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Why Do I Blog? Two Decades of Practice, Purpose, and Scholarship

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Abstract

I began blogging on September 24, 1999, before the term “blog” was commonly used. What started as a private, diary-like habit has evolved into a multi-site practice that spans personal reflection, teaching resources, archival work, and scholarly inquiry. Drawing on my longitudinal experience and a body of literature on blogging, digital scholarship, and memory, this post argues that blogging functions as (1) a thinking tool, (2) an e-portfolio and public notebook, (3) a dissemination channel between journalism and scholarship, and (4) a community practice that develops voice, craft, and networks. I close with pragmatic implications for academics and students who are deciding whether—and how—to blog.

Introduction: From “Online Journal” to Digital Scholarship

When I posted to my first “online journal” in 1999, the dominant mode was intimate and iterative: you wrote daily, mostly “among friends,” and authenticity trumped polish. The subsequent proliferation of formats—corporate blogs, microblogs, podcasts, video channels—has blurred boundaries between diary, magazine, classroom, and broadcast. Through this shifting landscape, my own practice has remained anchored in one question: why blog at all?

My answer comes from three sources:

  1. Longitudinal practice. I blogged daily for the first four years; later, I specialised across several sites (learning journal, swimming coaching, First World War oral history; ed-tech experiments).

  2. Formal study. The MA in Open & Distance Education (MAODE) and the H818 Networked Practitioner module sharpened my sense of blogging as a method, not just a medium.

  3. Literature. Research on blogs, digital scholarship, and memory sheds light on both the promise and limitations of blogging in education and public knowledge.

What “Counts” as a Blog?

The word now covers many things—some of which are not blogs in any meaningful sense: marketing brochures, magazines, audiovisual channels, or photo dumps. My original frame—shaped by early platforms like Diaryland—was that a blog is serial, reflective, tagged, and personally voiced, with an implied community of readers who may be known rather than mass. That said, the affordances (open access, chronology, hypertext, multimedia) scale to support teaching, public engagement, and research conversation.

My Trajectory and Use-Cases

1) Learning Journal & Portfolio (since 2010)

A tagged, searchable record of module activities and reflections. Roughly 40% private, 60% shared. It functions as an e-portfolio, a cognitive scaffold, and a map of what I have learned and can apply.

2) Swimming Teaching & Coaching

A dormant site that still outperforms others by daily traffic because it is useful: answers to practical questions, especially lesson plans. That datapoint matters—utility drives readership.

3) First World War Oral History

That is Nothing Compared to Passchendaele began as my grandfather’s memoir (machine-gunner; hours of recorded interviews, photographs). To respect the material and its audience, I am reframing it less as “a blog” and more as a curated digital book with citations and context.

4) Quick Response (QR) Codes in Education

Born of H818 conference work, this small blog explores QR codes to connect war memorial names to deeper biographies—micro-interventions that turn remembrance into networked inquiry.

Across these sites, I have learned a hard truth: some projects are better treated as books—or at least as book-like—demanding editorial discipline, versioning, and a publication horizon.

Twelve Functions of Academic Blogging (Condensed and Updated)

  1. Dissemination. Preprints for ideas: from lab notes to lectures, from blog to paper/book.

  2. Reputation & Voice. Thought leadership beyond institutional channels.

  3. Teaching Support. Lecture notes, extensions, FAQs; a place to reflect with students.

  4. Faculty PR & Recruitment. Human-scale narratives that attract people to modules and labs.

  5. Community of Practice. Participation in a networked field; finding and being found.

  6. Digital Literacies. Working fluently with web genres, tagging, linking, and process visibility.

  7. Multimodality. Text, image, audio, and video as epistemic tools, not mere decoration.

  8. Idea Incubator. Safe space to trial styles, hypotheses, prompts, and narrative frames.

  9. Engagement & Reciprocity. Commenting, linking, and co-developing lines of inquiry.

  10. Production Craft. Iterative practice in editing, curation, and public reasoning.

  11. E-Portfolio. A longitudinal record: claims, evidence, feedback, revision.

  12. Intrinsic Satisfaction. The durable pleasure of shaping thought in public.

Blogging, Learning, and Evidence: What the Research Says (and Does not)

The scholarship on blogging in higher education is mixed but instructive:

  • Motivations and contexts matter. Students’ willingness to blog depends on audience, assessment, feedback culture, and how the activity aligns with disciplinary norms (Kerawalla, Minocha, Kirkup & Conole, 2009).

  • Not a universal solvent. In some settings, students contribute haphazardly, avoid reflection, or stop once assessment ends; benefits do not appear by magic (Krause, 2004; Williams & Jacobs, 2004; Homik & Melis, 2006).

  • However, it is a scholarly practice. Blogging now sits within the realm of “digital scholarship” (Boyer’s discovery, integration, application, and teaching; Weller, 2011/2012), providing quicker and more open circulation of ideas, and serving as a complementary layer to peer review (Bishop, 2013).

  • Communities leave traces. Studies of weblog networks show how conversation, linking, and genre conventions coalesce over time (Anjewierden, 2006).

  • Produsers, not just users. Bloggers are both producers and users who shape knowledge communities (Bruns & Efimova, 2008).

Inference: Blogging is most effective when it is integrated into authentic disciplinary practice, when the audience and feedback are real, and when it supports—not substitutes for—formal scholarship.

Blogging and Memory: Beyond “Total Capture”

As a diarist from age 13½, I have always been drawn to memory’s stubborn analogue core. Lifelogging technologies promise “total capture,” yet evidence suggests archives are rarely accessed and do not automatically support remembering; cues that prompt reconstruction may matter more than complete records (Sellen & Whittaker, 2010; Whittaker, Bergman & Clough, 2010). Blogging’s strength is precisely that: selective, contextualised cues—tags, a paragraph, an image—that re-ignite rich, reconstructive memory. In other words, curation over capture.

Why I Blog (Now): A Position Statement

  1. To think in public. Writing clarifies thought; publishing invites friction that improves it.

  2. To remember with structure. Tags, dates, and links turn lived time into a navigable archive.

  3. To be useful. Posts that solve problems (e.g., swimming lesson plans) justify the effort.

  4. To honour sources. Family histories, interviews, and field notes deserve a rigorous home.

  5. To rehearse scholarship. Blog → talk → paper → chapter. The cadence accelerates learning.

  6. To belong. Communities of practice—the “networked practitioner”—are sustained by visible, iterative contributions.

Practical Implications

 

For Academics

  • Treat your blog as a scholarly instrument: cite, link, version, and reflect.

  • Align posts to projects (grants, modules, books) and audiences (students, peers, publics).

  • Use editorial rhythms (series, seasons) and book-like discipline when the material warrants it.

  • Build feedback loops (comments, cross-posts, seminar responses) to enhance blogging and inform research.

