David Taylor

My first blog post for a while - its been busy. Anyway, the first day of the Digital D&T Integrated event on Saturday 27th Feb was a success - here are some pictures from the course:

http://digitaldtnw.ning.com/photo/albums/digital-dt-integrated-event

Don't forget - you can join this Ning group if you are interested in integrating CAD/CAM and ECT in your D&T work.

Just a quick entry to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. See you all in 2010!

Here are some cool Christmas gadgets courtesy of Channel 5 News:

I'm just about to sit down and watch the BBC's "Hot Planet" programme. Professors Iain Stewart and Professor Kathy Sykes take a timely look at global warming ahead of the Copenhagen summit, exploring the world's leading climate scientists' vision of the planet's future, and what role science and technology could have in trying to avert major climate change.

Visit the BBC website for more http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jf6md or look at the preview below. If you missed it tonight you can catch it again on Sunday 13th December - 20.00 on BBC HD or online http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbchd/ .

The Digital D&T ECT framework website is now live http://www.ectcurriculum.org/ . This is set to be an excellent resource for teachers looking to update and modernise their ECT curriculum.

The starting points for projects are of particular interest as they encourage the "design with applied technology" approach, as opposed to "technology with applied design" that you often see in D&T departments. This strikes at the very heart of the debate about what D&T is, what it should be and where it should be going. My opinions on this are fairly well known amongst those who read this blog, and I see this new framework as a key part in the way forward for our subject.

In a related issue I will be running a Digital D&T network meeting in conjunction with Paul Spencer from Edge Hill University on Monday 18th January at The Radclyffe School. This twilight is free to attend and food/refreshments will be provided. Please see the courses page for more information.

The NW seminar "Using Digital D&T to Enhance your Electronics Curriculum" at Bolton Science and Technology Centre has be rescheduled for Friday  19th March. Please see the courses page in the navbar above for more details. A new flyer will be added soon for download.