I've done this with Sprout Builder; not because I'm narcissistic enough to think my birthday is important but because I couldn't think of a date to countdown to. Looks like an interesting tool.
Thursday, 12 June 2008
Sprout
I've done this with Sprout Builder; not because I'm narcissistic enough to think my birthday is important but because I couldn't think of a date to countdown to. Looks like an interesting tool.
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Sunday, 8 June 2008
Offender learning
Great post by Niall Sclater which covers the meeting I was at last Wednesday. It points up the diverse range of approaches to offender learning across Europe and the way in which technology is being made available to prisoners.
Saturday, 7 June 2008
What we've been doing
The live blogging photos were to illustrate one of the technologies I was talking about during my presentation about "Social Networking" and the immediacy available in the digital age. The format of the day was great and we had some quality keynote speakers.
First up was Seb Schmoller from ALT. He brought an XO laptop and that was the first time I'd physically held one so that was useful and his presentation set the scene for what we were doing - eLearning technologies in the wild and also in the OU.
The poster sessions were hard work - the attendees were split into 11 groups, one per workshop, and moved round the posters while the workshop facilitators explained what the workshop was about. So we stood by the poster and burbled on to 11 different groups.
Then, after a lovely lunch and chance to catch up with friends, Denise Kirkpatrick - PVC Learning and Teaching at the OU gave a presentation about the OU's VLE and eLearning projects (including SociaLearn).
Then the workshops. I did my stuff and then we looked at some social networking sites and we looked at how we might use some of these tools in learning and teaching. I prepared a Seesmic video before I left for the conference and I've just done another to "top and tail" the day.
Cup of tea and a chat and then home.
I hope that explains the photos I've been posting :-) All the photos are now on Flickr.
First up was Seb Schmoller from ALT. He brought an XO laptop and that was the first time I'd physically held one so that was useful and his presentation set the scene for what we were doing - eLearning technologies in the wild and also in the OU.
The poster sessions were hard work - the attendees were split into 11 groups, one per workshop, and moved round the posters while the workshop facilitators explained what the workshop was about. So we stood by the poster and burbled on to 11 different groups.
Then, after a lovely lunch and chance to catch up with friends, Denise Kirkpatrick - PVC Learning and Teaching at the OU gave a presentation about the OU's VLE and eLearning projects (including SociaLearn).
Then the workshops. I did my stuff and then we looked at some social networking sites and we looked at how we might use some of these tools in learning and teaching. I prepared a Seesmic video before I left for the conference and I've just done another to "top and tail" the day.
Cup of tea and a chat and then home.
I hope that explains the photos I've been posting :-) All the photos are now on Flickr.
Denise and Liz
Thursday, 5 June 2008
Philosophy
Etienne Wenger: "Learning is a social journey as well as a cognitive process in that it involves our whole being. By transforming our ability to participate in the world, it is a transformation of our identity."
Arsene Wenger: "I didn't see it but I think the referee was wrong"
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
Sunday, 1 June 2008
Saturday, 31 May 2008
Watch this
Turn up the volume and watch this. Watch it a few times and send the link to your friends. It's Tony Hirst's call to arms and it's brilliant. Then go out and do stuff....
Friday, 30 May 2008
Thursday, 29 May 2008
Next week
Big gig a go-go next week! Monday I'm visiting another prison - I suppose I'm pushing my luck and eventually they might decide to keep me but this time it's my "local" in Maidstone. Tuesday is the final SLN eLearning team event, ELT2, so we're topping and tailing the arrangements for that - anyone who can do Brighton should book, still a couple of places left. On Wednesday I'm lucky enough to have been invited to a small but important conference on offender learning. Experts from Germany and Sweden will be there with senior folk from HM Prison Service.
It might seem strange to be excited by this stuff but I don't get out much :-)
It might seem strange to be excited by this stuff but I don't get out much :-)
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
Monday, 26 May 2008
Anniversary
Just spotted that tomorrow is this blog's birthday! The first post was on 27th May, 2005. How's about that then?
