The Digital Narrative

Into the Machinarium

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 09:42:00 +0000

Teaching is an art, and often practised in a vacuum. Practitioners spend much of their day with students, and the opportunities to share technique can be few and far between. This is a gross generalisation I know, some schools are much better at ensuring that there is some cross pollination of experience than others. That isolation however can be a good thing too, teachers often have the freedom to experiment and explore new ways of engaging their students, as it should be.
Online there's a lot of hum drum instructional practice, but many working in education are leveraging new technologies and new approaches to engagement online to better enhance best practice. It's a bit of a mixed bag at present, and I think we are currently at a crossroads of sorts. As those of us that are keenly interested in online learning strive to explore new ways of teaching and learning online, as new technologies develop to feed an insatiable appetite, we will continue to make advances.
But lets shift focus for a moment, and reflect on gaming. It's relevant, I promise you! Not so many years ago, Amanita developed their third title in a series of unique games, Machinarium. Haunting, beautiful music accompanies an engaging narrative that drives a point and click game for PC and Mac like no other.
As video game titles have risen to outstrip the biggest of block buster movies in returns, their production quality and content have been equally pushed to the limit over the last few years. Each new game that appears on the shelves pushes new boundaries in design, scope and involvement. Narrative has taken an equally large leap, with gaming taking story and engagement online to new heights ... and yet there is increasingly a certain sameness about so much of what is developed.
Unique approaches to world building are out there, certainly and Amanita is one company that have achieved something special in this field. Their games are pieces of living art, and though the stories are not complex, their characters draw us to them. Having played Machinarium recently with the kids, I have once again been quietly impressed by the wonderful imaginations of these developers. Machinarium shows you don't have to push the boundaries in graphics displays, you just have to create something beautiful and engaging with a story that sustains you and characters you care about.
Anamita's products have caused me to rethink approaches to online learning lately too. We're currently making great advances, trying new things. Increasingly however, large swathes of schools are adopting very functional LMS systems of one kind or another, and it makes me wonder whether in the not so distant future, many teachers will be lumped with a one size fits all solution for online learning. Why can't teaching online have the same beauty, influence and daring as Amanita's products? Online learning experiences don't just have to be purely functional, they can be beautiful and moving experiences as well.
As long as there are teachers, online or offline, there will be unique and dynamic approaches to learning. My concern, is that when equal parts of teaching are guided by LMS systems that are functional in design and purpose, some of that teaching craft bleeds away. We are all guided by design, particularly online. Our actions and behaviours are significantly shaped by the tools we use, and we need to be more aware of the influence of design in our teaching and learning.
At the moment, we're at a crossroads I feel, and before we find too many schools and teachers burdened by an obligation to fit within the limited scope of so many LMS systems, we need to show teachers and students that there are alternatives.

Telling your story, public and private

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 02:46:00 +0000

Our notions of privacy online are often confused and convoluted. We assume that to gain privacy we must ‘lock down’ our data, and yet often by default, what we share is public. As Danah Boyd puts it, our interactions online are ‘public by default, private through effort.’

For many teens, the way around this is to simply fabricate information in their profiles and to hide personal information in plain sight. They rely on in jokes and inside knowledge to disceminate personal responses to their peer groups.

This creative approach is not uncommon, and entirely in keeping with a young adults search for identity. The teenage years are a time of discovery and rediscovery, of trying on new notions of self to see how they fit. Notions of personal identity online are important to young adults, it’s just that they are more elastic, more prone to change.
The stories we tell about ourselves help us to define who we are, we look to our audience for approval, for acknoledgement and acceptance. The problem is that in the past, these stories changed as we grew older and the older notions of self slipped away.
Today, remnants of who we were may remain online our entire lives. The digital flotsam that drifts with us continues to influence perceptions of who we are online to greater and lesser degrees. Increasinly the problem of context, how this old information is perceived, is becoming apparent. For adults, the ability to see this in context, to be confident in who we have become, makes this notion less problematic.
For a young adult, perhaps still struggling with identity and notions of self, this historical data can be a concern. Will they continue to be judged by that photo from that party taken last year? Will their competance continue to be judged by the comments made in a blog post last week.
Young adults are aware of privacy, it’s just very difficult to negotiate. When the default setting is often public, and the privacy settings are complex, it’s easy to share things we regret.
It’s therefore crucial that we reassure young adults about their futures, that they appreciate that their lives online will be viewed holistically as they grow older. The alternative is to deny them notions of freedom in yet another arena of their lives.

Time Flies

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 22:32:00 +0000

I've just finished reading Schooling for the knowledge era by David Warner ... published in 2006. His perspective on challenges the education sector is struggling with are grounded in the practicalities of implementing this change in the classrooms of his school. Despite being only five years old the book is already a little dated in places, but I found this easy to overlook as he doesn't pretend to be offering a silver bullet. What he does offer, is the solid delivery of practical advice for the changes some schools are embracing, and many are struggling with.

I took a tour of his school a year ago, and in particular I remember being impressed by the degree to which students and teachers had readily adopted a PBL approach. Now that I've read the book, I'd be intrigued to see the school again with a better appreciation for his roadmap, and the philosophy behind it.

Listening

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 23:44:00 +0000

It has been a busy year, with so much much accomplished, and so much left to do, that sometimes I wonder that I have time for it all. A new baby (Avery, born week before last) has added a third child to the mix as well, though I have to say he is a complete pleasure, and will likely be brought up by his older sisters if they have anything to say about it.

