This paper focuses on three schools in Victoria (Australia) that introduced 1:1 mobile computing ... more This paper focuses on three schools in Victoria (Australia) that introduced 1:1 mobile computing devices for students' use in learning. Each began their roll out of devices in 2013. It was a time when an interest in Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) strategies was beginning to appear in popular media (Topsfield 2013) as a response to the cessation of various Federal government funding programs for buildings and 1:1 computing in Australian schools. Although each school had an interest in BYOD each chose to introduce a programme that mandated a specific device be purchased or leased. The decision to go to a specific device was based on simplifying the management of the restrictions placed on student uses of the device. The schools individually adopted different forms of student ownership of the devices extending from full purchase to leasing arrangements with different levels of school and personal responsibility for the device. It is not possible to attribute changes in how learning occurred to the introduction of the devices alone. It is of note that the shift to 1:1 computing largely reflected or amplified changes to teaching and learning that surrounded and pre-dated the introduction of the devices.
This paper focuses on three schools in Victoria (Australia) that introduced 1:1 mobile computing ... more This paper focuses on three schools in Victoria (Australia) that introduced 1:1 mobile computing devices for students’ use in learning. Each began their roll out of devices in 2013. It was a time when an interest in Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) strategies was beginning to appear in popular media (Topsfield 2013) as a response to the cessation of various Federal government funding programs for buildings and 1:1 computing in Australian schools. Although each school had an interest in BYOD each chose to introduce a programme that mandated a specific device be purchased or leased. The decision to go to a specific device was based on simplifying the management of the restrictions placed on student uses of the device. The schools individually adopted different forms of student ownership of the devices extending from full purchase to leasing arrangements with different levels of school and personal responsibility for the device. It is not possible to attribute changes in how learning occur...
In 1993 the first WA private school adopted a 1 to 1 computing strategy and then ten years later ... more In 1993 the first WA private school adopted a 1 to 1 computing strategy and then ten years later the first government school did so. With the advent of the Digital Education Revolution initiative many schools in WA commenced 1 to 1 strategies and it has almost become an expectation in secondary schools. Our Snapshots studies involved two new government schools and a long established elite private school that had a similar vision for learning with digital technologies. The two government schools had 1 to 1 strategies, but had found that their chosen tablet PC was not robust enough, and had concluded that the current policy was not sustainable. They were debating the merits of BYOD or BYOT strategies in the light of constraints and the nature of their clientele. The private school, unlike most of its peers, had not had a 1 to 1 strategy but was planning to do so using iPads. However, it appeared that they already had an informal BYOT strategy. In this paper we discuss the differing situations these schools have found themselves in, the vision they have for learning with digital technologies, and the issues they are debating that will allow them to implement and sustain this vision.
Schome Park was a virtual island, set in the middle of a sunlit sea beyond which none of its inha... more Schome Park was a virtual island, set in the middle of a sunlit sea beyond which none of its inhabitants could wander. Like all islands, it had a limited set of resources and so the inhabitants had worked out a system of local governance for allocating these. One day a newcomer, who had recently landed from the USA onto this island, dominated by Brits, approached the planning permission committee. Carefully observant of legal and procedural niceties, he set out his request, in writing, as required. He wanted to build a Gothic ...
Over a 13-month period, the Schome Park Programme operated the first ‘closed’ (i.e. protected) Te... more Over a 13-month period, the Schome Park Programme operated the first ‘closed’ (i.e. protected) Teen Second Life 1 project in Europe. The project organised diverse educational events that centred on use of a virtual world and an associated asynchronous forum and wiki. Students and staff together exploited the affordances of the environment to develop skills and enhance community spirit. One popular activity, initiated by students, involved sailing boats around the project's virtual island, a technically challenging task for beginners. This paper studies the records of one of these sailing regattas. Organising and implementing this event involved considerable technical and interactional challenges. We analyse the following: How do people work together, including through the use of (virtual) artefacts, to solve problems? What particular qualities of the literacy practices surrounding the regatta appear to us to involve learning? Simultaneously, we contribute to the development of methodologies for studying learning in virtual worlds by employing a virtual literacy ethnography. Findings include a diversity of creative approaches that are used when solving problems, the significance of adult behaviour in authentically modelling learning and the value of humour in fostering a learning community. The notion of distributed cognition has implications for characterising learning and analytical approaches to analysis.
