a world away

Try this link

2012-01-04T10:40:00.001+13:00

http://www.facebook.com/kiwisummerRNZ

An amazing engineer

2011-11-30T08:42:00.001+13:00

Karen dalton

2011-11-09T09:21:00.001+13:00

Now this is something whose time is coming

2011-07-27T09:34:00.000+12:00

HENRY WALTZ - VISUAL TEASER from Emil Goodman on Vimeo.

Interesting take (part 2)

2011-06-28T14:29:00.001+12:00

Interesting take on the Christchurch earthquakes (Part 1)

2011-06-28T14:28:00.001+12:00

Time lapse day

2011-06-08T14:44:00.000+12:00

El Cielo de Canarias / Canary sky - Tenerife from Daniel López on Vimeo.

My first record

2011-05-23T08:15:00.001+12:00

Wow

2011-03-27T12:22:00.001+13:00

News - Its bogus

2011-03-14T09:08:00.000+13:00

My Hero

2011-02-14T11:05:00.001+13:00

This is our world now - bring it on

2010-05-19T08:03:00.000+12:00

Cannonball from California is a place. on Vimeo.

How to make the News

2010-05-18T14:33:00.001+12:00

why we don't ice fish

2010-05-18T07:01:00.000+12:00

Wolfgangs Vault

2010-04-20T08:37:00.004+12:00

I was told about this site by a fellow musician (yeah right) over the weekend. Fabulous selection of FREE music (no vid) . You have to register - but heay! - its worth it.
I will post the occassional track over the next whiel of my favourites.

Some Dunedin Music (where I live)

2010-04-01T08:32:00.000+13:00

A Great Theme tune

2010-02-22T08:58:00.001+13:00

requim for a dream

2010-02-16T09:48:00.001+13:00

I rediscovered this wonderful "Chicago the Blues Today Album"

2010-02-03T07:29:00.001+13:00

My new Toy

2010-01-04T07:45:00.000+13:00

Mr Monk

2009-11-26T07:48:00.000+13:00

How to leave a room

2009-10-27T08:00:00.000+13:00

How to Exit a Room Like a Man
from The Art of Manliness by Brett & Kate McKay
18 people liked this

leaving

You’re at a party. Maybe someone made you go, cornered you at work or school and you couldn’t think of an excuse fast enough to dodge the invitation. Or perhaps you showed up to a social event that held the promise of being a fun shindig, but after listening for 20 minutes to a lady explain the pros and cons of buying an Accord over a Camry and being forced into a conga line against your will, all you want to do is make like a baby and head out. A lot of men find themselves trapped in these kinds of situations, wanting to stick a pencil in their eye but afraid to make an escape attempt.

We’ve discussed how to command a room like a man, but how do you leave a room like a man?

While you’ve surely heard about the importance of making a dynamite first impression, leaving a classy last impression is just as important. Studies have shown that people most clearly remember the end of an experience, not the beginning. Thus, you want to be able to exit a social event on your own terms, but you also want to leave the host and fellow guests saying, “Dang, I like that guy!”

So how do you leave a social event without being awkward and offending your host? And how do you make sure people remember you fondly?

Below, we set out some guidelines so you can leave a social event with confidence and class.

1. Know when to leave. No matter how smoothly you do it, it’s impossible to leave a social event politely if you exit at the wrong time. Even if you know the party is a disaster from the minute you walk in, you have to put in minimum cameo time. For a come and go kind of function, this minimum is about an hour. At a dinner party, this comes after the after-dinner coffee has been served. If you need to leave before these times for an important reason, tell the host or hostess as soon as you arrive. But generally, if you can’t make it for the minimum cameo time, it’s better not to come at all. It’s awkward to leave in the middle of dinner or to circle the room once before exiting back out the door. Your first and last impression will be one in the same, and not a very good one at that.

Once the minimum time has been met, either wait to make your exit as the party starts winding down or, if you’re having a terrible time, simply make the executive decision to get the heck out of dodge.

2. Stand up. When they feel it’s time to leave, most folks start to squirm in their seat and say things like, “Weeelll…. it’s getting late.” Then they just keep on sitting on their duffs looking awkwardly at their watch. Don’t dilly dally. If you’re ready to leave, then show that you are. Standing up shows you’re committed to leaving.

Now, don’t be abrupt about it. That’s just as awkward as squirming in your seat and looking side-to-side for a means to escape. Stand-up smoothly and confidently. While you’re standing, simply say, “Well I must be leaving.” Never give an excuse for why you have to leave. An excuse can make your hostess feel unimportant and force you to sheepishly explain yourself all the way to the door.

If you want to be particularly suave about your transition from sitting to standing, try this trick. When you’re ready to leave, wait for a pause in the conversation and start a short story. Make it an engrossing, entertaining story. You want to leave them laughing. As you tell the story, start standing up. You can even start putting on your coat and hat as you spin your yarn. Walk next to your host when you reach the story’s climax. Give a quick wink to the group, and…

3. Hold out your hand. Alright, you’re standing up. What do you do now? This is a crucial moment. If you don’t continue on your path towards the door, your host and the other guests will likely start wrapping their tentacles around you to hold you hostage for another round of Parcheesi.

As soon as you’re on your feet, offer your hand to your host. Give a good firm handshake. If appropriate, offer a man hug or kiss on the cheek if it’s a lady or a European dude. Most people who are socially adept will see that you’re serious about leaving and will usher you to the door and see you out. However, some people will still try to get you to stay.

4. Say “Thanks!” and “Goodbye.”As you’re shaking hands, thank your host or whoever you’re with for the hospitality and the conversation. Look them in the eyes, give them a big smile, and compliment the host on something specific you enjoyed about the evening. “Thank you for dinner! Your pumpkin pie is the best I’ve ever had!” Give a pleasant “goodbye” or “see you later.” Also, direct your goodbyes to the other people in the group.

5. Gather your things. You don’t want to leave anything that will cause you to come back after you’ve left. This only opens up the chance of getting sucked back into social purgatory. And it bursts the warm memory the host and remaining guests started forming about you as soon as you left. Grab your coat and hat and your wife’s coat and clutch. Make sure you have your cell phones. If you do happen to leave something, wait until tomorrow to come pick it up.

6. Walk to the door with confidence. Inertia can get the best of a man at this point. If you don’t start walking towards the door, you might find yourself sitting back down. Once you make your move to the door, do so with confidence and determination. Don’t stop to admire Grandma’s china cabinet or you risk getting a 10-minute lecture on the cabinet’s history from the Civil War to the present day.

7. Open the door.You’ve reached the door. You’re almost there, but you’re still at risk of having your departure needlessly delayed with awkward chatter. A well-mannered host will open the door for you and see you out. However, some people have either not been taught this bit of courtesy or if they have, they’ve forgotten it. The individuals in the latter group also seem to be the type that will strike up conversations in the doorway for another 15 minutes. If you don’t take matters in your own hands by opening the door, you’re doomed to listen to your wife’s co-worker talk about how she has a busy day making name tags for a convention tomorrow and the eating habits of her cats. If your host doesn’t open the door for you, do it yourself as soon as you reach the door. Once you open the door, step out. Keep your feet planted outside; even if the host continues to talk to you, the inside/outside dichotomy will soon compel them to close the door and send you on your way.

8. Walk away. Say your final goodbyes and pleasantries and walk to your car. Tip your hat (you are wearing a hat, aren’t you?) for the final charming touch. Mission accomplished! A few minutes more and you’ll be back in your man chair, sitting by the fire, and reading The Art of Manliness.

way cool

2009-10-27T07:58:00.001+13:00

Moments

2009-09-14T11:45:00.001+12:00

Foraging

2009-08-25T11:38:00.003+12:00

Now wouldn't it be great to have such a site for our own locale? See the Christchurch example here

There is also a good website at this address.

I also came across a program on the Food Channel that had some food foraging in it.

Wallender

2009-08-25T08:40:00.002+12:00

here is a link to a very good crime show based on the books of Henning Mankell

Teaching naked

2009-08-04T09:06:00.001+12:00

And more about this here

Articles referenced:

* Bennett, S., Maton, K & Kervin, L. (2008). The Digital Natives Debate: A Critical Review of the Evidence. British Journal of Educational Technology, 39, No. 5, 775-786
* Bullen, M., Belfer, K., Morgan, T. & Qayyum, A. (2008). The Net Generation in Higher Education: Rhetoric and Reality. Paper accepted for publication in the Malaysian Journal of Eduational Technology.
* Howe, N. & Strauss, W. (2000). Millenials Rising: The Next Great Generation. New York: Random House.
* Oblinger, D.G. & Oblinger, J.L. (Eds) (2005). Educating the Net Generation. Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE.
* Prensky, M. (2001a). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5)?
* Prensky, M. (2001b ). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Part II; Do They Really Think Differently? On the Horizon, 9(6).?
* Reeves, T. & Oh, E. (2007). Generational Differences. In M. Spector, M. D. Merrill, J. van Merrienboer, & M. P. Driscoll (Eds). The Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology (pp. 296-303).
* Tapscostt, D. (1998). Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation. Toronto: McGraw-Hill.

The Snark syndrome

2009-08-04T08:09:00.000+12:00

The Snark Syndrome and the Net Gen Discourse
In 1993 Eileen Byrne coined the terms the 'Snark Syndrome' and the 'Snark Effect' to describe how educational policymaking and teaching theory in relation to women and science was based on "assertion rather on clear, logical or empirical soundness."

A Snark is the imaginary animal in Lewis Carroll's poem, The Hunting of the Snark:

'Just the place for a Snark!' the Bellman cried,
As he landed his crew with care;
Supporting each man on the top of the tide
By a finger entwined in his hair.

'Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice:
That alone should encourage the crew.
Just the place for a Snark! I have have said thrice:
What I tell you three times is true.'

In Women and Science: The Snark Syndrome, Byrne says about women in science:

"By dint of repetition three times (or thirty), the educational community had internalized an oversimplified and often unscholarly selection of beliefs and premises which had descended to the 'everyone knows that...' level of slogan-like impact."

Thus the Snark Syndrome is the "assertion of an alleged truth or belief or principle as the basis for policymaking or for educational practice, although this proves to have no previous credible base in sound empirical research"

The Snark Effect is the application of the Snark Syndrome to implement specific educational policies and practices.

The Snark Syndrome is clearly at play in the discussions around the Net Generation and education. I have lost track of the number of times I have heard educators repeat the stereotypes about the Net Generation: short attention span, expert mutitaskers, technologically savvy etc etc. Countless Michael Wesch-like You Tube videos are circulating urging us to wake up and change our ways or else risk losing an entire generation of learners who we are failing to engage. The answer, we are told, is more digital technology. We are letting consultants, futurists, technology sales people and others with a limited understanding of education set the agenda. We blindly accept their recommendations and repeat them as fact. The Snark Syndrome may have already led to the Snark Effect but we still have a chance to turn back this uninformed wave and insist that educational policy and practice be based on sound research and theory.

My thanks to Tannis Morgan for pointing us to Eileen Byrne's work: Women in Science: The Snark Syndrome, London, The Falmer Press, 1993.

Very funny video

2009-07-07T08:26:00.000+12:00

Not that I like Bjork - but

2009-06-20T12:31:00.000+12:00

Mmmmmm!!!!

2009-06-09T07:53:00.001+12:00

last moments of a mans life

2009-05-25T09:18:00.000+12:00

Last Day Dream [HD] from Chris Milk on Vimeo.

I word I hate but "enjoy"

2009-05-14T08:41:00.001+12:00

spy vs spy

2009-05-13T08:45:00.000+12:00

Connectivity & NZ Broadband status

2009-03-04T16:31:00.003+13:00

I have been struggling with delivering an online course and the number of technical problems I encounter while trying to produce high quality content. One of the frequent comments from students and teachers is "but some people cannot have broadband - we cannot exclude them". The other comment is to keep content to a minumum because of connectivity problems even with broadband.

