1. First up today, four free courses from EENet, the Enabling Education Network https://www.eenet.org.uk/inclusive-early-childhood-education-training-videos/online-courses/

Two on Inclusive Beginnings

• Inclusive practice – you will learn about making pre-school teaching and learning environments and practices more inclusive. Many of the ideas are relevant for primary schools too.
• Inclusive transition  – you will earn about supporting learners when they transition between classes or levels.

and two Versatile Videos courses

• Training – you will explore simple ways to use videos during inclusive education training workshops.
• Advocacy – you will look at how to use videos within your inclusive education advocacy activities.

You need to register (for free): there’s good, clear guidance on how to do so here https://learnlink.eenet.org.uk/how-to-access-courses-on-eenets-learnlink/

2. From the International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, The Effects of Duolingo, an AI-Integrated Technology, on EFL Learners’ Willingness to Communicate and Engagement in Online Classes by Zhiqun Ouyang, Yujun Jiang & Huying Liu https://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/7677/6089

Duolingo will be pleased with the authors’ findings that “the significant effect sizes observed confirmed Duolingo’s contribution to improved language attitudes, engagement, and communicative confidence”, I imagine!

3. Something a little different, from Engelsberg Ideas: Ali Ansari on the secret to Cyrus the Great’s success https://audioboom.com/posts/8556904-ei-weekly-listen-ali-ansari-on-the-secret-to-cyrus-the-great-s-success

4. An entertaining and insightful account by Xiaolu Guo for The Guardian of her quest to understand the Vikings, Normans and life on the English coast https://www.theguardian.com/news/article/2024/aug/15/a-chinese-born-writers-quest-to-understand-the-vikings-normans-and-life-on-the-english-coast

Perhaps a foreigner knows more about their adopted land than the locals, because a foreigner feels more acutely the particularities of a new environment.

5. And, finally, an extraordinary story from The New York Times, The Woman Who Could Smell Parkinson’s https://tinyurl.com/yf5dhezk