Incursion diversion!?
Incursions at an OSHC service refer to planned activities or events that are brought into the service to enrich the learning experience of the children. These events can vary greatly and may include cultural performances, sports clinics, and science workshops, among others. Incursions provide opportunities for children to learn and explore new interests in a safe and familiar environment. They also allow children to interact with individuals outside of the OSHC service, such as experts and performers, which can broaden their perspectives and understanding of the world. Incursions are an important part of the curriculum and can enhance the overall quality of the OSHC experience for children.
That is an amazing description of what an incursion means to us at OSHC! How would you feel if I told you that while I began writing something similar, a new symbol wiggled in the tool bar as I typed, and when I pushed that wiggly symbol, a new tool offered to finish writing the paragraph for me? Artificial intelligence is now an all too convenient feature of our blogging platform.
This image was created using Starryai with the following prompts: create a drawing of a child posed like The Thinker, a sculpture by Auguste Rodin, in a cyberpunk style.
I’ve played around with OpenAI’s Chat GPT and Midjourney and while I’m very interested in AI and tech, I’m also very cautious. As a photographer and artist I’m concerned how AI will once again change the way in which work is produced and how creative people will make an income. I recently listened to a podcast where a music producer shared songs that were recorded using AI in the style and with the vocals of John Lennon and Kurt Cobain. What a strange new world this seems to be! And this strange place is likely to be a normal one for our children.
We’re working towards embracing technology here at OSHC and finding a sensible balance to it. We believe that we should all create more than we consume, when it comes to digital media and games. Thanks for that one, Chase Jarvis. More on this another time, but for now, I want to know your thoughts on technology, digital media and AI, as it relates to you and your family at home, in your own work, at school, and for your children at OSHC.
I believe that while advances in science and technology can create uncertainty and changes to how we live our lives, it is because of science and technology (yes, there are other things too!) that we have such a high quality of living now.
In any case, we’ll let you know whenever AI was involved in anything produced here and for the time being, our ‘policy’ will be that we use mostly human general intelligence! We’re hoping that this platform will be a place for children to share their interests in technology, digital media and other work too.
The reason I began writing about the term incursion is because the Education Standards Board recently published an article about the use of this term and how it is an inappropriate term for us to use in an OSHC setting. I can’t find the article now to reference, you’ll just have to trust me!
The OSHC sector has used this term for a long time and define it as stated above, or thereabouts. During the July school holidays, for example, we’re hosting a beatboxer called Jobe who will entertain and teach children how to beatbox. He’ll also work with them to record beats that we can use as a jingle for our podcast. That’s an incursion.
The ESB points to the dictionary definition of the word incursion and is concerned that it may cause offence or be an insensitive term to use given people’s experience of incursion and war.
Incursion
noun- in•cur•sion
1. A hostile entrance into a territory
2. An entering in or into (something, such as an activity or undertaking)
Eg. his only incursion into the arts
We have begun using the phrase school based event and similar to replace incursion. What do you think?
The point of adopting this change is to be cognisant of the sensibilities of people within our community. Is it a necessary change though? We don’t mean to offend anyone, context matters. What I find curious about this AI issue and the language we use at OSHC is how flexible we may or may not be in our thinking to allow for change for the better. As critical thinkers we should consider evidence, reasoning, and different points of view, no matter how we may feel about something. So I ask you, what do you think about all of this?
Please leave any comments or questions in the comments section below or send us an email if you wish to share something discreetly.
Aaron