Putting Philosophy
into Practice
Laurie O’Donnell
Director of Learning and Technology
Learning and Teaching Scotland
Monday, 20 October 2008

Overview
Philosophy A
Philosophy B
Putting Philosophy B into Practice
With a little help from ...
Questions
Monday, 20 October 2008

Philosophy A
Education Broken but can be fixed (quickly)
Technology Drives change
Teachers Another problem that needs to be fixed
Learners The future workforce
Innovation Let a thousand projects flourish
Success Input targets & attainment
Curriculum Don’t trust the teachers
Monday, 20 October 2008

Philosophy B
Education Long term investment in the future
Technology Enables, supports & accelerates change
Teachers Supported professionals
Learners More than just the future workforce
Curriculum Guidance & support for teachers
Innovation Got to be scalable and sustainable
Success Wider long term benefits
Monday, 20 October 2008

Implications of
Philosophy B
Educational change is a
long haul
Developing teacher
professional skills and
judgement is crucial
Technology is just part of
the teacher’s repertoire
Monday, 20 October 2008

Example 1:
LTS Online Service
Single integrated site
40,000 web pages to support Scottish teachers
First port of call for 90% of teachers seeking
resources, advice, exemplification & support
30,000 visits in 2003
Over 4,000,000 visits in 2007
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk
Monday, 20 October 2008

Example 2:
Glow
National schools intranet
32 local authorities
3,000 schools
53,000 teachers
700,000 learners
Features
Web based, single sign-on
National tools and environment
Designed to support sharing and collaboration
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/glowscotland
Monday, 20 October 2008

Example 3:
The Scottish Learning Festival
Festival of learning
Showcase of Scottish education
170 practitioner led seminars
International keynote speakers
Fringe events
200 exhibitors
7,000 delegates over 2 days
Focus on learning, teaching and cpd not just ICT
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/slf
Monday, 20 October 2008

Example 4:
Connected Live
Discourse shifting r&d
Social media for learning
Scalable
Sustainable
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/connected
Monday, 20 October 2008

Example 5:
The Consolarium
Discourse shifting r&d
Commercial
computer games for
learning
Scalable
Sustainable
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/consolarium
Monday, 20 October 2008

With a little help
from ...
Politicians (committed to long-term development)
Civil servants (who see the big picture and can
manage risk)
Secure funding (not based on projects)
Great people (competent/passionate/grounded)
who are doing the right things for the right reasons
Resilience
Hard work and a whole lotta luck
Monday, 20 October 2008

Contact
Laurie O’Donnell
E:l.odonnell@ltscotland.org.uk
W:www.ltscotland.org.uk
B:ltsblogs.org.uk/laurieodonnell
Monday, 20 October 2008