This puts my argument rather succinctly. thanks to MacDoctor

New Zealand is a very small country with a spread out population served by an oligopoly of business interests. We already pay well over the odds for a spotty cell phone service and an oversubscribed, slow broadband service. While our telcos are doing a fair amount of investment, they tend to concentrate on city centers, leaving 20-30% of the nation to fend for themselves. I live on a lifestyle property in Auckland that is very close to a large housing estate and yet, up until two years ago, I could not get broadband except via satellite link (a miserable experience!). Even now there are many areas in central Auckland where I can’t get a cell phone signal, let alone a 3G signal. I consider that an abject market failure.

* Consumers are hardly using the speeds and caps available now.

That is because they are too expensive, too restrictive and oversubscribed. I can’t get the maximum speed from my connection most of the time, because contention rates (the number of people on a single line) are too high. So saying that consumers are not using the speed available now is rather like someone taping your mouth up and then commenting that you are not eating enough. And a data cap of 1Gb is tantamount to saying “no downloading or else” - it actively discourages people from using their internet connections for anything more than e-mail and a bit of surfing. It is exactly this restrictive, controlling attitude of Telcos that the broadband policy is aimed at.

* Fibre to the home may prove to be the wrong technology, a Think Big-style white elephant.

This is the same argument as those who put off buying a new computer, because “something better will be along in a few months”. They wind up using ancient, time-wasting old technology out of fear that they won’t have “the latest stuff”. Put this mind-set into the Telco context and we will still be using copper wire while the first world is using quantum oscillation for data transfer.

* And home is where we consume things, not produce them, so the productivity-based arguments are rickety.

I have been struggling dealing with educational beauracrats about online learning. My thinking seems to be like bashing my head agamnist a wall. This article by blogger MacDoctor ? puts my thoughts rather succinctly.
This statement illustrates a serious lack of vision. As bandwidth increases, the number of uses that bandwidth can be put to increases, exponentially. For example, imagine sufficient bandwidth for a full virtual reality school where kids can be taught one-on-one by real teachers, or a VR mall that can be browsed just like the real thing (not the appalingly flat, lifeless attempts of our current constrained bandwidth). It is perfectly feasible that most of our work can be done from home - VR house calls anyone? The decrease in transport cost alone would pay for fibre to the home and there would be the added benefit of a decrease in carbon dioxide emissions. And those are just a couple of ideas off the top of my head.

We have been using the buzzwords “knowledge economy” for a decade, without any apparent understanding of what this actually means. Rapid exchange of information and ideas already means the difference between the survival and the demise of a business. Speed and versatility of data exchange will become ever more vital in the years to come. National should ignore all the naysayers for their own good.

Great Hendrix track

2009-03-03T15:34:00.001+13:00

One of my favourite Hendrix tracks

Enjoy

A Sizzling Guitar Man

2009-02-10T09:00:00.001+13:00

Just come across this YouTube of one of my all time favourites. Enjoy -

The Cramps

2009-02-09T12:05:00.003+13:00

Lux Interior, lead singer of The Cramps, passed away this morning due to an existing heart condition at Glendale Memorial Hospital in Glendale, California at 4:30 AM PST today. Lux has been an inspiration and influence to millions of artists and fans around the world. He and wife Poison Ivy’s contributions with The Cramps have had an immeasurable impact on modern music.

The Cramps emerged from the original New York punk scene of CBGB and Max’s Kansas City, with a singular sound and iconography. Their distinct take on rockabilly and surf along with their midnight movie imagery reminded us all just how exciting, dangerous, vital and sexy rock and roll should be and has spawned entire subcultures. Lux was a fearless frontman who transformed every stage he stepped on into a place of passion, abandon, and true freedom

Vacuous TV generation

2009-02-09T08:57:00.001+13:00

Just couldn't resist passing this along

Yes! Back to work teaching again. Seemed very relevant.

do these word annoy you too?

2008-12-04T09:02:00.003+13:00

worst business jargon:

1. Thinking outside of the box.
2. Touch base.
3. At the end of the day.
4. Going forward.
5. All of it.
6. Blue sky thinking.
7. Out of the box.
8. Credit crunch.
9. Heads up.
10. Singing from the same hymn sheet.
11. Pro-active.
12. Downsizing.
13. Ducks in a row.
14. Brainstorming.
15. Thought shower.
16. 360-degree thinking.
17. Flag it up.
18. Pushing the envelope.
19. At this moment in time.
20. In the loop.

tom waits & crystal gayle

2008-12-04T08:52:00.002+13:00

Blended delivery

2008-11-12T08:18:00.001+13:00

Here is a comprehensive resource for those intersted in blended delivery

Developing A Blended Learning Strategy: Instructional Media & Pedagogical Considerations

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: blended learning)

Tennesse Ernie Ford

2008-09-23T07:43:00.001+12:00

Look at this

Damn quizzes

2008-07-04T14:29:00.001+12:00

I don't know why but I took this quiz .

And here is my result.

The connected academic Your Result: Unconnected academic Oh dear, you've not taken this web 2.0 stuff to heart have you? It's possible you may be an enemy of the future. It's not too late, start a Flickr photostream today, get blogging and you can still be part of the warm, connected world.
Connected academic
Mildly connected academic
The connected academic Create MySpace Quizzes

I wish I had stayed in bed!!

Welcome back to a bit of my world

2008-07-01T08:17:00.009+12:00

Just catching you all up to where I am at the moment. I have been reading a lot of New Zealand Blogs and this from Bernard Hickey is an interesting read. Bernard usually comments on economic matter but he also is a wonderful writer and is providing a much needed fresh eye on what is a happening NZ and globally.

I have been away in Sydney for a week and I must say that coming back to NZ has been somewhat of an eyeopener. We are constantly bombarded about the 'drift over the ditch' using what I consider to be rather shonky and lazy journalism. Sure, the figures for wages and prices seem to be symbolic of the lucky country but when you actually get there you are surrounded by what all that means. Overcrowding, noise, pollution, rudeness, rampart racism, uncontrolled immigration, and just the same amount of economic and social problems that NZ has. Sure, it's only Sydney, but I think that the next time you are told what a shit hole NZ is and has become you should think very, very, critically.

And not that I in any way think this guy has anything useful to add to humanity with an introduction like he has, I wonder about the veracity of this ?

I always find these posts informative and sometimes amusing. What CNN doesn't tell you!

Coming to You

2008-06-19T08:01:00.001+12:00

I am all for more connectivity but look at this.
Korea - first in getting broadband to the population but then - the ignorant masses take over and manage to mobilize their stupid cousins. Mad cow disease coming? Looks like its already there!

Attention span and Web 2.0

2008-06-17T09:21:00.009+12:00

I was interested to come across a promulgation of Blogs about this topic this week. Links are here and here and finally here provide some entry points.
Maybe it was a slow week, maybe people just want to forget about oil and food prices.

It is an interesting idea and I think the jury is still well and truly out on this. I was listening to a debate on national radio late this afternoon where an Australian psychologist, Andrew Campbell has been using computer games with paediatric ADHD patients and finding that they can improve their attention spans. Admittedly, only one type of game and Google is not the same. Campbell made the point that there is a lot of research evidence to support both sides of the story but one of the panelists in the discussion made the assertion that he would not like to see any kid deprived of access to computers as it "would severely compromise their career options" .

Makes you think a) what qualifications some of these people have to make such statements: Answer: well none - he was a media commentator
b) what effect this might have on the audience for the talk show Answer: they will all probably think they are being bad parents if they don't have a new shiny box available for the little ones to play with.

I have repeatedly called for more informed debate on this issue and this(sadly) illustrates why.

Amnesty International

2008-05-07T08:30:00.001+12:00

who said this?

2008-05-01T15:03:00.002+12:00

Why is it drug addicts and computer afficionados are both called users?

As the networks evolve, so do my opinions toward them, and my divergent feelings bring out conflicting points of view. In advance, I apologize to those who expect a consistent position from me.

Call me a troglodyte; I'd rather peruse those photos alongside my sweetheart, catch the newspaper on the way to work, and page thorough a real book.

Computers force us into creating with our minds and prevent us from making things with our hands. They dull the skills we use in everyday life.

Electronic communication is an instantaneous and illusory contact that creates a sense of intimacy without the emotional investment that leads to close friendships.

Here are my strong reservations about the wave of computer networks. They isolate us from one another and cheapen the meaning of actual experience. They work against literacy and creativity. They undercut our schools and libraries.

I sense an insatiable demand for connectivity. Maybe all these people have discovered important uses for the Internet. Perhaps some of them feel hungry for a community that our real neighborhoods don't deliver. At least a few must wonder what the big deal is.

I spend almost as much time figuring out what's wrong with my computer as I do actually using it.

It's a great medium for trivia and hobbies, but not the place for reasoned, reflective judgment. Suprisingly often, discussions degenerate into acrimony, insults and flames.

No computer network with pretty graphics can ever replace the salespeople that make our society work.

Crossroads DVD

2008-04-21T14:13:00.004+12:00

I purchased this amazing DVD of the 2007 Crossroads concert for Eric Claptons Antigua based addiction clinic. Unfortunately my Panasonic DVD player gave the dreaded MO7 error message part way through this outstanding perfomance by Jeff Beck and Tal Wilkenfield. A major new talent.

Science and pseudoscience

2008-04-15T07:50:00.001+12:00

A very interesting blog today by Poneke

"My findings were clear. The media were very sceptical, and sometimes overtly hostile, to claims being made by doctors, health authorities and drug companies. I felt this was healthy, because journalists should be sceptical of the claims of experts and government authorities. But in sharp contrast, there was precious little scepticism, or even questioning, of the fantastic claims being made on behalf of “alternative medicine.” I felt that was unhealthy, because, while most “alternative medicines,” such as homeopathic preparations, have no active ingredients at all and thus cannot harm anyone, people who turn to it when they need effective medical treatment can do themselves real harm. Journalists need to be aware of this, but my research found most were not."

To quote one of the rats currentely featuring on our TV's - I concur.

Insommniac ravings

2008-03-18T07:45:00.004+13:00

I have been suffering a bit of insommnia lately and I have spent some time listening to all night radio. Forget the terrible Llyod Scott ( why is this man still employed in radio) but the other guy has some snappy music. I heard someone that sounded very much like Ray Davies last night and I dived back into my old Kinks record (yes I have nearly 1000 vinyl LP's) . For those who have not heard the great man try this

Learning resources

2008-03-17T15:09:00.005+13:00

I came across the Merlot site as part of an online eLearning course that I am doing and also George Simeins has posted a list of web sites for online learning.

I haven't had time to fully look through all the different content but the Merlot site on NeuroPsych for Kids looks good although a little advanced for children.

On a totally different tack check out this outrageous performer.

A New Day - Slow down

2008-02-12T09:55:00.000+13:00

I came across this today which seemed to be particularly relevant on returning to work. It comes from the Idler magazine which is based around slowing down.

And a rave about Facebook from the same source.

And on a completely different tack here is an interesting Blog that critically examines sustainability

And if you think that is too cranky here is the New Scientist version.

And lastly todays conspiracy theory

Jeez

2007-12-20T15:49:00.000+13:00

Jeez ( excuse me for taking the lords name in vain in this season of .....?) but just when I thought I had a tool i.e. Wikipedia, that would suit some of my teaching needs along comes this . Although I am totally sure of the Christian Science Monitor or Andrew Keen who comments on this in his latest blog it does seem to sound the death knell to amateur generated content. I will await to see what the Beta version of Knol does before I throw away the toys.

Proper language

2007-12-10T09:18:00.000+13:00

I was intrigued over the weekend to hear the debate about NCEA and texting in exams being reopened. As the end of the year rolls around I, along with fellow ewxaminers, have come across the old bogey of the standard of writing in student assignments. Here we are in a tertiary institution and some students can't even string a sentence together or, as above, do so in txt rather than plain English. I must admirt that I was in two minds as to how to approach this. Ber an old fogey, and use the big red felt tip pen or get with the 21C and groove along to 'plse B tlrnt @ my lngwg" (translation ;please be tolerant of my language'. I decided on the former, as did most of my colleagues and it is refreshing to see that the governing body of NCEA have also come out with a watered down edict that texting is not recommneded and pupils could be marked down as a result. Makes you want to scream for Tom Waits.

A little more info about the Kindle

2007-12-06T08:20:00.000+13:00

I came across this
which sheds a little more light on the Kindle issue. As always, look at the source, and this tape will self destruct in 30 secs.

