I wrote these words in July of 2018. Seven years later, as another cycle comes to a close, I’m publishing them. As someone who works in education, I could tell you of many things. On this blog, I have at times tried. So I won’t tell of you of many things, but instead a story. And not even the full story, but merely the ending of a chapter. I have formally resigned from my position as a leader in a school. My final day here will be on July 13th, 2018. ...
We gathered today as kaimahi of National Library of New Zealand in an all staff hui to pause and acknowledge this time of Matariki mā Puanga. Each of the Directors were asked to reflect on the past year and to share their hopes for the future. As my role is disestablished on 30 June, I took the liberty of treating it as a farewell address of sorts. I had told my team that I would be using the core of the words I shared earlier in May, and made a remark that sequels are never as good as the original. ...
DuoLingo’s CEO, Luis von Ahn on AI being better than human teachers. TL;DR. Computers, and AI (and I’m assuming specifically the proprietary Duolingo models) can teach a student everything. This post from I wrote in 2016 on the false promise of edtech is still valid. It includes a link to an article with this quote from Daniel Willingham. “Above all, let’s remember: Technology may change quickly. Our brains don’t.” Really useful to hold to that quote, because Mr Von Ahn closes with this, oddly non-commital commitment to the change AI will enable in education. ...
I gave this talk to a small group at the ICOT Conference in 2013. To post the talk now in 2025 seems a bit odd, but I think it still holds up. It is of it’s time, in that I reference the early days of Network for Learning (N4L). I did go on to work to work at N4L 2015-2017, and the final talk I gave in that role was this presentation to staff at AUT. ...
I did not plan to be the leader tasked with winding up the DigitalNZ/Digital Experience identity at Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa. These names represent a team of kind, caring, deliberate public servants whose legacy of user experience uplift and providing visibility and access to the collections held by the Library, goes back to 2008. The mahi and those in the current team will continue in new teams as the National Library works closer with Te Rua Mahara within a new organisational structure that is stood up on 1 July 2025. ...
Even though we boarded them up Chandelier’s still flickering here ‘Cause I can’t pretend it’s ok when it’s not It’s death by a thousand cuts Nat asked this back a month ago, and it’s been mulling around in my head. Without taking my eye off the violent reality-denying fuckwits, I just want to note how grateful I am that most people in this country AREN’T violent reality-denying fuckwits. Now, how does the sane majority triumph over a nutty violent minority? Thoughts? Anyone? Bueller? ...
In November of 2021, I was invited to speak at the opening of the Trouble in Paradiseexhibition at the National Library of New Zealand. It was to a small group of invited dignitaries and staff of the Library. Tēnā koutou katoa Ko Nabukelevu te maunga. Ko Drekenikelo te awa. Ko Ōtepoti te ūngā. Ko Blundell te waka. Ko Kong te hapū. Ko ngati Whītī te iwi. Kei te noho au ki Whanganui a Tara. ...
I was invited to speak at a special session at National Library this Monday morning 8th of March, as we reopened our site with karakia and waiata and welcomed staff and the public back. It was a privilege to speak alongside Honiana Love, Ruki Tobin and Rachel Esson. I had not written down my words, so these below are a considered and edited version, of what I sought to say in the moment. As such they are more poetic than what I said in person. But the sense remains the same. ...
21 April 1999, Hammerstein Ballroom, New York. I don’t remember this being a mid-week gig. But apparently it was. This is unique, as it’s the only full recording of what was on the screens during a show on that 1999 tour, with the audio come straight of the mixing desk, the FOH feed. So the audio is pretty decent. It also makes the crowd shots strangely isolating - because the crowd is muted, as there’s no audio from the camera. The source recording is VHS only, so it’s grainy and SD. ...
“So wait. That’s the audio for the Everything Everything live DVD?” Yep. “But is there any video?” Well yeah, but it came from a heap of different sources. From memory - the audio was recorded at this gig. UW had ordered a full multi-track recording truck. I think they’d placed mics in the crowd to get that sense of it as well. We weren’t touring with cameras, so the video recording was almost an afterthought. ...
