Doug's Writing Feed

Mozilla London Learning Jam (#mozparty)

Doug Belshaw — Sun, 27 May 2012 04:51:11 -0400

I had such a great time this week at the Mozilla London Learning Jam. Day 1 (Wednesday) was dedicated to brainstorming and getting started with creating learning missions, Day 2 for tweaking and playtesting, and Day 3 for testing them out on children attending CoderDojo. There’s lots of photos already available – with more to [...]

Examining conceptions of innovation in educational technology [INTERVIEW]

Doug Belshaw — Wed, 23 May 2012 01:30:09 -0400

A few weeks ago Lisa Phillips, a Masters student at the University of Oxford, asked for my help in scoping ‘rebellious approaches to educational technology’. I found the questions she asked so provocative and appealing I invited readers of this blog to complete her brief questionnaire. Lisa followed up that questionnaire by interviewing me yesterday. [...]

Maintenance.

admin — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:03:16 -0400

Apologies if you experience random posts and some disturbance over the next few days. I’m moving web hosts.

Reconfiguring Mozilla’s Web Literacies (v0.1 alpha)

Doug Belshaw — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:02:20 -0400

Click image to enlarge! I’ve been thinking about web literacy (or web literacies) on and off since I posted a diagram version of Michelle Levesque’s helpful first efforts. The post-it note arrangement above is the result of a burst of creativity following a migraine earlier. The structure was prompted by some things mentioned by Helen [...]

Changing thinking vs. Changing systems.

Doug Belshaw — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:30:23 -0400

I’m reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance at the moment. It’s a bit of a classic, so I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to get around to it. Last night, I came across the following passage. It must be quite famous as I’ve stumbled across it before: But to tear [...]

This is why teachers leave teaching.

Doug Belshaw — Sat, 12 May 2012 01:30:04 -0400

On Thursday, Mark Clarkson wrote a blog post that started off like this: I seriously considered leaving education today. And if I had a viable exit strategy I might have taken it further. Note the end of that sentence: a young, talented teacher with so much to offer the world feels like he has no [...]

On routines and rituals.

Doug Belshaw — Thu, 10 May 2012 01:30:14 -0400

I’m a great believer in routines. I’m a believer in them because I think that innovation is predicated upon standardisation. In other words, routines afford us the spare capacity to think about things other than (repetitive) tasks at hand. Routines provide spare capacity by removing, or narrowing, choice. Take my morning routine, for example. Granted, [...]

Project Reclaim: experimenting with openphoto.me

Doug Belshaw — Mon, 07 May 2012 01:30:30 -0400

As part of my ongoing Project Reclaim, and spurred on by D’Arcy Norman’s recent post on abandoning Flickr, I’ve been playing with openphoto.me. In a similar way to the idea behind Unhosted, you bring your own data (i.e. photos) and the application does something with it (i.e. display them nicely, allow you to share them [...]

Purpos/ed #500words Take 2

Doug Belshaw — Sat, 05 May 2012 01:30:49 -0400

I’m co-kickstarter (with Andy Stewart) of an organisation called Purpos/ed. We’re trying to provoke and sustain public debate around the question What’s the purpose of education? We’ve had a number of campaigns (and a conference) since we started in February 2011, including a very successful one last year where people contributed 500 words on what [...]

[RECORDING] Connected Learning webinar on Open Badges

Doug Belshaw — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:30:54 -0400

I was delighted to be asked to participate in a DML Central Connected Learning Google+ hangout about Open Badges yesterday. The recording should be embedded above, but if not try clicking here. The session featured a presentation by Erin Knight, Senior Director of Learning at the Mozilla Foundation, and was facilitated by Howard Rheingold. If [...]

Arson at Ellington Nature Reserve.

Doug Belshaw — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 01:30:48 -0400

Yesterday, as I sat in my study finishing off some work, my wife called me into the lounge to look out the window. She and my two young children stood transfixed as black, billowing clouds of smoke drifted over our back garden. It was clear where it was coming from: the nature reserve close to [...]

v0.2 of ‘The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies’ now available!

Doug Belshaw — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 03:39:38 -0400

Right on schedule, I’m delighted to announce that version 0.2 of my e-book The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies is now available! Those who invested in v0.1 have already received their update, according to the OpenBeta process I devised. You can invest in v0.2 and then get every update to v1.0 by clicking below: [...]

Plymouth Enhanced Learning Conference (PELeCON) #PELC12

Doug Belshaw — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 03:14:03 -0400

This was my second year at the conference formerly known as the Plymouth e-Learning Conference. It’s now the Plymouth Enhanced Learning Conference, which allows for the rather nice shortened name of ‘PELeCON’. See what they did there? Steve Wheeler, the conference chair, calls the conference ‘a big party with his mates’. Certainly a good chunk [...]

ATL Conference

admin — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 10:19:20 -0400

I was invited to speak at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) conference last week. I spent ten minutes talking about the concept of an ‘ideal school’ from a socio-technical point of view. ATL Fringe event – An 'ideal' school? = There is, of course, no such thing as an ‘ideal’ school. As I [...]

