What an interesting and full day!!

We visited two vocational schools/colleges with a very interesting profile of educational offers.  I took notes (20 pages!!)  and will include a synopsis of them here as soon as I get a change.  There was also an opportunity to observe an English and a Maths lesson, both of which utilised ICT in some way.  A lengthy introduction to the German School System in Saxony allowed me to get up to date with educational arrangements for pupils in my home country.  A short visit to some of the sights in the evening was followed by a great meal in a fantastic cellar restaurant (Sophienkeller).  We were joined by a colleague working for the ministry of culture (they oversee education), who is supporting schools in Saxony with an e-learning platform based on WebCT.  This allowed for some interesting conversations about the need to structure and the value of constructivist approaches to e-learning in school based education.  We also had a slightly different take on the importance of content organised into courses for teachers rather the by them and systems for quality control.

I will post the pictures in Flickr and update this post with a link.