Educational Technology Professor

AERA in Vancouver, BC - April 2012

2012-01-31T13:52:00.000-08:00

The American Educational Research Association (AERA) Conference is held in Vancouver, BC this April 2012. I am delighed to be involved in presenting an invited talk and three papers from my collaborative research projects at this conference.

Invited Talk - Technology as an Agent of Change in Teaching and Learning (TACTL-SIG).

Daniels, J., Varnhagen, S., Friesen, S., and Jacobsen, M. (2012). Barriers to Systemic, Effective, and Sustainable Technology Use in the Classroom. A paper to be presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA), 2012 annual meeting, April 13-17, Vancouver, BC. Nominated for Best Paper by the Technology as an Agent of Change in Teaching and Learning (TACTL-SIG).

Jacobsen, M., Friesen, S., Daniels, J., and Varnhagen, S. (2012). A Two-Year Case Study of High School Student Engagement and Learning with Technology. A paper to be presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA), 2012 annual meeting, April 13-17, Vancouver, BC.

Jacobsen, M. and Davis, B. (2012). Investigating Usability and User Experience with Clickers in Large Lecture Learning with Student Teachers. A paper to be presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA), 2012 annual meeting, April 13-17, Vancouver, BC.

Technology and High School Success Research - AECT in Jacksonville, FL

2012-01-31T13:43:00.000-08:00

Sharon and I had a great time presenting our collaborative research at the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) Conference in November 2011 -- we traveled to Jacksonville, Florida (took us a whole day, both directions) and we got to hang out with cool folks like Rick Schwier from USask.

A Mixed Method Case Study of Student Engagement, Technology Use and High School Success

Michele Jacobsen and Sharon Friesen, University of Calgary
Jason Daniels and Stanley Varnhagen, University of Alberta

Abstract: The relationship between technology use, student engagement and high school success was examined over two years. Surveys, interviews and classroom observations with students, teachers and school leaders informed study findings. Teachers are enthusiastic about technology, but design low level, low challenge recall assignments and tests. Student interest in learning with technology is high, but engagement tends to be low. Instruction is dominated by information delivery using display technology. Teachers must create meaningful, challenging and authentic student work that integrates technology. Leaders must create a shared vision for learning with technology in high schools; Research data on learning with technology must influence decision-making and systemic change in the education system.

Annual Distinguished Research Lecture 2011 - Dr. Sharon Friesen

2011-10-06T14:23:00.000-07:00

Hey, if you are looking for me later, this is where I will be: Faculty of Education, University of Calgary, Annual Distinguished Research Lecture 2011 - Dr. Sharon Friesen. Not only did I nominate her, it is my privilege to get to introduce Sharon!

Title: "I Hold in My Hand A Bird: Sponsoring Intellectual Engagement"

Check out two of her major works:

The Galileo Educational Network - http://galileo.org/index.html

Intelligence Online - https://www.iomembership.com

Mentorship and apprenticeship: working with graduate students

2011-10-05T14:12:00.000-07:00

The bulk of my day today involved meetings with graduate students. Currently, I am supervising several doctoral and masters students as they propose, carry out and write up their graduate research projects. First thing this morning, I skyped with two doctoral students: one who has written the candidacy paper and is preparing for the candidacy exam, and another who is overseas and is preparing a literature review and research proposal. Later this morning, I met with a master of arts student who is also teaching full-time. After lunch, I met with a master of science student, a faculty member and two IT folks who are members of the team that will research the use of clickers with large lectures this Fall.

I regard graduate supervision as one of the most important types of teaching and mentorship that I do, and thus, invest a great deal of effort into building productive, research-focused mentoring relationships with graduate students. In addition to stretching me as a researcher, graduate supervision is time-intensive, emotionally demanding and hands-on work. Graduate supervision is sometimes like 2 - 3 years of formative assessment that leads up to a high stakes summative assessment, the 2 hour oral exam! Ongoing professional and academic dialogue and planning, coursework and advising, proposing and carrying out research, writing, writing, reading, reading and rewriting and rereading drafts of each chapter, and then preparing for the exam... it is a process of continual improvement, peer review and academic advancement.

Working with graduate students is both a privilege and an honor. I learn a great deal from my teaching role as a supervisor and committee member for educational technology, nursing, environmental design, computer science and psychology graduate students, and also as an active researcher who mentors graduate research assistants.

Presenting Research at AERA in New Orleans, April 2011

2011-07-13T11:53:00.000-07:00

Sharon Friesen and I presented our research findings at AERA in New Orleans, Louisiana, in April 2011 this year. The session was entitled, "A Three-Year Design Based Research Initiative That Influenced Practices in a One-to-One Laptop School". Those who follow me @dmichelej on Twitter know that a highlight of the conference was listening to the Presidential Address by Kris Guttierrez on designing resilient ecologies and a human science of learning. Another highlight was meeting Dr. Bill Ayers, who got an education award, in person (I have used his text, To Teach, in my undergraduate teaching for the last 14 years).

In addition to cultivating our minds, Sharon and I enjoyed food for the soul at some of New Orleans' French Quarter hot spots, such as Brennan's for breakfast, Landry's Seafood House for dinner, and Pat O'Brien's for a late night Hurricane.

Thomas and Seely Brown's book, A New Culture of Learning

2011-07-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

I recently wrote a review of Thomas and Seely Brown's new book, A New Culture of Learning, which appears in the Summer 2011 issue of Education Canada. URL: http://www.cea-ace.ca/education-canada/article/playing-learn I believe that ALL education students, both graduate and undergraduate, and ALL Education faculty members should read this book to gain new awareness about participatory learning beyond school.

Here are the opening paragraphs:

"Play is neither trivial nor frivolous; it is how we learn. Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown take seriously the role of play as a mindset that needs to be cultivated in education. In A New Culture of Learning, they invite us to see how a world in constant flux is not either a problem to solve or a challenge to overcome. Via richly textured stories about what learning and play look and feel like in digitally connected participatory cultures, the authors invite readers to imagine how teaching might respond to a world in constant change."

