Language and environment

Macfarlane ( 2010.)  asserts that in a society where the outdoors is increasingly replaced with the indoor and a virtual existence, the language of landscape is lost or replaced by the language of the technical and virtual, our knowledge and understanding of the natural world and the language associated with it is diminished, leaving it open to desecration. In 2008 it was noted that many words relating to nature were culled from the Oxford Junior Dictionary and replaced by words associated with the inside. For example, some words that were omitted were as follows; buttercup, tulip, raven, and conker, these words being replaced with such words as celebrity, compulsory, block graph and database.The likes of almond, blackberry and crocus first made way for analogue, block graph and celebrity in the Oxford Junior Dictionary in 2007. Laurence Rose, who works for the RSPB also provided a list of additional words taken out, including hamster, heron, herring, kingfisher, lark, leopard, lobster, magpie, minnow, mussel, newt, otter, ox, oyster and panther. One can acknowledge that it is necessary to recognise the need to introduce new words and to make room for them , that language is influenced by environment, however the current 2012 edition maintained the changes, and instead of catkin, cauliflower, chestnut and clover, today’s edition of the dictionary, which is aimed at seven-year-olds starting Key Stage Two, features cut and paste, broadband and analogue.There is a shocking, proven connection between the decline in natural play and the decline in children’s wellbeing. Will the removal of these words from the Oxford Junior Dictionary ruin lives? Probably not but do we want an alphabet for children that begins ‘A is for Acorn, B is for Buttercup, C is for Conker’; or one that begins ‘A is for Attachment, B is for Block-Graph, C is for Chatroom ? The Oxford Dictionaries have a rightful authority and a leading place in cultural life, however, should they not address such issues and  seek to help shape children’s understanding of the world, in a holistic manner and not just to mirror its trends.

Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?

Made me laugh.

Sir Ken Robinson is one of the world’s most influential voices in education and his 2006 TED Talk on the subject is the most viewed in the organization’s history.He focuses on one of the most critical issues of our time: how to transform the nation’s troubled educational system.  He argues for an end to our outmoded industrial educational system and proposes a highly personalized, organic approach that draws on today’s unprecedented technological and professional resources to engage all students, develop their love of learning, and enable them to face the real challenges of the twenty-first century. 

My Microsoft Experience

My Experience with Microsoft office is a basic one and I would class myself as a digital immigrant, (however I dislike the term) in fact I resisted a technological relationship for a long time in favour of a practical life and the great outdoors. My knowledge is therefore limited to the basic application of Word for written work, for letters and the general creation of documents, even now I do not know or use it to it's full capacity. I have also used Power point a number of times for presentations as a necessary part of my degree. I have never used excel but I can see the advantages of using spreadsheets for such things as schedules and attendance lists. I can also see that both word and power point are valuable, even necessary for undergraduate students, but I suspect that most students would possibly be better equipped at using these programmes than I would be. I can see that advances in computer technology has its place but ultimately I would rather be up to my elbows in clay or plaster..... here I rest my case.

ICT In Post- Compulsory and Adult Education

   This is ...my journey into the realms of technology something I am not very familiar with ....."Barrier to learning" springs to mind.However I shall endeavour to persevere and challenge myself in the name of education and vocation.