Monday 22 December 2014

Memory Lane Part 2

Who'd believe that I retired from Refereeing football over twenty years ago after having served in West Devon and then Staffordshire for 12 years, before retiring at the age of around 30. In fact I took a break when my children were young and never went back. Retiring from the Staffordshire Senior league and Northern Premier league in 1991. I started in my last year at school when a certain John Maynard encouraged all the football team to take the course as it would be good for us.

Only a few of us went on to referee and I rose up through the local leagues to reach class 1 at the tender age of 19 and I hit the local newspaper as  I had broke some record in doing so.

My first outing to Home Park ( home of Plymouth Argyle for the uneducated) can be seen on the right was at the tender age of 17. Here I had been distracted by Nicky Bennett who used to be in the same school team as me. As I rose up the ranks so did many of my team mates and in fact I can remember booking a few of them along the way. I went on to referee or line at many great grounds both north and south, but resigned gracefully when I moved to Kent.

I sometimes regret stopping refereeing, I was on my way and young enough to make the big time but never got higher than the Northern Premier league with few FA Cup preliminaries and the odd amateur league final thrown in along the way.  I also wonder what would have happened if I'd kept playing and often look back with some regret here, life in the middle could be quite lonely I and wasn't a bad player.

I saved all sorts of memorabilia which may appear in a later blog but  I couldn't resist popping a couple of newspaper clippings here. The article to the left is my first fixture, Rangers Youth A v St Budeaux Athletic with fellow Burrington School first team players and good friends Nigel Thorne and Sam Sanderson getting what must have been their first fixtures too.

On reflection there are some other names on the fixtures that day that were soon to become very good friends.  Referees, Allan Roserveare, Vic Mason and Larry Hambly, who is the other linesman in the photo above. There was also a certain Brian Marshall on duty that day at Saltash he was a a very strong influence and an ex football league ref, sadly he died before I left Plymouth in 89.

Sunday 21 December 2014

A trip down Memory Lane

Something happened at work this week and it caused me to reflect on leaving BT back in 1995 and in particular one of the reasons why I left. Whilst a trainer in BT I took a contract to visit Nigeria and provide some training in 1992 and as a result of the success I was offered a further contract the following year to go to The Gambia which my boss refused. This was fair enough I had my teaching commitments but the following year a contract in Bangladesh was also refused and this time there was no reason, therefore this became a contributing factor for me moving on. This started me thinking I knew I had some records in the loft and thought I would revisit the trip to Nigeria and record it on my blog. Technology has moved on it has been almost 25 years since my trip to Nigeria so I thought I would have a bit of fun compile some information about the trip. I am going to add to this as I research more.


Class of 92 - You should be able to spot me :-)
Charles Ndefo, Chris Ashikodi, Sigismund Bademosi, Vincent Odunlami, Ebenezer Anjorin, Emele Kalu,  Ifeanyi Ukwanna, Owdade Aborode
Emmanuel Adeneye, Yekini Kareem, , Steve McGowan, Samuel Aro 

My Driver - the name will come back to me
The business end then, and into my classroom, the facilities were more than adequate back then I had an OHP whiteboard and flip chart what else did I need. I had also prepared a number of video walk throughs and a several boxes of photographic slides.


 My view looking into the class a varied and interesting group of Nitel Engineers with qualifications that ranged from HNCs to Degrees but all wanted to soak up all I had to say. I was in my late twenties and although I was under a lot of pressure I was well prepared. Just look at the quality of the notes provided, all having been brought with me through customs. I knew from the off that I had to hold back the notes I had been warned that some of my students may not come back once they had all the notes. Unfortunately Nigeria being Nigeria back then I had had all my pens, calculators and various other goodies removed but for some reason my notes didn't interest them.

 Obviously it wasn't all work the weekends were free and I was fortunate to be staying with two seasoned overseas BT planners, I remember their names, Frank Day and Dave Hardman, both were a great help and certainly looked after me. During the weekends I was shown a few sights and had opportunity to lay on  few of the local beeches, We had to be carful but as long as we were sensible it would be fine, well we thought so anyway.

Dave Hardman with the locals.
I found the whole experience fascinating and sat for hours chatting to the locals who would happily climb trees and feed me on coconuts and fruit. I in return would give them a few Nara or let them have my hat or the odd football shirt. 

