Lately

I've been busy, socially. It's stopping me from studying, though I'm not complaining. What I need to do is make my time more productive, and I need to just get on with studying during my commute, especially on Mondays.

Anyway, there is a new post on Janken Beats.

Coming soon to my flickr: Sakura Mania

Thinking Out Loud: What I'd like to learn

I wonder about Pippa's DIY Master's and think to myself, what would I like to do for a Masters degree, for it has been something that I have thought about for a while. A film studies masters degree would be of no use to me for I do not want to be bound to academia as a career and don't want to spring the cash for such pure enjoyment.

Anyway, these are some things I've thought about:

Post-War Japanese Literature
Post-Colonialist Narratives in Independent American Cinema: On the politics of travel beyond the Occident
Japanese Language
Web Design (I know, don't laugh)


I'm already studying Japanese Language, and doing it through some modern Japanese fiction. Maybe I should find more time to study rather than mess about.

I2OE: Motivations for the movement

There are many motivations for Open Education (OE), particularly among advocates of universal education for all. Many people view the absence of universal education for children worldwide a "human rights violation", a view which I agree with. Obstacles to OE tend to be related to money: lack of funding for educational resources, which means that many Third-World countries' schools depend on donated resources, usually cast off from developed countries because they are no longer deemed fit for use; lack of wealth means lack of manpower in traditional industries such as farming in agrarian societies, such as Burkina Faso. (1 p. 14-21)

In addition to this, the worldwide consensus that "primary education should be universally free" runs into a paradox: funding is required for both formal and informal schooling, be it taxes or personal spending. (2 p.19-25) That education in literacy and numeracy is not a priority for many in developing countries has already been mentioned, but are we taking a colonialist look at lifestyles? There seems to be little value afforded to vocational training for work. Surely in an agrarian society, there would be more value in vocational training, though that is not to say that basic literacy and numeracy do not have their place.

Other OE motivations are those of spreading religion, and this has happened since the advent of religion, both in oral and written transmission. It is significant to note that Christian missionaries developed formal education in African colonies, and that education has always been a priority in synagogues.

In my opinion, OE is best exemplified by auto-didactism or semi-auto-didactism, where books can form a knowledge base and one tries to apply knowledge gained in the real world. An example of this would be of children carrying out science experiments in the home, such as growing crystals, etc. However, this tends to be a very middle-class/aspiring working-class trait, due to money and materials cost. In adult education, the same can be applied, but due to more complex material requirements (and less tax on children's books), usually greater expenses may be involved.

What is home to you? Part 4

I sit writing this in my new place, which is furnished with items I did not purchase. This apartment, with it's lightness and coldness, is home and un-home. I know that it will not be my last residence.

The pot of hojicha which often sits on the desk along with a mug from the hundred Yen store, makes me feel at home, as does the pile of laundry not even a metre away. There are fewer of what people call 'home comforts' here than in many of the places I have lived in, but I feel more comfortable here than I did in a small flat in a medium-sized village in my motherland.

Home might not be a case of where you're from, i.e. your country; it might depend upon whether you're urban or rurally-minded. It may also depend upon whether you thrive in a certain environment. Are your needs being met? If they are not, are you really home?

###

My mind recalls Douglas Coupland's Microserfs:

If you lived here, you'd already be home by now. (Must check actual quotation when I have the book handy.)

I don't think this applies, and I'm sure that the characters in the book don't totally believe that road sign. But they don't totally disbelieve it.

###

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Takikomi Gohan

Ingredients

Half a mackerel
A normal size back of maitake mushrooms
2 cups of rice
Plenty of water.

Method
Chop mushrooms.
Boil fish and mushrooms in a pan of water for about 10-15 minutes(enough to cover fish and mushrooms).
Wash rice.
Put fish and rice in to the rice with 2.5 cups of stock from the boiling water.
Cook in rice cooker until done.

I2OE - Training Quest 1

I am undertaking an Open Learning course in Open Education along with Pippa from battlecat.net. What follows is my *homework* assignment that has been long overdue. Pippa's is here.

***

The history of the Open Educational Resources movement


From anecdotal evidence, most teachers have regarded many educational resources as "open", that is everything that can be utiliised for their students' progress is fair game to be copied, used and tailored. Most teachers see this as a "fair use" of copyrighed material. Examples of this may be the scanning of picture books to display to a whole class, where equipment such as a visualiser may not be available. Also, copies of passages from texts may be handed out to students in classes as required.

With the advent of the internet, there was access to a lot of academic content of varying quality. While this meant that individuals and organisations had greater access to resources than they may previously have had, they had to filter this information, sorting and classifying as they accessed it.

The Hewlett Foundation seeks to improve upon this by sponsoring high-quality Open Educational Resources (OER), with intellectual property (IP) scrubbed wherever possible, and sponsoring individuals who produce OER using Creative Commons and eduCommons licenses. This means that individuals and organisations producing OER can devote a greater amount of time and energy to such materials, ensuring that quality is greater than something done on a part-time/volunteer/hobbyist basis.

Many universities throughout the world also make available much of their course content using Open CourseWare (OCW), as pioneered by MIT. While accreditation is not possible while using the materials in OCW for free, it is possible for autodidacts with an internet connection to find high-quality educational resources to aid their learning. This is a new step in making education available to all, further to the British institution Open University making higher education available to many British residents at a low price. People can now study, without accreditation, almost for free.

With many in the IT industry working as professionals without accreditation, taken on in positions after displaying aptitude and trustworthiness, I would like to think that in the future other occupations may take on individuals who have studied using OCW in a related discipline using their intellect, rather than their parents' capability for paying fees for an expensive university, as a basis for hiring.

Not much good at hiatuses

I'm back. I'm back. I'm back.

I have had a change in personal circumstances recently. It's news to some, not to others.

Anyway, expect slightly more normal posts, including an imminent post on Janken Beats about Flipper's Guitar.

Things I have learned over the past week:

The police may not call *you* if they find your wallet.
Furikake is a demi-food.
I still love Björk.
Friends and family are more important than you think.

That's all for today.

Hiatus

Life management dictates that I will probably not be updating this website for about two weeks or so. I think.

Subscribe to my RSS/Atom feeds at the side and you will get any posts as soon as they are made available.

Sorry I've been sketchy lately. Hopefully I'll be saner soon.

242

In honour of post number 242 I am going to share my love of palindromic numbers with everybody.

I don't know exactly why I like palindromic numbers. Maybe it's the symmetry (I love symmetry, too) or maybe it's that they look tidy (not like π [pi], which while beautiful is somewhat intricate and looks like it would make a mess all over the floor).

Favourite palindromic numbers: 242, 313, 565, 898, 1123211, 456456654654, 1000001

Crash! Bang! Wallop!

My home and my mind are undergoing renovations. Sorry about the weird tone of some of the previous posts, and how they seemed to give me an unhinged, pretentious tone.

There is scaffold on the outside of the apartment building and me bang the walls with hammers at nine o'clock in the morning. I start work at three. I imagine I will be spending less time at home during the daytime.

My mind is a different story. I'm thinking a lot about a lot. I'm not necessarily getting anywhere, though.