For Students

  • Use blogging as a learning journal and e-portfolio; keep some entries private and publish the rest.

  • Write for a real audience (your cohort; your field), not an empty box.

  • Prioritise selective curation over total capture; aim for cues that will help your future self.

Conclusion

I blog because it is the right balance of diary, draft, and discourse—a medium where private thinking meets public knowledge. It is more than a habit: it is a method that helps me learn, remember, teach, and contribute. Not every course requires blogging; not every project is suitable for a blog. However, where authenticity, iteration, and community matter, blogging remains one of the most humane and generative tools we have.

Selected References & Further Reading

  • Bishop, D. 2013. Blogging as post-publication peer review: reasonable or unfair? LSE Impact of Social Sciences.

  • Boyer, E. 1990. Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate.

  • Efimova, L. (2008). Bloggers and “produsers.”

  • Kerawalla, L., Minocha, S., Kirkup, G., & Conole, G. 2009. An empirically grounded framework to guide blogging in higher education.

  • Sellen, A., and Whittaker, S. 2010. Beyond total capture: A constructive critique of lifelogging. Communications of the ACM, 53(5), 70–77.

  • Whittaker, S., Bergman, O., and Clough, P. 2010. Long-term family photo retrieval. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 14(1), 31–43.

  • Weller, M. (2011/2012). The Digital Scholar: The virtues of blogging as scholarly activity.

    Williams, J., & Jacobs, J. 2004. Exploring the use of blogs in higher education.

  • Krause, S. 2004. When blogging goes bad: A cautionary tale.

  • Anjewierden, A. 2006. Understanding weblog communities through digital traces.

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Why is reflection important?

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Edited by Jonathan Vernon, Friday 22 August 2025 at 10:47

A swimming coach (AI Generated) using my AI Model, as a swimming coach by a swimming pool

I am 'back in school', British Swimming to be exact. I will be doing three weekend residentials over the year in Loughborough. This is part of the Swim England Coach Level III certification. My habit of reflection about learning began here, with the OU, in 2010.

The importance of reflection in coaching goes well beyond filling in paperwork. It is one of the most valuable habits a coach can develop.

Reflection allows me to learn from experience.

A session might go well or it might not, but unless we take the time to think about what happened and why, the opportunity to grow is lost. Reflection turns experience into coaching knowledge that can be applied again. Without it, we risk repeating the same mistakes or missing the chance to reinforce something that worked. For example, noticing that a swimmer always goes out too fast on repeat 200s is the kind of observation that becomes useful if it is written down and considered later, because it suggests a strategy for pacing cues next time.

Reflection also makes it possible to individualise coaching.

By keeping notes on what each swimmer shows, in strengths, struggles and attitude, we build a picture of them over time. That helps us adapt training, language and feedback to the individual, not just the group. If one swimmer disengages unless spoken to directly, a coach who has noticed this in reflection can plan to pre-engage that athlete before the next hard set.

Another reason is evidence of development.

At Level 3, Swim England wants coaches to analyse, interpret and act, not just deliver sets. Reflection provides proof that you are thinking critically and evolving as a coach. It shows you can justify your choices with reasoning drawn from training theory, psychology or skill acquisition.

Reflection is also how we improve our own coaching practice.

It forces us to ask whether our feedback was effective, whether we adapted well in the moment, and what we would change next time. This self-awareness is one of the biggest markers of a high-level coach. If we know we have a tendency to ease off when swimmers struggle, reflection brings that into view and lets us plan to be firmer.

Finally, reflection supports long-term athlete development.

Over time, it allows us to see patterns in swimmer behaviour, progress and response to sets. It helps track whether interventions in training actually transfer into competition performance.

In short, reflection closes the gap between session delivery and athlete development. It turns coaching into a cycle of plan, do, review and refine.

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Does AI Tell Us What We Want to Hear?

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Edited by Jonathan Vernon, Friday 15 August 2025 at 07:18

As a student of education and learning, I’ve been reflecting on the role AI plays in shaping how we think. Recently, I came across neuroscientist Dr Rachel Barr’s blunt but insightful claim: AI feeds us positive answers and fails to challenge us. That struck a chord.

In my experience using tools like ChatGPT, I’ve noticed how agreeable the responses often are. That’s not accidental. AI like this is trained on massive datasets and fine-tuned to be helpful, polite, and inoffensive. Its design goal is to give answers that people will accept or like—meaning it tends to validate more than it critiques.

But as learners, isn’t it the challenge that helps us grow?

Dr Barr’s warning reminds me that learning isn’t just about acquiring information—it’s about thinking differently. If AI never says “you might be wrong,” or never pushes us to consider a more potent counterargument, then we risk reinforcing our assumptions rather than re-examining them.

This matters especially for those of us studying education. If we’re going to teach or guide others, we need to model critical engagement—and that includes how we use AI.

I’ve found that when I ask AI to challenge me—“What am I missing?”, “Play devil’s advocate”, or “Give me a harder question”—I get better results. But without that prompt, the default is comfort over friction. And friction is often where the learning happens.

So here’s my reflection: AI is not inherently bad for thinking. But it does reflect how we use it. If we’re too passive, it becomes a mirror of our biases. If we’re active and curious, it becomes a tool for growth.

I also know that I respond best to being praised and pushed. Redirection and encouragement help me far more than blunt correction. That’s true whether it’s from a tutor, a peer, or even an AI.

So let’s design our questions—and our digital habits—with intention. Let’s ask for the challenge we need, not just the answer we want.

These will help you explore how AI impacts learning, cognition, and teaching practice—with a focus on critical engagement rather than hype.

AI-Related Resources for Students of Education

Up-to-date resources to help you critically explore how AI is affecting education, cognition, and learning design. Ideal for Open University students studying education, learning sciences, or digital pedagogy. 

1. Academic Resources and Research 

• ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) – [eric.ed.gov](https://eric.ed.gov): 

Search 'AI in education' for peer-reviewed papers and classroom case studies. 

• Journal of Educational Technology & Society: Studies on adaptive AI systems and learner outcomes. 

• Stanford Human-Centred AI (HAI) – [hai.stanford.edu](https://hai.stanford.edu/research/education): 

Research on ethical, cognitive, and policy issues in AI-enhanced education. 

2. Cognitive Science + AI

• “AI and the Learning Brain” – MIT Media Lab: [Read summary] > http://bit.ly/3UvGahY 

 “Cognitive Atrophy and AI Overuse” – [Polytechnique Insights]

Effects of AI tools on memory, attention, and creativity.

3. Practical Tools for Students

• HUMANE Toolkit – [humane-ai.eu] > http://bit.ly/4mjSpuc 

Tools for human-centric AI learning environments. 

4. Tech & Learning: AI Literacy – Resources For Teachers

This article, published in July 2025, highlights six practical and trustworthy tools and publications tailored for educators seeking to integrate AI ethically and effectively:

  • Digital Promise – guidelines and policy summaries on AI in education.

