Building the future

Like any other part of the training and skills sector, the construction industry depends upon the reliable and effective training of well qualified and competent individuals. Training is rigorous and comprehensive, because if a builder gets it wrong, the consequences can be catastrophic. At Unitec, in Auckland, New Zealand, they train construction workers in all the trades, but there seems to be a particular demand for skilled carpenters in the Land of the Long White Cloud. You see, almost every house in New Zealand is constructed predominantly of wood.

The construction training team Unitec (pictured) are particularly savvy and ahead of the field when it comes to the application of learning technology. During a break in the proceedings at the ICELF event I had the privilege of being shown around their training compound where Unitec delivers its Certificate in Applied Technology (Carpentry). What I saw impressed me.

The Smart Shed is one of the centre pieces of Unitec's technological advance. Situated at the edge of the construction zone, the smart shed looks like any other wooden shed, but inside it is bristling with digital technology. It has full wifi connectivity and web enabled desktop personal computers within. A roller blind on the outside of the shed is pulled up to reveal a multi-gesture interactive whiteboard and short-throw projector. Using these tools, on site demonstrations and interactive learning sessions can be conducted, a few footsteps away from the construction training site.

But it is the QR tag system that is perhaps the most radical departure from traditional on-site construction training. On many of the working surfaces of the houses under construction on site (every one is sold before it is started and later transported on completion to its final destination), QR tags are stapled to the walls. At the appropriate point in their training, holding up their smart phones, students capture the appropriate QR image, which takes them directly to relevant websites that explain building techniques, safety procedures or specialist tool use.

In conversation with the lecturers who instigated this scheme, I asked how long it would take for the construction industry to adopt such leading edge practices for on the job training. 'We don't think it will be long', they replied. 'As soon as these students are qualified, they will be working in the construction industry', they explained. 'It is only a matter of time before they become lead builders, and eventually business owners within the industry. Then they will introduce similar technology supported training for their employees on site'.

Application of new technology that supports learning within authentic contexts. This is situated learning at its best, but is it the future of construction training?


Building the future by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Rock and a hard place

Earlier today Shelly Terrell tweeted that she would prefer to see schools invest in mobile technologies than in Interactive White Boards (IWBs). Here's what she said: "Personally, I feel $$ better spent on mobile devices in classrooms vs IWBs." Actually, I can see her reasoning behind this, because although I have observed some excellent learning and teaching using IWBs in some schools, they are few and far between. Many teachers I have watched tend to use IWBs like an expensive display board. They won't let smaller hands anywhere near it. Perhaps the boards are positioned wrongly on walls so the kids can't reach them, as in Neil Selwyn's account Revisiting the promise of digital technology in schools. Perhaps the teacher simply wants to maintain control of the classroom, and feels that letting kids interact with the screen might unleash some kind of diabolical anarchy. Kids at the front of the class? Never! They should be sat down behind their desks, listening quietly, making notes! 'Elf and safety mate. Perhaps the teacher thinks the kids might damage the board, because after all, IWBs can be expensive to repair? Sticky fingers all over the board - not on my watch my friend. Or perhaps, most likely, the teacher is too hard pressed for time to dream up activities in which the children can actually leave their seats and interact with the resources on the screen.

It's a shame, really it is. When kids are allowed to interact with the IWBs in the ways they were intended to be used, there is a great deal of excitement, and a lot of engaged learning. When they are not allowed to touch the screen, it becomes just another teaching tool, and it's a 'so what?' from the class. I have seen both in the classroom, and I know which one I prefer to watch.

Mobile phones are different. Many children have them, and they are very adept at using them, but usually only to send texts or access their Facebook accounts. How many of them would actually consider using their phone to access learning? And waht's worse, many schools have imposed a ban on mobile phones in the classroom, because they consider there is greater potential to disrupt, bully, subvert or otherwise use the devices in ways too nefarious to mention.

Perhaps Shelly meant that schools should invest in iPads, or the more affordable mini-iPads? (er, I mean iPod Touches) Now there's an idea. I can think of a whole raft of ideas for learning activities using iPods as a tool. Then there are games consoles such as the Nintendo DS with its Pictochat features. We could go on - the world, as Del Boy once said, is our lobster.

Here's my take. It would be a shame to abandon the Interactive White Board in favour of mobile devices, just because many teachers can't seem to use them in an engaging way. The same could apply to handheld mobile devices, if teachers haven't got the time to think up good uses, or there is not enough cash available to purchase them because - well, the budget has all been spent on installing IWBs that are not gong to be used properly. Hmmm. I think we're caught between a rock and a hard place. Anyone know a way out?

Image source by Rob Schenk

Rock and a hard place by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Barking at ants

On Wednesday 3rd February I gave a presentation to staff at the University of Brighton, on an invite from my old mate Asher Rospigliosi. His blog on learning using the Internet is worth a read. Below is the abstract of my presentation to staff in the Brighton Business School:

New Pedagogies for the Digital Age

The rapid emergence of new, participative and social media in higher education has caused teachers to question what they have previously believed about university teaching. Students also have different expectations when they arrive on the university campus. The proliferation of handheld and mobile devices, smart phones, ubiquitous computing and broadband networked technologies, interactive whiteboards, touch screen and wireless technologies is bewildering, and on the back of these developments, many academics also find it difficult to come to terms with the new digital cultures and values their students bring to the lecture room. In this presentation I will explore these tensions, discuss the potential and actual applications of new technologies, and examine how they are changing and challenging our traditional notions of pedagogy. I will speculate on how the digital age is causing us to reappraise and re-examine our own personal and professional values, and approaches to the business of learning and teaching. I will offer some simple, practical examples of how to integrate new social media into formal learning contexts and provide some insight into these processes from my own reflections on professional practice in teacher education.

Here is my slideshow:

New Pedagogies For The Digital Age

View more presentations from Steve Wheeler.

It has been a long time since I was in Brighton. When I was last in Brighton I was an undergraduate student of psychology. I studied at Lancaster House, the cognitive science centre of the University of Sussex. I remember vividly visiting the funfair on the end of Brighton Pier one evening, and took a ride on the waltzers. I had just enjoyed a rather large dinner at a local Tex-mex. It wasn't a smart thing to do. Spicy food, cider and fast whirling things is not a very comfortable combination. The inevitable happened. I experienced a technicolour yawn - I won't go into any more details. I managed to avoid barking at ants again by steering clear of all the fast whirling things when I was there this time.

Image source