Our eyes connected.

“ESTRAGON: In the meantime let us try and converse calmly, since we are incapable of keeping silent.
VLADIMIR: You're right, we're inexhaustible.
ESTRAGON: It's so we won't think.
VLADIMIR: We have that excuse.
ESTRAGON: It's so we won't hear.
VLADIMIR: We have our reasons.
ESTRAGON: All the dead voices.” 

Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

I stood as if in a trance, my gaze fixed upon that lion. 

In all my life, I had never been so close to such a beast.

I was in awe.

We were silent. 

The babbling tourists suddenly backgrounded.

It happened quite unexpectedly.

I felt a shudder go through me.

Our eyes connected.

I couldn't figure what the lion was thinking, nor what they lion might be wanting to say. 

I wasn't at all sure how to address the lion, nor whether to do more than wish it well.

Our eyes connected.

We were as one in our lot.

There was nothing more to say.

"A Domain of my own", "Fedwiki",  "Blog",  "Equity", "Research", "Inequality", "Privilege", "CSS", "Elite", "Font", "Tenure", "Retired academic," "Tinker", "Tailor," "Beggarman," "Thief," "Stanmore", "Stanford", "Colorado Springs", "Agency", "Profession of faith", "Serendipity", "Rhizo14", "DS106", "Clermont Ferrand", "Pied de porc", "Peer Review", "Flower", "Good Golly Miss Molly","Pffft." "DLRN15", "Slack?", "God Save the Queen", "Mine!" "Yours!", "Whateva".

She was following the letters with her pencil.

She vocalised the consonants: D-D-D.
She vocalised  the vowels: O-O-O.
She connected the sounds: D-O-O-G.

She said the word: dog.  

She had said the word: DOG.

There was a look of triumph in her eye.   

Our eyes connected.

We met each other with a knowing look.

She had felt the power. 

She saw the sounds everywhere. 

She vocalised the letters, the consonants, the vowels, the words, everywhere.

We write, we speak, we code, we build, we assemble, we aggregate, we search, we search...

I saw a photo of a family beneath an ancient tree. 

Its roots were stretched deep down in the ground.

They were looking up.

There was a moment of silence.

We gasp.
We laugh.
We babble. 
We weep.

There is nothing more to say.


 



 

Pretty Vacant.

I  have been fringelurking #dlrn15 twitter streams and Vconnecting sessions.

I wasn't able to access the live streams, not sure what I missed.






I listen to people introduce themselves:

I'm a learning designer/consultant.
I'm a doctoral student.
I'm a post doctoral student.
I'm a hyper post doctoral fellow. etc

I'm not a doctoral anything, I'm just curious.

I feel, at times, like a gate-crasher.

I am not marginal. I am me.


Being me, I am marginal.

I remember when I was invited by a flatmate to a Jewish society evening in Manchester.

The others kept assuming that I was Jewish.

I wasn't from Stanmore, Golders Green, I wasn't Jewish. 

Why was I there?

They were confused.

I felt sorry for them, it wasn't their fault, it was mine.

Inclusion was impossible.

I suppose that I might have converted...

There are moments when I have the distinct impression that I inhabit a different planet.

I went to my friend's thesis defence last week.

He was talking about teaching classes of 80 students in Cameroon to speak French.

He had to pay out of his own pocket for his students to have access to the computer lab so that he could do his research in order to present his thesis.

The French/Swiss jury's refined questioning was possible only as a result of their privileged contexts.

As I said to a friend sitting next to me:

"If you are starving you don't concern yourself with how you want your steak cooked." 

We stood up to hear the jury's verdict.

He had made it, he was pronounced doctor.

There were tears in his eyes.

I felt like I was in church.

I never felt comfortable in church.

I don't care about robes and hymn books.
 

There are moments when I have the distinct impression that I inhabit a different planet.

It is not just an impression.

Enrobed learning.

If I embarked in research, it was to help me change things.

It helped us change things.

It gave us sufficient recognition/seriousness/validation/permission to give us the space to change things.

Somebody said "education is broken".

Was education ever not broken?

Two hoots..

Many of the teachers around me do not care two hoots for change.

Many of the researchers around me do not care two hoots for change.

