My Gaming Opinion

Gaming, Like alot of things in life, can be a good thing in moderation. Many people can spend far to much time and get involved to deeply in gaming. I recently saw a video on the Internet about two grown men fighting over the last copy of GTA V. I do enjoy gaming but i have never been that excited about it or good at it. i do think that gaming can aid in many skills that are important in your everyday life, such as reaction timing, creativity and of course computer skills. I think that the air force train new pilots on expensive simulators, similar to the ones that people like you and me can buy, i am sure that there would be some research somewhere that shows that computer games as help greatly in areas such as these. The gaming market is worth a great deal of money, and is a good boost to the economy, “Grand Theft Auto V” had raked in over $1 billion in sales within three days of its release. Along with be a good way for many people granted most men still some women to relax. You can't talk about gaming with out mention the thought that many people have that computer games are bad of kids manly because of what they see on the computer screen. 'brainwashing'.

Educational Futures

Education Futures (Learning Environments)

So it’s been a little while since the last blog, but I am back and ready for what could be my last ever year at Swansea met or more correctly University of Wales Trinity Saint Davids Swansea. I am interested and excited for the module, ICT is changing and growing and is only improving, the uses for ICT in the classroom as many positives and very little negative, I strongly believe that one day ICT will engage and motivate pupils to the extent that children will be begging their parents to stay up later and play one more maths game, so in my opinion ICT will play a major role in the future of education.

Mandy also posed this question:

'Over the last decade there have been vast changes in the way we live, learn and work, and with the advancement of technology and new learning tools, these things will continue to evolve. Today’s learners need new skills to survive and thrive in the future. Education should combine practical, intellectual, and social skills as never before'. What do you feel about the statement above? What does this mean for learning environments? How has technology impacted teaching and learning?

I think I have already started to answer the question in the first part of my blog. I agree almost 100% with the statement above it is no longer just good enough to teach pupils the basic subjects’ math, english and science. The world today is changing rapidly with the help of ICT people’s needs and wants change as the world grows and evolves to keep up with the needs for the population. The working world changes, old jobs are being replaced by computers and robots therefore what children learn needs to evolve as well. Complete new job titles and sectors are being created every year to supply the need of the world which means schools/teachers are educating pupils for jobs that have not even been created yet. What the curriculum and to some extent the foundation phase are placing emphasis on is the importance of teaching transferable skills. This seems to be the key word for CV’s and employment transferrable skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, social skills and teamwork are just a few.

There is a strong argument that computers and robots are taking all the jobs but what is not mentioned is that the robots need to be built designed and maintain there is currently a massive short of engineers and not just in the country but throughout Europe, the key to having a successful future is to have successful engineers.

Research Project

Throughout this project I have tried to recreate the idea of a personal ‘sense of place’. For me this is Cornwall. As I live by the sea in Cornwall it was best for me to consider working with that idea in mind. I started looking at harbours and then moved onto to coastal landscape views. After this I explored the idea of beach sports, in particular surfing because as a child I spent much of my time learning how to do this popular sport. I have been trying to capture the movement of the surfer and the waves. In order to do this I brought in the concept of mixing paint with sand sourced from the beach in question. That I believe gives a sense of depth and motion, along with a physical element of the beach.

Julian Beesley who captures landscape views of Cornwall where land meets sea.  He manages to create captivating images with watercolour because they show ‘natural simplicity and surprising versatility’. This is reflected in my work with proof of me experimenting with watercolours.

Other artist I have looked at is Paul Williams. I looked at his work because he uses an unusual technique that involves sketching with inks and charcoal and finishing off with thin layers of oil paints. Although I have not used this specific technique in my work, it influenced me to use the idea of a build of materials.

I also used ideas from the artist Steve Slimm because he inspired me with his words ‘what is art anyway? Giving form to that creative urge which constantly seeks expression and painting is one of several ways it emerges. For me painting involves shoving it around or letting it flow until it pleases me’. This has enthused me because I feel a similar thing for art. He mainly uses oil and acrylic which creates a more abstract concept which in turn showed me a different take on how to capture landscapes.

Visual Communication Seminar, Metaphors

This week seminar focused on metaphors, but first we finished off last weeks work and explained why we had chosen the picture, this is our groups works below.

Our main points were:

Time- everyone won'ts to make the most out of thier time.