I've often found that momentum inspires yet more momentum, and the busier I am, the more I find I can accomplish. I like being busy, but one side effect of all this activity has been that I have had less and less time to read. There is, lets be clear about it, very little spare time in my life! That was until I discovered audiobooks.

No, most audiobook retailers don't have all the titles you have access to in paperback. The range is limited, particularly with regard to no-fiction titles. There is also the disappointment you can experience when you realise the actor reading to you has a voice you just can't stand.

There is however nothing like listening to a book read by the author, with their inflections, their use of tone and emphasis that brings a book to life in a unique way. The flexibility an audio book offers is also without comparison. The benefits in terms of being able to make better use of your time are outstanding, and have me back to reading a book a week for which I am very grateful for.

There is a particular benefit in being able to engage in another activity while you listen. I take a walk every day, regardless of how busy I am, and listen to half an hour to an hour of my latest audiobook. I've found, particularly with regard to non-fiction titles, that I retain more in this way, and I put this down to my being able to engage in physical activity while I consider and explore the book.

Perhaps it seems a little strange to be expounding the virtues of something that might be described as low-tech, particularly on a site about digital narratives. It's true, audio books have been with us for a long time, and aside from the fact that they have moved into digital format, little has changed in the product you receive.

Of course I also pick up a book to read as well. You just can't replace the experience of curling up with a good book ... but embracing audio titles as well has meant when I don't have time to read, I can have the next best thing.

Audio books in the classroom are of course, something that is worth considering. If you have reluctant readers, I've found putting an audiobook on is something that they will often engage with. It's not a bulletproof way of capturing their interest, but more often than not, I've found that even reluctant students will settle into an audiobook.

If you want to explore audio books, Audible have a year round promotion that offers a free audiobook. Just be careful to cancel your subscription within that first month to ensure you don't end up as a paying subscriber the following month!

Audiobooks.org, The Audiobook Store, are two other alternatives to consider. I've not used them, but they seem to offer a similar service to Audible. Audiobooks.org is also worth a look, as they have a large selection of FREE audio books. A good way of discovering new titles that are of a high quality, is to browse through The Audies, a yearly competition for books on audio. It's worth looking at Bolinda we well, who have a fantastic range, and content that you won't necessarily find on other resources.

Finally, check out your local library, mine has a quite staggering amount of audio book titles, with new ones each month. I find I supplement my online subscription with these titles and that keeps me well and truly stocked with all the books I need.

Happy reading!

Bumper sticker politics

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:12:00 +0000

There are few better ways in which to explain the limitations we place upon our forms of expression than the humble bumper sticker. I saw one on the way in to work today, which screamed out in uniform block letters, support for a political party. The gleaming sedan, with fat tyres and music blaring screamed around the corner ahead of me, and as I followed in my small blue car (so small, you could just about put it in your pocket), it made me wonder about how we rebel.

I'm not sure why it bothered me so much. Perhaps it was the fact that the driver was happy to allow his defiance to be ordered and shaped, delivered in expected format, designed to be easily consumed. Our choices, or rebellions are often made in this way.

I could take my considerations further, wondering about what he thought his car, the loud music and the fat tyres told others, what those elements expressed about his state of rebellion. For me, they seemed to scream a rebelion within safe boundaries. A smaller, more uniform rebellion, without teeth or real conviction.

When we shelter what we consider to be unorthodox views in unwritten guidelines of expectation, we remain safe. And safe is good, meeting expectations is not so bad. It's good to be part of something, healthy to be part of community (usually). Stickerbook rebellion has little to do with real rebellion, and more to do with us stepping out and seeking out a smaller uniform minority to stand with.

So what does this have to do with creativity? Often our acts of rebellion are creative, they help to define us and shape who we become. We rebel in all manner of ways, against the expectations as we grow up of our guardians, against our peers and society as we seek to find our place in it. And sometimes our acts of rebellion forge new paths, cast new light for the rest of our community.

But when we become used to a softer guided rebellion, perhaps we lose a little of this new light, this spark of defiance. When we purchase the bumper sticker instead of standing up for real beliefs amongst friends, when we show our appreciation with a facebook thumbs up rather than giving up our time to passionately support a cause .. we lose a little of ourselves I feel.

It's not that rebellion has died with so much of our time now being spent online, it's the potential for it to be harnessed and shaped as we spend more and more of our time there that concerns me. The internet is still a lively place, full of life and innovation, but the social media conglomerates appear to be taking over. They aren't shifting slowly, this isn't a glacial change, it's rapid and in some ways, too quick to reflect upon properly.

When we live much of our lives online, our creativity and rebellion are shaped by the environment we explore and the tools we use, what we produce is inevitably influenced.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:16:00 +0000

There is something about the revolutions in writing that captures our imagination, new writing that we're ready for, that arrives and then we wonder how time had been spent without it for so long.

I am reading Raymond Chandler at present, partly because I never have and partly because I had been in search of a cheap paperback. Our copy of The Big Sleep was selected not only because it was a desperately cheap and worn copy, that had lain unread in our shelves for years, but because I would not be sorry should I drop it into the bath I intended to read in.

That I loved it, would be an understatement. Partly submerged, I found myself transported to the world of Philip Marlow, without question the most notable example of everything we have come to understand a hardboiled detective should be. The writing is tight and efficient, and wonderful.

