Selfie number 4

Me with Jay Cross and Graham Attwell, Salzburg 2008

In this series of short posts, I'm writing about my top ten selfies (including elsies and photobombs) with people who have inspired me or have influenced my thinking. Previous selfie posts can also be viewed on this blog.

In this photo I'm with Jay Cross and Graham Attwell, at a conference in Salzburg, Austria. I first met Graham at an event in the UK around 2006, just when I was becoming aware of the potential of social media such as wikis, blogs and social networking platforms as learning tools. My first impression was that he was something of a contradiction. He is a Welshman, but he speaks with a broad West Country accent, which belies everything that lies beneath. Tall and spare, and casually dressed, he is deceptively quiet - but then he lopes onto the stage, commands attention in the style of a trade union official (he was one and so was I) and everyone sits up and takes notice. He has some radical things to say about education, and he isn't always popular. But he caught my attention immediately, and we struck up a friendship.

With Josie Fraser, Helen Keegan and Cristina Costa in Utrecht, 2007

Graham invited me to speak in Utrecht the following year at an event called 'Show that you Share', which in retrospect became a pivotal point in my involvement in the open learning movement. The event was more than just a gathering of like-minded individuals from across Europe - it was a catalyst for change. I made my mind up around about this time that I needed to do a lot more research into this emerging field of openness, and decided that social media were the ideal tools to promote this concept. I then wrote and published a flurry of papers on the use of social media in education, about the same time as I started this blog. It transformed my professional practice. I have subsequently shared the stage with Graham on more than one occasion, and the sessions have always been laced with humour and lively debate.

Among his many projects, Graham was instrumental in launching the Personal Learning Environment (PLE) Conference, a global event that showcases research and practice in student centred pedagogy, and Sounds of the Bazaar - a live, internet radio programme that promoted open learning in all its forms. He also heads up the European research agency Pontydysgu (A Bridge to Learning). Whenever you hear him speak, you will be impressed by his passion for learning, and perhaps angered by some of the things he says. You can disagree with him, but you can't ignore him, because Graham is everywhere. I hope that continues for a long time.

Photo source unknown


Selfie number 4 by Steve Wheeler was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.