Oranges for all, this was one shirt they didn't want but all my football shirts  never made it back to the UK.

The beeches were lined with tropical plants and palms, very quiet and a very relaxing before returning to the classroom on the Monday, The course was three weeks long and there was little time either end to enjoy Nigeria so I made the most of the weekends.

Just one of the many beautiful beeches outside of Lagos..
Sadly it was not all good news and some of the consultants working on behalf of Telconsult in the group had decided to visit a religeous shrine and gardens on the Sunday. It was a long drive and I didn't fancy wasting an oportunity to relax in the sun. Needless to say Frank, Dave and I lounged around the pool, played tennis and cooked some burgers. That evening news broke that a car containing Peter Barratt and David Parsons had been highjacked. Both had been shot David died at the scene having been shot in the neck area, he bled to death, although press releases later stated that it was a head wound. Peter had been shot twice but the bullets appeared to miss any vital organs.



On the Monday I returned to teaching somewhat apprehensive but I had to continue the course. On the journey home Monday evening my car broke down. I had a driver who's job was to look after me but I was stranded on the side of the road, somewhat concerned given what had happened the day before. Then something amazing happened a taxi pulled up and i the front seat was Peter he had been shot twice and was being moved from one hospital to another. They gave me a lift back to my flat on the way which gave me a change to find out what had happened. Peter was still shaken and David who had known for years had not survived so heaven only knows what Peter must have been feeling at this time.

I will add to this as I find more information twenty years on and some technology advancements mean I should be able to add to this article. Will I be able to track down Dave and Frank?

Something completely different

I thought I would share my summer project with my readers. This year the OU have changed the start time of the module I tutor and a pleasant outcome has been a summer free of marking. With all this spare time on my hands I set to a little project at the top of the garden. The shed was constructed last year and this was detailed in a  Previous blog entry this stage was to create a decking area and make more use of the land at the top of the garden.
Before Having disposed of the old shed
A baron land was transformed last year with the introduction of a shed, well 'Man Cave'. It's a retreat for me to relax and unwind and this summer has seen me expand on this and create a decking area around it all part of the master plan to make the top of the garden more usable because the views are fantastic especially in the winter when all the leaves have fallen.

 I won't bore you with all the details just share a few pictures.

The same view after project completion.

Finally looking up the garden its a climb to get there and the next stage is to line the footpath with a few hand rails to make coming back down easier. This summer I will look at tidying up the middle section, ideas are welcome.


The view up the garden
I now have a little retreat where a peaceful evening can be spent in peace and almost quiet. However I have to say its been a really pleasant change and I one of the most relaxing summer breaks I have had.

Its been a busy year

Without getting in to detail those of you that know where I work will know there as been some upheaval  as I was moved to temporary teaching accommodation for twelve months  whilst my normal teaching block was refurbished. Now I have been back in for 6 months I can't believe how fast the time has gone. Its fair to say that it actually went quite smoothly looking back and it was worth the upheaval I think.

I have however been able to change a few things and one particular change has been the introduction of a multi-purpose IT and online learning environment, Where un-hindered internet access comes into the classroom for both project work and teaching. I don't think my colleagues quite realise what facilities I have offered up. The journey continues.

Throughout my masters I shared the limitations I was presented with in a strictly controlled learning environment and thankfully they are now starting to relax a little. Now I just need to get a few more fellow practitioners on board and see the room get more use. I guess it will take a while.

Saturday 5 April 2014

An update on MOOCs

My twitter feed has lead me to read two articles on the subject of MOOCs  and a couple of interesting points have been made. I am currently sitting through a couple of MOOCs online one at Future Learn and another at edX just to get a real feel.

