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The LIVE operation (Llyn IVeragh Ecomuseums)

This week I am starting a new position, Research Support Officer, Local Operations Coordinator – with the School of BEES/ERIS, UCC. The LIVE operation (Llŷn IVeragh Ecomuseums) is a multi-partner venture that will establish an EcoMuseum in western Iveragh, Co. Kerry, and will develop a new pillar for the #Ecoamgueddfa of the Llŷn Peninsula in Wales.

LIVE will promote tourism using the EcoMuseum model and through co-operative marketing of natural and cultural capital assets to bring tourists into the regions outside of the traditional peak tourist seasons, enhancing the consequential socio-economic benefits to the coastal communities.

https://irelandwales.eu/projects/live-llyn-iveragh-ecomuseums

Part of the Ireland Wales Cooperation Programme, that has seen numerous projects happen over the past few years. I’ve been following a few on Twitter with interest, I am delighted I will now get to work on one of the babies of this programme. The main focus of the operation is to maximize the potential of local natural heritage as a tourism asset, “developing and enhancing the quality and impact of ecotourism in the participating coastal communities”.

As the project progresses, I’m going to write a series of generalized blogs about EcoMuseums, sustainable tourism, research tools, etc. I won’t be writing about the project particulars, unless they are publicly advertised (GDPR and all that), but an overview, more of a digital diary, where I can log tools and methods used to research and develop this project.

I am delighted to be taking part in this project, and very excited about the potential of this EcoMuseum for South Kerry


Lean UX

diagram of the Lean UX process

I’ve just handed in my final assignment for a Certificate in Lean UX, with the Institute of Technology Tralee. This course was due to be run in situ, earlier in the year, but due to a number of reasons, including the Covid19 pandemic, it was rescheduled to run remotely over 2 jam packed remote workshops, with a serious amount of research work to build up a case study assignment.

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Diploma in Software Development

graphic contining several file extensions

The past 7 months have been somewhat of a crazy blur. Not because of the unprecedented Covid19 pandemic we are living through, but because I have been crazy busy, adding new tools to my digital toolbox.

Last year, by October, I had finished 2 big contracts, that were my bread and butter money. Even before the pandemic outbreak started, I realised there just wasn’t enough work for me locally, and I needed to reach out into the remote working world more. I am used to working remote, but the majority of my clients are local. So I decided to take a week’s break, and really sit down and think about my future.

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Coders Tears

bottle and bog of writers tears whiskey edited to say coders tears
In remembrance of the ‘Great Faulty Disk Quota Mechanism’ of 2020, a Gitpod outage, that caused thousands of unsuspecting coders to loose a few hours of their work. Thankfully I was more in design mode than coding, so I just lost a wee bit of work, but the tears of my fellow coders were felt.
 
The first thing that came to my mind was ‘Writers Tears’ whiskey, as there is nothing more likely to drive you to wanting a stiff drink, than loosing your work.  I made this image as a joke to send to my fellow coders. They were not quite amused (give it time).
 
 
 
 

Has Digital Technology made us less curious?

using a toy lizard to demonstrate a pendulum

There have been 2 events this week that made me think about digital technology. [Digital Technology in a vague modern term, from smart phones to digital cooking scales].

First I must explain the picture above. This is my attempt at explaining a pendulum to my 11yr old son. He wanted to know why I was going on and on about women’s rights and marches and other womeny things these days, and I was trying to explain that long-term oppression can cause an equally wild reaction. As in the swing of a pendulum. Women have been oppressed for so long, we need revolutionary action (non-violent subversive stitching, is as revolutionary as I get) to get the pendulum swinging against patriarchy. It will swing wildly at first, and then, naturally find its own balance. I believe this of all kinds of oppression fall under Newtons Third Law –For every action there is an equal and opposite re-action. And/or perhaps karma.

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Finished!

generic image of hats being thrown in the air for a graduation celebration

The long delay between this post and the previous post is because I finished my MA in Digital Culture! (Successfully, thankfully). I handed in my Thesis, and then the following day hopped on a plane for a few weeks holidays.

Since returning, I have been to a few conferences, started working, researching, and have had several interesting conversations, that should have been blogged here. I do want to keep the blog going as its a great method for researching, writing and putting thoughts to keyboard. So, I will catch up in due course.

 


Learning as Hyperbolic Chaos

image of scribbles

Just a few weeks before my MA thesis was due, I was researching for diagrams of learning models, in particular related to Digital Literacies. I had an idea of a model in my head, but I couldn’t seem to find one that suited what I was trying to say.  I wanted to find a learning model that was not angular,  A > B, or cyclical, A > B > C > A > B > C…… Of course, new lines of thought, are not a good idea in the last few weeks of a thesis, but it was a nagging one and I had to explore it, albeit briefly. In my thesis, it was just a brief paragraph.

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(Digital Literacies) A Pedagogy

image of a hybrid unicorn with words hybrid pedagogy

The cultivation of learning is a cognitive and emotional and social activity [Illeris 2002]

Investigation and identification of digital literacy activities, since the inception of the world wide web and personal computers, has been the concern of numerous researchers. The need for mastering electronic tools, ability to plan, execute and evaluate digital actions; these skills are now considered crucial [Fieldhouse & Nicholas 2008, Martin 2003].

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Digital Literacy

image of ancient greek lady writing with text digital literacies

As discussed in a previous article, Digital Literacies is one of the nine themes of Engaged Digital Citizenship. I wrote only briefly about it though, as it is a complex theme in itself and it warranted having its own article. Of all the nine themes of Engaged Digital Citizenship, Digital Literacy has the most meaning and potential to facilitate knowledge, ideas and communication in community based digital projects. In order to be able to research the benefits and obstacles within digital community-based projects, it is essential to understand what Digital Literacy means: with regard to the practical, pedagogical and lifelong learning. In this article I will discuss why we need to know about digital literacies.

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Engaged Digital Citizenship

citizenship

In my quest for the holy grail of knowledge; how individuals, community-based projects and digital technologies can positively facilitate each other, I am researching ‘engaged digital citizenship’.  To truly understand how individuals can become digital citizens, I am looking at the policies and research on the subjects of engaged digital citizenship, including digital communications, digital literacies and digital health and well-being. By being acutely aware of the themes of Digital Citizenship, I can gauge better the successfulness of a digital praxis in a community-led project.

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