Aaron Davis

I am an Australian educator supporting schools with the integration of technology and pedagogical innovation. I have an interest in how together we can work to make a better world.

Replied to Why I Hate Homework and How the Research Backs Me Up (Imagination Soup)

Do your students spend hours a night doing homework? Mine do. And I hate it- maybe even more than they do. Most of the time they just do it and don't complain. But I'm complaining! I'd so much rather my kids get much needed down-time after school to: play, nap, read, run, swing, dance, twirl, build, create, draw, invent, or design.

Thanks for the great post Melissa. I could not agree more about homework. I feel like so many elements in education the high ground is so often held by those more conservative. Personally, I would love to scrap homework, however it is not always the overall consensus. Also, there are many parents out there who seem to believe that homework is somehow essential to success. In the end, I feel that homework underwrites the relationships that we as teachers continually try and build with students. There is nothing more depressing than the awkward conversation with parents seeming whinging about the failure to submit homework.

✒️ Term 3 ICTEV Newsletter

A short write-up for the ICTEV Newsletter of my presentation from ICTEV13 titled, In Search of One Tool to Rule Them All?.

in Tools for Working
In Search of One Tool to Rule Them All?

This is a summary of the workshop that I presented at ICTEV13: IT Takes a Village
Discovery often starts with a problem. My problem was the use of mundane exercise books and worksheets. After exploring different potentials (Microsoft Word, Evernote and the Ultranet), I finally introduced Google Drive.

Some examples of how Drive has been used to transform learning include:
– access everywhere. With student laptops often re-imaged, work is not only continually backed up, but also accessible from any computer.
– the opportunity to work collaboratively. Some examples have included adding to a single document for book clubs, sharing student goals to all relevant stakeholders and staff working together on a curriculum document.
– the ability to provide flexible feedback. Whether it is a teacher commenting on a workbook anytime, students posing questions on a presentation or using Forms to ascertain different points of information.
On the other side of the coin, there are always hurdles faced when introducing a new application. Although students are usually quick to jump into the potential of new technologies, staff often question why they need to change, just look at the Ultranet. In addition to this, some staff feel that other applications offer more potential.

In the end, the question that remains is that if Google is not the tool to rule them all, then what? I’m ok with not using Google, but doing nothing is no longer an option.

RSVPed
Although there were many influences that led to joining Twitter, one particular inspiration was Jenny Ashby:

Through my involvement with +Alf Galea and the Melton Network 21st Century Learning Team, I had the opportunity to connect with some amazing people. Formed as a part of the Ultranet project, the network was a place to share and collaborate with other teachers in the area who were grappling with the same sort of problems.
 
Through this group, we were invited to be a part of ATC21S project running put of the University of Melbourne. Needless to say, this was a fantastic experience and involved working with a range of teachers from around Victoria. However, through this project there was one teacher that stuck out in particular, that was +Jenny Ashby.