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Just a minute sound-bites to make your toes curl ... Ten times

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Edited by Jonathan Vernon, Saturday, 3 Nov 2012, 20:21

Just search 'English language' and there are dozen of references to the use of words. I'm used to massive tomes on the subject, from the Cambridge Encyclopeadie of the English Language to the heft books by Henry Hitchings.

This therefore is a wonder, the whole thing in ten, one minute pieces.

The History of English…in just a minute x10

Could lectures be reduced to 45 single miunte pieces too?

A bite-sized comedic though academically sound-bite sized approach to learning – think “Just A Minute (BBC Radio 4) meets ‘The Reduced Shakespeare Company.’ Think Dr Who having to explain his prefernce for these Isles in a 60 second count down to the end of the universe. Which words we leave you discombobulated? Which ones tickled pink?

‘The History of English…in ten minutes’

Voiced by Clive Anderson, Scripted by Jon Hunter (R4 Mock the Week/The News Quiz)

“When did English speaking scientists get round to naming the  most intimate of the sexual body parts?

Voiced by Clive Anderson, this entertaining romp through 'The History of English' squeezes 1600 years of history into 10 one-minute bites, uncovering the sources of English words and phrases from Shakespeare and the King James Bible to America and the Internet.

Bursting with fascinating facts, the series looks at how English grew from a small tongue into a major global language before reflecting on the future of English in the 21st century. “

Philip Sergeant (FELS) was the academic consultant.

The idea is based on the Open University course 'Worlds of English'.

The History of English
Jon Hunter


Dr Phil Searegeant
Phil has contributed to U211 Exploring the English Language, A150 Voices and Texts, EA300 Children's Literature, and E854 Investigating Language in Action.

Phil is currently working on the production of U214 Worlds of English and am on the presentation team of A150 Voices and Texts.

Permalink 1 comment (latest comment by ROSIE Rushton-Stone, Monday, 27 Jun 2011, 11:59)
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Design Museum

The playing field for education in the UK is both muddled and uneven

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Edited by Jonathan Vernon, Wednesday, 31 Aug 2011, 04:53

Competition is a good thing, but the playing field is both muddled and uneven.

Remember, funding for higher education isn't simply from the State, but through corporates and research grants. What is more the UK has a long established history of private education at all stages; many parents plan to pay for their children's education, and where able set funds aside for tertiary education too through savings schemes.

Online support for learning, either blended or 100% at a distance, has become viable for ALL in tertiary education, so they are doing it. Even undergraduates on campus expect the kind of online facilities and support that may until recently been the sole domain of the distance learning student.

In the private sector, where I came from, creating commercial product at any stage: primary, tertiary and secondary was difficult for one simple reason - both students and institutions expected the resources to be free. One model therefore was to have content sponsored. Indeed that's how I came to succeed in producing careers materials (video) because it was all financed in advance by sponsors and distributed for free. DVD and online based course materials failed because no one would pay for it.

Ten years ago I prepared a report for my employer regarding the production of commercial learning materials, one offs for specific age groups and subjects. My conclusion was don't, unless it is all paid for upfront. Even the secondary sector is deeply affected by the BBC and their wonderful, free 'bitesize' series to support GCSEs.

There must be research on perceptions of UK universities. The cache of the long-established Oxbridge and Russell Group institutions must be substantial. From an employee point of view there are those who will divide hundreds (or thousands) of applications for a few graduate positions into two piles: Oxbridge or not.

Unsound and unfair, but if faced with ostensibly the same grade, but from different instituions, how do you differentiate short of seeing everyone for a first interview or reading exam papers for yourself?

The answer from the student's point of view used to be the CV thick with extra-curricula activities; I wonder if the future student should pack an e-portfolio, evidence of their worth and potential once away from the student 'desk'.

The last two decades has seen the private secondary sector buy into/ buy up primary sector 'prep' schools even establish pre-prep schools. I wonder to what degree this long-term relationship can be maintained into the tertiary sector?

The Eton Brand, for example, as a University, would be a valid offering in a global market.

 

 

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Permalink 2 comments (latest comment by Jonathan Vernon, Monday, 2 May 2011, 22:17)
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