Thinking about the book later, (I didn't drop it by the way) I considered that while we have seen new writers challenge and embrace writing for the web in exciting new forms, none have yet made the impact that Chandler did. None yet at least. One of his more enthusiastic admirers was Auden incidentally, which I find quite intriguing; though both were masters of the economy of language.

It makes me wonder when we will be ready for a new form of story, a web novel that takes full advantage of the medium. The hardware we read on has become more portable, we are already interacting with the texts we read, the software and ingenuity are with us already. More importantly, the market is ready, or almost ready, or such a novel.

It is I think, only a matter of time before a new writer that takes full advantage of all these things and writes a novel designed to take best advantage of this new interactive space. A writer that will embrace digital story writing in a way that we haven't yet seen widely celebrated. A writer that makes a change as notable as Chandler's did in his day to the way we understand and enjoy story.

I wonder who that new writer will be, and what new and creative form their writing will take online. There are an increasing number of contenders, but none that have yet captured our imagination in quite the same way as Chandler did. None yet at least.

The FEED

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 10:07:00 +0000

I have been neglecting my RSS feed lately, and so one of my tasks this holidays was to work my way through a vast number of blog posts and notifications that I had allowed to pile up during marking time.

I make it sound like an arduous task, but really, it's a rare pleasure. I find it's an opportunity to fill up my Evernote database with fascinating journal material, read articles relevant to my interests and simply enjoy the thoughts of talented teachers and learners.

It occurred to me however, as I worked my way through the many posts, that most of the blogs I have slowly added to my Google Reader feed over the years, are by people working in education. That's not a problem really, the quality of their considerations is almost always extremely high. It did start me thinking about who I wanted to direct my attention toward in the future however.

I select novels and audio books with care, as I do podcasts. I generally only have a narrow window of time each day to enjoy them after all, and so I'm careful to consider what is worth my time. I weigh up my options, and select topics I know I'll draw something new and unexpected from. I apply the same critique to those people I follow on Twitter. I tend to try and follow new people that I feel add something unique and powerful to the discussion. It doesn't mean I'm not interested in what they have for breakfast as well, it just means I'm conscious of wanting to use Twitter to its greatest advantage in the time I have available to use it.

With this in mind, I've shed half of the sixty or so blogs I've been faithfully following, and I'm striking out with a dozen new ones that I think might challenge me in new ways. I'm looking forward to seeing what's new out there, and hearing from some different minds on subjects I'm not as familiar with.

I'm on a hunt for more, and plan to add another ten at least, exploring a range of subjects. Blogs for example, like the one kept by Seth Godin', which explores business models and marketing techniques, but often has parallels to my work in education. I've chosen some psychology blogs, design blogs, and blogs about science and environment amongst others.

Now to find the time to catch up on them all :-)

Swimming

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:05:00 +0000

Our local swimming pool was a shiny new indoor centre, that had been built within the last decade, and had replaced the far smaller outdoor one that had fallen into disrepair. The new complex had a gleaming curved dome roof and boasted twelve kinds of aerobics; spa and sauna rooms and a large cafeteria that overlooked an oyster shaped diving pool.

The old outdoor pool it replaced had been relegated to the gardens out the back The gardens were a favourite in summer with locals who were less interested in swimming, and more appreciative of the opportunity to lie in the sun on lush green lawns that led all the way down to the back fence, where the old rectangular pool lay, hidden amongst the trees.

Dilapidated changing sheds stood at one end, with clammy concrete walls and bowed wooden bleachers on two sides, flecks of peeling paint littered the ground below. Inside, hard wooden benches ran in rows, with battered changing lockers running down one wall.

Walking past late one I noticed that the old pool floodlights were on and on closer inspection, discovered a small swimming squad splashing about. Up on the hill, the new enclosed pool had a hazy halo of light suspended above the glassed roof, and an army of gym junkies and lap swimmers, thrashing about to a distant thudding beat. Outside was quiet and still.

The following night, I packed my towel, bathers and goggles and slipped out the side door of the main complex, and followed a cracked concrete path to the outdoor pool.

There is something special about having such a large public space to yourself. The silence feels more pronounced, and I felt that night an unexpected notion of ownership. It was my pool, and my secret.

The next night, I went again, and despite several visitors that came out to put a toe in the colder water and then retreated hurriedly inside, I had it to myself. I was hooked, and I began swimming four, sometimes six nights a week.

There was a magic about reaching the poolside each night. I had never been particularly enthusiastic about sport, never tried out for a team unless goaded into it. Swimming it seemed however, was my thing. As the weather turned, and the nights became colder, I revelled in the freezing water, feeling my skin contract tightly with the chill.

Steam rose from the water surface on those brisk nights. I’d rush down to the change rooms, and then head outside to the diving blocks at the deeper end. There is a moment of exhilaration when you dive into cold water and feel its bite and a flood of bubbles, the tug on your skin as you push through and down to the bottom of the pool. I’d touch my hand on the tiles, a salutation to the space, and then push up with my toes from the bottom, finally broaching the surface.

Some people claim that they have an affinity with the water, but I think that we all do, some of us have just missed the opportunity to discover it.

There were also surprising visitors to the outdoor pool. There were swim squad members who appeared two nights a week, when lanes in the indoor pool were full. Young adults with powerful shoulders slipped through the water like silver fish under the rusting florescent pool lights.

There were divers, who once a month, resplendent in wetsuits and oxygen bottles, masks and snorkels, sat at the bottom of the deep end of the pool and practiced hand signals and safety routines. Looking down at them going about their business at the bottom of the pool as I swam, I often felt as though I might be observing otherworldly visitors.