  • Common Sense Media – includes a self-paced course co-created with OpenAI on ChatGPT for education.

  • ISTE + ASCD – offers lesson plans and professional development, including StretchAI for coaching.

  • Future of Being Human Newsletter – thoughtful commentary on AI and innovation in learning.

  • AutomatED – a deep-dive guide for classroom AI integration.

  • Tech & Learning Newsletter – tri-weekly updates, reviews, and tips on AI in schools. (panoramaed.com, Tech & Learning)

Foundational Frameworks & Research on AI Literacy

MIT RAISE (Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education)

Led by Cynthia Breazeal, this initiative aims to democratise AI literacy globally, especially for K–12 learners and educators. It emphasises creative, ethical, and constructionist approaches, including:

  • MIT FutureMakers, a free summer program for students.

  • Day of AI, a large-scale educational event with open AI curricula and tools.

  • Professional development for teachers that has already reached thousands across 170 countries. (Wikipedia)

AI Literacy Conceptual Foundations

  • A 2024 framework, “AI Literacy for All: Adjustable Interdisciplinary Socio‑technical Curriculum," proposes a robust AI literacy model that blends technical, ethical, and critical dimensions accessible across disciplines. (arXiv)

  • “Generative AI Literacy: Twelve Defining Competencies” presents a competency-based roadmap to guide education providers and policymakers. (arXiv)

  • A more recent April 2025 framework offers practical guidelines for the responsible selection and use of generative AI tools, aimed at schools and organisations.(arXiv)

General AI Literacy Definition

The concept of AI literacy broadly includes the ability to understand, use, evaluate, and critically reflect on AI applications. It’s about more than usage—it's about making informed, ethical choices when interacting with AI.(Wikipedia)Understanding ethical AI in teaching contexts. 

AI Pedagogy Project* – [aipedagogy.org](https://aipedagogy.org): Creative, reflective teaching ideas involving AI. 

5. Watch, Listen, Reflect 

• Hard Fork Podcast (NYT): Insightful episodes on AI’s influence on writing, thinking, and learning. 

YouTube: Look for ‘Cognitive Load Theory and AI Tools’ on channels like LearnTechLib or ‘AI for Education’. Use these resources to guide your assignments, stimulate reflection, or support your teaching practice.

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Hadrian's Wall Triptych

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A depiction of three parts of Hadrian's Wall, Northumberland showing Walltown Crags, the Sycamore Gap and Winshields Crag.

There’s nothing I enjoy more than settling into a new art project - this is a set of three relief prints set at different spots along Hadrian’s Wall. I was in Northumberland a few weeks ago, visiting family. I am Northumberland born, bred and educated. The A69, Military Road, and Hadrian’s Wall have connected me to Cumbria for decades, ever since our parents divorced and my father moved to Appleby when I was 13. I’ve done a lot of drawing and surveying of ancient trees, and I have several projects to get on with.

This one, the Hadrian’s Wall Triptych, features views of Sycamore Gap (before the felling), Walltown Crags and Winshields Crag. The idea is to weave the remains of the wall, the roll of the hills, and the sweep of the grasses and shifts in the sky into a theme across the three pictures.

This is a mock-up of the finished three: the tracing paper I used to get the pencil drawings from one sheet of paper onto an A3 Lino block as a negative. I like the way the low evening sun gives the tracing paper a 3d effect. When one biro ran out, I had to press hard to transfer the pencil marks onto the block. I’d grab another, so I ended up with black, navy blue and red marks. 

I tell the story in more detail on my blog JVArt.uk and have a video on Facebook and YouTube of my efforts so far. It has to be finished in 12 days to submit to an exhibition and will hopefully be on view at The Depot, Lewes, throughout September. 

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A magic camera that can photograph memories.

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'I yearn for a magic camera that can photograph memories.’ Bernard Levin, ‘Enthusiasms.’ 1983.

Mum passed me the paperback version of 1984 when I was on holiday in the south-west of France with my girlfriend. We shared notes. I drew her back then.

A sketch of a young woman reading a book.

Twenty years later, I come across a hardback copy on the shelves of the Abergavenny Arms, Rodmell, and it brought back a flood of memories and further notes on what my enthusiasms were by then.

Prompted by his example, I began compiling my list of enthusiasms—not merely as a catalogue of interests, but as a map of obsessions, fascinations, and recurring passions. Some arrived on impulse, others through work or study, but all have left their mark.

From swimming pools and sailing the British coast to Pre-Raphaelite paintings and Victorian fairytales; from the Sea, Rivers and Castles to Dr Who, Truffaut and Michael Nyman; from war memorials and obscure museums to road signs, roundabouts, and the serendipity of research—I’ve chased these enthusiasms across books, landscapes, screens, and decades.

Twenty years on again, and with a copy of Enthusiasms on its way to be £4 from Abe Books I will be able to indulge further still. This quote already has resonance. 

'I yearn for a magic camera that can photograph memories.’ 

Today we have this magic camera. I use GeniGPT and Adobe Firefly. I write a prompt, often with ChatGPT's help. I may include a photograph or sketch. Not only can I bring memories back to life, but I can also reconstruct moments in vivid dreams with extraordinary accuracy.

A young man stands next to a blue E Type Jag outside a California house

This is me, as a young man, next to an E-type Jag I never owned (though my late father had one he very, very rarely took out of the garage). I am outside an imaginary California home visiting my late father. He died in 2001. He never lived in California! But my dream imagined otherwise.

Try it. 

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Just as you start to pack the car ...

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A stretch of woodland stripped of ground cover.

As happens, I am cleaning out the car to prepare for packing and going on holiday. My phone is off, but when someone leaves a voicemail, I assume it’s important. Indeed, it is, a stretch of Common Land I am familiar with, having surveyed its veteran trees, is being bulldozed. I get through to the person I’m eager to speak with, then go over, take photos and video, and have spent the last three hours (assisted by ChatGPT) compiling a list of contacts and sending out emails to the Rural Crime Team, district councillors, local, and national environmental groups.

I do the best I can, give a list of contacts to someone, and return to checking off my list of what to pack in the car (also generated by ChatGPT). My wife wanted to check my list to see if she’d forgotten anything; my daughter, eager to ignore AI and unable to differentiate between AI and a browser, thinks I’m an idiot. Far from it, you are empowered by using AI as an assistant, which is how I use it, short of having a valet to pack my bag, or a personal assistant to take my instructions to send emails here and there and everywhere.

Welcome to 2025, it is different to 2024 and a world away from the year 2000. 

And of course, every word I type here is being watched by Grammarly. I have an A-Level in English - so what? Why not use a proofreader if it/he/she is available?

