Peter Legrove's Podcast

MOOCs And How To Survive Them

Peter Legrove — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 06:03:25 +0000

Peter Legrove is in the process of writing a new book. One of his other books in education is about teaching your children to read using phonics and Montessori sandpaper letters. This book is about MOOCs, what they are, how to do them, and the effect they might have on the future of education as we know it. MOOCs are just something that hit the free scene on the internet last year and have somehow taken on a mind of their own. Well it seems that way from a MOOCers point of view. Whether they are as popular as they were is hard to determine. Because each MOOC is different you cannot compare across MOOCs. Whereas one MOOC might have an active forum, others do not. And it depends on the students. One thing I have noticed is the quality of students has increased dramatically over the past few MOOCs. I do not know if that is over most MOOCs or just the ones I've had a go at. I would like to see some completion figures from the MOOCs I take like, How many students get a certificate? How many get the free certificate and how many get a paid certificate. Just a few stats to see what I was up against. In my humble opinion I would say MOOCs have gone from a novelty to something serious. There are some serious students doing the peer assessments and the quality is amazing. But MOOCs haven't done what I thought they were going to do, when they first came out. And that was an advertisement for the university and the lecturer who wrote a book. I have only received one advertisement for a paying course from a university, and it wasn't even the university that had the MOOC. Maybe the universities should take a MOOC about how to use MOOCs to get paying students. As has been said before, academics don't always follow their own advice. They must have one hell of a mailing list and they are just not using it. I thought I would be bombarded with emails for courses and books the lecturer had written. But not so. So I don't really know where they are heading. Unless this is the future of higher education and is a prelude to lifelong learning. A very few popular internet people - I couldn't call them gurus - who live in the NOW, like James Altucher, are against sending young adults to university. Mainly because the middle class is dead and universities prepare students for the middle class. Also because life experience is possible more important going forward. And why start your working life deep in debt. Since the financial crisis of 2007, high paying jobs of the middle class are few and far between. That could be the future. So start your lifelong learning with a MOOC or two and build up your resume or CV, while you are working making money. And not piling on debt while at university. Another thing about the future is “The top ten jobs advertised in 2010 did not exist 2004” so why spend four years at university when, some say, half of what you learn will be obsolete before you graduate. If lifelong learning is the future then MOOCs are definitely changing the future. When employees accept MOOCs on a resume or CV, then they will be a force to be competing with. Now what are MOOCs are why have they suddenly popped up on the internet. Well a MOOC is a Massive Open Online Course. Could be an extension of the MOG. Which have been around for a while and have dominated the internet since it's inception nearly. And I would say have been and still are, a driving force on how the internet will head into the future. A MOG is a Massive Online Game, and even people who are not gamers have seen the impact of MOGs on their kids. Most MOOCs are real time courses, that have strict time limits, and you have to complete parts of the course before the deadline. And before moving on to the next part of the course. Each course has different criteria for completion, but most have peer reviewed assessments, and you have to do so many forum entries. These usually are questions posted as well as answering other posts. And the forums can make or break a course. In some courses there is a lot of interaction on the forums, while others the threads just don't seem to hang together. It all depends on the students, and I think how many are aiming for a Certification of Completion with Distinction. Or if you get students really interested in the topic then forums are a ton of fun. And you can sometimes get excellent links to other related stuff on the internet. I've been introduced to some amazing stuff on the forums. Stuff I'd never have found otherwise. Also, since the MOOCs are the latest, they are very up-to-date. And you are introduced to the latest in research and where it is heading in the future. One thing I do like about MOOCs is they show you available free software and other interesting things available on the internet. They have helped me to upgrade my internet experience to new tech. I've been on the internet for years now, and I am stuck using old tech, because I am comfortable with it and I have had no reason to upgrade. Now I've been shown the latest and I'm impressed with it, so I've changed. That is what MOOCs have done to me. I'm sad to say I haven't made any friends that have lasted longer than the MOOC, but I have enjoyed them all. Now, are MOOCs the next best thing or just a passing phase. Are they a disruptive technology or the future of education. We shall see. Are universities and institutes of learning worried about MOOCs and how they have changed education so far. Or is it, education hasn't changed for the past 150 years. Don't you think it is about time it changed. This site is © Copyright Peter Legrove 2004-2014, All Rights Reserved http://animalsdinosaursandbugs.com You can copy this webpage and/or this article and/or download the podcast, and use it on your website, blog and in any print or digital media that is legal and not involved in the exploitation of any person or child, but you cannot change any wording and you must leave this copyright box intact and visible.

