Thanksgiving.

This a thanksgiving for the openness and generosity of my fellows.








Being thankful.

I am thankful for the openness of ALTC.

It is one of the most stimulating conferences that I have never had the fortune to attend in the flesh.

I was able to watch Ian Livingstone's keynote on games in learning.

I remark his use of the slogan: "Life is a game."

I might have used such a slogan in the past myself...perhaps not.

I feel inclusion at his mention of a book in my collection:

"Program or be programmed" by Douglas Rushkoff

I can identify with this culture.

I admit to feeling a little uneasy at the story and the photo of a meeting with Angelina Jolie.

I hesistate to admit it openly.

I felt nostalgic for the Learning Without Frontiers Conference that I had first attended in 2012.

Game-based learning, graphically engaging video games, virtual reality is indeed seductive.

Jane McGonigal's book "Reality is Broken: Why games make us better and how they can  change the world." has pride of place on my bookcase.

Those were the days when everything seemed shiny and new.

I loved the fact that I got a free iPad.

If I retain much enthusiasm and two "free" iPads, all this is now accompanied by a more critical eye.

I think back to a previous session of Virtually Connecting at ALTC where the participants, Catherine Cronin, and Remi Holden among them, were talking about the importance of humility and learning from our failures.

Changing the world.

I was thankful this afternoon to be able to benefit from the work of the Virtually Connecting Crew who enabled me to hangout with Fiona Harvey and Lorna Campbell who were speaking at the conference at Warwick University.

I was thankful to be able to say hi to my good friend Teresa Mackinnon who was buddying onsite.

Having participated as a virtual buddy at last year's ALTC, I have an idea of the incredible work of Maha Bali and Rebecca Hogue the founders of Virtually Connecting and of the people like Autumm, Alan, AK or Nadine and others who are enabling it to grow.

I am suddenly reminded of a quote that Teresa and I have shared and discussed in the past:

"Never doubt that a group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has."

Margaret Mead.

Virtually Connecting gives evidence to support this sentiment.

In a small way, a small group of committed educators are indeed changing the world.

Experiences of changes in the world are not necessarily all so positive.

Being connected, becoming critical.

I would describe myself as a "connected" educator.

I have benefited enormously personally from developing a personal digital presence and openly sharing and collaborating online.

I spend a good deal of time opening up classrooms, connecting learners and encouraging them to develop open digital identities, portfolios, networks.

Such efforts are considered by some in the institution as "innovative".

I don't count the hours entailed in my personal professional development.

Any research I do, is done for free, on top of my full-time job.

I am thankful for the freedom that I have been able to establish in my work.

In being an openly "connected educator", I have become more nuanced in my enthusiasm.

I have been drawn to be more critical in my thinking and in my pedagogy.

It has been through dialogue with fellow co-learners from different backgrounds and contexts that I have become more critical.

Free, freedom.

I hear Fiona talk about using "free tools."

I think to myself of Facebook's attempts to "offer" free internet to India, to Africa.

Facebook lures Africa with free internet but what is the hidden cost?

"Free tools" don't necessarily equate with "freedom".

"Free trade" doesn't necessarily equate with "freedom."

The transatlantic trade deal TTIP may be dead, but something even worse is coming. @GeorgeMonbiot https://t.co/bmLvprfa8N

— Simon Ensor (@sensor63) September 6, 2016

"Openness" doesn't necessarily benefit the individual.

"Openness" may benefit corporations more than individuals.

We may be blind to how privileged voices, our privileged voices, silence those of people who need to be heard.





I go back to listen to the session again and annotate it with a free tool - Vialogues.

I too use "free tools."

I too encourage "openness".

I share the fruit of my labour freely.

Institutional Policies.

I note with interest that "more universities" are encouraging openness.

I write this having spent a morning learning about how our latest walled garden VLE will restrict us.

I hear an expression "business heart of the university"  which sounds weirdly scary from my French public university perspective.

I make a comment in the chat about the importance of reclaiming "public good" but there is no response.

Has the idea of education as a "public good" become untenable?

I hear how fees that British universities will be able to charge will depend in part on National Student Satisfaction Surveys.

I hear about the rethink going on in UK universities about sustainability of MOOCs on commercial platforms.

I make a comment in the chat:

"Does openness favour the strongest?"

This provokes an energetic response to suggest the contrary.

I am not so sure.