Some nights as the weather warmed, a clutch of swimmers would brave the night air and slip down to the pool to join me, and I’d be glad of their company. I was always happiest on those nights however, when I had the space to myself, with a sky full of stars and a feeling that the space was mine alone.

Image sourced from SXC

Part of the hive

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 01 May 2010 22:57:00 +0000

Collaboration is a word that's bandied about (does anyone say bandied about any more, or is it just me?) allot these days. We have new ways of connecting and working together that are helping us achieve things that would never have been possible only a few years ago.

Take the NYT Global Mosaic project that launches tomorrow for example. This inspiring idea offers us yet another new way to explore how alike we are, and helps us appreciate how different we can be! There are numerous global collaborative projects blossoming each day seeking to bring us together ... but The Hive is one that particularly caught my eye.

I'm intrigued by it, because it explored the idea of more abstract participation. What does it mean if our involvement is more incidental? What if we're able to help to achieve a greater good in some way, but only having to pay cursory attention to our contribution, if at all?

The Hive enables it's participants to be a present, active part of the project with little thought to their involvement. The technology around their necks receives a remote instruction, and takes a picture.

I don't think projects like this will lead one day to mindless participation, I strongly believe it's leading to a time when we can be more deeply connected in an issue.

I'd be interested in your thoughts on this issue.

Things You Learn

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 23:12:00 +0000

You may have noticed, that blog posts have been a little absent on TDN recently. Well, there's a good reason (no really) ... I've been working on a new project.

On April 20th, I'm launching a new website about learning and change. It's part online magazine, part resource, and a place where how learning changes us, and the new directions it draws us in are explored.

For the first edition, there are a number of outstanding contributing authors. Some you'll recognise as regular bloggers, some are involved in teaching and learning, others follow different passions in life. All have a unique perspective on learning and change.

As for The Digital Narrative website, rest assured it's still a passion, and I'll continue to blog here!

Now, get out your diary, and book the 20th of April in your calendar so you don't forget to visit Things You Learn for the launch!

Search and search again

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:05:00 +0000

I came across an article in the NYT quite by accident today. In it, the auto suggest feature of search engines was briefly discussed, and the random eloquence that might emerge from the everyday questions we ask online.

To explain, this is the feature now present on most search engines, that suggests as you type, possible questions you might be intending to ask. Which questions it prompts us with are determined by their frequency, drawn from innumerable search enquiries humanity makes every second online.

There have been a number of articles about this feature, and the sometimes strange reflection of humanity it seems to offer. As I search in Google for 'how to leave' for example, the results that are suggested are:

Once you start to pay attention to these prompts, drawn from the questions WE are asking ... they can become quite absorbing.

The Many Eyes project has explored our fascination with this data in spectacular fashion, by building tools that allow us to view this information visually. In 2009 they released 'Web Seer', a visualisation tool for web suggestions.

Here are the Web Seer results for my question, and an appropriate alternate enquiry. Simply by introducing two questions that can be compared, the information gains a fascinating new depth.

Now think about this product in terms of story, our stories. The Web Seer results for my questions alone are beautiful, heartbreaking and above all, honest. There is a bare truth about this data that is difficult to turn away from.

How we understand our stories, how we see and interpret the life around us is changing.

Our stories remain the same, and it is simply the retelling that changes, but the way in which we tell them, and the opportunities to explore them are moving dramatically into new territory every day.

Act like me

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 23:23:00 +0000

Everybody conforms in some way. It's common to ignore the evidence in front of us in order to fall in with the expectations of those around us.

We take the path more travelled because, well, it's easier to go along with the consensus. And sometimes there's a comfort in knowing you're traveling with the a crowd, even if they are heading in the wrong direction.

But the striking thing about conformity is that for each voice that rises up, even a single voice, the group's consensus can be considerably shaken. A single, competent individual can sway a majority view extremely effectively. Numerous studies have shown that one person in the crowd can persuade as many as two thirds of that subscribing group to adopt an opposing point of view.

Think about that for a moment, one person in the crowd can shift the focus of two thirds of that group opinion, as long as they are consistent, and competent.

Now think about your influence in terms of social media. How big is your crowd? How many follow/friend/subscribe to your thoughts? A hundred? A thousand? Ten thousand?

Of course, there are a dozen other influencing factors involved. Do the group know each other? Are there cultural influences that might affect the outcome? Is there social pressure to conform? But these traditional influences on the crowd opinion change when you take your argument online. Often there's a leveling effect online that works in favour of the strongest argument.

Just look at the education demographic on Twitter: classroom teachers, administrators, students, specialists, lecturers, all from different walks of life, all exploring teaching and learning together. Learning in a space that strips away many of the traditional peer influencing factors.

Even if you have only a small following, if your argument is strong enough, it can be disseminated quickly and powerfully online.

So why am I talking dissent? Why am I so concerned about where the crowd is going?

It seems to me that influence over the crowd dynamic is shifting as fast as the pace of technology quickens. What if that more easily influenced two thirds in the crowd was that proportion of the population of Facebook or another vast social network?

Just something to think about.

A Memento

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:19:00 +0000

The word memento comes from the Latin phrase memento mori which translates as 'remember you must die'.

Vanitas, like the image above, carry reminders of our mortality, and were common in the 16th and 17th centuries. Time pieces, rotting fruit and delicate, easily broken objects were some of many reminders of the fragility of life, the notion of time passing, decay and of course, death. You'll notice the skull in the back right of the picture, which was one of the most common images found in Vanitas, for obvious reason!