This link also looks at an initiative in Birmingham which maybe overcomes some of the criticisms I have raised in the Flexible Learning course about accessibility and appropriateness of tools for e-learning.

And here another reference to the introduction of the Kindle and some of its' competitors.

An Amendment to my Post "A last word"

2007-12-04T11:50:00.000+13:00

The course objectives for Facilitating eLearning Communities are the following - they are on Blackboard in the Introduction.

I feel as though my previous posts have successfully addressed all but the second of these objectives so I will spend some time further articulating my thoughts on objective two although careful readers of my Blog and Wiki will have seen some of this material before. (My new writing in bold, italics).
You could also look at my two Wiki's (accessible from this Blog) and my Blackboard courses for evidence of online course.

By the end of this course you will be able to:
• Discuss the characteristics of an online community and the implications of learning and teaching online.

• Articulate the skills required for maintaining a successful online community.

a) Good facilitation. – The most critical skills is the ability to be able to facilitate. This should include the following elements.

1. Make sure that course objectives and expectation are explicit at the front end of the course
Let students/ participants
• When you are available and what time frame you will respond to enquiries or posts - my personal guidelines are response within 24hrs to posts or enquiries within the working week Mon – Friday 9.00 – 5.00
• Etiquette rules – use guidelines that are agreed upon at the beginning of the course. Rules for lurkers and non-participants within the first four weeks of the course then more flexible working arrangements.
• Information on technology challenges – a help desk contact 24hrs
• Clear guidelines about exits and entrances to the course
2. Those first four weeks
The four weeks at the beginning of the course and times around assignments and formal work are important. The facilitator has a role of being directive and assumes the role more of the teacher at these times. At other times a more relaxed facilitation style that is appropriate to the group can be relied on.

• Establish a group forum be it a discussion board, a Blog, or an email list but something that is used by everyone.
• Avoid using too much technology, too fast. Stick to two forms of course communication that are reliable and that everyone can utilise.
3. Warm up exercises and establishing a community

I am not all that convinced that this is something that can be done successfully. It is my personal belief that a sense of community develops over time and with our community, I have found that this has only really developed at the end of the course. I don’t feel any real sense of knowing anyone else on the course other than those I have met accidentally face-to-face
Suggestions: The use of Blogs has been helpful and is a good way of sharing something other than course work.
The ability to ‘think outside the square’ has led to me saying more about myself and my thoughts than describing what music or books I like or what my hobbies are. In fact, I feel that those last exercises have branded me in a way that is not me at all. They only partly explain who Graeme Dixon is.
4. Be consistent yourself as the facilitator
Develop a course Schedule: I spend about 5 hours each week on this course and I consider that to be about right. I try and schedule my time around the Monday exercise and I check my Google Reader every morning

I try to write at least one Blog post a week.

I would encourage participants to do the same.
As a facilitator, I would expect that I would do about three times that amount of monitoring and writing and further time arranging sessions
Keep Discussion in the Forum: If much communication with participants takes place with individuals through email, others won't be aware of those conversations. Whenever possible/appropriate, encourage individuals to share thoughts, comments, and questions that are directed toward you with the whole group -- that way you will be more visible and everyone will benefit from your response. Model the level of engagement that you want course participants to demonstrate.
5. Optimize Your Messages
Keep Messages Concise: Long messages (and messages that have long paragraphs) are overwhelming for many online readers -- so are messages with more than one topic. Try to keep messages short. If you want to say/ask several things, consider breaking the message up into more than one post.
6. Keeping discussion going

The following list outlines and illustrates the range of actions that I would take as a facilitator:
• Summarize
• Moderate – Keep threads going but if the group needs to re-focus be pro-active in initiating
• Guide
• Prompt
• Troubleshoot – Technical aspects such as overlong Video or Slides that are not appearing need to be sorted early in the course so that they don’t constitute a frustration that drives members away.
• Mediate
• Problem Solve
Assessment

I would also build into the course some specific assessments to pick up when participants are falling behind or getting out of their depth. I personally use Start/Stop/Continue at about the 33% stage of a course and a 50% Terms assessment.

• Evaluate online communication and collaboration tools in given learning situations.
• Plan and implement online discussions for specific online communities.
• Critically evaluate an online discussion in the context of sound educational principles.

References

Collison, George, with Bonnie Elbaum, Sarah Haavind, and Robert Tinker
(2000) Facilitating Online Learning: Effective Strategies for Moderators, Madison, WI: Atwood Publishing.

Palloff, Rena and Keith Pratt
(1999) Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace: Effective Strategies for the Online Classroom, San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
White, Ken, with Bob Weight et al
(2000) The Online Teaching Guide: A Handbook of Attitudes, Strategies, and Techniques for the Virtual Classroom, Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Social, Cognitive and Situative F Frameworks: http://teachvu.vu.msu.edu/public/designers/social_interactions/index.php retrieved Novemebr 12, 2007

Gaming as an educational tool

2007-12-04T09:25:00.001+13:00

Mark Greenfield gave an interesting presentation last night to the Learning Community about the use of games ( particularly Travian) as educational tools. I was most impressed with the potential for games like this to be used but I wondered afterwards about why students complain about the ways that information is presented currently. Something that Mark said ( I think it was that students come and are bored and want to 'switch the channel' but find that they are stuck with the same channel) triggered for me a) how gaming might be used and b) why students come to education with this mind set.

a) I sort of alluded to this in the session but with things happening in the game in some sort of real time then breaks could be filled with relevant educational material (either on or off line) that reinforces the concept being covered in the course. So for instance if crops are being planted then there could be resource about botany, food groups, cooking, seasons, history of food.
Likewise, I would like to see a repository of other online games like Sim City etc that might have application to various educational settings.
b) what are we doing as parents that prepares our children to expect that "they" are the centre of the universe. The first thought that came to me was that it is all very well to have flexible learning techniques but what about the real workforce where people are often stuck doing boring, repetitive tasks for most of their work-time whether or not they are a check out operator or a doctor? Shouldn't we be more realistic and prepare them for a world where they will be subject to harrassment, non recognition for skills, a mismatch of what they are trained to do and what they are actually permitted to do?

the Kindle

2007-11-28T09:04:00.000+13:00

Anyone else come across these?

I would like to hear a perspective from this side of the world or are they incompatible?

An interesting discussion

2007-11-26T08:29:00.000+13:00

I came across this from George Simiens site. An interesting discussion that interfaces with my last posting. And for those of you who have not been exposed to Andrew Keen here is his take of developments with Facebook. And for some really scary shit look at this. Doesn't he sound a tiny bit like Arnold Schwarzenegger?

And I couldn't resist this

And these from the wonderful Emma Clarke - that lady who announces 'mind the gap' on the London Underground.
These just might get her fired.

Here we are again, crammed into a sweaty tube carriage...

and here

and here

The last word

2007-11-25T14:20:00.000+13:00

At the successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

Discuss principles and processes of flexible teaching and learning to facilitate culture sensitive adult learning;
Critique the design and application of existing flexible teaching and learning options in relation to the literature;
Analyse and evaluate challenges that arise in the design of flexible learning environments;
Explore and justify the strategies for the development of flexible learning environments;
Create and evaluate a plan for the implementation of a flexible learning experience.

1. Flexible teaching

Flexibility values change and adaptability. Flexible teaching and learning is about providing educational programmes in ways that meet the changing needs of learners. It is responsive to student needs.

Flexible teaching and learning provides students with:

Greater access to learning
Opportunities to combine work and education
Control over how they learn as well as what they learn
Greater choice in the content as well as the organisation of the learning programme

Ivan Illich, who has argued eloquently about health care has also made much of the present state of our learning and argues for "Health, learning, dignity, independence, and creative endeavour are defined as little more than the performance of the institutions which claim to serve these ends, and their improvement is made to depend on allocating more resources to the management of hospitals, schools, and other agencies in question. Ivan Illich Deschooling Society (1973: 9)"
In Deschooling Society Ivan Illich argues for the concept that a good education system should have three purposes: to provide all that want to learn with access to resources at any time in their lives; make it possible for all who want to share knowledge etc. to find those who want to learn it from them; and to create opportunities for those who want to present an issue to the public to make their arguments known (1973a: 78). He suggests that four learning exchanges could facilitate this. These he calls educational or learning webs.

While these principles look fine there are some disparities with the goals and the actuality.
1. There is not greater access to learning unless you possess the technology that allows you to pursue this form of learning and you are competent in its application. Much evidence exists to suggest that this is not so and in New Zealand we have the classic example of the basic broadband technology being unavailable or available in only a very basic form to some sectors of the population.
There is also the problem of the content of such Deschooling how useful and valid it is in a true learning environment. For instance, a student could learn how to rewire my house by looking at information available on the Internet but not have the 'basic background learning' to understand that the wiring she has used will overheat and malfunction in a year (because no expert had oversight of what the student did and did not study ).
I remember I had the same problem with Illich when I read his medical stuff but then I found myself with an open gushing wound that needed stitching and containment if I wasn't to bleed to death. Suddenly all his philosophical bleatings disappeared.

2. Although students do have control over their learning there are the practical aspects of training a person in a profession or trade in that certain things must be taught. I am involved in the training of Occupational Therapists and skills such as groupwork and communication skills cannot be taught in a flexible manner. This has to be done face to face and to suggest otherwise is naive.
There is a ground swell of opinion that suggests that learning needs to change because we are moving from an era of learning for life (technological rationality) to Continuous learning (Schon , 1983). Coupled with this is the need to learn to learn rather than passively soaking up information. But does Web 2.0 technology teach us this or does it dumb down learning itself. I agree our institutions need to change. But our institutions need to change because of the increasing complexity of society and globalization. Schools and universities play a dual role: accommodating learner’s method and mode of learning and transforming learners and preparing them to function in the world that is unfolding.

There are a number of issues surrounding the new learner to flexible learning.
There is an excellent discussion of these in one of the project Wiki's attached to this course.

See also here -

and here -

Though I concede there are some very creative uses of Blogs to express ideas and stimulate discussion see here (unfortunately in Spanish but the music is universal)

There is also a good discussion here on the use of Blogs.

Principles of Online communities

1. Establishing a community - We explored a number of options in establishing an online community.

a) the use of warm-ups - gulp, I remember those dreadful groups where we all turned to the right and introduced ourselves to the poor misfortunates, or those terrible songs we had to sing- out of key - words half remembered. They really only served to increase your mortification at being stuck here with 10 perfect strangers you wouldn't normally even bother to speak too. Enough said.

b) social networking such as Beebo & Face book. Here is what Andrew Keen says about where Facebook is going .
I wrote about Beebo in a previous post.
They are all fun, but is it meeting new people?

2. Maintaining a community - I have not much to say about this but the principles of good communication seem to apply equally as well to online as offline communities.

3. The mix of teacher / facilitator - This has been discussed to death in our online discussion groups and my position is that there is a time for both roles but we must remember that we are ultimately delivering material to an essentially naive audience and must have a teaching role until sufficient expertise is developed in students and then facilitation comes to the fore.

2. I can demonstrate my understanding of these principles but note that I am (at this stage of my learning) more critical than embracing of the medium.

My thinking has been greatly influenced by Andrew Keen, John Gray's "Straw Dogs", and George Siemens.

I am grateful that I have been exposed to Web 2.0 technology but am left with some grave areas of disquiet.
I will continue to keep a watching brief but cast a critical eye over new developments and apply some basic criteria to the information I peruse. Much like the Cochrane database or simple rules that are used to evaluate academic articles I will look at the source, the evidence, the likely use, and (double gulp and chuckle) my gut feeling.
When I started this course that is what guided me and I sat night after Monday night and left our sessions with a feeling of disquiet which has served me to seek out different points of view to the messianic adoption of this technology in some sectors.

