Teraknor

A quick thought over a cup of coffee. Handing over our daughter this morning was a painless process. On the walk back to the reception we were chatting to a member of the transition team. Normal polite enquiries etc, polite short summary of why we are with them for our daughters assessment etc. Discussing the shared knowledge that the local authority is playing coy, feckless and hard to get. With this they shared .... "yes, often I find we are spending more time consoling parents, these days" Sadly we are not in isolation.

Via various means I get the distinction of having to arbitrate when a centre asks what a specific criterion means. For a given unit within either the level two or level three qualifications. Often this means : They are trying to play me off against their standards verifiers (one of my team) There is internal debate [which I appreciate] Sometimes its a genuine (i do not know) question [which I also appreciate] Or, they are trying to play off an internal verifier against the awarding body Sometimes its quite inspirational, it shows they are thinking, questioning, innovating and challenging the conventional wisdom. More often its trying to buck the system to their own ends. When they spit the question out, what is never appreciated is that once the arbitration is issued, that is considered the definitive answer by the awarding body. In a Machiavellian way, having enjoyed the transition from poacher extraordinaire to the gamekeeper that managers the other gamekeepers. I have oc...

Someone tried to tell me off, via email for my views on Pascal. Working up a rant and getting into quite a lather, if I was the emotional type, I could have taken it personally. So happy to reply, I suggested that instead of emailing me personally, they might like to try using the public forum of either this blog or the closed community forum we are both part of, and where i started this thread. They did not seem to like this, declaring my original comments at derogatory. Um, nope, i asked a question? One that prompted those with an emotional agenda to react, probably because i challenged a notion that what they may be doing, may not be the best thing for their students. My response was along these lines, funny, they don't seem to have presented a considered response, either via email [tut tut], this blog, twitter, facebook or the community forum. Like the many others, who fall into a range of camps and broadly disagree/agree with my views. Debate I like, but don't t...

Ok, this is not a scientific study, the audience participation is likely to be from a self selecting group etc. So lets call this a poll amongst friends, followers and like minded. A question that is structural to my research is ... Do you think simulation can replace real hardware, when teaching networking? To remain fair, I am not going to share my opinion as it is biased and please don't try and answer this to please me (as I really don't know who will be answering and if you know me, you will know that it won't). Please take a look at the top left of this blog and based on your personal opinion, answer either yes or no. You do not have to be an expert, or an academic or even a teccie, everyone's opinion in this context counts. The opinions below are valid view points, but must not contribute to your own independent decision, please complete the question before reading these. =================================...

I do like the proverb ... "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade" It does sum me up, it has the element of cynic and pragmatism all rolled into one. Something I often encounter is teachers/lecturers/academics/idiots who complain about the situation they are in, the rules they have to work under and how they cannot do what they want. Some of my faves amongst the hand wringing drivel includes: We don't have time We are not allowed But, I would get into trouble It does not say that i can Management wont support it  Maybe successful teaching requires an attitude, at least I think so. If you want to have fun, teach the right subjects, just go and do it, don't ask permission. There have been times in my career that i have encountered friction as the ideas don't gel with those around me, but when the results say otherwise, then who cares. Yes the current educational environment is tough, funny, but this is the case in many sectors, either be wimpish or ...

Last night I deliberately started a debate on a ‘teachers of programming’ forum to gauge response. As expected those who were ‘interested’ in sticking to their ideas responded. I asked the question … I am of the view that Pascal is best kept in the past, where anyone who says that they are still teaching current programming skills using this language, worries me. Am I being unreasonable? The response was defensive and encouraged those who feel that it is something they must teach to self-acknowledge this fact. My concerns regarding Pascal stem from many positions: Old technology, being taught now …. If this were current in any way I would have less of an issue. It concerns me that some still teach C, but its structure is such that it does help programmers learn something that many systems use. But Pascal’s verbose structure is from a time gone, so why? Is it being used in anger? There is a place for scratch and greenfoot in getting stude...

Every so often a week now comes where you have to wear multiple mental hats. Having packed my bag, I am soon going to head off to a hotel for a 'revalidation' at a University, whose foundation degree programme covers a partnership with three further education colleges within their county boundary. I will be sitting as the independent external on this panel, to help them assure that this process is fair, has suitable rigour and academic level (as well as industrial relevance). Having a pretty decent set of edu-flannel detectors it will be interesting to see what both the university and their partner institutions come up with. Having sat at both ends of this equation more than once, locally, nationally and internationally, i am still amused by the assumptions made by those meeting externals for the first time. Should be fun, I hope.