Dancing Matt has a new video that takes to 42 countries over 14 months.
This is a thing of beauty. Turn on the volume, and watch this in full-screen high quality.
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When a university administration does something that is in the service of something that doesn’t have immediate payoffs for its revenues or prestige, I think it is worth noting, and maybe even applauding. I’d like to do that for my home institution today.
Ask yourself a simple question: What do you do that gets in the way of learning? Then read this terrific post by Jennifer Jones, and see where you fit. It’s inspiring and humbling, all at the same time.
Rob Wall, Dean Shareski and I got together this afternoon for a relatively impromptu podcast. Heather Ross and Alec Couros were busy working for a living, so we did our best to carry on without them.
TLt reflections and edupunk - http://tinyurl.com/5lbmxh
Shownotes available at http://edtechposse.wikispaces.com/4.3
The latest Edtech Posse podcast has been released. The conversation provides thoughts on the recent TLT conference and edupunk. Dean Shareski, Rob Wall, and Rick Schwier were present. Heather and I were unable to make it.
More information and shownotes can be found at edtechposse.ca.
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I just received this request from the Vancouver Olympic Committee and thought I would pass it along.
VANOC
DO SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY FOR CANADA & THE WORLD
It is the world’s most spectacular and unifying event, and in less than three years the eyes of the world will be focused on British Columbia and Canada as we celebrate the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. We are currently looking for an:
Intern, Technology Training Team
(more…)
Last spring, Elizabeth Boling, Andy Gibbons and I did a presentation at the AERA conference on different approaches we take to teaching instructional design. For part of the presentation, I put together a video to describe the service learning approach we take at the University of Saskatchewan. We negotiate external contracts with non-profit organizations to carry out actual projects for them. It’s exciting and demanding, and it creates a powerful and unpredictable learning enviornment that I’ve come to like a lot.
If you’re interested, here is the video (approx 13 minutes) broken into two parts.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Jeremy Paxman, legendary BBC journalist, speaks about the changes in broadcast media as it relates to the blogosphere.
We’ve become obsessed with how the copper wire is organized and we have forgotten about the electricity.
And a very related bonus clip:
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We recently posted our kids’ log cabin playhouse on Kijiji, and nearly 1500 people looked at it. Our kids loved it growing up, and we hoped it would go to someone whose kids would enjoy it as much as ours did. One family wanted it, sight unseen, for their kids at home and one they hoped to take home soon. They were living at Ronald MacDonald House while their new baby recovered from several surgeries and was touch-and-go for weeks, after being born with his intestines on the outside of his body. The dad somehow found time to come and get the cabin, and the procedure was impressive. Take a look at what one great dad did for his kids.
Happy Father’s Day to all of you dads out there.
Opensourcecinema.org has released their first Bil C-61 protest video.
If you look closely, you can identify me as one of the copyright criminals.
Of course, that’s not the important piece here.
Here’s some stuff to love about the new bill, C-61::
-$500 per downloaded song
-No Fair Use rights for remix culture
-$20,000 for uploading content (youtube anyone?)Show your protest by uploading a copyright criminal photo! (source)
Protest Bill C-61, stop this betrayal against Canadian citizens before it is too late. See Michael Geist’s most recent post to find out how.
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I have been wanting to jump onto the topic of edupunk for quite a while now, but I am happy that I waited. Since Jim Groom’s initial post, there has been a lot of debate around the term … but I won’t get into that. This post is really not about entering into that conversation. The term resonated with me, so please let me indulge in this bit of selfish, and very incomplete, introspection.
D’Arcy Norman proclaimed me an edpunk, and I am in excellent company. This proclamation resulted because of the work I did with my recent graduate course, EC&I 831 where I (with the help of Rob Wall) broke a lot of rules regarding course “delivery”. I have spoken about the course quite a few times since it has formally ended, and the question I am asked most often is “how did you get away with that?”. To Rob and I, the facilitation model came naturally, it made sense to be open and transparent. I hardly remember there being another way. Yet, I do not fully understand how I came to see the world this way.
