RE: [xmca] http://vimeo.com/groups/39473/videos

["Deb Rockstroh" <d_rockstroh@bigpond.com>]

Couldn't agree with you more Jenna. 

As a full time internal post grad student who works from home because after
5 yrs she can no longer afford the daily 2hr drive to and from uni (where
no-one else is into Vygotsky anyway), XMCA has been my lifeline. Andy's
videos on vimeo are excellent (and great to put faces to names) and the one
by Mike on your site is fantastic - as though I was in class with you all.

The hardest thing I've found as a researcher is knowing where my voice fits
in to the conversation, like the little kid standing knee height to the
giants in the room. I tend to think because something is written somewhere
that everyone knows it, and I've read pretty widely so it becomes rather
confusing/intimidating. So the emails and debates on xmca are brilliant for
clarifying things, but at the same time as you mentioned, hearing someone
like Mike explain something can be a revelation, even the simplest concept
can be expressed in a way that adds so much more meaning.

The 'learning leads development' concept is a major one in my thesis ... due
to submit Friday, I'd best get back to it  :)

Deb


> -----Original Message-----
> From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu]
> On Behalf Of Jenna McWilliams
> Sent: Monday, October 11, 2010 12:07 PM
> To: ablunden@mira.net; eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> Subject: Re: [xmca] http://vimeo.com/groups/39473/videos
> 
> And here's what I just wrote in an email to Andy:
> 
> 
> In thinking about our recent conversation with Mike, I kept returning
> to a few really huge moments in the discussion where he said something
> I felt was extremely, extremely important. To me, those are the
> moments worth pushing out to the general public (i.e., the several
> dozen people in the world who care about mediation and CHAT). To me,
> those are the moments worth discussing.
> 
> For example: Mike said that what Vygotsky _actually_ said was not that
> "learning precedes development" but that "learning can be organized in
> such a way that learning can precede development." For those of us who
> have only brushed the surface of Soviet psychology, this is a big
> revelation and one worth discussing. What I enjoy about XMCA is being
> able to watch people debate these sorts of issues--if every xmca email
> was a long piece of writing that didn't engage in conversation with
> anyone else, I'd be just as well off if I just sat by myself somewhere
> and read all of the xmca members' books and articles. But it's the
> _conversation_ that clarifies and crystallizes things, the
> _conversation_ that pushes theory forward.
> 
> And video can't do exactly what xmca can do, but it can group together
> footage of people engaging with a central idea, right? Wouldn't that
> be neat?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I really like the idea of organizing a semi-weekly or perhaps monthly
> video topic--for example, perizhivanie or LSV's use of metaphor--and
> collecting short video clips in which xmca folks weigh in with their
> thoughts. This could be a way to capture and share the ideas discussed
> in this listserv--to make them available to a broader public (as in,
> for example, newer academics for whom xmca feels too dense and too
> daunting). Of course, this may be too narrow of a focus for this
> group; I don't know.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ~~
> 
> Jenna McWilliams
> Learning Sciences Program, Indiana University
> ~
> http://www.jennamcwilliams.com
> http://twitter.com/jennamcjenna
> 
> ~
> jenmcwil@indiana.edu
> jennamcjenna@gmail.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Oct 10, 2010, at 8:54 PM, Andy Blunden wrote:
> 
> > Thanks for the promo, Peter, but I need to make a small correction:
> > The video of Gita is provided by Natalia Gajdamschko, and Natalia is
> > working on more videos of Gita as well. Gita is responsible for the
> > whole process, not me.
> >
> > Another issue. Jenna McWilliams has suggested that *very* short
> > videos on specific problems or ideas or issues, I mean 1 to 5
> > minutes, make very useful objects for class or group discussion, and
> > perhaps we ought to concentrate more energies on collecting material
> > like this.
> >
> > So! Anyone who would like to record a short interview or talk, upper
> > limit 5 minutes, is welcome to contact me via Skype, with their
> > webcam at the ready, and we can get busy. Not just me, others can do
> > it too. Jenna? Almost every post on xmca offers an opportunity for
> > such items. The big advantage of the 2 minute video over the 200
> > word essay is that a video can be shared in a real and immediate
> > way, in a way that written text cannot. That's over and above all
> > the secondary channels of communication that video talks offer.
> >
> > Any takers?
> > Andy
> >
> > Peter Smagorinsky wrote:
> >> http://vimeo.com/groups/39473/videos/14850621
> >>
> >>
> >> Hi, Andy Blunden has made available a video of a talk given by Gita
> >> Vygotsky
> >> (LSV's daughter) at UGA about a decade ago; the video came from a
> >> VHS tape
> >> provided by Marty Carr and JoBeth Allen, was converted to digital
> >> form by
> >> OIT, transferred via ftp through a website, and converted to a
> >> viewable
> >> format by Andy. This is part of a growing collection of interviews,
> >> etc.
> >> about Vygotskian research that Andy and others are making available
> >> on the
> >> web, including both archival material such as this talk and newly
> >> conducted
> >> interviews with current researchers from diverse continents. Andy
> >> can do the
> >> interviews from Australia via skype and record and edit them for
> >> public
> >> viewing. What a world!  Enjoy, p
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> xmca mailing list
> >> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> >> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> > --
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > *Andy Blunden*
> > Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/
> > Videos: http://vimeo.com/user3478333/videos
> > Book: http://www.brill.nl/scss
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > xmca mailing list
> > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
> 
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