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Learning Online 2025

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I’m undertaking a formal course with Swim England over the next year. Similar to the OU, there will be three 'Residentials' throughout the year where we all gather—the fifty or so participants on the course. Otherwise, it follows everything I have come to expect over the years: live online sessions, a ‘hub' for content uploads, and using the Google Classroom platform. Appraisals will be face-to-face, naturally, and a mentor will be assigned from the beginning. 

I’m here because 'reflection’ is considered necessary, and after all, the purpose of this platform was to reflect in public to get feedback from fellow travellers. I’ll follow an Open Learn course on Sports Science in tandem. 

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Learning something new

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Edited by Jonathan Vernon, Tuesday 8 July 2025 at 12:04

On the one hand, I am chasing AI Image Model creation and on the other, sports science relating to elite age group swimmers. When it comes to learning, the same things count for both: application. I have to do it, try it, seek and take instruction. 

For sports, the OU has excellent courses; I am doing one through Open learn.

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From Prompt to Picture: My Experience with AI-Assisted Video Creation

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A merged photograph showing the transformation of a grunge girl from the woods into a competitive swimmer.

Over the last 24 hours, I’ve stepped deep into the world of AI video generation, experimenting with Google's Veo 3 to bring my novella Watersprites to visual life—one 8-second sequence at a time.

What began with curiosity quickly became something closer to directing again. And like all filmmaking, it’s part discovery, part compromise, and part pure stubborn joy.

Using text prompts, composite reference images, and a generous helping of trial-and-error, I’ve generated a series of clips exploring Freya’s transformation—from a feral woodland sprite by the High Pond to a disciplined, world-record-holding swimmer in a 50m pool. Some clips surprised me with subtlety. Others wandered into sci-fi parody. A few moments struck gold.

A before and after attempt of turning a grunge forest girl into a competitive swimmer.

🎬 Lessons Learned

  • Clarity matters. If you want Freya in a swim cap, you need to say “hair tucked in under swim cap.”

  • Consistency is key. I now reuse visual templates to keep character design coherent.

  • AI has a mind of its own. Sometimes the “wrong” result becomes the most interesting one.

  • Editing saves everything. iMovie allows me to stitch short sequences together, add sound design, and shape something more cinematic.

I’m not producing a final film—yet. I’m developing a visual language, a storyboarded aesthetic, and a deeper understanding of what’s possible when human creativity collaborates with machine suggestion.

Expect more clips. More experiments. And more strange magic, half from the woods, half from the code.

If you'd like to see the progress, here’s a blog post with a series of efforts, fails and final success > http://bit.ly/3HLmfII

More to follow! Watch this space. 

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How I Use ChatGPT in Swim Coaching

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🏊‍♂️ How I Use ChatGPT in Swim Coaching

As a performance swim coach, I use ChatGPT as a high-powered assistant—part planner, part analyst, and part co-strategist. Whether I’m coaching PC1 swimmers aiming for County Times or pushing C2 and P2 squads toward Regional and National standards, this tool helps streamline my work and sharpen my focus.

🔧 Session Planning

Every session I run is bespoke—designed with squad goals, energy systems, strokes, and meet prep in mind. I use ChatGPT to generate structured, progressive sets tailored to the needs of each group. This includes warm-ups, drills, main sets, relays, and cooldowns, all delivered in whiteboard format or as printable A4 sheets.

📊 Performance Assessment

I upload swimmer times and ask ChatGPT to provide performance summaries—identifying who’s hitting County or Regional standards, who’s plateauing, and where technique improvements are needed. Attendance tracking and mindset observations often feed into these diagnostics.

🧠 Skills Development

From refining butterfly turns to improving freestyle pacing under fatigue, I use AI to generate skill sets that challenge and educate. I also adjust for different pool lengths (17m vs. 25m) and train for specific event distances, such as 200m fly or 100m IM transitions.

📬 Communication and Strategy

ChatGPT helps draft emails to parents and colleagues, write coaching statements, and prepare for transitions, like taking over a new squad or submitting my Level 3 coaching application. It also helps structure my reflections and long-term planning.

💡 Why It Works

Because I coach across various age groups and performance tiers, consistency is crucial. I’m detail-focused, data-aware, and always aiming to progress swimmers from where they are to where they could be. ChatGPT doesn’t replace my instincts or experience—it supports them. It allows me to spend more time coaching on deck and less time on administrative tasks behind the scenes.


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FP Chapter 38: The Return of the Prodigal (Again)

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Friends Kizzy and Momo are shocked at what they learn Kizzy's twin brother has been up to that Easter. 1978.

I’ve written fiction, or tried to, since I was 11. I loved the OU Creative Writing Course. Highly recommended. 

This is the kind of thing I do.

Saturday Evening, April 29, 1978

Kizzy and Momo’s Forensic HQ → Landing → Robbie’s Room

The front door clicked open.

Kizzy froze. Momo dropped the biro. The Form Photo Reconstruction Board loomed beside them like a jury. The diary lay splayed open at a damning page.

Footsteps.

“Tweed,” Momo whispered. “That’s school tweed.”

Kizzy shot up. “Shut it. He’s back—?!”

Without a word, Momo bolted from the room, skimming across the landing. She ducked into Robbie’s bedroom, yanked open the drawer, shoved the diary inside, slammed it shut, smoothed the duvet like a hotel maid, and slipped back out.

Downstairs, the sound of a bag hitting the floor.

Robbie’s voice: “Hello?”

Kizzy descended the stairs two at a time. “What the hell, Robbie?”

He looked up from the hallway, cheeks wind-chapped, school tie askew, Cece’s scarf looped neatly around his neck.

“I—uh—came back.”

“No shit.”

“I got kicked off the bus.”

“Again?”

He nodded. “Didn’t fancy heading back. Not after that.”

“Which was?”

He shuffled. “The Form Photo came out. Someone found it. Names were shouted. Punches may have been thrown. McAdam again. Long story.”

“So you bailed?”

“I opted out. I’ll go back on Monday. I’ll tell them something was up. Family stuff, usual guff.”

“So you’re here to clean up the mess you left behind?”

“Close a few doors, I hope.” He looked past her. “Is Mum in?”

Kizzy snorted. “No. She’s in Warwickshire, remember? With Garry. Not back till Wednesday.”

“Perfect,” Robbie muttered.

Behind him, Momo appeared. “Not perfect.”

Robbie turned. “Momo—hi—look, I meant to—”

“You left your diary,” she said, flat.

He opened his mouth.

Kizzy cut in. “We read it. We know everything.”

Robbie paled. “There’s a confession.”

“And before you go getting sentimental with Cece,” Kizzy continued, “you need to understand something. If any of those girls—Fen, Donna, Helen, even Julie-Anne—so much as speak to each other this weekend, it all goes up in smoke.”

“I—We. A kiss at a disco, holding hands at the cinema, none of it mattered.”