3. The main challenges for me I have outlines in my Blogs. I have highlighted these as follows.

In summary, they have been
a) frustration with the medium i.e. technological glitches. Although there have been sensible and practical suggests on how to guard against these glitches (i.e. having a plan A, B,C, D thru Z) it is still an annoying and all to often occurrence. A comment on an earlier Blog indicated that I may have not learnt how to use the medium and I think this is a fair comment. I found that once I was able to set of Google Reader and manage the large amount of information that I was required to attend to, I became more proficient at managing. This was akin to problems I had with email at one stage where I was receiving up to 300 emails a day, most of which were spam. When my provider installed an efficient anti-spam gateway this overcame that problem.

b) not sufficient intellectual rigour - I am not being snobbish here but rather the notion that everyone is an expert is not an entirely convincing argument for everyone having something worthwhile to say. Some opinions are ill founded, not based on any credible evidence, yet may be uncritically accepted by an online community.There has been excellent blog based arguments on this featuring members of our own learning community, summarised here.

c) query the development of any real community - While the community has developed into what I would call the performing stage , this has only happened in the last month of the course. The community was slow in evolving (mainly through a large number of members lurking) and a large amount of time was taken up establishing points of contact , etc.
Some members just disappeared and the community was joined on an irregular basis by 'guests' who had seemingly only been invited by the facilitators. If I was having a party and a whole bunch of strangers turned up I would be miffed and I am sure I was not the only one who withdrew at some sessions because I had no idea who I was talking to. If I am to facilitate any online community I will establish some ground rules that address these features.

d) unsure about the right mix of directed learning vs self direction and how to monitor this
It is the failure of many of those who love computers to develop an equivalent argument and the failure of Schools to hear the equivalent argument when it has been developed, which explains why IT teachers are now losing their subject.

e) appropriateness of some Web 2.0 technology to properly engage adult learners.
-Facebook, Beebo , Ecto etc - mainly for a younger audience with a high degree of fun attached to them. There is an ability to utilise special interest groups but I see other online mediums do this more successfully i.e. mailing groups, journal and specialist magazine forums (see Fly Life as an example and British Medical Journal), although these sometimes deteriorate into the babble pf Web 2.0 examples.
-Second Life - For all the hype of Second Life, it is still a fringe element (contrast a few million people in 2L with many billion in the real world. If it were a religion, it wouldn't register on many scales).
Here is a link to what second life is all about.

It is a difficult medium to engage with and has some ominous undertones (see Leighs excellent video demo). or

I also concede that there are some exciting developments that could take place eloquently outlines in Carolyn's blog. For a fuller discussion of the moral and ethical aspects see David Cronenberg's excellent film eXisTenz or read the Wiki summary.
David Cronenberg's film work is tied up with identity and includes such work as Dead Ringers, History of Violence, Scanners, and the recent Eastern Promises.

4. As above I am still making my mind up over this matter. I can see some advantages but I principally feel that
a) current delivery options are at odds with the mission statement of the Polytechnic which are -
To provide excellent life long learning opportunities relevant to our communities.

Otago Polytechnic achieves this by providing:

· Vocational education and training at all levels from Foundation Certificates to Postgraduate Degrees.

Graduates are work ready and prepared to participate in a global workplace.

· Staircasing through the different levels of qualifications.

People from all backgrounds and prior educational achievements have opportunities to further develop at Otago Polytechnic.

· Continuing education and enhanced professional education.

People who need to retrain and upskill choose Otago Polytechnic for education which meets their current and future needs.

We serve our communities:

· By engaging actively with trades, professions, business and industry stakeholders, understanding their needs and responding through education and training, consultancy and applied research.

Our communities influence what we do and how we do it, benefiting from our joint endeavours.

b) current delivery options discriminate against a section of the population - those who cannot afford the appropriate technology or cannot obtain broadband of sufficient quality are effectively excluded from participating in online learning c) current delivery options are not feasible with some course content. While designing the course "Psychology for Occupational Therapy , my colleagues and I were struck at the large proportion of our course which needed face-to-face involvement.

The principles that are applicable to flexible program design are -

"Planning and using flexible learning

Open or flexible learning packages have many advantages, including enabling students to work through selected parts of the curriculum at their own pace, in their own way, and where and when they want to work on them. The following suggestions, aimed towards tutors and lecturers, may help you to design flexible learning resource materials of your own, or make good use of existing ones with your students.

Decide what you're covering

Work out what students can do by themselves. Identify the parts of the curriculum which may lend themselves best to students using learning materials rather than taught sessions. It's worth thinking about any or all of the following kinds of material, each of which can be the basis for a useful flexible learning package depending on the nature of your courses and students:

Introductory or background material: flexible learning can help get all of your students to a prescribed level, prior to starting class coverage for example.

'Remedial' material which may be needed by groups of students lacking particular skills or experience.

'Crucial' material - for example core material where you wish to ensure that all students have a good set of learning materials.

Make the objectives or intended learning outcomes clear. Work out precise statements of the things you intend students to be able to do after working with flexible learning materials. Make sure that students will understand exactly what they are aiming to learn to do as a result of their work with the materials.

Design learning-by-doing, and feedback responses

Design packages around things for students to do - and not just to read. Ensure that flexible learning materials contain plenty of activity for students. Make sure that the tasks and activities in the materials are clearly spelled out, and that students will understand exactly what they are intended to do, and why.

Package your feedback as well as the activity. Make sure that each time students have a go at a task or activity, there is readily available feedback, so that they can self-assess their progress. The feedback may be provided in print in the packages if they're paper-based, or on- screen in computer-based materials. Make sure that the feedback is not 'in sight' when students are trying the questions! Sometimes, you may choose to save giving feedback on particular tasks until you have the opportunity of face-to-face interaction with students.

'Why did I get this wrong?' Remember that students need to know not only whether they approached a task correctly or not, but also they need guidance about what may have gone wrong. Check that the feedback provided to them covers this.

Flexible learning materials aren't textbooks. Make it clear to students that learning packages are things for them to interact with, and not just to read. Explain to them that they will learn much more from having a go at all the tasks and activities, rather than just assuming that they can do them successfully.

Trying and testing

Test out the bits of your packages. Experiment with components of your flexible learning materials in class sessions, where you can monitor how students handle them. Take particular note of students' problems, and add extra guidance to the packages on the basis of these.

Measure and monitor what is happening. Include in your materials (or add to existing materials) an end-test of one kind or another, which students will hand in for marking when they finish working through a package (or which a computer-based learning system will administer for you, keeping scores of student performance on each question). Use this monitoring to identify trouble-spots in the learning materials.

Helping and guiding

Give students guidance. When using existing learning packages, it can be well worth adding a brief set of guidance notes on 'how to approach using these materials', highlighting the most important parts of the package, and indicating the best ways of tackling them.

Show students where the flexible learning components fit into their overall course. Remember to make sure that students know how much the things they learn using flexible learning materials count for in the context of their overall courses.

Adapted from 500 Tips for Teachers (Sally Brown, Carolyn Earlam and Phil Race, Kogan Page, 1995) and from 500 Tips for Tutors (Phil Race and Sally Brown, Kogan Page, 1993))."

5. My main contribution in this area is best viewed through the Wiki I have constructed for a course in Psychology in Occupational Therapy.
The main principles are - • Context
• Student characteristics (prior experience, skills, interest)
• Overall big idea/theme/philosophy for the course
• Course structure
• Activities, tools, resources/content
• Pedagogical approaches and characteristics for the course
• Assessment
• Constraints

- the Introductions, course requirements, rules of engagement, lines of communication, assessments, etc and guidelines for resource for online learning are given in full detail and would be reinforced with some other form or forms of interaction.
The course itself requires course participants to complete sections of the Wiki on a weekly basis (along the lines of allocated groups being responsible for certain sections) which would be overseen by the course facilitator.
At the end of the course there would be a resource which would be able to be accessed by course members and would form a point of comparison with other course conducted in the future.
I am yet unsure how some of this course would be delivered to ensure that a graduate was competent in the understanding and practice of psychology but I would assume that a face to face assessment in the form of a viva would need to supplement a written assignment. Currently, candidates are required to analyze a pre-prepared DVD and I would assume that I would continue with this practice to supplement the face to face interaction.

Facilitating an Online Community

2007-11-22T14:05:00.000+13:00

Reflections on Online Facilitating

Goals set for Online Facilitation session.

Topic/concept to be discussed

a) suitability of the medium chosen -

Question: Is the combination of Wiki, Blackboard, face to face the best way to deliver this course?

b) suitability of the course structure -

Question: Does the timing and structure of the course allow the best learning experience for the participants?

c) a plan for warm ups - given the large group -

Question: What warm-ups do you think would work?

d) discussion of assessments and timing -

Question: Are the assessments suitable for determining learning and is the weighting and timing correct?

e) alternate plans -

Question: If you were to run the course would you use other methods and what methods?

I planned do carry this out using a facilitated Elluminate session before which I had circulated a copy of the questions found below, the course Wiki, and an outline of assessment procedures for the course.

Experience

I had an Elluminate-based session planned for the morning of 14^th and 21 November to complete the last part of the course. Unfortunately, neither session took place and I was therefore reduced to carrying out a face-to-face and email discussion with members of the group in order to accomplish the goals I had set for the session.

I will detail my experience of this activity and then link it to a reflection of the overall course and e-learning in my ongoing Blog.at

http://graeme-aworldaway.blogspot.com/

Access

As usual, as I have found with using Elluminate, there were numerous problems the least of which was that our link with Australia did not work through technical problems. This was later described by the techies as a problem with only being able to open one portal at the Australian site which was insufficient for the connection to be viable. This was not a problem that could be addressed by Week two, so using Elluminate was abandoned as the medium by which to carry out the exercise. I had a backup plan of using email and a facilitated face-to-face session which worked well in accomplishing the goals I had set for my Elluminate session.

There were also on-site problems with Elluminate of the usual kind.

The mike, speaker problem seems to surface again and again and even if fixed on one occasion it appears later in the session or doesn’t work in the next session.

Although most people had experience of Elluminate there were problems with the use of the mike (leaving it open so stopping others contributing), improper use of the text facility (texting off subject, texting out of sequence) and with the use of the Whiteboard (just using it as a doodle pad).

I also found that most people had not read the discussion points I had sent out before the session and when we finally did a face-to-face, I had to go over these again.

I also found that most of the people I had the face-to-face with were even less informed about how to facilitate on line learning than I was. Their perception was that it is a new and scary medium, which most people (in my group) would rather avoid than have to contend with.

I did get feedback from some that they had explored using this medium before with students and it had been roundly rejected (not for any logical reason other than it was new, scary, extra work)

Reflection

On reflection, I do not think I would use Elluminate again until the technical problems are sorted out. Although I have heard that it is trouble free from some quarters most of my personal experience, and those that I have talked to at length, say that the problems described above and those that David outlines in his account of his session are typical.

I find it typical that even though material is distributed before a session and instructions are given to participants that, by in large, they come unprepared and hope to ‘wing it’ on the day. My normal face-to-face classes usually have 10% students who do the required work before the session while the other 90% just prefer to chance their arm. I am not sure how to overcome this problem.

Results of Facilitated Discussion

Although the face-to face was initially not a great success it did generate discussion which I facilitated and managed to make some sense of the assessment of the proposed paper I am to deliver online. By using a course Wiki and a course Blog and individual Blog (as has been done on the flexible learning course) participants had a sense that this was a new and exciting dimension to the course and one, that potentially, could overcome some of the problems that had been identified with the course when it was audited as a face-to-face course on 2005.

After the discussion, I was able to adjust the formative assessment component of the course and gain a deeper understanding of how the Wiki outline might be changed to provide a better interface for students.

There was also some useful comment from group members who had carried out online facilitation previously as to how to encourage participation in blogging and that by being responsive to contact from students who were remotely located, facilitated the formation a social presence and an online community.

Reflection

In answer to my questions the members thought that (given the problems with some of the technology I was contemplating using) that sticking to Blackboard, blogs and Wiki were a workable mix for the student group I had.

A quote here from David McQuillan succinctly points this out with regard to Blogs.

“I think that there's definitely evidence of this happening in our
course. I've found some of the feedback that I've received on my blog
very useful, and have appreciated the fairly instantaneous feedback on
putting my thoughts out there. I've also found that the postings of
other people have contributed to my learning process. I've noticed
the feedback aspect happening more as the course has progressed,
presumably as people have gotten used to blogging & using news feed
readers. Presumably the degree to which feedback occurs is one
measure of the strength of the learning community”

I will await the trial of the Wiki as a learning tool and as it forms a formative component of the assessment process it is more conducive to experimentation this way.

The structure of the course again will have to be trialled and my group members had not had a lot of experience of course delivery this way.

