example of excellence and the sentiments behind the article.

We in the UK often hold up Finland as a great example. We talk about adopting the Finnish System of all through schools as the Holy Grail to school improvement.  However, we do not do the whole system we are possibly the most tested school system in Europe for both pupils, teachers and education providers (academies and local authorities).  

Grades are not the be and end all, we should be moving beyond the summative assessment approach and accolade awarding nature of present education.  Formative assessment,  (using the test to inform learning for the individual) application for assessing and individuals capacity to learn would ideally be greater.

n terms of capacity to learn I mean identifying areas that you are in need of greater understanding and remedying this learning gap.  In other words a two part exam one testing the initial knowledge and a second one some time in the future (1 month etc) after testing same knowledge and understanding.     

If the second takes place without any more formal teaching this gives the "striver" and dedicated learner encouragement to become a self-learner taking advantage of opportunities available to improve their understanding.  Give grades by all means of both tests, but emphasise the the improvement between the two tests and the capacity to close the learning and understanding gap.  Which is more important?

This could be a great use of Online Learning Communities for instructors/teachers/facilitators to be available so individual learners can become self-learners.  Also gives the individual control over the process.   The absence of teachers in critical phases of exam course, illness, socio-economic features of  individual students education would start to have less of an influence sinee you would be testing the innate capacity to improve IMO.  

In the UK we have a great skew towards more affluent areas producing the "best results" in league tables. On the one hand we have Ofsted drawing attention to poor standards in Primary schools http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20498359

 based upon areas where socio-economic factors play a big part.  On the other hand they are criticising successful schools of coasting even though 100% of their pupils are achieving the standard  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17857324

.  Focussing on the value added (where they start and where they finish) now being considered the key measure for schools in their effectiveness.  It is also argued that there is still a culture of "what can we do the kids from this background" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20324336

  

 (I used to teach in a school when the John Prescott Tables of deprivation for all 8554+ electoral wards were  produced. This was about 18 months into my time there and the school was in the bottom 10% of the country even though we were in Leafy Suffolk.  This still did not feature in any of our Ofsted reports as a factor in low attainment.  Bragging rights for me in this trying time of constant Her Majesty Inspectors visits,  Ofsted's bosses, was that I took the Science results as Head of Science and teaching 2/3 of the classes at Key Stage 2 from 42% before I started,  to 48% in my first year in charge then 74% Level 4 the following year.   Maths that same year was doing 29%, with all the help they had  from the local authority!   Glow of achievement moment over! )    

On a positive note, the  story of turning on the light of education has been achieved by one primary school,
 English is second language at 'best' primaryhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20710873

.  If only we could introduce the culture of education for improvement to the whole of England!

Friday Reflection!

Somebody left their Freezer door open!

Well we have had an icy blast from the north or was it Siberia?  the snow came down on Monday which was not too bad. I have been travelling to Ely about 30 miles away everyday (and will do today as well) since Tuesday.  Luckily knowing the area I have avoided the 2 to 3 hours queues on the A14 and A11 roads when accidents have happened.  More snow predicted for later today but hopefully I will be on my way home before that starts.  

The temperatures have been on average about -5 C.  Might not seem a big deal to other countries but it is in the UK.  The get of jail free card played by the local authorities is that we rarely have these conditions.  If rarely (but frequently have them in winter) have them then the contingencies should be in place rapidly.  This is potentially where Teleworking should kick in, relieving the roads, the emergency services and the cost of heating buildings above frost protection.  It is not usually the first day when it snows that there are staffing problems since most will attempt the first day.  The subsequent days when people develop colds or are more stressed owing to the journey to work is an added problem.  All those commuters sitting on iced up and delayed trains are not being productive!  

Anyway the Friday Reflection.  It was good to get into the classroom this week and see how ideas of online learning could be matched as an aid to traditional class room learning.  The blended learning scenario.  We always assume a lot of prior knowledge when we walk into a classroom whether we are a regular teacher of that class or a substitute or supply teacher.  There is more worth in several "I get it" exclamations than an hour of  child minding and hoping that what you have imparted has the building blocks to support it in the first place.  In science (my subject) one dispelling of a misconception which can last a lifetime (ie the mass/weight conundrum for many pupil) and can often being the difference between the light coming on for the rest of the curriculum, not just science.  That little bit of success and understanding can be the brick that causes the dam preventing  further learning AND understanding.

