Digital distractions.

My digital devices distracts me and they help me. My devices anoyes me and they bloody excites me. They keep my awake and somehow away from my creativity and they make me so sleepy and yet, they help me built new skills and new areas to be creative.

This all sounds like a total mess.

On this iPad, I have an app that gives me a daily creative kick. It is called Oflow and I am fair to say that I like it.

I do not use it every day though, even I have set some notification to trigger me every day at a certain time. But when I do, I always open it with excitement to see what it has for me today.

Today it said that I should:

“Grab a timer and set it for a few minutes. Then disconnect the Internet, turn off your phone, and get away from any digital distractions that could prevent you from working.“

But my digital devices are making me work. And most of my work are on digital devices. But maybe that is the problem. But do I see it this way? At the moment, that is.

I would like to find my way back to painting and drawing again, old school like, not digital. I do less of that now than I've ever done previously in my long life, but, I do more writing. Digital writing that is. I. This way my digital devices are helping me, quite a lot I have to say.

If I were to write all this in old school ways, I would never have made it. I am too slow and have too many complexes about my handwriting, my spelling and my grammar.

Yes - or no - I am not a native English speaker or writer and before I came to Hong Kong to work at an international school where the language of instruction is English -with my English mother tongue wife - I lived and worked in Germany, which BTW isn't my mother tongue either.

In Germany I hardly wrote anything. There my complexes about writing, spelling and especially the grammar made my efforts crumble. I just had so much anxieties of writing anything in the German language.

Speaking it was another ballgame. I wasn't completely correct and did make many mistakes with the gazillions of grammatical rules and irregularities in that language, however, when you speak it, it seems easier to cover your mistakes and camouflage it as a foreign charming accent or style.

Maybe if I'd had the technology I have now - back then - could have helped me with these problems because that is exactly what they do now, when I write in English, and my devices are helping me with spelling and some grammar. I think it would have.

That is not now and now is where my focus is, now.

My focus is on writing. I want to develop and become a good writer. And to do that. I believe my devices helps me by making it accessible and joyful to do. Not only for the devices ability to help me with spelling and grammar, but also by offering a platform to publish it. And to archive it so I in fact can follow the development of my own writing.

Seen like this I think my devices has helped me grow.

The distraction lies in the fact that everything is so easily accessible and I can jump from one website with crap or gold in a matter of seconds. I must say I can get stuck in Twitter. However, again I see that as development because I always learn something new on Twitter, and I spent more time reading random exciting stuff and then gets caught up by another link or account.

And these things clearly distracts me from painting and drawing in the old school way. I have started to do some digital art using some painting and drawing app, but not enough.

So if I one day decide to do like the “Oflow” app told me to do today, I need to get out all of my big pieces of paper and maybe the unfinished work from when I had my last painting period, 8 years ago.

Shocking. Distracted by technology.

When I think about it, then it might be true that my devices keeps me away from getting my hands dirty with paint and brushes.

Ok, tomorrow I will follow todays "Oflow" tip.

Places of inspiration.

How many times have I felt a great wave of inspiration come over me?

And where does it normally happen?

Art exhibitions. Galleries. Out running. Being bored. On holiday. Sometimes on the train when I see an advertisement, a good one I need to say.

How many times has this inspiration resulted in me in fact creating something?

Ups. Not too often. I tend to have that feeling that this is something I can do when I get time. But when is that, when do I in fact get time? 

When I'm old?

But I'm kind of old now, yet still I think I can realise all those great ideas when I get older and get more time. And should this time come once, then I'm afraid I do not know what and where all this inspiration and those fabulous ideas were and where they went.

But then I just get new ideas, I think. Now. So what's the point of remember those other ones when they don't get made to reality anyway. Maybe it is better that they are all forgotten, as then I can't be devastated that I wasn't the one to actually create this and that.

How many unfinished paintings have I not sketched up? How many of my great plots for children's books or adults books have I not written down?

I still remember two good subjects for two different projects, but how long? 

So, from inspiring places I caught the downward spiral and fell into my own self pity and tried to make jokes about something that in fact is quite sad. I do have many ideas, but so fucking few of them actually get to see the light of the day.

That has to change. 

Now is the time to do some of all of these things I proclaim that I can. Now is the time, even I still do not think I have the time to it and don't feel old -enough. Yet.

Anyway, where are those places again where I get inspired?

Maybe it isn't so much “those places”? Maybe it is just one place, and that is within myself when I feel strong, free and happy = inspired.

It is all within my self.

Last passenger on the bus.

I am the last passenger on the bus. I sit in the back seat in the right corner of the bus. Behind the driver. It is a Toyota 16 seater minibus. In Hong Kong there are tons of these racing across the whole territory taking people from place to place.

It is my chosen transport when I leave work to go home and sit here, writing on my iPad for this blog.

The bus is number 807 B and is on route from HOng along University station to Mak Pin roundabout in Sai Kung country park. That is in fact just one stop from our village. One stop and about 200 meters. Well, stop is not the right definition. Minibuses doesn't really have any stops as such, they stop everywhere a passenger wants to get on or get off.

