We started today's session by discussing what we had negotiated about topics & we agreed to let Mervyn start with the topic that he had chosen. Travel.
Mervyn told us about his recent coach holiday to Spain.
At 05.30am he left Doncaster interchange for a 2 day trip to the Costa Brava.
Traveling by coach to the EuroTunnel & then onwards by coach, he stopped for an overnight rest at a hotel in France. During the holiday he had some excursions to interesting Spanish Cities including Barcelona.
Once we were logged onto the computers we entered the web address for our BLOG in the URL (web address) field at the top of the screen. We also placed GOOGLE into our FAVOURITES for ease of browsing & searching for information. Our web address is:
www.weagroup.blogspot.com
We looked at a website for tourist information about Barcelona & we found some interesting picture galleries. (See the Barcelona link on the right of this blog in the Useful Websites section).
We discussed the Barcelona Football Club Stadium & it's 110 thousand capacity. This we compared with local stadia that we know well & visit occasionally in Doncaster & Rotherham. Their capacity is 15 thousand & 12 thousand. We tried to imagine the differences in the crowd sizes.
Whilst looking at the Barcelona Football Club Stadium website, we also found a paragraph that mentioned a tour of the stadium & it's museum. We tried to imagine what it would be like to stand in the middle of the pitch in an empty stadium & then to think what it would be like from the players' perspective as compared with that of the fans in the seats. We looked at photo galleries of the museum artefacts & found:
- Trophies & medals
- Photos of players, managers & past presidents
- Football strips in Barcelona FC colours (Red & Blue)
- A roll of honour
- Articles about the History of Barcelona FC
We discussed the different methods of transport that Mervyn could have chosen to use instead of coach travel. These included:
- Car
- Train
- Ferry
- Plane
During this session we followed hyperlinks to other web pages - this is known as 'browsing' or 'surfing the web'. We played some video clips & we practiced using video controls to view the video in Full Screen mode & again in Thumbnail mode.
We had an interesting session & everyone contributed to the discussion that followed our research.
Sunday, 20 October 2013
Friday, 11 October 2013
TRAVEL
TRAVEL is a topic suggested by Mervyn. We all travel to a variety of places, be they local, national or International. Mervyn has recently been on a coach holiday to Spain & he would like us to dedicate a session to researching methods of travel & interesting locations.
Session 1 - 10 October 2013
Today we met as the newly named WEAgroup at our brand new venue, Bentley Library.
Ben was the library staff member who welcomed us & introduced us to the facilities we have available in the library.
Our induction included a discussion about the computer suite & health & safety when using computers.
We saw where the toilets & kitchen & fire exits were situated.
We did our course paperwork - enrolment forms & register.
We noted our new login details & we logged onto the computers.
We negotiated the topics to study & our tutor explained that the course has a new title -
USING COMPUTERS FOR RESEARCH & DISCUSSION
This should give us the freedom to look deeper into the topics & also to find out how each of us perceives different aspects of the topics & to examine the social purpose behind the topics.
For example: if our topic was transport, we may have differing opinions on the best form of transport for our individual needs.
Cycling, for example has benefits in terms of health & well being as well as in cost savings & elimination of pollution. It is a sustainable form of transport but it also has disadvantages. Some motorists have a negative attitude towards cyclists & their behaviour as road users. They may be resentful that cyclists don't pay 'road tax', even though no one pays road tax, it is actually vehicle tax, based on emissions & the capacity to pollute. We hope to generate critical thinking through debate by introducing some controversial topics, such as discussing costs & the effects & impact of pollution on health & on the environment.
Today, having logged onto the computers, we entered the web address of this BLOG in the URL bar & once the page had loaded, we discussed the introduction & the topics which are already on the BLOG.
When we discussed Music, we mentioned our preferences for different genres. Some choices were:
Bob likes listening to Trax FM & the variety of music on the radio station.
Dieter likes Neil Diamond & in particular his favourite song is Sweet Caroline.
Mervyn likes music from the 60's & 70's.
David wants to look into the group Kings of Leon, their new album & their history & background.
Scott said he likes all types of music
Kevin likes ABBA & music for easy listening.
Angela mentioned a music genre that's one else had thought of - Folk music.
Our first session was quite productive & our time at the library passed very quickly.
Ben was the library staff member who welcomed us & introduced us to the facilities we have available in the library.
Our induction included a discussion about the computer suite & health & safety when using computers.
We saw where the toilets & kitchen & fire exits were situated.
We did our course paperwork - enrolment forms & register.
We noted our new login details & we logged onto the computers.
We negotiated the topics to study & our tutor explained that the course has a new title -
USING COMPUTERS FOR RESEARCH & DISCUSSION
This should give us the freedom to look deeper into the topics & also to find out how each of us perceives different aspects of the topics & to examine the social purpose behind the topics.
For example: if our topic was transport, we may have differing opinions on the best form of transport for our individual needs.
Cycling, for example has benefits in terms of health & well being as well as in cost savings & elimination of pollution. It is a sustainable form of transport but it also has disadvantages. Some motorists have a negative attitude towards cyclists & their behaviour as road users. They may be resentful that cyclists don't pay 'road tax', even though no one pays road tax, it is actually vehicle tax, based on emissions & the capacity to pollute. We hope to generate critical thinking through debate by introducing some controversial topics, such as discussing costs & the effects & impact of pollution on health & on the environment.
