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On Holiday in Nerja
I am not quite a techie – I use technology as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. The most used tool that I own is my laptop, it is my companion and I take it everywhere.I have been using a Mac notebook for the last three years (or is it 4?) and in recent times it has shown signs of wear and tear – the power cable broke, the processor became very slow and I had to replace the battery.So I decided to invest in a new MacBook Pro and I took delivery of it just the day before my holidays here in Nerja.As I…
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Learning Assessment Through Life
I attended an excellent workshop today on the topic of assessment and learning. The workshop was delivered by Professor Sally Brown of Leeds Metropolitan University in the UK. The attendees consisted of a mix of our own faculty at National College of Ireland and teachers from some of the other colleges around the country as part of the Learning Innovation Network. Sally started by inviting participants to reflect on how learning assessments have impacted on all our lives.This exercise got me thinking about the idea of a lifespan perspective on assessment – key moments of assessment and how significant their influence can be.When I was in school we were streamed…
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The Skillful Teacher
I came across this quotation from Confucius many months agoand I have been waiting for an opportune time to include it in my blog.Please forgive Confucius for his use of the term 'man' only in his descriptionof the skillful teacher. The most skillful teachers I know are women. When a superior man knows the causes which make instruction successful, and those which make it of no effect, he can be a teacher of others. Thus in his teaching, he leads and does not drag; he strengthens and does not discourage; he opens the way but does not conduct to the endwithout the learner's own efforts. Leading and not dragging produces…
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Looking for Leo Casey’s Blog?
Leo casey’s blog can be found at http://leocasey.blogspot.com/ see you there
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लीर्निंग फ्रॉम स्लुम्दोग Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog Millionaire – Official Movie Site This was a super film that pushed and pulled at your emotions throughout -the direction, editing, photography and acting all combined to create an absolutly absorbing experience. I think great films live on in your head after you’ve seen them and this was the case with Slumdog. What of the story! Without giving too much away – the basic premise centres on the Indian version of the TV show Who Wants to be a Millionaire. People (especially the police) do not believe how the young tea boy from the Mumbai slums can answer all the quiz show questions. He must be cheating! How could…
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Storyteller’s Concert in Lough Rynn Castle
So we were down in Leitrim for the weekend and didn’t we discover as we arrived that this was the most interesting of weekend’s to be in Mohill. The Storytelling festival and the horse fair were both on. Maire and I went to a storytelling concert in Lough Rynn castle and it was an enthralling experience. What struck me above all was the manner in which we become mesmermised by good stories and how the craft of storytelling is still very important in the modern world.Coincidentally the previous day we had a Friday lunchtime seminar on learning and teaching in the College and the importance of stories and good case…
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An Organic Approach to Teaching and How Digital Media Make it Possible
In recent years the trend in digital media design has been toward extending the natural reach of human capacities.Digital cameras for example are not just getting smaller and lighter but they are becoming easier to use. Background technologies now compensate for low light levels, camera shake, poor composition and other errors. All the user needs to do is point and click.The irony is that increasingly complex technology often gives rise to simpler and more natural functionality. Give a camera to a six year old and watch what happens.The same trend can be seen in other designs -technologies such as the wii controller, voice recognition and intuitive Internet interfaces are helping…
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Great Music and Quick Fingers
Had a call from Tom with an out of the blue to join him and his son Shane at a gig in town -part of the Ireland Guitar Festival. Josco Stephan and his band and later joined by Tommy Emmanuel were the bill for the night. I have to confess that I had not heard of these before and was not sure what to expect. As the small theatre filled up (The Suger Club) I was convinced that everyone attending was a guitar head and was a little worried that the show would be my taste. How wron I was! These guys were brilliant! and one of the freshest sounds…
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The Web and the Unconscious
Most psychoanalytical models of the human mind use a depth metaphor to suggest the division between the conscious and the unconscious. Typically Jungian approaches use the idea that the mind is like an island jutting out of the sea with only so-much showing above the surface. The visible component represents the conscious, the tidal zone the personal unconscious and the zone below the collective unconscious.A sense of depth is itself a value laden construct. We envisage the bottom of the sea with ugly fish and black darkness. That’s a scary unconscious. There is another way of looking at this what I think is a more useful metaphor. Look at the…
