I’ve lived in UAE for a year and have spent most of my time here working. I have traveled a little bit to Oman and also visited a few places locally like Dubai and Fujairah. But I haven’t really taken many photos … I think this year I’m going to have to do something about that. So to kick-start my UAE gallery a lazy photo … I used my DJI Action 3 Camera to take a photo of my wife swimming. Not a bad snap! The quality out of the camera is a little lower than I’d usually like, so I might have to get into the settings and tinker with the gear. My daughter is taking an interest in photography so we might try and do some weekenders now that we’re starting to get settled for the year.
Perhaps Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? Or Dr David Smeaton and David the Aussie?
Nah, nothing that serious … but a fun note of sorts. Waaaaaaay long ago I used to own www.davidsmeaton.com … my name, my blog. But I let the domain go when I walked away from goofing around on the internet with websites and domains and such. My old domain (davidsmeaton.com) did the rounds of being picked up by random domain owners who try to monetise domains that have had some traffic. I think the longest one was some dodgy Chinese online gambling site! LOL
Anyway, I occasionally kept tabs on the domain. I was much happier with davidtheaussie.com anyway … but it was a fun side project to check on my old domain name (and my name) when the fancy struck me. Lo and behold … the domain was dropped by previous owners and not picked up again. It became publicly available and I snatched the domain up and redirected it here.
So now davidtheaussie.com and davidsmeaton.com both point to the same wacky place. Here!
Stress mounting quickly with due assignments — Check!
A literature review reading list 39 pages long — Check!
Rising expenses to cover book purchases — Check!
PhD officially started — Check!
Yes, as of August 2026, I’m a doctoral student. I’m studying via Griffith University and my doctoral thesis will be within educational pedagogy. Technically I’ll be a Doctor of Education … if I ever finish. I’ve made a positive start – I’ve handed in 2 assignments for the coursework that runs parallel to my main doctoral thesis. Fingers crossed on those! LOL My plan here (in this blog) is to try and be motivated enough to post regularly about my readings. It won’t get noticed, but it will keep me writing and re-stating it here will help me learn it all.
A quick “precis” to my thesis, which is still evolving and being sharpened to a point, is the use of AI (groans from the audience) in the classroom and how AI can potentially be a differentiation tool for teachers. I’m treading carefully here by ensuring that teachers don’t feel like they’re being put out of work or criticised. Teachers work their socks off for students. No denying that. But there’s a lot of evidence (citations coming soon) that differentiation doesn’t happen effectively in classrooms, which is mostly due to poorly targeted CPD, overworked teachers and underfunded schools … but I’m not touching that part, not even poking at it, for fear of provoking the pitchfork crowd. Instead, I’ll posit that AI can be a useful tool within the classroom to support teachers with bespoke differentiation tasks where AI can work with students one-on-one and focus on their specific, and often diverse, learning needs.
Phew! Now I’ll walk away and hope I don’t draw too much attention. But the thesis part is worth mentioning because I’ve pivoted from gaming, gamification and such (bye bye Triforce of Gamer Knowledge, hopefully I’ll return to you one day) to the more important evolution of AI and its role in education.
A few things worth noting – I might be making a few more regular jaunts to Australia to meet face to face with my supervisors and do some work on my thesis. Haven’t been home in about 11 years, so that’ll be a bit of a culture shock! And I’m going to have to get published as an academic before completing my thesis, and I’m going to have to defend my thesis. Blimey!
So this is just a signpost … um … post. The bell has rung, class has started and the path to Dr has been laid before me. Let’s see how it goes! 🙂
I’m using this post as a marker to create a line between the old and the new. The old – my blog that I started forever ago to attempt to coerce myself into starting my phd. The new – moving that blog to my current website, updating some of the dead links and images, and signalling my intention to return to the fray!
So … I’M BACK!!! LOL
OK, I’ve changed jobs and lifestyle commitments. As a result, I find myself thinking longingly about returning to my doctoral research. Every day I swim and the pool I swim in is quite deep at one end. I dive in and start my laps – but it’s that first dive that’s always the hardest, and feels deepest, and feels like the biggest commitment. That’s where I am right now – standing there staring at the blue water, seeing into its depths, and thinking about making the jump … academically speaking.
