Laurie O’Donnell

Had a lovely morning at Perth High School launching The Winning Game within Glow.

The main force behind bringing the game to Scotland is Winning Scotland Foundation. The Winning Game is based on The Winning Theory of Yehuda Shinar and has been developed by Dundee based games company TPLD.

I think it is going to be a big success in Scottish schools. It also provides an even more compelling case for every learner and teacher in Scotland to join the learning community that is Glow.

Just finished reading Carol Dweck’s ‘Mindset – The New Psychology of Success’.

I think this is an important book for anyone involved in education and very worthwhile for the general reader. Her theory is that there are two basic ways of looking at the world – or ‘mindsets’. One is a ‘fixed mindset’ in which intelligence, talent, ability and skill are fixed. Success in the fixed mindset is about showing how smart you.  The other view is the ‘growth mindset’ where success follows learning and failure suggests more effort is required rather than being a statement on any innate qualities.

Dweck draws on the creative sphere, sport, business leadership  and importantly from the world of education and parenting to construct and illustrate her argument.

Lots here for teachers and parents especially around positive and negative labels. Most teachers and parents understand how negative labels, eg stupid, clumsy etc, can be destructive. Dweck’s research also points to the destructive nature of positive labels, eg clever, smart, skillfull, talented, creative etc. These positive labels tend to build a fixed mindset, create a fear of failure and consequently hinder both learning and long-term success.

Dweck has recently been working with Winning Scotland Foundation and LTS is currently exploring a small scale pilot of her Brainology computer program.

I was interviewed for the April edition of Futurelab’s Vision e-zine by the roving educational technology journalist and commentator Merlin John.

The article is published under the heading ‘You ain’t seen nothing yet … Scotland’s ICT Renaissance‘.

Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, launched our new curriculum today.

Have a look at our shiny new home page and Scotland’s new curriculum.

This has been a really big task for everyone involved.

From the point of view of the LTS website it is hard to believe how far we have come over the last few years under the leadership of Patricia Kemp (overall responsibility for LTS Online/editor in chief) and Emma Walsh (responsible for the technology that underpins the site).

Lovely tribute from Merlin John on his great website MJO.

Being described as ‘Scotland’s ICT leader’ made me smile and I am sure will raise a few eyebrows (including my own!).