Pedagodzilla

This episode is one recorded from last year but which seems to have fallen through the cracks. We spoke to John Lean of Manchester Metropolitan University about the niche cultural phenomenon called football. We’re in unfamiliar territory here. John talks about how he approaches his co-curricular work in much the same way that Johan Cruyff… Continue reading What does Total Football tell...

A few firsts for this episode. This is the first regular episode where Mark took over the lead host role – he’d previously hosted only the on tour episodes before. It’s also the first one recorded specifically so our guest could get started on a book chapter. Dom came to us with his chapter brief… Continue reading An Odyssey through virtual reality

Ever built a LEGO spaceship with Will Ferrell that looked nothing like the instructions? Ever let students take the reins and steer your curriculum off-road? Ever wondered if those two things are basically the same? In this episode, Mike and Mark are joined by Kiu-Sum, host of The Education Burrito podcast, to unpack the surprisingly profound links… Continue reading Why is everything awesome...

🎲 Ever pretended to be a halfling bard in a lesson?🧠 Ever gamified a class and called it “learning design”?✨ Ever desperately tried to make your teaching feel a bit more f***ing awesome? Then you, dear listener, may already be casting spells inside what the cool pedagogues in town call The Magic Circle. You know… Continue reading What is the Magic Circle?

In this episode Mike is joined by Jo Dyer, Director of Learner and Discovery Services at The Open University as we talk about cakes, bakes and how the OU makes (distance learning). Mike’s been working at the OU (The Open University) for over a decade, and has been running this podcast for at least half… Continue reading Is creating distance learning as simple as baking an air-fryer cak...

In this episode Mike C and Mark C are joined by Associate Professor at Durham, Dr Richard Crossman (author of the Infinite Diversity, Finite Combinations blog) and Senior Learning Designer at The Open University Mark Williams as we talk about that space show with the phasers not the hyperdrive. They call it warp drive and… Continue reading Why is the Kobayashi Maru a no-win for Starfleet ass...

Hold onto your butts! In this episode Mike is joined by learning designers Paul Astles, Catriona Matthews, and Hayley Johns to answer the sustainably silly question: “What can Jurassic Park teach us about embedding sustainability in course design?” From Dr. Ian Malcolm’s chaos theory quotes to water ripples in the T-Rex scene, the team uses… Continue reading What can Jurassic Park teach us a...

Fast cars or magic mushrooms would have been a better clickbait title for this. Damn our ethics. In this episode we’re joined by the fab Luke Pearce to talk about linear and nonlinear learning, and which might be best for your teaching needs. To do so we’ll be examining Grand Theft Auto, the much beloved… Continue reading GTA or Mario, which design philosophy makes for a better c...

In this episode Mike is joined by the OU’s own Tom Olney to discuss their love of detective shows and the seed of all good learning design, Learning Outcomes. You’ll find some of the papers Tom references here:Kennedy, D (2007) Writing and using learning outcomes: a practical guide https://cora.ucc.ie/items/e866d6e9-4fcb-4c00-a80c-478cdf55e7ef Moon, J (2004) Linking levels, learning&#8...

We did a live show! And it worked! In May 2024, to celebrate the launch of our book we travelled to Aberystwyth University (Mike’s alma marta) at the invitation of friend of all edu professionals, Mary Jacob. As well as some workshops, some giveaways and a takeover session that we’ll be shortly releasing on our… Continue reading Pedagodzilla Live! Rapid fire panicked panel show i...

In this episode we revisit social constructivism, expand on the ideas around it – and work out how the council of Elrond use it to destroy the One Ring. You’ll be able to hear the clinking of chains in the background as the deep nerds within us are restrained for your listening sanity. An uncut… Continue reading How does the council of Elrond use social constructivism to destroy...

In this episode we’re joined by the fab Dr Elliott Spaeth to discuss UDL (universal design for learning), the least played game in the world D&D (Dungeons and Dragons), and how it’s possible to get halfway through an episode before you realise you’ve been asking the wrong questions all along. Also we actually remembered to… Continue reading How can applying UDL principl...