"In a skillful analysis of shifting learning contexts and cultures, the authors explore learning as a cultural, social, and continuous process of inquiry, engagement, and participation in the world around us. Given that knowledge and information are dynamic and changing, that current technologies are participatory and emergent, they argue that learning environments must be transformed into knowledge building collectives that constantly create and respond to change".

I encourage you to read the rest of my review: URL: http://www.cea-ace.ca/education-canada/article/playing-learn

And of course, to read the book itself!! Thomas and Brown's, A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change. URL: http://www.newcultureoflearning.com/

A bit of Educational Technology History and Meaning

2011-06-29T09:36:00.000-07:00

Here is a short description of Educational Technology that I wrote a while back for my EDER 671 - Conceptualizing Educational Technology graduate course description.

Already a senior citizen in the educational research community, Educational Technology is a vibrant field of study that has undergone many changes in its 70+ year history.

While the field has worked with several definitions over the years, the current definition is: “Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources” (Januszewski & Molenda, 2008).

This course provides an overview of educational technology in the context of research on learning that bridges theory and practice. While the popular notion of "technology" is often associated with a variety of pieces of equipment, such as computers, video cameras and networks, and product development, such as web sites and podcasts, we will conceptualize educational technology more broadly as the systematic application of knowledge to solve instructional problems. Media, hardware, software and networks are considered in the contexts of design, development and utilization of technology that supports intentional learning environments, relationships and communities.

EDER 671 serves as an introduction to educational technology for those who are new to the program, students from other specializations, and anyone who wants to broaden their understanding of facilitating learning with technology. The possible topics for this course are unlimited and diverse.

Inquiry can range from social computing, virtual reality, multimedia, hypertext, simulation and game-based learning to distributed expertise, visual communication, cultural and political impacts, knowledge management and industrial design, to the role of library and information professionals, change and adoption models, corporate and public partnerships, and all the e-this and i-that topics, if you insist (i.e., e-publishing, e-marketing, e-learning, e-business, e-bay, i-Mac, iBalls, iPods, iCulture, and i-cannot-keep-up! ;-).

Instructor selected topics provide merely a broad foundation for discourse that can echo a diverse range of student derived issues and ideas. Students are encouraged to focus their individual scholarship on particular educational technology topics, key issues in educational technology, and emerging trends about which they are passionate and curious.

The instructional methodology for this course is largely inquiry-based. Students will inquire individually and collaboratively into educational technology issues, questions and concepts that define the field. Students will actively reflect on their learning, debate ideas in a scholarly community of inquiry, and will be encouraged to apply new knowledge in the design of a learning web and opportunity for their peers via a wiki. Students will construct philosophical perspectives, investigate diverse educational technology topics and dig deep into instructional problems that they define. The course will be a success if students end up with more questions and key issues to frame ongoing inquiry in the field of educational technology and the end of semester than they started with in the beginning!

For further commentary on educational technology, I suggest you read an article by Denis Hylnka and I wrote in Spring 2009, "What is educational technology, anyway? A commentary on the new AECT definition of the field", By Denis Hlynka and Michele Jacobsen, for the Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 35(2). URL: http://www.cjlt.ca/index.php/cjlt/article/view/527/260

Leadership Breakthrough

2011-06-15T08:21:00.000-07:00

Thank you! THANK YOU! Deanna Werklund, for sponsoring me for the Leadership Breakthrough I Training. I have taught for 16 years, and I have been a professor for 12 years - I learned so much about leadership, teamwork, passion, courage, teaching and having fun from my peers and trainers - my hat is off to these 25 dynamic and courageous individuals who are changing the world one day at a time. I am looking forward to sharing my experiences and my leadership with youth!!

I had FUN! I totally stepped out of my comfort zone and I do not want to go back! Groups of 400 people in a lecture? Totally my comfort zone. Being a strong leader who gives people positive feedback? No problem, and I will get even better at this. Giving people the feedback they need to improve -- gotta work on that. Getting closer to colleagues and building strong relationships -- I will get better at that.

I smiled and laughed and cried and also rediscovered my voice!
I have a powerful voice and I am not afraid to use it.

JFDI. Just Focus and Do It.
I am strong. I am powerful. I will overcome. I AM A LEADER.

Heat And Energy From Crap

2011-04-29T12:58:00.000-07:00

For this, my 140th blog post, I will highlight an interesting, albeit unconventional 'crap' project by my Chemical Engineering colleagues, Dr. Ian Gates and Dr. Michael Kallos, in the Schulich School of Engineering: Turning human excrement into electricity. This is a serious project with some 100K in funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Congratulations boys and best of luck with this knowledge building and world changing innovative work.

And thank you, my loyal reader, for joining me on my short, but well-deserved break, from end-of-semester marking. Bye for now.

Spring Snow in Alberta

2011-04-29T09:04:00.000-07:00

Planted seeds and a few bulbs on Sunday Apr 24.
Snow on Thursday and Friday.
Happy Spring!
;-)

Great April snow images in Calgary CBC [URL] in Edmonton Journal [URL].

Dementia - Getting used to a new reality

2011-04-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

Today, I am taking a few minutes to capture my thoughts about dementia, and link to a few items that have recently been in the news.

My mom, sisters and I called it our family's "new reality" when dad was diagnosed as having progressive dementia. It was particularly challenging, emotionally, for us to learn about Dad's diagnosis when he was in the emergency room after suffering a stroke. Our fragile illusion and tenuous hope that he would recover were shattered by the emergency room doctor's frank description of the damage caused by the stroke, as well as the other damage, likely related to diabetes, that the scans had revealed.

Dad was still physically our dad, and still smiled his same smile. I cherished the moments when we had a conversation that echoed of the dad I knew and the relationship we had before the stroke. I also learned to cherish my new relationship with my dad - I touched him more often because he would let me and he needed me to do things for him. I held his hands or stroked his arm, he would let me put lotion on, or I would hold a straw to his mouth so he could drink, or feed him supper with a spoon - none of these things happened before the stroke or the dementia. Dad and I had new conversations and there was a different kinds of openness and sharing on both sides that did not occur prior to the stroke - like the time dad observed that my mom took on too many burdens, that my children were quite competitive, and when he reflected on the strength of our family. "We have a strong family, we are lucky", he said. Dad struggled to communicate at times, and I ached for him.