I find it difficult to give an informed reflection on warm-up exercises because, as Leigh identified in one of his Blogs, I usually find them trite in face-to-face and nearly meaningless in online situations. If one develops good lines of communication and is responsive to student’s requests, I believe a natural community will form much as it has on the flexible learning course.

The other two questions really cannot be answered by the group and must await a formal evaluation of the proposed 2008 online course.

Overall Reflection

I believe that that the method I choose for my exercise was an unwise choice and in reflection I would stick to Blogging in the future.

I also have to be much more aware of the composition of groups I choose to facilitate and make sure that they have access to or have the knowledge that I require to answer my questions or to ask more realistic questions.

Telecom and Broadband

2007-11-16T08:00:00.000+13:00

Interesting talk on Public Address radio on some problems and solutions with Telecom's broadband

knowledge can be a bad thing

2007-11-14T08:57:00.001+13:00

8: J Occup Rehabil. 2007 Nov 7; [Epub ahead of print] Links

The Impact of a Computerized Work Environment on Professional Occupational Groups and Behavioural and Physiological Risk Factors for Musculoskeletal Symptoms: A Literature Review.

Griffiths KL, Mackey MG, Adamson BJ.

CRS Australia, Australian Government, Canberra, Australia, karin.griffiths@crsaustralia.gov.au.

Introduction Computers have become an essential tool for many office based professional occupations, but their use is also accompanied by change to work demands and psychosocial work environment. Whilst considerable research exists relating to the potential health risks associated with computer work amongst semi-skilled occupations, there is a paucity of knowledge regarding the impact of an increasingly computerized workplace on the physical and psychological wellbeing of professional occupations. Methods A literature search was conducted using OVID Medline, PsycINFO and Cinahl databases. Papers published between 1980 and 2007 were selected for review. These included epidemiological and experimental studies that explored the relationships among occupational demands and stressors, work behaviours and musculoskeletal health in workers operating in a computerized work environment. Results In response to workload, deadline and performance monitoring pressures, many professional workers are often encouraged to perform long hours of computer work with high mental demands; work at a hectic workpace resulting in heightened muscle tension and forces, and with inadequate work breaks. These factors were identified in this review as risk factors for work related musculoskeletal symptoms. Conclusion As new technology continues to computerise the way professionals do their work, it is important for organizations to identify and measure the risks to health and wellbeing associated with these changes. Further research with professional groups is needed to support effective risk management decisions.

PMID: 17987369 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Oh! Those online identities

2007-11-08T08:58:00.000+13:00

This from the Ananova news
Link is here
A Bosnian couple are getting divorced after finding they had been secretly chatting each other up online under assumed identities Prince of Joy and Sweetie.
Seems that Adnan and Sana Klaric of Zenica ( yeah ! these names really sound fake) had morbidly told each other how unhappy they were because of marriage problems but thought they had found the love of their lives on the chat forum. Carrying identical roses by way of identification they found, to their horror, that they were really Adnan and Sana.
They are both filing separately for divorce on the grounds of unfaithfulness.

My facilitation plan

2007-11-05T08:06:00.000+13:00

Identification and Timing

Facilitating an online course "Psychology in Occupational Therapy"

Facilitators name

Dr Graeme Dixon

Class Identifier

Online Learning Community

Start Time

Dependent on Class

Start Date

Dependent on Class

Finish Time

Dependent on Class

Finish date

Dependent on Class

Reasons for the Meeting.

This meeting is being set up to discuss the feasibility of the proposed online course "Psychology in Occupational Therapy" , a course which will be run through Wintec next year to a group of approximately 50 students.
The outcome of the meeting there will be discussion of the following t0pics.

a) suitability of the medium chosen

b) suitability of the course structure

c) a plan for warm ups - given the large group

d) discussion of assessments and timing

e) alternate plans

Medium Used

The medium chosen for the meeting is an Elluminate platform with references to Wiki material. A week long Blog feedback and follow-up will be carried out after the Elluminate session.

I have chosen this medium as it appears to be a platform that the proposed group is familiar with, has some experience with, has met online before and some useful discussion has taken place, and is synchronous allowing for real time discussion.
It will also give me some experience with utilising a technology I am relatively uncomfortable with from the other side of the board.

Description of the group

age range -

30-60 years

Size of group

5-15 (dependent on timing)

Profile/persona (to include learning profile and stage)

Keeping in mind the learning styles of auditory, visual and kinesthetic and believe the mix of media on Elluminate will accommodate the first two styles and the ability to interact with the material after the session through my Blog will help those kinesthetic styles.

Topic/concept to be discussed

a) suitability of the medium chosen -

Question: Is the combination of Wiki, Blackboard, face to face the best way to deliver this course?

b) suitability of the course structure -

Question: Does the timing and structure of the course allow the best learning experience for the participants?

c) a plan for warm ups - given the large group -

Question: What warm-ups do you think would work?

d) discussion of assessments and timing -

Question: Are the assessments suitable for determining learning and is the weighting and timing correct?

e) alternate plans -

Question: If you were to run the course would you use other methods and what methods?

Expected result

Answers to the above questions

How often has the group met previously?

The group has met regularly since the beginning of the second semester with an average of 5 people attending a regular Monday night session (this number sometimes rises to 15)

Has this group ever met face-to-face

Some members (i.e. approximately 50%) have met face-to-face. Four members I have met face-to-face with on a regular basis.

Over what period of time has the group been interacting online?

The group has been interacting online for approximately 5 months.

Which of these stages best describes the group ( Delete those that don't apply)

Performing group

Planned facilitation of the meeting

I will inform participants of the session through the course communications (i.e. Black Board, Online learning community Blog, email)

Here is the link to setting up Elluminate.

and a Video version

I will have a slide show prepared to augment the session which will contain the questions above.
Download from slideshare here

| View | Upload your own

I will provide links to the Wiki and my Blog previous to the meeting.
My Blog
My Wiki

I will provide real-time (Elluminate) and post session(Blog) summary of the session and encourage contributions for one week, when I will prepare a summary of what occurred.

I will have a backup system which will be that if Elluminate does not work by five minutes after the scheduled starting time the participants will be informed by email (they will have to give me their emails where they will be at session time before the session starts) and we will reschedule the meeting.

I will introduce the session and introduce topics as we proceed.

My role will be to keep the group on track, facilitate when conversation slows, provide summary of each task as we proceed.

First facilitation message (motivation/task orientated)
Second facilitation message including facilitation techniques to be used
How ofter will you facilitate?
Third facilitation message including facilitation techniques to be used
Summarising message main points to be covered
Closing message.

I find this last part of the assignment difficult to complete as I have no idea how the session will proceed and having a script to direct facilitation seems rather an antithesis to what my understanding facilitation is all about. I have therefore refrained from having any pre-prepared words.
I think by pre-advertising the session, by sending out contacts and a fall back plan, by having the topics on a whiteboard on Elluminate, by having a summary component on the day , a feedback forum afterward, by keeping to time constraints - I have done the best I can to make sure that a properly facilitated session will occur. Having said that I will be aware of the principles encapsulated in this presentation.

| View | Upload your own

The Modern Student

2007-11-01T10:45:00.000+13:00

A little video of what the modern student looks like.

and comment from Bill Kerr

This opens with graffiti on a (fade to grey) lecture room wall reminding us that there is not much difference between attending a boring lecture and doing hard time in gaol as a political prisoner being tortured by fascists:

"If these walls could talk"
"What would they say?"

Then a document appears on the screen and we are informed that 200 students made 367 edits to it and surveyed themselves to bring a message to the viewer of this video.

Implication: Because a lot of students made a lot of edits it's probably "insightful". That doesn't follow actually. Some collective work is good, other collective work is crap. We should never judge this by the number of contributors or edits but by the work itself.

Not sure where Michael Wesch is going with this, it does say “to be continued” at the end. The students looked a bit uncomfortable to me, not quite certain that it was OK to boast about their lack of reading, missing lessons or not paying attention.

My idea of a University is that it ought to challenge and be difficult in a way that is also engaging but without pandering to engagement in a populist, philistine manner. Michael Wesch may be engaging his students but it’s not clear where he is going to take them or even whether he sees that as part of his role

and this

Reflections

2007-10-25T08:31:00.000+13:00

I am having a go at embedding an audio file in my Blog as part of the learning process of facilitating in the course. The start of it is a couple of 'Famous last words" and then a little comment on our next Elluminate session.

Well , the audio didn't work and it all looks a lot more complicated than I first thought. Another day perhaps!

I have three themes for today and part of an article by Russell Brown (noted media and IT commentator).

1. Famous last words - contained in the sound bite and meant to reflect that the way we think about something now may have no relevance in the future. This could favour the acceptance of the current technologies or could be a warning sign against false prophets.

2. Blind acceptance - a reminder to always critically evaluate any information that you are given. Just because it's new, flashy, looks promising -doesn't mean that it's wonderful. There are some guides available to critically evaluate.

3. Groupthink - remember the Bay of Pigs? , remember the Challenger Space Shuttle fiasco?, remember George Bush's invasion of Iraq and the weapons of mass destruction? All Group Think where powerful individuals with an unquestioning audience made decisions which caused massive death's and injury.

From Russell Browns 'Hard News" http://publicaddress.net/default,4576.sm

Real Media | Oct 25, 2007 10:09

I spoke to a group of Media teachers at a development day at Unitech yesterday, and the subsequent conversation was quite interesting. These courses have flexible curricula (actually, according to Geoff Lealand no curricula), but they all teach secondary students basic screen production skills.

Yet none of them were teaching what ought to be a core skill in handling video these days: the optimum way of encoding clips to play on YouTube and similar services. In many cases that's because YouTube is dangerous ground for schools. Some of them just filter it at the gate.

It's the same with other social media; especially Bebo. And yet, when I had a wander through surrounding pages after Rory English's Bebo comments became a story, it struck me that this was a form of media that would be really useful to get kids to discuss. I got the impression that a lot of these kids were behaving as if they were in a private bubble, whereas they were actually on the public internet.

Same with blogs. Our kids start making PowerPoint presentations at intermediate level. But no one talks to them about a medium they're much more likely to actually use. It doesn't take a lot of skill to pimp your MySpace, but wouldn't working with WordPress be useful for Media students?

Even Wikipedia seems problematic. It's much easier to declare it unreliable than to impart some basic skills in assessing the merit of an article -- as the cornerstone of the vital modern ability to scrutinise information online -- and then how and when to edit. I think that's much more useful than faffing about with Second Life (yes, I probably do have a bias against Second Life).

As a result, I've promised to talk to some scholarship students about these things before the end of the school year. I'd also be interested to hear from teachers -- in the comments here, if possible -- about how they're approaching these issues.

I have Been Thinking

2007-10-17T15:51:00.000+13:00

After last nights session on Elluminate I fell to thinking about facilitating and communities and this Blog is about what I came up with.

To sustain a community there needs to be rules and boundaries that clearly define what a community is. These can start with what the philosophy of the community is and why we meet, why we are a community.
There needs to be a clear structure on how to join and leave the community and some process in place that monitors ongoing activities or lack thereof.
Once the community starts to develop through warming up exercises, or structured internal community activities then the community can invite or entertain guests, but only with the communities approval. This can be facilitated by the facilitator who should possess expert knowledge as to what can be offered from outside.
Have a Plan A, B, C, D to cope with technology failure
Community members should be honest in their feedback and processes should be in place to ensure that honesty is met with open discussion.
Online meetings should have the same standards as face-to-face interactions. No chatting off the subject, keep to the point, observe time. Facilitate well.
These rules should be subject to debate and renegotiation as the community develops.

I came to these conclusions because I feel as though our online learning community has some difficulties.

I looked at the list of members (that is the official members) in the course and at best, 4-5 of the original 15 members take part in the Elluminate sessions and sometimes only 1 or 2. I have not heard much from Kerry, Grant, Debbie, Kevin, Jackie, Danny (I know has left), Gary, or Donna.

As noted last night the Alumni have largely been absent. What happened to them?

To speculate that members have either left or are negative because of lack of motivation or because they are struggling with the material is malicious in that is unsubstantiated rumour.

It is only plain courtesy to ask to join if you are late.

