Presently, a key theme in education in Scotland and throughout the world is curriculum change.  Learning professionals across a range of contexts are engaging with new practice, research and policy, to provide opportunities for young people to develop in a variety of ways.  During 2010, the EDUtalk365 project aims to encourage, support and facilitate the sharing of how learning professionals are changing the curriculum.  Contributors to the project will record and publish short pieces of audio which will be made available on the EDUtalk website, with one new contribution being published every day from the 1st of January. 

The EDUtalk site was set-up last year to facilitate 'audio publishing by educators, using mobile devices'.  Contributions to EDUtalk365 can be made by: recording voices using a mobile phone and then emailing the file; calling a special number that records audio from any telephone; recording voices on an mp3 player and then emailing the file; and using one of the many podcasting applications available for the latest mobile phones.  Click here to find out about the various ways to record and send your audio to the EDUtalk365 website.  Audio contributions will be quickly moderated and published by either John or myself.

John and I wish to see 365 audio posts on the site by the 31st December 2010.

You may wish to share your work, or that of your colleague or establishment, around one or more of the following:

Inter-disciplinary projects, assessment for learning, co-operative learning, critical thinking skills, active learning, learning in different contexts, independent living, health and wellbeing, citizenship, employability, partnerships, volunteering, modelling skills, creativity, experiencing tertiary education; literacy, numeracy and ICT across the curriculum; leadership, enquiry, outdoor learning, learning portfolios, professional learning communities, transitions, assessment, evidence of progression, enterprise, choice, collaboration, and skills development (examples from Building the Curriculum 4).

The following prompts may assist you in planning the content of the audio that you are contributing:

• How are you/they engaging with the changing curriculum?  How are you/they changing the opportunities which you/they provide for your/their learners?
• What differences have you/they noticed so far?  How are learners responding?  What challenges do you/they envisage?
• Which resources are effective for you/them and may be of interest to others?
• What are your/their reflections on curriculum change so far?
• Who or what has inspired you/them lately?

How have educators contributed to the EDUtalk website so far?

They have recorded, with permission where relevant:

• Their own thoughts and experiences
• Workshops and Keynotes at conferences
• A conversation with or between colleagues
• An interview with someone with an interesting insight into, or experience of, curriculum change
• Discussions with students
• Audio resources which can be used by students or other professionals.

This resource has a Creative Commons non-commercial licence.  As it is being built by the education community, content available on the EDUtalk365 website will remain freely available online for anyone to share in whichever non-commercial way. 

John and I will be 'kick-starting' EDUtalk365 activity by seeking all of January's contributions within the first couple of weeks of the project, and by planning to record some of the presentations made at the forthcoming TeachMeet (Curriculum for Excellence) events in Perth and East Lothian.  To encourage international perspectives, John and I will be actively encouraging contributions from the BETT Show in London in January.

It is hoped that in January 2011 all contributions will be archived and made freely available on a single CD, memory stick or online track.  To discuss this project further, please email me at noble_d@hillsideschool.co.uk.

David Noble