Back to Maine

And back to the blog. It's been quite some time since I last updated this blog. Except for a few short updates I haven't really written at all. The reason for the blog was to cover Maine 2010, which I think I did pretty well. Yeay! You can read them below. However, Twitter has given me a couple of new followers and I thought it would be a good idea to refer to some of discussions taking place over here, 2011.

Most of us here seem to have had a great experience at the difference school visits this morning. I had the opportunity to visit Yarmouth High School and meet a couple of teachers and students, also visiting some classrooms. Oh, and they are starting to use Google Apps. I actually asked them last year why they didn't. The answer was that they already had an application for the same things that Google Apps could do. Perhaps not.

What stroke most of us was the students awareness of the implication that technology can have on their individual development, specifically when we discussed creativity and innovation. There have also been a lot of discussions regarding game based learning. There are some definite signs that game based learning will have a great impact on schools and learning.

There are two question that I try to figure out and understand regarding school development right now - why, how and where will game based learning impact day-to-day work in schools. It's obviously a nobrainer that it's attractive for the students, but then there are teachers, curriculums and other questions that needs to be adressed and put into a context.

The second question is how to build a sustainable learning environment. With and without technology. I've been working with 1-to-1-schools since the beginning of 2008. It still is the most important question. And I don't mean that in a general way or as a theoretical question, what I mean is - for example, why do some schools never have a teacher quitting, students skypeing with nobel prize winners and serve, despite being 550 students, only vegetarian food made locally? Why does a newly started school attract 350 students the first year and 800 students year two, while located in one of Swedens best school communes - and still delivering on so many different levels? Or companies calling the CEO to hear if they are going to start a school in the same commune as they, and if they are, they rather choose to not compete. I've been trying to speak as much as possible to the teachers and principals to understand the context in why, what and how they've made it work. There are some things in common but for now I'll keep them to myself. I need to get a deeper understanding and try my theories out.