To Blog or to Twitter

Busy and very productive week - Interesting piece on Radio 4 as I drove in to office on Monday - is blogging dying and/or are users switching to things like twitter.
I now use twitter once a day and blog less often. Piece was on at 8.40 am

I have said before I was an early adapter and blogged 2000 - 2002 and switched it all off in end - I think this time there is a more active community developing and web2 and cloud computing makes the experience more fun and productive.

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HHL08 Hand Held Learning

For first time in last three years there was not an SQA rep at Hand Held Learning Conference. However there was a strong Scottish contingent on the programme pleased to see Derek Roberston of Consolarium getting an award. JISC mobile resources for Hairdressing too.

I am still of opinion that wifi in schools and Colleges is the way to go with it being opened up to allow cheap Ultra Portable Computers or learners own lap-tops on to the school network and if we were being truly enlightened to create wifi hotspots for the community.

Schools should be better than Starbucks at this - but hey ;-)

Of course there is space of any other mobile devices too..

But above all it would makes best use of hard won educational bandwidth and allow reliable access for all. Islay High has got first bit of this right and this model should be rolled out.

Also presentation from Laurie O'Donnell on educational changes - nice presentation that compliments thinking on curriculum for excellence but interesting take on small projects - which seems counter intuitive in a small country with so many local authorities - I am guessing but I don't think he meant to be as firm as this on local enterprise. Assessment 2.0 still don't think there is realisation that door has been open for while on this.

Worth sharing around teams

If you are getting up to speed with Twitter worth doing a Twitter Search for HHL08 and you will pick up lots of nuggets from the conference.

BETT 2008

"by spring 2008 every pupil should have access to a *personalised online learning space *with the potential to support an e-portfolio"


Was the theme of Bett in January 2008

Watched this for a while in England . Interesting debate at http://collaboration.becta.org.uk/message/2046#2046

Also some quite interesting communities for those with interest in education technology and school sector and refreshingly open.
http://collaboration.becta.org.uk/index.jspa

We are moving at a range of different speeds towards having ICT Infrastructires across School system in UK none with the ambition and vision of GLOW - but will be interesting to see what emerges in different bits of UK.

Walt Disney - Chicken Little - 1943

A friend sent this on this morning - parallels with panic in the financial sector. You can tell too that cartoons were for grown ups in 1943.

Are we less or more visually literate now than we were in previous centuries when bulk of us could not read ?
and does numeracy help us in current crisis ?
Is there a voice of reason to be found in the media?
Where are the foxes - one thing is certain like any economic crisis some will be reaping a harvest from this crash.

Do you want to see into the future ?

Programme: Innovating e-Learning online conference 2008

and following from last post - here is a shameless plug for an online conference . If you want to hear what is happening in the University system this is best place this year to hear it - best guide too at moment to what will happen on-line in most non workbased learning environments too. A glimpse into the future

JISC leads the way. Most of the work pioneered by JISC underpins educational computing across UK .

BECTA Web 2 Survey

The lastest BECTA study just makes me mad. - Web2 even Web1 is such a fantasic learning resource and yet learners in schools get more access to it at home than in school.

No I don't want learners sitting in front of terminals all day and not interacting and no I don't think technology is answer to all ills .... and I get really fed up with anything that starts .. there is a lack of studies ....you can see why being an academic did not hold my attention.

Worse this reports says teachers can cope with all this stuff too - only just not at school. Do as I say not as I do.. thanks Bob Harrison

When will these reports get better.

Last bit of report sits well with discussion on unblocking more of the web for learners - would be good place to start in opening discussion.

This is a great piece of work by BECTA it is chasm it exposes that is scary. (but we knew it was there)

I probably should leave well alone My territory is Colleges and the workplace and we are not short of challenges in vocational learning landscape. Could start home learning ;-)

Amazingly learners arrive post school and can cope with virtual learning environments and eportfolios - amazing as they adapt their knowledge of platforms that they use socially not because they have depth of experience of these in the main in the school system. ( it may be that VLEs are so well designed and amazingly easy to use - only kidding )

But there is a lack of studies ... perhaps an argument for keeping web2 out of secondary ;-) I am sure I hear a researcher sharpening their pencil.

Can you tell I've been on a train for six hours today.