Doug is a self-professed “Open Educational Thinkerer” and founder of Dynamic Skillset Ltd. He advises clients on issues around new literacies (the topic of his doctoral thesis), new forms of credentialing, and agile processes. Prior to this, he worked on the Web Literacy Map and Open Badges for the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation, for Jisc in UK Higher Education, and he was a teacher and school senior leader. Doug holds a B.A. (Hons) in philosophy from the University of Sheffield, an M.A. in modern history from Durham University, and an Ed.D. (also from Durham). His personal website can be found at http://dougbelshaw.com. Doug lives in Northumberland in the north of England with his wife and children.
Doug Belshaw
Articles
November 27, 2017
Reframing the ‘Progressive’ vs. ‘Traditionalist’ Debate in Education
One of the unfortunate side effects of the 2007-8 global economic crash has been our decade-long slide into intolerance of the unfamiliar and unknown. Rival groups trade blows over their proposed solutions...
Category: Educational PracticeMarch 13, 2017
How do you prove what you know and can do these days? Sure, you can show someone your CV, résumé or LinkedIn profile, but what does that prove? Isn’t that just a...
Category: EdtechDecember 19, 2016
How Well are we Preparing Students for the Future of Work?
As a former history teacher, it makes me laugh and cry that so many prominent figures in education (especially education technology) have such a poor understanding of the history of their subject....
Category: Educational PracticeOctober 31, 2016
The Importance of Working ‘Open’ in Education
Is working “open” the binary opposite of “closed” ways of working? Could it be that it’s as simple as flicking some kind of switch for your organisation or institution to begin embracing...
Category: Educational PracticeOctober 10, 2016
Why It’s Time to Let Go of ‘Meritocracy’
Meritocracy seems like an unassailable concept. Who could argue with a belief that the 'brightest and the best' should reach the highest levels in society? In a heavily class-conscious society (like England),...
Category: EquitySeptember 15, 2016
Digital Literacy, Identity and a Domain of One’s Own
I must have about 10 domain names. That's a lot less than some people I know, but 10 more than most people. Two of the domain names are those that I own...
Category: Digital CitizenshipJune 13, 2016
3 Ways Open Badges Work Like the Web
“The web is more a social creation than a technical one. I designed it for a social effect — to help people work together — and not as a technical toy. The...
Category: EdtechApril 28, 2016
3 Types of EdTech Baggage: Toolsets, Mindsets, Skillsets
Anyone with a background in technology integration will, of course, be familiar with the diffusion of innovation curve. This is a method to explain the way that different groups of people will...
Category: Digital CitizenshipFebruary 11, 2016
The Possibilities of Badges and Blockchain
In March 2015, I wrote “Peering Deep into the Future of Educational Credentialing” for DML Central. In it, I explored the potential for the blockchain technology (best known for underpinning Bitcoin) to...
Category: EdtechNovember 2, 2015
Deliberate Practice and Digital Literacies
There are some phrases — “communities of practice” and “close reading” spring to mind — that we as educators tend to use automatically. It’s never just an “online community” or “reading.” Sometimes,...
Category: Digital Citizenship