Playful learning, technology and possibilitarian(ism)

This is an awesome opportunity for any educator!

Greetings, all!

Some of you might be familiar with Bread and Puppet, a highly creative
puppet protest performance art(form). Their January performance was
entitled the "Circus of Possibilitarians", which inspired me to
consider the applicability of their term ("possibilitarian", or a
person who conjures possibilities) to teaching. I appreciate its
positive, generative connotation.

I'm an education technologist, and all too often great teachers
describe themselves as "digital immigrants". The implication is that
their agency in learning and using technologies is limited at best.
Disappointing!

So, I've been exploring the term "possibilitarian" as it relates to
teaching with technologies; namely, that all sorts of wonderful
learning can happen when technologies are understood as tools to "play
with" or "explore through" rather than as devices that befuddle. By
way of an example, here's an investigation of birdsong:
http://bitculture.org/quoth-the-robin-an-exploration-of-birdsong/ .
It's nascent but just as the moon-watching experience, it has all
emerged through the exploration of an idea and through a synthesis of
the idea with various technological tools.

I've sketched an essay on the topic, and would love to collaborate in
generating the idea & essay more fully. If this resonates with your
experience or thinking, or excites you, please get in touch! I'd love
to discuss it further...

Cheers,

--Dave, MBE '07