I took part in this One Team Gov workshop and presented a small talk, just over a year ago - in February of 2020. I had only been in the role as Programme Manager, leading the Pacific Virtual Museum project for about a eight weeks and we hadn’t even started the workshop and design processes for what would become digitalpasifik.org. My presentation was simply a reflection of some of the thoughts that I’d been considering as I prepared to start the work. ...
The song “Isa Lei” is a well known Fijan love song, that is often used to farewell a person or party. Whether the origin of the song is Tongan or Fijian is up for debate, but if you have visited a Fijian resort, or spent any time there you will more than likely have heard the song or had it sung to you. A Youtube search finds a number of versions, including this from the Seekers, Erakah’s cover via Coconet.tv and this version by the Fijian Police band, that I tweeted to farewell and honour Bill Mcnaught, when he retired from the National Library last year. ...
Anne Helen Peterson’s latest midweek edition of her newsletter talks of what it might be involved in being ready, or not ready for the resolution of the pandemic. She makes the point: “… few people are actually making room for an actual strategy. Americans in particular are very, very bad at grieving. We don’t allocate space for personal tragedy and we don’t allocate space for national tragedy, other than brief displays of televised political grief theater, generally with lots of flags. ...
In 2013, I gave at talk at the ICOT conference that was held in Wellington. It was a long and rambling presentation, somewhat vaingloriously on the topic “What data actually matters, and are we paying attention to it?”. I riffed on a visit to Disneyland observing lines for rides, the 48 hours of my daughter’s birth and the signage during our stay in hospital, on David Foster Wallace’s ‘This is Water’, on the unintended consequences of the Moneyball effect and at some level it was meant to be about being a better teacher. ...
“The best time to be is now, and all’s we can say is…Let’s rock!” The origins of Dueling DJs are here in Sacha’s post. The idea for Zooming DJs, is a COVID/#stayhome reboot, with a focus on just having some fun while connecting with friends and whānau. The aim is to all win by having a bit of a smile and laugh. It’s a bonus if you learn about some new tunes. ...
I first saw this video six months ago, and each time I’ve watched I tear up a little. Not just because it’s brilliant, but because it’s got so few views, it’s almost criminal. It is beautiful, fierce and represents a world I want for my daughters. It represents. On so many levels. Now, in a time of COVID, Sia’s lyrics are even more poignant. The economic, social and medical impact of this pandemic will fall disproportionately on the young and the dispossessed. ...
The drive to lift and shift the “business as usual” of public education into the home as a result of COVID-19 and potential lock-down situations is a completely broken and shameful response to the reality of these times By any measure, these are extraordinary times. Jacinda Ardern said “Be strong, be kind, we will be OK.” At no point did she say, “We need SSO credentials to deliver the NZ curriculum into every home, with an app and a Blockchain enabled website to support parents while teachers will need to redesign their pedagogy to deliver lessons via Zoom.” ...
Last Friday, I was privileged to speak at the Sands conference in Christchurch, supporting the Life Events team from DIA. We were there to launch a site designed to support bereaved parents. That site is Whetūrangitia, and I’m very proud of having had a part in how this work was begun and being asked to support it. The theme of the conference was “Rebuilding your Life” and it was a privilege to hear from speakers such as Jane Weekes and David Tipene-Leach as well as midwives, social workers and bereaved parents. ...
Last week at the Lab I volunteered to do a 3x10 talk. I spent about an hour revamping an Ignition talk I’d done back in 2014. This time with GIFs and to reframe it for our context, in the public service. The presentation was then a complete fail, as I neglected to do the right thing and check the tech before my talk started - so I was a bit dark at myself, but decided to rework it into a blog post. Mainly because of all the effort I took in collating the GIFs. ...
In 2005, in my third week of teaching, I had a student join my classroom. This student had a range of high needs and unique characteristics. One of these was that they enjoyed discreetly masturbating during silent reading time, particularly when looking through National Geographic magazines. I must admit to being a little concerned about how to manage this behaviour appropriately, considering the mana of the student and with a desire to maintain a safe and inclusive classroom culture. ...