Before I worked for Supa Swap, I  remember the bemused look on my students face when I used to start an IT lesson (that is information technology in case you didn't know) with the sentence "This is a book and it can be found in the school library".

You may think this is a strange way to start a lesson about technology but it was done to highlight a very important point about online research; sometimes it is not very good.

Anyone can publish anything online. I am a year 10 pupil and I have just written what I consider to be the best essay ever on Henry VIII. In fact I am so pleased with it that I am going to put it up on a webpage for the world to see. Unfortunately what I have not published is the fact that my History teacher hated it and gave me an E grade for it. So my essay sits on the web for all to see with no justification. (what do teachers know anyway).

Justify your Research

Well hopefully you can see my point. Research done online mush be backed up with other research from other mediums like books, which tend to be correct as they have gone through the publishing process. The internet is a wonderful resource that can enhance our education but it is not a quick solution to serious research, otherwise we are in danger of entering a society where our facts become diluted with half truths and misconceptions like a form digital cheese whispers.

One more point for those of you in higher education following a philosophy course. If this article is stating that you can not trust what is on the internet, can you trust this article. If you therefore can not trust this article is it possible that you can trust information on the internet, which means you can trust this article. See if you can get yourself out of that loop of an argument.

News has emerged this week that college dons at Oxford University have been enjoying free lunches at the tax payers expense.

Labour MP David Lammy has hit out at this practice with the current background of tuition fee hikes for students across the county.

University Traditions

Certainly at Supa Swap we are finding it hard to justify this "tradition" at one of the most prestigious universities in the country if not the world.

Oxford have hit back and have stated that none of the lunches are funded by the taxpayer but from the Universities own funds that it uses to cover the costs not covered by its income from the public.

This does beg the question, how big are these private funds, where are they from and why have they not been taken into account when deciding to increase student tuition fees?

As we have just passed the time of year that is predominantly for children. Well ok some of us are still big kids and love Christmas but putting that to one side, we thought at Supa Swap we would look at something all to evident by its absence at this time of year, manners.

The recent economic changes may have pulled back our spending habits over the last year but we are still at hear a materialistic society. "I want" is an all to familiar cry from youngsters today.

Ok, so Christmas is after all in reality a Christian festival, celebrating the birth of Christ. Let´s just gloss over that the date is almost certainly wrong and the overtones of pagan symbolism we actually see as part of our celebrations. So what is wrong with expecting a little bit of good behaviour from our children in this time of goodwill to all men.

Writing a Thank You Letter

Firstly, I remember being sat down by my parents and being made to write thank you letters to everyone who sent me a present. How many of you can say you got one of those this year. An elderly relative who sees her pension going less and less further, i suspect would be overjoyed to receive such a letter for the present he or she saved to buy. Oh and I do not mean an email, pen to paper.

Relatives visit at Christmas and it would seem only polite for all the family to be present, not disappearing off to the bedroom because Aunty Mildred smell funny.

Of course the best way, I believe to install good manners in children is to lead by example. Children are great mimics and they will happily copy bad behaviour and use it as justification for their own transgressions.

So as the school holidays come to an end, maybe there is something children can learn while way from the classroom.