Since January the 1st 2007 I have been taking photos every day and uploading at least one of them Flickr. It forms a sort of visual journal of the year. There are groups on Flickr detected to it. Click here to see the one I have been posting to. As I reach the end of the year I have a strange mix of emotions. There have been days which have been difficult, some which have been ridiculous and still others I have been really proud of. One thing is certainly true. I have become far more aware of what is around me and what it might look like through the lens of a camera. You can see the whole year here.
I might even do it all again in 2008! Watch this space.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Stats in Flickr
Thanks to Mr W's Blogging Great Thing for pointing out that Flickr can now provide stats on your photos. Anyone who know me knows that I love photography and I love Flickr as well. I find a lot of social networking sites suck up time and are a bit of fun. Flickr, on the other hand, has taught me so much to improve my photography that it has very definitely been worth the subscription. I have had a Flickr account for a few years now but only started paying for the pro account this time last year. The stats option only works if you have a pro account. It provides a huge 
amount of detailed info about where folk have come from to view your pictures, when and how many times they have been viewed and all sorts of other stuff. This is a great addition to the functionality of Flickr. The link to find out about to set up your Flickr account for stats is here.There is also a new version of the Flickr uploader. This allows you to upload
photos directly from your desktop. There are version for different operating systems. The new version provides a lot of new functionality which I have not really tried out to the full yet. It looks like a big jump from the previous version so it will be interesting to see how well it works over the next wee while.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
OECD review
Why is it that newspaper reports completely miss the point so often. The news reports I have heard and read bear to little resemblance to the reality of the report published by the OECD on the quality and equity of schooling in Scotland.
The review summary starts with the following:
"Scotland performs at a consistently very high standard in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Few countries can be said with confidence to ouperform it in mathematics, reading and science. Scotland also has one of the most equitable school systems in the OECD."
The comments and recommendations made in the report must be seen in this context.
It is also important to note that this is a review. The recommendations will be debated and thought about by all those involved in education in Scotland. They will feed in to the curriculum for excellence debate and will help to inform future policy. The recommendations are not Scottish policy although many of them reflect a lot of what we know to be true and what we are seeking to address through current reviews and developments.
I guess that doesn't make a good news story though. The report is a very good, thorough review. I don't think I agreed with all it's findings. It will have done it's job if it raises the level of educational edbate beyond lurid headlines.
The review summary starts with the following:
"Scotland performs at a consistently very high standard in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Few countries can be said with confidence to ouperform it in mathematics, reading and science. Scotland also has one of the most equitable school systems in the OECD."
The comments and recommendations made in the report must be seen in this context.
It is also important to note that this is a review. The recommendations will be debated and thought about by all those involved in education in Scotland. They will feed in to the curriculum for excellence debate and will help to inform future policy. The recommendations are not Scottish policy although many of them reflect a lot of what we know to be true and what we are seeking to address through current reviews and developments.
I guess that doesn't make a good news story though. The report is a very good, thorough review. I don't think I agreed with all it's findings. It will have done it's job if it raises the level of educational edbate beyond lurid headlines.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Engaging with the Outcomes
On Monday the 10th of December the next sets of curriculum for excellence outcomes will be published. This round will include Mathematics, Gaelic and Classical Languages. They will be available on the LTS website along with information on the formal feedback mechanisms which are being set up.
I have managed to get a peek at the maths outcomes already which has been helpful. My first thought was that this would have helped in making sense of the numeracy outcomes which were published a couple of months ago.
In our neck of the woods we have now held three engagement seminars. One for each of the outcomes published up until now. Approximately three hundred teachers attended on each of the days. We used a collaborative inquiry technique which ensured that everyone was involved in the discussion and noone got the floor. This has proved to be a highly successful way of getting teachers involved in thinking through the issues related to implementing the new outcomes.
Our next round of seminars will be in February and March when we focus on Maths, social subjects and expressive arts.
I have managed to get a peek at the maths outcomes already which has been helpful. My first thought was that this would have helped in making sense of the numeracy outcomes which were published a couple of months ago.
In our neck of the woods we have now held three engagement seminars. One for each of the outcomes published up until now. Approximately three hundred teachers attended on each of the days. We used a collaborative inquiry technique which ensured that everyone was involved in the discussion and noone got the floor. This has proved to be a highly successful way of getting teachers involved in thinking through the issues related to implementing the new outcomes.
Our next round of seminars will be in February and March when we focus on Maths, social subjects and expressive arts.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Geotagging Photos in Flickr and Google Earth
This is very definitely my last post of the day!
I have just come across a script that allows a comment to be place beside a geotagged photograph in flickr so that you can fly to the location in Google Earth. You can find out more about the script by clicking this post and see an example of it working here.
Add this script to a comment in Flickr:
I love Flickr and anything to do with photography. Adding extra functionality to the tools just adds even more value. It's great.
I have just come across a script that allows a comment to be place beside a geotagged photograph in flickr so that you can fly to the location in Google Earth. You can find out more about the script by clicking this post and see an example of it working here.
Add this script to a comment in Flickr:
Fly to this location
using FlickrFly
(Requires Google EarthI love Flickr and anything to do with photography. Adding extra functionality to the tools just adds even more value. It's great.