It is sad to see that Ralph Klein is suffering a form of dementia that robs him of his ability to speak [URL, URL, URL]. I was in grade 9 when Ralph Klein was first elected mayor of Calgary. As a leader, he touched many lives in Alberta, and will be remembered both fondly and not so fondly [URL, URL, URL].

Dawna Friesen's blogpost, My Dad and Dementia, also caused me to reflect on the many changes we observed when my dad was placed in long term care after his stroke and diagnosis of dementia.

Finally, today I learned about the Fred Lewicki Memorial Lecture, a series inspired by Sigrid Lewicki and her husband's experiences living with dementia for 9 years. From this article, I also learned that the number of people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias is expected to double in the next 20 years, which is a New Reality for All of Us, and a call to action for our health and education systems.

iPads Change the World of Work?

2011-04-08T13:46:00.000-07:00

I have written about wanting an iTrifecta in a previous post. I now belong to the iPod, iPhone and iPad hat-trick club.

I was, therefore, very interested in this article, forwarded by my friend John, about a collection of personal case stories about the changed world of work for artists, teachers, physicists, painters, musicians who use iPads:

How the iPad revolution has transformed working lives, by Charles Arthur and Killian Fox, in The Observer, Sunday 27 March 2011

"Fifteen million iPads were sold last year. As iPad 2 launches, Charles Arthur looks at the impact of tablet computers on the way we relate to technology, and five users tell us about how the iPad is feeding into the way they work".

As a dropbox newbie, but avid user of other cloud apps, I can totally imagine how this device can be a game changer. In my comment, Girlprof has a iTrifecta, I wrote: In January, I finally got an iPad - neat thing is, a colleague gave it to me for my kids. I brought it home and the kids grabbed it. The next time I actually got my hands on the iPad it was littered with dozens of new apps and games and fingerprints. It is a great gaming tool - my child also uses it for learning French. "Mom, I need to iPad to look up a word". Both of my children watch movies, play games, draw pictures, create animations, doctor photos, send email and drive cranes on the iPad. I keep learning new ways to use the iPad from the under 10 crowd at my house and at the hockey rink as they gather around and play with this mobile device.

Musings on educational technology

2011-04-06T09:09:00.000-07:00

Having a great morning reading and responding to some of my student teacher's blogs. I feel so positive and hopeful about the strength of our education system and the possibilities for learners with these bright new teachers entering classrooms.

In response to one of the blogs, I wrote this:

In educational technology, we design learning experiences, and then investigate whether the technology-enabled approach to learning is better or more effective or more efficient than the present method or the method it proposes to replace; we get excited and passionate about the design and use of technology for learning experiences that were not possible before -- true innovations that take us into unexpected and unintended directions. That is when things get interesting -- lest you think this is an "unexamined enthusiastic endorsement" of technology, it is not. Technology is not neutral, and we have to engage in disciplined research and inquiry into both the benefits and the drawbacks of technology-enabled learning environments, as well as be mindful of the political, social and economic contexts within which education takes place (both informal and formal). No small task that takes no small amount of courage (Clifford, 2001).

A Little Grab Bag of Neat Online Tools & Articles

2011-04-04T12:31:00.000-07:00

Wondering what to do with your laptop while you sip your mochaccino? Want to UP your techno-savvy and inform your perspective on future trends? Over the past few months, I have received suggestions and tips from fellow educational technology folks and put these in a folder -- as it grew, I realized I needed to DO something with this grab bag of online goodies. So, enjoy your stroll through these neat online tools - I am sure you will come up with neat ways to use these tools and ideas.

Text Messaging Polls - A graduate student demonstrated and used http://www.polleverywhere.com/ with us in my graduate seminar - it is a great online survey tool that uses text messaging from any cellphone for input.

Page Speed Online
By Google, Page Speed Online analyzes the content of a web page, then generates suggestions to make that page faster. Reducing page load times can reduce bounce rates and increase conversion rates. One of my course pages got a 39 / 100 - I got some great advice on how to improve my load time.

TitanPad - Collaborative Document Editing
Similar to Googledocs, many people can collaboratively edit a document - difference is that you can get started immediately with no need to create an account. So, to record notes during a meeting, brainstorming on the fly, and quick document creation, this seems like a great tool.

Symbaloo
Learn how to visually organize your interest web with a 55 second tour!
Play with this and create some bookmarks to organize your online life - its fun!

Read this Special Report: Dumping print, publisher bets the ranch on apps to consider what is happening with eBooks.
Excerpt: "This is revolutionary," he says, stroking his finger at the iPad's glass surface and prodding to open an app he has developed. "This is the Looking Glass. This is Alice in Wonderland. We are at the beginning of an entirely new medium." The increasingly popular e-books sold on Amazon's Kindle, Apple's iBook store and Barnes & Noble's Nook store are electronic reproductions of paper books. So, for publishing innovators such as Callaway, it will be Apple's App Store that will ultimately transform books into a new medium. Titans from Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins are jostling with the likes of Callaway for a piece of the pie. Experts say it's like a Wild West gold rush, perhaps the biggest moment in publishing since Gutenberg's invention of the movable-type printing press in the middle of the 15th Century.

Feeling a little overwhelmed and overloaded by information? Turns out, you are not alone - Ecclesiastes and Seneca were distracted, too. Read this book review, "Too Much To Know" in Inside Higher Education. A book by historian Ann Blair, Too Much to Know:Managing Scholarly Information before the Modern Age, about the history of information.
Excerpt: History certainly offers no clear predictions of the future, but I tend to think that we will manage much as we have in the past, creating problems for ourselves but hopefully also enough solutions to carry on.

Still need something to do while you sip a mochaccino?

After watching this VIDEO: Apple Debuts New iPad 2 ad, with "We Believe" theme, ...

