Archive | January, 2011

If you go down to the woods today

I have found my feet.  Literally.  The new flexibility I’m enjoying with my business has allowed me to rediscover the benefits of walking.  Especially walking in the countryside – through woods, away from the busy streets.  Such apparently frivolous activity has tangible benefits: without wanting to state the absolutely obvious, it is good for you.  […]

Knowledge is power to do more…

A few months ago I wrote of the growing belief among young people that Google removes the need to know anything.  However, it seems that the pursuit of knowledge seems to be on the rise in two very different quarters. Micheal Gove, the UK Education Secretary, in his recently announced review of the National Curriculum, […]

Six word story

I love the way that we can use new technologies to make learning and creativity more accessible.  Six word story is a great example.  The premise is self-explanatory and the storytelling takes place on Twitter. The thing I like most about it is the parsimony of the format – you can’t be flabby or lazy […]

Page-turning isn’t learning

Electronic page turning is the bane of e-learning.  The lazy tendency to translate traditional educational resources into the equivalent of online books undermines both the credibility and effectiveness of web-based learning because it ignores all the interactive potential of the medium.  Pressing ‘Next’ to move on a screen is a dumb device to progress.  It […]

Who’s looking at you?

One of the most potent aspects of Facebook, and to a lesser extent Flickr,  Twitter and alike, is the opportunity it gives us to pry.  Like looking into curtainless windows after dark, we get a unique insight into the lives of other people.  We know they’re not faking their profiles – there are too many […]

Where games meet learning

In earlier posts, I’ve looked at the research evidence for and against the learning potential for games and how play in general relates to learning.  This post looks at the overlap between games and learning.  Although many people become quite aerated about definitions, for the sake of today’s note, I’m simply using ‘games’ to mean […]