I hope to get on this mini bus from Wu Kai Sha train station which is at the end of the Ma On Shan train line. The bus should depart from there every 15 minutes, so there I stand waiting and waiting. Sometimes 30 minutes. And no bus.

I am bored. And then I think and get ideas. Often I don't because I just want to get home and try to listen and hope to hear the characteristic low humming of one of the mini busses approaching. Is it the right one going the right way.

All of this will require a little more explanation.

There is two kinds of 807 minibuses and both operating from Hong Kong university station. One is my one, the 807 B, and then there is the other one, which is the 807 K. Like I said, my one - 807 B - Goes to and from my village. The other one - 807 K - from a much bigger village closer to what is the beginning of the “big town area” around the settlements from MA On Shan and down to Sha Tin.

Che Ha village, I think it this bigger village is called. Anyway. This bus is much more frequent than my one because there are much more people going there, but because of so many people living there and wanting to get there from the train at University station, they also take the 807 B bus, because it also passes that bigger village. If then the bus is full and nobody wants to get of at the station where I am waiting and needing a lift, the bus will surpass that stop as no seats are available and nobody wants to get of. Therefor, why should the driver then go in there?

For me, of corse, this is mega annoying. I could go all the way home with that bus, but many of the people sitting in it and filling it up, will only go maybe 3 or 4 stops further than this station, and then the bus will be empty all the way through the curves and the forest to my village and the roundabout at Mak Pin. But I am not in it. I. Fact no one is.

That is why I am sitting there now, all alone on the bus. Tonight I was lucky and some people wanted to get of at the train station where I wait for that bus, and then it had room for me. 3 stops later everybody else has got off, and there I sit, in the furthest back corner of the bus and the driver will take me very quick home to my village.  

Can you "hack" everything?

Normally we see hackers as unwanted individuals, and maybe rightly so.

But not so much more. The word hacking or to hack something has got a complete new meaning. Today we gladly talk about hacking our life's or "life hacks for kids" or hacking this piece of furniture and change this and that.

Hacking has become a trend washed ashore by the tsunami caused by the maker movement.

And mainly I see that as a good thing. Creativity and a value for manual skills have found its way back into our education and then hopeful later in to all areas of our society.

But, can you hack everything? Well, if you hack it then I guess you can. Or you can because you hack the language and hack just becomes another word for imitating, copying with modifications or simply inspiration.

This photo for instance. I say that I've hacked that.

 

My profession is maybe also a kind of hack as I have a title that sounds like this “Instructional Technology Coach”. This wasn't on any job description just 7 or 8 years back. And funny enough, maybe that isn't even my job any more or my title as now I am doing more coaching about "making" or even then "hacking", as that is a lot what I do, teaching students to look closer at the things in this world and see their parts.

Back to this photo then. The original I saw on huge billboards at Hong Kong international airport. They were advertising for the luxury bag brand "Coach". I really liked the design and as the hacker I am, I saw the opportunity to hack this and use it a bit ironic for myself and my colleagues and simple "hack" this design and use it for our website or our name cards.

An excerpt of my one hundred and one ideas...

Number 27:

Create a platform for student news agencies.

So why this idea?

I want to create authentic and engaging learning for students when they make "mock" news programs.

Example: our I&S department have a unit every year where the year 8's are creating this sort of news program. All sound and good and 21st century like. They have to have a local start, a regional story and a story with some international content.

Here comes the problems. The local story can be fine and they can make all shooting themselves and use (what they have of) media literacy to create that. The regional and the international stories is again something else entirely. Here they scan the big news agencies and tend to download some footage from YouTube to get footage and content. Yes they write the story and the narration, but is that engaging for them and is it authentic learning?

Nada. There's no agency and no empowerment and nothing that comes from the students own sphere and is still some adult things brought upon them.

They should be empowered to find their own stories about things they can relate to and are engaging for them and they should be encouraged to contact other students in countries and cities where some "breaking news” take place

And the one million dollar question?

How are they going to do that?

Well, like in the real world the news stations are relying on a bunch of different news agencies and bureaus that can provide them with footage and information from the burning points around the world. They pay for that and they pay to be able to use the footage and the stories provided by those agencies. (One of the perhaps most known is Reuters bureau).

 

However, this is not the only way. All news stations and agencies also participate in networks and are helping each other with footage and stories, so for example if something are happening in Argentina, not all TV stations has the founding to send a team there, so they collaborate with a local station and they provide the footage and background news.

We are now in 2016, we are 16 years into the 21st century and many - if not most- schools in the world can connect and collaborate via the world wide Internet. Many and again if not the most of schools have access to digital video and audio equipment and hopeful all -or at least many should have touched the skills called the 21st century skills whereas media literacy is one of them. This should mean that they in fact could provide footage and background information on news and stories in their town, region and country.

So basically the idea is that schools could start to play “news agencies” for each other and share footage for each other to use in "mock" news programs.

Say that our students in Hong Kong are creating a “mock” news program and they find that something they find interesting and feel like exploring are happening somewhere in India, they can then connect to students there and get background information and even interview and the students in India could provide relevant and authentic footage and share that using either google drive or some other cloud based sharing platform.

