RiskIT Week is going global, schools from as far as Bangkok have taken part in the project. I am very pleased to see colleagues from primary, secondary, academies, private and special schools, all having a go and taking the risk.
RiskIT Week is Free and liberating, it has only one thing in its heart:
"try something "ICT" new you have not used before with students", the rest will fall into place.
Of course the purpose is to change the school culture when it comes to ICT, but as they say "Rome was not build in a day" so to change the culture you have to "Start" somewhere first.
RiskIT has a far reaching impact, it allows the whole school to work as one unit and all staff to be innovators, not scared of technology. they should offer the best opportunities to their students and prepare them for the life after school.
As technology changes by the day, teaching tends to get into comfortable habbits or routines. this is not always heatlthy when working with students whose attention span is moving as fast as the technology at times and teachers struggle to keep them on task and on target.
Schools in general tend to showcase their technology to visitors things like: iPads, Laptops, Tablets, IWB, Voting Pads, 3D Printers etc. show the wealth of schools just like the Empires of the middle ages.
These are no doubt important, but the invisible" are sometimes more effective: software, Wireless, educational websites, speed of network, online access from home and even students mobile devices (not purchased by school).
RiskIT forcuses on the ideas, not the technology. Creative ideas are more important that hardware because if you have the idea then it does not matter what means you use: hardware or software become just an intrument.
RiskIT will help schools value ideas which in turn command technology.
There is however a question of time and confidence. I will leave that for another time...