Was talking with one of my mentors, Gary Babiuk, about a presentation I'm doing next week on Reggio Emilia inspired science for a conference in Winnipeg. I told him that I was going to find the most tech reticent person in the room and give them my video camera to document everything. Without instructions, of course, just as a child might happen over a misplaced camera and play with it, or flush it down the toilet.
I'm always curious about how teachers get locked into the teacherly form of cognition predicated on preparation and outcomes to the exclusion of ad hoc experimentation... that's what the presentation will be about... that is I won't present anything at all, but will make some resources available with some simple instructions, probably "make it move in interesting and creative ways" and then abdicate responsibility for the outcomes.
Well, they are flying me in, so after doing that for an hour, I'll explain what I did with my students, what they in turn did with children, and then show them some videos before turning everyone back to the materials, and say, "ok, do it again, but now make it really interesting!" And hope that hilarity ensues.
I don't know if I'm going to participate in Blogging Against Disablism Day until I've read more, but I'm pretty sure I will.
Twilight & New Moon: Plagarized?! Her own professor says so!
I found this on the Wrong Planet website: Missing Qld boy rides bike to Sydney
A 15-year-old Brisbane boy with Asperger's syndrome who went missing for two weeks has been found in Sydney, after riding his bike more than 950km down the Pacific Highway....
He had as good a reason as any for the epic journey down the east coast on one of Australia's busiest highways - because he thought he could.
"I just wanted to see if I could get down to Sydney on a bike and how long it was going to take," Ethan told the Nine Network's A Current Affair program on Wednesday.
Ethan said he had planned the adventure since November last year and made no apology for failing to call his mum to let her know he was okay.
"At the time, I didn't want her to know where I was," he smiled.
His mother, Tammy Johnson, said they had to keep putting a little bit of money in his keycard account each day so that he could continue to eat, but not enough so that he could get further away.
He was last captured on closed circuit television about 9.20am (AEST) on March 30, leaving the Robina train station on the Gold Coast.
"Because we had the CCTV footage, we knew he was safe and the fact that he kept using his keycard as he went along we knew where to find him when he hit Sydney," she told AAP.
Based on the discussion, it seems that this is a typical aspie thing to do. :)
Slashdot | Bell Proposing Usage Based Billing points to Bell proposal puts 'unlimited internet' plans in jeopardy, critics say on the CBC web site. There's so much going on now to limit access to what goes on on the internet on a variety of fronts from Amazon's recent gaff, to attacks on Net Neutrality, censorship. There have been some positive stems on DRM and iTunes, but I personally get a sense that there are institutions actively wanting to enclose and restrict access to information.
ISPs like Rogers and Bell capped usage, and Bell is trying to force caps on downloads for others. Perhaps it will be good for Rogers, which also doesn't make me happy. But if we want people to use the net, and then get them all using and paying for it, we've got them right where we want them... they must pay, and we can squeeze. Nice economic model.
Doctors failing to spot Asperger's in girls, warns expert
And this is an interesting interview with autism expert tony attwood: Key Learnings of Autism Thought Leaders
