“The term pedagogy has been in use since the early 16th century to describe ‘the art and science of teaching’ (amongst other definitions) particularly focusing upon the teacher’s role in a young person’s learning. More recently of course, it has formed part of the ongoing cry ‘it’s not the technology, it’s the pedagogy…’ which is raised at every conference, at every turn.
Andragogy, on the other hand, only became well used in 1913 after Malcolm Knowles developed a theory of it to describe adult learning - specifically focusing upon how children and adults learn differently (and as such require different forms of teaching).
One of the key differences is the description of the learner.”
Author: Dan Sutch, Flux Blog, 16th April 2008
Full article available here.
April 17, 2008
“90,000 new pages of work connected with Darwin have gone online for the first time. Guardian science correspondent James Randerson gives you a tour through the Darwin treasure trove.
It is a treasure trove of photographs, manuscripts, field notes and sketches that up to now has mostly been the preserve of Darwin scholars. But now the Darwin Online project in Cambridge is making 90,000 new pages of material available to anyone on the web.
Darwin junkies will be in their element with gems that range from scientifically significant notes on his theory of evolution to touching correspondence written by his wife.”
Author: James Randerson, Guardian, 16th April 2008
Full article available here.
April 17, 2008
“Ed tech developer eInstruction this week launched its new Content Meets Technology contest, which challenges educators and students to share their “vision of the role of technology in education.” Winners of the competition will receive an interactive classroom makeover.
Those wishing to enter must submit their thoughts on the role of technology in education using no more than 250 characters–that’s characters, not words. Entries will be posted on a Google Map mashup on eInstruction’s Web site.”
Author: Dave Nagel, T.H.E. Journal, April 2008
Full article available here.
April 16, 2008
TECHNOLOGY is changing the way we learn. That is a given as school students — the ubiquitous digital natives — come to class equipped with skills and expectations unparalleled in schools 20 years ago.
To Dale Spender, an educationalist and an expert on the impact of digital technologies on learning, the shift is fundamental: “There has been a switch from passive to active learners,” she says, “and active learners need a different range of support staff.”
Author: Kirsten Lees, The Australian, 5th April 2008
Full article available here.
April 12, 2008
Free educational tool launched to support debate on any topic
Futurelab has launched Power League, a free online resource for schools which supports pupils of all ages to explore, debate and discuss any topic in a fun and easy way. Power League, available at www.powerleague.org.uk, enables the user to rank and display group opinions on any issue across the entire curriculum.
Author: FutureLab, 9th April 2008
Full article available here.
April 10, 2008
New low-cost laptops, now targeted to U.S. schools as well, have larger screens and more storage
Intel’s new Classmate PCs–slated to go on sale this month for between $300 and $500–reflect the company’s growing efforts to sell computers equipped with its own chips to schools in developing countries, a battleground for technology companies because of the millions of people there just coming online.
But the target market for these low-cost laptops has expanded to include kids in the United States, too, as potential users of cheaper, stripped-down machines.
Author: eSchool News staff and wire service reports, 3rd April 2008
Full article available here.
April 10, 2008
Dave Warlick has written some interesting posts about his personal learning network and he elaborates also on the technologies and tools he uses along the way. This is an exerpt from one such post:
“Somewhere between 22 and 59 virtual attendees, the chat conversation became more of a focus point for me, as lurkers were commenting less about where they were from (PA, TX, SC, Perth, Shanghai) and more about the topics of Steve’s presentation, each shining a slightly different light on the idea, each giving me a different way of looking at it. A sudden small and fragile network was becoming a temporary branch of my Personal Learning Network.”
Author: Dave Warlick, 2cent Worth Blog, 9th April 2008
Full article available >here.
April 10, 2008
I believe technologies that engage and motivate students by offering opportunities for self-direction, inquiry, discovery, and creativity are the best way to meet the needs of all students. One of the most significant things I’ve heard said about 1:1 laptop programs is that when you walk into the classroom, you can’t tell who the Special Ed students are or who the GATE students are… because everyone is fully engaged and working at their own level.
Some technologies that might be readily available to most teachers and which might help provide this sort of individualized engagement include commercial off the shelf videogames with educational value (such as the Sims series, the Tycoon series, or the “Age of…” series of games), read/write web tools (such as blogs, wikis, and podcasts), and multimedia creation programs (for editing images, audio, and video). These things are nearly free and ubiquitous and ought to be used creatively in support of the base program.
Author: Mark Wagner, Educational Technology and Life Blog, 7th April 2008
Full article available here.
April 8, 2008
Futurelab is running a workshop on Create-A-Scape at this event, which is organised by South West Screen
10 July 2008
Watershed, Bristol
How can we develop young people’s voices so they become the content creators and storytellers of the future? Virtual Voices brings the media industry together with young media makers and their teachers or tutors to attempt to answer this question and many others…
What will it be like?
The event will include inspiring speakers, involving workshops (including one on Create-A-Scape run by Futurelab) and hands-on activities. See www.swscreen.co.uk/virtualvoices for more information as the programme is finalised, or sign up to the Virtual Voices e-mailing list by e-mailing virtual.voices@swscreen.co.uk.
Author: FutureLab, 7th April 2008
Full post and more information available here.
April 7, 2008
