Category: #TOLC

What is a Learning Technologist

I’m sure there are many ways to define a learning technologist, but I liked this thought originating from a comment by Stephan at #efair2015…
Adaptability

This thought on adaptability was part of a collaborative article with Doug Belshaw written for FE Week, exploring the components of being able to adapt to the changing landscape of Further Education.
A certificate is just an offline badge

When thinking about Open Badges, its easy to get stuck on the paper certificate paradigm and think about why an Open Badge isn’t that. Here’s is a thought from Chris Kirk and Doug Belshaw, emanating from an excellent dinner conversation, which looks at a certificate from the perspective of a badge.
It’s all about people

Having sold a couple of businesses, I’m often asked about the ingredients of running a successful start-up. Well, this may be obvious, but it’s top of my list every time. People. But not just your immediate team (which is of course critical), but those who you sell to, those who support what you’re selling, those…
Where’s Further Education on the Digital Continuum?

This comment came from one of the first prep meetings for The Big Think – the kickoff of the Think Out Loud Club. It was a question asked by Bob Harrison who at the time was in the thick of the FELTAG report process.
What’s forecast for Further Education?

Here’s the challenge facing Further Education in the UK. There are massive funding changes (24%) – and yet the system will struggle to change quickly enough to cope. Check out this petition signed by 43,000 people.
A Changing Landscape

This graphic was created for an article in FE Week written by Doug Belshaw. It relates to the changing shape of Further Education in UK in a time of Government austerity measures…
Soft skills aren’t so soft

I liked this thought about "soft" skills by Beverley Oliver, at #epforall Barcelona Indeed, as Scott Wilson commented, they are hard to define, hard to acquire, hard to assess, hard to evidence – there’s very little that’s soft about them…
Levelling the Playing Field

This is a thought inspired by the Open Badges conference organised by @szerge in Barcelona recently. I am increasingly aware of how privileged I am, and how easy it is to accept the state of the playing field as just “how it is” as opposed to questioning it’s unfairness, and doing something about it. An…
Social Fabric

Here’s a thought from a conversation with @szerge at the EPIC conference in Barcelona. The underlying message points to the network of trust relationships that exist in a badging ecosystem, and how each assertion forms a relationship between two or more people or bodies. These relationships weave together to form a social fabric. I’m not…
Awesome Awards

Some very wise words from Charles Kennedy that I came across the day he died. In the last couple of years I’ve been amazed at how much pointless Education System tinkering goes on by politicians with a certain view of how education should be.
A Constellation of Pathways

“When you are deep into designing your badge system, pause. Look outward: consider the bigger picture that your earner will see. Imagine the thrill of being a learning explorer charting new territory with badges as your guideposts! Now with that new perspective, rough out some potential badge pathways that do not solely include your badges—that…