Back in the loop

Hullo, everyone.

Nice to be back.

I was out of the loop for a few days.

Then I was back in it again but (as always, after an absence) scurrying to catch up.

Part of the catching up includes intriguing hooks from several of the other voices listed down the left of this column. I want to respond at length to all of them; but experience tells me that I will not be able to do so, and that I should be honest enough with myself to say so.

JSBlog's "We have a A Humument" and "Imitate the action of..." share a lot of the blame for my lack of attention to other things which I really ought to be doing.

I feel something inside me gearing for a response to posts from Unreal Nature and TTMF on the subject of the USAmerican South. Whether that something will burst forth, or just curl up in its nest and go back to sleep, remains to be seen.

Learning with 'e's considers a different face of ICT in education from the usual (and welcome) enthusiasm for benefits in a piece ("Dangerous liaisons?") inviting comment on the dangers which may lurk in the flip side. I am as passionate as LWe about the rôle and value of ICT for rewriting the nature of educational experience, but that new and rich future can only develop if we soberly and responsibly deal with the real pitfalls which are too often either brushed aside or inflated into hysteria. I'll look forward to the final results of the straw poll from that post – if you want to contribute to it, you have until the 14th so get over there.

Dr C takes his "Friday Crab Blogging" to a new level in showing not only images of crabs by children but also images of crabs on children – one of which (the first) seems distinctly ambivalent about the idea!

As I go about other things, I think at length about Unreal Nature's specific question (at the end of the "Inside/outside" post) about "how the context affects the art shown within the photograph" in my own images of art and artists. Though it may not (OK – probably will not) result in a deep and meaningful essay here, it has already changed my view of things considerably and looks set to continue doing so. Other Unreal Nature posts have an equal effect on my thinking, though they don't inflate my ego by naming me as an example.

And so to bed ... oops, no, it's morning and I just got up ... alright then: and so, to other work...