Bebo more popular than MySpace: UK

Via Techcrunch I see my gut feeling is confirmed - Bebo is more popular than MySpace in the UK. So while the DOPA legislation is branded the "MySpace Legislation" in the US, we shouldn't rest on our laurels about what Bebo's popularity could mean for Scottish education's forays into Web 2.0 tools. Thankfully, in my new post I am working with one of the most visionary Local Authorities in this respect. At meetings today in East Lothian Council offices with the Head of Education, the ICT Manager Curriculum and Exc-el architect David Gilmor, we made initial plans for getting Curriculum for Excellence, formative assessment and social software integrated to our teaching and learning. All this helped along by Scotland's fastest internet connection for schools: 100megabit for each of our secondaries and 8megabit for each and every primary school. Maybe Wes was right...

Comments

[Andrew Pass]

Ewan:

I'm not sure why I'm surprised that Scottland seems to have the potential to be so effective in incorporating social software into teaching and learning when the U.S. has just outlawed it? After all, isn't the U.S. the First World nation whose students demonstrate worse math and science skills than students in some Third World nations? As an American this scares me a great deal. As a Scott, perhaps this is encouraging. The world is becoming flatter and the U.S. is going to fall off of it.

Andrew Pass

[Ewan McIntosh]

Yikes! I can only hope that the next round of voting politicians are more savvy than the first. We are hoping that the work we do will provide a state-sponsored model that can be held up as an example of how it can be done, along with all the guidance necessary to get it done - wherever you are. Hope we can do it in time for you...

[AB]

Too right we shouldn't rest on our laurels - especially when many Bebo spaces are 'by invitation only' - do our teachers and senior officers know this? Why should kids use the SSDN, when they have a private space that is thiriving at the moment that teachers can't access without an invite from a member?

[Ewan McIntosh]

I can see the reasoning behind this - they want kids to use the same type of cool tools for learning - in school - and SSDN will have its use there. However, I do wonder how much kids will use these tools outside school. They will have to be significantly better than the integrated video Skype, flash boxes, blogs, photo sharing and IM offered by students current two or three tools.