Many of students around me do not care two hoots for change.

They appear pretty vacant.

Pretty Vacant

There's no point in asking, you'll get no reply
Oh just remember I don't decide
I got no reason it's all too much
You'll always find us out to lunch

Oh we're so pretty
Oh so pretty
we're vacant
Oh we're so pretty
Oh so pretty
A vacant

Don't ask us to attend 'cos we're not all there
Oh don't pretend 'cos I don't care
I don't believe illusions 'cos too much is real
So stop you're cheap comment 'cos we know what we feel

Oh we're so pretty
Oh so pretty
we're vacant
Oh we're so pretty
Oh so pretty
we're vacant ah
But now and we don't care

There's no point in asking you'll get no reply
Oh just remember a don't decide
I got no reason it's all too much
You'll always find me out to lunch
We're out on lunch

Oh we're so pretty
Oh so pretty
we're vacant
Oh we're so pretty
Oh so pretty
we're vacant
Oh we're so pretty
Oh so pretty ah
But now and we don't care

We're pretty
A pretty vacant
We're pretty
A pretty vacant
We're pretty
A pretty vacant
We're pretty
A pretty vacant

And we don't care

Lyrics. Sex Pistols.

I listened to people talk about the weather, enjoying dinner, agency and stuff.

I wondered why I was listening.

I wondered if  my time wouldn't be better spent talking with kids around me...

They, at least, might benefit from my care.

Please please me.

I was reading Maha Bali's post entitled Elites of marginals.

I am beginning to question the appropriateness of the term 'elite' to talk of 'popular' 'participants' in this 'networked society'.

Maha talks of the creation of an 'elite of marginals':

"In a cMOOC we are not all created equal. We are all writing in English. We are all expressing ourselves publicly. Two things not all people in the world are able or comfortable to do. Once you cross these two hurdles, you are faced with this: although we can all speak equally (to an extent) we are not listened to equally. Some people will have their blogposts retweeted more often. Some will receive more comments. Some will be constantly thanked and referred to by course participants and facilitators. And this will never be everybody. It will only be a few. A few, possibly, with a certain personality. Those become the elites of the marginals."

Does the attention attracted in terms of retweets, comments etc result in the creation of an elite?

Personality of an individual - does that enable him to access an 'elite', to be identified as elite?

Certainly people who consider themselves, who recognise themselves to be members of an old-established elite might be upset that they no longer capture the attention of the crowd, or of those with real power...

They are becoming irrelevant.

JUST DANCE!

Can't dance?

OK write any crap you like.

If you write crap make it VIOLENT!


If you write crap make it SEXY!

If you write crap make it CATCHY! 

WAR PAYS!

People don't want nuanced argument.

give them EMOTION give them DREAMS give them DRAMA

YOU ARE IMPORTANT! (ha ha ha)

If retweets, or comments constitute currency, surely the attention generated by an academic is marginal compared to Rihanna.

Is a digital academic a marginal Rihanna, a marginal terrorist?

Who cares about reading your argument when others can make millions dance...die?

I turn to Wikipedia for a definition of elite:

"In political and sociological theory, an elite is a small group of people who control a disproportionate amount of wealth or political power. In general, elite means the more powerful group of people. The selected part of a group that is superior to the rest in terms of ability or qualities or has more privilege than the rest."

What constitutes disproportionate power in a network?

Is it those who attract attention of the 'small group of people' who don't need to attract a 'disproportionate' amount of attention?

Is it those who might benefit from any activity within a network who constitute the elite?

Is the size of the 'traditional elites' ever dwindling?

Don't we kid ourselves of our vociferous importance?

HELP! HELP!

Doesn't the market govern education?

Is digital literacy really of importance or the access to the first click?

Viewed from a powerful drone perspective aren't we all just fucking ants?

Oh dear they killed an academic.

Shit they blew up a ruin!

Who benefits most from Gang nam style?

Are digital academics bit part players in a wider play to get people (in Africa) to dance to the same tune?

Facebook satellite to beam internet to remote regions in Africa

Please please me. 

(Don't bother reading. Just look at the Gif.)

Give me your attention

Give me a comment. 

Give me a like.

Pathetic isn't it?

Gangnam style 2,432,684,561 views.