Duncan O'Leary
Duncan works on projects looking at public services, skills and work.
- Open Source Learning? Where does plagiarism stop and open source learning begin? A report from the Joint Council for Qualifications suggests today that ?They [students] would not be able to make extensive alterations without an understanding of the subject,? arguing that re-working (albeit small) exerts of existing text can be a valuable tool in self-teaching. The process as important as the final product? continue reading on 5th April 2004
- Offshore benefits? Just read an interesting Article in USA Today regaling the benefits of offshoring programming jobs from the US to India and China. The author, Kevin Maney, adopts the position that "This is absolutely not a zero-sum game," arguing that that such moves benefit both those who are able to pick up these jobs, and, ultimately, those who have lost them.The issue seems to be gaining in prominence - John Edwards' relatively protectionist approach became a central plank of his Presidential bid, whilst... continue reading on 25th March 2004 Comments (2)
- Miliband on Personalisation The last week also saw two policy workshops held by the Innovation Unit for Leaders of Secondary Schools. These two events sought to gather the views of participants as part of the ongoing conversation about a network-based education system. A particularly interesting part of the day was a lively discussion around how the system can be tailored to meet the aim of Personalised Learning, as laid down in David Miliband?s speech to the North of England Education Conference. Everyone seemed to... continue reading on 27th February 2004 Comments (1)
- Politi-Cola Last week I watched two different programmes charting the progress of two new brands of Cola - Mecca Cola and Qibla Cola. These new brands are Cola with a difference though, they engage with your politics as well as your taste buds. Both brands consider their selling point to be their association with a stance on certain issues, such as the future of Palestine. This left me with a few questions?does this belie the hypothesis that people no longer believe in collective solutions to problems?... continue reading on 25th February 2004