Archive for Life

‘I miss the ocean…’

// July 30th, 2009 // No Comments » // Life, Literacy, Technology

“I never thought fish swimming in a glass bowl could be so emotional”

The title of this post and the above quote come from the video sharing website YouTube in response to the high definition video above that appeared on the site and has become ‘viral’ over the past week. My guess is that the video has become so popular because it really demonstrates the potential of HD broadcasting. Today BSkyB announced that subscribers to their HD service have doubled over the past year and that the service has moved ‘centre-stage’ to their business plan. It shows that HD is becoming more widespread and popular, especially since YouTube now allows uploads in HD – just like the video above.

As well as the sheer wonder of the sea-life in the video I also find the way the people in front of the tank behave and interact. Not least the toddler playing with the rope barrier and then noticing the diver in the aquarium. It’s great how video can capture such moments and the HD quality makes it feel like you are standing there too (you must make the video fullscreen when you’re watching).

The soundtrack really adds an extra depth (no pun intended) and stirs an emotional response. Therefore users of YouTube have responded to the video through the comment feature below the video. The comments range from appreciation of the video production to serious debates about conservation and saving the oceans. It’s brilliant how Web 2.0 can be used as a platform to explore issues such as this and really make the issues in themselves ‘viral’ and open up discussion in a shared and open manner to a mass audience. At the time of writing this there have been over 2000 comments written in response to the upload and it has been viewed over a million times…

Save the oceans.

Flickr Feelings

// July 21st, 2009 // 7 Comments » // Life, Literacy


Panther beach fireworks , originally uploaded by snakebite2.

While I was at the UKLA Conference I went to listen to a symposium led by Julia Davies about the photo sharing community Flickr. It was fascinating to listen to Julia, Sigrid and David Barton talk about the different ways that people engage with the website. The gaming and play aspect is something that I’d never considered before, which led me to think about my own engagement with Flickr and what it means to me.

When I look at Flickr I always get slightly envious of the photography skills on show and could never hope to equal some of the shots that appear on the site. Besides that I mainly visit the site as a visitor and have only uploaded about 10 photos to date. I tend to enter the site and search for photos that help me to relax and take me to a place where I want to be. Flickr offers me escapism from the real world. I have a huge thing for sunsets and blue skies, especially on beaches, and if I find a photo showing a combination of these it makes me feel happy and relaxed. I can just imagine myself sat on the beach in the photo above with a cool summer’s breeze, watching the fireworks and listening to the sea. Bliss.

From Seriously Solitary to MMORPG

// July 20th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Life

World of Warcraft

I’ve never been sure whether I’m a gamer or not. When I was younger I never completed games on the Sega Megadrive or PC because I preferred to build things. I didn’t like games that came to an end. I spent hours on Rollercoaster Tycoon which was one of my favourite pastimes and involved me creating hugely elaborate theme parks based on those that I’d visited in the real world. I don’t tick the boxes of a gamer who sits in front of a Playstation for hours to kill as many aliens as possible. I’ve been more of a maker in virtual worlds. I’d never realised this until I was interviewed by Lynda Graham about my digital history. She suggests that my life in virtual worlds is as a seriously solitary maker.

She has a point. I have an xbox and have not completed a game on it yet – I barely even get halfway. I spent my time making things (mainly websites). However over the past year I have been playing World of  Warcraft the MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) and have been hooked. So once again I question whether I am a gamer. World of Warcraft is more of a living breathing virtual world than a one-off game  as it cannot be paused and it cannot be completed. There is always something to do and the world is constantly evolving and expanding. It seems to be the middle ground of me engaging with virtual worlds and gaming.

World of Warcraft is rich in new literacy practices as there are so many other players online around the world at the same time. It also includes a small element of design as you create your own characters and purchase equipment for them (above is a picture of the latest character I have created). Maybe I am a lightweight gamer? Or maybe I should stop thinking about it and just enjoy the ride.