Outcome Agreements
The agenda is changing. The Scottish Government has agreed that the way that local authorities are measured is going to change. Rather than ring fencing money and measuring processes, an agreement has been reached with COSLA to think about the outcome rather than the process. It will be very interesting to see what this means for all the current targets that we have to report on. Will these all disappear? If schools are going to be measure by outcome and impact does this actually mean a real change of approach by HMIE as they inspect schools? HGIOS 3 is supposed to signal that change but it will be interesting to see it in practice. Finally, if money is no longer ring fenced will it mean an impact on education within the context of an overall local authority settlement?
We live in interesting time.
We live in interesting time.
Get to Grips with GLOW Groups - Early Adopters Discussion
We have spent quite a bit of time today talking about SEEMIS and provisioning of accounts for GLOW at the early adopters meeting in Dunblane. One of the most interesting areas of discussion, however, related to setting up and using GLOW groups. We have set up a group for curriculum for excellence which is already starting to get us thinking about the development of our strategy in this area. The setting up of the group has helped us to start to think about structures and the technical issues in getting rolling. The first real example of the use of this is in the area of inter disciplinary working. The staff development officer is working with staff from a number of schools looking at how to develop examples of good practice. They are beginning to share ideas and examples using the group. This can then be spread out more boradly to other colleagues.
A good start, but we need to do lots of thinking about GLOW group structures and how we start to think about it.
A good start, but we need to do lots of thinking about GLOW group structures and how we start to think about it.
Why is Wifi Still so Expensive?
Why is it that wifi is still so expensive in some places? I am sitting at a seminar in Dunblane Hydro and am being charged £6 an hour for wifi access. In other places it can be free. This can't be good.
Overwhelmed
I'm sure it's not just me that feels completely overwhelmed with the sheer volume of work every now and then. Perhaps it's the lead up to Christmas or perhaps I just have far too much to try to achieve. Either way it has meant that keeping the blog up to date has slipped down the agenda a little for the last wee while.
Telling the story of my diary for the past week to ten days probably gives a bit of a flavour.
Curriculum for Excellence
I have devoted a lot of time to curriculum for excellence in the past week. We have new outcomes coming out on Monday in Maths, Gaelic and Classics. This is good as we are planning further seminars after Christmas and now have some outcomes to discuss! HMIE have just published a report on curriculum flexibility in primary school which requires a lot of thought and planning for schools. Tomorrow is the EA contacts meeting which should provide an update on curriculum architecture among other things. Our strategy group meets on Friday to discuss the next steps and I have a number of board papers to write before Christmas all on CfE. I was discussing our planning with my boss last night and we agreed that we need to sit down and spend some serious time thinking about how we move ahead on all of CfE.
GLOW
I am off to Dunblane today for an early adopters meeting. Things are going well with the provisioning despite a couple of hiccups. We have trained a lot of staff and as the new year comes in we will be looking at getting uptake going. It has taken longer than I expected to get to this point but at least we are getting there.
Outcome Agreement
The recent COSLA concordat will have major implications for the way in which schools and local authorities run. A shift from process measures to outcomes is being warmly welcomed. The hard part at the moment is getting the meat on the bones and getting our heads round what it all means.
Management Stuff
This blog is not the place for me to talk about internal stuff. It would be fair to say, however, that a lot of time is spent on this area, particularly at the moment. The main difference between my job as a QIO and my current remit as a senior adviser is in this area. It's hard going but it can be very rewarding as well. If only I could take time to breathe!
Other
We have just hosted a joint international education event with West Dunbartonshire. If I can get the chance I shall write something about that. I having been visiting schools for pastoral support for HTs, meeting with QIOs as a monthly check in and so the list goes on.
So that's been my week. It's not really surprising that blogging has not been high on the agenda.
Telling the story of my diary for the past week to ten days probably gives a bit of a flavour.
Curriculum for Excellence
I have devoted a lot of time to curriculum for excellence in the past week. We have new outcomes coming out on Monday in Maths, Gaelic and Classics. This is good as we are planning further seminars after Christmas and now have some outcomes to discuss! HMIE have just published a report on curriculum flexibility in primary school which requires a lot of thought and planning for schools. Tomorrow is the EA contacts meeting which should provide an update on curriculum architecture among other things. Our strategy group meets on Friday to discuss the next steps and I have a number of board papers to write before Christmas all on CfE. I was discussing our planning with my boss last night and we agreed that we need to sit down and spend some serious time thinking about how we move ahead on all of CfE.
GLOW
I am off to Dunblane today for an early adopters meeting. Things are going well with the provisioning despite a couple of hiccups. We have trained a lot of staff and as the new year comes in we will be looking at getting uptake going. It has taken longer than I expected to get to this point but at least we are getting there.
Outcome Agreement
The recent COSLA concordat will have major implications for the way in which schools and local authorities run. A shift from process measures to outcomes is being warmly welcomed. The hard part at the moment is getting the meat on the bones and getting our heads round what it all means.
Management Stuff
This blog is not the place for me to talk about internal stuff. It would be fair to say, however, that a lot of time is spent on this area, particularly at the moment. The main difference between my job as a QIO and my current remit as a senior adviser is in this area. It's hard going but it can be very rewarding as well. If only I could take time to breathe!
Other
We have just hosted a joint international education event with West Dunbartonshire. If I can get the chance I shall write something about that. I having been visiting schools for pastoral support for HTs, meeting with QIOs as a monthly check in and so the list goes on.
So that's been my week. It's not really surprising that blogging has not been high on the agenda.
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