BYOD [ Bring Your Own Device ]

Both the inevitability and benefit of online learning became apparent in our household recently, when a family member, who was sitting the Leaving Certificate, was incapacitated and could not to go to school. Panicked by the prospect of failing the Leaving and having to reside at home with Mammy, for another couple of years, he negotiated a number of Eircom and other online tutorials on a particular topic, triumphantly proclaiming that he had learned more in a few days, than during previous tedious  months in the classroom.

Thomas and

The Great Book of Ireland : a mythical report

Flushed with a new found celebrity status, The Great Book of Ireland  is back where she belongs, on home soil and residing in the City of Cork.  A dark horse, timidly nurtured by persons wearing kid gloves,  this magnum opus has formerly been elusive, mysterious and mostly private,  since becoming  public  in 1991.  Playing hard to get and refusing to masquerade as a commodity, accessible to any old punter, the Great Book of Ireland began her tender career, in a naïve, toffee-nosed mode, as Art is wont to do, making only a few brief tantalising appearances and then vanishing into an unreachable abyss.

After several  promising exposure to audiences, in accessible environs, such as The Irish Museum of Modern Art and The Irish Writer’s Centre, she developed a bout of stage-fright.  Periods of self doubt,  combined with a functionalist search for a raison d’etre, triggered a nervous breakdown. This led to an inevitable interlude in rehabilitation, where she remained locked in a deep dark vault in the pit of an undisclosed bank, out of sight and out of mind.

The notion of The Great Book of Ireland was originally conceived by Eamonn Martin, Gene Lambert and Theo Dorgan for two practical reasons : to raise funds to add a new wing at Clashganna Mills Trust for people with disabilities and to build a National Poetry Centre in the heart of Dublin.

The Great Book of Ireland has been subjected to some uncivilised situations, tolerated for the sake of her art. She once travelled in the coat-closet of a Virgin Airliner, whilst on a funding mission to Irish emigrants, whose hunger has been replaced by a healthy patriotism.  It is hard to imagine that she, herself, was almost forced to emigrate, possibly never to return to her native land.  Dark times, however, often present opportunities for reflective analysis and The Great Book of Ireland, has since re-emerged with a new mind-set, a new focus and a new found purpose.

She has equally, enjoyed a number of poignant moments. Like a sleeping beauty, she was once awakened at Dublin Castle, by a single teardrop that fell  from the eye of Nelson Mandela’s daughter, on to a poem dedicated to her father. What added to its poignancy, was that the poem was penned onto that vellum page, on the very day that Nelson Mandela arrived  in Ireland, to accept his freedom of the city of Dublin.

Other great coups, associated with this book, are the four lines of a scribed by the feeble hand of Samuel Beckett  just before his death. These lines, from a poem written on the day of his father’s death in the early seventies, are thought to be the last ones he wrote:

Redeem the surrogate good byes

Who have no more for the land

The sheet astream in your hand

And the glass unmisted above your eyes

Great Irish poets and artists have collaborated to produce a work that is immensely rich and unique. There is no grand, stifling theme running through her pages, yet characteristic themes create an artefact that depicts the 20^th Century. The book is drawn together gently, using only sensitive threads of calligraphy. Great people have planned and prodded for many years, to make this work come into being.  The ‘end boards’ and  the protective box  for the book  are made from elm wood,  from trees planted by W. B. Yeats at Thoor Ballylee.  This treasure belongs to Ireland and to Irish people and to all those who are fascinated by our arts, our heritage, our culture and our peoples. Let us make haste to open up the vellum pages of The Great Book of Ireland, so that we may all weep at the beauty and joy that lies therein.

Interesting links and sources :

 
Main Source : Theo Dorgan , A Modern Book of Kells ‘ Making ‘The Great Book of Ireland’-The Irish Times Sat. Jan 19, 2013

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2013/0119/1224329030322.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKXDUhU6fW4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPpmlE2scTI

http://www.dublinmonaghanbombings.org/poem5.html

http://irishartsreview.com/irisartsreviyear/pdf/1991/20492682.pdf.bannered.pdf

http://www.thejournal.ie/the-great-book-of-ireland-ucc-758874-Jan2013/

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2013/0119/1224329047619.html

A Blast from the Past

 

 

 

The Chapter that landed on my laptop for perusal was taken from Electronic Collaboration in the Humanities:  Issues and Options, entitled   ‘Critical and Dynamic Literacy in the Computer Classroom: Bridging the Gap  Between School Literacy and Workplace Literacy.’