One thing I’m proud of, and hopefully this helps provide the motivation needed to dive back in, is that my academia profile has been quite a success. My profile has 1000 followers (not bad for an academic website). My Minecraft paper has 800 people bookmarking it. I get a fair bit of daily traffic and views on my work. Not bad for a guy who hasn’t given a flying toss about academia for a decade. I do regret not staying in the academic circle, but I had kids, life, wife and had moved to a new country. Too many balls to juggle with a doctoral paper to write as well.
So, with all that said, I have made contact with my Uni again, I’ve spoken with my former supervisor and we are currently looking at thesis proposals and supervisor options. Once that’s all sorted, I can submit my application and I will be off and running.
My thesis will hopefully incorporate a lot of the stuff I’ve covered previously, allowing me to delve more deeply into the more important parts – particularly participatory culture and tacit learning. I really want to try and get a good look at how people learn so much without even trying. I call it the “Pokemon Effect” (Nintendo, don’t sue me!) where people learn just by playing and having fun. A really good example of this was when I used to play World of Tanks. Despite having almost zero knowledge of tanks beforehand, I’ve since learned about tank names, countries of origins, gun sizes and velocities, as well as a myriad of other (relatively useless) knowledge about tanks that is completely worthless outside the parameters of the game. But that’s not really the point, the point is that I learned it through play and fun. Now apply that idea to AI image modelling through flux and stable diffusion. Imagine applying that to 3D modeling, STL files and 3D printing. How about survival games like Project Zomboid. There’s a million ways we can look at how people become domain specific experts in certain field simply by playing a game, or buying a 3D printer or attempting to make yourself a digital girlfriend using AI. Then add to that the knowledge we acquire when we remix that and use our knowledge to create new things like youtube channels, music, fan animations, and etsy stores. We learn the skills of creation, narration, commerce, art, music theory and all of the skills we need to create, remix and share our knowledge.
There ya go, PhD in the bag! I can see myself in my fancy hat walking up to the stage to the applause of my peers.
Ok, it’s not that simple, but that’s the gist of it.
Stay tuned. Keep an eye on this space. Yadda yadda. I hope there’s much, much more to come!
ABSTRACT: This research investigation focused upon whether creativity in project outcomes can be consistently measured through assessment tools, such as rubrics. Our case study research involved student-development of landscape design solutions for the Tennessee Williams Visitors Center. Junior and senior level undergraduates (N = 40) in landscape architecture design classes were assigned into equitable groups (n = 11) by an educational psychologist. Groups were subsequently assigned into either a literary narrative or abstract treatment classroom. We investigated whether student groups who were guided in their project development with abstract treatments were more likely to produce creative abstract design solutions when compared to those student groups who were guided with literary narrative interpretations. Final design solutions were presented before an audience and a panel of jurors (n = 9), who determined the outstanding project solutions through the use of a rubric, custom-designed to assess the project outcomes. Although our assumption was that the measurement of the creativity of groups’ designs would be consistent through the use of the rubric, we uncovered some discrepancies between rubric score sheets and jurors’ top choices. We subjected jurors’ score sheets and results to a thorough analysis, and four persistent themes emerged: 1) Most jurors did not fully understand the rubric’s use, including the difference between dichotomous categories and scored topics; 2) Jurors were in agreement that 6 of the 11 projects scored were outstanding submissions; 3) Jurors who had directly worked with a classroom were more likely to score that class’ groups higher; and 4) Most jurors, with the exception of two raters, scored the abstract treatment group projects as higher and more creative. We propose that while the rubric appeared to be effective in assessing creative solutions, a more thorough introduction to its use is warranted for jurors. More research is also needed as to whether prior interaction with student groups influences juror ratings.
A nation wide survey conducted last year discovered that teachers want more technology in the classroom. Access to computers seems to be high and a lot of teachers are using websites, images and other media in their daily classroom routine. However the problem, according to the survey, is that teachers feel they don’t have access to the “right” kinds of technology.
The biggest barrier to technology, unsurprisingly, was budget constraints.
