My #Rhizo15 Node Picture
Picking up from what @jvg asked in her lovely post and request here, part of this mapping was to elaborate on a favourite photo of myself. I picked my Twitter avatar which is also my avatar in many of my other social media and work related presences. The only place where I do not use that avatar is on FB because my FB is private and only for family and friends.
So why is it my favourite picture? Well because I feel it represents the academic side of me that I really like about myself. I often refer to that picture as "Academic Ann." It was taken at the University of Toronto which is where I completed my undergrad and I also teach sessionally so it is a place I hold near and dear. The architecture of the campus and the backdrop of that picture evokes a lot especially what I really like about being an academic, a pedagogue, a learner. There is a "feeling," a sensory to the picture, which is why I use it even though many have said I have lost a bit of weight since that picture. (And my hair is certainly more grey).
That's the what you can see.
What you cannot see is who is taking the picture which is long drawn out story that I neither wish to get into nor will.
#rhizo15secrets :)
What a wonderful experience this has been so far!
So why is it my favourite picture? Well because I feel it represents the academic side of me that I really like about myself. I often refer to that picture as "Academic Ann." It was taken at the University of Toronto which is where I completed my undergrad and I also teach sessionally so it is a place I hold near and dear. The architecture of the campus and the backdrop of that picture evokes a lot especially what I really like about being an academic, a pedagogue, a learner. There is a "feeling," a sensory to the picture, which is why I use it even though many have said I have lost a bit of weight since that picture. (And my hair is certainly more grey).
That's the what you can see.
What you cannot see is who is taking the picture which is long drawn out story that I neither wish to get into nor will.
#rhizo15secrets :)
What a wonderful experience this has been so far!
Oohhh, #rhizosecrets. #rhizo truth & dare. It's a lovely open pic of you. I love this sharing #rhizo15
ReplyDeleteI thought you would like that, Sarah! Thank you!
DeleteWhat caught my ear here is this intriguing line: "What you cannot see is ..." That's rhizomatic--what happens outside the frame, in part situated by what happens inside the frame...What you can't see and what you might see. There's something rather profound in all that...
ReplyDeleteYes, Mary Ann I very much agree with you! It's like the idea of scaffolding in course design, it is something that exists there but if done well isn't there physically to view, pretty much the whole philosophy of #rhizo15 in it being a course without design. It is all very profound; glad to share this experience with you!
ReplyDeleteMary Ann, I nudged to think about what can't be seen in the image they described for that mapping project, and I borrowed that from a prompt from the Center for Digital Storytelling. When I work on digital stories with people, it's a powerful prompt to has elicited profound reflection that translate into powerful stories. And now, I'll think of it as rhizomatic.
ReplyDeleteAnn, seems to have eaten my first comment. I saw your tweet earlier and only now finally got to click through. I love this and it makes me think of how I have such physical connection to campuses where I've studied and worked. When I walk through them with friends who didn't know me there, they laugh at me at how connected I am and the many stories I tell. Now that I teach and think in these virtual spaces, I wonder about that, and at the same time, I think about the power of choosing an image for self-representation across virtual spaces, and other images elsewhere. I've seen that image now for months and love hearing [parts of] the back story.
ReplyDeleteHi Jane,
DeleteThank you so much for your comment, I am glad that my small post has created those connections. I have blogged about the "feel" and connection to campuses before here http://allthingspedagogical.blogspot.ca/2010/08/feel-of-pedagogical-environment.html which you might be interested in.
Choosing a "face" for virtual spaces is a difficult thing. I often think of changing my avatar but it has become so recognizable across platforms that it is almost a "branding" thing that I may lose if I change it. Truly a picture is a 1000 words or pixels or spaces situation isn't it? Cheers!