Zeugma

Meta-analysis of early childhood interventions

In my last but one post I mentioned the importance of meta-reviews.  Just came across a preview of a great one on the Columbia University Teachers College site, here (excellent site by the way -- well worth signing up for).

Camilli, G., Vargas, S., Ryan, S. Barnett, W.S. (2010, forthcoming) Meta-analysis of the effects of early education interventions on cognitive and social development, Teachers College Record, 112, 3.

The authors reviewed 123 comparative studies of early childhood interventions, and end with recommendations for future studies and the design of early childhood interventions.  See also Steve Barnett's short & powerful webcast on The Voice at this site. 

SSRN iPhone app

Since mentioning Arterian & Paul's legal ed summaries from SSRN in the last posting I've downloaded & used the iPhone app for SSRN (iTunes Store, free, here).  Great.  Also wanted to prove I can blog in less than 1500 words...

What will enhance legal education in Scotland?

Was live-blogging Enhancing Legal Education in Scotland, a legal ed conference hosted by UKCLE last week -- kudos to Julian Webb and his team for organising it, for it's difficult to bring together the disparate elements of Scots legal education -- but my own afternoon session and then many other thoughts intervened, so I've delayed this posting.  Account of the day and reflections on Scottish legal education below the fold...

SIMPLE + Standardized Clients

Karen Barton, Michael Hughes and I are currently at Franklin Pierce Law Center,  in Concord, New Hampshire, working with John Garvey and others on SIMPLE projects.  The SIMulated Professional Learning Environment facilitates transactional learning between individual students or groups of students and staff, with students usually playing the role of practising lawyers.  SIMPLE can be used with any client-based professional transaction – it’s been used by disciplines as varied as Architecture and Management Science. 

Fareweel Strathclyde, hello Northumbria

I've resigned from Strathclyde University Law School, effective as of 31 Jan 2010, and next day will be taking up a post as Professor of Legal Education at University of Northumbria Law School, and heading up a legal education centre there.  Retrospectives  will be posted in due course and nearer my departure.  But for the future, why Northumbria?  

SIMPLE wins another award

SIMPLE was awarded the prize for Innovation in e-Assessment at the JISC E-Assessment Scotland Conference held last week in Dundee.  The e-Assessment Competition attracted 28 entries from all over Scotland, including schools, further education colleges and universities. According to e-Assessment Scotland, the Innovation award highlights ‘an example of best practice in e-Assessment, which clearly demonstrates the full potential of the technology and its practical application.’ I was present to accept the award on behalf of the SIMPLE project team.  SIMPLE was competing against the entire field including impressive products and projects developed by medical schools, learning services units and commercial providers, and was a deserving winner in this category. The award is a tribute to the outstanding work of the whole project team.

Legal educator bloglist

Colin Miller has posted a useful list of US law blogs on SSRN  – 2009 Legal Educator Blog Census, Version 1.0 – a list of ‘anyone who might be involved in the education of students at law schools in the United States’.  I scanned it for blogs dealing specifically with legal education.  Maybe I missed them, but apart from the Best Practices blog, maintained by Prof Mary Lynch, I couldn't find a single one.  Maybe the legal ed postings are guest postings on sites given over to other topics.  Still - pretty ironic, given the title of Colin’s piece. 

The web tape

During visits abroad I like to get a sense of the place I’m in by early-morning jogging.  You see a city or campus anew, literally so.  The morning of the den Haag conference I headed out of the hotel along Jan Hendrikstraat, past the Grote Kerk, along Torenstraat, doubling back along streets quiet in the grey light, the occasional cyclist gliding by.  Unexpectedly I came across a tiny park.  I jogged around it once, past an unarmed security guard in front of an entrance to a substantial house surrounded by impressively high railings.  The park’s path, though, led into the house’s modest grounds, with just a web tape across the entrance.  The house looked too large for an embassy – what was it?  Second time round I couldn’t resist stopping to ask the guard.  She replied, ‘It’s the working palace of our queen’. 

Symposium Gaming in het Onderwijs, Leren in een Virtuele Wereld

Earlier this month I was in the Netherlands, den Haag, at the Haagse Hogeschool, giving a workshop on SIMPLE at the wrap-up conference of the Cyberdam project.  I was invited by Diny Peters who, with Pieter van der Hijden, is one of the key movers in the project.  I call Cyberdam SIMPLE's sister project in the Netherlands.  It’s a great initiative, funded by the Dutch government, to take forward gaming and simulation approaches to all levels of education – not just higher education. 

Observations upon Japanese social habits

If the title of this post has an Enlightenment ring, it’s deliberate.  This second visit I came equipped with a modest knowledge of Japanese history, which is utterly fascinating; but it’s the social habitus that seizes you.