Things I learned at opened09…

Brian Lamb, Scott Leslie and collaborators pulled off a fab Opened09 Conference in Vancouver!  Not only were many presenters engaging and thought provoking but participants held up the true spirit of “open” in their contributions to the conference.
On the downside – the “boys club” was supercharged and came across (at times) as exclusionary – which [...]

Learners and PLE’s

I’ve been reflecting on a panel I facilitated last week at the 2009 Canadian eLearning Conference.  Three UBC learners (Andre, Angeli and Zack) talked about their concepts of PLE – what they think is important and what they think about the relationship between learning, university and their own personal goals and explorations.
Here are some of [...]

Engaging Learners…

A week or so ago, I listened to George Kuh speak about NSSE data, student engagement and what to do about improving it.  We heard about ”high impact” educational practices like learning communities,  collaborative assignments, undergraduate research, community service and experiential learning. These are all good things and we know students are more engaged in [...]

Twittering and Twondering

It all started with a good laugh after looking at Super-Josh’s comic video “Twouble With Twitters”, posted on Dean Giustini’s blog. I am an occassional twitterer, so I could laugh at myself – thanks, Dean.  Then, on a more serious note, I followed a trail that Brian put me on to – first to Cole [...]

Social Networking: Should it be part of my class?

Image by sitmonkeysupreme via Flickr

At my university, profs are on the fence about this. Some say yes, go where the students are.  Others say no, don’t want to jump on that bandwagon. Many say, tell me more…
In response to “tell me more”, my colleagues and I have gathered some resources together in a wiki. Maybe [...]

Desperately Seeking Solitude

You cannot hear God when people are chattering at you.

Somehow this passage hit home for me as I read The End of Solitude by William Deresiewicz in a recent edition of the Chonicle Review.   Lately, I’ve experienced a sort of yearning to be alone, with my own thoughts, without interruption or interference, to go on [...]

Net-Gen Skeptic

Some of my old colleagues from the DE&T days at UBC, Mark Bullen, Tannis Morgan and Adnan Qayyum, have recently completed some research looking at BCIT students and how they really use info and communication technologies (ICTs).   Not surprisingly:
generational differences are not the issue. Contextual issues such as the nature of the program are more [...]

Seeing the forest or just the trees?

At least a part of every day, I seem to get so caught up in the details that I lose sight of the big picture.  Apparently, there is a term for this – at least as it relates to visual perception. It’s called inattentional blindness.  I’m making the loose connection with what happens when I [...]

Crisis, Change and Economics

Crisis opens the door to change and often forces us to reflect on our most fundamental values. While I’ve experienced many moments of personal “crisis” in my life,  economics has never been at the root of any of them.  Maybe it’s because I don’t have investments (barely a savings account actually) – maybe it’s because [...]

Cell phones, ipods and knowing when to quit…

Apparently, some UBC profs are getting sick of competing with cell phones and electronic devices in their classes. The proposed solution? Block wireless access in the classroom!  What? In my mind, this is like using a taser to solve a conflict.  What happened to discussion? Negotiation? Talking about the problem?
At Syracruse University, one such frustrated [...]