60 seconds to write

Brilliantly simple.

In their words: “you’ll see one word at the top of the following page. you have sixty seconds to write about it. as soon as you click ‘go’ the page will load with the cursor in place. don’t think. just write.”

What pupils think about ICT

Good to hear students given a voice and a chance to comment on the technologies deemed good for them in the latest of a an interesting podcast series.  

Lulu – back on track

My first experiences with Lulu were OK but I had hoped for more. I’d heard a lot of good comments about it. So a while ago, I revisited the site to publish a book (not mine and more on that in a later post). Both the process and, importantly, the printed artefact were excellent. The service made it easy to upload the digital file of the book which Lulu then converted into a print-ready version of the book. It was only when I ordered a copy of the book that it was printed. Print on Demand makes it feasible to print books in low numbers and makes self-publishing achievable and affordable. The first version has now been proofed and the final version will soon be available for general sale. Watch this space!

When praise backfires?

What do you think about these comments?

• “A teacher who praises a child may be unwittingly sending the message that the student reached the limit of his innate ability, while a teacher who criticizes a pupil conveys the message that he can improve his performance even further.”

• “Offering praise has become a sort of panacea for the anxieties of modern parenting.”
• “It turns out that the ability to repeatedly respond to failure by exerting more effort—instead of simply giving up—is a trait well studied in psychology.”
• “Students turn to cheating because they haven’t developed a strategy for handling failure.”

Read the rest of a fascinating article here.

Discovering rules

Perhaps one thing that distinguishes the last generation or two from previous ones is their willingness – and ability – to discover rules, procedures and properties for themselves. Not sure if it’s a reluctance to be told things or more a sign of a liking for active learning and active discovery. In computer gaming, for example, the rules are there to be discovered (and broken). A couple of enjoyably surrealistic examples that don’t feature pneumatic tomb raiding women are Samorost and Treasure Box. Delightfully infuriating…

Without words

If my last post was about words (and animations), this is about pictures. With no text, other than setting the scene, Vulcan & Vishnu tells a story simply, with characterisation, humour and thoughtfulness. Would work great in the classroom too.

Animated by poetry

Well I didn’t know America had a Poet Laureate, or to use the official title Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress…. Didn’t know too much about some of the more modern ones and haven’t explored them all yet but struck by Billy Collins – somehow serious but with lots of playfulness e.g. the poem “Sonnet” begins “All we need is fourteen lines, well, thirteen now.” But what also impressed were some effective animations of Billy Collins’ poems, including Forgetfulness or Man in Space

But my favourite animation is “The Dead.” Really like too, the possibilities of pupils creating simple stick-drawing animations…

“Typography” – the word doesn’t do it justice

One of the most inventive, subtle and engaging alphabet bestiaries you’re likely to see is Bembo’s Zoo…

Had to Google to find out it was by Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich and then spent a profitable and pleasurable few minutes learning more, including this

Collaborative writing – all my own work?

Working together in a collaborative fashion can be great if the product or project requires a number of different types of personality, experience or skills. But what about creative writing? Does the conventionally solitary, individual nature of creative writing benefit from groupthink?

Often the process of writing as an individual uncovers ideas and thoughts that the writer wasn’t aware of at the conscious level – the process of individual writing (not the product) can teach you something. But there are some potentially interesting developments at plotbot

 

 

 

Which is apparently a “web-based collaborative screenwriting application where you can write a screenplay with as many or as few people as you like.” Despite my reservations, and of the this excellent article at The High Hat, I’ve signed up for this and look forward to trying it out.

 

Lulu? SoSo…

The postie arrived at the weekend with the return package from Lulu.com and I unwrapped the slim publication of short stories with some excitement. Hmm… The process of creating the book online had not been too difficult but I probably rushed things slightly and noticed a typo. Lesson learnt – print out and properly proof read work before committing it to publication.

Main reason for feeling deflated? It was the physical quality of the book that was the disappointment. Here’s a photograph of it on a black background.

There’s a nice gloss finish to the cover but the paper is thin and curls easily. You can see it curling in the photo. You might also be able to see a thin white stripe on the right hand edge of the cover. It’s not been trimmed properly…

Good concept but poor execution. I’m prepared to give it one more shot with another project but I’m feeling less enthusiastic about it now.