Assumption is a problem with MOOCs when they are too big.  Overcoming the group inertia against against admitting you do not understand.  The hierarchy that is being set precludes as in traditional settings questioning of the instructor whether they are Professors of Oxford, Cambridge or the local Community College and school.  Challenges such as this are best addressed in a peer to peer online learning community or tutorial setting.  Moves away from tutorials by British Universities has been a feature with some arts courses having only 6 hours taught time a week.  You have to question are people being given a fair deal when this happens?   

Will update the Haverhill Online Learning Community Computer week later in the day.  To quote  the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, if don't stop now I am going to be "late for a very" important date in Ely! 

Friday Reflection!

Week 2 of 2013 and Still going!

We are approaching the end of the second week of 2013.  This week I have started to take a little bit of a perspective of the size of the task I have taken on and the work needed so far for Haverhill Online Learning Community (HOLC).  I have used my new Google profile picture (pictured left) to illustrate the effect the effort has had on some days.  The cat appreciates a comfortable sleeping place and the fact that I am not in front of a screen!  A bit of quality purring going on!  That said there is starting to be a bit of satisfaction in the fact content is starting to be added to the website.  Recognition of the idea by others (thanks +Gail Poulin and +Rob Perhamus for your Google Plus comments) and it's potential value for a Learning Community.

HOLC itself is a relatively small community at present.  We are in the establishment phase at the moment.  The lag phase (to borrow a term for biology and bacteriology) so to speak of establishing a new community. this is the stage of adaptation to the needs of the community by interaction.  Once a critical mass of participants the log or exponential growth phase should be steady.  Reaching a stationery phase of growth is the difficult stage to recognise.  Four scenarios may exist once a stationary phase is reached.  Firstly the community remains the same and is limited by the "space" of the interactions and activities   Secondly a  death phase of the community starts to take over as interest and engagement is lost.  Thirdly a community interaction puts the community back into the lag phase or growth phase.  The fourth scenario is the formation of a new colony or community separate or in addition to the original community.  There are precedents in Ancient Greek society for this which resulted in the formation of new colonies such Marseille (Massalia), Syracuse (in Sicily) and Emporium (Spain).  These examples still survive today but do not necessarily (or have to speak) Greek because they now have their own identity.    

Measuring the success of the community and being able to recognise the different phases is a  skill of the moderator or facilitator of the community.  The last thing that needs to be done  when a community appears to be going into the death phase is to throw the baby out with the bath water!  Do we judge objectively success of a community by numbers of members?  Do we judge it by the number of active members?  There are a lot of Google+ Communities with 2000+ (in some some cases 30000+) that have been set up.  I have joined some of these larger communities and it is quite apparent rapidly that there are only a relatively few core active members.  There are a lot of "lurkers".  But as we have discussed in the #oflc set up +Jeannie Crowley these may become active when there is something they feel they have an opinion on.  A index of Active or lurker/size of community (AL/C) within  a time frame could be a measure of the success of the communities aims and the ownership of that community by it's members.

Is the success criteria  of AL/C  a measure of the quality of engagement?  I suppose it all depends on which stage of the lifecycle of the community you are in.  Subjectively as a facilitator you may have the success criteria that establishment shows that you have a successful community.  Objectively the participants may say the quality of the interactions and the scope of the material might be their success criteria and why they joined.  Pictures of cats might not be everybody's cup of tea, for which other communities might be a more appropriate forum (honest only use the four legged assistant for illustration purposes).

Meeting diverse success criteria are some of the  challenges that the online community community and facilitators must face in the evolution of the online learning community.  MOOCs which are the longest established are undergoing a possible  entry into a stationery phase.  I say stationery phase as it has been identified by some that their  free model of engagement might not be sustainable  against the other demands that their constituent universities might have to satisfy.  

The success of an  educational model is a trade of the finite price of what the market is prepared to pay for and a floor price at which providers are unable to go below.  This is possibly where the Open Learning Community has it's place.  The initiator of awe and wonder in Life Long Learning.  Where certification is required the MOOCS take over.  A community that keeps a core perspective of why it was set up will probably be adaptable to it's members needs.  Also there has to be a realistic view that a community  can be considered to be a living organism as well.  The health of an Online Learning Community is not  necessarily judged as to does it meet the success criteria of the initiators.  The quality of the social interactions might overwhelm the learning aspects.  For instance the idea of visiting a garden together in a group to learn the  names of flowers might have been the original intention for forming a Garden Group.  The social aspect of having a day out might be goal of the people participating.

A fairly wordy discussion of the life cycle of an Online Learning Community.  The phase that Haverhilll Online Learning Community and ukonlinelearningcommunities.org are in definitely the lag phase.  The task for this week is to try to publicise the community to grow size of the community.  I have a number of meetings coming up including attendance of the Best of Haverhill event organised by +Elaine Carr which providea a great opportunity for local networking of the "traditional" face to face variety.  Will have to remember to take some business cards along!     