Reflections in Blogs should reflect what a session says, not what has been read around the subject.

Do we have a community philosophy? Do we all buy into the notion that Web 2.0 is a wonderful new tool that is revolutionizing education? Here is an interesting article that looks at how we might apply some critical analysis to our Web2.0 experience http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.php?articleID=47102021.

Do we think that face-to-face teaching is forever doomed to be paternalistic?

Do we all buy into the notion that using the best of all teaching methods is a better way to go?

Here is an interesting link to the world of Virtual Worlds

http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2007/10/digging_deeperyour_guide_to_vi.html

It sums up a lot of my feelings (and frustrations) with this new technology.

The hype is greater than the reality. Here’s a down-home take from a banjo player http://tangiersound.wordpress.com/2007/06/15/digital-folklore/

Some random provocations

In New Zealand broadband is so crap that YouTube, Virtual world, and even some things like Elluminate just don’t work fast and well enough that they cause frustration and therefore are not a viable teaching tool

There is no intellectual rigour with Web 2.0 content. Here is a link to a site which shows some promise in developing effectiveness practices

http://www.sloan-c.org/effective/

Most Bloggers can’t write to save themselves and a large proportion have nothing useful to say (that’s partly why they Blog). Some useful advice

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writebetter

There is some use for this technology but we should not blindly accept it. What are the organisational factors that have driven us to think this is the next best thing?

Storing a learning tool

2007-10-15T11:08:00.000+13:00

Progress?

2007-09-28T16:17:00.001+12:00

I have been doing some detective work on what is on offer around the world, online learning wise, in my subject of Psychology.

Here is what I have found!
http://inst.santafe.cc.fl.us/~mwehr/0indexComPsy.htm

which seems to be an interactive course of sorts with a lecture and then online exercises for poeple to do and really self directed learning week by week.

This second one http://psych.hanover.edu/KRANTZ/tutor.html#Learning

is more comprehensive but basically follows the same format as above. A lecture ( most of the content is blocked unless you are online student ) and then a tutorial which is usually some online test or exercise and then a homework assignment and then some reflection on the experience.
I couldn't really get a handle on how this is all assessed but I see there are discussion boards and emails but no mention of Blogs or Podcasts or any of the other things we have been discussing on the course.

My overwhelming feelings are
1) very low tech
2) content is ...... well ----- hard to judge but more pop psych than what you would expect in a psychology course
3) minimal facilitation and feedback from course supervisors
4) what seems to be on site activities that encourage students to see Psychology in action

Any thoughts from course members and have you had a look at what your discipline offers?

Progress?

2007-09-18T07:59:00.000+12:00

I have been thinking this last week about Assignment One and what is the best way to go about it. I also have been reading with interest Sarah and David's blogs and what their thinking is shaping up to be.
I think it is extremely hard to completely do away with some face to face interaction course such as Psychology in Occupational Therapy. Ot's are expected to work with people one on one and probably about 75% of their work involves that nebulous 'non-verbal' part of human interaction. This includes the subtle nuances of body language, reading patients fear and joys, seeing an environment and how best the occupational practice might enhance 'occupation'.
I have therefore come to the conclusion that blended delivery is probably the path that I will take. I do, however, have a plan which I will develop through my Wiki http://www.wikieducator.org/Psychology_in_Occupational_Therapy.

I must admit that I am a bit in favour of the 'secret squirrel' approach so I will initially develop some solid ground rules. By this I mean a solid foundation of what are course requirements, what equipment is needed, what level of expertise participants must have with soft and hardware ( I might even have a course pre-requisite). I do this because I still see at eight weeks a number of technical and competence problems surfacing in a group of experienced learners.
Next I will establish a solid line of communication and one central method of conducting the course. At the moment I see nothing that is better than Blackboard ( please someone - enlighten me) but participants will be encouraged to have an individual Blog and to be actively involved in group discussion. Indeed, this will be one of the assessment requirements and I will quantify how much is expected. I will also designate one person who is the central point of contact for course concerns with a guarantee that queries will be responded to within 12 hours in business hours.
Assessment will be at three stages. Stage one will be withing four weeks of the course starting and will essentially consist of an informal assessment of work completed so far. It will not count toward a final mark for the course but will encourage participants to complete by giving guidelines as to what they need to learn, what they have done well, where they may look for resource to help them. I have used such an approach in my face to face teaching and found it to be very successful and appreciated by students.
I will have a clearly defined course structure ( more detail in the Wiki) and although there will be some room for flexibility this will be negotiated with the group. Because I am delivering this course to 40+ students I will have to develop some method to overcome this.

As to the content of the course I will provide resource that will encourage students to develop specialist areas of the Wiki which will form part of their assessment. I will also consider having students rate each member of their small group using a specialist scale of have developed for my face to face classes. Although this usually gives an overly optimistic mark it does encourage active participation.

I still have a ways to go but this is my starting point.

recent surveys

2007-09-14T11:38:00.000+12:00

A couple of interesting sites that examine online learning, uptake, and hopes for the future

http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/cda/doc/content/us_media_Media%20Democracy%20Survey_062507.pdf

and

http://www.nsba.org/site/docs/41400/41340.pdf

which has some answers for some of the discussion that has been going on.

Wiki set up

2007-09-12T09:42:00.000+12:00

I have set up a Wiki page about Psychology in Occupational Therapy which I would encourage people to add content and edit. In particular, I am wanting links for the first part of the introduction on orientating people to the content etc. , although additions to other areas would be welcomed.

The image does have meaning!

http://www.wikieducator.org/Psychology_in_Occupational_Therapy#Working_Online

A Grumpy old man

2007-09-11T09:10:00.000+12:00

I am sick and tired of being the grumpy old man of the group but I do believe that there has to be someone in any community who reminds us where we actually are at. Like last night with Elluminate and Skeipe and the great daylight savings scam. Sure technology is great and we should all embrace the future and ----blah, blah, blah. However, there is a place for just standing, breathing in the fine air, and contemplating just exactly how much better all this is compared with where we were. I was reminded about all this when someone was recently explaining to me about the new BMW which didn't carry a spare tyre any more. Great boot space, more room for the kids in the back seat. BMW has developed a new type of tire which can 'self repair'. This means that when it is punctured it will still allow you to drive a number of miles so you can get to a garage and have a new wheel fitted, then continue on your journey. Unfortunately in NZ there are only a few dealerships who stock the replacement wheel, so if you have the misfortune to have a puncture whilst travelling down the West Coast of the South Island you may limp into a grage but the homely old mecahnic will scratch his head, quietly grin and inform you that the nice motel down the road does a great discount for weekly stays as this is how long it is going to take to get a replacement wheel from Auckland. In Europe and North America, of course, there are BMW dealerships every block or so , therefore you won't have such a problem. A case of the techno guys thinking up some great new thing but being so transplanted from the real world that -------, you fill in the gaps.

This all came about also because I was looking around for some resources for an upcoming tutorial on establishing and recognising authority and accidentally came across this Blog which I though might prove interesting to the group. Sure it's centered around commercial blogging but it does have some salient points. http://natewhitehill.com/top-5-reasons-most-blogs-dont-last/

Wiki's, Henry and I

2007-09-06T14:16:00.000+12:00

Just a quick word. I have posted a link to an article by Henry Jenkins (opposite) where he discusses young and mature learners and shatters some of the assumptions we may have about them. Certainly rang a few bells for me.
I also took time to read the posting that Leigh recommneded on Wiki's and Blogs and, in particular, the information on setting up an online course using the same. I was struck by how much this resembled Blackboard (although, probably a little less confusing than Blackboard) and the thought I had was why does everybody hate Blackboard so much. As someone who came to Blackboard only this year and had one day to set it up fdor a Yr1 course I was suprised how easy it was to put course information up and to track who was reading what and give feedback about exams, changes of venue, issues raised in class, etc. I would be intersted to hear from the group as to what other mediums they have tried, what you thought of them, and what worked best given the overall demands of a course.

Wiki's and a Sinclair Spectrum

2007-09-03T16:27:00.000+12:00

Here I go again. Possibly moaning. At least another petulant rave about something. I started (on Leigh’s prompting) to explore the world of Wiki’s. I was immediately thrown back years to my Sinclair Spectrum ZX80 or something. It was the first computer I ever bought and boy was it fantastic for the time. Fifteen whole K (yes (15K) of memory. Probably about the size of a very small email. But it was just so powerful. I wanted to write a maths program that could do all my t-test, correlations. Regressions, ANOVA’s, factor analysis, and regressions and I found one written for Apple in Basic so I started to program the damn thing. Totally illogical and incomprehensible language that was made for people who didn't want anyone else to be able to master computing.
And it was just like my first experience with a Wiki. What a complicated language. And does it need to be? No. It has a basic toolbar which could be added to so that all those brackets and bars and dots could be done away with. Leigh tells me that someone, somewhere, is working on it. About time.

It is a fantastic idea, and the quality of information on Wikipedia attests to how useful and informative it can be, aside from all those rogues from Air NZ, Greenpeace, NZ Govt, etc who try and alter the pages so their organisation looks a little better.

And yes! I did get the little 15K Sinclair to perform my stats. Unfortunately, by that time bigger, better computers had come along and had ready made packages that did it faster and better.

Here's an obscure connection to this weeks talk - Its called "Cooking with Davinia"

2007-08-29T15:55:00.000+12:00

Cooking with Davinia

created at TagCrowd.com

The music swelled and the studio lights gradually came up to reveal a fully functioning kitchen. Now that familiar tune, crudely borrowed and slightly disguised from the TV show The Avengers. Then, from stage right, i-i-i-i-i-i-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-s-s-s-s-s D-A-V-I-N-I-A. The studio audience gasp as she bounces across the set, he breasts straining at the diaphanous material of her blouse, her blond hair streaming behind her, eyes blazing with that, now-famous, look. She comes to a stop behind her massive wooden chopping board cum table and waits for the applause to die down. Gradually the thunderous adoration is reduced to a few isolated handclaps and the occasional wolf whistle. Davinia looks out into the lights and says "Thank you Frederick." This brings a cacophony of fresh laughter and then further applause from the crowd. "Welcome to episode five of Cooking with Davinia. Tonight we focus on salads and I know I have some delicious little morsels for you. And please,” (here she stage suppresses a giggle) “ do try this at home." The expected crowd response is immediate and prolonged.
Davinia starts to explain the various oils and vinegars that make up the basic ingredients in vinaigrettes and dressings while she absent mindedly massages up and down the neck of a particularly well constructed olive oil bottle with her thumb and forefinger. The males in the audience shift uncomfortably in their seats. She suddenly realises what she is doing and with girl-like-embarrassment she blushes, causing the Floor Director to yell "Cut, cut, cut." He loudly taunts Davinia to get her bloody act together and is she ready for a two shot of the start up again. There is murmuring heard in the audience, mostly directed at the Directors crude interruption of what, for many of them, has been an inspiring moment in the career of Davinia White, Mistress of Chefs. True, there had been the rumours of the failed marriages, the affairs, the scandal in the country manor, the drugs, but now Davinia is at the top of her profession. From airline hostess, to author, to top TV cooking presenter. In just four years.
"Right Mr Director Person", Davinia, taking her cue from the audiences anger, lets do that two shot and could I have some water over here." Davinia then adds a very ironic please which brings a further response from the audience. Had they known that the 'water' was in fact straight vodka they may have been less generous in their rapture.
"I will first show you how to make a basic dressing to go on any salad." Davinia crushed garlic and Maldon salt, mustard and peppercorns in her pestle then added balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Her vigorous manipulation of the pestle caused fascinating movements of her voluptuous breasts and now both men and women were lost in her story of why Lord Mountbatten had been a more competent maker of vinaigrettes than Queen Elizabeth. She finished by titling the resulting mixture to the camera for an overhead close-up. She was on a roll.
The Benzedrine was starting to kick in as she moved to her glass of water and downed 7ozs in one long gulp. But Davinia remained focussed. Apart from the Benzedrine and the vodka she was drug free. Or was that yesterday? "I'll now explain a little bit about the various leaves that make up a salad. Isn't that a fascinating word leaves? Like loaves and fishes, and, indeed salad leafs are our most basic food items." Davinia starts to show the curly endive, the rocket, the cos, and the Chinese cabbages but she seemed to be dropping leaves as she spoke and the floor of the kitchen was starting to resemble a battlefield. Fortunately the camera can lie and the TV audience would only see the glorious Davinia reciting another hilarious anecdote to win ratings and, hopefully, another series.
"Now, darlings. Lets put this all together in our first salad of the evening - a hot beef salad with an Asian flavour. First we will wash our salad. Personally I don't favour washing but most cooks do, so we will do it tonight. Opps taps only for decoration. Well we will use this drinking water." Davinia drowns her lettuce leafs with 60 proof vodka. "Now we will dry them off by whirling with this little whirly thing. Weeee! Oh that’s so much fun." The audience are still with Davinia but there is some murmuring in the front row. "Next we slice up some of this rare beef that through the miracle of television has suddenly appeared in front of me." Davinia, after loudly demanding more water, has started to cut into the meat when a tear forms in the corner of her eye and then she asks for the cameras to stop rolling. As she downs another glass of water she tells the audience how she was driving to the television studio this very morning when, out of the corner of her eye, she notices what she thinks if a piece of paper blowing toward her Mercedes SL Turbo with white leather seats and Blaupluket stereo just newly purchased for a mere $300,000US. Then there is a sickening thump, and Davinia looks in the rear vision mirror and a beautiful off white Burmese, or possibly, Pekinese, she always gets the two mixed up, cat is desperately trying to get back on its feet and Davinia watches in horror, ignoring the path of her own vehicle, and her own very personal safety, as the poor creature writhes and turns. But its little back or legs or paws are broken and suddenly it just goes all loose and twitches one last time. And this meat has reminded her of the cat and she is just filled with remorse and horror and she will have to waste at least one, possibly two, sessions with her very expensive therapist, trying to work out the inner meaning of all this.
A few members of the audience are getting to their feet and moving out of the studio and the Director, who knows Davinia, and who knows that Davinia works best when she is in this crazy, zany, drug and alcohol fuelled rage that she has now entered, calls for the cameras to start rolling and could Davinia please get her act together. Knowing that this is the trigger that will get Davinia through the rest of the show. And Davinia then adds the oven-scorched red peppers and the feta cheese and the toasted pine-nuts that have all been prepared beforehand. Davinia then tosses the dressing over the combined ingredients and then after wiping the mascara that has smeared the off camera side of her face immerses her hands in the mixture and gently massages it like the lover that massaged her this morning or was that last week?
Then Davinia dishes a small amount of the salad onto a small plate and the final test, the Tasting. The Director, who knows Davinia well, knows that he has to have split second timing here or the days filming will be a complete waste of time. Davinia spoons a portion into the red gash of her mouth and the camera stops as she suddenly exhales salad, vodka, last nights pizza, this mornings croissant and coffee over the studio kitchen. Another day, cooking with Davinia.

