afraid of the dark?
I was running a counselling training group for Youthline when the lights went out. My co-facilitator was part way through saying "is anyone afraid of"(with one person saying me) the dark. She had her cell phone out and had altered the backlighting faster than the sentence could be completed. Within 2 mins I also had a txt from my home alone teenage daughter saying the lights were out followed by a tearful phone call. The effect of too many horror movies were quickly relieved in being able to say that the lights were out where we were too. No personalized axe murderers, stalkers just for her.
Having learned very quickly from my student, I could advice re the use of the mobile as a torch and she could then find candles.
Being an aging hippy I had missed the learning of how to use cell phones at a concert..." "dangerous little devices these cell phones" Bono, U2
Here's an ANT informed rather gorgeous study by Chris Chesher of U2 creating the milky way using cell phones. The ubiquitous cell phone can:
1. make and receive ph calls (21stC daughter thinks it hilarious that anyone would ever have stayed home all night waiting for a boyfriend to ring)
2. send and receive txts,
3. leave and retrieve messages,
4. a means to check weather,
5. play music,
6. play games,
7. take, send, and or store store photos, videos,
8. a reminder of appointments,
9. my alarm when travelling
10. CSI forensic location tracking device
11. something for the self conscious to do with their hands now that smoking is frowned on,
12. a means of establishing social cred,
13. a means of political activism,
14. creating the milky way
15. and a torch.....
Not surprizing then that teenage daughter couldn't work out how to function without her cell this weekend past- no money on the prepay. I naively suggested the cute invention of landlines, but no, speaking to anyone was to be avoided.
Or of using a computer to send an SMS, no- they wont know whose txting (say what? I know you can add that in the message)
There's an attachment here that I could barely figure (if the hard drive hadnt died on my laptop recently, i dont think i could have empathized at all).
Funny thing electricity - power went out in Foxton when we were presenting to an ICT_PD cluster a week ago - I had to mime in a darkened room to get the images across - dunno but suspect it left something to be desired for the visual learner
ReplyDeletei plan on adding this, the making of stars, to my repertoire of things only possible in big class teaching. There have to be some advantages to big classes- earlier this semester i managed to weave in the Mexican wave as a means of non-verbal appreciation.
ReplyDeleteI am in awe of your determinedly reckless predilection for invention - you seem particularly unsuited to life within the institution - on reflection make this particularly suited - weaving the unexpected into my milestone reporting is what makees my life tolerable.
ReplyDeleteHi Ailsa,
ReplyDeleteHow many blogs do you have?
You must have been amused when you read my blog - I who am anti cellphones!
Aussies and Americans call them mobiles; I can't get used to this.
I look forward to browsing your blog.
Nicola
Hi Nicola, this is the real blog. My Deakin one points people here, my Bebo page ditto, i find it too hard, too schizophrenic to work with a divided self. (Did you notice that, i just split, talked of myself in the first voice then shifted.... its too late).
ReplyDelete