Featured Images: Start your Journey
I was lucky enough to teach Alicia a few times over her secondary education at Opihi College and then the Catlins Area Schools. She took my Minecraft based project, Crafting History back a few years ago and then joined me in the first year or so of Senior Philosophy. She was a fantastic student. Quiet, but keen to contribute, considered, intelligent and articulate. She was also immesely creative. I will always remember her final Crafting History build where she created a whole Mushroom world based on Welsh folklore (she is Welsh you see!). I wish I still had that. Maybe I do. Must look!
As luck would have it our paths crossed again recently (thanks to her principal mum). I wanted someone to bring a unique touch to visualising some of our key messages. Alicia had a break in her studies and we needed a creative. Everything came together rather nicely. A bit more from Alicia here.
Alicia Staniford is a freelance artist and designer based in Canterbury. Born in Wales she has lived in various places throughout New Zealand. She studied a variety of creative subjects at school, including NetNZ courses before receiving her BFA (Hons) in Graphic Design from The University of Canterbury in 2022.
Working mostly in digital formats and occasionally dabbling in printmaking, embroidery and mural painting, Alicia’s current portfolio concentrates on concept design. You can find past projects and updates on Alicia’s newer works on her Instagram feed @aestaniford.
Alicia has completed the first of these and we are very happy to have them sitting on our slowly redeveloping website. We were after a certain feel that was whimsical, playful, slightly futuristic. I think she has captured that perfectly in the first image you can see in the header - Start your Journey.
The message is probably fairly obvious here. Education is an ongoing journey or adventure. There is no set path, nothing is predetermined. It is all about finding our way. Exploring what is possible. Unfortunately, for many ākonga it doesn't feel anywhere close to an adventure. Pathways can sometime feel controlled or at least out of your control. It shouldn't feel like this at all. It should be full of possiblity.
Where does NetNZ fit into this? Well, it isn't us specifically. It is more about a way of doing things. About raising and supporting ākonga to flourish in their world. A world in which the internet and the local community plays a key role. For good or ill. Networked education is all about schools, communities and organisations doing it together. Using the internet to broaden learners' world. To take them out of the local, while still placing them firmly there (if that makes sense). This has been the basis for NetNZ and the Virtual Learning Network we have been a part of for over 25 years.
Why aren't all schools or how whole education system acting in this way? Surely it makes sense. Especially in the increasingly complex world we live in.