I have a hard time resisting the urge to add some levity in serious discussions, so along with the rich intellectual reflections underway in the Rhizomatic Learning community, I’ve been making comics.
They are not frivolous works or writing, I would argue, but instead, they (hopefully) bring another angle and lens to discussions. You can make a point with comics that sometimes eludes us in writing.
Sometimes, I like to grab a tweet or post from someone and rework it into a comic. Other times, I like to make my own statement. I like to think that adding a playful element from time to time opens up the floor to more people to join in, although I suspect there might be some folks who are “all in” on the serious side and sort of wish the threads remained centered on the philosophical and pedagogical underpinning of rhizomatic learning.
Sorry.
This comic is a reaction to Tania and our RhizoRadio Play. It’s a commentary on how writing in online spaces can lead to unusual things, even a friendly text-hacking of a play that becomes a global collaboration. You just never know.
A few new folks entered the Rhizomatic Learning fold this week, including my friend, Nancy, and even one of my favorite educational thinkers, Will Richardson, and they were wondering where to begin. The boat metaphor showed up in the stream of discussions.
One new person wrote a tweet about “bumping” into the #rhizo15 hashtag, which I found to be funny.
Autumm wrote a tweet about this dream of walking the beach with Rhizomatic Learning facilitator Dave. I don’t know if it a was a real dream, or if she was just having some creative fun. But I had this vision of a bunch of #rhizo15 folks building sand castles while Dave and his wife are on vacation.
And with the focus on “content” this week and with a post by Susan in mind, about administering the PARCC, I came up with this perspective of students in classrooms where a panicky teacher starts to cram information into their heads ahead of these tests. (Am I guilty? I am.)
Peace (in the share),
Kevin
I am with you on the value of using comics as a ‘translation’ device. If we are to stick with the practical theme of this year’s rhizo15 I would have to say that it is, like close reading, a powerful tool for getting closer to the author’s purpose and POV. Working on a post that talks about practice in the rhizome.
antispam: clown coo
I am loving your comics and SImon’s graphics and Terry’s remixing.