UKLA Conference

// July 19th, 2009 // No Comments » // Life, Literacy

Greenwich University

Last week I spent four days in Greenwich while I attended the UKLA conference and focus day on writing. It was great to see so many people attending the conference and a chance to meet up with old friends is always welcome. I enjoyed catching up with Guy, Julia and Jackie as well as Lynda and Angela (who incidently has a new blog).  I also had another chance to get to know Angela Thomas and chat about the fantastic work she is doing in second life (which I must start to use more). I was in complete awe when when I got to meet Courtney Cazden (one of the inventors of multiliteracies) as well as the amazing Elaine Millard, who is genuinely one of the loveliest ladies I have ever met. It was great also to meet with Bill Lord who I’ve spoken to frequently on Twitter about educational issues and new technologies and his collegues at Birmingham City University. I also convinced David who I work with on the Multiliteracies Learning Initiative to attend the conference so it was great to see someone from the North East there too.

The symposium went very well and the room was packed. It was real honour to speak in front of so many distinguished members of the literacy community about the fantastic work that Orange Class has produced.  The keynotes and parallel sessions were very interesting and there seemed to be a lot about digital literacy coming through, which is encouraging. It does confuse me however at the lack of emphasis on multiliteracies as a means of transforming education and the curriculum. It covers so many different types of literacies in the world – cultural, social and professional to name a few but just doesn’t seem to be mentioned that much.

Also while in Greenwich I had the most amazing Jack Daniel’s flavoured steak at a tiny cuban bar and finally got to ride the Docklands Light Railway (on a hilarious journey with Julia and Kate). I’m looking forward to Winchester already!

Studio Ghibli does it again… Ponyo

// June 28th, 2009 // No Comments » // Life

I have a lot to write about but haven’t really been able to find the time recently. However, I have just discovered the trailer for the English release of Japanese Studio Ghibli’s latest film ‘Ponyo: Cliff by the Sea’ and just had to post it.

Ever since using ‘My Neighbour Totoro’ with my Year 2 class I have never looked at animation in the same way. It looks like Ponyo will be equally impressive and the fact that it will be getting a cinema release makes it even better. It will allow a whole new audience to experience the true wonder of Studio Ghibli.

You can’t stop the… learning?

// May 31st, 2009 // No Comments » // Life

Coming to the end of a very hectic half term week where my ‘to-do’ list is appearing strangely complete. As part of my resolution to try new things this year I decided to visit London and see the musical Hairspray. Most of the children I’ve spoken to think it’s brilliant – nearly as good as High School Musical, so I decided to give it a go.

I thoroughly enjoyed it – what an amazing show it was and the cast were fantastic at what they do. Above is a video of probably the most famous song from the show – although it doesn’t look half as good as seeing it live.

The show is very light-hearted but actually tackles some very serious issues; mainly racial predjudice and segregation in the 1960s America. This reminded me of some of the work I read by Barbara Comber about critical literacy and how texts can be used as a means to open discussions of controversial issues in a frank and open manner. The children in the audience were clearly understanding why such prejudice is wrong.

Would you class a theatre production as a’text’? If so then Margeret Meek’s immortal ‘texts teach what readers learn’ mantra is clearly evident here. I really think this could have a place in the classroom. Probably unsuitable for the year group I teach but something to consider for the future. Then I thought about what texts I could use to address such issues and one particular set of stories told by a character called Uncle Remus…

I will reveal more later. 

Finding time…

// May 24th, 2009 // No Comments » // Life

Another half term arrives and once again I wonder where time is disappearing  to.  The reason is partially because the past half term has been so short and yet so jam packed with things to do.

I was hoping to read the above three books over half term: Critical Literacies in Action, Desirable Literacies (co-edited by Jackie)  and the new Web 2.0 for Schools book by Julia and Guy. However, it looks like the writing of end of term reports and catching up with paper work is going to take over. I was hoping to re-read ‘A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies’ too before UKLA Greenwich. I can but live in hope…

Learning to Tweet or Tweeting to Learn?

// April 26th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Life, Literacy

After initially being sceptical I have now been bitten by the Twitter bug and hence my lack of blog posts recently. I think part of the reason is Twitter is easier than blogging. You provide a short snapshot of what you are doing and click update – that’s it. It’s interesting to view your timeline after a week just to see what you have (or have not) achieved.

