{"id":12726,"date":"2016-02-03T12:43:36","date_gmt":"2016-02-03T01:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/?p=12726"},"modified":"2019-11-15T00:48:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-15T00:48:00","slug":"opening-doors-to-rural-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/opening-doors-to-rural-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Opening doors to rural life"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Norm
Norm Clarke and Bindi.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In small village halls, bush libraries and regional towns across Australia, ABC Open producers teach locals how to hone and share digital stories to share with a huge online community.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before he went to his first workshop five years ago, Wyndham farmer Norm Clarke\u2019s only experience with computers was \u2018pulling the plug out of the wall and telling the kids it was time to go to bed\u2019.<\/p>\n

Back then Norm knew next to nothing about digital technology, but his family had bought him a digital point-and-shoot camera for Christmas and he was hooked. \u2018It took me 10 minutes to work out it was smarter than I am.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I was listening to the radio and I heard the ABC was running a workshop where you write a story behind a photograph and I was keen to go along. What\u2019s the point of having all your photos stored away on a hard drive? You want to be able to share them with others.\u2019<\/p>\n

Now there\u2019s no stopping him. Norm\u2019s stories and films \u2013 over 40 so far \u2013 are full of keen observations of life on the land and have connected him with an enthusiastic audience.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s been a lifechanger for me. I\u2019ve grown in confidence and I\u2019m thinking of new stories all the time.’<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

ABC Open was launched in 2010 to encourage people in regional Australia to connect and share stories. Since then over 15,000 people have contributed over 86,000 stories to the online platform. Contributors use photos, writing, video and audio to describe people, places and personalities to reveal a vivid picture of regional life.<\/p>\n

For many contributors the process begins with a workshop in a local hall or library run by an ABC Open producer. Norm worked mainly with producer Vanessa Milton<\/a>. \u2018Vanessa is a natural when it comes to teaching \u2013 all of the producers I\u2019ve worked with are. After she\u2019s explained something, Vanessa will look at each of us around the table to see if it\u2019s sunk in. If it hasn\u2019t she explains it in simpler terms until we get it. She\u2019s really great at reading and then responding to people.\u2019<\/p>\n

But teaching and learning doesn\u2019t end with the workshops. \u2018When I\u2019m back home and working on a story, when I feel like it\u2019s finished or when I\u2019m sick of it I put it up on Vimeo and send the link to Vanessa who gives me feedback so I can modify it. The back up you\u2019ve got is amazing. I have a go and if I get in strife I know help is only a phone call or an email away. I\u2019ve got this top notch support.\u2019<\/p>\n

Norm spends most of his days alone with his dogs on the farm and visits town just once a week. \u2018Doing these workshops and projects has got me out, forced me to mix with people.\u00a0For example I\u2019ve met one guy who\u2019s a dairy cocky and a bird photography enthusiast. I knew him before but I had no idea we had similar interests. Now we share links to one another\u2019s stuff on the web.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n

\u2018Each project is a learning experience. When\u00a0it\u2019s finished I look at it and notice what I could\u00a0have done better but then I move on to the next\u00a0one.\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

There is no shortage of stories on the farm. \u2018There is so much to see. You can\u2019t help noticing things. Stories pop up all the time.\u2019 Norm says recording his observations has made him more observant. \u2018Last year we had a particularly wet year and for the first time in 30 years I noticed we had native orchids. Have I been blind and not seen them or is it really just a one off event? I took a photo of them and then I noticed there were patches all over the bloody place.\u2019<\/p>\n

Apart from his own stories, Norm has produced a video for a local Landcare group on caring for country in the Towamba Valley and he is a contributor to the Atlas of life, recording his sightings of plants birds and animals.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s made me much more aware of exactly what is there, what plants, insects, animals we are sharing our patch with. Now when I see a snake I want to know what sort of snake is it, I want to know the names of the plants I see.\u2019<\/p>\n

Norm worries about friends and neighbours who are frightened and intimidated by computers. \u2018I know people who are fearful of having a go because they are anxious about breaking something, of not knowing what to do, and the terminology is very offputting. My friend at the computer shop in town talks to people on the phone when they\u2019ve got computer problems and he asks them what the icons on the desktop are doing and they don\u2019t know what he\u2019s talking about.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I understand why people are frightened of computers but I also know what\u2019s on the other side of that. Years ago at Agricultural College I started collecting specimens of plants. I put them in a pile of newspapers with a brick on top but the earwigs got to them and I had to throw them out. Now I can take umpteen photos and record them that way. In the past, you\u2019d have to look in books to identify them but now the Web helps you do it in an instant.\u2019<\/p>\n

Norm\u2019s advice is \u2018Have a go. Make contact with your local ABC Open producer. Knock on their door, email or phone. It\u2019s free and all you\u2019ve got to do is get off your butt and go along\u2019.<\/p>\n

Norm\u2019s currently working on a story for ABC Open about the weekly chore of emptying the grease trap, his mischievous dog Bindi and a Frisbee. Norm laughs, \u2018I think you can probably guess the ending\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018People stop me in the street and tell me they like something I had up on ABC Open.\u2019 But Norm doesn\u2019t do it for the praise. \u2018I do it for the fun and the challenge. If I\u2019m happy with it that\u2019s all that matters.\u2019<\/p>\n

Norm\u2019s short film The loo with a view<\/strong>, first\u00a0published on the ABC Open website\u00a0and\u00a0one of our favourites, has been\u00a0screened at a local film festival as well as on\u00a0ABC-TV.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The ABC Open archives<\/a> is a great resource for adult learners with stories about people, places, memories and experiences of life in rural and regional Australia.<\/p>\n

Read more of our stories about\u00a0ABC Open and\u00a0interviews with producer and trainer\u00a0Vanessa Milton<\/a>\u00a0and ABC Open contributor and learner\u00a0Vickie Mennie<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In small village halls, bush libraries and regional towns across Australia, ABC Open producers teach locals how to hone and share digital stories to share with a huge online community. Before he went to his first workshop five years ago, Wyndham farmer Norm Clarke\u2019s only experience with computers was \u2018pulling the plug out of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":854,"featured_media":12800,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-quest"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOpening doors to rural life - Adult Learning Australia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/opening-doors-to-rural-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Opening doors to rural life - Adult Learning Australia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In small village halls, bush libraries and regional towns across Australia, ABC Open producers teach locals how to hone and share digital stories to share with a huge online community. 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