Review of the Technology for Print Disabilities Training Day

informationWhen I was invited to attend the Technology for Print Disabilities training day, run by Dyslexia Action, I was filled with a sense of dread. True, it was free. But I’d have to leave the house at the crack of dawn, travel a couple of hundred miles, return well into the evening – and all for a topic which I assumed had only a tangential relevance to my day-to-day work. Nevertheless, applying the deep philosophical outlook I learnt listening to Fats Waller (“One never knows, do one?”), I said to myself, “OK, let’s give it a whirl.”
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Screen-sharing made easy

screenleapHave you ever been in a situation where you are trying to explain to someone over the phone what you are seeing on your computer? Or trying to explain to them what they should be seeing on theirs? I’ve come across a neat little application which enables you to share your screen with anyone you like – and without installing anything, downloading anything or even paying a penny!

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A Teen's View of "Their Space" and Internet Safety

In 2007, the British think tank, Demos, published its report entitled “Their Space”. According to the authors,

This report is the result of nine months of work that focused specifically on understanding how children and young people use new technologies.

The review below was written soon after its publication, by Sarah Hillier, who was at that time a teenager. I’ve just re-read her article, and I think its observations and incisiveness – not to mention the beauty of her writing – have stood the test of time. The article which follows has only been modified slightly from the original. I hope you enjoy it.

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Developments in Eduucation Technology: Reflections on the first day of BETT

For me, the day can best be characterised as one of mixed feelings and divided loyalties. To be sure, there was all the excitement and adrelain-inducing "buzz" for which BETT is noted, and why it ought to be prescribed on the National Health Service as a cure for "the blues", but the experience was not one of unadulterated pleasure.
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Found on the web: 12/16/2011 (a.m.)

Hmm, this is interesting. I hadn't even realised that somehow I had "favorited" Desktop Organizer. — Micro Formatica in Diigo. Admittedly I was tired when I tried it out, but still: I don't usually completely miss such requests or options.

But seeing as this link has appeared, I don't want to delete it because that would cause a bit of inconvenience for people, so I'll summarise what I think of the program and others like it:

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Review of 30 Day Blogging Challenge

If you're looking for a handy, no frills book of suggestions for blogging, this book should meet your requirements. Having been designed as an email course, 30 Day Blogging Challenge, written by Nikki Pilkington, consists mainly of 30 very short articles on different aspects of blogging. Being able to buy the whole lot in the form of a book is excellent for those of us for whom deferred gratification is an alien concept.

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Review of Problogger’s Guide To Blogging For Your Business

Before looking at the book, written by Mark Hayward, in detail, it’s worth pointing out what the book is, and is not. It is, as the title implies, concerned with blogging in order to promote your business. It is not about blogging as a business in itself. It’s an important distinction, not least because once we take money out of the equation then “business” can be used as shorthand for any type of enterprise, including a charity, a cause – and a school.

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If this, then that

Here’s a web application that’s potentially very useful. IFTTT lets you create your own automated actions using a range of social networking tools. I’ve been messing around with it only for about an hour, so I haven’t thoroughly explored all it has to offer, but already I can see it will prove to have been an excellent investment in time.

The logic of the way it works is as follows:

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My bookshelf

Here are thumbnail sketches of a few books which I've come by recently. Taken as a whole they cover:

  • The future of cities: should we build cities around airports instead of away from them?
  • Schooling in the digital age: is it as much to do with politics as technology?
  • Useful educational resources for the iPad.
  • Learning and innovation in ICT: a European perspective.

Hope you find these useful.

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Review of Aerotropolis

Subtitled “The way we’ll live next”, this book by John Kasarda and Greg Lindsay looks at the possible airport city of the future. At the moment, airports are usually located outside the main part of the city. Yet, given the fact that we still need actual physical goods to be delivered, some might argue that it makes sense for cities to be built around airports.

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Evaluation of Learning Without Frontiers Pre-Conference

I was looking forward to hearing some great presentations and startling revelations at the Learning Without Frontiers Conference. But I spent almost my whole time there talking to people. The way I figure it, if something is really good I'll get to hear about it anyway, so given the choice between listening to a talk, and discussing –and-catching up-and-networking type of activity, I choose the latter. At least, I did yesterday. So, how was it for me?
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Is this the newspaper I’ve been looking for?

A short while ago I expressed the view that paper.li, the Twitter-based newspaper, was no longer for me. I don’t like the lack of control over what is published, and it started to look a lot like spam. I experimented with a couple of other similar services, and they did nothing much for me.

But Microsoft's Montage looks promising. Although you still don’t have control over what appears in particular streams, you do  have a say in what types of stream are featured, and (to an extent), the layout.

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Is The ICT Curriculum Too Masculine?

One of the apparently insoluble problems of the age is how do you encourage more girls to take up ICT or Computing? I think a lot can be done, and have done so myself, but I wonder how far a lot of the effort fails to get to the heart of the issue, which could be the curriculum itself, the way it is taught, or a combination of the two?

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