The Internet and Me

Peter Legrove — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 09:08:10 +0000

I'm heading to 60 in the next couple of years and I've been apart of this internet thing for as long as I can remember. I started out on computers before Win98 and the first modem I got was a, I think, 28 and I upgraded to 33 I think, and I thought the world has just got incredible fast. Then I think we went to 56. I not sure, some people would say Alzheimer's was setting in, but I just read on the internet this morning, that old people are slow because they have a lot of memories they have to sift through, to get to what they are looking for, and I'm going back a few years. I think I was the first person in my apartment block to have internet, as I was the only apartment to get a bill from the internet company. But that all changed. Fast. Anyway when my win98 clapped out from old age I upgraded to xp and I'm still using it. I still tell the younger generation about a scene from “Scary Movie 3” when Cindy types in a name into the search box, and then pop, pop, pop the whole screen is full of advertisements popups. They don’t believe me. That is what the internet was like in the good old days. It has changed a lot since then. Thinking back to my internet days I can't remember when I started these things and I could probably look them up on the internet but why. I checked out secondlife back when my kid was 3 and now she is 17 so it has been a few years. And I still potter round on secondlife on Sundays when I go to church. It's a good life. Most things kids take for granted we were at the forefront. My niece was utterly amazed that I was on facebook before her as her dad, my brother is a bit slow when it comes to tech. One of the saddest days of my internet life was when they shut down the alternative health forum I belonged too. I never met any of the people on the forum, but they were my friends. We had some great chats then. To date, nothing has replaced that in my life. Another memorable internet moment was when I was teaching English in China and I was on my favorite online game, and it come up in the chat box 'Bad earthquake in China' I said 'I was in China and I knew nothing' there was nothing on the news sites. The game nearly came to standstill as people were trying to find out what was going on, there were condolences in the chat box. We knew it was bad, very bad as a few of the gamers were on site, but we never knew it was that terrible. Then it was back to the game. The internet was the future and I wanted to be a part of it. Next it was time to have a go at online education. I did my Graduate Diploma online, took a couple of years but I finished it. Now that is the way of the future of education, now I am into MOOCs instead of MOGs. Before SARS circled the globe I checked the internet typing in all the symptoms and the only thing that came up was a bioweapon. I was a bit worried. But that what the internet was all about, instant information and I loved it. The first book I brought off amazon.com was a disaster. They sent the wrong book. I don’t know if it was deliberate or not, but I do have my suspicions. It was one of the subsidiaries that sell on Amazon, and they sent me a way out of date book by the same author. I was really pissed off to say the least as I wanted that book. One of the pitfalls of buying on the internet is, it costs more than the book is worth to post it back. I still haven’t brought that book. Here is a snippet of what I have on the internet I’ve had a website for years, tried my own TV channel on ustream.tv, have a secondlife.com avatar, profile pages on twitter.com and linkedin.com, put videos up on youtube.com and viddler.com, even set up an internet business, published books on amazom.com and lulu.com, put up pdfs to scribd.com to read free online, articles to hubpages.com and squidoo.com, and that doesn't include the things I've forgotten about. Just to find out what is about me on the internet, my internet footprint, I google my name and all the other log in names I can remember. And to top it off I went to my mum's funeral on skype. I was sitting there behind my screen, ten hours by plane away, in a tie and shorts watching the funeral procession. Even at the wake I saw mum lying there peacefully. That was a first for a lot of people. Even the funeral director said it was a first. But that is the future. The internet has kept the family together, skyping around the globe and sending emails faster than the eye can see. But I am getting left behind now. Before I was ahead of the curve but now the curve has overtaken me. I still use tech I am comfortable with. I haven't updated, I'm still using xp. Now I use open office and kampozer instead of microsoft office. When this computer claps out I'll upgrade, right how there is no need too. http://animalsdinosaursandbugs.com/The%20internet%20and%20me.mp3 To check me out go to my website or just google me. http://.animalsdinosaurandbugs.com