Browse Helene Blowers list of 23 techno-things to do on the 43 things website! Originally created for the Learning 2.0 program at the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, Helene's is a great list of 23 learning challenges to give to student teachers, or teaching colleagues, or faculty friends, as a weekend challenge to UP their techno-savvy! Or, you can send them to the 43 things website to start their own list...

Enjoy learning new things. Our children and our teachers deserve to learn, build and share ideas together in connected learning and knowing communities.

Follow me on Twitter at dmichelej

My writing on our Blended Doctoral Program in Educational Technology

2011-03-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

Ask me about, "Blended Learning Across Disciplines: Models for Implementation", edited by Andrew Kitchenham, and published by IGI Global.

Chapter 10
I wrote the 10th chapter in this book, entitled "A Case Study of a Blended Doctoral Program in Educational Technology". Here is the abstract:

Educational technology is a hands-on, minds-on discipline that emphasizes knowing and doing. In this field, doctoral education needs to reflect digital and communication realities in the twenty-first century. In this case study, a blended learning approach to graduate education in educational technology is explored from the perspective of the author’s own classroom. The course design and blended delivery of an Advanced Concepts in Educational Technology seminar is described in detail. Active learning opportunities, using wikis, blogs, avatars and virtual worlds, learning managements systems, email, and face-to-face learning experiences engaged doctoral students in the collaborative investigation and critique of educational technology trends and research ideas. Doctoral students investigated their emerging digital lives as scholars and developed a personal cyberinfrastructure that they can continue to build, modify, and extend throughout their educational technology careers.

A Decade of Experience and Research on 1-2-1 in Maine Gives a Passing Grade

2011-03-30T10:41:00.000-07:00

Great newspaper article, with research to back it up, on the decade of 1-2-1 laptop use by teachers and middle school students in Maine:
10 years after laptops come to Maine schools, educators say technology levels playing field for students

Key ideas:
- each seventh- and eighth-grader in Maine public schools and every grades 7-12 teacher has a laptop paid for by state taxpayers
- Teachers, students and administrators interviewed for this report said laptops are giving several kinds of return on that money:
-- Laptops make learning and schoolwork more interesting, students and teachers said. “When kids are engaged, you can teach them anything...
-- Writing test scores have improved
-- Math skills have jumped. The number of students who need remedial math in the ninth grade has been cut in half. In 2001-02, Freeport Middle School's eighth grade passing rate on basic math tests was about 50 percent. In 2009-10, it was 91 percent.
-- Laptop critics worry that laptops are a distraction from learning: Students spend too much time on social-networking sites, including Facebook and Skype.
-- Overall, educators say the laptops have done what King promised: level the playing field of access to technology and help students become technology-literate.
-- Before laptops, students had to learn where to find the information on the library shelves. Today, finding information online is easy. Students now need to learn how to critique the information. That is a higher level of thinking skill, Robinson said.

Ten years later, King believes the laptop program was the right thing to do.
“I'm as enthusiastic as ever,” King said. “We did the right thing at the right time. It's been tremendously successful.”

There is a great video with students at the end of the article; I encourage you to watch it!!

A faculty member's wish list

2011-03-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

I became a university professor because I love to teach and I am very curious and passionate about my research on learning and teaching with technology. I look forward to developing as a leader and becoming an associate dean in the future. As a female faculty member, I would like to see more opportunities to develop as a leader - more mentoring, professional learning opportunities, and support for the development of female leadership capacity and competency within my faculty and across campus. I would also like to see female faculty valued as much as their male counterparts -- female faculty are often balancing the huge demands of being a research and teaching professor, with family and home and senior care responsibilities -- I believe we can be creative and innovative in higher education at better supporting and recognizing the contribution that female faculty make to teaching and research, as well as better investing in them as the next generation of leaders on campus.

I am feeling MORE positive than in my last 10+ years as a professor because of our new president - Dr. Elizabeth Cannon is extremely competent and effective, and she is breathing new life, integrity and good management into our University. I fully support Dr. Cannon and believe she is exactly the right president that the University of Calgary needs. I am also feeling very positive because of the excellent leadership in my faculty - great changes are afoot and many of these are long overdue. So, I am feeling very positive and hopeful about the direction this university is going, and the role my faculty will play in achieving the vision and goals that have been set for this University, and the role that I can play as a faculty member and as a future leader.

As a faculty member, I need my faculty and my university to better invest in the infrastructure that supports innovative, technology-enabled LEARNING and TEACHING, and the RESEARCH on same. Our university has fallen behind in our infrastructure -- both human and technological - in support of innovative, excellent and cutting edge teaching and the research on educational technology. We need to invest heavily in the professional development of our faculty - see the Institutional Learning and Teaching Plan - our faculty need support in becoming better teachers with 21st century competencies. However, this investment will be for nought unless the university invests strategically and intentionally in creating 21st century learning environments across campus.

CEP 952: Jacobsen's Doctoral Pathfinders

2011-03-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

Hello to Michigan State University from University of Calgary!!

Patrick Dickson: I am delighted that you found value in my online website and resources, and that you are recommending your doctoral students in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology [http://www.educ.msu.edu/cepse/epet/] consider these as they build their own online portfolio and presence as emerging scholars.

I encourage you to invite students to comment on any one of my blogs [http://girlprof.blogspot.com/] -- I am not looking for "two thumbs up" - instead, I encourage active debate and questioning of any of these ideas, and I really appreciate getting URLs to other useful sources. I moderate comments because I got too many spam type comments from businesses and vendors, etc. But, I am fairly quick at getting comments published.

Here is a task that I assign my own doctoral students, and have written about in a book chapter about our doctoral program that will be published this year: An online doctoral research pathfinder:

As a doctoral student becomes immersed in a graduate program, s/he builds a professional library of resources and an academic community of colleagues and researchers related to their research interests. Beyond books on a shelf, or articles in a folder, an effective method for keeping track of a growing list of contacts, experts and online sources is to build and populate a personal website related to your doctoral research. Borrowed from the world of library and information science, a Subject Pathfinder is an online gateway that organizes resources from across the Internet, and quickly guides a user to key information and people that will best provide information related to a specific topic(s). A Doctoral Research Pathfinder is a personal web that brings together a diverse, high quality, comprehensive set of researchers and resources related to a doctoral student’s proposed research topic. The Doctoral Research Pathfinder will serve as an evolving, multimedia knowledge resource based on your doctoral study and individual scholarship (Jacobsen, 2011).