Nothing to see here any more.

Doug Belshaw — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 03:57:16 -0400

I’ve imported all of the posts from this blog (literaci.es) to my main blog at dougbelshaw.com/blog.

ATL Fringe event: An ‘ideal’ school?

Doug Belshaw — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 01:35:53 -0400

ATL Fringe event – An 'ideal' school? View more presentations from Doug Belshaw I'm on Annual Leave today doing a gig for my consultancy business, Synechism Ltd. (http://synechism.com). I've been asked by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) to speak for 10 minutes on the concept of an 'ideal' school and then be part [...]

#DML2012 – Day 3

Doug Belshaw — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 10:56:00 -0500

I write this the morning after experiencing a ‘duelling piano bar’ for the first time. Wow. We need more (any?) of them in the UK. Fun. As the DML Conference has gone on, I’ve felt that there’s been more pushback. This is a good thing: what’s being presented should always be subject to critique [...]

#DML2012 – Day 2

Doug Belshaw — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 10:23:00 -0500

The conferences I’ve attended in the US have definitely been more positive affairs than in the UK. That’s not a good or a bad thing, just an observation. For example, in the UK, after a period of experimentation, it’s now unusual to have an unmoderated Twitter wall behind or beside a keynote speaker. This is [...]

#DML2012 – Day 1

Doug Belshaw — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:19:00 -0500

See the full gallery on Posterous First of all, I have to express my delight at being given the opportunity to attend this conference. I’m not sure whether I’m blown away more by the calibre of the presenters or my fellow delegates. I’m certainly in some select company here. Day 1 of the third annual [...]

What do you think about Mitch Resnick’s (@mres) skeptical #OpenBadges comments?

Doug Belshaw — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:47:23 -0500

In 'Still a Badge Skeptic' (http://hastac.org/blogs/mres/2012/02/27/still-badge-skeptic) Mitch Resnick, Professor at MIT outlines his concerns about badges: "The problem, for me, lies in the role of badges as motivators. In many cases, educators are proposing badge systems in order to motivate students. It’s easy to understand why educators are doing this: most students get excited and [...]

#DML2012 – Day 0

Doug Belshaw — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 05:37:26 -0500

I've mentioned elsewhere that over the past two years, after (temporarily?) leaving the classroom I've travelled to more places than in previous years combined. This is seen by my wife as a glamorous activity – and it is, to an extent. I greatly enjoy meeting new people and places, as well as the time I [...]

JISC CETIS Conference 2012 (#cetis12)

Doug Belshaw — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 03:15:00 -0500

I was involved in a session at this conference. Are_Open_Badges_the_future_of_accreditation_(#cetis12).mp3 Listen on Posterous Are_Open_Badges_the_future_for_recognition_of_skills.pdf Download this file (the audio is also at archive.org and the slides can be found on Slideshare) This was my first JISC CETIS Conference. It had all of the elements of a great gathering: a fantastic venue (the National College in [...]

Learning Without Frontiers 2012 (#LWF12)

Doug Belshaw — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:06:00 -0500

See the full gallery on Posterous Introduction It was my second, this time successful, attempt to attend the Learning Without Frontiers Conference. Last year I had a ticket but my daughter rather tardily decided to enter the world on the same day that I was supposed to be in London. How inconsiderate. This year, however, was [...]

Digital strategy for third-sector organizations

admin — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:52:42 -0500

One of the things I’ve enjoyed doing recently is some work with Digital Consultant Stephen Haggard for a third sector organization. They agreed to us discussing the work so long as they’re not identified. I’ll call them Client X. The problem that Client X has is that it’s a (very) traditional organization feeling a need [...]

Synechism Daily Planner, v2

admin — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:47:14 -0500

What is it? It’s a printable, A4-sized structured blank canvas to organise your day. Why the update? Version 1 was working well, but I never actually used the ‘Add to calendar’ box. As a result, I’ve removed it, allowing (slightly) more space for others sections. Oh, and I’ve changed the quotation! [download id="2"]

Guardian Innovation in Education (#IIE2011)

Doug Belshaw — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:12:00 -0500

See the full gallery on Posterous I spent today at the Guardian Innovation in Education event at Prospero House, London. It was the first time I’ve chaired a session or spoken on a keynote panel (you can read about what I spoke about here and there’s a pre-conference interview here). It was a day of two [...]

Examples of using badges to credentialize learning (#openbadges & #dmlbadges)

Doug Belshaw — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 06:13:00 -0500

At my main blog I’ve been talking quite a lot about the potential for badges to credentialise informal learning. Quite apart from the MacArthur Foundation, Mozilla, HASTAC, US Department of Education and NASA-backed DML Competition, there’s an Open Badges infrastructure that people are beginning to use right now. Up until now I don’t think that, collectively, we’ve [...]

Why are your websites down?

