Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Education”
In this engaging lecture the speaker Eleanor Maguire explains through demonstrations some of the peculiarities of memory to show that we often do not remember things exactly as they occurred yet we often believe we do. I learnt a lot about human memory years ago at school and it has stuck with me ever since because I know what it …
If you have not heard of Carol Dwecks work on the Growth mindset then you are missing out. I learnt about the Growth mindset in my teens and I have been using it every since in just about every success I have ever had. The principle is simple and in fact so is the implementation which is why it is …
I am considering an equation to explain the value of knowledge that is based on Einsteins famous e=mc2 equation. Energy from mass and light The equation e=mc2 basically means: energy (a measure of power) is equal to the mass of an object, multiplied by, the speed of light squared. The whole explanation for this is not my ball park, I understand …
If like me you love to learn then you’ve probably asked yourself many times how you actually learn anything. What is the process involved and how can you use it to your advantage? I’ve asked myself this question hundreds of times to the point that I decided to study it in school and university. Of course you never get to …
In the article Legacy of son’s success motivation for Judy Murray Judy points out that despite her sons incredible success Scotland has yet to take advantage of the major opportunity this presents. Building the sport in Scotland and improving the nations health and life opportunities as a result. She says: I want to help inspire another generation of kids, I want …
During A level PE I learnt about the concept of transfer of learning. The principle that once you have learnt a skill in one area it is easier to learn it in another. Footballers use this concept to play well with both feet. Once they learn to play with their dominant foot they find it easier to learn with their …
Just a short post inspired by reading notes from an upcoming e-assessment faculty meeting. A question came up about offline learning and ereaders in particular. How far can we go with them. A very informed answer was given by Niall Sclater taking reference from his existing article making ebooks more interactive: logistics and ethics. Niall is a key influence in …
My view is that learning is innate and the changing world can improve education. What this means for competition is exciting. I see ways to vastly improve the process of understanding your opponent even before you have met them. Moving competition to a whole new realm. I’ll introduce my ideas for an ideal education experience later. Here I just wanted …
The evolution of learning is a fascinating topic. Learning is my strength because I was brought up to think that learning is innate and every challenge is surmountable. In fact learning is never really changing, only the tools and processes we use to learn will change. The education industry has been struggling to figure out how these new tools can …
The common notion is that you either get an education or you become a professional athlete and tennis is no different. This means many parents and children have to make the tough choice between tennis or education. The funny thing is that I do not really see the problem. For me tennis IS an education. Few others see it that way …
You know. I never really thought about it that much. I first came across this notion during my A levels studying education as part of sociology. Since, at the time, women and girls had had such a long time being the second class citizens of education and work it didn’t really bother me. I did notice that in all the …
Lifelong learning is a topic close to my heart. I’m very frustrated that mainstream education is only provided for the young rather than for every age. That was appropriate in the last century. Not this. It supports a culture where if you don’t take your opportunities when you’re young then you miss out. So I’m interested in the discussion I …
A fascinating book that sheds new light on how neural connections form I’ve just finished reading ‘The Talent Code ‘ by Daniel Coyle and already I feel it’s one of those books I will refer to again and again. It’s a well researched book describing daniels theory of how talent is best progressed. He uses research from state of the art …
Following on from a previous article on 21st century learning I feel we’re moving to an area where learning on demand will be as normal as Video on demand (VOD). I see the emergence of 24-7 tutorials and motuto as early attempts at this. I can’t vouch for the quality and economic viability yet but I do see that the learning market is biased towards young …
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 …
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. …
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 …
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 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 …
I don’t normally talk about the OU in my blog but today I have a burning issue that I feel I just need to express. In fact I’ve got a few but I’ll see what I manage to express here and save the rest for later. Why is the OU so afraid of the very thing it was created to …