Browsealoud November 24, 2009

 
Browsealoud is a software program for people who have difficulty reading web pages, have learning disabilities like dyslexia or have literacy issues. Browsealoud may also be of use to those who need help with general reading problems, perhaps where English is not their first language.
How does Browsealoud work? The program works by highlighting words whilst [...]

Animation for Amateurs November 10, 2009

One of my personal development aims this session is to learn more about visual literacies. I am sure that texts in traditional print form will always be used to good effect, but I know that many learners – especially but not exclusively those with literacy difficulties – can also be engaged by [...]

I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma. Eartha Kitt October 5, 2009

I first went to the Scottish Learning Festival in 2003 when it was SETT and have thoroughly enjoyed every visit. I even presented a seminar once. Nowadays I only get to attend on one of the days and it’s a hard choice sometimes which key note speeches I go for.
One major pleasure is to be [...]

Categories are the greatest tool a leader can use to control people (Hitler) September 2, 2009

 

However quirky or meticulous you are, once you pick a system of organising a collection, you’re pretty much stuck with it until something precipitates a change. When I moved recently I deposited, with great reluctance, 3 bin bags full of books at Oxfam. I managed to leave with only one bag [...]

Can ICT applications help young people engage with literature? August 27, 2009

 

I went to another interesting hour at the Book Festival this week called Technology and Literacy, with Bill Boyd (whose contribution he includes here along with his terrific new alphabet for the 21st century reproduced above),  Lili Wilkinson, and Judy Robertson.
Lili, an Australian cyber-journalist, spoke first and introduced us to the site, ‘inside a dog’ [...]

Visual Literacy, Learning and the Graphic Novel and Manga August 20, 2009

I’ve just been to an interesting talk at the Book Festival with Dr Mel Gibson (no, not that one) talking about using Graphic Novels and Manga when teaching children and young people literacy skills.
She gave us a whirlwind tour of such books, few of which I had heard of.
I am aware of Colin McNaughton and [...]

Making the News August 18, 2009

BBC News School Report allows young people from across the UK to have the chance to make their own news to real deadlines and broadcast it to real audiences.
This past year, 11-14-year-old pupils from 40 schools in Scotland became school reporters on News Day in March. There was a variety of online, audio or film [...]

Using web2tools for research, administration and teaching July 27, 2009

 
Here are some video guides from ESCalate on the use of web2 tools that I’ll be checking out as soon as I get away from holiday mode:

These web2practice guides explain how emergent web technologies like RSS, microbloging, pod-casting and social media can enhance your working practice. Each available guide currently consists of a short animated video [...]

Industrial vs Information Age? May 20, 2009

My, was I grumpy when I wrote my last post.
I realise that my tirade about digital technologies was sparked by insecurity after reading lots of stuff for the Education2020 unconference.  (I was definitely in the Anger mode of the Grief/Change cycle and am now moving on to Bargaining!).
I fully embrace the notion of [...]

Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd (Voltaire) May 18, 2009

Sometimes the assumption amongst those who think about 21st century education is that the so-called ‘digital natives’  know it all and that we teachers have to stand on the sidelines helplessly watching young people develop in ways we cannot grasp. After all, as the SF writer William Gibson put it, the future is already here. It’s [...]