I just want my data to mean something

Er… hello?

This is a blog of openly licensed thinkery. They are doodles, thoughts and ideas of Bryan Mathers – little curious tidbits which have emerged from juicy conversations. Also, this is a dumping ground for abandoned artwork. But one man’s dump is another’s treasure trove – amirite?

You can include artwork from this site under a Creative Commons CC-BY-ND licence.

  • Different isn’t wrong

    Different isn’t wrong

    When I lived in East Africa, this was a mantra of a wise ex-pat I once knew. I find it surprising how aspects of other cultures can get us tied up in all sorts of knots, making us retreat to people just like us. Its easy to put up a wall and never step outside.…

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  • Commoditised Learning

    Commoditised Learning

    What if Amazon did learning? Or at least the Amazon prediction engine. Might a system be able to suggest items of learning based on what others did at a similar point? This thought was picked up later for the FELTAG report.

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  • Celebrate your Milestones

    Celebrate your Milestones

    This thought was created as part of a collaboration between Doug Belshaw and myself. If you haven’t already its worth having a look at Doug’s “Community Alignment Model” – something Doug’s a bit of a master at…

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  • BBC Badges

    BBC Badges

    This flow was created for Ralph Rivera at the BBC to illustrate how badges could be used to recognise Knowledge, Competence & Character. I’ve always thought the BBC could be an interesting issuer of badges – though I’m possible influenced by the Blue Peter badges…

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  • Assessment & Pedagogy

    Assessment & Pedagogy

    Here’s a thought from Bob Harrison, of FELTAG fame. I think its a good one.

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  • Credential Monopoly

    Credential Monopoly

    We’ll it’s alright for me. When I was your age, Higher Education was free. And they gave out grants for living costs. Still, if you’re privileged you’ll probably be ok…

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  • A Conspiracy of Manipulation

    A Conspiracy of Manipulation

    It’s not easy to think for yourself when you’re constantly being manipulated. This visual thought was for a talk I gave to some young people.

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  • In all things…

    In all things…

    “In all things, It’s better to hope than to despair…” Goethe. I saw this thought and had to draw it.

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  • PISA…

    PISA…

    Whilst at BETT this year, I got the opportunity to hear Sir Ken Robinson speak. Here’s one of his off-the-cuff comments about PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) that stuck in my head…

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  • Linear vs Non-linear learning

    Linear vs Non-linear learning

    I don’t think we learn well in straight lines – at least I don’t. To learn is to understand, to understand is to explore in multiple directions multiple times. What I bring to a learning experience is different to what everybody else brings, because we have all had different experiences. Maybe our education system is…

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  • The Digital Skills Sandwich

    The Digital Skills Sandwich

    The Digital Skills Sandwich illustrates how a fluid de-centralised community approach to badging could fit between the underlying Mozilla web literacy map and an overlying recognition element, in this case a vocational qualification such as an apprenticeship.

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  • Wapisasa – a badge-driven apprenticeship

    Wapisasa – a badge-driven apprenticeship

    Could a Rookie earn badges, as they progress through their employment at wapisasa? Could these badges that recognise Knowledge, Skills, Character contribute to a raise or a promotion? If we can badge it, we probably should…

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