MA in New Literacies – Completion
As many of you will know, over the past two years I have been completing an MA in New Literacy Studies at the University of Sheffield. As I reflected earlier in the year this has been both challenging and enjoyable. I have Julia Davies, the most spectacular tutor, to thank for her support and encouragement over the past two years, without her words of wisdom the course would have been so much harder. I also need to thank my family for their support during the hectic times.
I have known the provisional mark for my dissertation for a couple of weeks but as usual I decided to keep it to myself until it was confirmed. Today I recieved the final marks for all of my modules and the news that I have passed:
Module 1: Introduction to New Literacies – Grade 80%
Module 2: Practice-Based Enquiry – Grade 80%
Module 3: Media, Culture and Digital Texts – Grade 75%
Module 4: Research Methods in Education – Grade 70%
Modules 5/6: Dissertation – Grade 80%
I’m obviously thrilled with the results but I do not think it will sink in for a few months. I have been taking exams/writing assignments every year since I was in Year 9 so it’s a very surreal experience to not be in formal education anymore and to lose my student status. I do however have a couple of writing projects simmering at the moment, including writing up the data from my dissertation for a book chapter so I will keep you posted.
Finally, a huge thanks to every single person who has offered me words of encouragement and support during such hectic and stressful times - particularly members of my Twitter PLN and also Facebook.
Thank you!
#UTASNewLits – Why I travelled to Australia
In June I received an unexpected email from Angela Thomas, who I have met in 2009 at the UKLA Conference in Greenwich, inviting me to be a keynote speaker at a the New Literacies, Digital Media and Classroom Teaching conference (#UTASNewLits) at the University of Tasmania on 3rd September. Obviously I jumped at the opportunity and was able to travel to Australia a week early, having completed my MA thesis two weeks before the deadline. This meant that I could spend some time in Melbourne before travelling to speak at the conference in Tasmania.
The event was organised by Angela through the University of Tasmania as well as HITLab Australia and had a host of inspiring keynotes and workshops. The legendary Len Unsworth (who I respect immensely) opened the conference talking about interpretive reading and viewing pedagogy through the lens of picture books and film. The wonderful Lalitha Vasudevan of Columbia University inspired us all with her work with adolescent and multimodal pedagogies. I also had the pleasure of enjoying fellow Brit Bill Boyd’s keynote about new narratives and new times as he closed the conference. My own keynote (below) focused on the fact that literacy is constantly subject to change and that social media are constantly challenging and redefining notions of literacy in society.
Subject to Change: Social Media, Education & Contentious Literacies
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I also got to know Paul Chandler and Annemaree O’Brien and was sad to miss their workshops as their work into multimodal narratives is excellent. It was also great to meet and become friends with Damon Thomas and James Riggall who made me feel so welcome during my visit to Tasmania. The conference really made me realise how much I enjoy academia and pushing the boundaries with educational thinking in relation to new media technologies. There was a great buzz throughout the whole conference with excellent discussions during break-out sessions and the Q&A panel at the end of the conference. Also equally exciting was the fact that Angela, Len and I were featured on a TV News report which reported the use of social media in education and footage from my keynote.
A huge thanks to Angela for inviting me to speak at such an inspiring event. I believe that the actual keynotes were recorded and will be placed online soon but until then you can view the slides from my keynote above. The whole trip was a huge inspiration and you can view some of my pictures on my Flickr photostream.
The Australian Way
I recently returned from a trip to Australia to speak at the New Literacies, Digital Media and Classroom Teaching Conference. As part of the trip I was able to spend a week in Melbourne, one of the most inspirational places I have ever had the pleasure of visiting. After a very hectic couple of months I decided to travel over to Australia early and set aside some serious downtime where I could reflect on the work I had done, take in some of the sights around me and look to the future.
I also decided to set up Mister Waller’s Travel Blog so that my class could follow my adventures (since I was missing the first week of term). Armed with my trusty HTC Desire HD, the WordPress and Retro Camera+ apps, as well as a Vodafone Australia SIM, I was able to upload pictures as I travelled. I also set up a less informal Posterous blog.
I visited various sights around Melbourne but perhaps the post inspirational for me, was a visit to Bushrangers Bay on the Mornington Peninsula. This secluded bay was the filming location of ’Where the Wild Things Are’. To get to the bay I needed to climb a cliff and when I saw the view I was stunned.
