Specialized Sirrus commuter bike

In the office

Once again this week has been mainly about writing workshop materials.

I’m running a workshop on behalf of the South East Regional Support Centre down in Winchester at the end of the month titled (deep breath) Using Technology to Support the Student Learner Experience. I’m calling it SSLE. If you want to suggest something snappier I’m all ears! :)

The title covers such a multitude of possibilities that it’s a question of deciding what to leave out. The premise is mainly about using technology to develop higher level learning (at least according to Bloom’s Taxonomy) so we’re going to spend a bit of time reflecting on changing student expectations and the current state of the attendees’ institutions as well as exploring Gilly Salmon’s work on e-Moderation. From a techie point of view we’ll be having a good old play with:

  • Collaborative tools (mainly Google Docs but also more informal stuff like Scribblar and Wallwisher)
  • Using tools like Myna and Audacity for giving students audio feedback
  • Using wikis effectively
  • Edmodo, as an example of creating a walled garden social network (also been investigating Wall.fm – jury’s still out)

The Google Docs bit has been the hardest to build activities round, mostly because I want to avoid spending ages getting the attendees sorted out with accounts on the the day so I’ve got a domain set up with some logins ready. I’ll need to road test it before feeling confident with it.

Google Wave was going to be an option but that doesn’t seem so relevant now, somehow.

The Digital Storytelling Workshop is parked for the moment but I did come across a good example from the Uni of Chester’ Derek France of using podcasting and digital storytelling to enhance geography fieldwork.

PRINCE2

In a couple of weeks I’m taking an intensive course on becoming a PRINCE2 practitioner as project management plays quite a big part in what we do at Netskills. Both Helen and I are attending. It’s going to be hard work and there’s quite a bit of pre-course work to get through. A week long session that crams everything in feels a very unnatural way for me to learn so I’m looking forward to it and draeding it in equal measure.

I’ve been using MindMeister to get my thoughts in order prior to the course. Here’s the monstrous mind map (work in progress).

Now I’ve mentioned it here I’ll have to pass it or look really daft!

…on a personal note

My daughter turns 6 today. My wife and I had a bit of a debate as to whether we should get her a Nintendo DSi but have decided on an iPod Touch. She’s already quite skilled at using my iPhone so the interface should be familiar and despite the lack of microphone and camera I still think it’s a more flexible device for learning and fun than the DS.

I think I must have been the only person on the planet buying a 3rd generation iPod Touch yesterday after THIS was announced the night before.

And I’ve been looking at bikes. One of the main benefits of moving to Newcastle was a vastly reduced commute (it’s about 3 miles, down from 23) so the plan has always been to get a bike. So far I’ve been all mouth and no trousers but it’s sale time so I’ve been into the Edinburgh Bycicle Cooperative in Byker and I’m humming and ha-ing between the Ridgeback Velocity and the Specialized Sirrus (pictured). Any suggestions?