Month: March 2008

BBC Micro News

Hal
BBC Micro

A colleague from Cleveratom (Nick) was at the recent science museum event in London which saw the BBC Micro creators reunite to celebrate over 25 years of the machine. In preparation for it Nick created a unique system which uses a BBC Micro to read out the current BBC news RSS feeds! You can subscribe to through iTunes, too. This alone is worthy enough of being called geeky, but in fact also shows the amazing capabilities of this remarkable machine.

Whilst the RSS reading antics do also rely on a couple of other (more modern) machines, the experiment shows the BBC Micro still has enough about it to be used creatively, even now.

In fact, if anyone has a BBC ‘B’ or Master, with or without a CUB monitor, that they want to see used as part of this experiment then I’d love to hear from you. Read on for why… or go to http://www.bbcmicronews.co.uk and see it in action. Read more →

Personalised Learning – is it just for secondary schools?

Hal

Much is said these days about personalisation of learning, but the vast majority of what is said seems to relate mostly to children, or learners, over the age of 10. I’ve never really been too comfortable with the way that we emphasise secondary ages in this kind of way, believing inherently that there is much to gain for learners much younger if we turn our minds to how to apply the same ideals to them.

Take the notion of personalised learning – an approach that seeks to give the individual a pathway to success, negotiated with mentors, tutors or teachers, using modules that they pick for themselves. A kind of supermarket shopping spree with a fixed aim to get to a specific checkout. Along the way through the shop there will be advisors and discussions, checks on progress and possibly even spot checks on the contents of your trolley, but at the end of the journey you pass through the doors equipped for the future that you envisaged from the outset. Read more →

Engage East England, CMS Made Simple

Hal

A recent project required us to create a website for Rochford District Council, Uttlesford District Council and Essex County Council where users would be able to access information relating to public consultations and best practice. Nothing particularly remarkable in that – this is the sort of project that we enjoy doing as it is for a very good purpose and allows a degree of creativity in the design and approach to creating the site.

Read more →