New ways of learning, same people.

I have enthusiastically embraced new technology this term. So far I have tried

• Jing videos to explain algebra to my year 9 Maths class
• Blogs and Wikis for my A-level Physics (year 12)
• A good practice blog for staff

I just finished preparing an online unit for GCSE Physics for students to learn about sources of energy/power stations and help prepare them for a debate on the future of energy. It’s all exciting.

Sometimes though, despite being a great advocate of there not being any miracle answers in education I still get carried away with these things. So I guess I was just a little crestfallen when:

• Half of my year 9s failed to log on to see the videos or had difficulties with Flash.
• 5 staff put some entries on the good practice blog and the rest haven’t seen it as enough of a priority to do anything yet.
• Some of my sixth formers found the wiki inspired them to write crazy things, but not a great deal of content.

So, amazingly, I discovered that:

• Not everyone is enthusiastic about the same things,
• That some students can be lazy,
• And that sometimes computers don’t work.

In this brave new world of technology, which I still find ridiculously exciting, despite this, it’s rather reassuring to know that just as many things can go wrong with new ways of doing things as with old. I suspect, just like any good teaching, that perseverance, enthusiasm and patience will get my students and colleagues there in the end.

If you have encountered some of the above problems and have suggestions, I would very much welcome your comments below. Come on trusty Twitter and Blog – you won’t let me down now, will you?

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