Lockdown

As it is Poetry Day Ireland @PoetryDay_IRL, I felt inspired to write – been a while, so apologies! #PoetryDayIRL Text over the next few tweets, and then a recording to come at end.

Birds sing to me in the morning
Easing me out of my slumber like an orchestra
Dawn, creeping around the edges of the curtain,
Invades the silence amplifying the songbirds, for me.
Lockdown.

Morning, in a modern jail, with unlimited freedom inside the walls,
Built of more than bricks, mortar and concrete,
Walls of duty,
Walls of legal obligation,
Walls of community,
Walls of hope,
Walls of love,
Walls of life.
Lockdown.

The Nespresso, alert, readies itself for a busy day,
Building foundations, cup by cup, mug by mug.
Lockdown.

Watching the empty road, in a silent rebellion
embraces every walker, runner, shopper, cyclist
to the murmur of the gentle tide.
Lockdown

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Technology Enhanced Living

A piece of technology can be used in the ways that was not intended by the developer. It is not always possible to foresee every problem people will try to solve using the technology that is available to them.

When I look at the Swiss Army knife in my hand, I see many tools on it which could be used to get wine out of a bottle. There is one tool that is clearly the best (the corkscrew) but others could be used to cut the cork or maybe push it into the bottle, all with a similar if less perfect outcome of getting the wine. Sometimes you may have some piece of technology and a different purpose, so innovative usage and adaptation of the tool to your specific case is needed.

Today I was told a story which demonstrated to me the inventiveness of people and their creativity in problem solving.. It is a story of a group of drunk young adults that had fun sprinting as fast as they could to see who could go the fastest. However, this was measured not using a stopwatch, or their smart phones.

On the coast road there are some automated digital speed detectors for cars, so they can see if they are going below or above the speed limit. The speed measured is shown on the sign and a happy face comes up if they are within the limit, and if they are exceeding the limit a sad face comes up.

However, the detector also reacts to humans running as these young adults found out. So late at night, you had a group of young adults, trying to set the fastest speed using this independent test.

I wonder did the designer of this road safety gamification tool thought about how others may use this. I wonder if he thought about the fun that people other than drivers would take from this digital speed enforcement system.  There were no instructions given to the public on how this is to be used, no constraints given.

When you provide technology to people it is not always possible to foresee the eventual outcome. Prepare to be surprised.

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Moodlemoot Ireland and UK Keynotes are released

Moodle has released the four keynote recordings from the recent MoodleMoot in London.
Martin DougiamasJenny GrayFiona Strawbridgegavin_henrick

  • Martin Dougiamas (Founder of Moodle) – The Road Ahead
  • Jenny Gray (Head of Centre of Excellence, Open University) – Ten years and onwards:Moodle at the OU
  • Fiona Strawbridge (Head of Digital Education, UCL) – Scaling up and branching out – from Totality to Connectivity
  • Gavin Henrick (Community Projects Manager, Moodle) – Moodle in 2016

The four keynotes are available on moodle.com/news/

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MoodleMoot Ireland and UK 2016 – Update! Early bird closing Feb 19

The Ireland and UK MoodleMoot for this year is being held in the Park Plaza Riverbank hotel in central London on March 22nd-24th.

The program is really coming together with most of the accepted presentations confirmed by their proposers and have been added to the schedule page. There are 62 presentations and 9 posters accepted to the MoodleMoot, which cover a wide range of topics with 21% being workplace related.

breakdown-topic

The presentations are grouped by different types and lengths. The presentations are either Pecha Kucha (which are 6 mins 40 seconds long) or Short Presentations that are 15 minute long. There is also a poster section in addition to the presentations.

Early bird registration closes on February 19th – so if you haven’t booked yet, head over now to avail of early bird prices.

 

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London calling! Registrations open for MoodleMoot Ireland-UK 2016 – March 22nd-24th

BALLROOM CABARET SET - 300In just about 10 weeks, Moodlers from the UK and Ireland and further afield will descend on London for the Ireland and UK MoodleMoot 2016.

The MoodleMoot is being held over three days at the Park Plaza Riverbank in London on 22nd March – 24th March with the following schedule:

  • 22nd – Workshops and Hackfest
  • 23rd – Presentations, Keynotes, Gala Dinner
  • 24th – Presentations, Keynotes, Gala Dinner

Call for Presentation proposals.

The call for presentations is still open and they are looking for presentations across all sectors and themes in one of three formats:

  • Short Presentations (15min + questions)
  • Pecha Kucha (20 slides x 20 sec/slide)
  • Posters

See the Presenter Guidelines for more information about presentation types

Registration is open!

You can reserve your place at the Ireland and UK MoodleMoot and join hundreds of Moodlers for fun days of learning, networking and development.

The registration provides access to the panels, workshops, presentations, keynote addresses, meals (Coffee breaks and lunch) for each day that you are registered. Both options include the Conference dinner held at the Park Plaza Riverbank on the evening of the 23rd.

There are two ticket options for the MoodleMoot Ireland and UK 2016;

  • a 3 day ticket which includes the workshops/hackfest and the 2 presentation days
  • a 2 day ticket that includes the two main days

For more information check out the Registration page

Register now

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Special offer from Packt on Moodle Administration Essentials

A few months back, we finished the Moodle Administration Essentials book for Packt. It was just focusing on the key areas that a new administrator of Moodle would have to look at including:

  • Install Moodle on a Linux Server
  • Set up the structure of the site using categories
  • Manage user accounts, authenticate users, and control permissions with roles
  • Enhance the site with plugins such as activity modules, admin reports, admin tools, and more
  • Brand the site with configured themes
  • Prepare the site for end-of-year rollover
  • Monitor the usage and performance of the  site

Packt have been so kind as to offer all readers of the blog a 50% discount code when buying the book so be sure to use this code SAHfZsg

Get the book on Packt Publishing

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