Saturday, 24 May 2008
Friday, 23 May 2008
Monday, 19 May 2008
Seesmic
I've joined Seesmic - video-twittering (maybe?) You'll see a widget on the right which takes you to my first Seesmic effort. I think the technology is great and I can certainly see how I might use it but what is really, but really cool is that each first effort gets a reply from a real person who is talking to the "first poster".
Who said that the web would get rid of service???
I'm off to give it another go!
Who said that the web would get rid of service???
I'm off to give it another go!
This is how the world should work
Saturday, 17 May 2008
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
82, 000 and (no) change
The report goes on to suggest that the £110 m/annum spent on the Offender Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) is not delivering "to the level of which the service is capable" (NAO, 2008).Offenders have severe learning and skills needs: half of offenders in custody have no qualifications and almost 40 per cent have a reading age beneath that expected of a competent 11 year old. Addressing this is challenging as offenders are likely to have negative experiences of education in the past – almost half of offenders were excluded from school.Meeting Needs? The Offenders learning and skills service - National Audit Office report (March, 2008)
According to Debra Baldwin, Head of Prisoner Skills & Employment for NOMS nearly 70% of offenders have never been employed and if a parent is an offender a child has a better than 50% chance of ending up in gaol.
70% of convicted felons have two or more recognisable mental disorders
60% misused drugs and/or alcohol
32% were homeless prior to conviction.
Offender learning is a very seductive drug, most who come in contact with it become addicted for all sorts of reasons not least because it's "the right thing to do" and, like all junkies we think we can kick the habit when we want but I think we need to wise up.
The prison system in this country is actually serving as a final destination for those poorly served by compulsory education; 50% of those in prison were excluded from school, 30% were regularly truanting from school. Of course this raises another issue - should the school system be the place where those with mental illnesses can be diagnosed? And if it is what services have we in place to support people? But there can be little doubt that the current policy of building "Titan" prisons; prisons built to accommodate increasing numbers of offenders, won't deal with the real issues - in the UK today we wait until those who can't deal with modern society offend and then lock them away. And that's simply not working.
The prison system in this country is actually serving as a final destination for those poorly served by compulsory education; 50% of those in prison were excluded from school, 30% were regularly truanting from school. Of course this raises another issue - should the school system be the place where those with mental illnesses can be diagnosed? And if it is what services have we in place to support people? But there can be little doubt that the current policy of building "Titan" prisons; prisons built to accommodate increasing numbers of offenders, won't deal with the real issues - in the UK today we wait until those who can't deal with modern society offend and then lock them away. And that's simply not working.
Sunday, 11 May 2008
Reader's
I go past this building on the way to East Malling (of train station fame). the product is famous the world over and it all started at this little place in Teston, not far from where I live. Click on the image to see it biggerer.
Teenagers and embarrasing ailments
I thought that might generate interest!
Health care in Spain will now extend to offering a service for teenagers in Second Life. They are able to use an anonymous service to discuss health issues.
"This is a way to talk about their doubts about taking drugs or sexual relations which they cannot do in a traditional consultation."
Check out the Guardian story, hat-tip to JW for spotting it.
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Saturday, 10 May 2008
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
Quick post - already Twittered this
A view of what OU study means to a particular student - http://is.gd/dcg.
BTW
It's now possible to rate OpenLearn units and the SLN project is reaching its end. If anyone found "Working Online" useful or interesting or that it cleaned whiter than white and got all the stains out please hit the link and rate the unit. You know it makes sense :-)
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
Revolting
The citizens of Blunogville have once again become uppity. If time allows please click on the link to visit this peaceful idyll and do it daily :-)
Saturday, 3 May 2008
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
Conference
I'm at a two day conference at Walton Hall. Doug Clow's blog gives a flavour of some of the content. More later
Saturday, 26 April 2008
RIP Humph
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Jazz legend Lyttelton dies at 86
Hump has gone. For those who aren't familiar with his work he was a jazz trumpeter and he chaired a comedy programme on radio from 1972 to his death. The programme, "I'm sorry I haven't a clue", was very simple and very funny and famously the home of "Mornington Crescent".
