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Happy Christmas fellow OU Student Bloggers!

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Edited by Jonathan Vernon, Sunday, 25 Dec 2011, 06:06

My second Christmas with the OU.

I can't believe I posted something last year, but you never know: this becomes something of a habit, and for me studying at 5.00am is normal.

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This could well be the first year in the last ten when a child hasn't been up by now! (They are 13 and 15). My son, unusually for him, was up at around 12.30am but realised his mistake and went back to sleep. Mrs Santa Claus had paid a visit by then but I don't recall hearing the midnight munching of chocolate money.

There are some wonderful traditions I've read about here.

I particularly like the idea of putting on new pyjamas on Christmas Eve (present no.1) and also having a 'table present' (the last present). As a child's request we're having a roast ham and for the first time in four years my daughter will have some poached fish (cod) having been vegetarian. I don't think she'll stretch to red meat, or even chicken (just yet). We've not asked for an explanation for this change, but delighted to have something else to offer her.

Happy holidays folks, I've got a Residential School from the 11th Jan and TMA2 in early February so I'll be here most mornings sad

Yes, that is a computer nudging into the frame there.

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Edited by Jonathan Vernon, Saturday, 25 Dec 2010, 06:55

I was woken at 5.30am by the neighbour's boiler. This has been going on since October 19th. Either they move their boiler, or we move house. There is no other reason why I'd be up this early having come to bed after midnight.

Had meant to blog on e-learning in relation to the history of the TV Chef.

There was a piece on BBC Radio 4 around 11.30am 24th December on the TV chef, their books and now their Smart Phone Apps. We had clips from Delia Smith and Nigella Lawson and an interview with a guy from Random House.

The ulimate 'how to' books, e-learning or e-training when it migrates to the web and to mobile devices? Voice controlled so you don't get gravy in your keyboard.

Has no one hear of printing off?

The point is made about the Cookery Book market having to adapt. Apps are the way forward.

Are Apps the way forward to e-learning across the board?

Micro-chunks of learning to your smart phone or in tray?

I see a feature for the likes of Interactive Spaced Education as well as doing a couple of courses here to try out the system (again), I will start producing my own content for this platform in the New Year.

Happy Christmas

(Staggered that neither the 12 or 14 year old are up opening their Christmas stockings ... we've had a decade of early mornings.)

Any advice on how to deal with the neighbour's boiler?

As podcasts go, I guess they have come of age when the Pope gets in on the act.

BBC Radio 4 iPlayer for the Pope's Podcast

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Google Docs

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Edited by Jonathan Vernon, Thursday, 9 Sep 2010, 07:08

Prompted to give Google Docs a go I find within a couple of minutes I am Google-smacked!

Overwhelmingly impressive.

e-Life transforming. e-Things will never be the same.

I've only just crept on from Word 2002 in the last few weeks, so to be hit with so much more I feel like someone who has been trying to ski on a dry-slope strapped to planks of wood who has just been let loose on an Olympic Piste in the latest Salamon gear!

My 'MyStuff' days (six months actually) are also numbered. I knew that I had to 'populate' such a resource with material to give myself something to play with, but Google Docs without any doubt, on first impressions takes what MyStuff could have been in the commercial arena and realises it.

Google Docs has translated the desiress, hopes and expectations I had for MyStuff into a user-friendly and intuitive interface.

All I want to do now is share, share, share ... and go and compare.

And write more and read more and never leave my desk again.

In fact, I may re-instigate my exercise-bike as work-station. This is a standard exercisebike with the handle bars removed. Instead I have a lectern of sorts with a keyboard sensibly covered in a plastic skin. In this way I can type and bike!

Yee-ha!

(The second term of the day, did it with heebie-jeebies an hour ago, that I have put through the OED online)

Between them, the OED online and Google Docs leave me feeling like a kid on Christmas Morning with two brilliant but quite unexpected gifts!

Yee-hoo-oo-o!

And then I put a document into Google Docs, my piece on H808 First Impressions (below) and out of curiosity had it translated into French.

OMG

Though I understand French well enough to work in the country and can speak it OK, my written French is attrocious. Has this just given me the facility to communicate at a reasonable level with written French? Its an incredible, by default personalised language learning tool if nothing else.

Perhaps I could head for France in the next couple of months after all?

On verra.

I've regained the will to live.

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