The internet and computing (as technologies) are no longer tools, but have been integrated into human communication. They have become a part of the communication and is a part of meaning creation. Such technology is now more the environment than the tool.
Snyder asserts that young people are immersed in the digital age – where technology is the norm. Why then, she asks, are adults not learning from children how to integrate digital culture into schools? Data shows that 89% of students find school boring. A similar percentage are actively engaged in online communities.
The lure of online communities is the ability to create an identity and explore an online life with people from around the globe. Through imagination, young people are engaging in a “reality” where they are able to ask questions, foster social relations and develop knowledge.
Considering this reality of life outside the school, in which youth are actively and captivatingly engaged in social networks, creation, exploration, self empowerment and identity development, we begin to see that youth have both the motivation and the skills to connect and learn.
This is a motivation that is crucial to understanding and improving learning. Snyder claims that educators need to explore the implications for learning and digital citizenship which are beyond the classroom and school’s borders. This relates back to how young people see technology – as a part of the process of creating meaning.
The idea of studying technology in education (when technology is perceived as a learning device) is too limited. The growing importance of cyberspace reinforces the divide between schooling and society. Young people are creating new connections, networks and resources for learning that mirror 21st century life.
This is the thrust of Synder’s view – that technology has an integrated role in society. Following a constructivist theory framework, we are co-creating our realities together alongside technology.
Through this co-construction we give meaning to our realities, resulting in common language, symbols, values, behaviors, norms, and understanding. As learners, we make sense out of our world by analyzing and synthesizing our experiences in an attempt to give meaning. The elements that contribute to our sense making process are those parts of an event or experience with and through which we interact and act. In contemporary society, technology and media have become a part of this social interaction process.
Technology is changing our behaviour and perception, influencing the way we socially construct digital culture of meaning. We are shaping, and are shaped by, the technology we use.
I’m so lazy! LMAO … I haven’t posted in a bit, but there’s been a lot going on, so I forgive myself! 🙂 We took off for Easter and headed to Scotland. I was super keen to flex the new camera setup and put my Sony A7R through its paces. I paired the body with a Sony 24-50mm f2.8 which gives me the classic 50mm look and the wider angles that I prefer.
I also grabbed a very cheap Helios 44m-4 to play with that super silly bokeh that this Russian camera is known for.
With kit in the bag, off I went to seek adventure and lots of photo opportunities. I was itching, honestly, to get back into photography. So this was an awesome opportunity for me to start re-acquainting myself with a passion that I’d long neglected.
Some long exposure of a famous location on a river whose name I do not remember.
Eilen Donan Castle (hope I spelled that right, sorry Scotland) which is quite famous for being a filming location for the movies Highlander and Bond film The World Is not Enough. The weather was clearing and I got some lovely shots.
The Old Man of Storr was another lovely location. The Scottish highlands had no shortage of beautiful hills, lochs, and scenery. I could have stayed for months!
As for the helios, well, I’m having to re-learn manual focus … so I did miss a few shots. But the shots I did nail are pretty fun.
Both shots above were taken with the Helios lens (in England before I went on holiday to Scotland). Have a look at how swirly the bokeh and backgrounds are. Pretty wild little lens and (for the price) awesome addition to my camera kit. It’s a specialty lens, which will only be used kind of sparingly, but it’s definitely fun. Oh, being a very old lens, it doesn’t fit Sony E mount cameras, so it has an adaptor on it.
Finally … I’ve decided to stream every Sunday now. I’ll be back this coming Sunday with more editing from Scotland (including some drone shots) and on days when I don’t have any editing to do I’m going to play Dinkum (an Aussie themed, Animal Crossing style game). So my Sunday streams should be a regular thing.
First stream of 2025! W00T! Felt good to edit some photos. Most streams this year will be editing older photos from my travels, but I’m adding some variety – there will be some edits of newly scanned black and white photos, as well as occasional traveling I manage to do this year.
That said, last Friday I took a day trip to Cambridge and hoofed it around town for a few hours. I took around 50 photo using my Hasselblad X1D in 6×6 mode. I’m enjoying using square photos for street photography and it looks really fun when editing them. I streamed the editing for about an hour and a half, mixing in some IR photos I had left over from my trip to Malvern Hills in the Cotswold just before Christmas.