Doug Belshaw — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 07:42:00 -0400

This is the message that greeted me when I woke up this morning. My ‘main’ website when I signed up to Bluehost was historyshareforum.com, hence the reference to it below. I have no idea which of the Terms of Service I am supposed to have ‘violated’. I’m currently looking for a way to transfer my [...]

How are you progressing with the #neverendingthesis?

Doug Belshaw — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 02:43:09 -0400

Pretty well, thanks. I was planning to submit this Friday, but a couple of things are going to prevent that. First, I'm off to the Scottish Learning Festival tomorrow (which means I won't be able to work on it for a couple of days). Second, I've found more minor corrections than I thought I would. [...]

Synechism Daily Planner, v1

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:37:34 -0400

Update! Version 2 is now available. Over at dougbelshaw.com/blog I shared Doug’s Daily Planner v1. I’ve updated and improved that to become Synechism Daily Planner v1. What is it? It’s a printable, A4-sized structured blank canvas to organise your day. I’ve been using it for the last few weeks and it’s working well. Feedback is [...]

User Outcomes Weekly – #14

admin — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 02:30:09 -0400

User Outcomes Weekly focuses on the intersection of education, technology and productivity. If you see anything here you’d like to discuss further or want to put into practice, why not get in touch? A honed routine is the cornerstone of productivity. In this post, Vicki Davis nails it in a very practical, straightforward way. Highly recommended reading. [...]

User Outcomes Weekly – #13

admin — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 08:14:51 -0400

User Outcomes Weekly focuses on the intersection of education, technology and productivity. If you see anything here you’d like to discuss further or want to put into practice, why not get in touch? AWAYfind is a subscription service that allows people to contact you when you’re out-of-office. It does so by giving people a link to a [...]

User Outcomes Weekly – #12

admin — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 06:29:47 -0400

User Outcomes Weekly focuses on the intersection of education, technology and productivity. If you see anything here you’d like to discuss further or want to put into practice, why not get in touch? Think you’re not into digital curation? Think again. We all are – or at least should be. This diagram from the JISC-funded Digital Curation [...]

Why was your camping trip a ‘tragi-comedy of micro-epic proportions’?

Doug Belshaw — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 04:31:05 -0400

Over at P2PU I’m organising a semester of learning around Mozilla’s Open Badges project. If there was one for ‘packing up a tent in the dark’ or ‘continuingin the face of adversity’ I’d have a fuller CV this morning. It all started innocently enough. “It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?” stated the four year-old HyperActiveBoy™ [...]

User Outcomes Weekly – #11

admin — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 02:30:18 -0400

User Outcomes Weekly focuses on the intersection of education, technology and productivity. If you see anything here you’d like to discuss further or want to put into practice, why not get in touch? Prey is Open Source software that allows you to track your computer or mobile phone should it go missing. From that point you can [...]

What did you think of the Supercar Fantastic Four driving event?

Doug Belshaw — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 15:34:00 -0400

See the full gallery on Posterous I really enjoyed it! Hannah, my wife, bought me the experience for my 30th birthday last December but I’ve only recently been able to find a date which worked for all the family. I have no idea how much it cost, although I’m pretty sure she’ll have found a [...]

User Outcomes Weekly – #10

admin — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 02:30:24 -0400

User Outcomes Weekly focuses on the intersection of education, technology and productivity. If you see anything here you’d like to discuss further or want to put into practice, why not get in touch? Ars Technica has a comprehensive guide to using Creative Commons-licensed images. A great reference article. Need to build a house but can’t afford an [...]

So you don’t condemn the rioters?

Doug Belshaw — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 04:21:52 -0400

Whilst I would absolutely condemn the violence and criminality that we’ve seen over the last few nights in major English cities, I can’t help but think that we’re narrow-mindedly only accepting one side of a much larger, more complex (and more disturbing) picture. Put yourself in the place of a teenager in modern-day England. Even [...]

What do you mean by ‘structural inequality’?

Doug Belshaw — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:58:26 -0400

I’ve been debating on Twitter the reasons for the various riots that are currently plaguing our country. Whilst I’m absolutely in agreement at the shocking and criminal behaviour of (predominantly) young people, I think there’s a wider problem that’s not being acknowledged. That wider problem is structural inequality. “Structural inequality has been identified as the bias that [...]

Why did you set up @SynechismLtd?

Doug Belshaw — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:18:13 -0400

I genuinely want to do interesting stuff when I’m finished my doctoral thesis. What do I mean by ‘interesting stuff’? Apply theory into practice, meet innovative people trying to do cool things, and generally make the world a better place. If the subcontext of the question is ‘Are you going to start expecting people to [...]

What do you see as the biggest challenges facing formal education?

Doug Belshaw — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:22:44 -0400

Some brief thoughts, brought to you with the letter ‘A’: 1. Assessment – outdated, outmoded, and increasingly irrelevant. Are the things we test worth testing? 2. Authenticity – with both schools and universities expected to be businesses in a marketplace, how do they resolve the tension between this and their more traditional standards-based role? 3. [...]