Vanitas were intended to remind you of your religion, that your time on earth was fleeting and that there were higher obligations to consider. Another common interpretation is that vanitas were there to lift you up when you felt low, and bring you down when you were were too euphoric. A steadying influence if you like. They were also used to inspire reflection, and to remind an audience to enjoy what time they had remaining.

Morbid stuff huh?

Which leads me to a recent discovery, a new Vanitas app recently released for the iphone.

I have to say I was intrigued when I saw it, and have enjoyed opening and closing my Vanitas box over the past few days. What particularly drew my attention however, was the other work Tale of Tales are doing with video games and story.

Games that lack a linear narrative to tug you through to the end, or a constant stream of weapon improvements to feed your addiction to upgrade. These games are instead for exploration and reflection. They are intended to challenge our perceptions of what games should or can be.

Personally, I love the work they are doing. It's powerful, thought provoking, and games like The Graveyard seem to suggest a drifting story that is just waiting for you to fill in the blanks.

These games inspire imagination, in a way that 99% of what's on the market today is unable to achieve.

Take a wander through their site and see what you think. I'm going to watch for future developments closely.

The image at the top of the page is titled Vanitas Still Life by Pieter Claesz 1628

Fontarama

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:31:00 +0000

Fonts are one of those quirky things that people get obsessive about, compulsive, compulsively obsessive even. And they are amazing when you explore them a little more closely.

Choosing the right font is important, the typeface you select can have a considerable influence over how your message is interpreted. The right font can help warm your audience to your writing. A rigid font can suggest you interpret material more formally, there are some that can leave you cold, and some that are casual and distinctive.

The influence of your choice of typeface on your audience can be powerful, and its authority over your readers is often something they are quite unaware of. It reminds me of subliminal advertising strategies tried in the past.

Teaching students about fonts can also be very revealing. It's like owning a blue volkswagon. It's only once you have one, that you'll seeing them every day. Introducing the influence of fonts to children is powerful ... once they appreciate their impact, they'll start discovering them everywhere.

There are some wonderful places to source great fonts, and I'd encourage you to seek them out.

Da Font is perhaps one of the best, with over 10,000 fonts (yes, ten thousand) to select from ... it's also one of the easiest to navigate. Happy hunting!

Abandonment

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:02:00 +0000

This set of images is so absorbing, that I'm going to do something you should never do when you write a blog post, I'm going to send you somewhere else. That's right, I'm asking you to take a look at these images and then come back to TDN, and read the rest of this post.

It's a risk, I'll acknowledge that. You could get caught up in something else, and I wouldn't blame you. The web is full of shiny distractions demanding our attention. But I'm hoping you'll remember to return afterward, and if you need a mantra, I've included one below.

I must return to TDN, I must return to TDN (and repeat)

--------

So welcome back. This post, the first of the new year 2010, is about abandonment. It's a difficult topic to approach, as it inspires so many different emotions and many of them are unsettling. Abandonment is personal.

I should point out at this early point that I was never abandoned as a child. I don't have issues of attachment. I did have a long romance with the idea of being adopted, and abandoning my OWN family while caught up in the swell of teen angst many years ago. This post however is not about that, or any thinly veiled or perhaps unresolved feelings from my past. No, this story is about houses.

Well, let's rephrase that, it's about these houses, the ones in the photos.

Kevin Baumen, he's the guy who took the pictures, states on his site that 'the actual number of abandoned houses in Detroit is more like 1200'. The homes encompass an area of approximately 138 square miles. The scale is astonishing.

The thing that struck me about the images on Kevin's site, was firstly what criteria he'd used to select the pictures for his one hundred shots. Perhaps the depth of character they inspired? Certainly the sense of abandonment captured in each shot.

I found myself looking in the windows to see more, examining the periphery of each shot, trying to discern whether the next house was also abandoned, and if not, who might be living there.

Good photo's of course, capture more than simply what's there. They suggest a mood, and inspire us to invest something of ourselves in them. There's more to see than what's been captured in these pictures. More than the long grass on the lawn and smashed windows, boarded up doorways and broken front steps. These aren't the things that disturb and unsettle us.

What's most disturbing is what's missing. The families and couples, single people and grandparents, dogs and guinea pigs. These homes were places where birthdays were celebrated and domestic disputes spilled over. They were home to singing, and shouting, the smells of cooking and a sense of security.

It's the absence of these things that bothers us most ... perhaps. Abandonment as I said earlier, is personal.

What did they inspire in you? What story do you think they are telling?

NYE

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:39:00 +0000

Just a small post to say Happy New Year to readers of this blog!

I will be blog post free for a few weeks in the new year as we'll be heading off to live under canvas in the national forests of Tasmania for a while.

Have a wonderful NYE, and if you're on holidays, enjoy the break!

Kind Regards

Martin Jorgensen

See you in 2010!

Where are you going?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:29:00 +0000

Last year I spoke to several classes of year 12 students about careers, theirs and mine. I've been reflecting on the discussions we had as I explore some new opportunities for next year.

Some of the students I spoke to had no idea where they were going. Some had a plan, a path they had laid out ahead of them, or that had been laid out for them. A number of them asked questions about goals and areas of employment they had heard about that seemed perhaps intangible and unreal. Many were looking for reaffirmation that their intentions were justified, that the goals they were setting might bring them the lives they hoped for.

