Dare to educate Afghan girls - Shabana Basij-Rasikh

I know this blog is about Education its aim to demonstrate that striving to improve and inspire, to enhance and progress education is a vocational life changing journey for the educator in training. This blog therefore is is reflective about my journey to become an educator, my journey that encompasses the use of information technology. As part of this assignment I have been asked to write a blog on an inspirational Ted Talk. I think possibly the aim was to show an inspirational educator, one who is innovative with regards to modern methods of education. One who is cognisant with the advancement of the twenty first century and  and its relationship to the education of the children and lifelong learners who inhabit this age.

However I have chose the Tedtalk by Shabana Basij-Rasikh: Dare to educate Afghan girls. In this the privilege of the right to education is unequivocally discussed.

 The right to education is not questioned in the Western world yet there are many cultures that see education for women as illegal and unworthy. Through the use of Information technology the power of the first hand experience of Shabana Basij-Rasikh and other inspirational women like her are delivered right into our interactive world.  The fight for education under the rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan is articulated and emotionally delivered into our consciousness. 

In the case of videos like this the firsthand experience of Shabana and others such as Malala Yousafzai  (who was shot on her way to school)

the learning environment is enriched and emotion demonstrated in a way that purely discussion could never convey. The passion for the right to education is in itself education, and a privilege to witness.

Tagxedo and Snipping tool magic

Thank you Mandy for introducing me to these handy little things. Tagxedo I have discoverd will create itself from words on a web page of it will allow you to create your own. This will be very good for brainstorming creatively and adding interest and variety to resourses. The snipping tool is my new best friend .....and who says that technophobes can't see the light occasionally.....

Mobile Technology: a pervasive or welcome technology ?????? 

 I have to say that me and technology are not easy bedfellows...... I use a mobile phone and have done for many years. I resisted mobile phones when they first arrived because I felt that if I needed to use the phone I could just go and find one. Looking back that is a quaint idea with no thoughts on progression. I slowly came round to the idea that mobile phones were useful. I could now get hold of family if I needed to. As mobile phones advanced I didn't adapt easily. So i'm sure you will find it easy to understand from this confession that it has taken me a while to consider mobile technology as an aid to anything. I am not a dinosaur, you may think it.... I am just a technophobe. I find new concepts frightening and difficult to remember. So being asked to use mobile technology for education on my part is not condicsive to effective and confident learning.  I have a tablet which I struggle with, a laptop that has begrudgingly become my friend and a smart phone which is the bain of my life. I have used global posistioning devices in the form of vehicle trackers in a former life (employment) and refuse point blank to use wireless credit card payment.

Within education you can use mobile devices to connect to the internet even when you are not in the learning environment. I have done this frequently and found it to be very useful it has allowed for flexibility in my education increasing convienience and efficacy of time. It has helped me engage with my learning creating a sense of student centred learning. Additionally by using mobile devices I can access the latest research, news and contact my peers for collaborative learning

However mobile technology can also be a hindrance. By storing all or indeed any of your information on a mobile device  you are assigning it to an electronic memory rather than commiting it to your own. Long live the brain.....and by that I mean mine not one made of chips....

"Woman is the other of man, animal is the other of human, stranger is the other of native, abnormality the other of norm, deviation the other of law-abiding, illness the other of health, insanity the other of reason, lay public the other of the expert, foreigner the other of state subject, enemy the other of friend" (Bauman 1991: 8).

 George Carlin - a humorous take on the complexity of the time we're living in, how we are changing our identities, a liquidness to all our selves and humanity

Hehe I have just saved my first site to delicious. It is a good feeling. I've got a long way to go but I am starting on the techno journey.

Collaborative blog on Counselling Resource

Hi again folks,
I have been on a mission to find some blogs that may be either interesting or inspirational to the field of counselling, psychology and wellbeing. If you have read my earlier blogs you will know that this blogging lark is very new to me and trying to even search for other blogs has been a project in its own right. However I have found a blog that is jammed with interesting  articles which are, peer reviewed by a team of international academics of note such as  Dr. Greg Mulhauser , Dr. Joseph M Carver and a personal favourite and  inspiration of mine Professor Colin Feltham ; the blog is also accredited by the Health on the Net Foundation. The blog in question is Counselling Resource (Fig 1).
           
                           

 http://counsellingresource.com/lib/therapy/aboutcouns/

Fig 1.

This blog not only contains academic articles; it also covers assorted individually identified mental health topics accessed through easy to follow hyperlinks.
The blog has 8 pages: Therapy; Quizzes; Symptoms; Blog; Support our work; Find help; and research. Each of which is identifiable through page tabs. The research page contains book reviews; a resource library for psychotherapy and counselling; summaries of contemporary mental health and psychology headlines; web resources and information on clinical trials and mental health medications.
The blog is user friendly, articulate, concise. It features mental health and psychological news feeds which are updated numerous times throughout the day. The only negative thing that I can say about this site is that I have spent far more time looking at it than I actually have time to spare. This site is a labyrinth of information and genuinely useful links to other related areas of interests. The site is written using clear jargon free language making it accessible to non-professionals. It is ideal for those who are interested in finding out more about psychology and mental health issues; with links and tips to for finding counsellors and therapists.which may be suited to their own personal needs .

The site was established in 2002 but i'm sorry folks other than providing the address for it I cannot tell you who the host is i.e. blogger, tumblr etc as my techy knowledge is somewhat limited. As the title of this blog suggest this is a collaborative piece and my partner in crime for this collaboration is Bethany Elias. Beths' blog discusses the versatility and accessibility of the blog, highlighting the jargon free informative nature of the diverse range of mental health topics covered.

Until the next time folks happy reading