Future Learning Blog

This has been the first year I have used a blog as a form of self reflective professional development, overall I have found the experience rewarding and a good way to build a portfolio of work and share it with other educators for feedback.  I have also enjoyed writing about my thoughts on the future of education and where we are heading with things like web semantics and learning analytics .  The most popular things I wrote about this year were; 1) Using Google calendar as a lesson planner This was really great for my own productivity for the year, and along with integration with i-cal on

I downloaded a few ipad apps to see if I could find a suitable lesson planning app, some claimed to be the perfect solution and a replacement to my trusty but easy to misplace NZ teachers planner, but I wasn't really happy with any of them - so I decided to use google calendar and sync it with my phone/ipad so I could plan on the go and refer to it when I was teaching PE on the field - it is also

The ability to create multiple calendars in google drive is an amazing organisational tool, especially when you can hide/show and share them with a click.  You could use separate calendars in a school for exam schedules, internal assessment deadlines, staff meetings, sporting events, your own lesson plans and SLT free/busy times and even for physical resources like netbook pods, science lab equipment or library time. 1) At GBHS and many 'apps' schools we automatically have our personal/primary calendar (which is your default entry and associated with the email address) and we have a 'GBHS Calendar' set up as well.  Your own calendar is private, no-one else has access - but it is possible to share it with different

If you use google apps at your school the calendar is an excellent tool to help with organisation and running of school events.  It is even possible to print it out for staff who are not too comfortable with using it online.  Here is a quick overview of what to expect when you open the calendar. 1) Log into google apps 2) At the top of the screen click on the 'calendar' word between 'drive' and 'sites', this will take you to a page like the one above.  Have a go at clicking between the different views, and see which one you