Today is Christmas day and a time to be with the family. As we often do, we went to my parents’ home to celebrate. My parents could be described as typical Macedonian village folk who migrated to Australia in the 1950s. Their home is complemented with a vegie garden and fruit trees in the backyard. They take particular pride in their garden and we, as their children, often reap the benefits with tomatoes, onions, lettuces of different varieties, pumpkins and peppers. Photo of backyard
Being such a major part of their lifestyle, my father has even set up a rig to frighten away birds if they come too close to the garden. It is a rope that stretches across the yard from the kitchen to the back of the yard. He has attached cans, cloths etc to it so when he pulls at it, it creates movement and noise. This scares away the birds from eating the fruit and vegies.
Today I was alerted to an ad on TV for the Woolworths/Safeway campaign that my brother in-law created. And here are my mum and dad recreated! -
Earlier this year I wrote a couple of posts about developing a PLN (Professional Learning Network), and just last week I presented at the VITTA Conference about ‘The Power of the online PLN’. It was very much a reflection of how I had developed my own network over the year as a direct result of me needing to learn more about new technologies and online tools for learning, for my role as an Ultranet Coach.
The talk I gave highlighted four key tools that got me connected -
Now I am moving into a new role, that of Assistant Principal for a new college (currently undergoing a name change) with a focus on ICT and Student Learning for the 21st Century. With this in mind I am planning on developing learning programs that exploit networking tools and new technologies.
Our students are widely connected in their own lives and would benefit from having similar networks cultivated for their learning to become richer and more meaningful.
Only last week a colleague, Stony River, sent me a link to a great video called “The Networked Student”. I think it is great video that will help me promote this style of learning to my staff, students and parents.