The term edupunk comes to me at an ideal time. It is a term more relevant to me than most people would realize. I spent my teen years and early 20’s heavily into the punk scene, and I have vivid memories of these times. I have met dozens of punk and alternative band members over the years, many of whom are still my rock heroes. This post is not about generalizing what edupunk means to any one else. I am writing because I want to better understand how these musical, political, cultural, and social experiences have influenced the educator I am today.
So, here are the things I learned from punk, and why I embrace the term, edupunk.
Non Conformity - Yea, I know, I am a professor at a University, with several degrees including a terminal one. What would I know about non-conformity? But I wasn’t always this way, I was the kid with a mohawk in Grade 10. I spent a lot of time in the principal’s office. I missed a LOT of school. I had a list of speeding and traffic violations before I turned 17. I didn’t do anything bad, I just wanted to be noticed, and I wanted to be different. Well, different enough to get noticed. I was also very lucky to have been born gifted both academically and musically. I excelled at everything I attempted and my grades were at the top of the class even though I missed a lot of school. But I was bored, so incredibly bored.
And while I could go on and list dozens of punk rock anthems that deal with non-conformity, I’ll take a turn here. Rather, I’ll refer to Angelo Patri’s “A Schoolmaster of the Great City”, a book I read a few months ago. Even in the early 1900’s, Patri saw the issues of school conformity and student engagement.
Many parents believe that this is education. They covet knowledge, book knowledge for their children. Rich and poor alike want their children done up in little packages, ready to show, ready to boast of. They fear freedom, they fear to let the child grow by himself. Because the parents want this sort of thing, the school is built to suit - a book school - one room like another, one seat like another, each child like his neighbor. (p. 37)
I could not be sedated then. And while I have conformed in many ways to trade off the security that comes with this, I better understand dissent in society. And I rebel and innovate when I feel it is best for the learning experiences of my students, and for my own personal and professional growth.
Do-It-Yourself Culture - If I were to use one phrase to describe my approach to the design of courses, it would be DIY. While DIY culture was not born specifically of the punk movement, this is where it was exposed to me. My University gives tremendous support for course design and development. And while I do lean on these terrific people from time to time for graphic and multimedia design, I have done almost all of my course development myself. I am what Bates would call a Lone Ranger. And I have thought about it from time-to-time. Why don’t I just get the help available to me, to produce some really nice course materials? Why do I resist?
From Wikipedia:
According to Holmstrom, punk rock was “rock and roll by people who didn’t have very much skills as musicians but still felt the need to express themselves through music”. In December 1976, the English fanzine Sideburns famously published an illustration of three chords, captioned “This is a chord, this is another, this is a third. Now form a band.”
When it came to course design, this is how I felt. I didn’t have the skills to begin with, but the more I pushed myself, the better I became. I learned, discovered my art, had fun, and witnessed my students learn along with me. And this I discovered in bands like the Ramones, where none of the members were talented in any technical sense, but the band was able to influence the music scene and forever change the world.
Critique of Power Relationships … - For my PhD dissertation, I defined the term open thinking as follows:
… the tendency of an individual, group or institution to give preference to the adoption of open technologies or formats in regards to software, publishing, content and practice. Open thinkers critique, question and seek to reject technologies or formats that compromise the power of adopters, especially in the freedom to use, reuse, edit and share creative works and tools. Open thinkers value group-based problem solving and give preference to tools that enable social collaboration and sharing. Open thinkers actively strive to replace adopted technologies and formats with open alternatives. Open thinkers advocate for the adoption of open technologies and practice. (2006)
For the past 7 years, I have been a strong proponent of free and open source software, and then later, free and open content. As you can see in the definition above, my approach has been to critique and question the tools, content, and formats educators use on a daily basis, and to look for free and open alternatives. While much of this influence comes from more contemporary sources (e.g., Stallman, Torvalds, Raymond, Lessig, Downes, Lamb), for me this is only a reawakening of ideas I first discovered through punk rock.