You can link to these on my TEACHING site under Graduate Teaching [http://people.ucalgary.ca/~dmjacobs/teaching.html].

Doctoral Pathfinders 2008 - RB, JB, PD, DF, LJ, LM, HP; KBecker
Doctoral Pathfinders 2009 - BB, SG, JG, AH, EH, PH, JL, GM, LO, BP, JS, RS, NS, ST, MT, GW |

I welcome your comments, suggestions and observations on the doctoral pathfinder, on creating an online scholarly presence, on my scholarly website. Sincerely, Michele

Group Intelligence, Enhancement and Extended Minds

2011-03-21T12:46:00.000-07:00

Interesting post by Phillippe Verdoux, Ethical Technology, in which he asks questions like:
What do we know about the nature of collaborative work?
What is the relation between the capacities of individuals and the capacities of the group?
How might cognitive enhancement technologies amplify the abilities of groups to solve the problems they are confronted with?

As part of his approach to exploring these questions, he cites a 2010 study by Wooley, Chabris, Pentland, Hashmi and Malone, published in Science, to claim:

1. There is such a thing as collective intelligence.
2. It is not possible to accurately predict how well groups will perform on a range of cognitive tasks simply by averaging the IQs of its members, or by noting a single exceptional individual within the group.

The Key to Smarter Groups
First, the greater the social sensitivity of group members, the smarter the group.
Second, the more turn-taking within the group, the better the group performs.
And third, the more women in the group, the higher the group IQ.

Verdoux ponders a question near the end of the paper, "It would seem to be much easier to raise the intelligence of a group than an individual. Could a group’s collective intelligence be increased by, for example, better electronic collaboration tools?" and goes on to suggest, "Maybe the best way to improve the enterprises of science, government, business, and so on, would thus be to focus on enhancing group intelligence – a goal that may or may not have much to do with enhancing individual intelligence".

Gee on Getting Beyond Mindless Progressivisim

2011-03-21T10:36:00.000-07:00

Check out James Paul Gee's recent blogpost: URL. Well worth a read.

Gee "advocates what he calls “post-progressive pedagogy” and a particular variety of it I he calls “situated learning”." Then, Gee provides 12 characteristics of what he describes as well designed learning environments.

Awesome stuff - to see what it LOOKS LIKE, go to the Inquiry and Technology Exemplars found on Galileo Website: http://www.galileo.org/tips/inquiry.html

In 2011, Technology is global, ubiquitous, social and inexpensive

2011-03-17T07:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, we can put a powerful computer in every child's hands for learning. See this Carpe Diem post about the great deflation in computer prices: http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2011/03/great-deflation-computer-prices.htmlhttp://mjperry.blogspot.com/2011/03/great-deflation-computer-prices.html

The question is whether the education SYSTEM, namely the ministry, school jurisdictions, schools, leaders, teachers, parents, community stakeholders, business partners, have the appetite to do so. When considering "costs", the education system has to take a sharp look at the cost of NOT investing in the creation of twenty-first century learning environments for EVERY child in this province. From research we know that the greatest gains in learning with technology are found in schools where the teaching changes to reflect inquiry and knowledge building, the assessment focuses on the improvement of ideas and outcomes, and the technology is in hands of every teacher and student.

As my colleague, Therese Laferriere, recently argued (EduTech Summit) - connectivity is another issue that school systems have to address. We need to find solutions for increasing connectivity and bandwidth in schools, and also knocking down the firewalls between teachers, students and the online knowledge base.

Hands On Vs. Hands Up: Technology Enabled Knowledge Building in High School

2011-03-16T09:22:00.000-07:00

Really looking forward to feedback on and interpretations of this latest Michele Jacobsen & Sharon Friesen 2011 article in CEA's Education Canada: http://www.cea-ace.ca/education-canada/article/web-exclusive-hands-vs-hands-technology-enabled-knowledge-building-high-sch

Web Exclusive - Hands On vs. Hands Up: Technology-Enabled Knowledge Building in High School

In a landscape in which learners can be creators of ideas, it is vital for high schools to become technology-enabled learning environments that are sharply focused on knowledge building, idea improvement, and collaboratively creating community knowledge. Most students use personal connectivity for socializing and play, not for knowledge building, exploring problems, or building on each other’s ideas. They need engaged teachers more than ever to make the leap from digital technology as play to digital technology as a tool for knowledge creation. If we really want our children to face the challenges of the future with confidence and skill, we must teach them not only that they can acquire current knowledge, but also that they can help shape what their society comes to accept as knowledge. Participatory digital technologies and new social media landscapes, combined with engaged teaching and designs for learning, offer new opportunities for knowledge building and interconnected relationships.

Please comment on GirlProf, or on the Education Canada website.

Rationale for Hard Work in Graduate Courses in Educational Technology

2011-03-15T10:59:00.000-07:00

A while back, I prepared this rationale for the way I designed my graduate courses in educational technology.

Hi. Thank you for the breakdown (of tasks that you provided) -- and thank you for trusting me with your feedback about workload. I do realize and do appreciate that the workload is higher in my graduate course than other graduate courses. However, I have to tell you that I believe that your assessment of my graduate course, "this is the heaviest workload in any of the grad courses I have taken thus far" also says a great deal about the expectations of other instructors, and (perhaps even) their beliefs about what graduate students are capable of accomplishing.

The work that I invite students to do in my graduate courses reflects design, development, production and evaluation work conducted by educational technologists; so I am confident that it is authentic to the discipline and reflects industry standards (to the extent possible in a 13 week semester). Blogs: Reflection on learning is a metacognitive strategy that is well supported by research on how people learn well in community - so, I am confident that the blogging work is also authentic to graduate level knowledge building.