Photo of the Week goes to this shot. Absolute cracker!
Now that the hectic season of work is over, I’ve had a little more time to shoot, edit and update the website. YAY!
I’ve added two new pages to the website – an IR page with a bit of discussion about my foray into Infra Red photography during my trip to Thailand. It was a really good trip and the photos I took were really fun. The second page I’ve created is a small page about xpan photography – which I played with during a recent trip to the Cotswold. I edited my Cotswold photos on stream, so that should be available on Youtube.
My favourite xpan shot from the Cotswold trip.
My favourite 6×6 shot from the Cotswold trip – taken on the same camera using the different format settings the camera has programmed into it.
A bonus shot of some famous church doors in Stow on the Wold that are often attributed to being an inspiration for Tolkien’s Doors of Durin.
One of my favourite shots from Thailand, using my IR camera.
The photography continues with a day trip to London tomorrow and hopefully more chances to shoot in the new year.
Getting back into streaming on twitch every Sunday night to do some photo editing from my travels. If I’m perfectly honest, it’s the hilight of my week, as I get to revisit and relive my photography from my travels and time abroad.
Today I covered Indonesia, a little bit of Malaysia and a few from Brunei. I’d completely forgotten about the time I spent photographing a surfing competition (Medewi Board Riders) and took heaps of photos of the surfing and celebrations afterwards. Some great shots and great memories (that I’d almost forgotten!)
That said, I had fun going through the photos and doing a little editing. Shots of the week are below:
Top: Surf competitor. Middle: Surfer girl on the sand. Bottom: Postcard photo – Brunei.
Not much doing lately and I feel bad for neglecting the blog. Well, it’s not totally neglect, it’s a kind of “off on holidays” and other things I wish to do over the summer. Potentially big changes are afoot in terms of life as a photographer and human. Stay tuned for more info! 😉
That said, I have been active away from the blog and social media. So here’s the low down:
Bought me a drone!!!!! DJI Mini 4k. Sadly, I bought it just before the DJI Neo was released, but I’m happy with the purchase. Been goofing around and learning how to use it. I can see myself using it more for photography than for video, but I’m going to do a bit of both and tinker with it. Here’s a sample shot I took in Wales over the summer:
Snazzy! I like how easy it is to fly and the unique perspective I get from aerial photography. I’ll admit I was very nervous about buying/flying a drone, but it’s so simple really. I’m glad I took the leap and bought it.
I got a new camera coming too. MORE GEAR!! LOL … well, more … and less. I sold off a bunch of old lenses and stuff to finance the purchase. I’d bought a Lumix GX800 as a 2nd walk around camera so I didn’t have to carry the hasselblad all the time. However I’m just not happy with it. So I’ve swapped it out for a Leica T Type 701 (photos coming soon!) and a Summilux 23mm f2 lens. It’s wider than the Hassy, so it’ll give me a different perspective. Plus it’s a lot more compact, so I will use it as my goof about camera … and it’ll go to Thailand with me.
Shit! I forgot, I bought more gear! LOLOLOL … I traded in my ancient GoPro for a DJI Action 3. I’ve got two DJI products now (Action 3 and Mini 4k drone). They make good kit! The Action 3 is amazing and so versatile. I’ve got a waterproof mount for it and will take that snorkelling in Thailand too. So the Thailand trip is shaping up to be super busy – regular street photography throughout the day, drone photography some days and a few nights, and the Action 3 for goofing about and snorkelling. The snorkelling will be part of day trips, so I hope to get a good chance to photo and video the islands with the drone as well, when I’m not in the water.
Will add photos of the Leica when it arrives and the Action 3 in a future post when I’ve actually used it.
So that’s the news. A nice break over summer with some photos (mostly on the iPhone) and some on the Hasselblad as well. Those will be a future twitch stream and blog post.
Finally, I returned to photo streaming tonight. Had a blast going through 15 year old travel photos and chatting with viewers. I was loving the nostalgia and laughs of some of the crazy crap I got up to with my mate Craig in Australia.