I wonder now why it is that big American Universities are so in favour of sharing course content for "free".

Doesn't openness favour MIT?

I wonder if some of us are still living with a dream of a web of openly shared knowledge.

Doesn't Google favour open?

We speak of an open share economy.

Wasn't Airbnb or Uber built on the basis of a "share economy"?

What do ex-journalists write of unpaid articles in the Huffington Post?

I find an article entitled:

"Hell is working at the Huffington Post."

Identities or brands?

I hear that there are dangers with tying our professional identities to our institutions, that we need to develop independent identities.

Are we to develop identities or brands?

Are we preparing ourselves for more open employment structures?

Are we to join the ranks of  freelance, intermittently paid academics?

Are those employed in privately funded scientific research laboratories to thrive while those in less commercially viable academic pursuits to be encouraged to become willing, lesser (un?) paid adjuncts/amateurs?

Don't get me wrong, I believe that the pay-wall system around academic publishing is a scandal.

There is no question in my mind that research funded publicly should be shared openly.

You need a network.

I hear that "being open gives you a network."

Well being open may well be a first step to developing a network.

Are networks so open?

Don't badges act to control access to power on networks too?

It is one thing to be part of a network, the most important question is how your network is able to benefit you.

Power differentials in networks mean that some may benefit from open sharing more than others.

Whose networks really count in the world?

Whose platforms will support such networks?

You Tube?

ELGG?

Tidal?

Who will have the power to analyse the data, to decide on policy or ethics?

The NSA?

Badges, and open badges.

A comment of Fiona "People are more than their badges" made me think.

I am not so sure that people are necessarily more than their badges.

Aren't we all reduced to badges to those who don't know us?

How do the participants in the VC session introduce themselves?

How did I introduce myself?

What do people see when they look at my Twitter Profile?

love life, love learning, edupunk language teacher and aikidoka.#clavedu #rhizo14 #ccourses #clmooc #digiwrimo

What is my avatar?

Is it not a badge for a brand?

Am I not making connections with groups of people who group around a hashtag, a movement, a profession?

What do people see when they look at our photos?

What is that professional card that I carry in my wallet?

Is it not a badge?

Why is it that my parking card doesn't work any more?

A person with power has deprogrammed my card, I discover yesterday.

I write this while applying for French citizenship, post Brexit.

What can be said of those people who don't carry the correct passport?

Are they expats or emigrés, refugees or migrants, illegal immigrants or potential first ladies, citizens or potential terrorists?

Language teachers

We learnt during the hangout that a number of us were current or former language teachers.

I wonder which languages the others taught.

Being an English language teacher is hardly neutral.

When I encourage a student to learn English by telling him it is important for his career, that is underlining cultural dominance.

Openness and risk.

I get to ask a question about the danger of being over-enthusiastic in encouraging students to be open.

I am met with energetic rebuttals from Fiona and Lorna.

I am not surprised at their replies.

I would say the same - up to a point.

I try to give an example of how it is necessary to be critical.

Working with a Syrian refugee convinces me of the danger to him of being open for himself and his family.

On sharing this, Lorna shares her story of participating in a book entitled: "The cost of freedom."

I was unaware of the plight of Bassel Khartabil, an openly connected Syrian educator who has gone missing.

I feel that our own freedom, our own privilege comes with a cost.

Learning from others

I hear a story of attending a conference in Tunisia.

I hear about the sharing of practices: portfolio development, learner centred teaching.

I hear "Us going there gives them an insight into how things could be."

A few minutes later, I am Googling the word "Thanksgiving."

I think of that foundational, disputed story at the heart of American freedom.

I find some documents:

"Thanksgiving: a native American view".

I read:

"Among the Dakota, my father's people, they say, when asked to give, "Are we not Dakota and alive?" It was believed that by giving there would be enough for all -- the exact opposite of the system we live in now, which is based on selling, not giving."

Who benefits from open sharing?

"Since that initial sharing, Native American food has spread around the world. Nearly 70 percent of all crops grown today were originally cultivated by Native American peoples. I sometimes wonder what they ate in Europe before they met us. Spaghetti without tomatoes? Meat and potatoes without potatoes."

I find another document: "The real story of Thanksgiving."

I wonder who really benefits from learning a dominant language?