Ye gods, we recorded this episode a year ago, a year ago! That’s how far behind we are with our editing. Shameful. In this episode we discuss much loved snuggly sunday blanket TV show All Creatures Great and Small, based on James Herriot’s awesome books, and use it to understand Apprenticeships as a pedagogic model.… Continue reading How can (All) Creatures Great and Small boost...

It’s been a while since we’ve done an old style Mike and Mark jobby – remember when these were all we did? We’re tackling ZPD! Everyone’s favourite flipping long way of saying graspable learning. And we’re bouncing it off beloved stabby franchise, Assassin’s Creed. We mention a few things in the episode by the way,… Continue reading How does the Zone...

Ye gods the end is coming! Grab your go-bag, a cricket bat and join Mike, Mark and Dr Laura Mitchell as we break down how thinking about thinking can help you go to the bathroom safely as the world comes to an end. Because we’re role-playing a serious academic outfit, here’s some handy links related… Continue reading How does metacognition enable people to be the heroes in (dysto...

In this episode we’re joined by the fabulous Dr Jane Secker and Chris Morrison from the Copyright Waffle Podcast, where we revisit The Muppets, communities of practice – and share in the experiences in actually sitting within a community of practice. We loved meeting Chris and Jane so much at Playful Learning that we just… Continue reading How do you create the most sensational,...

We are once again joined by the fab Sheila Webber, information literacy officiando, as we reminisce over the fabulousness of Supermarionation shows gone by, and ask ourselves – what is and makes a Learning Organisation? Is Spectrum a Learning Organisation? No?! Why not?! If you’re wondering why schools, universities and other institutional bastions are often… Continue reading Why...

In this episode we’re joined by the fab Sheila Webber, where we find out what on earth phenomenography is (and how to say it, after a lot of practice) – and how it could remove the mad drama from hit reality show, ‘Say Yes To The Dress’. If you’re planning a wedding yourself then this… Continue reading Could phenomenography increase the happiness quotient in Say...

Join Mike, Mark and special guest Puiyin Wong as we start an accidental, on-air imposters support group – and discuss Imposter Syndrome, occasionally remembering to frame it against The Wizard of Oz, but more often against our own bloody knuckled life experiences. We’ve contacted the OED, and they’re going to change the plural of Imposter… Continue reading How do a scarecro...

In this episode I’m joined by the fabulous Professor Rebecca Ferguson, where we get Misty eyed, Brock the mold and Ash the tough questions (weak pun that one) as we explore behaviourism through the lens of Pokémon Go. We mentioned a couple of publications, here they are for your referencing pleasure: Tobin, J., Buckingham, D.,… Continue reading How does behaviourism help players &#8216...

In this B Movie special, we’re looking at three delightfully ‘B’ movies that are, if not close to our hearts, then at least in the same postcode – and using them to answer some mini bloody stupid pedagogic questions, including: How do we Short Circuit Mazlow’s Heirachy of Needs? (Ft. Short Circuit) How can we… Continue reading Why are B Movies so good for answer...

It’s an Olde Stylee episode, with just Mike, Mark and a wee focused nerdy question. Been a while since we’ve done one of these! It’s Dune, Frank Herbert’s genre defining and much parodied space opera, and graduate attributes. Attributes for graduates innit. We had a lot of fun recording this one. Can you tell? Also… Continue reading How did thinking about humanity&#82...

This week we’re joined by Mary Jacob, as we chat about our quintessential pop culture zombos, using them to pick apart neuromyths – and in particular the biggy – Learning Styles! Before the wickerman gets erected, we’re not conflating these with learner preferences, or learning requirement/needs/delivery/accessibility reqs – we’re focusing on the VARK psychometr...

Or to ask the full question, how can the RZA, the GZA, Raekwon the Chef, Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck, Method Man, ODB, U-God, and Ghostface Killah inform our online collaborative learning experiences? To help answer this, we’re joined by the brilliant Terry Greene, Senior eLearning Designer at Trent University, Ontario and host of the cracking… Continue reading How can the Wu-Tang Clan...

Boy oh boy do we have a special one for you! In this episode we demystify and separate out Gamification and Games Based Learning, talk about one of the best action/sci-fi movies of all time, The Matrix – and get up on our soap boxes about how to take the red pill to add cool… Continue reading How is Gamification like being trapped in The Matrix? And what is the real world of Games Base...