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Jane Woods

@janiewoodsie

Biology Lecturer on #AccesstoHE. Life-long learner. Love my messy garden. Mum to 2, grandma(!) to 2. Fledgling birder. #LoveFE #UKFE

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04.09.2024
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Latest posts by Jane Woods @janiewoodsie

Preview
Uta Frith: why I no longer think autism is a spectrum The autism spectrum has widened to the point of collapse, affecting how teachers should support autistic pupils in the classroom, researcher Uta Frith tells Helen Amass

One of the world’s leading authorities on autism - very important read: www.tes.com/magazine/tea...

04.03.2026 09:34 πŸ‘ 144 πŸ” 47 πŸ’¬ 22 πŸ“Œ 18
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The strongest version of this illusion I’ve seen! Absolute head-wrecker!

21.02.2026 16:36 πŸ‘ 385 πŸ” 123 πŸ’¬ 24 πŸ“Œ 29

To all the Minnesotans who are making their voices heard and protesting peacefully:

The world is watching, and when change comes, it will be because of you.

01.02.2026 15:49 πŸ‘ 27546 πŸ” 5585 πŸ’¬ 870 πŸ“Œ 238
Thursday 15th January
Today marks 25 years since the biggest group project in the world began.  On this day 2001 Wikipedia went live as a free encyclopedia that anyone could edit.
The idea came from a problem.  Jimmy Wales (pictured) wanted a free, online reference work and in early 2000 he backed a project called Nupedia, where experts wrote articles and editors reviewed them before publication.  It was careful and accurate but painfully slow.  By the end of 2000 it had barely grown (just 21 articles in the 1st year), so Wales and Nupedia’s editor-in-chief Larry Sanger looked for a faster way to draft articles.  Sanger proposed using β€˜wiki’ software (pages that anyone can quickly edit) and Wikipedia was born as a side-project to speed things up. 
But if anyone can edit, why trust it?  This tension is Wikipedia’s strength.  It doesn’t promise β€œtruth”, it promises that claims that are checkable.  Its core rules push editors to write from a neutral point of view and back statements with reliable sources.  All edit histories are visible, as are talk pages where disagreements between editors are public and become part of how quality improves. 
Since 2003 it’s been hosted by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation and funded mainly by reader donations, so it isn’t trying to sell you anything. Its β€˜business model’ is people caring enough to make a small contribution to keeping knowledge free.
What’s your personal rule for using Wikipedia well? Do you check references, edit history, talk page, other sources?
Should schools say β€œdon’t use Wikipedia”, or teach how to use it properly? What would that lesson include?

Thursday 15th January Today marks 25 years since the biggest group project in the world began. On this day 2001 Wikipedia went live as a free encyclopedia that anyone could edit. The idea came from a problem. Jimmy Wales (pictured) wanted a free, online reference work and in early 2000 he backed a project called Nupedia, where experts wrote articles and editors reviewed them before publication. It was careful and accurate but painfully slow. By the end of 2000 it had barely grown (just 21 articles in the 1st year), so Wales and Nupedia’s editor-in-chief Larry Sanger looked for a faster way to draft articles. Sanger proposed using β€˜wiki’ software (pages that anyone can quickly edit) and Wikipedia was born as a side-project to speed things up. But if anyone can edit, why trust it? This tension is Wikipedia’s strength. It doesn’t promise β€œtruth”, it promises that claims that are checkable. Its core rules push editors to write from a neutral point of view and back statements with reliable sources. All edit histories are visible, as are talk pages where disagreements between editors are public and become part of how quality improves. Since 2003 it’s been hosted by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation and funded mainly by reader donations, so it isn’t trying to sell you anything. Its β€˜business model’ is people caring enough to make a small contribution to keeping knowledge free. What’s your personal rule for using Wikipedia well? Do you check references, edit history, talk page, other sources? Should schools say β€œdon’t use Wikipedia”, or teach how to use it properly? What would that lesson include?

