Dinosaurs, Doctors and Collective Autonomy

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:01:42 +0000

An interesting juxtaposition came my way this week. On one side was the post by Don Ledingham on the prospects of achieving a ‘doctoral profession’ in Scottish teaching; on the other was an article in The Australian, Murdoch’s national paper in his native country, entitled, ‘In pursuit of a dinosaur’. The latter asks whether the very notion of the PhD is outmoded, a ‘dinosaur from a previous age of elite education’? Interestingly, the author’s answer is, “Yes, but so what?” Good answer. Whether

Denied the Right to Teach

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:00:45 +0000

Many of those I spoke to at the ASLA Conference in Adelaide over the past few days mentioned that their greatest frustration in the classroom or school library is the culture of arbitrary censorship that prevails amongst so many education network administrators. It is a theme that I and many others have returned to again and again, and a recent open letter from Doug Johnson goes over the well-worn ground yet again. As Doug states, this is a fundamental question of intellectual freedom, but one t

The Bedroom as Classroom

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:59:44 +0000

The bedroom of the average connected young person today is a much more powerful learning environment than most classrooms in most schools. Think about it. In the comfort of their bedrooms, connected learners can access all the information they wish, freed, mostly, from the petty and pointless restrictions that are be placed in their way by most classroom connections. They can communicate and collaborate freely with their friends, near and far, when they choose, in the way they choose, using the

iPod Touch & iPhone: their significance for education

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:57:32 +0000

With the official launch of the iPhone in the UK this week (9th November), it is interesting to look at the significance of the iPhone and the iPod touch to education worldwide. The iPhone will, certainly, raise the bar in mobile phone design (notwithstanding Apple’s control freakery in relation to connectivity and contracts for the device), just as the iPod has done for MP3 players over the past six years. While no iPod-killer has yet appeared on the scene, there can be no doubt that the design

My Fad is your Philosophy

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:54:37 +0000

Interesting piece in the Education Guardian this week from Estelle Morris. Our children’s education should not be based on fads was the headline on a piece written to accompany the launch of an “innovative research centre” - the Institute for Effective Education - based in the University of York - the launch took place at the Houses of Parliament, and Morris is the chairwoman of the strategy board of the Institute. The Institute’s aim, in Morris’s terms, is, “to transform the relationship betwee