Money- money is a big part of most peoples lives, most people want more money, and you need to be good at budgeting at university

Wales- because everyone in now living in wales, even is they were not born here

Pictures relating to home- which relates to family

some of the key words which mean a lot to me are 'live', 'dream; and 'you'

After this we then went on to discussed metaphors first starting with song names like:

Rihanna- only girl in the world

Bon Jovi- you give love a bad name

Razorlight- before i fall to pieces

we then moved onto looking at adverts that use metaphors, below are some ot the advertising campaigns we looked at.

And finally we watched Martin Luther king's speech 'I have a dream' and discussed as a class the use and meaning of some his metaphors, such as:

'roll down like water'

'the riches of freedom'

'thirst for freedom'

'lift the nation from quicksand'

But my favorite quote was:

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character".

Visual Communication Seminar, Photography and Emotions

The emotion i was trying to display was love, i started out very innocent but i soon went down a darker path, i have tried to take photos of things that people love but they should not, like smoking, drinking, unhealthy food and fashion (spending too much on how they look) these pictures are more like addictions than love but you could link then or relate them to love.

Guest Lecturer for What is Education, Graham Allen

Guest lectural Graham allen enviromental manager in swansea metropolitan university

Education for suitable development

His main points were to clarity and extend the ability of students to think for themseleves and encourage them to reflect, he mentions corporate reponsibility and how it effected the education sector, he broke it down into four main catergoires:

·         Community

·         Environment

·         Marketplace

·         Workplace

He then went on to talk about growth. GDP can include activities such as:

·         Deforestation

·         War

·         Divorces

·         Crime

·         Pollution

·         Natural disasters

But does not include:

·         Caring work

·         Loss of forests

·         Non-monetary trading

Instead of growth we need development, the growth we need to concentrate on is:

·         Employment

·         Education

·         Health

·         Prosperity and wealth (in terms of well-being)

Students need to develop bonds with nature and learn how life works on earth, students need to work together on creative solutions to environmental problems. Students need to know that the adults are doing all they can to protect the natural environment and safeguard the future for them. He also discussed ESDGC (education for sustainable development and global citizenship)

1.       The links between society, economy and environment and between our lives and those of people throughout the world

2.       The needs and rights of both present and future generations

3.       The relationship between power, resources and human rights

4.       The local and global implications of everything we do

5.       The actions that individuals and organisations can take in responding to local and global issues.

Visual Communication Seminar

In this week’s seminar with Suzie, we talked about out plans for the assignment and tried to clear up all the confusion regarding the brief. I am thinking I might relate mine to my home county (Cornwall) and the countryside or seaside, because where I come from is a big part of my life.

Then we talked about our lives and what aspects or memories are important to us, we had to write them down and then we folded up, scrunch up or even made something out of then (paper aeroplanes) and then threw them into a pile, so another person finds what you wrote down, we then discussed the differences and similarities. After this we were given a big A3 piece of paper and a lot of magazines/newspapers and asked to cut out relevant words and pictures that were linked in without lives or ‘had a sense or place’. I will discuss this further next week as it is an on-going task.

Quest Lecturer for What is Education, Olive Hopker

Olive Hopker head of planning and development at Swansea metropolitan university

She spoke about ‘collaboration v competition’ within university.

Current collaboration:

·         Research projects

·         Library access

·         Purchasing

·         ICT

·         External examiners

Current competition:

·         League tables

·         Research funding

·         Student places

Collaboration benefits:

·         Greater expertise and knowledge

·         Cost saving

·         Greater efficiency

Competition benefit:

·         Promotes better efforts

·         Provides choices

HEI (higher education institutions)

Small HEI benefits:

·         Small classes

·         Flexibility

·         Tailored programmes

·         Direct management control

Limitation:

·         Small resource base

·         Limited choice

Large HEI benefits:

·         Large resource base

·         Significant buying power

·         Large subject base and range or courses

Limitations:

·         Remote management

·         Large classes

·         Defined courses

·         Rigid procedures

Quest Lecturer for What is Education, Seminar, Week 5

This is our final seminar for this term, it was with Steve Gullick and he followed on from your last seminar and discussed governing bodies, Steve started by stating that there are a large number of governing bodies across wales that are short of governors, in particular community governors, and governors with a business background, the worst areas tend to be the poorer areas.

