HOW SHARING HAS CHANGED MY LIFE

Today our staff meeting was facilitated by Lenva Shearing, lead educator with Hapara and a  facilitator with the Manaiakalani Edcuation Programme.  Our meeting focused on the 'share' part of our 'Learn, Create, Share' ethos. 

We looked at how and why we share, and the impact technology has had on how we share today.  Growing up, the only technology we used to share were the the telephone and pen & paper.   Sharing back in the day consisted of telephone calls - which were monitored by parents to make sure you didn't talk 'all night', writing letters to pen-pals and talking face to face.  If a party was on, invitations were sent.  If a school or community event was on, posters were mounted around the school, shops or street walls.  I was 11 when we moved into a house with two dial up telephones, one in the bedroom, one in the kitchen - we thought this was flash!  I was about 25 when I got my first cell phone...only used for texting and calling. 

Now days, life is very different.  My reliance on technology in my everyday life is almost frightening.  I use technology and the internet at work and at home constantly.  My family are the same.  While I worry about over indulgence in technology, I also recognise that technology is such a huge convenience in our lives that I couldn't imagine life without it.  When looking at it from a global view, technology allows us to communicate more widely and efficiently than ever before and it makes the world a much smaller place.  Keeping in contact with relatives living abroad is a lot simpler than posting letters, waiting days, weeks or months for them to arrive.  Social landscapes have changed where we have moved away from 'formerly' inviting people to events and major occasions with written invitations - accepted etiquette for centuries.  Now friends and family are invited to weddings, birthdays and other family occasions through facebook events and text messages.  Looking closely at the share element of the 'Learn, Create, Share' ethos we unpacked ways in which our students can share their learning.  Sharing can be a wonderful blend of technology and personal forms that can add interest to all learning programme.  Engagement comes with context, connection and fun and there are so many creative ways for students to share.  Blogging/Vlogging are just the start to whole world of sharing on a global scale.  So we need the share element to keep learning purposeful and give students an audience in their learning.