Photos do really not do this place justice and I found myself stood for over 30 minutes just looking in complete awe. I also recorded various messages to my family, friends and class. It also made me realise the importance of downtime so made a pledge to myself to address my ailing work/life balance.
These are just a couple of the shots I took using my Desire HD and mini-SLR camera. They’re all available on Flickr under the set Where the Wild Things Were should you wish to view more. Also available are photographs of the Wildlife of Tasmania and Melbourne, St Kilda and Tasmania. Melbourne is indeed a beautiful city with a certain charm, which I have not experienced in any other city before. I also had the chance to see treasure from Ancient Egypt at the Melbourne Museum as well walking to St Kilda.
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The way of life is certainly more relaxed in Melbourne. It’s strange to be in a city with a mindset that is not rushed, as with other cities I spent time in like London. The same can be said with Launceston in Tasmania, where I spent five days during the conference. After spending some time in schools in Australia I also learned some important facts about the schools system. In Australia:
- There are no league tables in primary schools and no equivalent to KS2 SATs
- State authorities monitor the effectiveness of schools through small scale reviews (There is no Australian equivalent to Ofsted)
- Although there is a National Curriculum in development, there are no prescriptive schemes of work set by the government
- Schools are able to design and implement their own curricula
There are many things that the Australian school system is doing right! The trip really inspired me and I’m looking forward to the next time I can visit Australia. I plan on writing a blog post about the conference I attended but felt that I needed to share some of my thoughts about the trip separately.
Negotiating the Blogosphere
I’m currently running a workshop about the Beginner’s Guide to Negotiating the Blogosphere at the University of Tasmania New Literacies, Digital Multimedia and Classroom Teaching Conference. You can find the Slideshare below. All of the screenshots of the blogs are hyperlinks.
Negotiating the Blogosphere
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Skyping with The Wren’s Nest
Nearly two years ago I wrote a blog post about a project I planned and taught which promoted a critical view of literacy through storytelling based on the Brer Rabbit stories. I subsequently adapted to project to embed work with The Wren’s Nest Museum in Atlanta, the birthplace museum of Joel Chandler Harris who collected the stories. This included using Skype to link up with a story rambler as well as meeting the relatives of Joel Chandler Harris. Find out more about the project in the presentation below:
Calling all bloggers
On September 3rd I will be running a workshop about blogging in education at the New Literacies, Digital Media and Classroom Teaching Conference in Tasmania. At the start of the session I would like to showcase a range of blogs to show the attendees the different affordances and features of blogging systems. If you can think of an effective blog or if you run and blog and would like me to feature it in the presentation then please could you post it as a comment below? The blog does not have to be education related but should be suitable for all audiences. Alternatively if you would like to recommend your favourite blog that would be huge help too.
Thank you in advance!
Back from the Wilderness
Five months ago I took the decision to go on semi-digital leave and suspend some of my online activities such as blogging. This also meant that my use of social networking systems such as Twitter was more sporadic and incoherent. This was a difficult decision but it was necessary as my workload had reached epic proportions and something literally ‘had to give.’
I started the year being enthusiastically optimistic about the challenges of the coming year. However, over the past eight months I have become more aware and more sympathetic for the need for a work/life balance. The need for me to take digital leave rises out of many projects that I have been, either completely immersed in, or that were ‘simmering’ in the background. Over the past eight months I have been:
Teaching full-time
I have my amazing teaching assistants Sylvia and Elaine to thank for helping me in this area.
Working on my MA thesis
This explored the ways that classroom blogs link to New Literacy Studies and Multiliteracies. I have found writing my thesis and teaching full-time an exceptionally challenging process. The demands of the job mean that sitting down to write after a very tiresome day is not a welcoming prospect. This means that the majority of my school holidays and weekends have been devoted to writing. I have my tutors Julia Davies and Becky Parry to thank for all of their support during this process.
Coordinating Creative Learning
I have been coordinating Creative Learning in my school from Nursery to Year 6. This has included setting up work with a graphic designer to publish a whole-school book, video editor to create a video reflection, environmental educator to work across the school, web designers to set up our whole school blog as well as organising a celebration event at the end of term. I’m really grateful to people like e-gran and Mike Mcgrother who have been so professional and helpful in making this process so much easier and enjoyable.
More Writing…
I have written two book chapters - one for a Student Voice Handbook (published in September) and the other for a Virtual Worlds publication.
