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Doug Belshaw

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About Doug Belshaw

  • Birthday 12/22/1980

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  • Website URL
    http://www.mrbelshaw.co.uk
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  • Location
    South Yorkshire, England
  • Interests
    Reading, IT-related projects, football. Oh, and my wife :)

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  1. It's now been over 3 years since the very enjoyable time we spent in Toulouse discussing ICT for collaborative teaching and learning. Since then, I've moved on to a new school, and the shareforum has gone from strength-to-strength. Some observations: 1. Be a catalyst I went to the Head of my current school to ask what could be done about the situation we had. Lots of hardware and software, but no training for staff. As of this academic year I'm E-Learning Staff Tutor with a reduced teaching timetable and a budget. 2. Have patience After a few incarnations, I'm fairly happy with the shareforum. It's now at www.historyshareforum.com and currently stands at just under 700 members. It's turned into a great place to get resources you can actually edit to be useful! 3. Run with new technologies Web 2.0 has been somewhat of a revolution. The biggest changes to the way I work and collaborate have come through the micro social-networking site Twitter and the hard-to-explain FriendFeed. 4. Start new communities The famous ice hockey player Wayne Gretzsky once said "You miss 100% of shots you never take." Taking that as a principle, I've attempted to start several communities around a theme. One that worked and is now a year old is EdTechRoundup. We're a group of mainly UK-based educators, but with no geographical bar on membership. We meet virtually on a Sunday night to discuss issues and resources relating to educational technology, and then release our discussions as podcasts. It's going well so far! I'd like to take this opportunity to thank again all those involved in the project and for inviting a fresh-faced NQT to present. : Doug
  2. Interesting? Only in so far as they'd probably be a quite a competition for the Most Unimaginative Use of Classroom Space Award 2006! A lot of rows with the occasional 'C' shape with a few desks in the middle. I like the idea of having individual workstations which 'snap' together somehow for infinite possibilities... : Doug
  3. It's an ICT suite, but Andrew Field has mused about room layout at the EffectiveICT.co.uk Forum... : Doug
  4. I think you've covered most bases there Dan, but the important things would be the way things interacted: A guarantee that technical support was available at short-notice The ability for screenshots/text/content from students' PDAs/tablets to be wirelessly transferred to the projector A school ICT infrastructure which wasn't flakey! : Doug
  5. That looks like a fantastic project and one which would work well if replicated in many areas of the UK. I grew up in what was known as the 'largest mining village in the world' - Ashington, Northumberland. The mines have now shut and unemployment is rife. Men have lost their sense of identity and haven't found one to replace it. Some kind of project which brings the community together like the one you have been part of here would be just the ticket. Well done! Doug :hehe:
  6. This shall be my last post, Andy - I don't want this to get personal. ...but still haven't defined what you mean by certain terms you have used (e.g. 'fundamentalist'), despite my repeated asking! I have been willing to debate these issues and care enough to 'unclog' your head. Before I became a Christian I used to think much like you, Andy. So without patronizing you (as you have done to me) I, in turn, hope you come to realize the truths I have discovered. Signing off, Doug
  7. Given the two statements above, when are we going to see some coherence in your posts, Andy? It's easy to espouse contemporary beliefs and assumptions, however wrong they may be. Can you explain your system of beliefs in a coherent way as I believe I can? Doug PS I'm still waiting for your definition of 'fundamentalist'!
  8. Why don't you have a look rather than just assume?! I'll leave it to neutral observers of this thread as to whether the 'religious' or 'non-religious' are being the more tolerant and rational here... Doug
  9. Here's a summary of what I've said so far Andy: Nowhere have I said that Christianity should have no influence on legislation, and in fact I applaud the work the Christian Institute does in the UK. I'm not going to get involved in right-to-life debates as I'm not an expert in these matters. I'm sure you'd agree, Andy, that in a multicultural and cosmopolitan society all views should be considered - although in the end any legislation is going to offend someone. Doug PS I'm still waiting for you to define your terms - do you still equate a 'liberal' with an 'agnostic'?
  10. Now try imagining persuading a Muslim fundamentalist and Doug to debate in a tolerant way about who is the true prophet. Worse still try imagining either of them having the final say over the social legislation of a multi cultural nation state. Fundamentalists do believe and are sure. If you are actually right, then it is absurd to be tolerant of those who are wrong. You are putting words in my mouth, Andy. It is not absurd to be tolerant of those who are wrong - but it would be absurd not to try and demonstrate to them why you think you are right. As you keep insisting I am a fundamentalist, could you define your terms please? As far as I can see your rather blunt definition sees those who are 'sure of their faith' as fundamentalists, and presumably those who 'are a bit unsure' as liberals. If these are accurate descriptions of the terms you are using, please could you use more accurate ones? Doug
  11. (As an aside, Andy Walker has refused to continue our debate via personal correspondence. He has also rejected my offer to send him a Bible so he can check what he's arguing against)
  12. John, you keep talking about 'what I'm going to do about people having sex outside of marriage'! I'm going to do nothing about it, apart from evangelize to them. It's not my role to judge as I'm a sinner as much as them. The difference is I've been saved through my trust and faith in, and relationship with, Jesus Christ. People often comment that Christians are 'hung up' on the issue of sex. I think you'll find that it's the secular world that blows this out of all proportion... I wholeheartedly agree with Mike when he says: As Mike notes, issues regarding abortion are completely different: the termination of life is of a different order to issues regarding sexual morality. Ultimately we are all accountable to God, not the state. Doug
  13. Sorry Andy, I shall keep my posts nice and serious from now on and without the smilies you provided for forum users. Which part of the second post on this thread don't you understand? Oh, the famous get-out: I'm older than you therefore you will end up like me - 'enlightened'. I've just sent you a personal message to ask to continue our debate privately. I shall be interested to see how you respond. Doug
  14. When asked "What is the Enlightenment?" Inmanuel Kant replied Sadly it does not apparently yet to have appeared to have influenced either the United States of America or certain areas of Yorkshire Andy, I'm quite happy to continue this debate privately or on a separate thread. However, for the sake of your students, hadn't we better stick to the topic? Doug PS Know much about Mr Kant, do you?
  15. Oh dear Andrew. You think that anyone with religious faith who disagrees with you is a fundamentalist?! I believe Jesus saves and that everyone should come into a relationship with him, yes. Religious people do tend to think they're correct, just as atheists do. I am interested in debating matters seriously and openly. If you can prove to me that my 'religion' is erroneous then I will change my system of beliefs. Could you say the same, Andy? What would it take for you to alter your belief system? Thanks for simplifying what I said and patronising me, Andy. Government action is a very pertinent question for Christians, hence organizations which aim to have a Christian influence on legislation, etc. All I was saying was that governments, being secular, have no final say over morality. I believe others (non-Christians) have said this within this thread. Please don't misrepresent me unfairly to your students, Andy - I wouldn't do the same to you. Disagreement and debate is healthy. Misrepresentation and patronising behaviour is not. Doug
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