According to  Norris and Soloway (2014) 'Personalized instruction, flipped classrooms, video watching, etc., etc. are the last gasps of the old, "education as acquiring stuff" model; they are attempts at putting a patina of new on an old, outmoded, broken and ultimately ineffective educational model'. Implying that HE have got it all wrong. The drive towards flipped classrooms and the utilization of videos etc have been added to the model that supports "education as acquiring stuff". Yes our learners learn differently these days we all know that but they still have to learn 'stuff'. An engineer that reverts to the wonders of the web to solve problems is all very good but there comes a time when fundamental knowledge must be readily available from acquired knowledge built on foundations by solving problems during their education. Therefore if  as Norris and Soloway, (2014) state,'Social learning, inquiry learning, just-in-time learning, and yes, learning-by-doing, will become the dominant pedagogies' , where do our learners learn the fundamentals? I see scope in 'Learning by doing' I am all for that problem based learning is a strength in engineering, but there has to be some knowledge base. An effective way of acquiring this is by way of  the good old fashioned lecture.

The second article that leapt out at me from the reading over breakfast was Falkner(2014) as he states, What about the current Higher Ed context – let’s look at “The Avalanche Report“. Basically, the education business is doomed!!! DOOOMED, I tell you!  He goes on to give a good account of a MOOC and the benefits it can bring. It's a detailed article that goes on a bit but well worth a read if you want a good reflection on the introduction of this learning method. Interestingly he shares his thoughts on the role of the lecture, it could well be the end 'especially as we can use the MOOC for content and flip to use the face-to-face for much more valuable things'.

I agree but we assume our learners are actually reading and doing in order to 'learn stuff', whereas many want that easy ride do as little as possible its a fine balance. This leads me onto another point nicely covered in a video. ‘Teaching Teaching and Understanding Understanding’. This 20 minute film is available in three parts at: http://www.daimi.au.dk/~brabrand/short-film/
Points to ponder over
- What is the balance of Susans / Roberts in your classes?
- What implications does the balance have on how we should teach and assess?
- Note the way ILOs are used to define teaching and assessment in part 3. How might this help focus students?



References

Falkner,N (2014)'CSEDU, Day 2, Invited Talk, “How are MOOCs Disrupting the Educational Landscape?”, (#CSEDU14 #AdelEd)', Learning and Teaching in ICT at The University of Adelaide and across Australia, April 2014 [Blog]. Available at http://nickfalkner.wordpress.com/2014/04/02/csedu-day-2-invited-talk-how-are-moocs-disrupting-the-educational-landscape-csedu14-adeled/ (Accessed 5 April 2014).

Norris,C.and Soloway,E.(2014) the Journal, 'Personalized Learning, Flipped Classrooms, Video Watching: Last Gasps of the Old Education'[Online]Available at http://thejournal.com/Articles/2014/03/31/Broken-Educational-Model.aspx?Page=1#LovTyJAPGmOsMzYE.99 (Accessed 5 April 2014).


Friday 14 March 2014

Webinars some examples.

What is a webinar

Short for Web-based seminar, a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the Web.A key feature of a Webinar is its interactive elements -- the ability to give, receive and discuss information. Contrast with Webcast, in which the data transmission is one way and does not allow interaction between the presenter and the audience. (http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/Webinar.html)

Probably best watching live but most events are recorded for viewing at a later date.

An example from Learning Technologies


https://www.timetag.tv/learningtechnologies/play/22916


Description:
The internet and smart mobile devices have fundamentally changed how we look at learning and performance programmes. And now another technological advance is coming; one that will once again change some of our definitions and how we address performance issues: wearable technology. This technology will come in various forms, but the one that is blazing the path is Google Glass.David Kelly is one of the Glass Explorers (individuals exploring Glass before its public release) and has been investigating the different ways that Glass can be used for learning and performance improvement. Join David for a journey of discovery, and explore how the next wave of technological advances will impact the learning and performance field.

This session covers:What is Google Glass?What is the Glass experience like for the user? How do people react to Glass?What doors does Glass open for learning and performance?How are people already using Glass for learning today?Many more available from https://www.timetag.tv/learningtechnologies



Webinars at the IET

http://eandt.theiet.org/videos/webinars/index.cfm I quickly selected one as an example but you will need to register before viewing. This is a more traditional webinar which includes guest speakers and is presented in a online format.


Inspec: Great Minds On Innovation presents The Smart Grid, Smart Homes, Smart Roads And Beyond
Jeff Reinke

2012-11-16 00:00:00.0 Inspec Channel

Some additional readings on webinars


http://spearmarketing.com/blog/are-webinars-a-waste-of-time/
http://www.mhub.tv/why-live-webinars-are-a-painful-waste-of-time/