Thursday 15th January
Today marks 25 years since Wikipedia was launched in 2001.
It started as a side project to Nupedia a new online encyclopedia started by Jimmy Wales (pictured).  But Nupedia was going too slowly, so Nupedia’s editor-in-chief Larry Sanger suggested using wiki software to allow anyone to draft articles.  Wikipedia quickly became larger than Nupedia.
Although anyone can edit Wikipedia pages, its core rules push editors to write from a neutral point of view and back statements with reliable sources.  With edit and talk pages visible to allow total transparency.
Do you check references, edit history, talk page, other sources when you use Wikipedia?

Thursday 15th January Today marks 25 years since Wikipedia was launched in 2001. It started as a side project to Nupedia a new online encyclopedia started by Jimmy Wales (pictured). But Nupedia was going too slowly, so Nupedia’s editor-in-chief Larry Sanger suggested using wiki software to allow anyone to draft articles. Wikipedia quickly became larger than Nupedia. Although anyone can edit Wikipedia pages, its core rules push editors to write from a neutral point of view and back statements with reliable sources. With edit and talk pages visible to allow total transparency. Do you check references, edit history, talk page, other sources when you use Wikipedia?

On Thursday's TGT celebrate the 25th birthday of Wikipedia. Discuss how wikipedia works, its strengths and weaknesses. But mostly I think we should celebrate that Jimmy Wales has kept the biggest information source in the world ad-free and free. A truly noble act.
bit.ly/TutorGroupThink

14.01.2026 18:48 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

Well, Traitors is proving highly entertaining, isn't it?

08.01.2026 21:04 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

And the count down to half term begins...

05.01.2026 07:51 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
On Power Liminal thoughts from a liminal space, "The Perineum" between Christmas and New Year

I wrote this yesterday. It’s my message in a bottle from 2025. May it find you where you are xx

open.substack.com/pub/broligar...

01.01.2026 13:48 πŸ‘ 474 πŸ” 197 πŸ’¬ 13 πŸ“Œ 12
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From a good friend:

17.12.2025 18:05 πŸ‘ 790 πŸ” 219 πŸ’¬ 28 πŸ“Œ 8
Duck and Rabbit looking at offspring "really? I think he looks more like my side of the family".

Duck and Rabbit looking at offspring "really? I think he looks more like my side of the family".

#AcademicSky #PsychSciSky

We've hit peak Psychology Humour

01.12.2025 17:30 πŸ‘ 1604 πŸ” 503 πŸ’¬ 16 πŸ“Œ 11

AI is a bubble isn't it? And when it pops we're in even more economic trouble because of all the money sunk in. I think this is less scary than it taking over the world but still a bad outcome.

15.10.2025 20:51 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 0

For years I’ve known that week 3 of autumn term is the worst week of the year. Week 1 is a blur, week 2 a honeymoon, week 3 staff & children both come to see the challenges ahead and understand the work involved. The kids realise: this is it.
Well this week proved me right, again.

17.09.2025 17:26 πŸ‘ 71 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 16 πŸ“Œ 0

Rayner is absolute class. She's been a bit silly in organising her taxes, but that's not why they hate her. They hate her because she did not know her place.

05.09.2025 12:06 πŸ‘ 3448 πŸ” 682 πŸ’¬ 162 πŸ“Œ 47

Well said that man! (He's my brother)

13.08.2025 12:41 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Au revoir, le Tour - it's for the best Big sporting events, like so much we hold dear, are at odds with a liveable climate

dancalverley.substack.com/p/au-revoir-...

13.08.2025 12:39 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Earlier this year, I lost my beloved job at my beloved Observer when the Guardian, in its great wisdom, gave the newspaper away to a podcast company...who promptly sacked me.