A petulant rave

2007-08-27T14:37:00.000+12:00

Its interesting to see and feel just how much a part of this online group I feel. I thought that I was really a ‘lurker’, just dipping my foot in occasionally and generally bitching about how everything is left to the individual to work out for themselves. I know, there are handy You Tube bits but on my computer its like having a really bad headache and you are wearing someone else’s eyeglasses. Surely the technology is such that a sharper image can be shown? If not, then do it some other way. And I must say that waiting 5 minutes for a You Tube item to download (even on a broadband connection) is beyond the pall. Anyways, back to my topic.
The facilitator published a list of all the blogs and lo and behold my Blog is omitted. Now I know that my Blog is a combination of personal stuff and stuff about the course but I thought we were encouraged to be individual and creative.
So why was I left off?
Whatever the reason (and I am sure there is a perfectly logical reason) it does show two things.
One is that my belonging to the group is much more than I had though and, two, how not to facilitate a group. If you are going to do something like this you have to do it right. Only make general postings when you have the information right. Get a list of all participants and maybe email first and ask ‘I am going to have a master list of Blogs. What would you like put on?”

Rave over.

an unwanted social presence

2007-08-23T08:55:00.000+12:00

We had been at the Island for two weeks, snuggly anchored in Kidney Fern, an isolated islet in Pattersons Inlet. Out days had been reduced to finding fresh water, dry wood for the fire , and gathering shellfish and fish to substain us. We awoke when the sun came up and retired to bed when it went down. The pressures of city life and work had long evaporated.

100db achey appeared attach bed breaky dinghy distrupted drifted evening gall going heart hour islet later loud lowered music personally preparing sun thay unconcerned water

created at TagCrowd.com

As we prepared a humble evening meal of oysters with oven baked fresh bread, followed by Queen scallops lightly poached in a garlic cream sauce, a flotilla of fishing and pleasure boats chugged through the narrow entrance and circled us. It is accepted etiquette to acknowledge new arrivals and make an offer of a 'raft up' (where boats all tie togther and lay to one anchor). We ducked below and they gradually drifted to the far side of the islet. About an hour later, just as the sun was going down and we were preparing for bed, the evening was distrupted by loud music. Personally, I would not have the gall to play 'Achey, Breaky, Heart' at 100dB but they appeared unconcerned. So unconcerned that thay then lowered their dinghy's into the water and attached outboards, then proceeded to issue instructions as to what tonights race course would be. Apparently this was a nightly ritual.Round the bouys racing with screaming two stroke engines. To our further dismay, as we lay huddled together in our bunk, we were to be the top bouy. The next two hours was punctuated by unbearable noise, constant rocking from the wake of four washes, and loud screaming.
An unwanted social presence.

a video

2007-08-22T15:17:00.000+12:00

Online learning

2007-08-21T09:14:00.000+12:00

created at TagCrowd.com

I was talking to a colleague about her experinece of taking a flexible online learning course and she described it as such.
"It was like being dropped from a helicopter into a deep, deep ocean on a dark, cold night and someone was away on a distant shore intermittently flicking a Zippo lighter (and we all know how unreliable they can be) and quietly moaning 'over here, over here'".
Needless to say she did not complete the course but it got me thinking about two themes.
Firstly, we were asked to conjure up an image that represented our group persona and secondly, what it is that has interested and stimulated me so far.
Years ago I bought a keelboat and my children were all quite young, 17, 12, 8 years and we jointly discovered the pleasures of offshore sailing. This involved being caught out on the Otago coast in more than a few storms and some heroic efforts were made to get back to safe anchorage. The kids presented me with a framed cartoon which has a yacht, perched on a breaking wave, sails shredded, crew hanging over the side, with a caption "Dad! are we having fun yet?" This is my group picture so far. Equal parts exhiliration and terror.

What I have enjoyed is the stimulation of working in a relatively new medium. I happened to be reading Stephen Halls 'The Raw Shark Texts" and he makes novel use of primitive tag clouds in depicting a Great White about to eat its victim. The graphics of Blogs and the creative use of images has stimulated me more than some of the content. I believe that what a lot of blogs lack is any sense of continuity. They stand alone, and that can be a good thing, but what I am looking for is someone who has a BIG IDEA and takes some time, and creativity to develop it.

Replaced by a Doll

2007-08-05T13:07:00.000+12:00

I know that most of us, at some time in our lives, have refused to believe something we don’t want to believe despite considerable evidence that it is true. Such denial is understandable, the truth can be painful.

But such denial can be dangerous.

I can place the day she changed, hell, I can place the hour. Twelve midday, Sunday the 7^th May. Two days after my birthday. She suddenly appeared from a visit home where her parents were clearing out their house preparatory to a move to a smaller residence. A box. Overflowing with bits of clothing and a weird strained noise whenever she bumped against something. She didn’t greet me, just briskly walked past me to the ‘spare room’. The spare room used to be the master bedroom but we had lately ended up using a number of bedrooms in the house, as our sleeping habits became erratic. Later on in the day I happened to walk past the room and saw all the contents of the box, now strewn across the floor. A small dollhouse, numerous articles of clothing for a large walky talky doll, a smaller doll, a rather ragged clown, a small cart, and incongruently, a keyhole saw.

I had lost my job, made redundant with little warning and I was struggling to find new employment. Little warning – hell – a late afternoon phone call to attend a meeting, no agenda. Then – ‘we are reassessing the needs of the organisation, positions need to be created for new management – we have decided to disestablish your position.’ No sorry, or thank you for your contribution. Now no-one seemed to want to hire a fifty-six year old. I had even gone to that space where any job would do but I was holding out for something that would give me some degree of pride in where I was going every morning. My wife was supporting me and although she had been very good about not harping on about this fact I could see the cracks appearing as week after week went by without me even getting an interview. Don’t get me wrong. We weren’t anywhere near the breadline but our former affluent lifestyle looked to be gone.

Nothing much happened for a couple of days and then came the first of a number of demands.

“I want to use the desk in the sunroom and set up my sewing machine. I want somewhere permanent so I can start sewing again. You use half the room for your stupid fly tying and I want to use the other half for my hobby.”

I must admit I had felt guilty about the flytying. I had been bitten by the trout-fishing bug the previous year and I had pretty much taken over the room. However, I needed a place that was mine.

“It’s really too cold out there. Why don’t you set up in the dining room? We usually eat in the kitchen these days and it’s warm there.”

She grunted and left the room but I noticed later in the day the dining room table awash in materials and the walky talky doll sitting imperially centre-table.

“ Thanks for that dear. I just want to make Jane a more contemporary wardrobe so when our grandchildren inherit her she will be up-to-date. Just like my grandmother did for me.”

Our first grandchild had been born a year ago and I had noticed my wife change subtly as she had when we had married and then had our first child. All these events had been followed by an increase in girls night, rummages, all-women trips to Australia for shopping, the making of clothing.

“You know she’s a Pedigree doll, don’t you. Quite rare. Not worth much yet, but!”

I recognised the same trick of logic I often used myself with my collection of flyrods and old motorcycles. Maybe one day when we were both near the grave the objects would be vaguely more valuable than a weeks salary.

I came into the room. The doll (now Jane) sat at the head of the bed, surrounded by her wardrobe. A striped, cotton-toweled dressing gown, with an intricately sewn yellow flower on the pocket lay to her right. To the left was a pile of summer outfits, in gay colors. Her winter wardrobe was arranged halfway down the bed. There seemed to be at least four outfits in shades of grey and black. Jane was dressed immaculately in a flowing negligee with frilly black lace. Her red hair glowed in the half-light and what appeared to me to be a sly smile adorned her face. As I approached her eyes tracked my movements and, as I leaned toward the bed she emitted a thin, desperate wail. I jumped back and nearly tripped over the dolls house. The room smelt faintly of lavender, and I felt like an alien, newly arrived on a planet governed and populated largely by females.

Over the next month the pile of clothing grew. And grew. By late July a new chest of drawers had appeared in the bedroom.

“For Jane’s wardrobe.”

“ I have to make the panties properly. What if the wind blew up her dress and ….”

“But it’s a fucking doll.”

It looked like a surreal teaparty. Three other new dolls surrounded Jane. They were dressed in the variety of summer outfits I had seen on the dining room table. A small, elaborate tea set was in the centre of the tableau and soft classical music played, as they looked, glassy eyed at each other. Jane, centre staged, looked at her three companions with a suspiciously erotic expression. My wife looked over the scene with a curiously satisfied look on her face. A look I had not seen for quite some time.

“I’m going to do up that dolls house next. I’ll need more room,” she said, as she ambled out of the room, looking over her shoulder at the little family, scattered around the little green plates, cups and saucers.

A parcel arrived. Another one of her TradeMe buys, I thought. Generally pottery, jewelry or books. She charged into the room.

“Oh! A parcel for me.”

She tore the outer wrapping away and three small plastic bags spilled out. I caught a glimpse of little shoes and some clothing.

“What is that,” I asked, knowing what the answer was going to be.

“Dolls shoes. I just hope the damn things fit.”

We were having some time together sprawled in front of our favourite TV show. The ads came and suddenly she was up and out of the room.

“Where are you off to,” I asked “ I suppose you might have time to whip another outfit between the breaks,” I added sarcastically.

“I won’t, but I have been thinking about a spring outfit in yellow with white lace edgings.

I felt a tiny tug at my heart.