"The story began in 1614 when a band of English explorers sailed home to  England with a ship full of Patuxet Indians bound for slavery. They left behind smallpox which virtually wiped out those who had escaped.  By the time the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts Bay they found only one living Patuxet Indian, a man named Squanto who had survived slavery in England and knew their language.  He taught them to grow corn and to fish, and negotiated a peace treaty between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Nation. At the end of their first year, the Pilgrims held a great feast honoring Squanto and the Wampanoags." 

I find another document which makes me question the "real story of Thanksgiving."

It is entitled: "What really happened at the First Thanksgiving? The Wampanoag Side of the Tale.

I find a final document:

Thanksgiving: Native Americans Reveal What They Really Think About Thanksgiving Day.


I reflect on our discussion about the commons, the public good, open sharing.

Then I remember Dakota.

"Dakota Access Pipeline Company Attacks Native American Protestors with Dogs and Pepper Spray."

I think of that Margaret Mead quotation again and I annotate it pessimistically.

"Never doubt that a group of thoughtful, committed citizens...

[with access to the best information, equipped with the latest connecting technology, ships, trains, bulldozers, tanks, drones, massive capital, major media presence, carefully designed slogans to arouse fear or desire, control of communication platforms, extensively developed networks, speaking the dominant language]

...can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has."

I no longer buy that slogan: "life is a game."

If it is to be seen so, then whose rules are we playing it by?

Ensemble.

 "I have been criticized by some for sharing too much...Or (worse!) having the motive of self-aggrandizement...My response has been always that if you share something, a photo, a blog post, song, piece of artwork (you name it)...it matters - really matters - if it only affects 1 person. If in the wide world it is meaningful or inspiring or amusing to just 1 person it's worth it."

Amy Burvall

Oversharing.

Those were the words that I read yesterday when Amy shared a blog post - Ephemerments...aagh. that I had written inspired by her work.

There were replies from a number of people to the comment, among them, one from Simon Finch.

"I'm happy to be considered to be over sharing. It's like saying hello at every opportunity every day to people across the world. I never know when or what will lead to small conversations or interesting opportunities."

We never know what remark, words, sound, image will resonate with other people.

I remember a conversation that I had with a teacher this morning over the importance of open sharing.

It will be a conversation which will help to focus my work for the coming year...

I remember the video that was shared during Connected Courses:

 "obvious to you - amazing to others..."

That will be useful to keep in mind for the learners I work with.

The talk of "oversharing" reminded me of a video that I had come across thanks to Alec Couros featuring Justin Hall, who I had been introduced to via a book entitled "Say Everything: How Blogging Began, What It's Becoming, And Why It Matters." of Scott Rosenberg, recommended by Howard Rheingold.

There are surely risks involved in sharing - for ourselves, for others - those risks may well be central to discussions that I will have with my co-learners in the coming weeks.

If there are dangers, (and those must be evaluated by each person), there is much to gain from sharing widely.

We benefit enormously from pioneers who go out into the world and take the enormous risks that we ourselves would never be able to take while sharing their stories.

We are all pioneers in our different ways...

Ensemble 

In thinking of the word instrument, I remember the role of the cymbal player in an orchestra.

As a cello player, I spent most of the time playing.   The cymbal, in the work I remember,  only came in at the end.

The greatest problem for the percussionist was to listen to the others and count the bars.

Without concentration the almighty crash came at the wrong moment and destroyed the piece.

Without the cymbal the Radetzky March lost much in drama.

I like the word 'ensemble'.

Like it or not we are inevitably an 'ensemble'.

I am thankful for the generosity of others, those who count the bars...those who play by listening.

Extended Play

Yesterday evening, I remixed one of the videos that Amy had shared with Picplaypost and Fusion.
(See Remixing Drawing With Apps)

I enjoy taking pieces to another place...

Une vidéo publiée par @sensor63 le 31 Août 2016 à 12h47 PDT

A comment from Wendy Taleo moved my attention back to what I am less comfortable with now - music.

I have mixed feelings about giving up playing that cello...

I had shared a picture of apps including Thumbjam - reviewed here.

"Do you have any examples from Thumbjam to share?" she asked.

I shared a cello piece that I had done the day before, but her question prompted me to go back and see what I had kept from past experimentations.


It was no doubt not an accident that I chose to return to the cello...on an iphone.


When I discovered that I had deleted the files that I had made in the past, I went back to see what I could do to provide myself and Wendy with another example.

I suddenly remembered what had attracted me to the app in the first place.

