Author Archives for Paul Left
The iPad in education
My advice to teachers: if you are using Web 2.0 tools or an LMS such as Moodle, you may not find a shiny new iPad is a suitable platform for creating and editing content.
Apple neglecting productivity?
If you want to use a Mac to get on with managing your life, work and information, you’re likely to find the bundled Apple software a bit disappointing.
Powerpoint and the brain
Is PowerPoint the ultimate compensation for a weak premotor cortex? And what are the ethical issues if how we teach affects the structure of the learner’s brain?
Benefits of high-speed broadband to education
We need to beware of hype which tries to persuade decision makers that high-speed broadband is the ‘missing piece of the jigsaw’: education will only become more effective when a whole raft of problems are resolved
Tweetdeck problem with Greek text
The latest version of Tweetdeck (0.30.3) for the Mac does not appear to work properly with Greek characters.
Andragogy vs Pedagogy
The distinction between andragogy and pedagogy provides useful insights into our learners. But to characterise pedagogy as embodying everything that is out-dated and reactionary in educational approaches is simplistic and erroneous in my opinion.
Presenting content in Moodle: Files
Using directory structures to organise content files in Moodle helps keep the course front page uncluttered and provides easy access for students.
Problem-based learning, games and motivation
The tendency to remain motivated varies very widely between individuals, over time, and between contexts. The motivational stamina model attempts to identify some of the variables involved in learner motivation.
Twitter not so mobile in NZ
Although there is now a local number to access Twitter in New Zealand, it seems support for Twitter is still not available for many Telecom customers.
A bug in bing.com?
The beta version of bing. com, Microsoft’s new search engine, looks fast but it does seem to have a bug in handling language settings in the preferences.


