21st Century Educational Voodoo
Send to Kindle Listen to this Post Jim Shimabukuro uses Rupert Murdoch’s quote “We have a 21st century economy with a 19th century education system” to pose a question of what should 21st Century...
View ArticlePseudo-education as a weapon: Beyond the ridiculous in linguistic prescriptivism
Send to Kindle Listen to this Post Most of us are all too happy to repeat clichés about education to motivate ourselves and others to engage in this liminal ritual of mass socialization. One such...
View ArticleDo we need a gaming literacy: Literacy metaphor hack
Send to Kindle Listen to this Post I am a gaming semi-literate! I was listening to the discussion of the latest BioShock game on the latest TWiT podcast when I realized that I am in fact game...
View ArticleThree books of the year 2013 and some books of the century 1900-2013
Send to Kindle Listen to this Post I have been asked (as every year) to nominate three books of the year for Lidové Noviny (a Czech paper I contribute to occasionally). This is always a tough choice...
View Article5 things everybody should know about language: Outline of linguistics’...
Send to Kindle Listen to this Post Drafty This was written in some haste and needs further refinement. Maybe one day that will come. For now, it will be left as it stands. Background This post outlines...
View ArticleWhat does it mean when words ‘really’ mean something: Dismiss the Miss
Send to Kindle Listen to this Post A few days ago, I tweeted a link to an article in TES: What Miss really means < It’s always worthwhile re-examining ingrained inequalities http://t.co/GKhjc4VgUP...
View ArticleExplanation is an event, understanding is a process: How (not) to explain...
TL;DR There are at least 3 uses of metaphor in the educational process: 1. Invitation to enter; 2. An instrument to grasp knowledge with; 3. Catalyst to transform understanding. Many educators assume...
View Article5 kinds of understanding and metaphors: Missing pieces in pedagogical taxonomies
TL;DR This post outlines 5 levels or types of understanding to help us better to think about the role of metaphor in explanation: Associative understanding: Place a concept in context without any...
View ArticleWriting as translation and translation as commitment: Why is (academic)...
This book will perhaps only be understood by those who have themselves already thought the thoughts which are expressed in it—or similar thoughts. It is therefore not a text-book. Its object would be...
View Article5 books on knowledge and expertise: Reading list for exploring the role of...
Recently, I’ve been exploring the notion of explanation and understanding. I was (partly implicitly) relying on the notion of ‘mental representations’ as built through deliberate practice. My plan was...
View ArticleHow to actually write a sentence: The building blocks of written language
Some time ago, Thomas Basbøll followed up his excellent post on how to write a paragraph with a much more daring endeavour on how to write a sentence. And while the post is a pleasure to read, I think...
View ArticleNo back row, no corridor: Metaphors for online teaching and learning
Publication note An earlier version of this was published in the Oxford Magazine No 422. This post expands certain sections based on questions and feedback I received following the first publication...
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