My thoughts about Education Humanities, Technology and Digital Culture. Interested on social media tools in educational contexts and
gamification in education.
Back from my summer break, Yes! Summer break in September, here I am again! Well, finally Summer arrived on the north of Portugal! August was a cold month. Very windy.
Praia Arga/ Viana do Castelo
Portugal
@GS
September entered quite nice! On the beach lovely weather! No windy days, such a wonderful time! The sea! Cold water, of course, no problem! And so relaxing to walk by the sea, feeling the freshness.
Well, no more rêverie! It's time to the review of the most popular posts of August.
Remember how hard it is to swap those lazy summer days for early mornings? The classroom setting may have changed. Covid-19, masks, tests... but going back to school feels like a chore.
Here are the most popular posts of the last month:
Education : Summer break & August in Review ! Sport, science, youth active partners in climate, e-safety kids ! by GinaSouto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
"Tim left a special mark in this world not only through the incredible music he shared with us but also through his humanitarian work where he made sure he gave back to causes close to his heart."
Avicii
via Twitter
The music of Swedish superstar DJ, producer, songwriter, and humanitarian Tim Bergling—known best by his stage name Avicii—is widely considered to have forever altered the trajectory of the Pop genre.
Interactive video:
The video Doodle, set to one of his most iconic tracks “Wake Me Up,” celebrates his 32nd birthday and honors his legacy as one of the first artists to elevate electronic dance music to mainstream global success.
By 16, he was mixing tunes in his bedroom, and began writing uplifting, melodic electronic music soon after. In 2011 he released the dance anthem ‘Levels’ under the name Avicii, breaking ground as one of the first electronic music tracks to climb the Pop charts. Desiring more than just industry success, Bergling also set off on “House for Hunger,” a 2012 American tour that donated its proceeds to combating food insecurity worldwide.
Within a few years, Bergling/ Avicii racked up over a dozen global music awards such as Swedish Grammy Awards for Best Innovator (2012) and Best Artist (2014), as well as a World Music Award for Best Electronic Dance Artist (2014).
Avicii
credits: Getty Images
In the U.S. he was nominated for several Grammys and won the American Music Award for Electronic Dance Music Artists (2013), the Billboard Music Award for Top Dance/Electronic Song (2014), and the MTV Music Award for Best Dance Music Video (2018).
Like so many individuals globally, Bergling struggled with his mental health for years. Unfortunately, he died by suicide on 20 April 2018 at the age of 28.
Education:
Music can improve self-confidence, social cohesion and students' understanding of other subjects. Because of the governments' obsession with targets, exams, and with numeracy and literacy, the Arts and Humanities, and Music in particular are suffering.
In Elementary and Secondary Education, Music curriculum is not yet a major value. It's so wrong! Music, as you could read in different posts on my blog, is a fundamental part in Education of children and young people. We all know the importance of music in kids and teens life.
Music has the potential to achieve social and psychological transformation of children and young people. Their sensibility will be accurate.
Never waste an opportunity to captivate the major interests of your students. Music is one of the biggest.
Mental health matters:
However, don't forget to help your students to lead with mental health and how important would be to Tim to search for medical help to avoid his death.
Despite facing great difficulties during pandemic Covid-19, many adolescents and young people have found different ways to face new challenges and cope with their emotions.
The music was a great support to fight loneliness and depression. Avicii and his electronical music can be an inspirational formula.
I love his music since the beginning of his great success. It's so joyful, so pulsing. It cheers me up. How could we imagine that his mental health was being affected?
We had some great moments at Rock in Rio, Lisbon, in May 2016!
His parents founded The Tim Bergling Foundation after the death of their son in 2018 at the age of 28. The foundation's work includes its "For A Better Day" project that collects young people's voices, thoughts and needs.
The foundation supports science-based organizations engaged in research and preventative actions against mental illness and suicide, particularly among young people.
"When you have such an excess of money you don’t need, the most sensible, most human and completely obvious thing is to give to people in need”
Avicii | Tom Bergling
Avicii in concert
credits: unknown
Here my tribute to the musician who gives me so enjoyable musical moments. I love all his music. Hoping he has now found his peace.
The lyric goes: "One day you'll leave this world behind, so live a life you will remember."
There are thousands of athletes in this edition of the Paralympics. The exact number of athletes is 4,537. Countries that participate in the 2020 Paralympic Games usually already have previous experience from other editions and almost always send athletes to compete in the same sports from other editions.
Badminton and taekwondo make their Paralympic debut in Tokyo, and have been awarded with 14 and 6 medal events respectively.
