Did Orwell smoke opium in Burma?

George Orwell spent five years working as a police officer during the 1920s before unexpectedly resigning to become a writer. There is compelling circumstantial evidence to suggest he experimented with opium while serving with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma. A series of fortunate events led to deep research into this controversial topic. A signed […]

A Baker’s Dozen: Most Enjoyable Reads of 2017

Reviewing the books read or re-read in 2017, I chose the thirteen (sic) most satisfying reading experiences for the year. In other words, I reflected on how much stimulation and pleasure was felt sitting with the book – and why. If you have the patience, the following slideshow will countdown for this year. The rest […]

#TheirBrilliantCareers #review and my #reading in September

“Actually, most of my previous publications listed in ‘Their Brilliant Careers’ are made up! It’s all part of the joke. The only real one is ‘The Weight of a Human Heart.’” “…as much as I love Australian literature and hope my fondness…comes thru in the book, it does tend to take itself a bit seriously […]

Digging even deeper

The following article was originally published in the May 2017 edition of Family Tree Magazine.  Henry Carroll (1812-74) was largely a mystery when I wrote the original Digging Deeper article exploring his wife’s life published by this venerable magazine in September 2015. I knew Henry was married to Jane Guillod (1804-79) but did not have a marriage or birth certificate […]

HSC English: Letter to NESA

Recently I received a letter from English educators concerned about the changes to the Higher School Certificate. Many readers of this blog are passionate English teachers and I publish the concerns expressed by Associate Professor Jackie Manuel, Dr Don Carter and Janet Dutton below for your consideration. Dear colleagues and friends, We’re writing because we need […]

My #reading December 2016

Why shouldn’t we separate children as young as seven or eight into two groups: those few children who are “gifted and talented” and the many, many more who aren’t? What harm is there, really, in a talent show being named a “talent show”? In my view, the biggest reason a preoccupation with talent can be […]

#BYOD and the @Adobe Creative Cloud #CreateEdu

Students and teachers at NSW State Schools have great opportunities to be creative with access to quality digital tools for free or greatly reduced prices. The Adobe Creative Cloud is available for students via the BYOD Software Hub by simply registering with their @education.nsw.gov.au student email. This will give access to all Adobe’s powerful desktop tools and the mobile apps at no cost. Students are […]

Citizen Science and Big History

National Geographic encourages student citizen scientists to participate in their Genographic Project, which employs cutting-edge genetic and computational technologies to analyse historical patterns in DNA from participants in an effort to better understand our human genetic roots. They have an emerging education focus that encourages schools to participate. Last year I wrote about plans to […]

Reflections on magic

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Arthur C Clarke’s third law of prediction came to mind while walking through wetlands near my home on the way to my local beach. I had woken very early and packed my camera kit for some photography thinking I’d set up well before the dawn. I started […]

Building a school in Cambodia

My friend and colleague, Lynette Lanham, is celebrating a significant birthday early next year by asking her friends and colleagues to support the construction of a school in Cambodia. What a wonderful idea! Lynette travelled to Cambodia last year and was entranced by the beauty of the country while becoming increasingly aware of the ongoing […]

‘Out of Time’ – Top 10 Australian Poems

I discovered, via A Pair of Ragged Claws, that the 702 Book Club on ABC Radio is compiling the Top 10 Australian Poems. For me, lists, whether they be a top 10, 100 or 500, can be catalysts for discussing what a culture still feels is important, relevant and uplifting. Many of us spend pleasant hours finding new books, tunes […]

One Social Web

OneSocialWeb is a ‘free open decentralized social networking platform’ in development and will, undoubtedly, try and capitalise on the widespread dissatisfaction with Facebook’s privacy policies. [vodpod id=Video.3604307&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] more about “YouTube – Why OneSocialWeb?“, posted with vodpod

'Civilisation'

Kenneth Clark‘s television series Civilisation was written and filmed in the year of my birth, 1968. It is not funky, fashionable, contemporary, postmodern or politically correct but I recommend you view or read the book for a stimulating ‘personal view’ of ‘civilisation’. Of course, when you view it now there are passages that make one cringe and would not be broadcast today. It is […]

The first people I followed on twitter…

I have been tweeting for two years. I know many of you have been on twitter for much longer but it is amazing to think how fundamental to my day social media, especially twitter, has become in this relatively short period of time. The first person I followed was @mpesce who presented an interesting talk at […]

Tim O'Reilly Explains the Internet of Things

I really enjoyed this post from Read Write Web, the ‘Internet of Things’, highlighting Tim O’Reilly’s recent keynote. Some viewing. The first video is 5 minutes long and the second is 36 minute but worth your time. After my viewing, I had the following in my mind: Q: What does it all mean for our students, communities and […]

Stick in the Sand

Thanks to Monika Hardy for posting this video. [vodpod id=Video.3359367&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] more about “Stick in the Sand“, posted with vodpod  

Social Media Explained Visually

@achurches tweeted this great visual explanation of social media video today [vodpod id=Video.3353602&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] more about “Social Media Explained Visually“, posted with vodpod  

"What Teachers Make" by TAYLOR MALI

Seth Godin reminded me of this video in his recent post. It always makes me feel slightly uncomfortable, for a wide-range of reasons. You? [vodpod id=Video.1181504&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] more about ““What Teachers Make,” by TAYLOR MALI“, posted with vodpod   Here’s another post about teaching, education, learning and passion worth reflecting on by Seth Godin.

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