BBC News - Atos boss Thierry Breton defends his internal email ban

BBC News - Atos boss Thierry Breton defends his internal email ban.

ATOS ending internal emails (not external ones). My experience is that internal emails are mostly useless, and often get send out to people who don't need them anyway. Much better to use tools such as messaging or Facebook. The problem then of course is companies having to be persuaded to allow such tools on their network. I imagine complaints from IT people about compromises to their network, and from management suspicious of 'frivolous' use.

Every time you say 'learning styles' a kitten dies

Article by Guy Wallace. More arguments against learning styles. He quotes a number of people who provide evidence against the idea. Such as Harold Stolovich, who provides some good bullet points about what really matters in learning: meaning, structure, clear objectives, clear purpose.

Learning Styles don't predict learning under different instructional conditions. The psychological research doesn't support it either, and brain research suggests that when we are learning the whole of the brain, or at least many different parts of it, are at work - not just the 'visual' or 'auditory' areas.

Learners certainly differ in their interests, and in their preferences for learning. That doesn't mean that producing materials to suit those preferences makes any difference to their learning outcomes. You can't learn from a style independent of content - the materials that you use to teach a particular topic should suit the topic and the interests of the learners.

Learning Styles

An article from Steve Wheeler, about the fallacy of learning styles. He suggests that there is no valid or reliable evidence to support the 'theory' of learning styles.  people who prefer to learn visually will not always learn better when information is presented visually, similarly for people who prefer to learn by listening. What is important is that learners understand the meaning of what they are learning.

A holistic approach, with rich content is more likely to lead to good learning, even if it is simply used to provoke interest from the learners. Regarding the use of multimedia he quotes an article from Reiner and Willingham:

...learning-styles theory is sometimes offered as a reason to include digital media in the classroom. While including multimedia may be a good idea in general (variety in modes of presentation can hold students' attention and interest, for example), it is not necessary to tailor your media to different learning styles. We shouldn't congratulate ourselves for showing a video to engage the visual learners or offering podcasts to the auditory learners. Rather, we should realize that the value of the video or audio will be determined by how it suits the content that we are asking students to learn and the background knowledge, interests, and abilities that they bring to it. Instead of asking whether we engaged the right sense (or learning mode), we should be asking, what did students think about while they were in class?

My PLN

Looks a bit sparse, but then these are the tools I use and get my information from. Where do colleagues fit on this - do they have to, given that this is an online PLN? I'd put them in the Staff Room.

Personal Learning Networks

An article from Steve Wheeler. Apparently everyone should have a PLN, otherwise you are not fully equipped as a professional. The tools listed are not recommended, but what perhaps should go in the respective sections. My version will follow.

Developing and Reviewing Online Courses: Items for Consideration | ALT Online Newsletter

 

 

 

An article outlining the requirements for a good online course. Excellent list of resources and references at the end.

Developing and Reviewing Online Courses: Items for Consideration | ALT Online Newsletter.

Pedagogy versus Technology

Pedagogy versus Technology - a  recent post by Doug Woods.  I have to agree with him. Did we have this debate when pencils replaced the slate and chalk, or when OHPs were invented? I think it's often an argument used by people afraid of technology and see it as a threat in the classroom. I think this view is often linked to Number 5 in this List of Myths of Technology in Education, also by Doug. You can pick up a piece of hardware or an application and just use it, see how it works, then think about how it could be used in teaching - have a go with it first - what harm can it do just to try something out? The formal training can come later.