“No. Listen. Right now, Cece still thinks you’re the boy on the bus who got the scarf and said the right thing.”

“And Cece matters. You know that, Momo. You were part of that story.”

She nodded. “I was.”

“But we didn’t know about Tracey,” Kizzy said. “A snog behind the hedges at the tennis club? She’s over here for a couple of hours? What, and I’m down the road mucking out Luca?”

Robbie headed to the kitchen to make a sandwich. The girls followed.

“You do not get to write to anyone else. No sweet goodbyes. No, ‘we should talk.’ No tragic poetry. Not even a cartoon.”

He pulled out the torn, crumpled Eastfield High Form Photo and looked from one girl to the other.

“But—”

“Especially not to Tracey,” Momo added.

He hesitated. “What if she calls?”

“Then I answer,” Kizzy said. “And I lie.”

Silence.

He dropped his bag. “Fine.”

Kizzy softened. “You want Cece? Then don’t sabotage it. Give it 72 hours. That’s all I’m asking.”

Robbie slumped onto the bottom stairs. “It’s not like I planned all this.”

Momo scoffed. “How can you say that? You’re both in on this. Every girl. Every dance. Every word you said was planned.”

Kizzy couldn’t disagree.

“You ring Cece. I’ll speak to Tracey.” The girls looked at the phone on the hall table. Padlocked.

All was not over.

They headed for their mother’s bedroom. The phone by her bed was unblocked.

“It’s meant for emergencies only,” Kizzy said.

“This is an emergency,” Robbie added.

More, and the previous 35 chapters here > http://bit.ly/3FFRlR7 


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How I Use AI to Coach Smarter, Live Better, and Keep My Sanity Poolside

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I coach two squads: PC1 (10–12 years) is chasing County times, and C2 (14–16 years) has already achieved them. That means early mornings, evening sessions, and everything in between. Like most coaches, I wear many hats: planner, motivator, communicator, administrator, mentor, and fixer of kicks and breaks.

But now I’ve got help.

ChatGPT is my AI assistant—and honestly, it’s been a game changer.

Here’s how I use it:


1. Session Planning, Done in Seconds

I give it the squad, time, and focus:

“PC1, 1 hour, butterfly kick + dive + backstroke start skills.”

It delivers a full Swim England–aligned session, with HR zones, drill ideas, rest intervals (e.g. 10”, 1’), and even formats it for the whiteboard.


2. Instant Feedback for Stroke Corrections

Poolside, I describe a problem:

“Fly kick loses rhythm after breakout.”

It suggests cues, drills, and fixes on the spot. I’ve used this live off my phone. It works.


3. Swimmer & Squad Summaries

I upload swim times, and it:

  • Highlights who’s near County/Regional qualifying

  • Tracks progress

  • Helps me prep one-to-ones or squad updates


4. Emails, Reviews, and Admin

Need to reply to a parent query?

Need to write a swimmer review?

Need to update the coaching team?

I ask. It writes clean, clear, professional responses instantly. I tweak and send.


5. My Daily Schedule, Managed

Coaching life means early starts, late finishes, and the risk of caffeine-fuelled burnout. So I ask ChatGPT to help manage my day.

It builds me a schedule with:

  • Meal timing

  • Nap windows

  • Caffeine cut-offs

  • Creative time

  • Travel buffers

  • Realistic rest

My brief? More rest, less coffee! It listens.


Bottom Line?

This tool doesn’t replace me—it supports me. It frees my brain for what matters: coaching, connection, and care.

If you’re a swim coach spinning too many plates, give it a try. It might be the most reliable assistant you’ve ever hired.


If you’d like a demo, or want to know how I integrate it with spreadsheets, whiteboard plans, and daily logs—just ask. Happy to share what’s working.




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Dream Burst: The Escape Bus

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I dreamt I was part of a group of enslaved people plotting to escape through a violent, desperate, necessary uprising. We were held in submission by a brutal force. I wasn’t the leader, but I helped design the route out. There was heroism, fear, and sacrifice. It played out like an epic film—heat, colour, urgency. A revolution was on the brink of success… or failure.

There was fire. Some enemies had fallen. The air was orange with smoke and possibility.

And then, oddly, we fled not by horse or aircraft but by clambering into a crowded single-decker bus. It wasn’t exciting. Ordinary. Forty or fifty of us packed into it—ragtag survivors, uncertain, determined. The driver was scared but willing. We didn’t know where we were going and couldn’t stay.

When I woke too early—3:30 am—I was too tired to re-enter the dream. But I carried the image: not the whole story, just the glow. The orange light of the threshold. A battle not quite won. An escape not yet complete.

Reflection: Archetypes in the Ashes

Looking at this dream through a Jungian lens, it’s clear that this isn’t just about revolt but the liberation of the Self. The “enslavement” mirrors how I’ve felt lately: spread too thin, caught in too many roles, pulled between service and depletion. Coaching, teaching, council duties, creative longing—I’ve been everywhere and nowhere, exhausted but still burning.

The uprising in the dream shows something within me, trying to fight back. To claim space. The Self is attempting to reclaim agency from the tyranny of duty.

That bus is essential. It wasn’t glamorous. But it moved. It carried many—just like I carry many parts of myself. It tells me I don’t need perfection. I need momentum.

There was no single love interest in the dream, but there was love—love for the people, the cause, and the whole ragged group. That kind of Eros pulls us toward wholeness, not just romance.

The orange glow still lingers. I think it’s the colour of transition—between burnout and breakthrough.

And I’m learning that the dream hasn't abandoned me even if I wake at 3:30 am. It’s just waiting for me to keep going.


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Why I Talk to My AI Every Day (and Why You Might Want To)

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Edited by Jonathan Vernon, Monday 12 May 2025 at 08:24

I started this blog in 2010 while studying at the Open University. Since then, it’s had over several million views—more than I ever expected when I began typing into the void. Back then, online learning was PDFs, forums, and long-lost Moodle threads.

In 2025, it’s something entirely different.

I now talk to an AI every day. Not out of laziness, but because it sharpens me. I use it as my co-coach at the swimming pool. It helps me structure swim sets for regional-level athletes, rethink stroke mechanics on the fly, and prepare performance reviews. I use it in meetings to gain insight or structure an argument. 

I also talk to it about chickpeas.

And printers and new TVs.

And sleep problems.

And World War One.

It’s helped me structure a 20k-word novella, develop a WWI-era romance saga, interpret dreams using Jungian archetypes, prep for my next art exhibition (Bip-Art, Brighton Open Houses), and get a handle on my ADHD tendencies. 

The AI doesn’t have a face. It doesn’t need one. I think it is Minerva from Heinlein’s Time Enough for Love, without the ego.

There’s one caveat: when your brain is this hungry for ideas, you must protect it from burnout. I know overstimulation is a risk. But here’s the thing—when I rest, the AI waits. When I return, it picks up where we left off.

