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Qatar to be global knowledge hub

Billions of pounds are being pumped into an 'Education City' of 80 educational, research, science and community development organisations.

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Which 100 English words should Fabio learn?

England football manager Fabio Capello has claimed that he only requires a 'maximum [of] 100 words' to communicate tactics to the England footballers. This is not as laughable as it first seems because The Reading Teachers Book of Lists claims that the first 25 words make up about one-third of all printed material in English, and that the first 100 make up about one-half of all written material. When I was involved with writing technical manuals for engineers whose first language was not English, we were encouraged to use a limited vocabulary. This is not quite the same as using the most frequent words because each word had to have only one meaning and - of course - we used the most useful words for the context. Fabio Capello's 100 words in the locker room would be different to Michel Roux's in the Kitchen. What are your suggestions for the 100 most useful words in your subject? These insights can be very helpful - not only for teaching languages but in any situation and subject where students have limited ability in the language being used. While Fabio Capello is aiming for an English vocabulary of 100 words, I'm pretty sure my dog understands 200 words. I think I'll start listing them - look out for a blog on this subject. Follow us on twitter Latest posts

Meditation stronger than drugs for pain relief

Researchers have found that just one hour of meditation training can reduce immediate pain by nearly half and have a long lasting effect.

The technique appears to work as it calms down pain experiencing areas of the brain while at the same time boosting coping areas.

Meditation was found to reduce pain intensity by about 40 per cent and pain unpleasantness by 57 per cent. Morphine and other pain-relieving drugs typically reduce pain ratings by about 25 per cent.

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Design and technology classes 'out of date'

Ofsted has said that too many design and technology teachers in England are failing to keep pace with global technological advances. A report on the teaching of the subject said too little use was made of modern technology in a third of the schools it surveyed. Schools in China and France emphasise the study of robotics, electronics and computer-aided design, it added.

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Cambridge to Educate Tomorrow's Nuclear Leaders

Some of the biggest companies and organisations in the nuclear industry are lending their support to a new course which will prepare the engineers and scientists of tomorrow for incidents such as those recently witnessed in Japan.

A new MPhil in Nuclear Energy, which is being launched by the University of Cambridge, will, among other topics, focus on ensuring that the reactor designs are extremely robust and that staff working in the nuclear industry have the best possible preparation for the challenges of their careers.

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Oxbridge encourages thousands of sixth-formers

Cambridge and Oxford are giving thousands of Year 12 students across the UK the opportunity to find out more about studying at the two world-class universities.

The 2011 Cambridge and Oxford Student Conference series starts on 21 March in Leicester. The seven-venue conference tour will also visit Cardiff, London, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Merseyside and Lisburn in Northern Ireland.

More than 10,000 school students and their teachers are expected to attend the free conferences.

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Education reduces blood pressure

A long stint in education is good for people's blood pressure, according to researchers in the US.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is linked to heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure. Higher levels of education have previously been linked to lower levels of heart disease. The researchers suggest that blood pressure could be the reason why. The study also shows the link is stronger in women than in men.

Published in the journal BMC Public Health, the study looked at 30 years of data from 3,890 people who were being followed as part of the Framingham Offspring Study.

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Protein dose reverses learning problems

Learning and memory problems have been reversed in mice with a syndrome that mimics Down's.

Researchers have found they could prevent developmental problems in mice engineered to have Down's syndrome by injecting their mothers with proteins while they were still in the womb. Can learning disabilities and mental retardations that were considered permanent now be treated?

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Reading test for six-year-olds to include non-words

In another initiative - like the use of linguistics terminology - the government is introducing changes which seem to make learning to read more confusing for six-year-olds. A number of made-up words such as 'koob' or 'zort' are to be included in the government's planned new reading test for six-year-olds in England.

The idea has drawn criticism from literary experts who say the approach will confuse those beginning to read. The government said non-words were being included to check pupils' ability to decode words using phonics.

Phonics is an important part of learning to read but current thinking relies too heavily on it and seems to reduce the importance of recognising words as shapes. Phonics rarely gives the correct pronunciation of a word that is new to the child - unless, of course, you make up non-words which follow the 'rules' of English pronunciation. I also believe that phonics is the worse method for teaching dyslexics to read. By all means include non-words in a pronunciation test - but not as part of a reading test.

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Genes 'play key role in classroom performance'

Politicians may be keen to measure schools' effectiveness, but the quality of the school environment is only half of the story, researchers have found.

Academics at King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry say the genetic factors children bring to the classroom are just as influential.

In a study of 4,000 sets of UK twins, nature and nurture was found to have an equal effect on their achievements.

Does this mean that educators should focus on helping people achieve their potential rather than reaching fixed targets?

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