People choose to share certain things via social media mostly because they confirm something about their view of the world. Even if the story or image is “shocking” on one level it’s more likely it’s being shared because it fits with an existing narrative rather than disrupting one. Understanding our own narratives and those of the people around us is an important part of developing digital identities and digital wellbeing.
I think Steve Clayton has my dream job. I’m not Microsoft fanboi but he’s their Chief Storyteller. I recently watched his presentation about “the secret to telling awesome stories” which was fascinating, mostly from the point of view of how a company like Microsoft differentiates storytelling from marketing.
It’s a bit of a stereotype that the main transferable skill you learn as a geographer is how to colour stuff in. Ordnance Survey has latched onto the trend for colouring-in for grown-ups and released a set of lines-only PDFs of some of its city maps for that very purpose. So grab your felt-tips and […]
An article in the THE was tweeted by someone that argued National Student Survey scores were not a good enough indicator of teaching quality. While I was on the train to a meeting I tweeted a thought that neither were exam marks. A conversation ensued which I’ve captured here.
The General Election result was a surprise to most but the most important thing is how unrepresentative it was of actual votes cast. I’ve heard some express concern that a PR-based system would mean a greater number of UKIP MPs but I don’t think this is a good enough reason for maintaining a system that has passed its sell-by date.
The Royal Institute of Navigation have been talking about the demise of traditional map reading and navigation skills today. They say that society is being “sedated by software” through the use of GPS and mobile devices. While I’ve got some sympathy with their view I don’t think it’s the whole story. Technology has an important role to play in developing spatial awareness.
First off, choosing a university or college is NOT like buying a telly but something I heard in a presentation today about a learner’s journey through university reminded me of some of the things I thought when we replaced our telly recently. (You remember, the one I mentioned in this post? Of course you do.) It’s […]
This was a tough one. I wanted to go a bit further for this one, somewhere I hadn’t been before. I’ve been working my way through a series of excellent rides created by Ted Liddle, a friend of my in-laws, in a book called Cycle Tours: Northumberland and around Newcastle (ISBN 0-540-08204-x). This one was […]
With so much discussion about scaling up online learning, do we risk losing site of how technology can help us at the small scale as well?
It’s been a few weeks since I went out last. I’ll need to step up the regularity of rides if I’m going to get fit enough for a 100 miler this year. This ride was an OK pace but the thought of doing the equivalent of 3 times this fills me with dread. The bike […]