Developing a model for effective large-scale continuous professional development (CPD) for teache... more Developing a model for effective large-scale continuous professional development (CPD) for teachers remains a significant obstacle for many governments worldwide. This article describes the development and evolution of Vital—a CPD program designed to enhance the teaching of information communication technology in state-funded primary and secondary schools in England. The article concludes that the success of the program comes from its innovative bottom-up response and reconceptualization of CPD as being more than just externally designed courses. The program encourages and responds to teachers’ reflective practice matching the teaching and learning demands of the twenty-first century.
Developing a model for effective large-scale continuous professional development (CPD) for teache... more Developing a model for effective large-scale continuous professional development (CPD) for teachers remains a significant obstacle for many governments worldwide. This article describes the development and evolution of Vital—a CPD program designed to enhance the teaching of information communication technology in state-funded primary and secondary schools in England. The article concludes that the success of the program comes from its innovative bottom-up response and reconceptualization of CPD as being more than just externally designed courses. The program encourages and responds to teachers’ reflective practice matching the teaching and learning demands of the twenty-first century.
Virtual 3D worlds such as Second Life 2 and online gaming environments are attracting educational... more Virtual 3D worlds such as Second Life 2 and online gaming environments are attracting educationalists' interest. This paper reports upon the first European Teen Second Life educational project for 13-17 year olds: the Schome Park NAGTY (National Association for Gifted and Talented Youth) Pilot. This project aimed to collect evidence about fresh approaches to education beyond the existing curricula of formal schooling through exploring the educational potentials and pitfalls of Second Life. Diverse quantitative and qualitative data sources are drawn upon to investigate issues relating to engagement, development of domain-specific and knowledge age skills as well as challenges for educators.
Los mundos tridimensionales como el de Second Life 2 y los entornos de los videojuegos cada vez s... more Los mundos tridimensionales como el de Second Life 2 y los entornos de los videojuegos cada vez suscitan más interés entre los pedagogos. Este artículo presenta el proyecto piloto Schome Park, el primero con fines educativos para adolescentes (de 13 a 17 años) de Second Life en Europa, creado por la NAGTY (la academia británica para jóvenes superdotados y talentosos). El proyecto busca reunir ejemplos de enfoques educativos innovadores que se sitúen más allá del currículo de la escuela formal mediante el análisis del potencial educativo y de los escollos de Second Life.
The Schome Park Programme set out to extend thinking about what the education system for the info... more The Schome Park Programme set out to extend thinking about what the education system for the information age (Schome) should be like. The first three phases of the programme spanned 13 months and involved the use of Schome Park, our “closed” island(s) in Teen Second LifeTM (TSL) virtual world alongside a wiki and forum. During this time approximately two hundred 13–17 year olds and around 50 adults were given access to Schome Park. Having explained the context in which this work took place the paper outlines the initial educational design underpinning the programme and describes some of the activities which took place. It goes on to explore some dimensions of practice which emerged from the data analysis towards the end of Phase 3, focusing on learner experiences of experimentation, playfulness, curriculum, choice, participation and the expression of the learner voice.
This paper introduces the term Open Virtual Worlds and argues that they are ‘unclaimed educationa... more This paper introduces the term Open Virtual Worlds and argues that they are ‘unclaimed educational spaces’, which provide a valuable tool for researching pedagogy. Having explored these claims the way in which Teen Second Life® virtual world was used for pedagogical experimentation in the initial phases of the Schome Park Programme is described. Four sets of pedagogical dimensions that emerged are presented and illustrated with examples from the Schome Park Programme.
