I delighted to announce a brand new initiative focussing on play and learning in the UK. The inaugural Play+Learn conference will take place on 17-19 June 2015 at the University of Bradford. Play is our most elemental vehicle for learning, and new digital tools like games provide whole new worlds for exploration and interaction. Together we’ll explore how we can make learning and training more engaging […]
Archive | Adults
RSS feed for this sectionKids, Social Media & Computer Games – A Guide for Grown Ups
As the parent of two young children, I’m often in conversation with other adults about the ways kids use technology. We sometimes feel a bit out of our depth and almost intimated by the boundless confidence our children exhibit when engaging with games, apps and social media. However daunted we might feel, we can’t sit […]
Reflections on learning
The brilliant educational thinker, John Dewey, argued that “the purpose of education is to bring meaning to experience,” but discovering and embedding that meaning is not always straightforward. All too often, our ‘learning’ experiences are superficial and temporary: we learning something for a specific purpose, it’s “just in time” and then forgotten. Learning becomes a […]
Who’s winning with game-based learning?
This week the UK’s National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) released a study examining the latest research about game-based learning. The main findings in the NFER report were: The literature was split on the extent to which video games can impact upon overall academic performance. The studies consistently found that video games can impact positively on […]
What students want
After an eleven year break from formal regular lecturing, I have started a final year module at the University of Bradford. I’m really pleased to be working so closely with students again: I’ve always found it tremendously exciting to be surrounded by people with so much talent and potential. My years out of academia have […]
Childhood & Family articles
Special needs students and their teachers are the victims of a “muddled” approach to schooling, says Leicester Uni http://j.mp/qB5qcd Socioeconomic status as child dictates response to stress as adult according to University of Minnesota http://j.mp/qDZRZ8 Parents are forgetting how to play with their children, study shows – article from The Guardian last year http://j.mp/jdoiSR Teenage […]
Apple promotes iPad for school
There’s a new TV ad from Apple extolling the potential of the iPad in classrooms. A few months ago Edudemic posted this list of 50 Innovative Ways to Use an iPad in School. What do you think? Does the iPad represent revolutionary technology for all teachers and students or simply another tool in the arsenal […]
Psychology & Neuroscience articles
NCSU research: Study Shows Sports Can Help Communities Recover From Disaster http://j.mp/o0bzkz Distract Yourself or Think It Over? Two Ways to Deal with Negative Emotions from Association for Psychological Science http://j.mp/l37Fnm Too much choice is a bad thing – Journal of Public Economics http://j.mp/kJXbgT Snooze you win? It’s true according to Stanford reseasrch http://j.mp/iCsjtQ The […]
Social Justice articles
Upwards social mobility reduces stress – Journal of Epidemiology & Community Heath http://j.mp/nJfdO9 UC Research Points to Best Practices to Reduce Recidivism http://j.mp/pQCNVc Socioeconomic status as child dictates response to stress as adult according to University of Minnesota http://j.mp/qDZRZ8 High technology, not low taxes, may drive states’ economic growth. Penn State research. http://j.mp/iqX536 Death by […]
Media for learning
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Head teachers, Principals and education officers in the West Bank this week as part of my work with Karen Ardley for UNRWA. We talked about the relative strengths and weaknesses of the media available to us for the leadership development programme we’re putting together. Some of the points […]