It's often the case, that simply pursuing the things we love doing will lead us to the greatest success in our lives, and often the greatest fulfillment. But it's hard to convey this without sounding like Dr Phil.

So I told them a story about the beginnings of my career.

I told them about my year 7 English teacher refusing to mark my work due to my atrocious handwriting. That to resolve this problem, I taught myself to type using an early Apple PC and in the process, built my confidence with computers. I learnt to appreciate that making mistakes was OK when working with computers, and that knowledge served me over and over in later years. I told them that those quick typing fingers also helped me all through my career, and still help me.

I told them about my parents reading me books by the armful as a child, my father making up a new story each night at the end of the bed. I told them about the english teacher that inspired me in year 10, and how a love of stories had helped me meet my wife while studying professional writing and changed my life.

I told them about my hating school, but discovering a love of learning when I left. That my love of story, my fascination with computers and addiction to learning would eventually inspire a career teaching professional development, ICT and English. That I developed a passion for digital narrative that gives me a great deal of pleasure.

Sometimes it's hard to see the threads that will pull us through life. Often it can be the seemingly inconsequential events that will shape the direction we take. This doesn't mean we have no control, it just means that we have to take our passions a little more seriously, whether we make careers out of them or not.

Sometimes a career we love can materialise unexpectedly. The trick, is to see opportunity when it manifests itself. The way to do that is to simply follow your instincts, and to do the things you love as well as you can.

For me, story, computers, learning and teaching are the strong threads that have drawn me through life to this point. I'm taking it on faith that they will continue to help me build a career, and a life that I love.

Where are your passions taking you?

Introducing ...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 08:34:00 +0000

Executive Summary: Story starters = bad. 10 great ways to engage creative writing.

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One of the my favorite rants is on the subject of story starters. Now don't get me wrong, I've witnessed some inspired ways of introducing a story prompt that guide a young writer toward a particular result.

In most cases however (IMHO) ... this just doesn't happen. Story starters like 'Imagine you're in a forest' or 'It all started when' ... are too often whipped out to fill a creative writing pocket in the day.

Writing this way does produce results. You will for example, obtain a markable product at the end of the lesson. For those students that might struggle, it can be a quick way of guiding them to produce a result, but ahhhh .... this is the root of the problem

Starting your writers off with a story starter, however brief, will frame your expectations for your students. It directs for them how you would prefer they be creative, it gives them a narrow channel to follow.

Can you guide creativity so directly? Can you draw a path in the sand for it to follow? Authors use multiple strategies in their approaches to writing a book. Some begin the process with some loose structure, some simply head off in a direction with inspiration as their guide.

Most try different approaches, and discover what works best for them, for that particular novel. There are many alternatives to approaching creative writing in and out of the classroom that don't necessitate you providing the first line.

Don't forget that it's important not to prescribe the form of creative approach students take, a poem, a list, a story ... all forms are valid. One form may inspire another. Trust that your students will find their voice in their own way. The less suggestions you provide, the more inspired the results will be.

So here, for better or worse, are my suggestions. A list of ten alternatives to creative writing in the classroom:

Use props! Creativity is something you have to head out and hunt down sometimes. Take the class outside, ask them to find a rock, small leaf ... something from the garden that doesn't wriggle ... and bring it back inside. Now, 'focus on your find, zoom in and write about it'. Write 'zoom in' in large letters on the board. How students interpret this is up to them. Trust that your students will find their own insights. If you need to provide further guidance, read out some examples of students that have already started. If you start the exercise with 'now zoom in, imagine you're looking through a microscope ... etc' ... well, you may as well put a story starter on the board. Remember this is an exercise to inspire THEIR creative approach! Finished? Now 'zoom out'. Don't frame your expectations any more clearly than that.
Many authors read in order to inspire their own writing. It's not cheating, but it IS something that can surprise young adults, who may not realise professional writers often read to inspire their own work. It's can be particularly valid approach when working with voice. Read to your students from something they haven't heard before, with a distinctive voice if possible. Ask your students to produce some writing that emulates that voice.
Read a picture book, and then ask students to produce a piece of writing inspired by that book. This won't work with a book about Spot the dog ... choose a challenging text, like FOX by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks.
Ask students to choose a character from your picture book and write about them. This is a wonderful way to lead into discussions about characters and their needs and wants. With a picture book, you'll only have a few characters to select from ... and as a follow on task you can also discuss the needs and wants of each of them in the story.
Economic writing is something I'd strongly encourage. Start with 30 word stories, then 15, then 6 word stories. An extension of this task can be to ask students to write out their small six word stories on a small object just big enough to accommodate the words like a small stone.
Writing about an unreliable memory is a way of approaching personal experience with some degree of safety ... be careful when explaining this concept or you'll find half the stories written mirror your example.
Words associated with a particular sporting pastime can be fascinating. Have students turn to the racing, rugby or soccer section in the paper, and take unfamiliar words associated with that sport and use them in a creative piece.
Take a simple story familiar with all students, like Cinderella, and have them retell it in their own fashion. This is a wonderful way of introducing archetypes in stories.
As an extension of task 8, have students change the chronology of a story familiar to all of them in their retelling. This is an activity that may be best suited to slightly more confident young writers. It is however, a wonderful way of exploring structure.
Including a physical element in the telling of a story or poem can be an exciting way of exploring writing in a classroom. Have students cut the words they want from newspapers for a poem or short story. You'll find the way students approach this activity can be varied and fascinating ... like all storytelling!