Over a 13-month period, the Schome Park Programme operated the first ‘closed’ (i.e. protected) Te... more Over a 13-month period, the Schome Park Programme operated the first ‘closed’ (i.e. protected) Teen Second Life 1 project in Europe. The project organised diverse educational events that centred on use of a virtual world and an associated asynchronous forum and wiki. Students and staff together exploited the affordances of the environment to develop skills and enhance community spirit. One popular activity, initiated by students, involved sailing boats around the project's virtual island, a technically challenging task for beginners. This paper studies the records of one of these sailing regattas. Organising and implementing this event involved considerable technical and interactional challenges. We analyse the following: How do people work together, including through the use of (virtual) artefacts, to solve problems? What particular qualities of the literacy practices surrounding the regatta appear to us to involve learning? Simultaneously, we contribute to the development of methodologies for studying learning in virtual worlds by employing a virtual literacy ethnography. Findings include a diversity of creative approaches that are used when solving problems, the significance of adult behaviour in authentically modelling learning and the value of humour in fostering a learning community. The notion of distributed cognition has implications for characterising learning and analytical approaches to analysis.
Los mundos tridimensionales como el de Second Life 2 y los entornos de los videojuegos cada vez s... more Los mundos tridimensionales como el de Second Life 2 y los entornos de los videojuegos cada vez suscitan más interés entre los pedagogos. Este artículo presenta el proyecto piloto Schome Park, el primero con fines educativos para adolescentes (de 13 a 17 años) de Second Life en Europa, creado por la NAGTY (la academia británica para jóvenes superdotados y talentosos). El proyecto busca reunir ejemplos de enfoques educativos innovadores que se sitúen más allá del currículo de la escuela formal mediante el análisis del potencial educativo y de los escollos de Second Life.
Virtual 3D worlds such as Second Life 2 and online gaming environments are attracting educational... more Virtual 3D worlds such as Second Life 2 and online gaming environments are attracting educationalists' interest. This paper reports upon the first European Teen Second Life educational project for 13-17 year olds: the Schome Park NAGTY (National Association for Gifted and Talented Youth) Pilot. This project aimed to collect evidence about fresh approaches to education beyond the existing curricula of formal schooling through exploring the educational potentials and pitfalls of Second Life. Diverse quantitative and qualitative data sources are drawn upon to investigate issues relating to engagement, development of domain-specific and knowledge age skills as well as challenges for educators.
Tablet PCs are a relatively new format of computer, which seem to offer features which may be ben... more Tablet PCs are a relatively new format of computer, which seem to offer features which may be beneficial to schools. The uptake of Tablet PCs by schools has been somewhat limited, not least due to their greater cost than laptops of a 'similar' specification. This paper explores the key question of the extent to which schools should be investing in Tablet PCs, if at all, in preference to other formats of fully functional PCs, drawing on evidence from a Becta funded evaluation of the use of Tablet PCs in schools in England conducted in [2004][2005]. The Computer Practice Framework was used to develop a set of questions which helped structure a meta-analysis of the data from 12 case studies that formed part of this evaluation. The methodology used and some limitations of the evaluation are outlined, and the key findings are described. The paper concludes that Tablet PCs do appear to offer significant potential to schools, though this potential was not being fully realised in most of the case study schools. A number of specific circumstances in which Tablet PCs do appear to be the most cost effective option are also identified.
Broadband is a generic term used to describe high-speed networking services, that is a set of dig... more Broadband is a generic term used to describe high-speed networking services, that is a set of digital communication technologies with the capacity to transmit significant amounts of data at a high rate, supporting the delivery of a range of digital services some or all of which can occur simultaneously. It is usually a symmetrical service allowing fast in and outbound
This paper focuses on three schools in Victoria (Australia) that introduced 1:1 mobile computing ... more This paper focuses on three schools in Victoria (Australia) that introduced 1:1 mobile computing devices for students' use in learning. Each began their roll out of devices in 2013. It was a time when an interest in Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) strategies was beginning to appear in popular media (Topsfield 2013) as a response to the cessation of various Federal government funding programs for buildings and 1:1 computing in Australian schools. Although each school had an interest in BYOD each chose to introduce a programme that mandated a specific device be purchased or leased. The decision to go to a specific device was based on simplifying the management of the restrictions placed on student uses of the device. The schools individually adopted different forms of student ownership of the devices extending from full purchase to leasing arrangements with different levels of school and personal responsibility for the device. It is not possible to attribute changes in how learning occurred to the introduction of the devices alone. It is of note that the shift to 1:1 computing largely reflected or amplified changes to teaching and learning that surrounded and pre-dated the introduction of the devices.
