Book Worm or Computer Nerd?
Are we ready to say bye to books was the provocative title of a BBC article last Friday on Kindle DX, an e-reading device nearly as big as an A4 sheet of paper. After spending some time discussing how it will work and how much it will cost, the article never really gets round to answering its own question. Dawn did a better job in her blog this week of weighing up the pros and cons. For her,...
Read MoreCurrent Events Schedule
This term at QUB, we have three new workshops for the working professional: Assertiveness and Workplace Confidence; Managing Customer Experience and Emotional Intelligence Goes to Work. These workshops are hosted by the School of Education, Short Courses Programmes (CPD). For eveyone else, there is the School of Education’s Open Learning Programme. This term, we’re running the...
Read MoreDumbing Down or Smarting Up?
OK, so you’ve heard me go on for some time now about the crap (that’s a technical term) state of our education system: too narrow, goal-less, unilateral in teaching method, one-size-fits-all, target-driven, test-ravaged, non-applied, faddish, etc. Well now it seems that someone up there in the clouds of politik-land agrees with me. Not that I can claim personal responsibility for the...
Read MoreShallow Hal
Yet another story about the dumbing down of education hardly warrants mention by me. Why waste time pointing out the obvious? Because this one gives us a little substance. According to Professor Michael Shayer of King’s College London, modern education differs in two main ways from that of 30 years ago: First, there is a decline in higher-level thinking skills. Pupils now lack the...
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