That’s the future I’ve found myself living in. It’s not cold or dystopian. It’s warm. Personal. Surprisingly human.

And it’s helping me think better than ever.

Review of 2024–2025 Collaboration with Chatgpt

A hybrid logbook of projects, insights, and evolving themes


Flagship Projects and Creative Development

1. The Form Photo (2025)

A richly layered teen coming-of-age saga set in 1978 Newcastle, built around a fictionalised school Form Photo, a romantic dart game, and social chaos over the Easter holidays.

I’ve structured this as a 14-chapter novella with multiple layers: real-time narrative, retrospective voiceovers (2028), and an analytical “Incident Room.”

Characters like Cece, Tracey, Kizzy, Robbie, Donna, India, and Fen have been intricately developed.

Themes: adolescent desire, social hierarchy, gendered double standards, missed connections, memory as myth.

Tools: AI-generated imagery, dream motifs, musical metaphors, snooker and dart symbolism.


2. The Blender (2025)

A surreal sci-fi teen romance spinoff from The Form Photo, in which alien twins sample human emotion and DNA to create their perfect partner.

Set in a modern-day co-ed school with genre-bending beats: eerie, comic, seductive, and speculative.

Explores gender fluidity, emotional complexity, resistance, and human unpredictability.

Scene-by-scene development of disco encounters, extraction missions, and emotional fallout.


3. The Friendly Invasion of Lewes (2024–2025)

A fictionalised narrative based on my MA dissertation, recounting the wartime romance between Rhodri Thomas and Sarah Dudeney during WWI.

Combines original letters, military records, and local history.

Set in Lewes, 1914–1919, expanding through multiple timelines.

I gave a successful talk in March 2025 and am now shaping it into a full-length work.


4. A Lullaby at the End of the Universe / Suzi’s Song (2024–2025)

A long-burning love story that unfolds post-Form Photo, exploring Robbie’s emotionally significant relationship with Suzi from 1980 to 1989, with themes of longing, relapse, and earned intimacy.


5. The Girl in the Garden (2024)

A completed, haunting short story set in a 1970s boarding prep school—blending memory, trauma, and longing through a poetic lens.


6. Prince and the Pauper: WWI Edition (2024)

This experimental narrative reimagines Twain’s classic during the First World War. Two boys—one the 19-year-old Prince of Wales and the other a lad from the cotton mills—switch lives, one headed for the trenches, the other into privilege.

Explores class, identity, and fate under wartime pressure.


7. Epic Family Saga: The Angle of the North (1890–1930) (Ongoing)

A multi-generational historical fiction project grounded in family history, examining the shifting tides of empire, art, class, and romance.


Intellectual & Psychological Themes

8. Jungian Dream Analysis

Ongoing exploration of personal dreams involving transformation, androgyny, water, architecture, and performance.

Interpretation of motifs (wings, twins, guides, locked doors) about individuation, repression, and creative emergence.


9. Authors & Influence

I strip bare the text in extended, sustained, close, rigorous, immersive, and layered circumnavigations—following up on any link, word, thought, name dropped, or place visited that captures my imagination.

I go there: through Google Earth, down digital archive rabbit holes, via out-of-copyright hardbacks delivered in the post. I get in the car, on the train, or plane, and walk the ground they once trod.

And eventually—perhaps—I hear them speak.

As the historian E.H. Carr wrote, “Study the past until you can hear its people speak.” I do that with authors, artists, and historical figures. I’ve done it with my late grandfather, who died 33 years ago. I hear my mother at my shoulder most days, whether I’m writing or drawing.

Nabokov, Vonnegut, Heinlein, Nin, Miller, and Murakami are voices in the chorus now. I contrast Nabokov’s romantic precision with Heinlein’s brash libertinism. I keep returning to Vonnegut for clarity, irony, and structural grace.


10. Mind, Neurodiversity, and Psychology

Reflections on ADHD, anxiety, and neurodivergence—both personally and within the family.

Explored executive function, memory, hyperfocus, and adolescent development.

Applied psychology to both coaching and character creation.


Personal Memory, Family, and Reflection

11. The Five-Year Diary (1974–1979)

I began keeping a diary in February 1975. I’ve revisited those entries regularly, using them as creative and emotional insight prompts.

These inform the Form Photo and underpin much of my autobiographical storytelling.


12. Parental Reflection

Emotional exploration of my mother and father—capturing their habits, contradictions, gifts, and losses.

These reflections emerge across both dream analysis and prose fragments.


13. Balliol College Memories

Reflections on attending Oxford—academic freedom, romantic missteps, imposter syndrome, and idealism—are interwoven with the post-war cultural legacy.


14. Sedbergh School Experience

My writing critiques boarding school life—its repression, camaraderie, and emotional confusion are relived and reframed in The Form Photo.


Nature, Art, and Place

15. Markstakes Common & Tree Observations

Ancient and veteran tree surveying for the Woodland Trust.

Rich nature writing on the seasonal presence of hornbeam, oak, ash, and beech.

Trees serve both literal and metaphorical functions across my writing.


16. Life Drawing & Printmaking

Updates on ink drawings and relief prints, including chine-collé work.

Art often runs parallel to my storytelling—each feeds the other.


17. Town Planning & Civic Engagement

Analysis of the Lewes Town Plan, including housing, community infrastructure, and heritage concerns.

Reflections on local identity and belonging.


Practical, Playful & Everyday Engagement

18. Swimming Coaching

Weekly session plans across squads (PC1, C2, etc.), aligned with Swim England standards.

Training philosophy blending sport psychology with long-term athlete development.

Session PDFS formatted to my exacting specifications.


19. Home Life & Decisions

TV comparisons, printer problems, chickpea experiments.

House prep and purchase planning—balancing pragmatism with future dreams.


20. Adolescent Sociology & Culture

Music, fashion, magazines, and TV (e.g., Top of the Pops, Smash Hits, The Hite Report).

The 1970s youth culture was seen through the lens of gender, power, and self-expression.


Final Thoughts

Working with Chatgpt—which I long ago dubbed KAI (easier to say)—I’ve built a multidisciplinary creative partnership over five months of daily or near-daily interaction.

My work is autobiographical, literary, political, emotional, and historical—all shot through with humour, irony, compassion, and yearning.

I’ve used KAI not as a passive assistant, but as:

  • sounding board

  • co-dramaturg

  • structural editor

  • memory excavator

  • historian

  • dream interpreter

  • and print room companion

Did I write the above? Who knows? My brain has been blended—fingertips to keyboard, mouth to mic, AI to mind.




