Thanks to Marshall at splashcast for linking to this short film on youtube. A beautifully made animation worth watching right through.
[youtube]Kj3rT_yYCw8[/youtube]
Author: Nick Booth
School of Everything – except for choice?
A few weeks ago I showed a friend how to use predictive text. He was delighted. So was I. Teaching and learning are precious and potent means to connect.
Charles Leadbeater (writing in Prospect Magazine) mentioned something new to me: the School of Everything. It’s an online/offline project still in dvelopment, being created with support from the Young Foundation. The site they are working on is intended to be a place where we can all connect to share knowledge; a combination of wiki, classroom, coffee shop and workshop.
They set out their principles here, which (if you don’t mind) I’ll repeat:
Anti-Social Networking.
Online it’s harder to judge integrity. You lack those face to face indicators which have evolved over millions of years. Despite that this add on lie-detector for Skype is a worrying development. I know such technology is already used by insurance companies to detect potential fraud. But I think the solution to bridging the online trust-gap is simpler: spend more time getting to know people.
The Path to Perfect Play – a new podcast on the Grassroots Channel
“Play is a every child’s human right”
After a decade or more working with after school clubs and play schemes Laura Watts established a new organisation in Birmingham called Dens of Equality. She wanted to help the families who found their children effectively barred from the pleasure of full blown play because they had some form of disability.
Dens of Equality is a central hub which helps groups of parents create their own autonomous organisations. With these the families can apply for funds and also approach play workers directly, encouraging them to find new ways to include all children in their play schemes. They create tight new relationships which work for professionals, parents and children, all using a system which hands power to the people closest to each child.
Please leave comments on this blog.
Links – mentioned in this episode:
Written version (pdf) of this story with more information (dead link)
Birmingham Early Years and Childcare (dead link)
Todd Hannula (dead link)
Soweto Kinch Podcast– direct link to mp3
Roger Telphia Podcast – direct link to mp3
Kings Norton Farmers Market Podcast – direct link to mp3