Selfie number 6

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

I met American teacher, artist and edupunk Amy Burvall last year. Our pathways crossed when we were attending different events in London and so we arranged met up for a few drinks. I was already familiar with Amy's work online, especially her excellent series of YouTube videos called History Teachers. If you haven't viewed them yet, you should do so - they are a must watch, even if you are not a teacher of history. Amy has taken popular songs, rewritten the lyrics about specific periods in European history, and has then created new music videos for educational purposes. Particular favourites of mine include the story of Martin Luther (to the tune of the Bangles' Manic Monday - in which she takes on three singing roles), Charlemagne ('Call Me' by Blondie), the classy Elizabeth I ('She's not there' by the Zombies) and the comical animated Henry VIII and his six wives (Money, Money, Money by Abba). The combined viewing figures for this collection of teaching videos is now in the millions. But History Teachers is just one of the many contributions Amy has made to digital learning in the past few years.

What inspires me most about Amy Burvall? She is quirky, unpredictable, creative, mischievous, and she is not afraid to take risks - all characteristics I recognise in myself. She is also a cancer survivor, which in itself should inspire all of us. She is tenacious and has boundless energy, and she never seems to stop. I believe this is because she has a burning desire is to help as many people to learn as she possibly can. She does this through her writing, videos, photography, artwork, live sketching (see Graffikon), keynote speeches and her very popular workshops on creativity, making and learning. Recently we collaborated for the first time on a project that is now known as #blimage which can be read about here (join in - it's fun!). I'm hoping that this is just the start of our collaboration, and that we will continue to bounce ideas off each other for some time to come. Watch this space!

Photo by Jeffrey Teruel


Selfie number 6 by Steve Wheeler was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Tipping the balance #blideo

I only ever saw the movie Equilibrium once, and it was a long time ago. I thought at the time what a dystopian picture it portrayed of the future. It's a world where all citizens are required to take drugs that repress their emotions. Now I've been #blideo challenged by Amy Burvall to interpret this clip from the movie. I don't remember seeing it when I watched the film, so I guess I'm approaching it with fresh eyes.

My first reaction after seeing this was that Preston, a member of the elite law enforcement agency, is steeped in the traditions of his society. He is fully invested in the requirement to repress his emotions, and knows all of the 'reasons' why this is demanded by his superiors. And then, during a house search, he discovers an old recording of a Beethoven symphony and in an unguarded moment, he decides to play it - on an old gramophone. As he waits for the music to start, he toys with a snow globe - a piece of trivia which holds his attention briefly. Then the music starts. Preston has an epiphany. In surprise, he drops the snow globe, which shatters on the floor... and he begins to weep as the music washes over him.




This speaks to me of the trivia of life, the irrelevant objects that grab our attention and within which we invest so much of our energy. We often we waste precious time on the less important things in life, when in reality we should be seeking the creative and emotional experiences that might forever shape our characters and define our lives. How many hours do children waste in school, studying subjects or content that will be useless or irrelevant when they finally leave school? How much content do schools deliver that resemble the snow globe? How much is a Beethoven symphony?

Another thought is that the record and the gramophone were old technology, from a bygone age. And yet, the music it produced was able to reduce a man to tears. Music has the power to reach deep down into our very souls and does so because it bypasses our intellect and aims directly for our hearts, our emotions. Regardless of the technology used, powerful experiences can be life changing. This is what all educators should seek to facilitate. It's a tipping of the balance for better learning experiences.

Photo by NCinDC on Flickr


Tipping the balance #blideo by Steve Wheeler was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

The #blimage challenge spreads

It is barely a week since the fabulous Amy Burvall and I started the #blimage challenge, and we are both just a little breathless as we watch how rapidly it is catching on. The challenge was just a little fun between the two of us at first. We didn't plan for it to become a global movement, but that seems to be the way #blimage is heading. In just 6 days, almost 100 edubloggers have taken up the challenge, and have then paid it forward to their colleagues and friends. There is now a Dutch language version called #blimageNL and a Spanish version (#blimageES set up by Juan Domingo) and other language versions will also follow. Who will be the first to set up a Japanese version #blimageJP or a German version #blimageDE or a French version #blimageFR?