If you've not heard it try and find a way to listen to the edition being broadcast at 12:00 (BST) on Sunday, 27/04
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Wednesday, 23 April 2008
Monday, 21 April 2008
Sunday, 20 April 2008
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
Baaa!
Flickr have improved their service so that sheep coverage can be enhanced. This video was taken outside my house.
Monday, 7 April 2008
nooooooo!
Laptop has died. I've rushed it over to a blokey in Ashford but it's not looking good. Being rubbish at these things I've not got a backup and I can only hope that the data on the disk is still readable as it has photos of the children which I can't replace as well as work and OU work. Totally not happy about this :-(
Saturday, 5 April 2008
Before the off
I took this and sent it just before we went in to the degree ceremony. Martin Smith is the the red and yellow chatting with Heather McLannahan while Jenny Lynden looks on.
Friday, 4 April 2008
Why Bradford?
Just to explain why I was in Bradford. It was a NIACE conference on offender learning, specifically eLearning policy. Fascinating stuff including an interesting presentation from the Head of Learning and Skills at HMP Wormwood Scrubs and it was great to meet Cos Michael from the Prisoners Education Trust.Thursday, 3 April 2008
The People's Republic
Love this web site (image is the link) - hat tip to Tony Hirst for flagging it up on Twitter. Check it out and you'll see that he is an honorary citizen!
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Tuesday, 1 April 2008
Bradford
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Monday, 31 March 2008
Leeds
---- Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone
Tecknologi
Sending this simply because I can - I'm on a train with a free (but slow) wifi connection! How cool is that?
Saturday, 22 March 2008
Simple twist of fate
Many years ago I worked as an auditor for a group of funeral directors. They were a national company and I was responsible for the businesses north of Birmingham. One day I arrived at a satellite office in Kidsgrove and as I waited for someone to let me in I saw a plaque to say that RJ Mitchell had been born there. On Friday I saw a train with his name on it - how spooky is that? Of course there will be some reading this who don't know who Mitchell was but he has a page on Wikipedia so he must be famous :-)
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Boyz night in
The weather precludes anything which means staying outside for long so Cal and I have had a film-fest. Stocked up on food yesterday and got stuck in to "Casino Royale". We saw it at the cinema shortly after release and I'm still a fan though I think it gets lost a little in the middle. Today we had to go out (cab service for Rowan) but we slotted in "National Treasure" and "Die Hard 4.0". We saw National treasure 2 at the cinema recently so it was interesting to see how much it followed the formula/plot of the first. Bruce Willis in vest and blood is predictable but fun and comparing the 21st C plot with the original is fascinating.
Cal is going home tomorrow and I've still got another four films to watch!
Friday, 21 March 2008
Sheep shot
Sheep and lambs in the orchard behind the house. This post is for those who live in towns.
I love personalised adverts
Not sure that the hair loss advert is really going to attract me too much!
Thursday, 20 March 2008
5 Ways To Have Fun with Twitter When You're Bored - ReadWriteWeb
5 Ways To Have Fun with Twitter When You're Bored - ReadWriteWeb
Laura blogged this and I love it but I did have to read her post a few times to work out what she's calling Martin - I really should wear my glasses when reading blogs......
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Monday, 17 March 2008
£10.4bn skills council scrapped
The Learning and Skills Council is to be abolished, as local authorities take charge of training places up to 18.
Predictable really - the government emasculated the LSCs years ago and they've been lining them up for abolition. Of course there will now be a period during which anything which goes wrong will be due to "the previous setup" followed by a period while "everyone is getting used to the new arrangements" and while all this is happening FE colleges will be further starved of funds and adults (young and older) will miss out on opportunities to improve their skills.