With this, you will empower young people and engage them in a real authentic learning experience because they are adopting real life workflows and communicating with real people who are like them about stories and themes that really interests them.

So the conclusion of idea no 27:

I am going to initiate our very own little RDC News Agency, Hong Kong and offer other schools in our network news stories and footage about news and stories from Hong Kong and maybe southern China.

Art- Photo -work & collage.

 

Artwork in progress.

Because I have decided that no one is ever looking at this site, I might as well post some of my so called artwork in progress.

 

Don't know yet what to call this so called "Sin Titulo" artwork.  

If you put a word after another word, it is called writing.

A long while ago I challenged my self to post one post of writing a day on this blog.

Now it is time to reflect.

I did keep it up for some time. Then came a long an nice summer holiday and I lost it.

Such holiday could have been the time and the quiet comfort to nurture such ambitions. New horizons every day. New inspiration, time and discipline, and purpose.

Purpose. Is the thing. Purpose!

What is the purpose of writing?

Well, to entertain, or?

What about educate?

No matter what, writing needs an audience and I don't think I have one.

So what is the purpose?

Is it just for my self and for my self esteem that I can say that I am disciplined enough to write 5000 characters every day to post to a blog that no one reads, or is it because I think I develop and become a better writer.

Maybe it is both.

But how do u know if I become a better writer when I don't get any feedback?

Maybe I should start to promote my blog with all this writing?

Do I dare. Have I got the - excuse my pardon- bullocks to do that?

Or I should change the subjects of my writing. Now I write obscure nothingness - a nice word I learned four years ago when I visited LA for the first time ever and there visited a museum of contemporary art. I liked it, however, someone had written in a review somewhere something like the gallery was “filled with a load of nothingnes”- a post it here on this blog that no one knows about or have completely forgotten because I stopped using it many many years ago.

At the beginning it was set up for a mediocre however charismatic amateur football team from Dresden Neustadt in Germany. Now I have hacked it for my exoteric writing project, and maybe I have done it because it is a safe place that none of my colleagues knows anything about and can't find because the title isn't in English.

Should anyone find it, it will be a coincident. And whoever should stumble upon it and read it, they won't know me and because they don't know me they might read it, but not care to give feedback.

Should I then change my subjects to something professional and then promote my writing via Twitter and that way maybe be able to guide a couple readers to my writing?

But what if they discover all this crap and then can't take that serious that I want them to take serious?

Ok, then I delete all of this stuff and start all over with new content.

What a shame that will be. Or?  

Italian gesture and digital addiction.

If I were an Italian man, I would probably do the “what the fuck are you trying to do to me” gesture and face right now.

The reason: well, now for instance, I am writing this in a wee book by hand, using a pen like in the good olden days and that is fine. Even that I am in a group and we we are sitting in a restaurant resting our stomachs after having lunch, however, I am completely in my own thoughts writing this. I am not communicating or even really listening to anyone in the group as I am scribbling away with my pen in my little book.

It is fine though, it seems. No one -not even my tai tai- is mentioning anything about me being rude, not even blaming me for being antisocial or being a participant in the group discussions or being entertaining.

Now, if I took out my phone and started to write my stuff digitally or do some picture editing, I would be accused of being an addict to digital technology and be out of balance with my digital - non digital life and be pinpointed as being antisocial.

So if you can imagine me doing that Italian gesture, then here it comes.  

Sham Sui Po district in Hong Kong

 

How on earth....?

Have spend the last couple of hours reading some new research about MakersEd that I need to read for a Harvard Course I am taking.

And I can't remember a single thing. Well, I can remember some bits and pieces, mostly because I highlighted those bits, copied them and made some kind of connection with that content. But that's it. I can't really tell what I've been reading.

I remember this phenomenon from back in time when I was studying at university. Non fictional academically text just pass through my brain. It's like my brain cannot take any of it serious and therefore nothing get stuck. It is like it can net engage with those BIG words and complicated sentences. Maybe that is why I too make so complicated sentences.

What am I supposed to do with this or what can I do?

I want to do this course and the subject is very interesting and extremely important to me and to all learners around the world. How am I to do a good job with this course if I cannot remember shit I read about it?

Are there any kind of reading exercises or clever strategies for a person like me. It is like my mind just explodes into a huge mind map and a single word I pick up suddenly leads me to be thinking about everything else than the text.

Then I stop and try to concentrate. Then I go back a few sentences and start all over in the hope that I will recognise a little bit of what I've read. But nothing.

It is scary. Anyone out there with the same feeling or anyone who could give me a suggestion what I could do about it?

Is it my mindset maybe? Can it be that I have a fixed mindset that dictates me that I cannot complete this course as I cannot read those bloody texts?

Maybe that's it? How on earth am I then going to get through a course like that and much worse, how am I going to be able to function as a coach for MakersEd when I can't formulate one single clever sentence about it or link back to some of the research that's done into it?

So, clever people ou there, what can I do about that?