The Bluebird of Doom’s Social Dilemma
The year is 1999 and I am a digitally naïve 16-year-old about to experience my first web-based dopamine hit. My friend has dial-up on his family’s computer, we’re having a sleepover, and he introduces me to the uncensored, anonymous world of Java chat rooms. Anything goes. Anything can be said. Everything is said. Who’s to…
O Online Learning, Parting Was NOT Sweet Sorrow
This week’s topic – tools for distance and online learning – strikes a personal cord. Memories of my last 2.5 years as an online learning consultant cause an odd mixture of melancholy, anxiety, aversion, and pride to roll through my chest. Anyone in education over the last 3 years might feel a similar twinge. Love…
“My Mind is Like My Internet Browser…” Productivity and Presentation
If you’ve ever come across the well-known internet adage – “My mind is like my web browser: 19 tabs are open, 3 of them are frozen, and I have no idea where the music is coming from.” (Anonymous) – I’m confident the author was describing me. Regardless, it seemed an apt quotation for our debate…
Several Fallacies and the Sesame Street Scapegoat
“We now know that ‘Sesame Street’ encourages children to love school only if school is like ‘Sesame Street.’ Which is to say, we now know that “Sesame Street” undermines what the traditional idea of schooling represents.” American author, educator, and cultural critic, Neil Postman leaves a wealth of ideas and questions to unpack in his…
Pivot, Pivot, Pivot: My Evolving Philosophy of Knowledge and Learning
PIVOT! PIVOT! PIVOT! A video timeline seemed in order for this week’s blog on my philosophy of knowledge and learning. You can view the entire timeline at Canva here. Here is an excellent Chrome extension I’ve been using lately for those needing subtitles. For those strapped on time, I have included a summary of the…
Educational Technology: Neither Sinner nor Saviour
Defining the Variable: Ed-Tech When I think of educational technology, my (active) imagination transports me to AI classrooms and interactive hologram projections. Part of me views ed-tech as the saviour of classroom to world relevancy; another part of me suffers ominous flashes of Judgement Day and Matrix-laden doom! Of course, that’s not the reality…at least,…
Off the Screen, Back Into the World
Allow Me to Introduce Myself… My pronouns are she/her and I am honoured to live on Treaty 6 land. In the last 13 years, I have taught every grade from 1-12, and for the past 2.5 years, I have been the K-7 Online Learning Support Teacher (OLST) for the Light of Christ School Division. I am…
The Mindful Grey: ECI 830 Summary of Learning
Wow, there just are no words. It’s cliche but that first class went by in a flash! Please enjoy my summary of learning. I keep trying to push myself outside of my comfort zones; from podcasts to videos…and now this. Slam poetry! Yes, you read that right, slam poetry…or my attempt at it.
Playing the Digital Footprint Devil’s Advocate
Make no mistake, despite how I debated Monday night, I am firmly in support of teachers and schools having a role in the development of children’s digital footprints. Of course, I wanted to see if I could convince myself of the opposite viewpoint…even just a little.
Hello, Is It Me You’re Trying to Ban?
Two things set this post apart from previous reflections. First, these debate topics seem so interrelated I felt I could finally make a single Monday-night blog entry! Second, (are you ready for it?) I’m completing all of this on my iPhone, from the meme to the Spotify podcast. If we suggest that students can and should use their cell phones for educational purposes, I want to test the practice for myself. As a fairly tech-savvy geriatric millennial, how hard can it be?