In closing this post, I am going to take Jen’s advice seriously when she says about edupunk “Don’t dissect the metaphor“. Edupunk, if nothing more, has got many people talking, exploring their beliefs around education, and in some cases, reminiscing of day’s long past. The educational community is much too diverse, as it should be, for anyone to cling on to one single metaphor for meaning. I learned the lesson of community complexity when I studied meaning within open source communities. Gabrielle Coleman’s quotation still resonates with me:
The meanings, aims, visions, and aspirations of the open source community are difficult to pin down .… closer inspection of the movement reveals a cacophony of voices and political positions: anarchic ideals of freedom, “tribal” gift-economy rhetoric, revolution, Star Wars imagery, web manifestos, evangelization to the corporate sector, the downfall of the “Evil Empire” (a.k.a. Microsoft), grass roots revolution, consumer choice and rights, community good, true market competition, DIY (Do it Yourself) culture, science as a public good, hacker cultural acceptance, functional superiority, and anti-Communist rhetoric are but a number of the terms, images, and visions promulgated by and attached to the open source community.
The discussion around edupunk has forced me to think, and inspired me to write. Whether you agree with the term or not, it’s brought you this far with me. Thanks for reading.
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Beau Bergeron, a graphic designer, created this presentation which was then projected onto his shirt. This is a great example of a digital story, and demonstrates and points to important elements of design.
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Women of the Web 2.0 invited the EdTech Posse onto their show last night, and we had a great visit with them. WoW 2.0 has been doing great podcasts for a long time — this was episode 80 — so it was a privilege to have a chance to throw around some ideas with them, and generally get silly with them and a very lively group in the chat room.
They even set up part of the podcast as a game show made up of questions supplied from the Twitterverse. The competition was fierce and friendly (how USA/Canadian of us!) as both groups did their best, but we didn’t exactly shine on many of the questions. There was a general consensus from the chat room that WoW creamed us in the limerick category, but you’ll have to check out the podcast to hear the rest of the story.
Thanks for making us feel so welcome, and we’ll look forward to the grudge re-match.
You’ll find a recording of the podcast at http://edtechtalk.com/node/3190
Can you relate?
Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going—so far as I can tell—but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.
I certainly can. Read this article, that is, if your attention span allows it.
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Now this promises to be great!
On Monday August 25th, Prairie South (Moose Jaw) is hosting
a day called „Scotland Meets Saskatchewan‰ with Scotland‚s
National Adviser on Learning and Technology Futures, Ewan
Mcintosh.
If you‚re not familiar with Ewan or the Scottish Curriculum
you can check out his blog:
http://edu.blogs.com
His CV:
http://edu.blogs.com/ewanmcintosh/
And a recent presentation:
http://www.slideshare.net/ewan.mcintosh/unleasing-the-tribe
We would love for all of you to attend. Please pass along
this info to anyone you wish.
If you are interested or planning to attend, please contact
me by June 22. Attached is a poster with all the details.
(Except specific locations, That will be sent out later as
we have final numbers)
#########################################################
While I understand this may not be the best date for some
of you, it promises to be a great day focusing on learning,
assessment and social media. Here‚s snippet of the day:
Scotland meets Saskatchewan Outline
9:00-10:30
Presentation: Scotland’s story: how curriculum meets
innovation
The new curriculum, developed with the profession and
parents over several years, has ‘allowed’ more teachers to
break with tradition and take up new technologies to
facilitate children’s learning. The curricular moves share
much in common with Canada’s states’ and provinces’, so
what are the similarities and differences in technology,
professional development and the way students learn?
11:00-12:30
Roundtable: Assessment is for learning and making the links
through new technologies - share experiences from both
sides of the pond.
12:30-1:30 Lunch (included in your registration)
1:30-3:00
Practical workshop: Thinking Out Of The (X)box
Scotland is leading the way in some respects of games-based
learning. Experience some of the methodology and ideas in
this practical workshop.
6:00-7:30
Focus on Leadership Dinner: Ewan will focus on leadership
and explore Scotland‚s approach and experience with leading
change.
7:30-9:30
TeachMeet08 Saskatchewan
An unconference for teachers, by teachers. Share something
from your classroom or professional learning in a
seven-minute micro-presentation, two-minute
nano-presentation or simply be an enthusiastic lurker.