I realize that the work is a challenge and I do hope that it is motivating enough, as students have chosen the problems that they work on during the semester, to sustain interest and energy to do the work well. Over the years that I have offered this pair of courses, the feedback has been positive and has indicated "heavy work load, but worth it for learning in the discipline". I do hope that our group this year will also feel that the effort and investment has been worthwhile.

-- Although I may take some heat for some of the frank opinions expressed in this post, I do believe that teachers need to design challenging, authentic and meaningful work for learners that leverage technology appropriately - learners in elementary school, learners in high school, learners in undergraduate and graduate programs.

Seymour Papert describes it as "hard fun" - work that engages learners in powerful ideas.

In Sharon Friesen's and my recent Education Canada article, Hands On vs. Hands Up: Technology-Enabled Knowledge Building in High School, we elaborate on the need for engaged teaching and the design of great tasks.

QUEST - Oilfields High School Lands National Award

2011-02-10T07:37:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Bruce Campbell, at the Okotoks Western Wheel, for this great story about Oilfields High School and the National CEA Ken Spencer Award, "Quest lands Oilfields a national award. Education: Program honoured for its innovation in teaching and learning".

Quote: "Fittingly, Dr. Michele Jacobsen, an assistant professor of Education at he University of Calgary, presented the Canadian Education Association’s Ken Spencer Award on Feb. 3 to the most important component of the Quest program – a student, Austin Short. “I did that deliberately because it is the kids that have to put the sweat equity into this program to make it work,” said Jacobsen who was representing CEA. “They have been able to form strong relationships with each other and formed bonds of trust that will last their lifetimes. When I look at each and everyone of them, I couldn’t help but think it is these kids who will take our province into success.”

What a great high school success story!!

Playing with Technology: We are all makers

2011-02-09T11:14:00.000-08:00

As a fan of Cory Doctorov's work (Author of "The Makers", and other excellent books on our participatory culture), I was drawn to the TED Talk by Dale Dougherty, called "We Are Makers", which is an interesting view on the human impulse, desire, ability and passion for making things, for creation and creating things, for exploring and solving problems, for creating new problems, and for expressing our creativity, and exploring ideas and possibilities that are still open - like flight, space exploration, musical creation, and broadcasting.

QUEST: Oilfields High School, Black Diamond, AB, Foothills School Division

2011-02-08T10:15:00.000-08:00

It was my honor and privilege to present the CEA's Ken Spencer Award for Innovation in Teaching and Learning to high school students and teachers at Oilfields High School in Black Diamond, AB on Thursday, Feb 2. These kids are our future leaders, they have put their school and town on the map, and they make all of Alberta proud!

Quest Program, Oilfields High School, Black Diamond, AB
Foothills School Division
Quest is an alternative high school program targeted to meet the needs of students who have experienced limited academic success and feel disengaged from school. Quest blends classroom work and experiential learning such as field studies, class trips, and outdoor education to engage youth in multiple facets of learning. Each student has made a personal commitment to attend school regularly, and participate in all components of the program: academics, service work, adventure learning, personal and social growth learning as well as career exploration through placements and career counseling – learning that impacts their growth as a whole individual. The high degree of student success is attributed to the program model, which challenges youth to strive for excellence and build internal resiliency skills.

Global TV Coverage, Feb 4, 2011- Innovative Program Helping Kids Love School
Newswire: Canadian Education Association Announces Ken Spencer Awards

Why We Have Children... Because Love Overflows

2011-02-01T08:22:00.000-08:00

Victor sent me this link to Tim Dalrymple's blog, Why We Have Children. Thanks!! It is well worth a read. Along with the story of the devastating journey to the hospital, here are two excerpts that stick with me:

"Marriage tests and reforms us, and begins to teach us to give for the other's own sake, and not in the hope of reward or return; yet marriage promises that the spouse will do the same. Marital love cannot approach the self-sacrificial love of the parent, in which we pour ourselves out for the joy of seeing our children grow and flourish. In loving our children, many of us learn to love truly for the first time.
...
We have no choice but to give ourselves for our children, but we learn that in giving ourselves we receive our selves. In the frailty of this little form that called such an immense love out of me, this bundle of winsome life and running legs and embracing arms, I share in the quintessentially human condition of loving recklessly what is fragile, fleeting, and at risk. There is nothing for it; I cannot help myself."

Education Technology Conference - Toronto, ON - Mar 2 & 3, 2011

2011-01-25T13:39:00.000-08:00

I am looking forward to Chairing an upcoming Educational Technology conference in Toronto:
http://educationtechnologysummit.com/conference/detailed-agenda.html

Check out the great list of speakers, which includes: Elliot Soloway (Mich), Elizabeth Murphy (MUN), Therese Laferriere (Laval) and Ron Owsten (York).

21st Century Knowing - More Like Canadian Idol than Jeopardy

2011-01-17T09:53:00.000-08:00

Great new articles in the latest issue of Education Canada! One that really caught my attention was "Deans Speak Out" - Dennis Sumara talks about the difference between 20th and 21st century knowing. Well worth the read.

School Technology: Learning With Laptops, 6 Important Lessons from Maine

2011-01-12T14:00:00.000-08:00

In School Tech: 6 Important Lessons From Maine’s Student Laptop Program, Sarah Kessler summarizes some key lessons learned from the statewide learning with laptops initiative in Maine:

1. Treat Technology as a Tool, Not a Curriculum Area
2. Think Differently About Teaching
3. Decide to Do It, Not Pilot It
4. Concentrate on Current Curriculum Initiatives at First
5. Support Teachers as Much as Possible
6. Make Technology Part of Teachers’ Everyday Language, Too

Have your say - comment on whether there are key lessons that Sarah left out.

Hockey and Community Engagement

2011-01-11T11:22:00.000-08:00

A colleague passed this along because she knows how much time our family spends at the hockey rink.

What Can Canadians Conclude From the Struggle for Hockey Franchises?
Paul Cappon, President & CEO, Canadian Council on Learning

Learning across the life cycle comprises Learning to Do, Learning to Live Together, and Learning to Be, as well as the formal education characterized by Learning to Know.

Among important indicators in the Learning to Be dimension are those relating to participation in sports and in the cultural, social and recreational life of a community. When participation is high, learning conditions are better and individual opportunities for learning enhanced.

