Meme: Passion Quilt

I'd like to thank Theo Kuchel for tagging me with the Passion Quilt Meme and I'll do my best to fulfil the requirements and hope those I list below might try to respond like I have done.

This picture was taken by myself of my daughter playing with a Playstation. And I call it SOCIAL NETWORKING WITH A DIFFERENCE. The picture is special to me because of what it shows.... and the circumstances behind it being taken.

My then 5yr old daughter and 10yr old son had been playing on their PS2 and my son decided he wanted a break, but Shona didn't. Euan came through to chat to me and to use the computer, whilst Shona stayed playing on the PS2. She kept shouting through to Euan to play with her, but he was having way too much fun on the computer to go back and play with her.

All of a sudden I hear thudding and jumping and running from the other room so I go to sneak a peek at what she's up to. And camera in hand I took that pic.

You see she and Euan had been playing with their PS2 & EyeToy, which they had set up for 2 players and the reason she was shouting to Euan was because she wanted to still play with someone. When he wasn't having any of it, she resorted to someone she could rely on....her favourite toy, Lamby, which you can see held in her hand.

The reason her arm is held high is so that Lamby can appear in the camera and hence be part of the game she was playing and if you are observant you can see Lamby's face on the screen.

Shona was having a whale of a time playing with Lamby and moving her (Lamby is female) in front of the camera.

So, I see this image and the story behind it as a metaphor for the 'friends' that social networking sites have us connect with. In a way Shona showed that her social network, her brother and her favourite toy, were equally valuable in the game-playing and that if she couldn't have her first choice to play with, she could have her second choice.

I believe this sort of improvisation shows the ingenuity prevalent with many children these days with regard to the use of technology, and helps back up my faith in Marc Prensky's 'Digital Natives' argument. It's this willingness of kids to improvise and try things out that gave rise to the Hole in the Wall project, a stimulus for The One Laptop per Child Project.

The same sort of thought processes occured to me to be behind Johnny Lee's brilliantly inventive use of the WiiMote to create amazing tools making hi tech gadgetry more affordable. Furthermore Dave Eggers' brilliant, and inspiring TEDWish acceptance talk shows the same sort of ingenuity when using a Pirate Supply Store, or Spy Store as 'fronts' to his amazing inner city education program, 826 Valencia. And ultimately Eggers worldwide project should beckon to us all to do what we can to 'shine our light on a young person to let them see how good they really are.'

What touched me most about Shona's improvised gaming was her insistence and excitement that Lamby had won many of the events they had played and she promised me she 'hadn't let Lamby win'. Bless!

I might add to this Blog post later but wanted to get my response online to show Theo I was up to the task. I'd also like to thank Theo for helping stimulate the Blogging Gland in me to start working again.

The Rules

1. Think about what you are passionate about teaching your students.


2. Post a picture from a source like FlickrCC or Flickr Creative Commons or make/take your own that captures what YOU are most passionate about for kids to learn about…and give your picture a short title.
   
3. Title your blog post “Meme: Passion Quilt” and link back to this blog entry.


4. Include links to 5 folks in your professional learning network or whom you follow on Twitter/Pownce etc.

And so I ask the following people to repsond if they have not already done so:
Merlin John

Amy Palko

Daniel Needlestone

Vicki Davis

Liz B Davis