Category: #learning

  • The Pi-clopedia

    The Pi-clopedia

    I don’t know about you but I’ve been tinkering in my man-shed. Curiosity-driven, soldering iron out, YouTube at the ready. The spirit of McGyver runs deep through my veins, and given enough time there is nothing I cannot make. The Raspberry Pi? It’s a thing of beauty. Now then what shall I make it do?…

  • Open Badges (P.S. there’s data inside…)

    Open Badges (P.S. there’s data inside…)

    Open Badges seem so simple, don’t they? But wait – don’t make assumptions – ask questions! They’ve got stuff inside. Data. Authenticated data. But the big news? – you can take them with you because they’re built on an open standard. They can be connected together to form a learning pathway. The data structure inside the…

  • A subjunctive mood…

    A subjunctive mood…

    Primary schools in the UK have gone grammar mad. Essentially, although a kid may be dynamite in other areas, they can be labelled “below age related expectations”. What does that even mean? In actual fact, we are natural grammarians. Kids sponge-brains can soak up new languages amazingly quickly, without any formal learning. It seems we are…

  • A teacher’s mission

    A teacher’s mission

    This Will Richardson talk really resonated with me. He quotes Dewey. You should really watch it.

  • Let’s just badge everything

    Let’s just badge everything

    This week, the team at the University of Southampton organised an excellent Open Badge conference, which I really enjoyed taking part in. Doug Belshaw (his slides are here) and Carla Casilli were keynoting. “Let’s just badge everything” is probably not the best strategy in getting up and running with micro-credentials. Here are two questions worth…

  • Reading – World Book Day

    Reading – World Book Day

    When it comes to reading books as a youngster, my experience was one of homework, context, someone else’s knowledge, questions and comprehension. I thought of reading as something that belonged to school. A tedious necessity. Not something I would do for kicks. My kids experience is somewhat different. It’s choice, interest and curiosity driven, fascinating,…

  • Learning – to what end?

    Learning – to what end?

    “Dad? What does this spell? F-L-A-P-P-E-R?” My 5 year old is an engineer in the making. He has a book of how to make a whole array of paper planes. And so he starts his self-crafted apprenticeship. “Dad? Can you help me with step 10?” But this is the Expert Section. “Can you just do it?”…

  • Entrepreneurship

    Entrepreneurship

    It’s the things you don’t know you don’t know that’ll kill you every time…

  • OER16 – Open…

    OER16 – Open…

    What a distraction twitter is – especially if it means drawing something. I’ll see something on twitter, have a thought, and before I know it, I’m trying to create that thought. I came across Jim Groom tweeting the title for his keynote at OER16, and I couldn’t resist. I highly recommend tuning in…

  • What’s inside an Open Badge

    What’s inside an Open Badge

    It’s easy to talk about open badges without really understanding what’s inside (it’s just a digital badge, right?)  There’s actually a whole bunch of stuff inside. The badge class is like the template. All badges issued from a certain badge class will inherit those properties. The assertion relates to the recipient of the badge and…

  • Fixed Mindsets

    Fixed Mindsets

    Fixed mindsets. In my experience, these are easier to spot in others when you rub up against them (the mindsets that is…) but a lot more difficult to spot in your own self.

  • Tests – Big in Education…

    Tests – Big in Education…

    A few years ago, I completed a MOOC (massive open online course) on the Science of Everyday Thinking. I really enjoyed it. I tried to put my finger on what it was that helped me stay the distance. I liked the bite-sized nature of it. The videos were punchy and conversational. The edX platform was…

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