This paper focuses on three schools in Victoria (Australia) that introduced 1:1 mobile computing ... more This paper focuses on three schools in Victoria (Australia) that introduced 1:1 mobile computing devices for students’ use in learning. Each began their roll out of devices in 2013. It was a time when an interest in Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) strategies was beginning to appear in popular media (Topsfield 2013) as a response to the cessation of various Federal government funding programs for buildings and 1:1 computing in Australian schools. Although each school had an interest in BYOD each chose to introduce a programme that mandated a specific device be purchased or leased. The decision to go to a specific device was based on simplifying the management of the restrictions placed on student uses of the device. The schools individually adopted different forms of student ownership of the devices extending from full purchase to leasing arrangements with different levels of school and personal responsibility for the device. It is not possible to attribute changes in how learning occur...
In 1993 the first WA private school adopted a 1 to 1 computing strategy and then ten years later ... more In 1993 the first WA private school adopted a 1 to 1 computing strategy and then ten years later the first government school did so. With the advent of the Digital Education Revolution initiative many schools in WA commenced 1 to 1 strategies and it has almost become an expectation in secondary schools. Our Snapshots studies involved two new government schools and a long established elite private school that had a similar vision for learning with digital technologies. The two government schools had 1 to 1 strategies, but had found that their chosen tablet PC was not robust enough, and had concluded that the current policy was not sustainable. They were debating the merits of BYOD or BYOT strategies in the light of constraints and the nature of their clientele. The private school, unlike most of its peers, had not had a 1 to 1 strategy but was planning to do so using iPads. However, it appeared that they already had an informal BYOT strategy. In this paper we discuss the differing situations these schools have found themselves in, the vision they have for learning with digital technologies, and the issues they are debating that will allow them to implement and sustain this vision.
Schome Park was a virtual island, set in the middle of a sunlit sea beyond which none of its inha... more Schome Park was a virtual island, set in the middle of a sunlit sea beyond which none of its inhabitants could wander. Like all islands, it had a limited set of resources and so the inhabitants had worked out a system of local governance for allocating these. One day a newcomer, who had recently landed from the USA onto this island, dominated by Brits, approached the planning permission committee. Carefully observant of legal and procedural niceties, he set out his request, in writing, as required. He wanted to build a Gothic ...
Over a 13-month period, the Schome Park Programme operated the first ‘closed’ (i.e. protected) Te... more Over a 13-month period, the Schome Park Programme operated the first ‘closed’ (i.e. protected) Teen Second Life 1 project in Europe. The project organised diverse educational events that centred on use of a virtual world and an associated asynchronous forum and wiki. Students and staff together exploited the affordances of the environment to develop skills and enhance community spirit. One popular activity, initiated by students, involved sailing boats around the project's virtual island, a technically challenging task for beginners. This paper studies the records of one of these sailing regattas. Organising and implementing this event involved considerable technical and interactional challenges. We analyse the following: How do people work together, including through the use of (virtual) artefacts, to solve problems? What particular qualities of the literacy practices surrounding the regatta appear to us to involve learning? Simultaneously, we contribute to the development of methodologies for studying learning in virtual worlds by employing a virtual literacy ethnography. Findings include a diversity of creative approaches that are used when solving problems, the significance of adult behaviour in authentically modelling learning and the value of humour in fostering a learning community. The notion of distributed cognition has implications for characterising learning and analytical approaches to analysis.
Developing a model for effective large-scale continuous professional development (CPD) for teache... more Developing a model for effective large-scale continuous professional development (CPD) for teachers remains a significant obstacle for many governments worldwide. This article describes the development and evolution of Vital—a CPD program designed to enhance the teaching of information communication technology in state-funded primary and secondary schools in England. The article concludes that the success of the program comes from its innovative bottom-up response and reconceptualization of CPD as being more than just externally designed courses. The program encourages and responds to teachers’ reflective practice matching the teaching and learning demands of the twenty-first century.
