I spent two days on the east rand, working with Ekurhuleni librarians and running a pilot workshop about mLiteracy. We set out to explore what is enabled by the combination of free WiFi and mobile devices. We wanted librarians to become comfortable with using their mobile devices in a library setting. Connecting devices is not …
Author archives: Derek
Emoji Tracker Cards
My sister-in-law and an ed tech qualification
My sister-in-law asked me to recommend a few post-graduate ed tech programmes. She’s in publishing, a director of a department that straddles continents, has over 20 years of solid educational experience and lives in Cape Town. Seeking to extend her education expertise in a digital direction, she asked me for advice. I took her seriously. …
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Rebooting education – a little
There’s no secret sauce to “reboot education”
Shades of Opinion
What will free Wi-Fi enable in a library? Free Wi-Fi is no longer a novelty. Across South Africa it’s becoming easier to turn off your data in restaurants, malls, banks and petrol stations. Local governments in Gauteng still remain the most generous provider. At 300 MB of free data per day, a committed data guzzler can …
#Tips4Sakai
I’ve been in too many LMS workshops, where the trainer has assumed that a slideshow, filled with annotated screen shots will make an interface usable. That a set of numbered instructions with specific steps will be sufficient for me to use. This is not one of those workshops!
Book Dash Jozi
Book Dash aims to gather creative teams together to write, illustrate, edit and produce a children’s story, in 12 hours. These stories are licensed as creative commons works, which means that anyone can print and distribute these beautiful children’s books, for free. The intention is that the books get into the hands of those who …
10 Red Flags: Things to know before you go…
Some advice from below to my ed techie friends above. Career climbing involves risky routes. Without clear boundaries, an unending 24/7 passage awaits the enthusiastic networked sherpa. The online world, with all its advantages, has little respect for the traditional pathways that once characterized the standard 9-5 job. Watch where you place your feet. Before …
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Bingo 2.0
You’ve probably heard about the game Bingo. It’s a popular game of chance. The format is simple. A host hands out a set of printed cards, each with a square grid. Every card has random numbers printed in each square of the grid. The host then draws a number from a hat, announces it to all playing participants …
Predatory Conferences. Caveat Empor.
The “good deal” offered by a good conference is being sullied by predator conference companies. These conference companies have no recognised expertise in the field, have no mandate from an academic or professional body and have profit as their motivation. They are akin to scavengers , preying on inexperienced pups, not sure who to turn …