I’ve been a bit absent on this site lately. The reason is that I’ve been working 2 jobs as I prepare to go on leave from teaching until the end of the year. Hopefully I’ll still post some history stuff this year.

The Australian History Summer School in Canberra almost didn’t happen due controversy surrounding its funding – but it was fun to present at, and I got lots of positive feedback.

Here is the recording that the Summer School made of my presentation. Have a listen.

iHistory is being featured in an educational journal called Learning and Leading with Technology. This came about because I took part in some research about education and technology, which is being produced into a book by the International Society for Technology and Education.

They’ve put together an article that is a forerunner to the book. Go here for a look.

In Year 8 SOSE, we study medieval crimes and punishments. This is not really a podcast, but it’s a funny video. Instead of getting students to have burning coals put in their palms, I got them to…well, just watch thevideo.

Suffice to say that it involves hairy, salty things.

When listening to the “Medieval Crime & Punishment” podcast, most of the kids couldn’t hear a thing! This was not helped by the noise of their classmates (no, I do not run a perfectly ordered class). Perhaps if I had enough mp3 players so they could all listen at once this problem would be solved.

I think the main cause was that when creating the podcast, I used my super-dooper USB headset, which gives great sound, but does not imitate the $2 earphones the students were using, often sharing them with a classmate.

The positive out of all of this was that the students were really keen to get onto the mp3 players, and so worked really hard on all the other work.

The iHistory podcast project has been nominated for an Edublog award, in the category “Best audio and/or visual blog“. Help us win by voting online!

It’s easy: go to this link, click on the iHistory option and then “count my vote” and you’re done. Pass this message onto others and vote by Friday 15th December.

No, I haven’t stopped the iHistory juggernaut – my students enjoy the sound of my voice too much…but the official stuff is finished! For those of you so inclined, the report I have submitted to Knowledge Bank (one of my funders) is here. Also, I’m presenting at an online conference which I referred to a couple of posts back, and here’s the powerpoint that I’ll be using.

Enjoy!

This video is a collection of students’ thoughts about the iHistory project. The students really put a lot of energy into their responses, displaying an enviable grasp of pedagogical concepts and methods such as “going to Maccas” and “getting a day off school”.

Apart from these, there were lesser reflections. One that I noted was the concentration on aural learning. Students continually brought it up as an “easier” way to learn compared to having to deal with “lots of books”. Even proficient readers raised this as a reason to use podcasts. You can view a video about that here.
But it wasn’t simply aural learning that counted, because listening to a teacher is aural learning. As a teacher, I get very frustrated when I explain a task or concept, and then am asked 3 hundred times in the next 10 minutes to explain it again. Instead, podcasting allows the learner to listen without distraction from other students. Also, it allows simultaneous activity, which is not possible when listening to a teacher as teachers demand total attention. In addition, podcasting allows the student to listen repeatedly to information without the teacher having to repeat themselves.

The iHistory website has passed the 1000 hits mark! I guess it’s like Y2K – doesn’t mean much but has a mysterious symbolic power.

Thanks to all those who have had a look, and especially those who’ve made comments – I love you!

Today, I let my students know which group won the iHistory fieldwork competition. They were really keen to know. Interestingly, the two groups with boys got the top two spots. One of these groups I expected to perform highly, but the other not so highly. Perhaps the fact that it was a competition motivated the boys more than the girls.

Anyway, I’m giving prizes to the first 2 groups. It’s a certain amount of money – they tell me what they want to buy with the money and I get it for them. I don’t know why it hadn’t struck before, but I realised how weird this was. It is as if I am paying them to learn – or at the very least giving material incentives to participate in learning activities. My question is – is there a problem with that?

When I was 14, I entered an essay competition on smoke detectors (of all things) and came 3rd, netting $200. That seems a legitimate reward, as it was outside of the school curriculum. But giving students prizes for their work in this iHistory project somehow seems…well, wrong! Teachers often give prizes (chocolate, vouchers etc) to students for hard work and excellence, and there is no suggestion that this is inappropriate. Why then do I feel that I have done something inappropriate? Maybe it’s because I’ve named a cash amount, which they are able to spend on whatever they like.

I suppose it is a short step from here to giving students financial rewards for meeting high academic standards, as some parents do. I’ve always been uncomfortable with such a practice, because I believe academic achievement brings its own rewards, and that it is not a competition against others, but against the limits of your own mental capabilities.

I think I was doomed to giving material prizes in the iHistory project as soon as I made the fieldwork a ‘competition’ rather than simply an ‘assessment task’. A competition with no prize is a misnomer. On reflection, I think I did need to broaden the reasons for being awarded a prize. “Getting the most answers right” was my criteria for a prize, but there were many more skills involved, such as teamwork and logistical planning. Perhaps these deserved prizes, despite being more difficult to judge.

The group was fine in the a.m. but lost the plot in the afternoon.

The group used mp3 players but was a bit awkward taking it in turns, ie ‘I DID IT LAST TIME ,ITS YOUR TURN!” All skills improved as day went onward and upward towards that holy grail of educational attainment… yes, I speak of engagement. Podcast information was excellent but they were impatient and wanted it all in 1 minute…but it is the tool of the week. I think my ears are defective because my hearing aid kept falling out.

Perhaps an a.m activity over two weeks with a gap in the middle would work better.

Beaut weather! Old fashioned moi liked the gaol best because we had a real person to guide us through.