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.
I’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…
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.
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.
I’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.*
I finally saw Avatar, and left the theatre with lots of conflicting reactions to the movie.
cinematically gorgeous
amazing visuals
fascinating biology
but… why are the Na’vi simply caricatures of humans?
but… in a fully 3D-modeled-and-rendered world, why are the Na’vi so human?
why is Cameron so heavy handed in his Gaia-theory stuff?
this is largely just a mashup of every Cameron movie I’ve ever seen, right down to characters and gadgets.
what would this movie have been like had Cameron really let go of terrestrial biology, psychology, and sociology?
My first reaction, one that hit me strongly when the Na’vi first appear on screen, was: “A rasta jar jar binks would not seem out of place in this movie.”
I’d actually held some hope for meaningful change brought about by the discussions in Copenhagen this month. But everything I’m seeing and reading lately sounds like it’s pretty much just political greenwashing and crushed peaceful protests.
Elizabeth May has been blogging from Copenhagen (see comments by Hugo Chavez - who would have put him in the role of speaker-of-truth? - and Prime Minister Zenawi of Ethiopia - a country that has committed to carbon neutrality by 2025, not just a slight de-escalation to 2006 levels). Things don’t sound good. Non-G8 nations are super-pissed about the lack of transparency, and about the non-democratic nature of the whole process. And they have every right to be super-pissed. We all do.
*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.*
