March 2010
20 posts
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WatchHow kids teach themselves.
“You left this machine that speaks only English so we had to learn English”
For me the most inspiring presentation at Going Global 4 was Sugata Mitra explaining his hole the wall project and what it tells us about kids in unsupervised environments.
Unfortunately the BC have taken down the video of his presentation so here is his TED video instead.
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To solve problems like hunger, poverty, climate...
A great TED video about saving the world by playing computer games
Notes:
We spend 3 billion hours a week playing games.
To solve problems like hunger, poverty, climate change, global conflict, obesity we need to spend 21 billion hour per week playing games by the end of the next decade.
In games people become the best versions of themselves: The most likely to help at a moment’s notice,...
“We are witnessing what amounts to no less than a mass exodus to virtual worlds...”
– Edward Castronova
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Build the EFL Activity of your Dreams
A common question I get asked by teachers who have some experience with virtual worlds is “Can I build an activity that does x, y &z”. The answer is usually yes if you have the resources. Unfortunately most teachers do not have the coding and 3D skills to make their ideas a reality.
To unleash the repressed creativity of such teachers we’ve created EFLUnleashed.com. It is an opportunity for...
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Study: Today's youth aren't ego-driven slackers... →
Today’s youth are generally not the self-centered, antisocial slackers that previous research has made them out to be, according to a provocative new study co-authored by a Michigan State University psychologist.
In a scientific analysis of nearly a half-million high-school seniors spread over three decades, MSU’s Brent Donnellan and Kali Trzesniewski of the University of Western Ontario argue...
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Where are the education websites?
I wonder if I surveyed parents from all over the world what they thought the most important thing for their children was what they would say. What if I surveyed a different group, perhaps some university students trying to find a job in a recession what answer would they give me? And what about politicians trying to get re-elected, could you guess what their response would be? Well I have my...
Anonymous asked: why are you so smart?
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Those nonsense textbooks…..
I have been observing sessions this week at English City for training purposes and have come across two very interesting points brought up by students. One student I observed is a teacher in Spain and has taught Spanish to all levels including university. When the topic of selling used textbooks came up in Conversations Café the student voiced his opinions about textbooks. “When I taught civic...
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“Commercial video games, the ones that make a lot of money, are nothing but...”
– James Gee, Computer Games Can Teach Schools Some Lessons
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March Conferences
I shall be at three educational conferences in March, one online and two in London. I’ll be presenting on moving away form course and class models of learning, work we’ve done with the military and debating if student and staff mobility is still necessary. If your going to be at any of them let me know.
VIRTUAL WORLDS – BEST PRACTICES IN EDUCATION
3RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE – MARCH...