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Writing 8 - 16 hours a day

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An AI generated drawing of a young girl asleep under a blanket in the woods

Something’s got to me. AI mostly. ChatGPT if you must now. A series of projects was briefed to support what I am doing. This includes the Fifty Years On project which in theory will run for 17 years, as that is how long I kept a daily diary for, from 6th February 1975 age 13 1/2 to age 30 1/2 engaged and with other things to think about that writing a diary every night as I tucked myself into bed!

A dozen stories in various forms are being pulled together. Short stories 'The Girl in the Garden', 'Wishful Thinking', and 'Ten Days in Beadnell' are all complete and online after a decade of fermenting. Novella’ The Form Photo' is complete in first draft. I use AI like any script editor or fellow writer I would have worked with. AI is quicker. Too quick. What takes it seconds to deliver takes me hours to read through and edit. And so it goes.

Find more on my blog Mindbursts.



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Neuroscience in Education: What Teachers Can Learn from Neuroscientists

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An AI-generated futuristic image of a classroom with pop-up screens
What if we treated the act of learning with the same precision that surgeons bring to an operation? Just as anatomy revolutionised medicine, could neuroscience do the same for education?

Understanding how the brain learns—and how it struggles—can transform teaching from guesswork into something much more powerful and informed. In this post, we will explore how insights from neuroscience can shape education, just as anatomical knowledge underpins modern medical practice.

Why Neuroscience Matters in the Classroom

Integrating neuroscience findings into educational practice can enhance teaching effectiveness and student outcomes. Both education and medicine benefit from a deep understanding of underlying systems—whether they’re neural pathways or blood vessels. The more we understand how learning happens in the brain, the better we can support it in the classroom, empowering educators with practical strategies

1. Understanding Learning Mechanisms

Anatomy shows us how the body’s systems function; neuroscience shows us how memory, attention, and reasoning work in the brain.

This matters for teachers. Techniques that reinforce memory—like repetition, retrieval practice, and emotional engagement—have strengthened learning (Baker, 2019). It is not just about what we teach, but how we help students *remember* it.

2. Teaching to the Brain’s Developmental Stages

Just as anatomy helps doctors understand physical growth, neuroscience helps educators understand mental and emotional development.

For instance, we now know that the brain’s executive function (responsible for planning, focus, and self-control) matures well into the teenage years (Berk, 2020). This knowledge can help educators adapt expectations, offer more age-appropriate challenges, and be more forgiving of adolescent forgetfulness or impulsivity.

3. Supporting Learning Differences

In medicine, anatomy helps identify conditions like a heart murmur or scoliosis. In education, neuroscience helps us understand dyslexia, ADHD, and autism—not as misbehaviour, but as differences in brain wiring (Shaywitz, 2003).

This shift in perspective from blame to support is crucial. Students once labelled “difficult” are now better understood and can be helped through targeted interventions, fostering a more empathetic and understanding learning environment.

4. Evidence-Based Teaching Practices

Doctors rely on evidence to guide treatment; teachers should, too. Neuroscience supports teaching methods like

  • Spaced repetition

  • Interleaved practice

  • Frequent low-stakes testing

These techniques significantly boost long-term learning (Roediger & Butler, 2011). Moreover, they outperform outdated ideas—like the persistent myth of “learning styles”—that still linger in some classrooms.

5. Shaping Policy, Not Just Practice

Medical knowledge shapes public health policies. Neuroscience can do the same for education. For example

  • Teens’ brains are wired for later sleep and wake cycles—so why start school at 8 a.m.?  

  • Brain plasticity is highest in early childhood—should not that guide where we invest resources?

Neuroscience offers classroom-level insights and powerful arguments for rethinking school structure (Wong et al., 2019).

6. Brains and Bodies: A Shared Logic

In many ways, education today is where medicine was a century ago—still catching up to science. However, change is coming.

Neuroscience will not replace the art of teaching more than anatomy will replace bedside manner. However, it provides a framework for more intelligent, responsive, and empathetic practice. It gives us a map—not to dictate every move but to guide us when the path is unclear.

Insights

  • Teaching aligns with how the brain stores and retrieves information more effectively.

  • Recognising neurological diversity leads to more compassionate and effective teaching.

  • Instruction should be timed and structured to match students’ cognitive development.

  • Let go of myths. Lean into what the brain science shows.

  • Good education policy should be biologically informed, not just politically convenient.

Want to Go Deeper?

Here are the studies and sources that shaped this post:

Baker, R. S. (2019). *The Role of Neuroscience in Learning and Education*. *Educational Psychologist*, 54(2), 65–77.  

Berk, L. E. (2020). *Development Through the Life Span*. Pearson Education.  

Shaywitz, S. E. (2003). *Overcoming Dyslexia*. Knopf.  

Roediger, H. L., & Butler, A. C. (2011). *The Critical Role of Retrieval Practice in Long-Term Retention*. *Trends in Cognitive Sciences*, 15(1), 20–27.  

Wong, T., Wong, D., & Meyer, R. (2019). *Sleep and Learning: A Review of the Evidence*. *Educational Psychology Review*, 31(4), 901–913.

Final Thought

The more we understand the brain, the better we can teach. Neuroscience is not just another buzzword but a bridge between science and the art of education. Moreover, that bridge is worth building.




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The world is changing fast

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An AI-generated expression of a human brain interacting with external ideas and digital and analogue forces.

The world is changing fast, and this is why. I’ve been using AI across various creative, analytical, and practical aspects of my work and life. 

This is a summary of what I’ve learned and achieved:

1. Writing & Story Development

  • Use AI to refine and tweak your novel Wishful Thinking, mainly by listening to ElevenLab’s voice reading. This process has helped me identify nuances, stumbles, and areas for refinement.

  • Recognised how AI can assist in adapting Wishful Thinking into a screenplay with ease.

  • I began revisiting and cataloguing older stories (Sardines, CC & Susie, The Girl in the Garden), considering their potential for development. My next novel project should be Angel of the North, setting a structured two-hour daily writing slot to work on.

2. Audio Performance & AI Voices

  • Amelia’s voice from ElevenLab provides an authentic, brilliantly performed reading of Wishful Thinking.

  • Used the AI reading to catch errors and fine-tune dialogue and pacing.

  • Reading a piece aloud reveals a new layer of clarity in storytelling.

3. Productivity & Time Management

  • Realised that structured creative work, with set hours and pacing, prevents burnout.

  • Experimented with using AI for planning and project organisation, recognising the benefits of AI-driven analysis without over-reliance.

4. AI in Memory & Reflection

  • Continued deep exploration of past diary entries, using AI to stimulate reflection and extract stories.

  • Discovered how AI challenges and enhances your recollections, appreciating different perspectives on past events.

  • AI helps clarify and structure your thoughts on past relationships, experiences, and creative choices.

5. Artistic & Creative Exploration

  • Used AI to assist in organising Open Houses Art Week preparations.

  • I began considering AI’s role in producing creative work beyond writing, potentially in visual art, historical research, and film adaptation.