By Paul J. Morris 11   Pittsburg University

 

Hailing from a background of radio and television broadcasting, I feel somewhat envious that I have not so easily progressed into the world of technology as the author. My excuse is that Morris and I were most likely seated at opposite sides of the studio.  Although I was surrounded by state-of-the-art digital equipment for the best part of my working life in the Middle East,  I worked in a ‘hands-off’ rather than a ‘hands-on’ environment where everyone grappled his own workbench to his soul ‘with hoops of steel’. Thank goodness for collaboration.  If I had known then what I know now, I would have made a concerted effort to participate in the technological side of broadcasting.  I agree with Morris, that to totally ignore practical applications for the use of technology in the workplace is irrational, but literacy cannot be wholly feasible without the support of theories and research. I am conscious of the opportunities I have missed out on technologically , but believe that without  developing understanding of critical pedagogy, my years of toil in desert climes may have dissolved from humanistic,  into a mere mirage of capitalism.

Bridging the gap between theory and practice to reach a formidable praxis is worth all the consideration given to it, mainly by academics. Morris argues that literacy learning must be relevant to literacy skills peculiar to becoming good ‘workers, teachers, activists, community leaders…’. Teachers are advised to resist ‘politically driven solutions to literacy problems in our society’.

According to Morris, school literacy and workplace literacy actually compliment each other in different ways and ‘critical literacy’ is a worthwhile tool for questioning certain  practices and ethics of business and industry.  Computer technology is an asset, as it offers a wide range of possibilities for students to engage in authentic contexts, as opposed to contexts where there is little correlation between literacy content in the classroom and literacy needs. In his chapter, Morris hails Cynthia Selfe, who argues the need for greater awareness for the extensive role of technology in promoting literacy education. In her ‘Technology and Literacy :  A Story of the Perils of not Paying Attention’,  Selfe warns that those, from certain socioeconomic backgrounds in society, who do not have access to technology are at risk of being left behind. If society does not recognize the link between technology and literacy, the risk of exacerbating existing social and educational flaws is heightened.

Large scale projects aimed at providing technology to schools are often tokenistic and should not be considered a panacea for complex social problems in society. Selfe believes that it is time for teachers to stop avoiding technology and set it on a par with reading and writing, a concept that remains apt in a current context.

Morris points out that although some educators tend to resist introducing technology into the classroom, others are making an effort to move forward, and individuals who attend relevant workshops on the subject, appear willing to theorize on the implications surrounding its use.  With a futuristic warning  Morris stresses that is becoming clearer that until academics see the ‘computer’ as an essential tool, students will leave school without the literacy skills vital to compete in the workplace.

ECHCh17Morris.pdf 5279K   View   Download

 

 

Chainsaw Massacre severs Global Communication

Chainsaw Massacre severs Global Communication

 

Tree fellers in Lismore cut off my base global communication on Tuesday last. The covert operation took place at around 10.30 am and could easily have rendered one particular feller as useless as a charred sausages at a BBQ. The attackers unwittingly severed not only my cable, but moved forward chopping chunks of perfectly formed trees at the base of my field, subjecting me up to a world of noise pollution that can only be masked by some fast growing laurels which they will never ever plant.  

Philosophising that there are more ways than one to skin a cat, although I cannot imagine what purpose that might serve and how the cat might react, I took myself up to the library to reverse the negative aura and in a new attempt to access the net and go global. When I pondered on the tree fellers, Marshall Mc Luhan’s remark that ‘Electric circuitry has overthrown the regime of ‘time’ and ‘space’ ..and that .. ‘we now live in a global village’ sprang to mind, among other personal thoughts on tree fellers, less quotable. I would value any suggestions on what to do when the ‘electric circuitry’ itself is overthrown or does not  exist in any worthwhile capacity. There are huge disparities for example, between a European child’s access to a mobile phone compared to that of an African child. The value and functions of a mobile phone also vary according to different environs.  In Bangladesh, having access to just one mobile phone could create a lifeline for an entire village. In the Andes, telephony is effective in reducing the costs and the toil of a painfully slow postal system.

