Pakiki – it means 1. (verb) (-tia) to question frequently.
2. (adjective) inquisitive.
It has begun
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IB job-a-like
What a way to start the weekend – on a bus with a load of teachers. Off to SCIS across the city to get together with other IB teachers in Shanghai. The first session was with ITGS teachers. I haven’t taught this course but it seems to be similar to the IGCSE course with a real focus on the social implications of ICT. It was great to chat to 3 other teachers and share resources. I came away with the following links and a heap of ICT based movies.
- BISS Puxi wikispace – a heap of resources that are used in this school
- BISS Pudong tudou channel – a selection of ICT videos ready to stream on a Chinese version of Youtube
Next session was based on TOK. Not really that useful – as there were 40 + teachers it was set up as a Q & A session. But again, a few useful links:
- Eric MacKnight’s TOK page
- Eric’s public file server with TOK resources
The organisers created a wikispace to share resources – a great idea!
Objective or Outcome – is there a difference?
Today I went to a session hosted by a trainer from the Institute of Education. The Dulwich group of schools uses this organisation for PD and this week there were sessions for a range of people in a range of places. The short session this morning was tied to one of our principles of Learning and Teacher – Purpose for learning.
We spent the first part going of the difference between a learning outcome and a learning objective. For me, an outcome is just a more specific objective.
Life, the universe and everything
Andy Fletcher is a teacher who spends most of his time know giving workshops to international schools based around Theory of Knowledge themes. Today, he was presenting a one day workshop for TOK students from a couple of Shanghai international schools. I’ve posted my notes here.
Web sites:
http://web.mac.com/kamfletch/LUE/Home_Page.html
What are facts?
- as technology improves, so does our evidence.
- What we thought was true…. (Science and Religion)
- Flat earth (Flat Earth Society still exists)
- Geocentric Universe
- Young Earth Universe (6000 years)
- God exists
Isaac Newton’s Universe
‘Discovered’ using the Scientific method: Observation -> experiment -> predictions
Factors of Isaac Newton’s Universe
- Determinism: eg playing pool (hit cue ball, hits other ball, into pocket).
- La place (french philosopher)
- No free will, everything predetermined
- ‘We are nothing more than colliding particles on a cosmic pool tables’
- Mechanism
- universe is nothing more than a machine
- predictable, nothing random
- Example of eclipse: virgin in volcano
- Reductionism
- Take things apart to better understand them (to make predictions)
- The smaller the parts, the better understanding (body, organ, blood, cells, electrons….)
- We are nothing more than the sum of our parts
- Infinite
Relativity/Special relativity (Albert Einstein)
- Time
- speed of light is an absolute
- time therefore, is not
- So time changes as you near the speed of light
- At the speed of light, everything happens at once
- Space-time
- woven together (whatever happens to time, happens to space)
- Gravity
- Space-Time is warped in the presence of gravitational fields
- Time passes more slowly close to the enter of gravity
- Black holes
- space & time cease to exist
“If nothing else, know this: You are a clump of space-time and made of star dust”
Quantum Mechanics
- Ripples – interference
- Heisenberg Uncertainty principle: you can know the speed, but not location OR know the location but not the speed …. until you look at it.
- One particle can be in two places at the same time
- Particles can communicate instantaneously
- Quantum tunneling (explains lasers, semi conductors, photosynthesis….)
- Observation defines reality – i.e. no objective reality
- Schrodinger’s cat
- No phenomenon is a phenomenon until it is observed
The Universe
- need to start with a high degree of order (same temperature)
- For life to start – 93 factors needed to be in place.
- The odds against life happening by random chance: 10 to the 10 to the 123 :1
- The Anthropic principle: everything about the universe tends to create life creating environments
- Without observers, you do not have a Universe
Internet safety
Internet Safety is always a concern for those involved in ICT. Yesterday I received the post below from the ECIS. Gives some great framing questions for schools revising/forming their own Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs).
Resources from Internet Safety Panel
by Alan Preis – Sunday, 28 November 2010, 11:30 PM
Thanks to everyone who attended the panel on Safety, Security, and Life Online (K-8 Perspectives) at the ECIS conference last weekend. Here are some resources that may be useful for everyone:
Guiding Questions
• How do you achieve the balance between openness and restrictiveness, especially with our youngest students? How does this differ from students at the other end of the K-12 spectrum?
• What roles does policy play in the development of a digital citizenship framework in your school? Is security and safety embedded into this? Who is responsible for designing, implementing and sustaining these policies?
• What role do parents play in keeping students safe online?
• How does your school educate parents about emerging trends in internet safety?
• What changes do you envision in internet safety over the next few years, particularly with the increasing use of social networking among younger students?
• What role does your school play in the development of positive digital identities for your students?
• What responsibility, if any, does your school have in students’ online activities that occur away from school, after school hours?
• How is teaching about internet safety linked with other instruction and programming at your school (e.g., bullying)?
Resources
Your Brain on Computers (NY Times)
Family Contract for Online Safety (SafeKids.com)
GetGameSmart PACT (GetGameSmart.com)
