Archive for the ‘Digital Family’ Category

If we are to believe the “slip ups” from Cabinet members about the date of the General Election, the 6th May 2010 is only three months away.  Although many people will try, no-one can estimate who will be the country’s next Prime Minister and government party.

However, as time gets closer to the date in May, the three main parties are starting to release snippets of their manifestos to encourage would-be voters.  The Conservative Party are no different…..
More - Digital Manifesto

As an avid magazine reader, I subscribe to one of the most popular women’s magazines in the country, Cosmopolitan.  From month to month there are (in my opinion) always interesting articles about the three main subjects the magazine focuses on love, life and fashion. 

However, this month’s edition had a report that really got my interest, as the focus appeared to be….technology!

More - The next decade…….

In my post Christmas, rather over indulged state, I’ve just had a quick look around for some help with how to get back into shape.

It didn’t take me long to find a favourite….   Came across this site from handbag.co.uk that shows you little video clips of different exercises, relevant to different body parts.  Exercises relevant to a pretty comprehensive list such as; banish back fat, get a booty-licious bum, minimise your miffin tops, eliminate jelly belly to list just a few - I guess there’s something there for any ailment.

I’ve been working on the banish bingo wings for the past 10 mins - whilst eating the last of the mince pies in the office.  I’m hoping to pull off a break even calorie count.

A site I will be logging onto quite often over the next month.  Why not check it out here then let me know your favourite and if you’ve seen any improvement.

It has been widely reported that British singer, Lily Allen, has decided to de-activate all of her social networking profiles (Twitter, MySpace etc) because she believes she has become addicted to the phenomenon.  Many press photographs of her over the last couple of years have usually shown her with a PDA of some description, updating her profiles.

However, the initial explanation for this was that Allen used MySpace to promote her music when she first started out.  This is done by a lot of musicians wanting to get their singles noticed.  But for Allen, and many others, it appears that their use of digital devices and social networks has taken over their lives.

So, for many of her fans, Lily Allen will not be as visible any more - but as her music is known widely and critically acclaimed, she has perhaps used these forums as much as she has needed to.  It is interesting to hear about ‘celebrities’ admitting their over-use of social networks, or the internet and digital devices in general.  It has brought more attention to this issue, as an individual must balance their existence in the digital and real world.

Well, it may be 5 years too late but at last Central Government has decided to catch up with the times and revise the primary school curriculum to include Internet Safety and prepare our children for the digital age.

It has long been the belief of IT educationalists that there is no point in restricting young people’s access to the wealth of information held on “t’internet”.  But, wouldn’t it be better preparing our future generations by providing them with the knowledge and understanding of not only the benefits, but the dangers of “t’internet” and enabling them to make informed decisions and judgements for themselves.  Because we all know, if you tell a young person not to do something … the likelihood is that they WILL go and do exactly what you’ve told them not to!

According to many recent news reports, the email will be defunct in 10 years as the growth of social networking sites and instant messaging increases ever rapidly.  But is this really true?  Will people actually stop using emails to communicate in their personal and professional lives?

More - Is it really the end of the humble email?

A recent Consumer Expert Group research report, commissioned by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in October 2009, highlighted the barriers many people with disabilities have when accessing the Internet and also provided valuable recommendations to central government.

The barriers disabled people face are actually very similar to non-disabled people, however, the solutions required differ immensely.  With the launch of the Consortium for the Promotion of Digital Participation, and the appointment of Martha Lane Fox (national Digital Inclusion Champion) 2009 was the year this debate really took off in the political realm.  Approximately 17 million people are digitally excluded, many of whom have disabilities.  This report focuses on the disabled, and how this exclusion can be transformed.

More - Digital participation: People with disabilities

Last Tuesday I helped to launch Birmingham’s e-Safety Strategy on behalf of Birmingham Safeguarding Children Board.  My presentation, which is below, talked about the different work that Digital Birmingham has done around the Home Access agenda and then covered Social Networking Sites as a new technology being used by young people that professionals don’t always have a full understanding of.



So I spoke about the Aston Pride project to provide computers in the homes of primary and secondary school children and also the Computers for Pupils grant which has been used by the city to launch 40-50 Birmingham e-Learning Foundation schemes in Secondary Schools across the city. The latter means that more money is coming back in to the system to help provide kit to more kids. More - e-Safety Strategy Launch event

There are many ways to learn, and/or to be taught.  In the digital age that is upon us, it is inevitable that learning environments would become digital as well.

Virtual learning environments (VLE) are very effective, and means that the individual can interact from any location with an internet connection.  The flexibility and mobility of this type of learning is invaluable.

More - Learning in a virtual environment