Posts Tagged ‘story’
Once upon a time
Posted on: September 3, 2020
A good story should have a moral at the end of it, even if the story was cooked up for comedy.
The comedienne in the video above “wrote” a book which had two halves. Each half had very different endings. The acceptable half concluded with forgiveness while the socially incorrect half ended with revenge.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the children who listened to the story seemed to prefer the story of revenge. If the book was real, some might call for its ban for promoting violence and revenge.
There is a similar logic among technophobes. For them, current technologies are inherently harmful despite their utility. They are technologically deterministic in that they assume that technology shapes behaviour. They conveniently forget that our attitudes and behaviour also shape how we use the technology.
I say this because people can see the point of “screen time” (e.g., video conferencing for work and school) now. This is despite calls in recent years for limits for screen time.
As they Zoom remotely, naysayers inadvertently apply what proponents of technology have said all along — it is not how much technology time you spend (quantity), but what exactly you do with it (quality) that matters.
In effect, you could spend a large part of the day interfacing with a screen. But looking only at the total time and not the activities like communicating, researching, or cooperating focuses on the wrong part of the story.
In the not too distant future when might say that once upon a time we accidentally turned emergency learning into e-learning. When things supposedly return to normal, will we forget what we learnt?
BTS: Behind the Stories
Posted on: May 20, 2020
Every now and then I share two videos that I just watched: One is a product of collaboration and the other provides insights on the processes behind that product.
Then I go on to say how those of us in schooling and education can learn from such videos. For example, evaluations of worth should not just be about products; they should be about processes as well.
Video source
The video above featured the efforts of four producers of CNA Insider. Recently, the video series focused on the ordeals of our guest workers, rises in domestic violence, and NGO efforts during the pandemic lockdown.
The BTS video revealed the stories behind the storytellers. It was a reminder that the human narrative is the tie that binds.
When applied to schooling and education, we might ask ourselves what stories we craft. Are they more of the same? Or are they journeys of change, failure, and small joys? Which stories are worth telling? Which stories live on and inspire?
P&P LNY edition
Posted on: January 22, 2020
That is my short form for Product and Processes, Lunar New Year edition.
This was the product — a short story shot on the iPhone 11 Pro.
This was some insights into some of the processes that created the product.
You might cynically point out that this was Apple’s blatant effort to keep advertising the iPhone 11 Pro to the largest market in the world. You would be right.
You might also see how important it is to be aware of the processes behind the product. You might learn to be reflective.
So which would you rather be — right or enlightened — in the Year of the Rat?
How about which?
Posted on: February 15, 2018
Lessons on critical thinking can come from unexpected places.
One such place is a YouTube video that theorises how the Tide pod challenge was perpetuated by traditional broadcast media and not social media as many presume.
For the uninitiated, the Tide pod challenge was a plainly stupid one — people bit into detergent pods and some needed medical help as a result.
If nature took its course, the people who did this would have been removed from the gene pool and mankind would be better for it. But instead of predictably blaming social media or calling out the pod eaters, the creator of the video analysed how the broadcast media played up a dying story.
This video provides a key lesson in communication.
One oft quoted lesson is that it is not just WHAT you say, but also HOW you say it. That is a smart thing to learn. A wise thing to learn is that WHO you say it to and WHEN you say it also matter.
But perhaps the most important question to consider is: WHICH story do you choose to tell?
The broadcast media had the opportunity to report accidental overdosing of vitamins by children — something that happened more often than Tide pod eating — but it chose to focus on stupid human behaviour. The bright and shiny stories distracted from what was important.
Deciding which story to propagate is important. It precedes the what, how, who, and when. This decision deals with the WHY of storytelling.
This is why I choose to focus on education instead of schooling or training; flipped learning over the flipped classroom; video games for thinking and value systems instead of just content; empowerment over engagement.
All the latter examples are more current and acceptable. However, they are the lower hanging fruit that distract from the more challenging but also more worthwhile fruit higher up.
Looks for grannies
Posted on: September 10, 2016
I am not sure why this memory from 20-plus years ago resurfaced.
I remembered a phone call with a friend who said that her grandfather was “more hip” than she was because he knew all the “nooks and crannies at Orchard Road”. Thanks to a lapse in attention, I misheard the message as he “looks for grannies at Orchard Road”. Hip indeed!
Some leaders mistake communication for dissemination of information. Simply transmitting is not enough. It is just as important to clarify the signal from the noise.
When consulted on systemic change, I focus on the need to articulate messages and stories. When you articulate, you connect, move, and get feedback. You do not stop at buy-in; you try to create ownership.
Using numbers to tell a story
Posted on: June 5, 2015
I hate people who only play the numbers game or hide behind numbers.
But I admire people who can use numbers to tell a compelling human story.
This video is about the latter and not to be missed. Watch all of it. It will be time well invested whether you learn something about the human waste that war is or telling a great story with numbers.
London on a lark
Posted on: January 29, 2015
I bracketed my trip to BETT 2015 in London with some exploring of the city. But instead of planning an itinerary in great detail, I painted broad strokes and adjusted to the circumstances.
Today I share a story fueled by photos on Picasa. I had previously tweeted some photos and tagged only a few with #edsg so as not to spam the channel.
But there are some things that photos cannot capture. When Twitter eventually rolls its video feature out to me, I will share a few timelapse videos there.
There was one thing I did not get around to tweeting because the phone signal cut out on me. I had intended to tweet: Very little English in England, particularly on public transport. London reminded me of New York City in this respect, as did the punishing stairs and honest griminess of train stations.
This trip was like a lark flying reconnaissance. I hope to return, this time with family in tow, to explore some more.
12-year digital story
Posted on: April 27, 2012
Video source
This is a digital story that has taken 12 years so far to make. The years fly by in less than three minutes.
The story is told by Dutch filmmaker and photographer Frans Hofmeester. He also has another time-lapse video of his 9-year-old son. The story is likely to continue for as long as the father and the kids have the patience and persistence to keep at it.
Digital stories: They tend to take more time, effort, and thought to make. But they can be very engaging and leave lots of room for critique, interpretation, and reflection.
Another dot in the blogosphere? 