Systemic Approach to Technology-Based School Innovation

2011-01-07T10:00:00.000-08:00

A recent report published by OECD's Center for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) is well worth a read:

OECD. (2010). Inspired by Technology, Driven by Pedagogy: A Systemic Approach To Technology-Based School Innovations. A Report by OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI); Educational Research and Innovation Division. Online: http://www.oecd.org/document/60/0,3343,en_2649_35845581_46156604_1_1_1_1,00.html

My thoughts:

Systemic innovation: Our Education system must put wireless technology into the hands of every student and classroom teacher
Systemic Innovation: Our Education system must invest in high quality, continuous professional learning for leaders and teachers - we won't be able to stop!
Systemic Innovation: Our Education system must reduce firewalls/filters between students and teachers and the vast online world of resources

Latest 2010 Issue: Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology

2010-12-22T13:06:00.000-08:00

CJLT 36(1) - Fall 2010

Table of Contents

Editorial: A Special Issue of the Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology on Knowledge Building, by Michele Jacobsen

Abstract: In a pervasive media and technology landscape that is increasingly global, participatory and connected, one in which learners and teachers can increasingly become creators of knowledge rather than mere consumers of prepared messages and ideas, it is vital for the field of educational technology to take stock of the latest research on knowledge building. Marlene Scardamalia and Carl Bereiter, innovative pioneers in the area of Knowledge Building in education, define the construct of Knowledge Building as having several characteristics that distinguish it from constructivist learning in general. Two key characteristics of Knowledge Building are intentionality and community knowledge. Intentionality captures that people engaged in knowledge building know they are doing it and that advances in knowledge are purposeful. Community knowledge captures that while learning is a personal matter, knowledge building is done for the benefit of the community. Scardamalia and Bereiter emphasize that in contrast to being spontaneous, a knowledge building culture requires a supportive learning environment and teacher effort and artistry to create and maintain a community devoted to ideas and to idea improvement. Distinct from improving individual students’ ideas and understanding, the collective work of Knowledge Building is explicitly focused on the creation and improvement of knowledge of value to one’s community – advancement of the knowledge itself.

A Brief History of Knowledge Building, by Marlene Scardamalia and Carl Bereiter

Knowledge Building and Mathematics: Shifting the Responsibility for Knowledge Advancement and Engagement, by Joan Moss and Ruth Beatty

Developing Deep Understanding and Literacy while Addressing a Gender-Based Literacy Gap, by Yanqing Sun, Jianwei Zhang, Marlene Scardamalia

Social Network Analysis to Examine Interaction Patterns in Knowledge-Building Communities, by Donald N. Philip

Partnerships for Knowledge Building: An Emerging Model, by Thérèse Laferrière, Mireia Montané, Begona Gros, Isabel Alvarez, Merce Bernaus, Alain Breuleux, Stephane Allaire, Christine Hamel & Mary Lamon

Knowledge Society Network: Toward a Dynamic, Sustained Network for Building Knowledge, by Huang-Yao Hong, Marlene Scardamalia, Jianwei Zhang

Understanding the nature of science and scientific progress: A theory-building approach, by Maria Chuy, Marlene Scardamalia, Carl Bereiter, Fleur Prinsen, Monica Resendes, Richard Messina, Winifred Hunsburger, & Chris Teplovs

Early Development of Graphical Literacy through Knowledge Building, by Yongcheng Gan, Marlene Scardamalia, Huang-Yao Hong and Jianwei Zhang

Towards a Knowledge Building Community: From Guided- to Self-Organized Inquiry, by Stefano Cacciamani

Beyond Courseware: Designing for Collaborative Knowledge Building in Undergraduate Interprofessional Health Sciences Education, by Leila Lax, Marlene Scardamalia, Judy Watt-Watson, Peter Pennefather, Judith Hunter & Carl Bereiter

Conclusion--Can Children Create Knowledge? By Carl Bereiter and Marlene Scardamalia

CJLT 36(1) - Fall 2010

Engaged Teaching or Leave? Is that the question when students text in class?

2010-12-13T15:28:00.000-08:00

Much like our counterparts in schools, campus teachers are having to re-tool their practices to take advantage of the latest technology innovations in support of engaged teaching, and to respond thoughtfully and effectively to students who have ready access to media and technology (and know how to use it!). The quest towards more innovative, responsive and engaged teaching practices can be an exciting adventure for some, and a long, hard slog for others - depending upon their teaching philosophy, the learning theory and perspectives behind their current practices, and their skill and creativity with technology. In fact, a colleague and I are currently researching how to use audience response systems in large lecture environments - it is a great learning journey!

A colleague sent me this recent Inside Higher Education article, entitled "Should Profs Leave Unruly Classes?". In brief, the article describes how some profs are choosing to deal with distractions and distracted students -- they walk out. Huh? I sent this along to my graduate students, who offered these comments:

1. "As we allow Student Owned Devices into all of the schools, we have encountered similar concerns. My argument is, if you engage the students, the you will not have the problem. Is it any different for students to be doodling in there “notebooks”. Profs, as with any educational professional, need to pick up their game. I’m not sure why they are concerned with student being off task in their class, the worst that will happen is that they will fail the class. These are my 2 cents."

2. "I agree... I think if kids are "doodling" with their personal devices, this can be a learning opportunity for the teacher or prof. What can they do differently to better engage students? True, we can put it on the students and say they will fail, but I think this is an attitude of complacency in our practice. Surely we can do better than that."

What do you think? Have your say by commenting on this blog...

Network of 21 Century School Systems - CASS

2010-12-10T09:59:00.000-08:00

A new community of educators is gaining momentum....

Working Toward the 12th Dimension of the CASS Framework for School System Success

In fall 2010 CASS initiated the Network of 21st Century School systems to build leadership capacity by combining research and practical wisdom in four areas: • a forward looking, shared vision of 21st century learning and teaching, • transforming school and system leadership • IT governance • school systems as knowledge building organization". Check it out: http://cass.rockyview.ab.ca/

Is it also true for Canadian Intellectuals?

