Hello everyone,As the winter months are upon us I’m finding myself spending more time indoors and on the computer, apart from working on providing great workshop programs and addressing the never ending emails, I like to watch and find things that make me feel good and expand my mind- and my favourite at the moment is TED Talks*.
Many of you may have already discovered the unlimited topics and presentations on just about anything you can think of and I have mentioned it at the workshops that I have facilitated at as a great tool to use in your own continuing education. Type in “aging” and you have a number of choices from “Older People are Happier”, “An Unexpected Place of Healing” or Jane Fonda talking about “Life’s Third Act” just to name a few, type in “disabilities” and see the insightful “Deep Sea Diving in a Wheelchair” or the inspiring and artistic filled ideas of “Embrace the Shake” by Phil Hansen where he proclaims “Limitations as a source of creativity”.
The list is limitless with 1700+ talks to stir your curiosity. (There is no talk under “Diversional Therapy” yet though!).
I can spend hours listening to related playlists and talks as one presentation leads me to another connected topic of interest. (Talks are limited to 18 minutes or less so you can fit a lot of different topics into a few hours or just watch one while enjoying a coffee!).
So as children of this technological age and by children I mean there is always something new and different that we can learn and use in our arsenal of resources I was interested in how we can include this technology in our programs to entertain, educate and inspire our participants?
The topics are limitless so why not type in suggestions from your participants and let everyone watch one a day or you could find topics to include on your program to draw people together with similar interests. You could find a topic that is related to a program theme and start a conversation around the things that are discussed on TED. You are only limited by your imagination (and maybe technological ability however one great thing about this technological age is that it is so easy to connect and utilise- it can even be set it up on a smart phone- there is no excuse anymore – even the DTA newsletter is electronic!).
We must embrace technology as a great resource!
There are so many great websites out there to access and I’m sure you are already doing so- if you have discovered a website or TED talk or YouTube video or Facebook page or Twitter account that you find professionally inspiring, educational or incredibly useful, fun or relevant share it with me at stephania@diversionaltherapy.org.au and I’ll start compiling a list to include in a future newsletter. I’m looking forward to checking out the sites that you send through so start sending.
This month’s quote is from the father of modern computers the late Steve Jobs:
“What a computer is to me is the most remarkable tool that we have ever come up with. It’s the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds.”
So jump on your bikes,
Until next month
Stephania Bejma
*TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, under the slogan: “Ideas Worth Spreading”. TED was founded in 1984 as a one-off event. The annual conference began in 1990, in Monterey, California and is now worldwide- they even had one in Australia last year. TED’s early emphasis was technology and design, consistent with its origins in the Silicon Valley however it has expanded to many other topics and areas of general interest. Check it out at www.ted.com
Workshops Report
The Far North Coast sun was shining for the DTA Ballina workshop on the 6th of June. We had 23 enthusiastic attendees who networked and chatted while gaining insightful and educational information from the array of speakers. Vision Australia presenter Tess Radanovic from their office in Lismore gave us information on assisting those with Vision impairment while Cathy Meyer from Eden in Oz and NZ bolstered our egos by validating the work we do while explaining the difficulties we are working with then provided solutions through the Eden program. Kathy Prain from the Aged Care Quality Agency explained the workings and motivations behind the Accreditation process while Judy Bartholomew from Alzheimer’s Australia gave us ideas to improve the engagement of clients with dementia. My presentation on Yoga for Seniors and People with a Disability again gave simple Yoga based breathing and movements to provide a Yoga type gentle exercise program to try in your workplace.
For those who stayed around for the takeaway café (it was the Friday before the long weekend after all) we were whisked away by the innovative and inspiring ideas of Michael Flick’s Winter Ball- a night-time event that allowed for ball gowns, dancing and mulled wine or was that hot chocolate (Great work Michael!) we also enjoyed a very practical art project with many laughs, fun, mess and creativity-all the things that makes education memorable!
It was great again to be in attendance at the workshop and a big welcome to our new members. Workshops are a great way to revitalise your professional practice, connect or reconnect with colleagues and others who understand exactly what you do each day- so get yourself along to a workshop near you- and spread the word!
Up and Coming Workshops
11th July –Cairns QLD
8th August-La Trobe TAS (NB this was incorrectly advertised as the 14th in the last newsletter)
25th August-Warrnambool VIC
17th October-Shepparton VIC