Classes of Donkeys

iHub Garden Build

April 28, 2013 - 2:07 pm | community, education, Inquiry Hub, instructional design, learning, pairadimes, School2.0, Social Responsibility, student leadership

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[Cross-Posted on the HUB Blog] Last Friday three students at the Inquiry Hub Secondary School, in Coquitlam BC, organized a garden build. It started with Grade 9 student, Shauna, applying for and getting a World Wildlife Fund grant. This led to some inquiry questions around the best soil, water and temperature conditions for growing lettuce. And Friday’s garden build was the latest progress in developing an urban/inquiry garden for our school. Everything about this garden … Continue reading →

Disruptive Forces

February 25, 2013 - 7:39 am | future, instructional design, metaphor, pairadimes, School2.0, technology

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I found myself in an interesting Twitter discussion with @backcountrynut – Sean Beaton, @adlcprojects – Jason Wiks, @laurelbeaton – Laurel Beaton, and @web20classroom – Steve W. Anderson, a few days back. In this conversation Jason said, “I think that the last disruption in ed was from elite ed to mass ed in the 1900′s” @adlcprojects Sean continued the thought, “To be disruptive it must transform the model. Really hasn’t happened for 100yrs – which is surprising. … Continue reading →

Still the same conversation

February 16, 2013 - 2:55 pm | community, connecting online, education, Educational Technology, future, instructional design, leadership, pairadimes, Pedegogy, technology

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If we are asking the question “Do we need to change?” then we are not yet changing and adapting to the conditions that made us ask the question. It is a paradigm shift to move beyond the question of need, recognize necessity, and act in a proactive rather than reactive way. We can keep having the same conversation over and over again… But wouldn't it be effective if we moved on to some other questions … Continue reading →

Badges, Gaming, and Digital Media

January 30, 2013 - 8:10 pm | instructional design, learning, pairadimes, Pedegogy, School2.0, technology

13 Comments

I’ve been outspoken on the topic of adding rewards & incentives or ‘carrots‘ to courses and classroom management, and so it is rather unusual for me to be thinking about things like implementing badges. However, I’m very interested in using gaming strategies in education and I’m also interested in providing students with opportunities to both learn at their own pace, and also to represent how they have met criteria or learning outcomes in ways … Continue reading →

Inquiry Hub – Rethink Learning

January 23, 2013 - 5:55 am | education, future, instructional design, learning, pairadimes, Pedegogy, presentation, restructuring, School2.0

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Here is the slide presentation from our Inquiry Hub Information Session on January 22nd, 2013. Inquiry Hub – Rethink Learning from David Truss My favourite part of the presentation was the Question period when I was able to defer questions to our students that presented with us. It speaks volumes when you think that these students have only been with us for 1/2 a year and already they have fully bought into what we are … Continue reading →

Applications of Digital Literacy

January 11, 2013 - 8:46 am | instructional design, pairadimes, School2.0, technology

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Applications of Digital Literacy is a course that I helped create for the Inquiry Hub. It is one of two courses principal Stephen Whiffin and I decided to develop as local board approved courses*, the other course is Foundations of Inquiry. Stephen humourously calls these ‘mandatory electives’ since we decided that these would be requisite courses for anyone coming to the Inquiry Hub. The idea is that we do not expect students to come to … Continue reading →

New Perspective

December 30, 2012 - 11:19 pm | blogging, education, future, instructional design, leadership, Learning Conversations, pairadimes, Pedegogy, School2.0

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At this time of year, I’m often absorbed in reading about the year that was and the year ahead. Goals, predictions, and nostalgic reviews are read, tweeted and shared in many places like Twitter, Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, and here on this blog. However, this year I headed into the Chistmas break feeling rather unplugged, and that has continued through to tonight. I’m currently on a ski holiday and other than posting a few photos online … Continue reading →

Learning about Learning

November 30, 2012 - 1:03 am | blogging, books I like, community, connecting online, future, instructional design, Learning Conversations, pairadimes, Pedegogy

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"Learning About Learning - David Truss - BY-NC-SA"

In Visible Learning John Hattie basically says that almost everything we do in our efforts to help students in schools has a positive effect on students. However, much of what we do actually isn’t terribly effective… despite our beliefs in these practices. (For example: Homework) John Hattie: Visible Learning Part 1. Disasters and below average methods Next, John Hattie looks at the things that we do that are effective. Here are the ‘Top 15′: Self-reported … Continue reading →

Challenging the status quo

November 10, 2012 - 3:58 pm | blogging, Connected Principals, connecting online, Daily-Ink, future, instructional design, leadership, Learning Conversations, networks, pairadimes, Pedegogy, Pro-D, restructuring, School2.0, technology

11 Comments

"Challenging the Status Quo by David Truss ~ BY::NC::SA"

Educational bloggers blogging about things that need to be changed… This isn’t a post to read from start to finish. Instead, pick a topic that may challenge the status quo in your school or district and dig in. Read, tweet, share, write your own post, comment… it is fodder for YOU to challenge the status quo! Here are the TOPICS discussed: Homework Award Ceremonies Marks/Grading/Assessment Zeros and Late Penalties High Stakes Testing (BC, Canada and … Continue reading →