M&M Podcast: Setting the Scene, Terms, Topics
Based on ongoing discussions and projects I have been having in my role from the Centre for Research in Digital Education with my colleagues at Learning, Technology, and the Web, Myles Blaney and I decided that all the exploratory conversations we were having naturally as part of that work might be shared. So with nifty […]
The Myopia of Student Surveillance: Lazy Edtech and Lax Data Protection
The world of educational technology is clearly a favorite subject of mine, particularly as it applies to developing contexts. We have seen an almost litany of attempts, some seemingly well-intentioned and others not so much, to avoid the dirty work of teacher training in favor of automation or some sort of teach by numbers approach […]
Edtech & Neoliberalism in ICT4D: Blowback from Bridge Academies in Uganda and Liberia
Reposting here from Panoply Digital. It seems like we had just written about Bridge International the other day and the dangers of locking whole educational systems into for-profit industries and their paint by number pedagogies and school in a box systems. And here we are again as Uganda’s education minister just announced that the government […]
Autonomy, Uncertainty, Empowerment, Scarcity: Drivers for Mobile Learning Game-Based Activities
My colleague Pekka Ihanainen and I are working on a few projects involving mobile learning field activities. The idea itself isn’t that original, but we are looking to systematically explore the potential of these activities for learning after successful workshops in Helsinki and Talinn, and, to some extent, Seoul. One such paper was recently accepted by the […]
Representation vs. Interactional Context in ICT & Geographical Alignment
Context: Representation vs. Interactional There are several research papers and projects that had me thinking of this subject, but I will spare you the details of those for the time being. However, there are two more tangible, immediate articles recently recommended to me by my supervisor that helped shape my thinking on this subject and […]
Higher Education, Rising Consumer Expectations, Responses
I wanted to wade in to the ongoing discussions surrounding the current situation in higher education involving rising tuition/less government investment (seems more pronounced in the UK right now) consumer expectation/commodification ‘disruption’, outside investment capital, new pedagogical formats (MOOCs et al), shifts, etc. There is not much that I might add to this discussion that […]
Second Life and the BBC: Virtual Pomp and Real Ceremony?
Second Life has its fair share of haters and often that is warranted. It is at times a clunky, unwieldy atmosphere with a high barrier to adoption. Businesses were early adopters and then quickly pulled their presence from the environment as it was difficult a return on their investment. After the initial wave of adoption, […]