Welcome!

...to this blog, intended to support you through the PGCE/Cert Ed programme, by providing resources and links to material we have discussed in class.

The university thinks this should be done through the VLE. I can in some measure sympathise, and I concede that if you make this blog your first port of call you will miss out on what is going on in the rest of the network, which would be a pity, because our network is a significant strength of the programme. So do use BREO, and find your way around it. The more it is used, the better it gets.

The same goes for PCET.net, which plugs into an even larger community--and as we discovered today, we have a fairly direct connection to the founder!

But there are reasons for adopting this strategy, as well as, and not instead of, the VLE.

1. It's easy. Not just because it is easy for me, but because it is easy for anyone who wants to enhance their teaching with a little techie pizzazz. I get lost in Facebook (I've done my best to erase my minimal presence) but blogging is very straightforward. Sign up, select a format/template, and post. That's it.
   
   
2. It's open. A bit of a two-edged sword, this. It's open to mentors, prospective and former students, colleagues, and anyone you want to give the address too, so that they know the kind of things you get up to on the course. On the other hand, openness imposes some obligations, so that if and when you comment--as Peter, Peter and I hope you will--please be aware that you are writing for public consumption.
   
   
3. It's free. I know some of you operate in settings where you can't use the internet. That's at one end of the scale. At the other end those of you in mainstream FE will be familiar with colleges' VLEs, which cost a bomb to set up and maintain. This blog is an illustration of what can be done for no money, and just a little time, for those of you who work in the middle--in adult and community education, for example. There are actually free resources which will go much further than just a blog, of course; see here for some which course members introduced at a Study Day last year. (Don't worry, I'm not going all techie on you.)

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We actually addressed more in an introductory session for Unit 4 than I have ever known before, which augurs well!

• Among the topics we discussed were issues around compliance and accountability and originality... Peter and I wrote about that, and this course, in this paper.
• We got on to a consideration of Kolb's learning cycle. The page I tried to show you is here. It does go into rather more detail than you probably want at this stage of the game.
• The book I recommended by David Perkins is discussed here. The full reference is: Perkins D N (2009) Making Learning Whole; how seven principles of teaching can transform education San Francisco; Jossey-Bass
• Speaking of which, here is some more guidance on referencing with a "slidecast" at the end, which I shall probably use whenever we get round to doing the session itself.

I'm not including the schedule for the term, partly because you won't know the address for this blog until we meet again, and partly because there have been recent developments which will require changes.