Author Archives: Derek

New Learning Spaces

By Derek | Published: August 16, 2010

Mobile phones are transforming the way the world connects. Over 4 billion people have mobile cellular subscriptions, 450 million of these users have access to the mobile Web. Facebook (as of July 2010), has officially admitted that it has has a staggering 500 million plus  members, each with an average of 130 friends. 150 million [...]

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Unleashing Student’s Inner DJ

By Derek | Published: July 9, 2010

Joburg has about 40 community radio stations, and on Monday 12 July, another station is going to be added to the eclectic sound mix that keeps our Jozi airwaves jam packed. The VOW (Voice of Wits) is about to return to campus after a long absence. Its launch has been timed to coincide with the [...]

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Generating ambient intimacy

By Derek | Published: June 25, 2010

Maybe it sounds a bit too touchy feely, but I’ve been thinking more and more that there’s a need for a place in an educational setting where there are opportunities for students and faculty to create a feeling of connectedness, a spot for sharing and belonging. The hyper public world has created such places. Intimate [...]

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Where in the world is Witsy

By Derek | Published: June 7, 2010

This weekend, I thought I’d entertain myself with telling my weekends story to ..umm… well to myself. You know the the theory – location based social networking allows you to share your real-time location with those in your network. And since it’s geting harder and harder to stay disconnected, I decided to take out my [...]

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My first week in Jozi

By Derek | Published: June 4, 2010

With the sound of afternoon traffic, an amplified African guitar and the evening sun inviting me to knock off from work, I thought I’d take a breath and reflect on the memorable, exciting and sad moments since being appointed to the eLearning, Support and Innovation Unit at Wits University on June 1. With the 2010 [...]

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An inspiring knight in Cape Town

By Derek | Published: May 14, 2010

Schoolnet and the Commonwealth of Learning invited me (and a variety of highups in Education)  to a day long seminar in Cape Town around the topic of  ICT integration and teacher training. The key note speaker was the inspiring knight, Sir John Daniel. Not only did he take 25 years to complete a part-time Master’s [...]

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Passing nodes on a network

By Derek | Published: May 5, 2010

What would make a normally sane person leave their secure and predictable routine, fly to another city (or country) and voluntary sit for days in meeting after meeting? A good meal, a legitimate excuse to duck family responsibility or the possibility that you might meet a person that could revolutionise your life.  For me, probably [...]

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Connecting the dots

By Derek | Published: May 4, 2010

I’ll come to listen to your parade of movers and shakers, spend the night comfortably cosseted in clean linen. Thanks for the food, flight and great speakers. You’re obviously serious and I must admit, I’m flattered that you want me to come to your do. Although it makes me sound a bit ungrateful (and I’m [...]

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10 Great reasons to love Web Learning

By Derek | Published: April 8, 2010

Whether I’m designing a web site, developing a digital learning programme or demonstrating my knowledge / stupidity with my network, I set out to understand and simplify peoples digital experience so that people can make better use of the web. Here’s a list of 10 great reasons to work with me. (PDF 276KB) Image generated [...]

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Potholes ahead – caution advised

By Derek | Published: April 7, 2010

Computer literacy training, employing experts and certification are three potholes on the info-bahn that might damage your  institutions attempts to effectively use ICT. Goveia and Soule’s article argues that if we are to foster ongoing and sustainable use of learning technologies in schools, there are three common “potholes” that we need to watch out for, [...]

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