Using linked data
August 20th, 2010 by Graham Attwell
This is pretty awesome. It show the potential of using linked data in social science research
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Clippings
Lets start with the pedagogy not the technology
August 18th, 2010 by Graham Attwell
I think mobile devices have great potential in education. But articles like this worry me. OK – so it is a popularist article meant for a general reader audience. The problem is it starts (and ends) with the wonders of mobile devices (running on windows!?). There is no consideration of the impact on pedagogy, on the potential of moving learning outside the classroom,, still less of the possibilities of new pedagogies for learning. We should have learnt by now that pedagogy is the starting point, not just the attraction of another shiny tool.
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How much to graduates really earn?
August 14th, 2010 by Graham Attwell
This figure gets bandied around a lot as a counter to surveys showing the average graduate in the UK ends up in £25000 of debt. But what does it really mean. It is an average. Presumably graduates represent a higher social economic and class group than non graduates. I would guess they would be expected to earn more anyway. And what is the spread of the average. I guess again that many graduates do no earn £100000 more. Interestingly although the 100 K figure sounds impressive if you divide it by say 40 years working it come down a lot! We need better statistics – will have a search to see what I can find.
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Social networking and loneliness
August 14th, 2010 by Graham Attwell
Interesting article Facebook and social networks focusing on problems of loneliness amongst young people. Looks also at what people post – as it quote below.
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Vocational teachers, pedagogy and technology: issues around a double identity
August 12th, 2010 by Graham Attwell
More thoughts on the literature review I am doing on initial training and continuing professional development of teachers on the use of ICT for learning and particularly looking at pedagogic approaches to using technology for teaching and learning.
There is quite a lot of literature on teachers in general schools and some papers and reports on professional development for university teachers. However, there seems to be a big hole when it comes to vocational teachers. As Phillip Grollmann says “teaching in vocational education has often failed to be acknowledged, despite its significance, ubiquity and its assumed contribution to the welfare, maintenance and progress of society.” And research into vocational education has also always been the ugly sister in educational research. Of course, one answer would be to say the issues regarding the use of technology are just the same as in general schools. But I don’t thing they are.
Grollmann points out that vocational colleges often have an extended role in supporting innovation and learning at a regional level as well as providing continuing professional development for employees, often related to the introduction of new technologies.
There is a very considerable issue in terms of the domains of knowledge required by vocational teachers. Besides explicit knowledge and practice (for example, pedagogy , knowledge and teaching of subjects) and formal knowledge of the education system and the educational establishment,vocational teachers require implicit knowledge of their occupation (practical experience in work and teaching, vocational pedagogical skills, etc.).
In other words, vocational teachers have a dual identity, an identity as a teacher and an identity as a skilled worker in their own vocational or occupational field.
That dual identity is based on the vocational nature of the curriculum they are teaching. And this effects the use of technology for learning.
Just as in general schools or universities, technology is being used in vocational schools as part of the pedagogic process. And equally this is leading to issues of new pedagogic approaches to tecahing and learning. But at the same time technology is a core part of the focus of vocational programmes. And technology is being used differently in different occupations. So teachers need to know how to use technology to teach about the use of technology in an occupation. In a period of very rapid technological change this poses a challenge. How can vocational teachers keep up to date with their own vocational occupation. And how can technology best be used to learn about technology in an occupational context.
Lars Heienneman has suggested to me that the issues of culture and occupational identities and important here. He suggests that in Germany where the idea of ‘Beruf’ remains strong and vocational teachers are generally held in high esteem, they have a higher level of identity with their occupation, and thus expect to continuously update their occupational skills and knowledge. In the UK, where in general vocational teachers are not held in such high esteem, there is less identification as a skilled and competent vocational practitioner and thus a bigger problem in terms of modernising practice.
I am not totally convinced. But there appears to be no research on this. Or am I missing something. If so please point me in the right direction.
Is a degree still worth it?
August 10th, 2010 by Graham Attwell
This quote in a Belfast newspaper seems a bit of a contradiction in terms.Telling graduates now that real world experience is what they need, having just run up debts of £20000 to go to university is a strange way of reassuring them. And the full article is about a scheme to give unemployed graduates up to 6 months work experience – on minimum wages.
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Social Media
News Bites
Cyborg patented?
Forbes reports that Microsoft has obtained a patent for a “conversational chatbot of a specific person” created from images, recordings, participation in social networks, emails, letters, etc., coupled with the possible generation of a 2D or 3D model of the person.
Racial bias in algorithms
From the UK Open Data Institute’s Week in Data newsletter
This week, Twitter apologised for racial bias within its image-cropping algorithm. The feature is designed to automatically crop images to highlight focal points – including faces. But, Twitter users discovered that, in practice, white faces were focused on, and black faces were cropped out. And, Twitter isn’t the only platform struggling with its algorithm – YouTube has also announced plans to bring back higher levels of human moderation for removing content, after its AI-centred approach resulted in over-censorship, with videos being removed at far higher rates than with human moderators.
Gap between rich and poor university students widest for 12 years
Via The Canary.
The gap between poor students and their more affluent peers attending university has widened to its largest point for 12 years, according to data published by the Department for Education (DfE).
Better-off pupils are significantly more likely to go to university than their more disadvantaged peers. And the gap between the two groups – 18.8 percentage points – is the widest it’s been since 2006/07.
The latest statistics show that 26.3% of pupils eligible for FSMs went on to university in 2018/19, compared with 45.1% of those who did not receive free meals. Only 12.7% of white British males who were eligible for FSMs went to university by the age of 19. The progression rate has fallen slightly for the first time since 2011/12, according to the DfE analysis.
Quality Training
From Raconteur. A recent report by global learning consultancy Kineo examined the learning intentions of 8,000 employees across 13 different industries. It found a huge gap between the quality of training offered and the needs of employees. Of those surveyed, 85 per cent said they , with only 16 per cent of employees finding the learning programmes offered by their employers effective.
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