Knowledge Centre blogs

Edu-browse – a browser for education?

By: Simon Knight
On: 20th February 2012

This fortnight I want to talk about two things – firstly carrying on from my discussion of BETT and LWF; secondly I thought I’d share some of the education blogs which I find inspiration from, and often share great tools.

Edu-browse

One of the most depressing statistics from a couple of years ago indicated that a large number of schools had not updated from Internet Explorer 6. This left their security vulnerable, but it also meant that many resources couldn’t be accessed and – an idea that fills my constant 100+ tab self with horror – they were bereft of many of the updates that modern browsers ushered in, tabbed browsing and in-browser search bars included. more >

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The feedback loop that keeps on (Globally) giving

By: Kieron Kirkland
On: 14th February 2012

In my last post RCTs should only be part of the story I argued that:

We need to accept that different types of evaluation are suitable for programmes at different stages of development
A crucial role of evaluation is to create formative feedback loops not just summative snaps shots

So if you’re working in a space where you have lots of pilot projects testing new ideas, and are interested in how you get continuous evaluation of more >

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RCTs should only be part of the story

By: Kieron Kirkland
On: 13th February 2012

I love evidence based interventions. In fact if I am arguing with my girlfriend about something other than the washing up, one of the first things I do is ask, what’s the evidence for that? (Which I am sure makes me an absolute joy to live with).

more >

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A difficult choice for Michael Gove on January 30th 2013?

By: Bob Harrison
On: 9th February 2012

Where to go on January 30^th 2013 will be a difficult decision for all those who are involved in education and learning across the globe including the now “converted” Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove.

If you attended either of the two big festivals in Olympia in January you might have a clue what his dilemma might be? more >

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Nurturing and measuring the ‘value’ of innovation – BETT and beyond

By: Simon Knight
On: 2nd February 2012

BETT

About a month ago, I attended BETT, the biggest Ed-tech fair in the UK.

Across the two floors of London Olympia companies – large and small(ish) were displaying their newest products for all to see. It was really interesting to see how technologies were being used to display curriculum materials – the most innovative example being what looked like a rapid expansion in 3D projection, alongside increases in content for ipads/tablets.

Certainly I think there’s great scope in some of this content development stuff – one example I particularly like, is the use of map data to create history resources which layer time periods over the top of the map (although I didn’t see anything like this at BETT). more >