A new tragedy of the commons

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 →

6 key ingredients to the art of storytelling

April 6, 2013 - 7:19 pm | compassion, metaphor, pairadimes, purpose, meaning, reflection, storytelling

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"Siwash Rock - Storytelling - by David Truss"

It seems to me that storytelling should be an intricate part of what we do, and what we teach in schools. In my first year at university I had the privilege of taking history with proffesor Gunnar Beonhart. He was one of the reasons why former Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Trudeau, brought the 1983 World Peace Talks to the small city of Guelph, Ontario, (where professor Beonhart taught). I was 18 and until then … Continue reading →

My 7th Blogiversary

March 31, 2013 - 11:59 pm | blogging, connecting online, learning, Learning Conversations, networks, pairadimes, reflection

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I write for me, I share with you, and the world seems a little smaller. Just like last year, here is my blog’s year in review: The posts I’ve written and a quote from each. I hope that you will find something that appeals to you. (Mouse-over the post title links to find out a bit more about each post.) If you have subscribed to, commented on, linked to, or simply taken the time to read my blog… I say … 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 →

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 →