Teraknor

Whomever feels that education is an entertainment industry, please present your equity card now.

In the ever sifting sands of educational policy, a student, let alone a parent or an employer can be forgiven for being a little confused. What is more frightening is that many educators struggle to keep up with what is current and often in a fit of resignation, stick to older ideas, not because they are the better ideas, more out of the inability to cope with change. Change is not always for the better, there is credence in returning to some ‘old values’ but in this push, there is often the removal of the infant with the bathing water. Equally as silly, so no winners are found this way either. Common sense, whatever it may be has run off, dived for cover and pleaded insanity for its own protection. So what is the current educational vogue, the word on the street is that we are returning to more academic subjects. Now what an excellent idea, we can have people with plenty of knowledge but dispense with the experience or ability requirements. I have no issue with academic qualif

Yesterday saw delivery of awaited kindle at work, generally yummy feelings etc; but then I have always been a sucker for a new toy. Been doing all the normal try outs, have loads of legit free books on the device. Now for the first impressive feature. Using a word document created for T155 pre-markup and structured content for Moodle, I managed to email it to my kindle (using an Amazon issued address), within minutes, it appeared on Kindle, formatted to the Kindle and with the inserted ‘screen grab’ images in a very recognizable format. Impressed, in fact very impressed. Off to play some more, me thinks.

Some 4000 words later and having ploughed into chapter 6 (of 7), I am having some fun looking at hacking, different attacks and the general concept of network security. None of this is high brow, most of the material is common sense, except that for many this may be the first time they have seen in print some sagely advice on systems security. Bit tired now, like Zebedee says, it must be time for bed.

We do like our badges of honour don’t we, like pelts or scalps, in different domains of society there are those who like to display their badges with pride. Some I feel are very meaningful and highly deserved, but what often impresses me more is that those who have earnt them play this down as a mere consequence. Then there are letters after ones name, I have them, others I know have them as well and like me don’t seem too interested in displaying them (I don’t think I have ever used mine, but I am sure I may be wrong). Yet I see some personalities who display their acronyms like a peacock in ardor. Should I get some, to parade in front of others?

If you are insane, would you be aware of this, or is your ignorance of the fact the real case for incarceration, to protect yourself from your own miscomprehension. Ready to admit that I am living proof that you can function one egg short of a chicken, I do often wonder about the so called educational professionals I encounter. Many are so lost in their own void that they cannot see what is happening on the ground, which is often sitting their in front of their nose. Happy to play political games, they seem to have no inclination that there are students out there getting poor, inappropriate and incredibly inadequate education. Yet, they will hail this as a success, me, I think this is pure madness, as these fools have lost any comprehension of what education is for.

Grinding cogs of consequence, oiled by temporal decay. Slowly churning, teeth biting into another wasted day. Bitter redemption, as the gears turn, another micron passed as the passing years burn. What is thought, but a puff of smoke, stroking the driving cylinders. Giving hope delusion, giving us another day. Dare not stop, daren't think, must not stop, never consider, too soon to contemplate, what fate has in store. We dance this universe macabre, knowing that tomorrow, will become today, alas yesterday will be long gone. Another step in the waltz, another shuffle for our minds, to our finale it binds. Ok, this needs a little honing, not bad for a moment of divergent thought.

A call for all those in education Are you someone that thinks rules are there to follow     Do you feel that the rules are in place for a good reason         Do you think that ‘they’ have already thought of it, so we should not worry Free yourself Rules are opportunities     Often there is no good, reason, and if there was, chances are it is no longer the case         Become one of the ‘they’ and subvert, its fun Its not anarchy, nor is it common sense, take the time to think, when it comes to you, you will know what to do.

Those of you who know me, know my persona is not the kind to make demands of. Ask yes, request certainly, negotiate by all means, demand best not, it gets quite emotional, the kind of emotional where you: Wonder why your head has been detached from your torso Suffer a torrent of verbal GBH Cannot comprehend why I am rolling on the floor in laughter So, with considerable amusement an editor from a long standing publisher relationship sent an email, three weeks ago.             X needs doing, do it now, the deadline is Y My out of office, for this period gives accurate information on my availability (none), and I see no retraction from the email. I get another demand, demanding why I have not responded. I send an email saying ‘ahem one is busy’. The reply comes with an edict to get it done if I have time, I don’t have this luxury, so choose not to do anything. Come a couple of days ago, aggressive email comes in, basically demanding to know why I have done nothing. Lets

This week, I had an incredibly interesting and worrying conversation with someone in the UK education sector. Without presenting any details, the gist of the conversation was about how their ‘OFSTED outstanding’ was avoiding delivery of ‘difficult’ and ‘commercially relevant’ subjects in the IT sector as this would risk their ‘achievement rate’. Sadly, this is not the first time I have heard this, more is the pity that this would be difficult to prove. The demands of the IT sector, preclude that our youngsters NEED to have commercially relevant skills and that in order for the UK to thrive in the international IT sector. Yet educators, are interested in serving the league tables and the status mongers, not their customers and the service they are expected to provide. Imagine what disappointment it must be, to have gained a nationally recognized qualification and discover that employers have no need for your skills as they are too low, out of date or irrelevant.

Over the last three days I have enjoyed the considerable privilege of watching, judging and supporting the competition of three young hopefuls from the UK on their quest to be selected for the UK squad at World Skills 2011. It isn't easy, I mean, really it is not easy. You have to be CompTIA A+ proficient before you set foot in the arena, then for what could be easily considered as a triathlon of six hour activities, each of these souls MUST be a Cisco, Microsoft and Linux expert. There are no half measures, there is not mitigations, if it does not work, they don’t get the points, simple fact. Many seasoned IT professionals may be an expert in one of these disciplines, some maybe in two, these souls aged 19-22 have to be world class in all three. Certain corners of the national press give our youth bad coverage, come and see these people at work, they have a passion worthy of respect.