So, forgive my delight today, in being nominated for FIVE awards in the British Podcast Awards!!
1/

24.07.2025 22:26 πŸ‘ 2544 πŸ” 388 πŸ’¬ 62 πŸ“Œ 18
Minute Cryptic Solve a clue with a hidden meaning

Minute Cryptic - 16 July, 2025
"I love doing gymnastics with this extremely springy bunch?" (7)
βšͺ️🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣
I scored: 2 under par
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

16.07.2025 09:15 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The real Salt Path: how a blockbuster book and film were ... Penniless and homeless, the Winns found fame and fortune with the story of their 630-mile walk to salvation. We can reveal that the truth behind it is ve...

Following today’s #SaltPathGate scandal, I feel obliged to confess that I’ve never actually seen a Storm-petrel. observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

06.07.2025 21:08 πŸ‘ 16 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 0

I’m pretty sure every woman leader has had a cry at work. We are human. When our work matters, and we care about it, we feel it.

#imwithrachel

03.07.2025 11:42 πŸ‘ 94 πŸ” 25 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 6

Chatbots β€” LLMs β€” do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re β€œright” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

19.06.2025 11:21 πŸ‘ 36849 πŸ” 11356 πŸ’¬ 633 πŸ“Œ 962

Hi, is this a good place for teachers, educators and if so how do I find groups, particularly about Biology?

12.06.2025 04:43 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Does anyone else do or know anyone who does Edexcel A-level Biology B? I am interested in others views on the 2025 paper they have just sat. @chatbiology.bsky.social

10.06.2025 08:08 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Desperate parent alert! Our 4yo left his beloved teddy Moley (Florence the Mole from Any Creatures Wildlife) at Premier Inn Doncaster Lakeside on May 31. Likely scooped up with laundry πŸ§ΊπŸ’” Discontinued + irreplaceable. Please RT + help us bring him home! πŸ™#bringmoleyhome

02.06.2025 19:12 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 19 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
This Is What a Digital Coup Looks Like | Carole Cadwalladr | TED
This Is What a Digital Coup Looks Like | Carole Cadwalladr | TED YouTube video by TED

πŸ‘‡ This Is What a Digital Coup Looks Like πŸ‘‡

@carolecadwalla.bsky.social with a powerful talk on broligarchy & authoritarianism.

Can't even pick a quote, because every other sentence is worth a quotation.

11.04.2025 13:14 πŸ‘ 645 πŸ” 307 πŸ’¬ 22 πŸ“Œ 54
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How to survive the broligarchy: 20 lessons for the post-truth world | Carole Cadwalladr In the wake of Trump’s unnerving appointees, the investigative journalist and veteran of the libel court offers pointers on coping in an age of surveillance

NEW: The great Trump-Musk crackdown is coming. And it will hit hard & fast. Journalists will be first. But everyone else is next.

I urge you to read my 20 lessons in How to Survive the Broligarchy, inspired by & featuring the great @timothysnyder.bsky.social
1/
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

17.11.2024 10:18 πŸ‘ 21347 πŸ” 10272 πŸ’¬ 1171 πŸ“Œ 1230

Same here!

14.04.2025 08:33 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Trump: putting the FFS into β€œtariffs”.

09.04.2025 08:20 πŸ‘ 228 πŸ” 40 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 1

It’s like an issue of Private Eye
Pedantry Corner meets #FridayFive

04.04.2025 15:19 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Thank you, dear Keir Starmer, for hosting this important meeting.

Two key messages:

First, we need a lasting peace in Ukraine.

But it can only be achieved through strength ↓

02.03.2025 19:31 πŸ‘ 2831 πŸ” 544 πŸ’¬ 88 πŸ“Œ 42

Zelenskyy knows what it is to fight for something bigger than yourself. Trump does not.

01.03.2025 09:41 πŸ‘ 2868 πŸ” 417 πŸ’¬ 73 πŸ“Œ 13

BREAKING: Prime Minister Keir Starmer expresses "unwavering support for Ukraine" πŸ‘

28.02.2025 22:19 πŸ‘ 1720 πŸ” 267 πŸ’¬ 57 πŸ“Œ 30