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 […]
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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 […]
New Year’s Revolution
I’m excited about this year. I’m not one for making New Year’s resolutions but this year is something of a revolution because I have something better. A new business. A new opportunity. After years of working as an academic, for the BBC and a couple of great independent media companies, I have started my own […]
Digital Nativity
Many of you might have seen this but thought it would a suitably seasonal note to wish you a Merry Christmas! Digital Nativity by ExcentricPT
Facebook – Jack of all trades
I have the privilege and pleasure of helping out at the local youth group. On Monday we had our Christmas party. I took some photos. And put them onto Facebook – inevitably the online social hub of the group. I also posted them on Flickr. I received a note asking why I’d duplicated the effort. […]
TV – the social media
In the last few years, some commentators have predicted the death of television, some even championed it, declaring that it was obsolete – superseded by interactive media that offer true user participation. They cite massive user figures for the likes of Facebook, World of Warcraft as evidence that traditional media is on it’s way out. […]
A degree of value?
Today the UK parliament votes to triple fees to study for a higher education degree. Given the composition of the House of Commons, the outcome of the vote is largely predictable. The effect on future generations is less clear. When student tuition fees were introduced in 2006, Universities UK (UUK), the representative organisation for the […]
Where play meets learning
Play’ and ‘games’ are dirty words to many traditional educationalists because of their connotations of trivial, wasteful and indulgent activity. It might hark back to our WASP-ish philosophy that only hardship and suffering are good for the soul. Even the seminal play theorist, Johan Huizinga, argued that play is “an activity connected with no […]
Facebook cartoon meme
You may well have seen the campaign on Facebook to change your profile picture to a childhood cartoon character. The changes were accompanied by a status update like this: Change your facebook profile picture to a cartoon character from your childhood and invite your friends to do the same. Until Monday, December 6, there should […]
Games teach us lots
In my earlier post, I highlighted how little actual evidence there was that games can deliver transferable learning on the own. This post presents some of the recent work that suggest playing computer games can teach us lots, albeit as a complement to other interventions. There are two kinds of learning one can associate with […]