Developing a model for effective large-scale continuous professional development (CPD) for teache... more Developing a model for effective large-scale continuous professional development (CPD) for teachers remains a significant obstacle for many governments worldwide. This article describes the development and evolution of Vital—a CPD program designed to enhance the teaching of information communication technology in state-funded primary and secondary schools in England. The article concludes that the success of the program comes from its innovative bottom-up response and reconceptualization of CPD as being more than just externally designed courses. The program encourages and responds to teachers’ reflective practice matching the teaching and learning demands of the twenty-first century.
Virtual 3D worlds such as Second Life 2 and online gaming environments are attracting educational... more Virtual 3D worlds such as Second Life 2 and online gaming environments are attracting educationalists' interest. This paper reports upon the first European Teen Second Life educational project for 13-17 year olds: the Schome Park NAGTY (National Association for Gifted and Talented Youth) Pilot. This project aimed to collect evidence about fresh approaches to education beyond the existing curricula of formal schooling through exploring the educational potentials and pitfalls of Second Life. Diverse quantitative and qualitative data sources are drawn upon to investigate issues relating to engagement, development of domain-specific and knowledge age skills as well as challenges for educators.
Los mundos tridimensionales como el de Second Life 2 y los entornos de los videojuegos cada vez s... more Los mundos tridimensionales como el de Second Life 2 y los entornos de los videojuegos cada vez suscitan más interés entre los pedagogos. Este artículo presenta el proyecto piloto Schome Park, el primero con fines educativos para adolescentes (de 13 a 17 años) de Second Life en Europa, creado por la NAGTY (la academia británica para jóvenes superdotados y talentosos). El proyecto busca reunir ejemplos de enfoques educativos innovadores que se sitúen más allá del currículo de la escuela formal mediante el análisis del potencial educativo y de los escollos de Second Life.
The Schome Park Programme set out to extend thinking about what the education system for the info... more The Schome Park Programme set out to extend thinking about what the education system for the information age (Schome) should be like. The first three phases of the programme spanned 13 months and involved the use of Schome Park, our “closed” island(s) in Teen Second LifeTM (TSL) virtual world alongside a wiki and forum. During this time approximately two hundred 13–17 year olds and around 50 adults were given access to Schome Park. Having explained the context in which this work took place the paper outlines the initial educational design underpinning the programme and describes some of the activities which took place. It goes on to explore some dimensions of practice which emerged from the data analysis towards the end of Phase 3, focusing on learner experiences of experimentation, playfulness, curriculum, choice, participation and the expression of the learner voice.
This paper introduces the term Open Virtual Worlds and argues that they are ‘unclaimed educationa... more This paper introduces the term Open Virtual Worlds and argues that they are ‘unclaimed educational spaces’, which provide a valuable tool for researching pedagogy. Having explored these claims the way in which Teen Second Life® virtual world was used for pedagogical experimentation in the initial phases of the Schome Park Programme is described. Four sets of pedagogical dimensions that emerged are presented and illustrated with examples from the Schome Park Programme.
Over a 13-month period, the Schome Park Programme operated the first ‘closed’ (i.e. protected) Te... more Over a 13-month period, the Schome Park Programme operated the first ‘closed’ (i.e. protected) Teen Second Life 1 project in Europe. The project organised diverse educational events that centred on use of a virtual world and an associated asynchronous forum and wiki. Students and staff together exploited the affordances of the environment to develop skills and enhance community spirit. One popular activity, initiated by students, involved sailing boats around the project's virtual island, a technically challenging task for beginners. This paper studies the records of one of these sailing regattas. Organising and implementing this event involved considerable technical and interactional challenges. We analyse the following: How do people work together, including through the use of (virtual) artefacts, to solve problems? What particular qualities of the literacy practices surrounding the regatta appear to us to involve learning? Simultaneously, we contribute to the development of methodologies for studying learning in virtual worlds by employing a virtual literacy ethnography. Findings include a diversity of creative approaches that are used when solving problems, the significance of adult behaviour in authentically modelling learning and the value of humour in fostering a learning community. The notion of distributed cognition has implications for characterising learning and analytical approaches to analysis.