The term ‘global village’ often suggests that we are all one big interactive, digitally united, happy family. A 1971 Coca Cola Ad that showed varying shades of serene people from around the globe singing  ‘I’d like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony’ were unified and equalised as a global village not by technology, but by the bottle of Coca Cola they each clutched in their hand. See : Coca Cola Commercial – I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony) – 1971

Benneton’s billboard advertisements that embrace a ‘fuzzy feeling’ global family with a range of  nationalities and skin tones wearing multicoloured Benneton garments, were once highly prized as an authentic global fashion brand. A 2005, HSBC advertisement  advocating  the ‘local difference’ made by big brands on a global scale helped increase the company’s brand value.  See: www.interbrand.com . According to Naomi Kline there is actually a positive aspect to the unifying effect of single branding.  Kline regards  such ‘global claustrophobia’ as a way towards online ‘global communication’ and believes single branding offers employees, such as Mc Donald workers, an opportunity for useful discourse as a workforce. Members may speak different languages but the branded web offers them common ground for communication.

Back in Lismore library I have become serene, now that I have regained gained global access, if only temporarily. I have managed to communicate with the most important people in my life. Ironically my ‘beloved’ has sent me an ‘Irish Examiner’ link from Japan with an article about Lismore, in which the writer refers to the handiwork of the infamous  tree fellers but fails to mention one severed cable. As the saying goes ‘It’s a small world’. 

See: http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/healthandlife/walkoftheweek/waterford-journey-through-the-past-and-present-213651.html

 

 

Bibliography

 

G. Branston and R. Stafford[ 2006]  The Media Student’s Book, 4^TH Edition, New York: Routeledge.

N. Kline [2001] No Logo. London: Flamingo.

M.Mc Luhan and Fiore[1967] War and Peace in the Global Village, New York: Bantam.

J.F. Rischard [2002] High Noon, New York: Basic Books. 

Communities of Practice: Breakthrough

‘Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly’.  Etienne Wenger

Communities of practice are not a new phenomenon. Wenger suggests that learning may not necessarily be the reason why a community of practice comes together. It is important to distinguish between the term communities and communities of practice as Wenger points out that not every community is a community of practice.

Wenger offers a useful simplification of this notion by suggesting that there are three main characteristics that  make up a community of practice. These are:

1. The domain whose main component is that a ‘shared domain of interest’ exists between members. This shared interest may not necessarily be regarded as righteous one from a societal perspective.  For example, Wegner points out that a ‘a youth gang’ may share a domain of interest  and ‘collective competence’ developing and ‘maintaining an identity they can live with’.
2. The community  The main components of the community are that there is a sharing of information that  involves interaction and learning from each other. Wenger  distinguishes between this group and those that might belong to a certain website. A person may not necessarily know who he/she is sharing a website with. There is a suggestion of a more personal and solid aspect to a community of practice. The reference to the Impressionists meeting in cafés to share ideas together and information  although they generally worked alone paints a realistic and clear picture of what constitutes a community of practice and offers a historical picture of how long they have been in existence in different forms.
3. The practice  Wenger highlights that ‘Members of a community of practice are practitioners’ who ‘invent a shared practice’. They collect information and share tools that will benefit each other and the community of practice as a whole. This involves a concerted effort  by members to interact and sustain this process.

The term community of practice was coined by Etienne Wenger and Anthropologist  Jean Lave to refer to the community that acts ‘as a living curriculum for the apprentice’. Alternative terminology such as ‘learning networks’,  ‘tech clubs’ and the somewhat trendy title ‘thematic groups’ have manifested themselves within different groups but have the same underlying traits as communities of practice. It begs the question what kind of impression the term ‘community of practice’ portrays and whether it suggests that groups are stuck in some kind of self-righteous time-warp. Is this a term that our current MA DAH group, many of whose members aspire to progress with great gusto into this digital age, is ready to adopt? Digression aside, according to Wenger, as a concept, communities of practice are influencing theory and practice in many areas; in organisations, government, education and in associations. He also suggests the web and information technology is not a substitute for communities,  but should be considered an invaluable source of information that can further exploited and utilised by communities.

Reading this paper by Etienne Wenger has offered me an insightful opportunity to open my soul and rate myself as an operational member of a community of practice that is MA DAH.  As yet I have offered nothing of any consequence spiralling through cyberspace into the interactive arms of others in the group.I hope I have been able to contribute as a human being , in an ‘impressionistic’ sense, in the canteen and in interpersonal ways. The digital contributions will happen forthwith and will not be art for art’s sake. I am a work in progress, delighted with an opportunity to develop to offer information and to learn from others. I hope that I will gain greater wherewithal from studying Wenger and other such theorists and authors, through interaction with peers and in a practical sense at today’s experiential MA DAH session.

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