People travelling on the London Underground (known as ‘the tube’) will soon be able to obtain a wi-fi signal on their phone or other electronic device.
What might be the benefits and costs of this?
Tweet-up in Oxford
I had the pleasure of meeting up with Shelly Terrell and Clive Elsmore (Clivesir on Twitter) recently in Oxford. But look at the text messages we exchanged in order to finalise the arrangements….
Internet addiction: another flawed study
You’d think people would have better things to do than do pointless surveys from which they then draw unlikely conclusions. Still, it keeps them out of mischief I suppose.
ICT: something to be ashamed of?
I saw an advertisement
Read MoreBloggers and consultants: ever feel we’re being got at?
A couple of things made me smile today.
Season’s Greetings from ICT in Education
I’m not sure how frequently I’m going to be writing here over the next couple of weeks. I hope to post some articles here, and possibly on My Writes and Writers’ Know-how. Anyway, I just wished to say thanks for reading this blog and I hope you all have a nice, restful, break.
I leave you with this Laurel and Hardy clip which made me smile. In itself, it has nothing at all to do with the current holidays
ICT Posters: Credit Rating
Why do posters and notices in computer labs have to be so serious? Surely it just deters people from using the stuff?
I recall one school in which 10 seconds in the computer lab had you nervously looking around for the heavy mob: the walls were covered in posters telling you what was forbidden – forbidden! The general ambience was not improved by the bars on all the windows. Understandable, but even so….
Are there benefits in having an unread blog?
Most people who blog about their profession (as opposed to, say, people who are keeping a journal for their own records or for their family and friends) like the idea of lots of people reading their blogs. But are there any advantages to having a blog that nobody reads?
Read MoreThe value of email in a recession
Here’s a cartoon you may find amusing in these rather austere times!
Read MoreWhen technology goes wrong
Just a couple of cogitations – hopefully worthy -- about technology and our relationship with it.
Analogue or digital?
Is there any advantage in having an analogue watch face to a digital one, or vice versa?
The 100 worst blogs
I keep coming across blogs with titles like “Top 50 Blogs in [genre or category]. Perhaps it would be much more of a service for someone to produce a list of the worst blogs in a particular category.
If ICT co-ordinators were politicians…
I was watching a debate in the House of Lords the other day, and I was very struck (I hesitate to use the word 'impressed') by how easily a particular government representative managed to fend off a whole variety of questions without saying anything of any value whatsoever.
Read MoreWould you have sex with a robot?
Can you envisage a time when human beings will have relationships with robots? You could argue that to some extent we already have a relationship with electronic things (in my case, a love-hate relationship!), but can you imagine a time when we might marry robots, or have sex with them?
Unintended consequences of social networking
I thought I’d start an occasional series of posts concerned solely with the unintended consequences of technology. To start it off, here’s a comic strip from The Daily Telegraph in the UK.
Read MoreSystem failure: a true story
Last week I had to go to my mother's bank to sort something out. Thus it was that I entered into a sort of Escheresque landscape...
I used to bank there myself, but it is so dreadful I thought, in the end, I could do without the stress.
Anyway, before I went I ascertained what I would need by way of documentation. Of course, when I arrived, I was told that I needed something else. Here's how the conversation (well, some of it), went:
My blackberry isn’t working: technology and language
I attended an interesting event yesterday, which I’ll write about shortly, but I thought I’d share this video with you. It was shown at the event, and is a nice, humorous illustration of how technology has influenced our language.
The iPad and the train
I think that cartoonists often are among the most perspicacious of us when it comes to reflecting on the (side) effects of technology. I particularly liked today’s Alex cartoon in the Daily Telegraph about the effects of the iPad on people’s expectations whilst travelling on trains. Take a look, and bring a smile to your face.
How might you use this as a starting point for discussion with students about how technology changes our expectations in a whole variety of contexts?
Update on 2011-05-10 21:46 by Terry Freedman, Educational ICT Consultant
The original link in the above post was changed by the Daily Telegraph -- good job I spotted it! All corrected now!
Yes / No - Ummm.....!
"If you have a position that requires an opinion to be made then you have to give one. It may not tie in with the rest of the team but it may actually be the opinion that makes the difference."
Read MoreJulia Skinner gives her opinion on the importance of having -- and expressing -- an opinion.
Two-tier email system
Teachers looking for material with which to furnish their lessons on how technology affects society need look no further than email. This form of communication has affected in at least three ways what might be called “disposable time” – the time one has left after the essentials like eating and sleeping have been taken care of.
Digital Invisible Ink
I love the Livescribe Pulse Pen, which allows me to take notes in the traditional way but still have them digitized, and therefore easily searchable. However, it has two “features” which really do need to be addressed...