Never mind the technology, where’s the learning?

All this week there has been a series of training events for ICT Mark Assessors. These are the people who are accredited to assess the ICT Mark. To keep your ticket as an assessor, you have to attend one of these events. In a session by Becta it was announced that, from BETT 2009, Becta [...]

The last week has been interesting when in comes Shirky’s notion of self-forming groups and the power of Web 2.0 and social networking. In Clay Shirky’s book, “Here Comes Eveybody“, he explores the the significant role being played by technological advances on the formation and experience of modern group dynamics. Over the weeks, John [...]

In the latest large scale US research shows that time spent by teenagers online aids their development. The £31 million project financed by the MacArthur Foundation and undertaken by the University of Southern California and the University of California, Berkeley involved interviewing over 800 young people and conducting over 5000 hours of observation on the [...]

Following on my previous post, it’s often not the software or the technology that makes learning great, but the way in which old ideas about how we learn present themselves using new technology. HyperStudio was (and probably still is) an excellent tool for getting learners to work though scenarios and create interactive fiction ( this [...]

Have you noticed that educational software has been getting dejá vu for a little while now. It goes back to 2Simple releasing a new version of Developing Tray, that old BBC favourite, well now we’re into the early to mid 90s with HyperStudio making a comeback. HyperStudio came to prominence following the withdrawal of HyperCard [...]

I’m drawn to Tom’s post about his latest gadget, the Livescribe Pulse Smartpen and have added one to my Christmas present list. Indeed not just for me, but I can see how useful this might be for so many people I know. If you take notes at meetings, in lectures as a student, or just [...]

Naace, the professional association for educational ICT professionals, has launched its Fellowship membership category. Fellowship of Naace recognises and encourages individuals to make an active contribution to the ICT community. Members can for example maintain an active blog on the Naace Communities site or establish a ‘community of practice’. Naace ‘Fellows’ will be listed on [...]

The dream of the One Laptop Per Child project had gone bad for some advocates of educational technology for all. Nicholas Negroponte stated that the point of the scheme to provide laptops to the poorest children in the world was “an education project not a laptop project”. Part of this philosophy was to provide the [...]