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Cloudy
Went to Rochester yesterday - the weather was foul but we had afternoon tea (well coffee really). The three people in this photo were with me - Calum, Jemma and Aska - Japanese exchange student.Blogged with the Flock Browser
Sunday, 16 March 2008
Don't forget Tibet
This dramatic photograph shows crowds, including priests, openly displaying the Tibetan flag - in Tibet - while being watched by police. The Chinese authorities claim that 10 people have been killed during the current unrest while Indian news agencies put the numbers at more than 80.
Check the BBC report for more details.
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Saturday, 15 March 2008
School left in dark gets apology
Autistic pupils at a school that was without heating and lighting for five days receive an apology from a council.
Three days after the thieves stole the electricity cables the authority provided a generator but it broke down within 24 hours. Jill Hewett, whose son Josh is a pupil at Grange Park, said: "If this was a big school, a mainstream secondary school, with say a thousand children in it, this problem would have been sorted out within days.
View Original Article (BBC Kent)
That this school caters for pupils with special needs shouldn't come into it. A week without heating and lighting, in one of the wealthiest areas of the UK - itself one of the most developed countries in the world, is simply unacceptable isn't it?
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Thursday, 13 March 2008
The first casualty of war?
Ministry of Defence teaching materials that give an unbalanced view of the Iraq war are being used in schools, teachers' leaders have said.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7294219.stm)
It seems that some of the more brutal realities of the war in Iraq have been missed from materials provided for use by schools and while we're at it military recruiters play down the potential dangers of a military career when talking to schoolchildren.
It's probably me but I'm not really surprised by this - I'm not being cynical but pragmatic.
Let's look at the recruitment issue first. The military "consumes" people each year through natural wastage - after 20-some years, at an age between 40 and 50, the longest serving foot soldiers (generally those below sergeant) are slung out with a pension. They need replacing and that's why the recruiters visit schools. If they included images of ex-servicemen and women with catastrophic injuries or of body-bags it's hard to imagine that they'd fill their quotas - even now there are problems getting enough people through the doors. Last February the New Statesman highlighted some of the shortfalls and some of the strategies being adopted to try to fill the gaps.
Thus can we also be surprised that a government still stuck in a costly war isn't flooding schools with statistics about civilian casualties?
Blogged with Flock
Sunday, 9 March 2008
Blunogville
Blunogville is my city on MyMiniCity. By inviting visitors (that'll be you guys) we can make the city grow and prosper and thrive and I can have a big palace and live in splendour and you can all toil in the fields and send me tithes and I can get the whole Droit de seigneur thing going and we'll all live happily ever after - or at least I will, you guys will all be villeins and I think there is a certain amount of grief in the job spec but hey ho.
So visit Blunogville please? :-)
So visit Blunogville please? :-)
Blogged with Flock
Saturday, 8 March 2008
Cheap jokes
Originally uploaded by nogbad the bad
Monday, 3 March 2008
Config.sys is corrupt a/r/f
Brakes stuck on train so driver was told to 'reboot' it. When I worked in IT support that was always the first thing we'd suggest!
----
Sent using a Sony Ericsson mobile phone
Blockage
Later: Sent the photo and brief text from the phone on the way to work. The blue lorry n the right is a Pickfords van and is being loaded. The orange lorry is trying to squeeze by and the driver's mate was on the roof of the cab checking clearance on both sides as he edged forwards. This is Forge Lane and it's a busy lane between southern Maidstone and East Farleigh and a bridge over the Medway.
Sunday, 2 March 2008
Thursday, 28 February 2008
D'oh!
"One of the guys took off... straight through a glass window, he didn't even bother pushing the button, he just ran straight through it."
I'm almost tempted to suggest that they know a bloke in Kent with a pilot's licence....