Next Steve spoke about Professor Stuart Ranson, he explained his opinions and thoughts about the subject. There is a shortage of governors, but the typical governor is white, middle aged and middle class. Professor Stuart Ranson believes there are less black or minority ethnic governors because they feel:

·         Uncomfortable

·         Perception of racism

·         Have to work while the meetings take place

·         Language

He later goes on to explain why there are fewer young or new parents, these parents tend to have less time available because they are either busy with family, work or children. And there are less lower class governors because they need to travel to the meetings and running a car can be costly, another possible reason might be that unemployed and unskilled workers may question the point of education, because of their childhood experiences.

Following on from this we had a hand out by Peter Earley about the types of governing bodies

·         The abdicators

·         The adversaries

·         The supporters club

·         The partners

It turned out that only 10% of governing bodies where partners the majority were supporters club. Steve also talked about the courses that were run for governors he said that out of 22 local authorities 14 of the schools did not send anyone for the training, so a lot of the courses were cancelled.

Visual communication seminar, Personal Belongings

Visual communication seminar Week 2

We started the lecture discussing art work by Tracey Emin. I have never been a big fan of her work, I'm not sure if i would call it 'proper art' i don't want to be 'one of those people' but you got argue that in some of this picture that anyone could have put them together.

My Bed, 1998

In this piece of work Tracey revels intimate details of her life, showing us her bed, empty alcohol bottles, smoked cigarettes, stained sheets, and worn underwear, she has used this to show us her personal space, and reveal that she is insecure and imperfect, like the rest of the world.

Everyone i have ever slept with 1963-1995, 1995

Often misunderstood, this tent had on the inside the names of everyone Tracey had literally slept with, her twin brother in the womb, parents, grandparents and  friends, as well as lovers. 

I've got it all, 2000

This picture shows her happy, confident and successful.

We were also set a task before fresher week to bring in five personal items, 

that had some meaning to you or your life.

My five items were: a Cornish flag, a photo of me, my brother and my sister, a flyer for freshers week, a belt and my phone which i am using to take the photo.

Cornish flag- This represents my home it is where i was born and i have lived there all my life, up until now. It is still a big part of my life, and i am very proud of it. It is a great place to grow up, and alot of my family lives and works there.

Photo of me, my brother and my sister- This represents my family, which is a major part of my life.

Flyer for freshers week- This is meant to represent the next part of my life, moving to Swansea, meeting new people and i get to experiences many different things now that i live in a city.

Belt- This represents when i took a year out and traveled around Australia, i bought it in the first week i was there and i wore it most days, is it a nice reminded of my time there.

My phone- My phone is my life, (and i know it is a bit sad and a common thing for people to say nowadays) but i use it to take photos and videos of stuff i want to remember, i used to take this photo that's why you cant see it, it keeps me entertained when i am waiting or bored with all the videos, musics, games and the internet, but most important it keeps me in touch with my family and friends at home and my friends here.

Guest Lecturer for What is Education,Seminar, Week 4

6^th February

Steve Gullick,Director for all of wales centres for training and research.

Governors

Health and safety

What you need for an overnight trip? Checklist.

Permission forms, any medical conditions, first aid, first aider, transport, insurances, mobile phone and contact details, enough staff or parents, food any dietary requirements, letter to parents of the plan, back up system, rick assessment, accident book, rules and a meeting with parents. Are some of the main points.

The first visual communication seminar

This week was our first visual communication seminar with Suzie Pugh, we looked and spoke about the power and influence of branding, brand names and logos. A company can spend a lot of money on getting a good brand name, but in return it can make them a lot of money. When you see certain pictures or symbol you immediately think of a brand, for example when you see an apple with a bite taken out, you think of the company ‘apple’ and there computers, ipods and iphones. Brands can show a lot about an individual like designer clothes can show wealth, they can show that the wearer cares about how the look and can show they they appreciate quality.

We also looked at and discussed the meaning for several different piece of art work, ‘the scream’ by Edvard Munch and ‘Ichh Habe Angst’ by Rosemarie Trockel.

Although the most memorial part of the seminar was a video we watched titled ‘the big shave’ by Martin Scorcese. At first I did not understand the meaning to the video I thought it was pointless, a bit gruesome and did not enjoy watching it, but once the meaning of the video was made clear I did appreciate the complexity and power of the film. Many people believe the man’s self-mutilation is a me metaphor for the involvement of the united states in the Vietnam war.