Today, having logged onto the computers, we entered the web address of this BLOG in the URL bar & once the page had loaded, we discussed the introduction & the topics which are already on the BLOG.
When we discussed Music, we mentioned our preferences for different genres. Some choices were:
Bob likes listening to Trax FM & the variety of music on the radio station.
Dieter likes Neil Diamond & in particular his favourite song is Sweet Caroline.
Mervyn likes music from the 60's & 70's.
David wants to look into the group Kings of Leon, their new album & their history & background.
Scott said he likes all types of music
Kevin likes ABBA & music for easy listening.
Angela mentioned a music genre that's one else had thought of - Folk music.
Our first session was quite productive & our time at the library passed very quickly.
Monday, 19 August 2013
GARDENING
Gardening can be a very therapeutic pastime.
It can be done both outdoors & inside.
For the past few months Peter has had his own indoor gardening project where he has been growing tomato plants. These are now producing some fine fruits as a result of his efforts & Peter reports having used some already, sharing them with his fellow residents & carers in salads at home.
Tomatoes can be used as part of a healthy diet & lifestyle. They are a very versatile 'fruit' (did you know that?) that can be cooked or served raw in a wide variety of methods & meals.
This page will chart the progress of Peter's indoor gardening project & any others that may arise from his encouragement.
To put this into the context of education with a social purpose, gardening is the sort of activity that has been used to bring communities together; to get people communicating with each other; to resolve conflict within communities; to transform people's health & change lives for the better; to relieve stress; to engage children & adults in education about nature & to provide employment.
The power of gardening is immense.
It can be done both outdoors & inside.
For the past few months Peter has had his own indoor gardening project where he has been growing tomato plants. These are now producing some fine fruits as a result of his efforts & Peter reports having used some already, sharing them with his fellow residents & carers in salads at home.
Tomatoes can be used as part of a healthy diet & lifestyle. They are a very versatile 'fruit' (did you know that?) that can be cooked or served raw in a wide variety of methods & meals.
This page will chart the progress of Peter's indoor gardening project & any others that may arise from his encouragement.
To put this into the context of education with a social purpose, gardening is the sort of activity that has been used to bring communities together; to get people communicating with each other; to resolve conflict within communities; to transform people's health & change lives for the better; to relieve stress; to engage children & adults in education about nature & to provide employment.
The power of gardening is immense.
Tuesday, 6 August 2013
FOOTBALL
NOTE: There are links to other football related websites in the right-hand column of this blog. Click on a link to learn the latest news & to discover more topics to discuss.
Social purpose - Questions for discussion:
1. What is the function of the Police at a football match?
Background & things to consider when answering this question:
Having driven by New York Stadium on the evening of 6 August 2013, several police vans & officers were seen outside the stadium. Is this really necessary & why? Is it proportionate? 2. Could club stewards have done the job equally as well?
Background & things to consider when answering this question:
Which team were Rotherham United playing against? We're there any risks to the general public or the fabric of the town (businesses & property)?
Results from August 2013
Rotherham United have got off to a great start in August with the following results:
League Cup game 6 Aug WIN Rotherham 2 - 1 Sheffield Wednesday
League 1 game 3 Aug DRAW Rotherham 3 - 3 Crew
After securing an instant return to the Championship last season, Doncaster's start to the campaign suffered an early setback in their first League game of the season on 3 August with a 3-1 defeat by Blackpool. Fans remain loyal to Rovers though, reporting that they were unlucky in the last few minutes & that otherwise it had been an entertaining game.
They fared better in the League Cup game on 6 August with a WIN against Rochdale.
Things can only get better for Doncaster Rovers :-)
Several members of our group have an interest in football.
We have some season ticket holders for Rotherham United.
We have some fans of Doncaster Rovers.
Football provides a lot of entertainment in South Yorkshire.
Football has a colourful & varied history. See our links to some football related websites.
Saturday, 27 July 2013
CULTURE
Our own home town of Doncaster is beginning to look significantly different in 2013 because of the developing Civic & Cultural Quarter in the Waterdale area. The area is undergoing a total transformation with the new Civic Offices to replace the old Council House, which is due to be demolished soon (as this blog is being written in August 2013). Visitors to Waterdale will also notice the new Performance Venue called 'Cast' to replace the much loved Civic Theatre & the public open space called 'Sir Nigel Gresley Square' which hints at the Railway Industrial history in Doncaster. A Google search for Doncaster CCQ will reveal the plans & the developing nature of the Civic & Cultural Quarter which is transforming Doncaster town centre.
Culture has many different aspects & also different identities associated with it. The word is a modern concept with multiple meanings. We tend to think of culture as the behaviour of people of different ethnic origin; the food they eat; the customs & practices they adopt; the way they participate in society; their ceremonies, religions & events. Culture is an area where we can observe change over time & the changes can have implications locally, nationally or internationally. It is a topic in which we can all find some interesting aspect to study, analyse & synthesise through observation, research & dialogue.
Friday, 26 July 2013
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