Archive | April, 2011

Teach or learn

There’s an interesting article in this week’s Journal of Neuroscience about the how we learn, specifically how our genes might influence our attitude towards learning from instruction or experience.  It’s an interesting new perspective on the differences between learning and teaching. According to researchers from Brown University, people genetically inclined to follow instructions can make […]

Learning with George Auckland

george auckland by euan mcintosh George Auckland is an inspirational figure from the BBC.  Last night, to celebrate 41 years at the Corporation, Manchester Metropolitan University hosted an evening to flag his achievements. George retires as the head of the BBC’s Learning Innovation Unit having started his career as a trainee assistant film editor in September […]

Art and Play

One of the projects I’m working on at the moment is a website that will help primary school children (5-11s) with their art work. The audience for the resource is quite complicated because teachers are likely to be the standard bearers for it – they’ll be the ones that direct children to it (at least […]

Plaything to Game

In an earlier post I wonder “What is a game?‘  It looked at the characteristics you can use to define a game. This week for a project I’m working on, I’ve been thinking about how you turn a normal activity into a game, the process of gamification.  Jane McGonical is one of the most passionate […]