We anticipate that #blimage will grow even wider in its influence, because it has an appeal for everyone who is thinking about education and learning. Ultimately, it's great to see how people are enjoying blogging about education, sharing their ideas, having fun with images, discussing their interpretations and generally connecting with each other in new ways. It has spread across all sectors of professional practice, from primary, secondary and tertiary education, into the workplace learning sector.

Here's the video Amy created to explain the #blimage challenge:



As Amy says, #blimage 'makes your brain dance with metaphorical thinking', it compels you to think more creatively, and I might add, it gets you involved in dialogue and connections with your personal learning network. Some educators are now blogging for the first time. Others have returned to sharing their ideas after a time away from blogging. Still others (like me) have discovered new and fascinating education blogs for the first time. The #blimage challenge exposes new ideas, new resources, and new people you really should get to know. It's about learning through storytelling, and this is lucidly explained by H J deWaard in an insightful post entitled Stories and Spaces within a #blimage Challenge. I would argue that this is learning technology at its very best.

Here are just a small selection of #blimage posts:

Space to make ideas your own by Jeff Merrell
Organic Growth by Andrew Jacobs
The #blimage challenge by Jane Bozarth
Fortunate Learning and Learning Fortunes by Sue Beckingham
Desks of Doom by David Hopkins
Taking up the #blimage challenge by Ignatia de Waard
Not just a waiting room by Rachel Challen
Human Writes by Simon Finch
It's only a jigsaw puzzle by Sandra Sinfield
Playing chess with the enemy by Steve Wheeler
Learning while wandering by Tracy Parish
The #blimage challenge by Charles Jennings
Learning in limbo by Wayne Barry
Time for a fresh perspective by Sukh Pabial
The colours of active learning by Anna Wood
Breaking bread with Steve Wheeler by Amy Burvall
The joy of learning #blimage by Jane Hart
The Web: Network, dreamcatcher, patterns by Whitney Kilgore
The #blimage challenge by Sheila MacNeill

You can see the diverse range of topics these bloggers have written about, inspired by the images they were sent. I'm looking forward now to seeing what the #blimage challenge will unearth next. Do visit the collection of #blimage posts and artefacts that are being collected on a Pinterest Board and a Flipboard, both set up by the marvellous Simon Ensor.  So please do take up the #blimage challenge yourself - and use the image above to inspire your next blog post. You never know where it might lead you!

Photo by Steve Wheeler


The #blimage challenge spreads by Steve Wheeler was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Blimey, it's #blimage!

I'm always looking for new ideas to promote blogging for teachers. For me and countless others, blogging is a very important part of professional practice, and I have written extensively about its benefits for teachers in articles such as 7 reasons teachers should blog and The truth about blogging.

In conversations recently with members of my PLN including Amy Burvall (USA @amyburvall) and Simon Ensor (France @sensor63) another method began to emerge. It's a challenge/game that Amy called #blimage - a confection of Blog-Image. (Yes, we are now in the age of blim!) You send an image or photograph to a colleague with the challenge that they have to write a learning related blog post based on it. Just make sure the images aren't too rude. The permutations are blimmin' endless.

My first challenge came from Amy and my response was published under the title of 'Off the rails'. It made me think hard, because I incorporated the 3 images she sent me into one blog post. Following on from that, Simon sent me another #blimage challenge, which became the post 'Piece by piece.' Subsequently, other bloggers took up the same challenge, and Simon set up a Pinterest board to capture their efforts and aggregate them in one place. The discussion on the blogs and on Twitter is just beginning around these efforts. It's a very creative way to encourage teachers to think about their practice, and get them blogging about these thoughts. So, if you're up to the challenge, and you're at a loose end, let me start you off.

The challenge is this: Use the image above (or another of your own choice), incorporate it into your blog, and write a post about learning based on it. It's OK - the photo is mine and it's licensed under Creative Commons so you can use it with attribution. See what you can make of it! (Then pass an image of your choice on to someone else so they can do their own #blimage challenge).

Photo by Steve Wheeler


Blimey, it's #blimage! by Steve Wheeler was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.