So I had a vision over Christmas of the kind of learning and teaching I’ve always wanted. As I wrote it down I became more and more convinced that this is possible right now. It also pulls together my passion for understanding human excellence with my experience in taking ideas to deliverables. It’s still very much a work in progress but I’m …
Could hygiene obsession cause allergies?
Just came across this fascinating article at sciencefocus.com opening the debate about how clean is healthy? I’ve always wondered if we need a little dirt to teach our immune system what’s good and what’s bad for us. They go a step further and say that our immune system needs bad stuff otherwise it might start attacking the good stuff within …
Things you can do better asleep than you can awake
following on with the theme that sleep is far more important than many of us realise. Here’s an analysis of things we can do better asleep than when we’re awake. Essentially there seem to be three main areas that we do better asleep: Lets summarise each area: Forming accurate memories Most neuroscientists agree that sleep is when we organize memories …
Can amazing abilities be taught?
I’ve been talking for a while how everything we see other people achieving we could actually achieve ourselves. We just need to learn to bring it out of us. A couple of weeks ago I ate at a restaurant and the waitress showed exactly what I’m talking about. There were four of us and we had a lot to order. …
Could education learn from the Google docs business model?
Building on a blog post ive written discussing the notion that flow of resources is key to life. A colleague helped me understand how the same can be said for business models and can explain how to make money in this new connected age. How services like google docs could make good money and education could scale itself. In this …
Neural Darwinism: is this how we learn?
I’m excited to have just discovered Neural Darwinism through an interview with Gerald Edelman on all in the mind. The idea that our brain constantly adapts to our environment using the same evolutionary principles described by Darwin is what I’ve been coming to believe. It’s clear that we create and remove connections every day during sleep and that our brains are constantly evolving from the …
The only true disability is a crushed spirit
Watching Aimee Mullims ted talk title “The opportunity of adversity” is just fascinating. She makes such a beautiful case for the strengths and values people gain from disability it becomes very clear that the adversity that may entail generally adds far more to us than it takes away.
Gaming can make a better world
Ok, so I’m just watching the best presentation I’ve seen for a while. I just had to share it. The premise that gaming can make a better world is something I share and have actively been looking at how to bring gaming to education via the OU. I think Jane McGonigal just nails it and explains how gaming is a …
Pear poached in mulled wine with brandy sauce
This is a recipe for christmas. I’ve never even tasted mulled wine before so this crimbo I bought some to try it out. Now I’m not a wine person generally but I wanted to see if mulled wine is any different in case I’m missing out. Turns out I’m not really cos it’s quite dry like most wines but then …
Oyster mushrooms in garlic butter with roast vegetables
Ok, so the last couple of articles have been a bit intense. So I’m gonna lighten the mood. I just had a terrific meal and so I have to share. Sorry that I didn’t take a pic but I’d started eating before I remembered. What I really want to share is how darn easy it was. I’ve been working on …
Could sleep affect risk of heart disease?
Deep stuff eh. Again I’m just trying to make the point that balance is everything. Sleep is a big part of life and it needs to be. Western culture doesn’t really value sleep that much. There are so many things to do with your time. Sleep is so often considered a waste of it. So could the amount of sleep …
Can somebody please support self directed learning!!!
I’m a self directed learner. I’m not one for the whole course or module mentality. Mainly because, now that I work, I just don’t have the time or the patience to commit to such a slow process of learning. Particularly when you only get the grade at the end. You have to devote months of your life to the possibility …
Funding education: A novel approach
funding is one of those key things that underpin learning and teaching. In funding education, a novel approach I explain how you could use the latest payment approaches to fund new learning tools. Rather than apply for big grants and go through the related bureaucracy. In this age of empowerment you could just deliver a tool and provide cheap simple options to …
Welcome to learning in the 21st century
So what’s this blog about? I’m into learning. Every time I want to get some thing done I need to figure out how to get it done, I need to learn something, and I need to find good teachers. I did physical education for A level and degree, I coach and basically like teaching because it’s a form of helping …
Hunger tips
Part of making food fun is banishing hunger. When I’m celebrating, say at Christmas, I want to eat what I want. No restrictions. Then after in the new year and other times I still want to enjoy food but eat less of it and restore the balance to my weight. Sounds simple but, if you’ve actually tried it, you’ll know …
Enjoyment is still the way to go
The title of this blog is a give away. It’s about having fun. Here’s a post I wrote a while ago that describes part of the journey I’ve taken to put having fun at the forefront of a successful life. This is becoming more and more relevant in my life as I see the effects of the decision to make …
Baked fish with Roast Butternut Squash and Crushed cashews
ok, I won’t always talk about food but since you get 3 chances a day to treat yourself I like to make sure that atleast once it feels like a treat. This time the treat was in how quick and easy it was to make. The ingredients weren’t designed to match perfectly like a recipe. I do that a lot. …
Roasting, my way
Another way of making meals full of taste but simple to make is to mix cooking methods. I’m being very liberally in my use of the term cooking method. Tonight I used a roasted chicken breast that i’d frozen a few weeks ago from a freshly roasted chicken i’d bought from the supermarket. Rather than defrost it I tried a …
Accessorise your food
This blog is about bringing fun into life as much as possible. Exploring the ways you can do this is, in itself, part of the fun and part of the journey. I found a whole new way of making food fun when I watched a bunch of cooking shows and realised that a meal is often a key ingredient or …
LIfe as play. My first post
So here I am with a new blog. Quite excited really. I’ve been keeping my original blog http://colchambers.blogspot.com/ for a few years now and really enjoyed it. That’s for my general stuff though. With this blog I want to explore ways of making life simpler and more fun. The journey I’ve taken in life has been all over the place. Plenty …