I was really excited that a TEDx event was being planned for Calgary. I was looking forward to TEDxYYC, and was planning to attend and help out in any way that I could. The website for the event went live today, so I went to register.
I got to the registration form. Except it’s not a registration form. It’s an application-to-register form. okaaaaaay… That’s unusual…
I proceed to fill the form in.
Read Moretrying to figure out how to describe various options to faculty members. this diagram’s been flashing in my head for awhile now. it’s rough, but it’s a start.
Read MoreIn setting up WPMU sites for classes, I often wind up using the Text widget to add a bunch of important links - login, Dashboard, Add Post, Add Page, etc… to each site. Manually. I finally decided to save some time and just write a plugin that provides a generic widget to give the links on any site that uses it.
If you’re not logged in, it provides a link to login:
I wrote this for an assignment in the Conceptualizing Educational Technology grad course I’m taking. I figure it’s worth planting my flag publicly as well…
“Educational Technology” is one of those terms that makes me squirm. I’m not comfortable with any of the definitions of it, primarily because they posit that “educational technology” is a separate, different thing that somehow needs to be integrated (somehow) into the “real” education. It positions technology as being “hard” and needing “experts” and “support” in order to be used by mere mortals. It raises the anxiety to a level that scares many people away. They don’t have time for “educational technology.” Or they don’t have the training. Or the budget. Or the support. Or the infrastructure. Or any of a long list of things that are suggested (explicitly and implicitly) by defining something like “educational technology.” It also aligns with the notion of a consumer-based society - educational technology is something to be produced in a laboratory somewhere, to be consumed in the classroom.
Read MoreI slapped the Flip video camera onto the bike for this morning’s ride. Here’s the 43 minute ride, compressed into 5 minutes of video.
Read MoreI’m trying the rating features baked into the latest version of the PollDaddy plugin. It looks pretty cool - you can set it to allow rating of posts, pages, and even comments. Not sure how it’ll be used, or if it will be useful at all, but there it is. Rate away. If you have nothing better to do…
Read MoreA great manifesto. 43 guiding principles to live by. (via David Gillespie)
My faves:
Stuff from this morning’s romp through my RSS reader:
Thought of the day:
Technology doesn’t make learning any more relevant or effective. Good teaching does that. Treating everyone in the class as fully fledged human beings does that. Respecting the contributions, backgrounds, and interests of all learners does that. Relevant and effective teaching and learning can occur without any technology at all, if given a creative enough environment in which to work. Technology may help to extend and enhance, but there are critical pieces that need to be in place before any technology will make a difference.
Read MoreHere’s some of the things I’ve Saved in my RSS reader over the last few days. If you have a few minutes to kill, these links should fit the bill.
The Online Photographer - A Gift Waiting at Every Corner: Notes from a Life in Photography
A great article about a career photographer’s life, and how they approach photography.
I have embraced photojournalism as a means to communicate, provoke, and inspire, as well as to document history. I have employed the camera as a voice with which I can shout out about injustice while affirming what is beautiful and good. My body and soul have been exposed to many dimensions of the human condition, from its most glorious to its most wretched.
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2009/365photos from D’Arcy Norman on Vimeo.
direct link to the video, for RSSites.
Read MoreI’ve been trying to pick one photo taken in 2009 to be the “photo of the year” but can’t seem to do it. I’ve narrowed it down to 4 photos. So, here are the 4 2009 photos of the year:
*one way - February 10 - while riding my bike over an overpass on the way to visit the dentist, I noticed the symmetry of lines just as a snow squall hit.*
*longview - June 27 - Taken during day 1 of the 2009 Ride to Conquer Cancer, at the last rest stop of the day before reaching camp. The sky in southwestern Alberta is astounding, contrasted with the lush green grassland.*
*start of day - November 5 - taken along the 32nd avenue entrance to the northeast corner of the University of Calgary campus, showing the activity of morning commuters, and the construction site for the EEEL building.*
*dalhousie station - a cold and wet c-train platform.*It was a fun year in pictures. I did the 365photos project again, joined the @dailyshoot project, got published in a photobook of local Calgary photographers, and had a bunch of photos published. Fun stuff.
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