The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic medals
credits: Getty Images
The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Gamesare underway with22 sports competitions to enjoy. For these athletes, participating in this major sporting event is a dream but also there’s no doubt they want to win as many medals as possible.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has confirmed the six athletes who will represent the Refugee Paralympic Team (RPT) at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. The athletes, one woman and five men will compete in Para Athletics, Para Swimming, Para Canoe and Taekwondo.
Paralympics Tokyo 2020 is a wonderful subject to include into school lessons. Values, athletes excellence, resilience on overcoming disabilities through high competition sports.
We are all excited! Someity, the Paralympic mascot is showing that just like the amazing athletes who compete at the Paralympic Games, nothing is impossible.
Good luck to all and let the games continue! Bravo to all the courageous athletes! You are all winners!
"The Human Race", an illustration depicting human figures running while consumed by shades of red (global warming) and shades of blue (tsunami as a climate change phenomenon). UN
On 19 August 2003, a bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, killed 22 humanitarian aid workers, including the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Five years later, the General Assembly adopted a resolution designating 19 August as World Humanitarian Day (WHD).
A global challenge for climate action in solidarity with the people who need it most.
The climate emergency is wreaking havoc across the world at a scale that people on the front lines and in the humanitarian community cannot manage. Time is already running out for global countries and the world’s most vulnerable people — those who have contributed least to the global climate emergency yet are hit the hardest — and millions of others that are already losing their homes, their livelihoods, and their lives.
Haiti earthquake 2021
credits: AP Photo/Joseph Odelyn
via Insider
Must look to Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world: the earthquake that occurred on the same system of faults as the one that devastated the capital, Port-au-Prince, in January 2010. And now the storm weather. 800,000 people have been affected by the earthquake, and that about 400,000 people require some form of humanitarian assistance in the three affected departments.
In California, Turkey, Greece, France, Spain, even in my country Southern of Portugal wildfires destroyed forests, houses, farms, animals and kill some people, for example in Turkey.
Portugal
credits: Filipe Farinha/EPA
Firefighters, Canadair, drones and local people are helping everywhere to save people, animals, and agriculture.
Young activists from Portugal have filed the first climate change case at the European court of human rights in Strasbourg, demanding 33 countries make more ambitious emissions cuts to safeguard their future physical and mental wellbeing.
Everyone is invited to join #TheHumanRace, which is the global challenge for climate action in solidarity with people who need it the most; and to put the needs of climate-vulnerable people front and centre at the UN climate summit (COP26).
With most climate campaigns focused on slowing climate change and securing the planet’s future, World Humanitarian Day 2021, will highlight the immediate consequences of the climate emergency for the world’s people and ensure that our voices are heard, and our needs top the agenda at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November.
credits: UNICEF/UN0302772
Education:
"We are the last generation that can end climate change. We can and we will."
Youth For Climate Action, UNICEF
Far from being passive victims, young people all over the world have begun to fight back on a scale never seen before. Take Greta Thunberg. In 2018, the 15-year-old from Sweden sparked a global movement of school-age students demanding greater action from governments to fight climate change. Now millions are marching to demonstrate their support.
Whether through education, technology, science or law, young people as Portuguese young environmentalists did, far and wide are tapping into their skills to speak up for climate action.
It's urgent to include Climate Action into school and college curricula to alert students about all these catastrophes to earth and to their and our lives.
Make question to young, listen their voices and ideas, discuss what it's going on around the world and why so much catastrophes are happening.
credits: UNICEF/UN0364343/Gil
You might think that we are too young to know about the risks and realities of climate change. But we see its effects in our daily lives.
Gertrude, 16, Tanzania
They have conscious ideas about this tragedy. They are "wired" all day. They saw, read, discuss and want to be a part of Act Now generation. We have an environmentalist generation among our students. They are involved in campaigns, they fight bad behaviors against Earth planet.
Run, ride, swim, walk or do any activity of your choice for a cumulative 100 minutes between August 16 and August 31 in solidarity with vulnerable people and to tell world leaders that they expect developed countries to deliver on their decade-old pledge of $100 billion annually for climate mitigation and adaptation in developing countries. If you don’t wish to take part physically, you can Add Your Voice.
Every minute of activity counts towards carrying our message to world leaders at COP26.
Apps: Join on Strava!
Don’t have Strava? It’s free, available on iPhone and Android, and can be used by itself or with all major fitness-tracking devices.
Because in the race against the climate crisis, we can't leave anyone behind.
“The climate emergency is a race we are losing, but it is a race we can win.”
António Guterres, United Nations Secretary General
