The Piano Stairs
My thoughts (questions) after watching this interesting video:
1. What do walking stairs and learning a boring and tough subject have in common?
2. Have you ever thought of making dull lessons fun with novelty?
3. How long can novelty last before it turns dull?
4. How does the fun theory apply to education?
Here’s how IT-savvy a Singapore school is
From TechXav:
Touted as “one of the most wired countries in the world“, Singaporeans second most tech savvy in the world as one of the most avid owners and consumers globally of entertainment technology. According to a survey conducted by Nielsen, Singapore also emerged as the country with the highest rate of mobile phone ownership in the world, with a penetration rate of 129.7%. The statistics mean that many Singaporeans own at least one or two mobile phones. Besides these, it’s a common sight to see teenagers interacting with their friends on Facebook, Twitter and MSN. Blogging is also a popular pastime by students.
As for today, I’ll narrow down my scope to how tech-savvy schools in Singapore are. In this post, I’ll share my personal experience as a 15-Year-Old student studying in Maris Stella.
From a Singapore student’s pespective. Although I must say Maris Stella is one of the more IT-savvy schools, it basically reflects the direction Singapore schools are moving.
Daniel T. Willingham – Why don’t students like school?
This will be my read of the month. I will try to comment and reflect here after reading. Should be a mind-blowing read 
Lost Generation
I may watch this later than 3 million people but still I have to say it’s an amazing video. How does education play a part in the reverse of script?
TED Talks Hector Ruiz: The power to connect the world
Hector Ruiz is chairman and chief executive officer of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Born in Piedras Negras, Mexico, Dr. Ruiz is passionate about the role of technology in education and empowering the underprivileged. At the 2004 World Economic Forum in Davos, he announced AMD’s 50×15 Initiative, a commitment to provide 50 percent of the world’s population with basic Internet access by the year 2015.
Ruiz contends that his company’s 50×15 initiative is “not only possible; it is perhaps the most important transformational event we will experience in our lifetime.”
“Technology is only as powerful as it is accessible. The IT industry has nearly unlimited potential to educate the world by connecting the world.”Hector Ruiz
Pay Attention
Great video which I missed all the while.
One key point here is the use of mobile phones in schools.
Well, it is always controversial, especially in primary and secondary schools. I must admit I am apprehensive of this idea too.
Questions like ‘What if kids steal phones?’, ‘What if kids use them just for casual SMSing during lessons?’, or ‘What if kids developed a mobile phone race for the trendiest model?’ often pop up from teachers’ mind.
I believe these questions are valid, since school teachers are always concerned of classroom management and discipline of pupils. I would not say teachers who expressed concerns are ‘refusing to enter the digital age with their teaching practices’. There are just too many issues needed to be addressed before mobile phones can be brought into classrooms, hence most teachers are as apprehensive as I am.
Singapore being a ‘SMS Nation’, schools should be tapping on mobile phone technology in teaching. In fact I have seen and heard the use mobile phones in teaching, but mostly only during Infocomm competitions and sharing sessions of pilot projects.
I certainly look forward to more positive developments in mobile phone technology in education in the near future.
If, as a teacher…
Page taken from Carl Glickman’s Leadership for Learning: How to Help Teachers Succeed.
Maybe I would like to add one more line to the bullet points: I do not read edublogs by teachers and edtechs all over the world…
Great post by Darren Draper. Maybe I should print this page and stick it up somewhere to remind myself.
