Classes of Donkeys

Data Driven Decisions in BC

March 29, 2013 - 10:12 am | community, connecting online, education, future, leadership, Learning Conversations, pairadimes, parenting, Pedegogy, restructuring, School2.0, Social Responsibility, technology

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"world wide web visualization 4717 By Anthony Mattox on Flickr"

With special thanks to Assistant Deputy Minister Paige MacFarlane, I had an opportunity to spend an afternoon a few weeks ago in a working session on Open Government. Vision ~ The Ministry of Education (MEd) will adopt an approach that demonstrates the Open Government principles of Transparency, Collaboration and Participation that supports the ministry’s core work of personalized learning. Goal ~ Develop and implement a strategic plan for moving forward with the open government approach … Continue reading →

Why Blog?

March 8, 2013 - 5:45 am | blogging, connecting online, education, leadership, Learning Conversations, pairadimes, presentation, Pro-D, technology

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What is the value to me? What are some of the challenges? Where do I get inspiration from? How do I make it easier for myself? Yesterday I had the honour to present to my peers at one of our dinner meetings. I shared the presentation below: Why Blog? Why blog? from David Truss As I approach my 7th year as a blogger, I can truly say that blogging has transformed me as an educator … Continue reading →

The Lone Wolf and the Unplug’d Conference Letters

February 26, 2013 - 8:31 am | community, Connected Principals, connecting online, education, leadership, Learning Conversations, metaphor, networks, pairadimes, Social Responsibility, storytelling, technology

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Last summer I went to a rather unique conference. Unplug’d is an experience unto itself… a bunch of edtech types heading out to a lodge on the edge of Algonquin Park, and just out of range of cell service… truly unplugged! Before going to the conference, we were asked to write a letter to anyone we wanted, related to education. I wrote mine to a couple of lone wolves that had touched me with their … 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 →

What is your true story of connectedness?

February 9, 2013 - 10:07 am | community, connecting online, learning, networks, pairadimes, storytelling, technology

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This actually happened “Five years and a few days ago”, (not 6 like I say in the video). And I got my answer in 8 minutes, not 12… But other than those minor errors, here is my ‘True Story of Connectedness‘: Why did I make a video to tell this story when it was already shared on my blog, (see My Network in Action Part 2: Seeking Help)? I shared it for my good friend … Continue reading →

Badges, Gaming, and Digital Media

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

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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 →

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 →

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

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"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 →