A Small World

Well here it is, my first blog post.  I have debated about what to write on my first blog post, but I think the most pertinent thing to talk about is what got me thinking about setting up a blog in the first place.  I arrived into Wellington three weeks ago (for a 10 month post-doctorate at Victoria University of Wellington).  I spent the first weekend getting over jetlag, but decided to go on a Lord of the Rings (LOTR) tour around Wellington the following weekend.  It was a sunny Saturday afternoon as I boarded the Movie Tours bus.  I sat across from someone called Steve Wheeler.  Steve (University of Plymouth) has done various research into e-learning including wikis, podcasts, blogging, etc., has published widely in the area, and has been/is on different editorial boards.  I found it quite the coincidence that I should bump into someone like Steve, considering I have just started a research post-doctorate looking at the use of wikis with secondary school teachers.  The old cliche of 'It is a small world' jumped to mind.  However, Steve and I did not have much opportunity to discuss such things in any great detail, as there were so many great activities to do and pictures to be taken on the Movie Tours.  Ted, the tour guide, was very knowledgeable about all things LOTR related and an all round nice guy.  Ted explained to the tour group that he very much lives to work instead of working to live (which gave me the idea of what to name the blog!).  It really was an enjoyable afternoon and I would highly recommend it for any LOTR fans who happen to be in New Zealand.

I exchanged e-mail details with Steve at the end of the tour, but needlesstosay it was not hard to find him online.  I do not know why I was surprised, considering he is extensively involved in e-learning.  I read a few of Steve's more recent blog posts and found them very interesting, in terms of the reflective element of his blogs, but also the fact that it was in a public space, sharing and open to input from others.  The current project I am undertaking is trying to encourage teachers to collaborate more online and share their experiences with other teachers, as teaching can be very insular.  From considering the potential of blogs, I considered my own practice as a researcher and noted the insular nature of a lot of what I do (reading journal articles/books, preparing presentations, writing applications, etc.).  There are always questions of if you have something valuable to offer on a blog, and what others may say.  However, I have now started to view blogs differently.  I can make my practice more explicit on a blog, use it to gather my thoughts, reflect on issues I encounter, and who knows, someone else might find something useful on it and even offer me some further insight or points of reference.

A week after the LOTR tour I went to the University of Waikato in Hamilton (this Monday) and heard that there were talks being hosted by the e-learning department that afternoon.  I again bumped into Steve Wheeler who happened to be one of the presenters.  He gave some useful ideas related to creative learning (see Steve Wheeler - Creative Learning).  I was pleased to hear his response to my query if it was a technology related talk.  He responded "Not technology, it's about learning."  It reminded me of one of my supervisors from my PhD, Oliver McGarr, who argued in a 2009 paper the importance of presenting initiatives not as ICT initiatives, but as teaching and learning initiatives.  It is an important reminder to always keep the learning focus to the fore when using any technology in education.