Read the full story to understand why robbing a bar while it's hosting a bikers' meeting might just not be the smartest plan in the world
Read the full story to understand why robbing a bar while it's hosting a bikers' meeting might just not be the smartest plan in the world
Blogged with Flock
Wednesday, 27 February 2008
Couldn't make this one up
A pilot whose light aircraft crash-landed in a garden in Kent has been arrested on suspicion of cultivating cannabis. Sid Clark, 47, of Tonbridge Road, Barming, near Maidstone, has been bailed pending further inquiries. The plane crashed in Lyminge on Saturday, carrying a prisoner on day release from jail.
So the story so far. Light aircraft crashes in a garden. Pilot is interviewed on TV and admits that he made a mistake in the fog and mistook some trees for a landing strip. He'd hired the plane and the owner is not a happy bunny. Oh and his passenger turns out to be a prisoner on day release from HMP Blantyre House - they were taking a day-trip across the channel........And now the police have popped round to the pilot's house and stumbled across a few hundred plants.
I suppose the moral is that if you are growing your own and fancy a jolly to France with a serving prisoner and the weather is a bit off it's probably best to make sure you are absolutely straight - know what I mean?
Full story on the BBC Kent site
Blogged with Flock
For Mouse folk
I promised to show you where the apples grow. To the right of that barn, behind the trees, are the orchards. I've uploaded more photos showing views from the front and back of the house.
Sunday, 24 February 2008
Whoops!
I've been talking about Internet censorship in a few places over the last few days and here it is again - this time it looks as though Pakistan managed to pull YouTube over for an hour.
Pakistan's attempts to block access to YouTube has been blamed for an almost global blackout of the video website for more than an hour on Sunday From BBC
I think there are some real issues in amongst all of this. I live in a tolerant, Western democracy with few restrictions on what I can say, see or do yet an engineer somewhere on the other side of the world restricted my access to something while working on blocking a web site from the inhabitants of a specific country. Of course this isn't the first time such a thing has happened and the US, Canada, Algeria and others censor Al Jazeera. The news agency's web site is frequently targeted by lone hackers and political meddling.
Rheingold finishes "Virtual Communities" with this paragrah
Rheingold finishes "Virtual Communities" with this paragrah
If electronic democracy is to succeed, however, in the face of all the obstacles, activists must do more than avoid mistakes. Those who would use computer networks as political tools must go forward and actively apply their theories to more and different kinds of communities. If there is a last good hope, a bulwark against the hyper-reality of Baudrillard or Forster, it will come from a new way of looking at technology. Instead of falling under the spell of a sales pitch, or rejecting new technologies as instruments of illusion, we need to look closely at new technologies and ask how they can help build stronger, more humane communities--and ask how they might be obstacles to that goal. The late 1990s may eventually be seen in retrospect as a narrow window of historical opportunity, when people either acted or failed to act effectively to regain control over communications technologies. Armed with knowledge, guided by a clear, human-centered vision, governed by a commitment to civil discourse, we the citizens hold the key levers at a pivotal time. What happens next is largely up to us. - http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/10.htmlI think that we, the citizens, must keep a close eye on what governments around the world are doing to try to curb our Internet access "for our own good"
Thursday, 21 February 2008
Facebook numbers down
Martin predicted this but the numbers are in and Facebook is losing users in the UK.
Blogged with Flock
End of an era
So the curtain will finally fall on Netscape Navigator. AOL are pulling the plug on support although Netscape 9.0 will still be available for download. Those who've read the stories about the birth of the web and browser wars will understand how important Netscape has been and why its place in the history of online communication is assured - and Eric Bina was working for Netscape added the HTML tag which allows the image above to be displayed. Support stops on March 1st so take a moment to think about its passing on that day.Wednesday, 20 February 2008
Nanny knows best
Let it be known, once and for all: if a smart, computer-savvy 16 year old wants porn, no technical barrier will be able to stop him. This is a natural law, similar to the laws of gravity or thermodynamics.Great quote and not a bad story either. The Australian government has spent A$85M on trying to create tools to filter the Internet. Of course this was doomed to failure and when a teenager cracked the filter in half an hour they might have got the message but now the Australian government has decided that ISPs should censor what they carry. The proposal is that those who want the unfiltered version will have to contact their ISP and request it.
