| Links for 2008-03-22 [del.icio.us] Posted: 23 Mar 2008 12:00 AM CDT
|
Sunday, March 23, 2008
My del.icio.us...
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
The power of marking as read
Bye bye to over 1000 items in Google Reader. I'm sure there was really worthwhile thought-provoking stuff there. I'm sure there was relevant material there. I'm sure there was lots of current affairs I missed out on.
But... I also know that if it was worth blogging about then it'll have been worth continuing for a few weeks. My RSS and blogging break is only a break for me. The world of writing and publishing continued quite happily without me.
Kind of reassuring - you can't ever be out of the loop, because there is no loop... just a stream of 'stuff'.
PS Have had flu hence marking everything else in my life 'as read'.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Magical Masters
New teachers to follow masters programme | Special Reports | EducationGuardian.co.uk: "Teachers in the first five years of their careers will be expected to take the new masters in teaching and learning qualification, the schools secretary announced today."
Good job holding a piece of paper will magically make every teacher a better teacher, huh? Good job teachers have lots of spare time to do this. Good job they're not already under pressure. Good job that achieving meaningless statistics like 'all teachers have got Masters' has been demonstrated to improve the experience of students within the education system. Good job it's been shown that no-one learned anything in thousands of years of evolution since 100% of teachers didn't have Masters degrees...
Right?
Why is learning not considered learning unless there's something with a fancy stamp on it being handed out??
Sigh...
Friday, March 7, 2008
My del.icio.us...
| Links for 2008-03-05 [del.icio.us] Posted: 06 Mar 2008 12:00 AM CST
|
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Internet Explorer 8 - is 'can't be bothered' an okay stance?
Internet Explorer 8 Beta Is Out: "You know you’re installing an important program when you need to reboot your computer to finish the setup. When you need to reboot twice, you know you’re installing something really important. Well, that was what happened when I just installed the new Internet Explorer 8 Beta on Vista."
I know I should give it a go. I know I should try it to see what new functionality it has. I know I like trying new applications and services. I know I should try it because invariably one of the students I work with will ask me about it. I know I've almost had a change of heart about all things Microsoft recently.
But... but... but... I don't want it on my machine.
IE7 already infested my version of Vista without me asking. Why would I want to 'upgrade' an experience I don't actually experience?
I guess that some people will like it and think it's better than IE7. But there's nothing that I can see which would tempt me away from Firefox and all of the lovely, lovely add-ons which make online life so much easier. Or Flock for its integration with Twitter, blogging and other web2.0 services.
I suppose that although this is me shying away from jumping in and giving it a go, it's worth thinking about the fact that learners generally can be and are equally apathetic when it comes to someone selling them the 'next big thing' that they need to install in order to be able to study 'more' effectively. Just because it's there, doesn't mean you need it. We're always busy looking to the future to see what else is out there and how it can be used. Why does everything need to be shiny and new anyway? Change is good. Change is interesting. But change can be a hassle and if all it's going to do is mean another learning curve and not produce anything you couldn't already do anyway... then... ermmm... let's just say... IE8... What's the point? It's okay not to care, isn't it?
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Office Live Workspace vs Google Docs: Feature-by-Feature Comparison - ReadWriteWeb
Office Live Workspace vs Google Docs: Feature-by-Feature Comparison - ReadWriteWeb: "Today, Microsoft announced that the Office Live Workspace beta is publicly available for everyone to access. The site, a free web-based extension of Microsoft Office, lets you access your documents online and share your work with others. Some say that the service's launch is a direct response to Google's entry into the web office space with their Google Docs online service. If that's so, then the question now is: did Microsoft just trump Google Docs? Or does Google Docs still rule online office suites?"
ReadWriteWeb have done the comparison of Google Docs and Office Live... worth a read if you're tempted to try online services for your office app-type stuff. Me, I'm going to give it a go to make my own mind up. Well, until I get distracted by the next shiny new thing o'course. :o)
Reason the world has gone mad number 352
The latest street danger? Walking and texting | Technology | The Guardian: "There are those who believe that the pattern etched by humanity across the great book of world history is one of linear progression. Of improvement. Of advance. Of some nebulous but discernible form of betterment. Those are the people who have not yet heard the news that Brick Lane in east London has started padding its lampposts to prevent those who use its thoroughfare from suffering 'walk and text' injuries.
In case anyone reading this is one of the 68,000 individuals who apparently interfaced thus with street furniture in London last year (mostly resulting in cuts and bruises, but with a fair proportion of broken noses, cheekbones and one fractured skull in the mix too) and therefore is self-evidently stupid enough to need the problem further delineated, these are injuries caused by people who do not understand the importance of peripheral vision. Until, that is, they compromise it by texting as they walk along the street and into lampposts, signs, bollards and other pedestrians."
Right. People. Here's a solution for you. It doesn't require padding the streets. It doesn't require the threat of litigation. It doesn't require a trip to casualty.
PUT YOUR BLOOMIN' PHONE DOWN!
68,000 people?! The Darwin Awards might have a tough job deciding on a winner this year...
On change...
Seen on Tony Hirst's Deli.cio.us links... click to take a peek...
50 Reasons Not to Change
Doesn't it just describe the gap between early adopters / innovators and 'management' perfectly?
My del.icio.us...
| Links for 2008-03-03 [del.icio.us] Posted: 04 Mar 2008 12:00 AM CST
|
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Slave to Microsoft
Despite my love of all things free and web2.0-ish... I'm giving the new Microsoft Office Live bits and bobs a try and am typing this blog entry using the free Windows Live Writer. Free sign up. Integration with Microsoft Office 2007. The ability to manage and store your documents online. Able to share documents with others in a Google Docs-esque way.
What's not to like?
Well, I'm going to give it a go and see if my Google-addiction may be reigned in a tad. Google Docs just aren't quite there with regards functionality for me... but they did offer collaborative working and online storage of documents. Microsoft Office had the functionality I wanted... but no easy collaborative working and no online storage of documents. Well, the latter has just changed, so let's see... Windows Live Writer is certainly prettier than Google's publish from Docs function. Am I going to be a slave to Microsoft once more? Have they finally woken up to web2.0??
Monday, March 3, 2008
Digital kids ditch homework for networking - no... really?!
Digital kids ditch homework for networking | Technology | The Guardian: "British 15-to-19-year-olds admit spending significantly less time doing homework than they used to as a result of their use of social-networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, according to research published today.
While teachers and parents will be dismayed, the 2008 Digital Entertainment Survey also makes uncomfortable reading for commercial TV executives. It shows that not only does a significant proportion of the important 15- to 19-year-old audience watch less television as a result of social networking, but that the vast majority of Britain's 15-to-54-year-olds fast-forward through adverts when they watch programmes they have recorded."
Got to love stories like this. Kids ditch homework for anything. Social networking is just the latest thing they ditch it for.
So... kids... two options... do your homework... or find some way of not doing your homework. What? You're opting for the second choice?? You *are* kidding!!!!
Oh, and the second bit... shock horror that people fast forward through adverts.
You know what? Sometimes day turns to night as well. Now then, must just find the funding for my research to prove that this is in fact that case... :o)
My del.icio.us...
| Links for 2008-03-01 [del.icio.us] Posted: 02 Mar 2008 12:00 AM CST
|
Saturday, March 1, 2008
My del.icio.us...
| Links for 2008-02-28 [del.icio.us] Posted: 29 Feb 2008 12:00 AM CST
|
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