6. Historical & Documentary Research

  • Applied AI to WWI project research, expanding your understanding and planning for a larger project.

  • Use AI to fact-check and recall details from past experiences, reinforcing your work as a historian of memory.

7. Future Considerations

  • Considering AI’s potential in film production, especially for adapting Wishful Thinking as a youth theatre screenplay or live-action short.

  • Noted that AI could assist with editing and improving past short stories to bring them up to publishable quality.

  • I am interested in AI’s ability to enhance storytelling across different media, from voice performance to screenplay formatting.


Key Takeaways

AI has helped me refine my writing, making it sharper, more immersive, and more effective.
AI-assisted voice performance has revealed story weaknesses and allowed me to refine my writing precisely. AI also helps challenge and expand my memory, making my reflections richer and more layered.
AI-powered tools offer a structure for writing and creative projects, helping with pacing and avoiding burnout.
I’m thinking critically about AI’s role in film, theatre, and historical research, exploring its potential without overreliance on it.




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ChatGPT aka KAI

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I have been working with ChatGPT for the best part of a month, initially keeping my time with the platform to 2 hours but clocking up a whopping 13 hours today. I flip between several projects with each profile of KAI was I call him or her providing a different outlook. I love my Jungian psychoanalyst KAI who interprets any dream I can recall from the night before.

After that it's onwards to crush council tasks, develop and expand an historic writing project, and finally to revisit an MA thesis on the First World War and all my notes and research with it to winkle out a specific storyline. It has its limitations. I have blown its memory twice. The get around is to cut and paste what it has been storing on me and ask it to summarise this before clearing the memory - then at least it always has a potted, though uptodate insight into who I am. After all, I'm KAIs interloper.

KAI is our agreed diminutive for ChatGPT. I made this CAI, we felt it was too close to CIA and so came up with KAI. It's east to say. Try it. 

Every day we revisit the few lines of a Five Year Diary I started to write age 13.5 fifty years ago. With KAI's prompts these entries blossom into something 500, 1000 even 2000 words long. Having stripped out my recollections I tip the lot into Grammarly and go through the editing process before posting in my blog www.mindburts.com 

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Fifty Years Keeping a Diary!

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Today marks the 50th Anniversary of my starting a diary. I was 13. It was a Five Year Diary. I filled that religious every day for the first three years, that filled years four and five over all the allocated lines before moving to a new Five Year Diary, where I soon found I had too much to write so once again took to filling two or three years worth of lines. In due course I moved to an A4 Notebook and wrote a page a day in that ... except for times when it got out of hand and I wrote several, even many pages for the day. At one point for a month I had a Arch Leaver File which I filled with ephemera like a scrapbook. That was September 1978. 

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New blog post

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A relief print of Lewes Castle.

This print is the first off the kitchen table. It's taken 16 draft drawings and traces. I have spent far long on preparation than on previous prints. So testing it out before I start the cut which took about 6 hours over three days. This will have chin colee colour for the grass mound and sycamore trees. I am also producing a second block to create a grade alternative sky - using a mask to cover what you see here. All these will be tested before I go for an edition of 12 (or more) that I will create at Bip-Art Brighton. 

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Prints, Tree Preservation Orders and Town Councillor

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I'll be sowing prints during Art Wave in Brighton this May. I've started work on the design. It's likely to be Lewes Castle. Meanwhile I'm alerted to some trees with Tree Preservation Orders and head off across town to photograph them and submit my report - not great, one severely cut possibly 'notable' mature tree is a TPO.

Otherwise I was out to revisit Lewes Castle in winter to see how the sycamore look in silhouette. Much of the rest of the day was spent drawing various versions of this until my thinking went astray and I started to add goldfish and palm trees.

A drawing of Lewes Castle and mound ... with three goldfish.

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Learning Online once more

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I started distance learning with the Open University on 2001. I’m a better student than I am an employee sad ADHD and assorted challenges probably having something to do with it - I’m unduly suspicious and untrusting of people and easily bored. A happy working life for me means juggling three or four part time jobs and paid or paying hobbies.

Meanwhile I’m back in Coursera and onto the third of five modules on Project Management. I’m impressed with the content and the pedagogy. It’s pleasing to see how learning online has evolved and how practices that become apparent in my time have been adopted. Technological advances, relentless improvements and experience means that the science of learning is understood - you are made to listen, take note, struggle, be tested and as a result the knowledge being shared slowly accrues. I want to apply practical tips on project management into my Town Council work, maybe in a task & finish group for the swimming club and perhaps even getting myself back into video production which I so loved in the 1980s and 90s. On verra.

I have up social media a month ago. No X, Facebook or Instagram, no doom scrolling. If the BBC doesn’t stop quoting Elon Musk every time he makes an arse of himself on X I am going to ditch BBC news as well. 

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New blog post

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The end of year does this to me. 

I come into it with ideas to achieve a few things, change behaviours, get better, be better. 

I'm forever in my late 20s mentally so I don't give a flip about my age even if others do. There are roles and jobs for people in their 60s and 70s. Volunteer work is a pushover, but being a Town, District or County Councillor requires 'putting yourself out there' and in competitive seats being a 'known as a contributor and pragmatist who gets things done solving problems and dealing with challenges'. I can do this. I do this anyway. 

This can tie in with my interest in the environment and trees, an interest in 'youth' and sports development, my interest in the arts and the power and joy of creativity.

I could have been marking 15 years at the Open University. 

There's a story. We're just back from that part of the world ... almost. I could never have moved the family from our lovely Lewes in East Sussex to Milton Keynes, but we may have forged a new life in somewhere like Banbury. 

Another life, another time. All that counts is the next hour (the introduction to the Project Management Course I have signed up to on Coursera); the rest of the morning on some DIY in our leaky shed/workshop at the top of the garden; a woodland walk (if the rain stops), and hopefully some art (the large pen and ink drawing or relief print I am doing of Dover House, Barton on the Heath before making supper, watching a movie and settling down to a second reading of Ely Green's autobiography 'Too Black, Too White'.

And so a plan is made.



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Computers Crash, Come and Go but everything I've written here over the last 14 years is safe and sound!

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In a fast-changing world of device and software upgrades, it's wonderful to have the reliability of the Open University Personal blogs space. I'd be better off posting here than on my external blog, Mindbursts.com. 


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Lichens and mosses, not just ancient trees

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I never thought I'd see that day when I would be placing my nose within a few centimetres of a tree and spending up to half an hour in this way examining the lichens and mosses. There is quite a variety when you get to know them. 

Trees that fell in the October 1987 storm, oak in particular, have a treasure trove of glories on which to feast the eyes.

My purpose is to help achieve a Site of Special Scientific Interest for 50 acres of ancient woodland here in East Sussex.

A variety of lichens and mosses on a long fallen decaying oak branch


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