You'll find numerous other ideas for creative writing approaches on the Breaking Writers Block resource on Lightning Bug.

One last note ... there are always students in the class that struggle with the creative writing process. Here are a couple of sure fire ways to help them find inspiration:

Simply relieving a student of the expectation that they need to finish the piece of writing can be an enormous release for them. This is good advice for all your young writers if need be! Starting the writing process off with an remark that you are looking for good examples of writing, not the person that completes their work first.
Rather than focussing on the story, encourage them to start with a character - ask them to describe the character, tell them they might base it on a family member, or a conglomeration of friends and family members' behaviors and traits. Once they have accomplished that, it's a wonderful place to talk about the needs and wants of that character ... and it's from these discussions that a story can be uncovered.
Ask your students to consider what sort of writer they are, what sorts of stories they find inspiring, what they are reading. Ask them to attempt to emulate that writing style.

Finally, make sure you are reading examples of different approaches taken in the classroom during the writing process. Yes this is something most good teachers will do, yes it's an obvious suggestion ... but it's important. Those students that don't read regularly need to hear as many examples of creative approaches to a story as possible.

Ok ... rant over.

Up to their necks in it

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:24:00 +0000

I was angered today to see an article published by the Fairfax newspaper group about a father choking his child treated with such careless disregard.

The article carried a headline of 'Up to his neck in it: dad chokes girl over Twilight movie', an obvious reference to vampires.

Stories are powerful, and to be able to tell a good story is a life skill that can help you no matter what your vocation is likely to be.

It's important that young adults see the power a story can have when used effectively and constructively. We need to be able to show our young adults moral role models in the media, and Fairfax is evidently lacking in this regard.

Violence against children is not a thing to be joked about, it's not a subject to be treated carelessly. Violence against children is never appropriate, and our young adults need to see this.

It's important that this sort of story is represented in the media, just as issues of politics and religion and all manner of other behaviours and beliefs are explored in a public forum.

It's also important that these sorts of stories are treated with a respect for the diverse readership and for those directly involved.

Perhaps I'm over reacting? Perhaps a crass joke about a man committing an act of violence against his child is something to be joked about? Disgusting.

The story of stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:48:00 +0000

I recently started helping my mother go through some of my late fathers belongings. It's a slow process, because it is a lifetime of acquisition we are sifting through.

There are some people that approach the belongings left after the death of a relative with a roll of garbage bags and a truck for the furniture ... and I can understand that. There is something cathartic about cleaning away old clothes and keeping only a few precious items for remembrance.

I've been discovering however, that real value can be in the smallest things, often seemingly inconsequential objects. Each week, my mother and I select a drawer or a cupboard and sort through it. In a dresser this week, we found a plastic jar full of coins and badges, paperclips and an odd assortment of other small items.

I was about to disregard much of it, when my mother took up a cuff link, and reminded me of the time years ago when Dad had made them. We were approaching Christmas with very little to spend on friends and family, and so my Dad bought a piece of copper the size of a dinner plate from a friend. He cut the copper, and made a dozen pairs of cuff links to give as presents.

Cuff links, a coat, a pair of shoes a coffee mug, there are so many objects in our lives we invest with stories. Sometimes it is because the object represents a moment in time, a bookmark for that place in our lives, when or why it was given.

Monetary value has no bearing on the weight of the story contained in an object. We hand down items of all shapes and sizes through our families and in our communities that represent stories.

Sporting cups with a list of names long forgotten still resonate for us, their layers of stories may only be remembered by a few, but we all feel the weight of collective memories in these objects.

A family bible, regardless of our own attachments and connections, have an inherited value because of the reverence with which they are often treated and kept. They are totoms representing the stories of our family, community and culture.

Flags are another, weighted heavily with story and significance, they may carry a smaller story of ownership but they will always reflect a vast store of community values and memory.

My Dad collected, he loved garage sales and markets, loved fixing the objects he found and I think, loved the stories that came with them. He loved people and the stories they told, and this was perhaps a large part of his motivation for collecting things of often not immediately apparent value. Much to the horror of my Mother I might add.

Dad always asked about the objects he bought, wanted their stories, needed to understand their value for the people he bought them from. It was one of the reasons he loved making things with his hands ... he then had a story to hold within him and to tell others. A story about time spent, and the care he had taken, and perhaps, the value it could represent for others.

Some items we have uncovered in my fathers large collection of things only had value to him, and held stories we have forgotten or that he never told us ... some of them include:

A Braille clock
A delicately constructed aeroplane made from whisper thin balsa wood
A collection of beautiful wooden handles - for what sort of tool, we have no idea
An old solitaire board, lovingly restored
A Danish made pistol less than an inch long, with a tiny container full of bullets and a ram rod

CYL report findings ...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:29:00 +0000

I attended the Inky Awards today which are, to quote the Inside a Dog website, an 'award in Australia that relfects what teenagers want to read. The Inkys are international awards for teenage literature'.

As an added bonus at the end of the ceremony, which was great fun, the CYL (Centre for Youth Literature) 'Keeping Young Australians Reading' report was released early for those attending.

The report is commissioned by the State Library of Victoria, and provides a snapshot of the reading landscape for 10 to 19 year olds. It looks at the factors inhibiting reading in this age group, and it also applauds those things we're getting right. It also takes into account findings from other youth surveys conducted at the same time which offer further insight into readers in this age bracket.

Mission Australia findings for example, resulting from a survey they conduct of 45k young people each year on their 'interests, attitudes and concerns', were taken into account.