Is Writing Going The Way Of The Dinosaur

Peter Legrove — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 08:34:42 +0000

Some parents debate whether learning to write is necessary as all around them they see computers and keyboards. I sometimes wonder myself as I was brought up on a notepad and pencil and all around me kids are using computers. As a school teacher I still use the blackboard and chalk, but most of the young, new teachers use the computer and power point presentations. I have tried using the computer in the classroom but it didn’t suit me, as I like to stand and walk around. I think the kids prefer the blackboard as the teacher can create the lesson as they go. But the debate still continues whether students like using a computer in the classroom or not. We have already got the paperless office and for some courses in the university we have the paperless lecture. But they are basically to do with highly computerized courses and it is to the advantage of the student to use a computer. But not all courses need a computer. Now back to school life. A lot of students have computers but there are a number of socially disadvantaged students in the lower area schools who can’t afford computers. These are the students without a voice only school teachers know about them. The people who do all the talking and want computers in the classroom, are the parents of the socially adjusted students not the socially inapt students. And most of the older teachers like me, don’t like computers because the students know more about them that the teacher. And most students are better on a keyboard that the teacher. Anyway with the number of students who own computers you would think they would do their homework on a computer but not so. They do the research on a computer but then they hand in written assignments, albeit in printing not in longhand writing. Most children use the computer for entertainment as opposed to working on one and they have this mind set that the computer is a plaything not a work tool. People from my generation appreciate the computer because we know what life was like without one and the younger generation do not. The computer is a great time saver as well as an extremely good time waster and a lot of students have mastered the time wasting side of the computer. They have to be taught how to use the computer as a time saving tool. At school we don’t do that, we just teach them how to type. And parents don’t bother, they just let them lose on the computer so they are not destroying the house. One big change I have noticed that has been brought about by the computer is longhand writing verses printing. My generation all wrote in longhand but now nearly nobody writes in longhand, it is all in block letters. That is partly due to schools not teaching writing and also teachers using block letters. On the blackboard I use block because the students can read it but everywhere else I use longhand. The only time I use longhand is in a kindergarten where I teach Montessori writing with sandpaper letters to a bunch of kids after class. Anyway I think the pencil will dominate over the keyboard as long as the students think the computer is an entertainment tool not a work machine. At present this thinking process only changes for some students while at school. I still don’t know why some students do their homework on a computer but I do know most of them don’t and most have access to a computer. http://animalsdinosaursandbugs.com/writing%20dinosaurs.mp3 I like the Montessori system of teaching writing and reading and this is the course I recommend http://www.animalsdinosaursandbugs.com/Teaching-Reading.htm All the best teaching your children Teacher Peter

How Constant Repetition Can Turn You Into A Genuis

Peter Legrove — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 22:35:35 +0000