Of course some countries routinely censor what their citizens can access on the web so Australia is hoping to join Iran, China, Syria, North Korea, Thailand and others in "protecting" their citizens but Amnesty International keep a site, Irrepressible.info, against web censorship and it's hard to see how Oz can avoid being added. Censorship is censorship.
Blogged with Flock
Tuesday, 19 February 2008
UGC
Part of the promise (and threat) of the web has always been user generated content. Of course this post is an example of UGC and I'll let you decide on its value. I'm on safer ground flagging up a more organised UGC site. I spotted this on the SmartMobs blog (hat tip to Marius). Allvoices features a smart looking map and it aggregates news stories geographically based on photos, blogs, video, etc.
The mission statement is
The mission statement is
"The goal of Allvoices.com is to create a global community that shares news, videos, images and opinions tied to events and people that have impact. Unlike a traditional news portal, our style of presentation creates new contexts in which stories are tied together in order to provide multiple points of view."and it looks like an interesting use of technologies to do something that couldn't otherwise be done.
Blogged with Flock
Monday, 18 February 2008
The End of Mr Y
Just started reading this book. It's hard to dislike any author who starts a book by destroying a building on a university campus. The building the author targets is still there but in 1974 a building did collapse in the way which Scarlett Thomas describes - a disused railway tunnel beneath the building caves in. Thomas doesn't name the campus in her book (or she hasn't so far - I've not read much) but I'm sure that many readers will recognise it anyway.
Wednesday, 13 February 2008
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
Questions
Rob Spence (cheers Rob) found Labi Siffre's blog in response to my posting the link to the song. The latest post is wonderful - art question you will never hear - check it out
Sunday, 10 February 2008
Try as I might............
Please believe me when I say that I tried to hold off from writing this post but I'm afraid I simply couldn't resist.The last time City won at Old Trafford the scorer was Dennis Law, with a cheeky back heel, and United were relegated - that was in the mid 1970s. Since then we've had a few draws but we've not won. The last time we won both games against United in one season was 69/70 but on the day when both sets of fans came together to remember what Manchester lost 50 years ago it was City who got the points! Great photo from the BBC shows the fans holding up scarves provided to all fans by MUFC.
Blue Moon!
Blogged with Flock
Saturday, 9 February 2008
Wednesday, 6 February 2008
Tuesday, 5 February 2008
Erm
Maybe it's me but I found this story rather worrying.
The Ministry of Defence has expressed concerns that some wind farms interfere with military radar, making aircraft flying over the turbines "invisible".
I'm not a military strategist but announcing that our defence early warning system can't detect incoming if they navigate over wind farms does rather strike me as offering them some clues about how to stage an attack. The Thames estuary is now rife with turbines so that might offer an easy approach to the capital (not letting out many secrets here - anyone can see them from Herne Bay). In fact I would imagine that an underhand enemy might trumpet their achievements in meeting the Kyoto targets using large, floating, wind farms and actually be using aircraft carriers camouflaged with radar-defeating windmills.
I know I'm worrying unduly because the MOD have a great record in making sure that important information is held securely.
The times they are a changin'
After the last guy I think the poor people across the pond deserve a change. This is the bloke I'd vote for.
Monday, 4 February 2008
East Malling
Today I twittered about the trip to London and also took photos with the phone and camera. You can see all the photos on Flickr. I think I noticed things I might not otherwise have seen simply because I was looking to take the photos. I certainly hadn't noticed the number of cameras on Herne Hill station - there must be at least eight on each platform.
An observation
A shortcoming with living alone is that you have to use your own toothbrush to clean the tread on your boots.
Sunday, 3 February 2008
Friday, 1 February 2008
Check it out
If you haven't already done so. It's a site about the potential cuts in funding to the OU
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