Los mundos tridimensionales como el de Second Life 2 y los entornos de los videojuegos cada vez s... more Los mundos tridimensionales como el de Second Life 2 y los entornos de los videojuegos cada vez suscitan más interés entre los pedagogos. Este artículo presenta el proyecto piloto Schome Park, el primero con fines educativos para adolescentes (de 13 a 17 años) de Second Life en Europa, creado por la NAGTY (la academia británica para jóvenes superdotados y talentosos). El proyecto busca reunir ejemplos de enfoques educativos innovadores que se sitúen más allá del currículo de la escuela formal mediante el análisis del potencial educativo y de los escollos de Second Life.
Virtual 3D worlds such as Second Life 2 and online gaming environments are attracting educational... more Virtual 3D worlds such as Second Life 2 and online gaming environments are attracting educationalists' interest. This paper reports upon the first European Teen Second Life educational project for 13-17 year olds: the Schome Park NAGTY (National Association for Gifted and Talented Youth) Pilot. This project aimed to collect evidence about fresh approaches to education beyond the existing curricula of formal schooling through exploring the educational potentials and pitfalls of Second Life. Diverse quantitative and qualitative data sources are drawn upon to investigate issues relating to engagement, development of domain-specific and knowledge age skills as well as challenges for educators.
Tablet PCs are a relatively new format of computer, which seem to offer features which may be ben... more Tablet PCs are a relatively new format of computer, which seem to offer features which may be beneficial to schools. The uptake of Tablet PCs by schools has been somewhat limited, not least due to their greater cost than laptops of a 'similar' specification. This paper explores the key question of the extent to which schools should be investing in Tablet PCs, if at all, in preference to other formats of fully functional PCs, drawing on evidence from a Becta funded evaluation of the use of Tablet PCs in schools in England conducted in [2004][2005]. The Computer Practice Framework was used to develop a set of questions which helped structure a meta-analysis of the data from 12 case studies that formed part of this evaluation. The methodology used and some limitations of the evaluation are outlined, and the key findings are described. The paper concludes that Tablet PCs do appear to offer significant potential to schools, though this potential was not being fully realised in most of the case study schools. A number of specific circumstances in which Tablet PCs do appear to be the most cost effective option are also identified.
Broadband is a generic term used to describe high-speed networking services, that is a set of dig... more Broadband is a generic term used to describe high-speed networking services, that is a set of digital communication technologies with the capacity to transmit significant amounts of data at a high rate, supporting the delivery of a range of digital services some or all of which can occur simultaneously. It is usually a symmetrical service allowing fast in and outbound
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Papers by Peter Twining
program designed to enhance the teaching of information communication technology in state-funded primary and secondary schools in England. The article concludes that the success of the program comes from its innovative bottom-up response and reconceptualization of CPD as being more than just externally designed courses. The program encourages and responds to teachers’ reflective practice matching the teaching and learning demands of the twenty-first century.
program designed to enhance the teaching of information communication technology in state-funded primary and secondary schools in England. The article concludes that the success of the program comes from its innovative bottom-up response and reconceptualization of CPD as being more than just externally designed courses. The program
encourages and responds to teachers’ reflective practice matching the teaching and learning demands of the twenty-first century.
program designed to enhance the teaching of information communication technology in state-funded primary and secondary schools in England. The article concludes that the success of the program comes from its innovative bottom-up response and reconceptualization of CPD as being more than just externally designed courses. The program encourages and responds to teachers’ reflective practice matching the teaching and learning demands of the twenty-first century.
program designed to enhance the teaching of information communication technology in state-funded primary and secondary schools in England. The article concludes that the success of the program comes from its innovative bottom-up response and reconceptualization of CPD as being more than just externally designed courses. The program
encourages and responds to teachers’ reflective practice matching the teaching and learning demands of the twenty-first century.