I was utterly amazed with the National Geographic program My Brilliant Brain. It is amazing what our brains are capable of. After watching the program about the girl chess master it seems that we have to somehow transfer the knowledge from our short-term memory to our long-term memory. In the story when the girl was very young the girl’s father kept showing her different chess moves from the grand masters. This constant repetition instilled her chess knowledge in her long-term memory. This is not an isolated case as the father used the same approach with the younger sisters and the three girls are now all grand chess masters. I think a similar approach is how we learn reading. When I was a kid I think the Nuns taught me synthetic phonics at school, as that was in vogue at that time. And because we didn’t have as many distractions as the kids of today, we implanted reading in our long-term memory. We did this by reading and more reading. I lived in the library and read a lot and my reading skills now are quite good. I tried a speed-reading course and because I kept at it my reading speed improved. Speed-reading came in handy when I was reading novels or fiction especially science fiction as I love reading that. With science fiction and fantasy you have to imagine what you are reading and that takes you into another realm of speed-reading. Anyway as we get older it is easier for us to read as we have had lots of practice. We have basically implanted the words in our long term memory and we can recall them instantly. I would say very similar to the girl grand chess master. She could instantly recall the many chess moves as they were implanted in her long term memory. Also I was brought up with a pencil in one hand and to compete in the modern world I had to learn to type. Typing involves memory and with constant repetition typing just becomes second nature like reading. I can now do it without thinking but I first had to implant the different moves of my fingers over the keyboard in my long term memory. And that is where constant repetition comes inby just doing it. To start I had to force myself but over time I settled into the new typing way of not looking at the keyboard. But it did take time. These things don’t happen over night, they just happen. Now back to reading, I will admit when I was a kid I loved reading so I was pretty close to being a bookworm. I lived in the library and I had an endless collection of books. But it all started with phonics and once I understood the code to turn the word into a sound I understood, I could read. So getting the 44 phonics sounds instilled into your child’s long-term memory is a must. But it does get complicated with the same phonic sounds having many different spellings and meanings. So it takes time but you must get all the different combinations instilled in your child’s mind. Then they must read and read to plant the phonics sounds, meanings and spellings in their long-term memory. Learning the phonics is only half the equation they must use them as they read. This second step is quite crucial so keep them reading. Get them away from the TV and computer until everything is planted in the long term memory then they can read on the computer if they like. Forget the TV if you can. Now, my daughter had incredible problems and it was only after I started stressing phonics that she slowly improved. Every time she asked me to say a word I would break the word down into syllables and phonics. Then I would read the phonic sounds backwards so she could see the different combinations of letters. Now she is okay but it took a lot of effort on my part. So if your kids are having problems get them started on phonics as early as possible and keep reading to your kids. I like the Montessori system of teaching writing and reading and this is the course I recommend http://animalsdinosaursandbugs.com/constant%20repetition.mp3 http://www.animalsdinosaursandbugs.com/Teaching-Reading.htm All the best teaching your children Teacher Peter

Caveman kids and the mommoth hunt

Peter Legrove — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 18:15:14 +0000

The mammoth came, big scraggy beasts that lumbered through the darkness of the moonless night. Their thudding footsteps, the only sound that echoed off the frozen landscape. Bouncing off the ice covered hills until the sound was lost amongst the sparse lifeless trees that stood short against the bleak and lonely landscape. The mammoth followed the same path they had followed from the beginning of time. Proud beasts that walked tall. There was not much to be afraid of when you are a huge walking giant that towers over all the other beasts of the plains. But there was one little beast the mammoths were very afraid off. And they were here. Mommy Mammoth following a path her mother had taught her. A pathway passed down from generation to generation. At the back of the hill over looking the steep cliff the hunters waited. They could hear the giant beasts lumbering along in the darkness. And they could feel the ground shudder with every movement. The strong overpowering smell of unwashed fur, that was covered in years of sweat and dirt floated on the crisp night air. It mingled with the beautiful pungent smell of wood smoke that drifted around the blazing fire Little Leaf and her younger brother Rock Thrower tended the fire. They had spent all afternoon gathering wood to burn, and long dry sticks to be used as fire sticks. The mammoths were now walking along the cliff edge. It was time for the hunters to move. The mammoth were huge dangerous beasts that towered over the hunters. But the hunters had a secret weapon that the mammoth were afraid of. FIRE. “Stay here and keep the fire burning” Father said “and if anything comes wave the fire sticks at it.” Then he and the hunters walked into the night. Little Leaf and Rock Thrower watched the trail of flames walking towards the mammoth. The mammoth could smell the smoke and hear the soft crackle of the fire and they knew. Mommy Mammoth had been here many times. She knew the hunters would come as they always came. She trumpeted a warning and then charged, hoping her little daughter would follow. The hunters rushed into the herd waving the fire sticks. Hoping the confusion would drive some of the huge hairy beasts over the cliff. Little leaf and Rock Thrower heard the screams and knew the hunt had been a success. Mommy Mammoth keep trumpeting and leading the way but in the confusion she lost her little calf. She had heard the screams and knew that when the sun came up there would be less in the herd. Article by © Peter Legrove 2014, at www.animalsdinosaursandbugs.com **You have permission to reprint this article. Use it on your website, in your ezine or newsletter or in any printed form. The only requirement is to include the footnote at the base of the article and not change the wording**

Introduction

Peter Legrove — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 07:16:54 +0000

This is how it all began

Caveman Kids

Peter Legrove — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 09:04:11 +0000

What did caveman kids play with when home was a cave on the edge of a cliff?