Epiphanies

As I was reading about the connected learning movement, I was reminded of my son’s senior year in high school. As a bright neurodivergent teen, my son frequently encountered challenges with working memory and retention in his classes. Consequently, his grades often failed to reflect his ability, leaving him out of sync with his high-achieving peers. He had expressed interest in joining the robotics team at the high school, but the pandemic threw a wrench in those plans, and it wasn’t until his senior year that he could participate in person on the team. To say that the experience was the pinnacle of his k-12 education is an understatement. Even…

This week’s module deeply resonated with me as I have always believed in the power of stories to broaden our perspectives and reshape our understanding of the world around us. I’ve already talked much about storytelling in my previous posts. I shared Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s brilliant TED Talk, “Danger of a Single Story”, which emphasized how the absence of diverse voices can perpetuate existing stereotypes.  I also discussed how our biases are of the “stories we make up about people before we know who they really are” (Lauersen, 2019), and that these false narratives are “mental walls and fences” that are much more difficult to break down than physical walls.…

As I was reading about the technological advancements on the horizon this week, I was filled with both excitement and trepidation for the future. Excitement, because much of what I read reminded me of the technologies of the future that I had wondrously watched on episodes of Star Trek as a child. Dr. McCoy’s medical devices efficiently diagnosed and treated patients, and holodecks provided entertainment and interaction with holograms. These types of technological marvels are fast approaching. But I also feel trepidation, because I have seen the disruptive nature of technology when it’s used purely to generate profit, disregarding ethics and respect for civilized discourse.  “When technology divides us, it…

Here is the link to my Innovation Strategy & Roadmap:  Echoes of Time: An Intergenerational Multimedia Storytelling initiative.

In INFO200, I was inspired by Denmark’s forward-thinking Dokk1 library, and lamented the lack of similar initiatives in the United States. However, my recent discovery of hyperlinked public libraries in the US, notably the Memphis Public Library (MPL), and in particular the Teen Learning Lab at the Central Memphis Library (Cloud901), shifted my perspective. I am trying something new here, and highlighting  Cloud901 in a google slide presentation for my reflection blog. The link is below, and I hope that it works for you all! Reflection blog #2- Hyperlinked Environments  

When I think of community, I am reminded of my maternal grandparents. They lived in a small town in the northern region of Iran. My grandfather was a dentist and a pillar of the community. Some of his patients were poor villagers from nearby rural areas who could only afford to pay with chickens or eggs from their farms. The thing I remember the most was that my grandparents sometimes hosted these patients for lunch with delicious meals that my grandmother painstakingly prepared. Despite the extra work, they were always welcomed and invited to share the meal with my grandparents and their family. That was then, in what seems another…

I am writing this blog as we approach Valentine’s Day, so the idea of love and connection is at the forefront of my mind. I am not talking about the notion of romantic love, but that of universal love that connects humanity.  One of the moments in my life that exemplifies this universal love was when my grandmother came to the United States in the 1990s for a visit and met my mother-in-law for the first time. My Iranian grandmother spoke no English, had eight kids, and was from a more traditional background as a homemaker, and caregiver. My mother-in-law, who is African-American, a lawyer, and a single mom to…