“All of your knowledge won’t amount to much if you don’t have a network of people to share it with and enough compassion for the people in that network to understand that your success is a direct result of their success.” Tim Sanders, Chief Solutions Officer at Yahoo I’m in education because I want children/young …
Monthly archives: January 2010
I don’t get Twitter
Some thoroughly confused PGCE students of mine have admitted that they just “don’t get Twitter“. That’s fine. Your confusion over Twitter is shared by many. Media literacies are determined by our social identities. We start reading books because we see others reading. We get an e-mail address because other people want to contact us. We …
Modelling Technology
Motivational speakers usually don’t impress me. Brought in by a well meaning leader, the “You can make a difference” inspirational monologue, usually leaves me more dispirited than before. “Do what I’m doing, stand in my shoes for a week, and then make this speech”, has always been my internal mantra to their 20 minute routine. …
Pecha Kucha Pietermaritzburg?
Pecha Kucha, Japanese for “chit-chat”, is a presentation format that combines business meeting and slam poetry and turns endless Power Point presentations into an art form and a competitive sport. Initially introduced by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham, two Architects from Tokyo’s Klein-Dytham Architecture that were hosting an event for young designers to meet, network, …
Information and Confusion
I love the rough and ready index cards that Jessica Hagy uses with her “Venn Dadagrams” at Indexed. Her Needles and Haystacks graph (slide 3)perfectly captures the befuddled brain after a long morning of course introductions. AV / Ed Tech Introduction View more presentations from Derek Moore. To finish off their befuddlement, I hauled out …
QR codes in class
I’m often teaching ICT to students in a small computer LAN. Students usually out number the available desktops. For example, last years UKZN AV class had only 70 students. And we had access to only 12 desktop computers. Edtechies assume too easily that “one person, one computer” is the norm in schools and higher ed. …
Linking spaces to information
I’ve accessed my blog via my phone’s camera using this QR code. And while this sounds impossibly complicated, I’ve just learned how this works in the last half an hour. Instructions QR codes combine simple creation with easy access to QR code readers. Create the code using a QR-Code Generator and then point your mobile …
Making the ‘Net Work
Social Media does not have to be filtered or restricted. With an enlightened policy a school, its teachers and administrators can pro-actively embrace Web 2.0 technology and enhance communication and understanding within a school. Infographic inspired by Oneupweb Listen!
Re-arranging the deckchairs
My “multi-tasking”, “threaded”, “distributed”, “distracted” world tends to make concentrated work and thought rare. This year, I’d like to see if I can look up, look inside, take time to breathe, talk to myself, be still and mindful before I jump straight into the vast connected chamber that I work in. Dr Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author …
Web Wednesday Chit Chat and Workshops
I’d like to experiment with hosting and running a set of alternate bi-monthly chit chats and workshops for people that want to share their digital stories and extend their use of the net. These events will take place on the first Wednesday of the month and will collectively be known as WebWed. Chit Chat At …