Claire Amos

Yesterday I read Maurie's blogpost ' Time to Calm The Farm - Schools are not in chaos ' which provided a much needed reminder about the power we have to make to decisions in how we lead our schools and lead the narrative about education during a pandemic. It was a reminder also, that for many schools, teachers and learners that continuing to learn online was not the end of the world, nor was mandatory vaccinations, it was simply something we could, and for the most part, are managing just fine. It did however make me ponder what feels like a undercurrent of much of the push back and clickbait media headlines and stories, this idea that we are living through this massive and shocking disruption and that all of it is getting in the way of our much loved and lauded normality, which many still seem to think we may be returning to at some point. Even those of us who realise, in our most rational moments, the chances of returning to life as it was at the beginning of 2020 is real...

Over the last six months I have been delivering variations of the above presentation, looking at what I believe to be the biggest disruptors (and enablers) on the digital horizon.  The presentation begins with the well worn introduction to Moore's Law and covers off a myriad of examples of technology that has continued to double in speed and processing power whilst reducing in size and cost. This is then reinforced by an excerpt from Kaila Corbin's Introduction to Exponentials  from the Christchurch Singularity U Summit where she deftly describes the concept of doubling curves and the inability for human brains to actually comprehend such a bonkers rate of change. What I particularly like about this presentation was the way she paints this visual of such an extreme acceleration of change it paints a vertical line, the only problem is we, as humans, standing on the horizontal part of the continuum, tend look back and only see the gentle incline that got us to this poin...

In light of this week's announcement from Minister of Education  Nikki Kaye, it felt like the right time to re-publish this post. As pressure ramps up to integrate digital technologies and strategies, I heartily encourage you to use e-learning infused Teaching as Inquiry or Spirals of Inquiry within your school or COL as a way to lead meaningful and manageable change! It is so important that schools find a way to tackle the integration of the Digital Technologies head on, but do so in a way that is firmly focused on the learner rather than the tool or technology.  Source: http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-documents/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum/Effective-pedagogy Issue An important leadership issue that exists at a micro (school) and macro (systemic/national) level is that school-based, episodic and initiative-focused professional development does not support meaningful and manageable pedagogical change to occur. Context This is particularly important as m...

Today I was lucky enough to attend the Ministry of Education Cross Sector Forum where they were launching the Digital Technologies curriculum draft ( check it out here and provide your feedback ).  It was an excellent event. The Lynfield College Robotics group kicked off the event, charming the room with their articulate argument for technology across and within the curriculum. Then our new Minister of Education, the Honourable Nikki Kaye, provided an excellent insight into her vision for education, I got the sense that the Minister is well positioned to prepare the sector for the exponential change that is closer than we think. Her vision for digital transformation was bold (the need for which was excellently articulated by Frances Valintine's keynote) and her message was clear - we need to act and we need act now! It was also clear that the Minister understands that there are very real issues with teacher wellbeing and workload and intends to address this head on as well. ...

Simply Being App This is something I have been thinking about for a while, borne mostly out of my own bad habits of being "connected" and "online" for most of my waking hours. I suspect I am not alone. I love technology and I love it's capacity to provide instant information (and gratification) at the click of the button. In many ways technology allows me to be hyper-efficient - emails responded to quick smart, meeting minutes created and shared on the spot, sharing or rather over sharing every magic moment, meal and milestone instantly. In my teaching I was an exuberant early adopter of technology, embracing the way that it allowed me to make learning available 24/7, supported young people to share and publish rather than simply "hand in" work. When I am not teaching I am learning via this hyper connectivity, reading articles, blogposts, watching TED talks and connecting with educators around the globe via Twitter and Google+. When not learning, ...

This post was originally written as part of a 'Thoughts on the future of EdTech' blog series on the Ed Personnel Blog . “The only constant is change.”   - Heraclitus There are two things that strike me when thinking about the future of EdTech. Firstly it’s the fact that we are quite simply incapable of “knowing” what EdTech might look like in the future and even what we “imagine” seems to be limited by what we already do. For instance, when educators are asked to predict the future of EdTech it concerns me that they often appear to be simply predicting current best practice becoming more widespread. Not exactly aspirational. Secondly, there is the fact that the EdTech itself is actually nowhere as interesting as the potential transformation of the wider pedagogical landscape that EdTech will make possible. “The future is unknowable but not unimaginable.” - Ludwig Lachman If I were to be safe in my thoughts on the future of EdTech I would focus on how EdTech ...