ESOL on Haverhill Online Learning Community

English Week at Haverhill Online Learning Community.

+Philip Spalding 

English as second Language (ESOL) is often as native speakers overlooked.   People that work and live in Haverhill may not necessarily always be proficient in languages.  HOLC have now started to provide some resources for people to improve their language.  

A page detailing information of where to learn languages in the local area is being developed.  At present it includes a link to the local provider West Suffolk College and their course which start on 17th April 2013 in Menta Centre in Haverhill.  As we find more relevant links these will be added in time.  On the main page for ESOL there is a link to Haverhill Library.  The Library is a great place to find books in different languages at both children's and adult level.  By joining the library you have access to the county's resources for free!

The main ESOL Page contains a number of links to sub pages for Beginners, Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced level.  Within each sub-page are details of vocabulary and you might expect to know at the various levels.  Online resources and lessons in English only will appear on these pages.  If you are going to learn English you may as well be immersed in the language from the start.  As the year progresses we will revisit the pages and add more content in relation to the Calendar of Events . 

Join in in the community by contributing resources and experiences of your own.  There are opportunities to blog, learn how to make online resources lessons and become peer mentors for other learners.  To join click on the Link (https://plus.google.com/communities/109558443415099915114).  

The Digital Divide: Challenge for 2013!

Web Link!

Accessing the digital village!

+Philip Spalding 

On the face of it the UK is a developed country.  We have generally enough food, we have freedom of expression, we are generally well housed , we have free state provided healthcare and basic education.  These are some of the hallmarks we traditionally associate with a developed or first world country!

The  criteria to assess how developed a country may be is rapidly changing.  With the advent of the digital economy and the global village, we are now seeing the world becoming increasingly connected.  Barriers to information exchange and trade provided by traditional political boundaries of countries and local governments are not in general of great influence.  Technology giants such as Apple, Google, Huawei and Microsoft have been the generally drivers of the new hallmark of digital connectivity.   

Applying the hallmark of digital connectivity to measuring the UK's fitness for purpose in the global village is a relative measure.  We are doing better than most but there is a still parts of the community that are experiencing a digital desert.  The UK has approximately 750,000 school age children without access to a computer linked to the internet at home (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20899109).  With the average size of household taken as 4 (for instance) that is 3 million people who are missing out on the digital revolution.

The estimate of 3 million does not include the elderly and other adults without access to the internet.  This is a problem as increasingly we see services like Jobcentre Plus, Taxes, Benefits and interactions with service providers such as councils and banks go online.  Seeing a "local face" behind a counter is increasingly rare.

Addressing this problem has been the "job" (more like Herculean task) of Martha Lane Fox (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10575266).  There is now a digital advisory board ( http://digital.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/2012/04/25/introducing-the-digital-advisory-board/ )  to coordinate the plan.  This has taken nearly two years to set up judging by the time stamps on the news stories and announcements.  Digital in the title  therefore does not necessarily mean it will be rapid. 

How to get the 3/4 million children online?  Problems identified include access to computers and access to  an internet connection at home.  The premise of the survey is a need for a computer (probably desktop) for access sites for homework and learning.  Up to Christmas of 2012 saw a massive leap in the sales of Tablets in the UK with 2012 been described  as the year of the Tablet (http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9781000/9781351.stm).  For the majority of the use needed for after school tasks a tablet is all that is required for most pre-Key Stage 3 tasks.  An Android seven inch tablet operating on the 4.0 release can now be found on sale for £60 pounds, less than the cost of a pay as you go mobile phone.  The internet connection is the tricky problem.  How to provide cheap cost effective connection to reduce the digital desert! More thoughts on this will appear in a related blog at (http://ukonlinelearningcommunities.blogspot.co.uk/).

2013 is going to be an exciting year.  The year we become connected.  One experiment of mine in digital connectivity is the Haverhill Online Learning Community.  Visit and join the groups or community and help us make a better digital experience!      

The Friday Reflection!

The March of the Wind Mills!
Gunfleet Sands off Clacton on a warm January Day!

First Week of Online Community Projects for 2013!

By +Philip Spalding 

Have spent the last week running the Haverhill Online Learning Community's Maths for Parents Week.   The materials have been shared through Facebook groups such as the local residents associations, the Selling and Free Page, Haverhill Business Group.  A search for Google + users has also taken place and all have been invited to join and contribute. 