For anyone involved in young adult literacy, the CYL report makes for fascinating reading.

I've outlined below, some of my own observations, some of the things I found particularly interesting. This is not to say that there aren't many more nuggets of interest to be found in the report. These are just the things that jumped out at me. I'd encourage you to seek out a copy of your own when it's released next week.

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CYL believe that there should be at least five books read each term by students in this age bracket. The benefits of this increase in reading in school are wide ranging and significant. Apart from the expected literacy and intellectual benefits, there are evident advantages in positive social outcomes and personal wellbeing.

Reading is becoming more socially acceptable in this age bracket. I found this particularly interesting ... Harry Potter certainly had a place to play in this, but the new slew of vampire books and movies are also drawing in many young readers.

10 - 13 year olds that are not reading for pleasure are less likely to read for pleasure as adults. This is for neurological reasons. During puberty, the new cells and connections made in the brain made by those that are reading form the basis for their engagement later in life. These connections are not formed, or are shed by those that are either not reading during these years, or that stop reading during this time of physiological and neurological change.

More than one in five young adults between the ages of 11 and 19 are concerned about ... 'body image, drugs, family conflict, suicide, personal safety, bullying, emotional abuse, physical or sexual abuse, alcohol and copying with stress.' We KNOW young adults are facing these areas of conflict in their lives, what's encouraging is that there is evidence that reading allows young adults to engage with and find a way to work through concerns they may have about these issues.

There continues to be a substantial gulf in reading accomplishments between those young adults of indigenous and very remote communities and other students, particularly those in metropolitan Australia. Apparently. This particular part of the report I struggled with. I'm not an expert on this subject by any means. I do know however that indigenous Australians have a rich history of oral storytelling, and wonder how significantly this was taken into account. As nation we are still failing our indigenous people in ways both baffling and disheartening. Perhaps one of the reasons is that their accomplishments are still not understood? How on earth can you compare a young regional indigenous Australian's oral storytelling knowledge to the reading behaviours of 'other students' (their term)??

Graphic novels are experiencing a rise in popularity, amongst literacy professionals as well as young adults! I'm a big fan of the opportunities that graphic novels offer us in the classroom. It's encouraging to see them on the rise!

This just a small selection of areas covered in the report that I found particularly interesting. Of course there were mentions of subjects such as the rise of an e-book culture, migrant reading behaviours, economic factors and many others.

As I stated earlier, I'd encourage you to head out and get a copy when it becomes available next week.

Our reality

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:05:00 +0000

One of the way in which to turn a story in an unexpected direction ... is to have your protagonists sense of social reality challenged.

There are countless things in our daily lives that only truly exist, because we consider, as a society, that they do exist. Marriage is one, money is another. These things exist because we want them to, and we allow our lives to be governed by them.

There are other considerations that we have that are common, but not universal. If I consider the streets are safe at night because of past experience, and common knowledge in the area, then I may believe it.

When those things that are hallmarks of what is 'normal' are challenged, the results can be unpredictable, and affect notions up to that point in the novel that we have taken for granted.

This can be most dramatic when it occurs unexpectedly. I've been witness to a murder? My sense of mortality / religion / safety on the streets is threatened. All of a sudden, I am dealing with a new reality, a world in which the predictable has become alien and unknown.

The reason this device works so well, is that it's something we as an audience, all fear. We hold on to these commonalities, the social realities that maintain our sense of the world. When they are challenged, it's frightening ... and exciting!

Something New

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 03:31:00 +0000

Over the last few years I've met numerous teachers that had amazing classroom management, that were creative and inspiring ... and had not as yet, incorporated technology into their classrooms.

This bothered me. Being the evangelist that I am, I've converted a few along the way, but always struggled to find a good general resource to offer them. So over the last month I've been working on a project in my spare time that does just that. A gentle introduction into the different ways technology can help in the classroom.

I've made it as approachable as I can, with a selection of some of the better online tools available that I'm aware of. For the most part, these tools are free to use and are browser based, so no downloads required.

Building Community in the Classroom.

I'd love your feedback, and if you have them, some more classroom examples as they are a little light on in some places.

300 Words

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:01:00 +0000

An amazing collection of 300 word stories published in the St Petersburg Times in 2004 made me consider what makes a good story today, and how we assess young adult writing.

If you're looking at criteria for assessment, there are many aspects of a narrative you might include in your rubric. You might focus on a mix of structure and narrative flow. You might look at voice, or a sense of presence in the novel. You may decide commend stories with a well defined story arc. Did they foreshadow effectively? Was there a suitable resolution? The list of considerations is endless.

It is a single characteristic however, that can establish a story as one worthy of credit ... character is often as far as you need to look. A well defined character drives the story. A character we care about and can empathise with, one that is a contradiction of emotions and desires just as we are.

A narrative with a strong, well defined character is essential to a story. When the author knows their subject so well that they 'know the change in their pockets', what makes them, drives them, what they yearn for and truly need. When their characters are so real we can reach out and touch them, then this is something worthy of attention.

The problem is of course, establishing a character rubric, a list of check boxes to determine success or failure is flawed. You can't easily assess the success of a story in this way. The only way to know a good one when you read it is to have a point of comparison ... which is why I'm off early to bed with a book.

Updates to the Media Library

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:21:00 +0000

I've updated the Media Library with some new tools. Some you will have seen before, others are new kids on the block, great new in-browser tools for creating online.

If you have a suggestions of how to improve this resource I'd love to hear from you!