Contact by email: shareski.dean AT prairiesouth.ca
Riga, Latvia, 15-18 June 2009
http://www.Diversity-Conference.com
The Diversity Conference has a history of bringing together scholarly, government and practice-based participants with an interest in the issues of diversity and community. The Conference examines the concept of diversity as a positive aspect of a global world and globalised society. Diversity is in many ways reflective of our present world order, but there are ways of taking this further without necessary engendering its alternatives: racism, conflict, discrimination and inequity. Diversity as a mode of social existence can be projected in ways that deepen the range of human experience. The Conference will seek to explore the full range of what diversity means and explore modes of diversity in real-life situations of living together in community. The Conference supports a move away from simple affirmations that ‘diversity is good’ to a much more nuanced account of the effects and uses of diversity on differently situated communities in the context of our current epoch of glo
balisation.
As well as impressive line-up of international main speakers, the Conference will also include numerous paper, workshop and colloquium presentations by practitioners, teachers and researchers. We would particularly like to invite you to respond to the Conference Call-for-Papers. Presenters may choose to submit written papers for publication in the fully refereed International Journal of Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations. If you are unable to attend the Conference in person, virtual registrations are also available which allow you to submit a paper for refereeing and possible publication in this fully refereed academic Journal, as well as access to the electronic version of the Conference proceedings.
Proposals are reviewed within four weeks of submission. Full details of the Conference, including an online proposal submission form, are to be found at the Conference website - http://www.Diversity-Conference.com
We look forward to receiving your proposal and hope you will be able to join us in Riga in June 2009.
Also, we would like to remind you of the 2008 Conference which will be held 17-20 June 2008 at HEC Montreal in Montreal, Canada.
A rather random and disjointed video of kids–well mostly kids stating in a couple of words, gestures or signage what online community means to them. A little goofy, as you might guess, but a couple of nice insights popped out at me. My favourite? Nomothetic.
I’ve been doing research in this area for some time, but I’ve never gone to kids to ask them how they would describe their experiences online. Hmmm.. I think there’s a study lurking in this innocuous little example.
Listed below are the most recent Job Postings that have been added to the SALT® Web Site (http://www.salt.org/).
1. Senior Instructional System Designer
Champaign, Illinois
To work cooperatively with military and civilian contacts, experts, and in-house development team in creation of initial, intermediate, and final training design documents for courseware products, managing work to on-time completion within budget and to client specifications
2. Instructional Designer
San Luis Obispo, California
This position assists and works collaboratively with faculty and subject matter experts in the use of technology to enhance pedagogy and improve student learning. Incumbent will provide team-based leadership and project management for the instructional design and development process through collaboration with faculty members in the design, development and delivery of educational materials in an innovative manner…
3. Instructional Designer
Orlando, Florida
Novonics Corporation (Orlando Branch) is seeking Instructional Designers to support content development for Navy training programs. Candidates must have solid knowledge of Instructional Systems Design principles and experience in developing Instructor Guides, Student Guides, and other types of instructional materials. BS/BA degree in Instructional Technology or related field is required. Experience with the Navy training programs is a plus. U.S. Citizenship is required.
The title on this Youtube video reads “the girl who silenced the world for 5 minutes”. This is Severin Suzuki, daughter of David Suzuki, speaking to the United Nations at the age of 13 in 1992 on behalf of ECO (Environmental Children’s Organization). This is a wonderful speech, spoken beautifully, emotionally, and truthfully.
This is worth the six minutes to watch, and so much more. Pass it on to your colleagues and your students.
Related posts
You really have to try this to appreciate it. (via yesbutnobutyes)
The folks at the New Zealand Book Council have created a truly ingenious way to read more at work. Read At Work turns your desktop into a full screen, realistic PC looking desktop with folders, start button, recycle bin, the works. The kicker is the all the folders contain writings of famous authors and New Zealand locals. And, keeping in mind that you’re reading at work, these stories are displayed in a convenient PowerPoint format. Hence your superiors won’t know what you’re really doing. This particular screen shot here is from Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “A dream.”
<img src="http://www.yesbutnobutyes.com/poes.jpg" alt="Edgar Allan Poe's "A Dream"" />
This is very cool, and a great implementation, although I cannot fathom working in a place where I would have to resort to reading the classics via PowerPoint format.
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