I didn’t want to go to the restaurant but then what else was there back at the hotel room. Lie on the bed and watch the boring New Zealand television with sport, news, sport news, and ads. We wouldn't talk until we finally would, by some mutually agreed alarm clock, decide that it was time to retire to our separate beds. The restaurant seemed like a mutually agreed neutral zone to avoid this desperate nothingness that seemed to date from the appearance of Jane in our lives. The waitress took the orders. A light meal, chinese teas, some house wine. Then she left and we were alone again. I shifted uncomfortably in my chair that faced the wall. I thought of dead diners, couples sitting with each other but emotionally apart. Our food arrived. I was thinking of one other night when we had dined in another place in Atlanta. Pre-redundancy. In the good times. Oyster Galore I thought. No! - something like Passionfish. Yes - that was it the Savannah Fish Market. Why had I been thinking of passionfish? We had sat around a fountain or a wall of water and eaten seafood. Dish after dish. Clam chowder, served in the pot with a sauce to dip in once you had wrestled the clams from their steaming shells. Seafood cocktails. Garlic catfish served on rice. We had eaten in silence but a different silence from that we now suffered together. Later, we made flamboyant love in the hotel bed, as if we had become infected by the creatures we consumed and much to our embarrassment when the maid arrived in the morning. Now we sat and stared at our vegetable samosas and lamb hotpot while the clock ticked above us and we avoided each other’s eyes. My wife gently peppered my salad and I barely noticed or complained. She could have cut my food for me and feed it to my slackened mouth and I would have barely blinked an eye. We were used to each other; we had become ingrained in each other like dirt on a window, like a stained garment.

My wife smiled and surveyed the room. A young couple sat in the window seat. They looked as though they were still in love. I distantly, warmly, remembered what that could be like. They were filled with the joy of a warm, balmy night, some fine food, some wine, and then somewhere exciting to go on to. Downstairs I could hear what sounded like a wild party but when people came up from there, they looked far from wild. My wife turned to me and smiled. We were like an old married couple. Hell! We were! Married for twenty-nine years.

“ I wonder what Jane is doing?”

The spell was well and truly broken.

I wandered through the daytime desertion of my own home. The outer rooms were deathly cold in the middle of winter. My fly-tying room was perhaps the warmest of the outer rooms, warmed by the mid-afternoon sun. My gear had been rudely pushed aside and the dolls house lay gutted in the centre of my workbench. Piled to the side were the various furniture items that made up the interior. A new doll lay on her side, eyes glazed over, hands outstretched toward the upper bedroom where she would probably reside. I felt my hands clench, my jaw tighten.

It must have looked suspicious. A cold night with a watery moon just providing enough light to see twenty metres before events were lost in a murky gloom. A man, digging a shallow hole in the ground. Hot steamy breath, furious grunting. A small bundle hastily pushed into the hole. A stifled whine. The sound of dirt. A brief sound of triumph, furtive glances, a spade leveling off the surface, then scattering leaves over the upturned earth.

She was in tears.

“Jane’s gone!”

I tried to remain poker faced.

“They broke in and not only took jewelry and electronic gear but stole my doll. How could they? I doubt she is worth that much. What sort of monsters would do that? What kind of person would take a beautiful, innocent doll?"

I had to be careful how I handled this. Just the right blend of sympathy and scientific aloofness. Just hope that the police would note that a crime had been committed for insurance purposes but not investigate such a petty crime.

The days had drifted by. I noticed that the dolls clothes now lay untidily in a corner of the spare room. The sewing machine was still there but I hadn’t heard its high-pitched whine for the best part of a week. Then she appeared at the door to my fly tying room, wring her hands and sea-sawing from foot to foot.

“I’m sure I heard Jane’s cry. I was in the garden, just by the pear tree and I heard this noise. It sounded like it came from under the tree. How could that be? “

Bear Eats Athlete

2007-07-10T11:55:00.000+12:00

Bear Eats Athlete

APA. Stricter drug testing favoured by Olympic body. Spokesperson Raymond Macey warned athletes that stricter testing would precede the 2000 Olympic Games. ‘We are sickened what these young athletes are doing to their bodies with these chemicals’ he said.

Mary Beth knew this was her lucky day. She was nearly at the top of the mountain and she was still fifteen minutes under her best time. The lake swim had been a breeze and she had emerged from the water a good hundred metres in front of the next competitor. She had awoken that morning thinking of the swim and run and even though her heart tightened she knew she was up to the challenge. Since her accident she had been trying hard to return to competitive form but time and time again she choked at the final stretch. Her trainer said it was natural, time would heal. Her fellow competitors were sympathetic but secretly they were pleased she was no longer a serious threat. And she had been fueling up on the honey that came from this very mountain. Honey on toast, honey in tea, honey in baking. As she rounded the trail that led to the turning point at the top of the mountain she allowed herself a smile.

The smile quickly vanished when she saw what was sitting in the clearing, seemingly awaiting her arrival. A huge black bear, red tongue sensuously dangling from his moistened mouth, fixated her with his deep brown eyes. She could see he was a male because an enormous penis, fully erect and engorged with blood, nearly reached to the ground. He rose up on his hind legs and with amazing agility was suddenly in front of her. His penis stood up like a lance and with his front legs he embraced Mary Beth. There was no mistaking his intentions. For some insane reason Mary Beth could only think of a cartoon showing two hunters sitting around a fire, one saying, 'don't be afraid, animals are afraid of fire', and the other looking back gloomily saying 'I should probably tell you-we're out of firewood.' She could smell the bear's putrid breath as he leaned closer and nuzzled her neck. He was certainly amorous and was, Mary Beth hastily thought, 'loaded for bear'. His nuzzling suddenly became very painful and Mary Beth instinctively bought he knee up smartly into the bear’s groin. Big mistake. As he entered her his playful hug crushed Mary Beth's ribcage and her breath escaped her body with a solid whoosh. The last thing Mary Beth heard was the sound of her spine snapping.

APA: The perils of training in the Canadian countryside were exposed last week when a 24yr-old biathlete was killed in an apparent bear attack. Mary Beth Miller had a bite mark on the back of her neck when her body was discovered by police in the heavily wooded area just north of Quebec City. Black bear tracks were spotted near the body.

A short,short story

2007-07-05T11:31:00.000+12:00

created at TagCrowd.com

The sky-blue Somalian

The newspaper headlines leapt out at him

“Japanese women use spray to trap cheating husbands

London, June 16 Reuters - Japanese women are resorting to chemical measures to catch their cheating husbands, New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday." The article went on - "Wives who suspect their partners have been cheating on them are buying special sprays that reveal telltale traces of semen on their husband's underwear. The kit consists of two aerosol cans that are sprayed separately on the garment. If traces of semen are found, the second spray turns them bright sky blue. The test is thought to be similar to that used by forensic scientists to detect semen samples in criminal cases. “

Rhycott peered over the top of his newspaper as the passengers from Flight NZ59 came down the departure ramp into Customs and Immigration. He spotted him immediately in his sky blue suit and yellow socks. He looked suspicious. It was not only the dark glasses and the even darker complexion, but the swagger was straight out of the airport detectors handbook. The three S’s. Anyone swaggering or sweating or otherwise looking suspicious is to be immediately detained and thoroughly examined.

“Excuse me sir but could you please walk down this lane and into room 3”

The passenger started to say something but was cut short by the two burly officials as he was propelled into room three. Rhycott passed the newspaper to his colleague and pointed to the headline.

Rhycott looked across to the tall, dark man in the sky blue suit and yellow socks in Room 3. It was bare apart from two framed photographs. On the wall behind the single polished table was a picture of a very young Queen Elizabeth, seated on a horse and looking imperious. To the right of the desk was a framed poster bearing the seal of the NZ Government and detailing a list of rights and obligations of 'visitors to this country'. Rhycott indicated the man should sit in the chair facing the Queen. The pale green walls were illuminated by the watery light through a skylight and a single 60-watt overhead bulb. A desk lamp threw a splash of colour over the document that opened as Rhycott took his seat across the table. He scratched his brain for the proper protocol.

“Your country of origin – sir”. He dropped the emphasis on the sir to establish who was boss here.

“London”. That threw Rhycott temporarily.

“I mean, where were you born?”

“ Somalia”. Where the hell was Somalia thought Rhycott. North, East or West Africa. But wasn't there different ethnic protocol for these regions or was that India?

He was trying to remember the exact seminar when this had all been explained but he could only dredge up beautiful women and colourful clothes and an incredible hotness.

“And the purpose of your visit, sir?'”

" I'm here to demonstrate”. Rhycotts ears pricked up and a thin trickle of sweat rolled down the crack between his buttocks.

“Aggrrgghh, sir, demonstrate.”

“Yes I have a process that is interesting to certain people in this country and have come to share my knowledge.” This was a biggy thought Rhycott. Possibly the biggest in his career.

Just then a knock on the door was accompanied by the appearance of his colleague, carrying a square, silver case. The exact one the manual had indicated was suspicious. The four S's, Rhycott temporarily amused himself with that thought.

“Could you open the case, sir”. Rhycotts sirs were becoming more and more depreciating.

“What is the meaning of this? Why am I being questioned? I am an important guest in your country.” Rhycott flipped open the English passport in front of him. Maasad Operheider, microbiologist, 45 yrs old. The picture looked right. Rhycott flicked through the entries in the passport. It read like an international terrorists holiday itinerary. Germany, France, Iran, Cuba, Russia, El Salvador, Geneva all in the last year. Rhycott felt that his whole back was now soaked in sweat and he wondered how Mr Maasad, or Mr Operheider or whatever his name was, felt.

Rhycott ordered the silver case to be opened and after a weak protest the lid was flung back. Clothes. Very expensive clothes. How did these people afford these things? Rhycott mentally checked himself. Remember the training courses

“Do you have any other luggage, SIR?”

“I must protest and ask to see your superior, Mr…. Mrr”. The tall dark man in the sky blue suit and yellow socks strained forward to see Rhycotts name tag.” Mr Ed".

Rhycott inwardly cringed. Always the big joke, and from ………..He focused his entire attention on the training seminars. His clenched fists now felt like steel traps. He flipped open his portable phone.

“Rhycott here sir, Got an interesting situation in Room 3”.

A minute later Commander Bawden-Bell swept officiously through the door, glared at Rhycott, then at the man in the sky blue suit and yellow socks. He sucked on his very large, flowing moustache.

“Outside for a moment Mr Rhycott. A word in your ear”. They left the room.

'This better be good Rhycott. I have an appointment with the airport manager at 9 and then I'm booked up all morning with the Ministry.” The Commander puffed up to his full height and peered at a spot a couple of metres above Rhycotts head.

“Gent claims to be a Somalian. Come here to demonstrate. All the S's, and his passport reads like an anarchists handbook”. The Commander looked at Rhycott and for a moment Rhycott thought it was almost love.

“Right! I'll take it from here. You get onto the paperwork and come in after about ten minutes. Check if there is any other luggage and give it a thorough B57. I want this one done by the book. Damn fella reminds me of someone, can't place him, they all look the same to me.” Just then Rhycott remembered why the Commander had failed the cultural sensitivity module of the training course.

The next day's headlines read.

'Another Public Service Blunder - Minister to set up Inquiry

NZPA: A Somalian microbiologist was denied entry into NZ yesterday because immigration and airline officials believed his sky blue suit and yellow socks were not the clothes of a real scientist'

2007-06-01T09:53:00.000+12:00

Do you wonder about the standard of reporting on NZ National Radio er.. National Radio (or what are they calling themselves today)? I am a sailor and I was listening to the 8.45 a.am lead up to the America's Cup and heard the sports commentator commenting on the coin toss for who got what end to enter the start box. He finished by saying 'apparentely it matters' . Geoff Robinson asked him (just as I was thinking of racing to the phone), "surely you know". He didn't and laughed it off. This is typical of the standard of reporting we now get. God forbid when our news is outsouced overseas. I can just imagine the news. "Dunedin, somewhere in the North Island of the country was struck today by two large icebergs which had floated up from the Artic" . Come on BCNZ. Get with the plot. Spend a few minutes and find out some basic facts about your subject. Oh yes. "The boat that enters the right hand side of the box enters on starboard tack and therefore has right of way when the boats meet (the left hand end boat enters on port tack).

2007-06-01T09:43:00.000+12:00