After all this effort was only when I emailed one of the Advanced Skills Maths Teachers in Ipswich to aquaint him with the site that I discovered a flaw in the cunning plan.  Fully supportive as he was, he had one question "How do I join?".    Feeling a little puzzled  I wondered what  Don Quoxite moment I had been guilty of, had I been tilting at windmills in my desire to build the community (slight reference to the Wind Turbines in the photograph).  

Taking a little step back, I went to the home page of the page of the website!  What was I missing?  Looking at the so called obvious links of Contact Us, Visit the Google + Community, Facebook and Google Group pages I scratched by head for a few seconds.  They were obviously not doing their job!  Looking again at the question "How do I join?" a slight ray of  light seemed to be there.  Now on the front page of the website (https://sites.google.com/a/kritirecharge2012.co.uk/haverhill-online-learning-community/home) are the words JOIN BY Clicking Here with an embedded web link.  The sidebar also has new a web link to the Google + Community preceded by the word "join", which will take people to the community page where they can join! 

A few SlideSpeech demos, or a You Tube Video may also be needed since the sidebar has started to become a little full!  So hopefully four little words are the solution. Time will tell!  

Will need to get out there and also talk to community groups as well.  The community may have access to the internet but there is not necessarily an awareness of it's full potential.  Facebook for instance may not be the best medium to promote a community based group such as the Haverhill Online Learning Community!  Social media has it's limitations for conversion of contacts to participants!  Recently noticed that a lot of the people offering locally their services as Twitter media consultants have now changed their business activity descriptions to Marketing again!  Difficult to make a living when everybody can do itself, or as usual with local markets word of mouth does your twitter function as it has always done so!

Still it is the end of the Christmas and New Year holiday period.  The Haverhill Online Learning Community is out there!  The field has been built, (Kevin Costner reference) will they come?  Not going to stop making links and contacts, a community of 30 or so active members by mid-February is the first goal!  If you would like to participate, JOIN BY Clicking Here.  Upcoming events are listed in our Calendar (https://sites.google.com/a/kritirecharge2012.co.uk/haverhill-online-learning-community/calendar).  Look forward to speaking to you in the community page!     

Maths Week at HOLC

Website Link 

Making Maths Accessible

Maths is one of those skills that is essential to success in life.  Many of us are very good at maths because it is something that we do everyday of our lives.  Addition and subtraction is used by everybody that handles money.  This is ideally done mentally and rapidly.  In the UK the average Britain is not as skilled in maths as you would expect for a developed country, (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20712312).  Getting a good grounding in maths is vital!

Haverhill Online Learning Community has been running a week of Maths for Parents activities.  While children are still on the holidays we have been supplying a number of resources for use.  The webpage link has some some general information.  Sub pages include Number Square and Primary Maths.  

The page Number Square has a little explanation of the resources and crucially free downloads.  Parents can download the PDF files for use with their children as they develop their Maths skills.  There are two versions of the Number Square, a Number Square with working area and a larger version.  A sample exercise has been included focussing on place value!  A word document will soon appear where parents can make their own place value grids.  SlideSpeech presentations will be added  in due course explaining more of the resources and how to use them.

The Primary Maths page is developing as the launch page for a series of sub-pages   We are covering in Primary Maths, the Early years as well as  Key Stages 1 and 2.  The pages are still being continually added to  as Haverhill Online Learning Community is a dynamic community. A "complete" website will never exist since learning is ever evolving.  One page with content that is already useful (ie has some content) is General Resources across the Primary Maths Key Stages!.  A sub-page of this Vocabulary for Maths!, seeks to inform parents of the vocabulary that their children use in conversations about maths.  Making your own resources from Magnetic A4 sheets for use on the fridge is also touched upon on the page Magnetic Resources.  On the page Useful Website for Maths Help we are starting to gather together a series of links that can be accessed for interested parents to explore further.

Maths for Parents is the first week of 2013.  We are planning another week closer to Key Stage 2 SATS week the page of which also contains some links to useful revision sites!  Maths is also being visited during Adult Learning Week (the date of which can be found looking on the Calendar of Events page).

Next week we will start to focus on Languages.  Haverhill is now a multilingual community.  English, Chinese, Polish, Urdu, Portuguese and Lithuanian are just some of the languages being spoken.  A key aspect of this is the richness languages bring to our local culture.  The Language project can be found at the page A little Good Language!

This is just a small flavour of what will be developing over the next year aimed at the needs and interests of Haverhill Online Learning Community.   Come and join us over the coming months and contribute to Life Long Learning in the Haverhill Area.