Academic Work
I was a guest lecturer at Birmingham City University in January. I also spoke at two conferences this year – the Northern Grid Conference and the UKLA International Conference in Chester (where I spoke twice)!
New House
I have also been dealing with the stress of renovating a house. Thankfully my parents have been a huge help with this.
Yesterday I submitted my MA dissertation, which to me represented the end of my digital leave and a return to a more relaxed way of life. I’m really looking forward to getting back into blogging, Twitter and exploring new things such as Google+. It might take me a few weeks to get back into it but I will return!
I’m really excited to be travelling to the University of Tasmania to speak at the New Literacies, Digital Media and Classroom Teaching Conference convened by Angela Thomas at the end of the month. I’m going to be flying to Australia a week earlier and will be spending a relaxing week in Melbourne.
Finally, a huge thank you to everyone who has offered help and support over the past months!
UKLA Conference – Twitter Workshop
I’m currently at the University of Chester taking part in the UKLA International Conference. Today I ran a session about social media and in particular the ways in which Twitter can be used as a professional development network but also as a way on engaging children in real writing. The workshop draws on work I have already published in English 4-11 and also an upcoming book chapter which will be published in September.
Learning to Tweet/Tweeting to Learn
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UKLA Conference 2011
I will be speaking at the upcoming UKLA International Conference in Chester on Friday 15th and Saturday 16th July 2011. I will be running a workshop on the way I have used Twitter in the Primary Classroom as well as for professional development. In addition I will also be part of a symposium panel presenting alongside Vic Carrington, Lynda Graham, Angela Colvert and Sigrid Jones. I’ll aim to put the presentations online but it would be great to see you there!
#ngconf – A perfect tonic in these troubled times…
I have briefly returned from digital leave to write about the fantastic Northern Grid for Learning Conference (#ngconf) which took place yesterday in Newcastle. I spoke at the conference last year but was even more excited to attend this year as a large proportion of the speakers were folk from Twitter who I have spoken to online over the past two years.
My general despair at the state of education and the constant stream of bad news and budget cuts has led to a very sombre atmosphere of late. However, the impressive opening keynote from Russell Prue (@russellprue) was a reminder that there is hope in these troubled times. The line-up of speakers was outstanding and there was a real buzz and sense of excitement about possibilities of further innovation throughout the whole day.
I had the pleasure of finally meeting Dan Roberts (@chickensaltash) who I’ve known on Twitter for years but never actually met in person as well as the legendary Bev Evans (@bevevans22), the genuinely great Rachel Orr (@RachelOrr) and Dughall McCormick (@dughall). It was great to see Bill Lord (@Joga5), Ian Addison (@ianaddison), David Rogers (@davidErogers) and John Heffernan (@johnmayo) again and hear about the fantastic things that they have been doing in schools. Sadly I missed Jan Webb (@JanWebb21) and Lisa Stevens (@lisibo), which was the only negative of the day. I did manage to see Bev speak about fantastic ways of using free tools to support SEN in the classroom and she has forced me to rethink how I perceive tools such as PowerPoint. It was also great to see some of the amazing things that David and Dan had been doing in their schools, especially from a secondary perspective. I have so many ideas that I can use with my class next year. It was also great to share some of the things I have been doing with my class in my workshop too.
On a personal note the event also served as an important reminder and reassurance… I am not alone in my views and beliefs on education. I needed reminding of this and it has really inspired me.
Finally, I had the huge honour of meeting the legendary Steve Wheeler (@timbuckteeth) who I have followed on Twitter and through his blog for many years. His keynote was outstanding and I wish all of the members of staff at my school could have heard it. He pitched the balance between theory and practice perfectly. It was also very humbling for Steve to mention my work during the keynote and my upcoming work at the University of Tasmania. The stuff he said was pure gold. Referencing recent changes in education, Steve also made the important point:
“If you’re fighting a gorilla you don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired.”
In addition to this, I think that #ngconf demonstrated that you’re never alone when fighting the metaphorical gorilla. There are always communities and networks like Twitter with likeminded people and I am exceptionally thankful for them. We might feel like we are alone in our views at times… but we never are.
A huge thanks needs to go to the incredibly modest Simon Finch (@simfin) who organised the panel of speakers for the day. I hope he realises how much of a success and inspiration the day was for everyone who attended.