Further to the recent “The Times They Are a Changin” post.  I came across this fantastic video from the pupils of Robin Hood Primary School, Birmingham, on Merlin John’s blog . Entitled “Engage Me” it depicts how students themselves would like to be engaged by their learning.

Again I must confess to being absolutely astounded by the sheer quality of the ideas and the simple but effective nature of the video. I don’t think that anyone would argue that these children are wrong. They simply are not, and for me they should be listened to by anyone involved in education. After all if we want to provide engaging learning then we should find out exactly what engages the learner – so why not ask (and listen to the answers of) the learner?

At ThirdForce we have initiated a programme where some of our e-learning courses can be delivered via BlackBerry mobile phones. Obviously this is more targeted at mobile learning for the busy business professional and not strictly applicable to schools (if Key Stage 3 pupils start using BlackBerries before I do, I’ll really feel technologically illiterate!) however the fact remains that mobile learning is something we feel has tremendous potential. As for lessons being delivered on PSP’s or Nintendo DS’s we are beginning to see this also, but if we listen to the pupils the argument can be made that we should already be there!