Guest Lecturer for What is Education, Week 3

23^rd January 2012

Steve Gullick, director for all of wales centres for training and research.

School governors- these people have a massive impact on teachers careers. 

One for the main topics was should governors be experts or people that have a stake in the school, should governors get paid. They should get paid because it is such an important job, but they could be experts but just be doing it for the money.

For example;

Mrs Jones- cares about the school and wants wants best.

Local bank manger -can help with funding and money but will not care as much.

Roles of the governing body.

·         Promoting high standards of educational achievement.

·         Setting targets for pupils achievements.

·         Managing the schools budget, and making decisions on staff pay.

·         Making sure the curriculum is balanced and broadly based, also reporting on assessments and examination results.

·         Appointing head teachers and other staff members, regulating staff conduct and discipline.

·         Drawing up an action plan after inspection.

		Secondary			Primary
Governor Category	A	B	C	D	E	F
Parent	6	5	5	4	3	3
LEA	5	4	4	3	2	2
Teacher	2	2	2	1	1	1
Staff	1	1	1	1	1	0
Community	5	4	4	3	2	2
Head	1	1	1	1	1	1

The head teacher may choose whether or not to be a governor.

There is a re vote every 4 year, but the chair is re voted every year.

If you child leaves the school after the first year, you stat in for the full four years.

Meeting of Governing Body

Agenda

1.       Apologies for absence

2.       Minutes of previous meeting

3.       Matters arising

4.       Head teacher’s report

5.       Report of Finance Committee

6.       Progress on school development plan

7.       Change of school uniform

8.       Report on Governors conference

9.       Any other business

10.   Date and time of next meeting

Guest Lecturer for What is Education, Week 2

16th January 2011
Dr. Russell Grigg head of the south west wales centre of teacher education
Estyn - overview

• estyn inspects quality and standards in education and training providers in wales
• pupil referral units
• further education
• adult community learning
• local authority education services for children and gang people
• teacher education and training
• work-based learning
• career companies
• offender learning

Estyn provides advise to the welsh assembly government on quality and standards in education and training in wales

estyn promotes the spread of good practice in education and training

3 key 

1. Provides accountability to the user of services and other stakeholder through our public reporting on providers

2. Promotes improvement in education and training

3. Inform the development of national policy by the welsh government

Inspection

How good are outcome? standards, well being

How good is provision? learning experience, teaching, learning environment, care and support

How good are leadership and management? leadership, improving quality, resource management, partnership working

They look at achievement and attainment, not what level the children are but they look at the children s potential 

Judgments: excellent, good, adequate, unsatisfactory

Guest Lecturer for What is Education, Week 1

9th January 2012
I did miss this lecture but i have found out some information out about it:
It was run by a man called ken Jones. He was talking about the local authorities role in education, and the main issues that effected them such as size and capacity of local authorities.
He also mentioned the 2006 and 2010 Programme for international students assessment (PISA), along with developments that should be made.

Windows Movie Maker

For this task we were given a video camera and were hold to create a video about a certain aspect of university. My group had 'the course' for our subject, we stayed at the university and videoed things we thought were relevant to our course. Such as lecturer and there office doors with there name and subject, unfortunately we did have a few problems with windows movie maker, but so did most groups. So the editing process was a little bit limited, but we were still able to put all the short films we took into the right order and add some text. Then each group showed their video and I think the idea was that each groups video would join together to make a movie about university life.

It was fun and enjoyable to do, it was a shame we could not do more work in making and editing movies. We may of had more chance if windows movie maker had been working correctly, still the whole experiences was very entertaining.

Final Lesson

'a picture speaks a thousand words'

In this weeks lesson we looked at different ways to express your self using different forms of creative writing, we looked at four main websites: Tagxedo, Wordle, Graffiti Creator and Text-Image.

http://www.graffiticreator.net/

This the picture before

This is the picture after

Before

After

http://www.text-image.com/convert/

Last week before Christmas

I only caught the end of this weeks lesson, due to a mix up with the lesson times, but it did look like a fun lesson to end the term on. I was lucky enough to see everyone hard work without putting in any work myself. All the groups did a great job, i was thoroughly amused. Each group had to interpret there version of the nativity scene and record it with some form of technology. Which was great fun to watch or listen to, and there were some very interesting and unique ideas.