ideas
I love going along to the TAFE NSW Western Sydney Institute Showcases because they always have demonstrations of innovative uses of technology. It is great to hear practising teachers share how they are using technology to improve outcomes for their students and also to make their own jobs easier. Often
ideas
Had an interesting conversation with some friends recently and it got me thinking about what we work for. In Western societies many of us work, in addition to money and sustenance, for self-actualisation (in a Maslowian sense). Many of us pick work that is meaningful to us and which meets
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I've been reflecting on the people who've influenced my life. The ones who have shaped my thoughts and helped me to work out what kind of person I am and who I want to be. There's a lot of them. They range from family
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On Wednesday evening I attended the retirement dinner for a mathematics teacher whom I've known and respected for many years. I will not mention him by name as he's a very shy and private individual. This gentleman and his wife migrated to Australia over twenty years
community
As a child I read a story where the main character wanted to be a 'real boy' and not just a wooden puppet. And this choice between being a real person - who connects with other people and things in an open and organic way - and being
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There has been a lot of talk in the social media and web 2.0 world about trust as the base currency of this new world (e.g. Trust Economies: Investigation into the New ROI of the Web). But where there is a currency there is also the possibility of
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After recent thoughts about leadership - just when I thought it was all sorted out in my mind - a buddy, @KerriAnne, made the point that some great leaders are truly dreadful managers. And she's right, very rarely do we see the combination of a great leader and
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Here at the Future Summit 2009 in Melbourne - interesting attendees (lots of people in suits though ;) You can check out the Flickr photos and videos & see the twitter stream on Twemes
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This news item from Techcrunch - hat tip to @jowyang for the link - makes me conscious of how precious are our freedoms of speech and association. People fought hard in the past to achieve those freedoms for us and we need to protect them. Some bloggers in other countries
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There is some really thought provoking stuff over at esr.ibiblio.org - Armed & Dangerous - (esr.ibiblio.org/index.php?p=184 full story here), an excerpt follows below: "I believe, but don?’t know how to prove, a much stronger version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis than
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Another interesting snippet re international aid and Africa: Tech Central Station - False Hope "Thus, the international aid system has essentially served to reward policies that slow down development, whatever the initial intentions of its advocates. Under such circumstances, the implementation of the rule of law in Africa, necessary
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"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy) One little problem with Livy's idea is that a last hope may still lead to a stupid and unnecessary war. Many wars seem