 Another huge dimension of Twitter is the community and interaction aspect. During the holidays I happened to see a tweet about an online webcast (#wttw) and 10 minutes later found myself taking part in it from the comfort of my own home. You don’t come across things like this on Facebook.

I’ve seen various groups talking about using Twitter in the classroom – most of the ideas seemed to be pie in the sky thinking. So I decided to act upon it – bringing the pie down from the sky. So my class now has their own Twitter account – @ClassroomTweets. We manage this in class by having one of our classroom computers running the ‘tweet’ page so that class members can type what they are doing or thinking throughout the day. There are a few simple rules - tweeters must not mention any child’s name or respond to any messages or replies to tweets ‘from the outside’ without either myself or my amazing teaching assistant Elaine being present. It’s extremely interesting to read as the class teacher. For example, I’ve learned that my class only class a ‘literacy lesson’ as the time I am teaching from the front of the class – they believe the time they are at their desks working isn’t classed as ‘literacy’ or indeed a lesson.

Let’s see what else I can learn from reading tweets…

Rise of the new literacy practices…

// April 13th, 2009 // No Comments » // Life, Literacy

One of my favourite television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles has finished its current run in America. The general word on the internet is that the show won’t be renewed and the current season was the last. I find the reaction by fans on the internet to this news to be very interesting.

Obviously there are various postings on forums providing a voice for the renewal of the series. Online petitions and Facebook groups are also appearing left right and centre. These seem to be the norm when internet users have an issue to voice their opinions on as part of a community of fans.  With a simple Google search you can find an online petition or facebook group for practically anything.

More interesting is the way in which YouTube enters the equation. One user has created a video which shows the stunning final scenes of the season with messages around the edge. The messages urge viewers to speak out for a third season by writing to the studios, signing a petition, following a link to a wiki, pre-ordering the DVD, contacting the show’s advertisers and emailing studio executives directly. The contact details are played on a loop around the video. Nearly every type of communication is utlised in trying to save this show.

So from the serious plea to the slightly bizarre; here is another video of Hitler’s (yes Adolf Hitler) reaction to the cancellation of the show. I initially thought this was purely a joke but it is a serious retaliation towards the Fox network. Someone has spent a lot of time planning and making this video attack towards the studio. It’s really strange to watch but just shows how web users are using different channels to voice their opinions and air their views. It’s clear that the internet allows us to make our voice heard in new and diverse ways, to a much larger audience than in the past. But what effect will it have?

My emails to the studios were sent this afternoon.

Fighting the Web 2.0 battle…

// April 12th, 2009 // No Comments » // Life, Literacy, Work

I have been enjoying the new series of The Apprentice on BBC1, which has at its core the need to be proficient with communication, language and literacy. If you cannot communicate effectively, for a range of purposes and audiences, you quite simply fail. Above is a picture of Margaret Mountford, one of the senior advisors, who is dismayed at her team’s lack of ability to articulate a simple sales pitch.

Margaret portrays exactly how I feel after a week of fighting a very fierce battle with the school website and trying to set it up to allow children to submit content in a safe and controlled manner. I’m all for freedom of speech and creativity, but eSafety is a huge issue which cannot be ignored.

Joomla (the content management system) runs by a set of rules and procedures. Typically what I wanted to do wasn’t allowed or possible according to these rules. So I decided to purchase an extension which, in theory, would allow the creation of different rules for teachers and pupils. So the plug-in was installed and it conflicted with a range of other plug-ins that were already on the system. Therefore over the past week I have been doing the Mountford hand on head, slumped on the desk expression on an increasingly daily basis. After many (and I really mean many) hours of experimentation and changing settings there is only one problem remaining (which requires recoding by the company I bought the extension off). The systems are now in place for the children to add their own content, blog posts and soon images. It has taken some doing but it is there – a completely personalised system for the school, which would have cost about £6000.

 I breathe a sign of relief and move onto the next battle… end of Key Stage Assessments.

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