Unusual for apps, after a while it becomes a really interesting instrument - not just an app.

I love the way that you can add vibrato to the sound by shaking the phone or add to volume by tilting.

It has musicality....

Now I need to develop mine :-)



With the bare bones of a piece recorded, I then rummaged through my stock of images/videos.

What image could I find to extend the 'feel' of the music?

I settled on a favourite image - that of whirling dervishes...

So this piece of human expression is brought to you by an 'ensemble' of people, words, images, remarks, comments, apps.

Who knows when, how, or if, this post will resonate with others to take fragments to another place?


Footnote.

I come back and review this for errors - suddenly I have an image from above - Viennese Waltzers and Dervishes whirling ensemble but adjacently.

They whirl with different meaning.

I think again.

Do we really reel, whirl or waltz with different meaning?

There is human joy in being whirled out beyond one's own radius.

Deepest regrets...

I still have this.

I sent it to my friend Terry.








It represents regret.

At the time it was an expression of romantic regret.

Looking at it now, I can see that it also speaks to me of educational regret.

Regret that we put teachers and lessons and kids in little boxes.

Regret that we ask kids to choose 'subjects' so that they may become useful objects.

"Oh he's a square peg in a round hole..."

"What are you going to do for 'A' levels, What you going to do at university?"

Ad infinitum.

"Well if you want a job, you shouldn't do art." 
"Nobody makes a career out of art." 
"Well, if you want a job, you shouldn't do theatre."
 "Nobody makes a career out of theatre..." 

Ad infinitum.

We talk of jobs, of careers when we might be speaking about purpose.

There was a song Regrets written and performed in the classroom by Etienne and Loic here:

Over a week the song, shared on Youtube and Twitter, became a transmedia remix thanks to Kevin, Ron, Maha, Bryan and Terry here in his post 'Regrets.'
http://impedagogy.com/wp/blog/2015/11/29/regrets/

Maha wondered about the ethics of remixing Etienne and Loic's song in her blog:

'Here's a gift now wait while we party.'
http://alwayslearning-maha.blogspot.com.eg/2015/11/reflections-gift-followed-by-closed-door.html

Kevin responded with:
'The song is theirs not ours.'
http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/2015/11/30/digiwrimo-reflection-the-song-is-theirs-not-ours/


One of the images in Terry's Z33ga was this one:

I was reading John Stepper's book this morning "Working out loud" and was introduced to Amanda Palmer's TED talk here:

Amanda Palmer talks of her art as a gift of herself, she talks of inviting others to participate in her art.

She talks of the vulnerability of the artist who stretches out to others...

I thought of the gifts in play here.

The gift of the opportunity to play music in English and get graded on it.
The gift of the song and the performance.
The gift of those who listened and gave of themselves to remix the song.
The gift of those who thought about the ethics of sharing, of remixing, of invitation...
The gift of those who introduced me to Working out Loud.
The gift of the author of the book Workign out Loud.

I thought about the music business, the education business and decided that we do indeed have ethical questions to raise.

Are kids to be reduced to numbers in international league tables for maths?

Do we have international league tables for guitar playing or art?

Is Shanghai doing well on drawing, on creativity?

I went to find the source of the statistics which appeared in Terry's Z33ga and I found it here in this article:
"What we regret most and why"
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2394712/#!po=7.67045

I come back to that top regret - that of education.


I wonder what I might have gained if others around the world had paid attention to my drawing, my writing, my acting at an early age.

I wonder what I might have gained had I been invited to communicate with passionate artists, writers, actors at an early age.

I thought of High Tech High.

I wonder what I might have gained if had been encouraged more to follow my passions rather than worry about 'subjects' to get into 'university'.

I consider myself lucky.

I was able to follow my path without pressure from parents wherever it would lead me.

I remember meeting a top marketing manager who told me how he hated his job, his existence despite the expensive car, the big salary.

I don't have those regrets.

I did have great teachers who encouraged me in acting, writing, art.

I do remember the frustration of my art teacher who asked me why I was giving up art.

I remember telling him that I had been told that it was not a serious subject, that it wouldn't get me a good job....

I remembered tweeting a passage of "Working out Loud" and a question to John Stepper

via @johnstepper Q. What is the cost of disengaged students? #wolweek #wol pic.twitter.com/mxoqPJi3Lz

— Simon Ensor (@sensor63) November 27, 2015

 I wondered what regrets you had about education...