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I reckon I’ve learned more this year, my 26th year of existence, than any in any other. Of course, as each year passes my ability to process and synthesize knowledge increases (which is handy) but I think the amount I’ve learned this year actually reflects the multitude of excellent blogs and concomitant posts which I’ve read. I certainly haven’t read as many books this year. I’m not sure whether that’s a bad thing or not… ;)

Please feel free to add your blog posts of the year in the comments section! :D

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I’ve just sent off my Ed.D. thesis proposal outline to my supervisor. It’s a bit rambling in places, but it captures what I want to look at – i.e. the changing nature of knowledge and how educational institutions are/can react to this. As I wrote it using Google Docs, it’s available for public scrutiny by clicking here. Your comments, criticism and suggestions are very welcome! :)

I’ve joined a worldwide group of teachers who hope to make a difference. So far there’s around 7 of us, including Chris Craft and Jeff Utecht. We’re going to be known as NextGen Teachers and the aim is to represent the world and what we’re doing from a more digital native-esque perspective. Although I’m currently the youngest member at 26, the oldest is a mere 31. Keep you eyes (and ears!) peeled for more in 2007… :D

BBC News and the Education Guardian report that the government is to give schools extra money to develop extra lessons and activities for their brightest pupils. Whilst this sounds great, it’s just a sop to middle England really. The ‘top 10%’ is done on a school-wide, not a nation-wide basis, meaning that bright pupils in a successful school will get no extra help whereas less bright/talented ones in other areas will. I’m all for extra money, but the fact that the government’s setting up yet another trust/quango to deal with it makes me despair… :s

Some readers might be interested in my ongoing work towards my Ed.D. which I document at my Elgg-powered Ed.D. blog. I’m currently looking at four main areas: the changing nature of knowledge, 21st century curricula, the stimulii for change in educational institutions, and how that change is working out in practice. I’d certainly welcome any thoughts and comments! :D

As if my RSS reader wasn’t overloaded enough, I’ve just come across John Connell’s excellent blog whilst researching the changing nature of knowledge for my Ed.D. Formerly a teacher, John is now a ‘Learning Future Strategist’. You might want to start with his contribution to the 5 things… meme and his ideas on Subject Discipline 2.0. It’s great that he’s a UK blogger, but why are all the good ones in Scotland?! :s

The Guardian and BBC News reports that the GTC has endorsed a report which is critical of the testing of 11 and 14 year-olds in England. The report, carried out by the Institute for Public Policy Research, identified the ‘narrow learning, shallow learning, question spotting and risk-averse teaching’ engendered by the testing culture. It recommends instead that teacher assessments show parents how their children are progressing.

This week I’ve got a festive selection box of diverse Christmas treats for your delectation. The posts I mention below are those that have caught my attention this week either because of the potential within them, their practical use, or some other interesting feature. This will be my last main post before Christmas Day, so MERRY CHRISTMAS! one and all… :D

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A good way for teachers to get across the most salient points of their courses to their students – especially for revision – is to put presentations onto their blogs/websites. Whilst this can be done by converting Powerpoint presentations to Flash using OpenOffice.org, by uploading them to Slideshare and using this Wordpress plugin even better results can be obtained! (via Chris Craft)

I’m 26 today. As part of my yearly re-assessing of my goals, ambitions and dreams, I have decided that this blog really shouldn’t be laden with adverts. So, as of today, this blog is ad-free!. I do need to find something useful to fill the space, though, so you may see some rather random things appearing over the next few days. Just ignore them if they’re silly. Please. :p