2010-12-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

Just read an interesting article [forwarded by a colleague]: The Crisis of the American Intellectual. I couldn't help but wonder, is this true for Canadian intellectuals, as well? As a "cautionary tale" thought experiment, I reworded one paragraph that stuck out by inserting bold words:

... But the biggest roadblock to change today is that so many of Canada’s best-educated, best-placed educators are too invested in old social models and old visions of schooling to do their real job and help society and the education system transition to the next level. Instead of the opportunities that inquiry and technology bring to the classroom, too often, they see threats; instead of hope, too often they see danger; instead of the possibility of progress they see the unraveling of everything beautiful and true....

What do you think? Is there any truth to this thought experiment?

Five minutes to Twitter

2010-12-09T11:16:00.000-08:00

I had a few minutes to spare today... thought a meeting started at 9:30, and it is actually scheduled for after lunch... Anyways, I figured it would be neat to start a twitter account... something I have been meaning to do for a few years now...

My first tweet: This holiday weekend I am looking forward to four hockey games, three shopping trips, two big sleeps and a very large bottle of red wine!

And my first re-tweet: Dave Hancock - Minister Hancock responds to Alberta Views article "More Choice, Less Education" shar.es/XqfPp

I am now following 24 other tweeters and have a follower!

Fun to come!

Jacobsen: Engaging Ideas in Education - Dec 7th

2010-12-07T07:15:00.000-08:00

Engaging Teaching in a Participatory Digital World

Abstract: A participatory digital world calls for changed mindsets about schooling, knowledge, teaching, learning, and assessment. Information delivery approaches to schooling must give way to active, engaged, and collaborative teaching and learning relationships made possible by social networks and a changed media and technology landscapes. Already comfortable with broadcast and interactive technologies, teachers need support to embrace online and blended participatory learning designs for students who build knowledge in the 21st century. Simply training teachers how to use current technologies will not shift how they work with disciplinary knowledge, how they design for learning and assessment, and how they embrace technology for idea improvement. Instead, teachers require continuous professional support as they learn to design rich, authentic learning tasks and cultivate a knowledge building culture with their students.

Post-talk Conversation and Reflection

Thank you for attending my talk, and for asking such great questions! I hope that you will comment on my blog! Just click on comment, and follow the steps.

The complex challenges that arise when technology comes to school require that all members in the educational system to establish a shared vision (Alberta Education's Inspired Education is a great start! - Thanks, Dave Minister Hancock; The Institutional Learning and Teaching Plan, UCalgary - Thanks, Dennis Sumara!), to work together and think creatively to find solutions and appropriate actions, and then to pull in the same direction to achieve widespread changes.

Here are the videos I referenced during my talk - enjoy the full-length versions:

Seymour Papert Interview - One Laptop per Child (OLPC)
Innovator: Powerful Ideas, Children and Computers

Students Take on Modern Technology
Digital technology affects opportunities for learning

Sunny View School in Toronto
Choice and Voice for Every Child

I Wish... By Crosbie Heights
Hands on Vs. Hands U

Ridgeway Crystal Beach High School
What kids love to do with technology

Helpful Horse: Wild and Free
Inquiry Exemplars: Galileo Network

Check out these AMAZING Galileo Network Inquiry Exemplars:

Other Cool Videos that I wanted to show, but did not have time:

SMART Table - Touch. Learn. Together.
Touch interactivity

Cisco TelePresence... Just for Fun!
Kids being kids

The Internet of Things
An interconnected system of systems

Arthur C Clarke predicting the future in 1964
Nobody has a crystal ball

Idea new ad on 'Education for all'
Mobile and Participatory Learning Opportunities - I showed this one to my own children, who shared my wonder and dismay that all children in the world do not get to go to school.

Ooops - where did November go? And, the addiction to family.

2010-11-26T12:38:00.000-08:00

I am booking appointments into January 2011 right now, and it is not even December. So, I figured I had better blog at least once or I will miss this entire month!! I do not remember September, it is just a blur. October was crazy, with a conference in Newfoundland and another in Ontario, teaching a graduate course (excellent students, btw), keeping up with two research projects (and a new one that got funded), doing analysis and writing for a self-study of our graduate programs, editing the special issue of a journal, writing a proposal for a grant, EDSA, GPEC, DAC and FEC meetings, doing a few media interviews, talking with prospective students on the phone, moving from one office to another, and updating several websites.

But this month of November, which begins with All Hallows Day and ends with Mark Twain's and Winston Churchill's birthdays, has to be the busiest I have experienced as a faculty member in the last 10 years... No, Really!! I have the marked up, over-crowded postit-note plastered, dog-eared daytimer to prove it... BUT, SShhhh!! So far, I have successfully fended off attempts by my handlers to put my calendar online and accessible to others for booking meetings.... Anyways. To one of the points of this post. The other day, I got a note from my dean congratulating me and my team on a job well done. It is hard to describe how awesome it was to get this feedback and recognition; a simple little note, a moment of recognition for a job well done, and in spite of carrying two industrial sized bags around under my eyes from cramming my marking into the wee hours of the morning, I actually felt much lighter, even more positive about my job, and that much more happy to come to work.

Speaking of how one can be busy AND happy at work, I also try to maintain a healthy and balanced home life with dear husband and two children. Not. Always. Easy. Nor. Is. It. Nirvana. So, I actually paid attention to this National Post article when it crossed my virtual desk this week: The Greatest Addiction of All. I can certainly relate to the opening narrative in which a little child cuddles on a parent's lap, the cares of the day fall away, and all seems well in the world. Most mornings and evenings, and several times a day and at night on weekends, I, too, get numerous cuddles and kisses from two manic, wriggling, over-heated, often piercingly loud, sometimes smelly little bundles of unrestrained joy... Yup. There is the fantasy of parental bliss, and there is the reality.

Parenting is just as challenging, if not more demanding, than being a full time professor. In future posts, I might just detail some of the more humorous incidents and events that characterize my parenting journey. Suffice it to say, I often feel like a border collie - screaming banshee - Nanny McPhee - cross as I shepherd my two offspring through school, music lessons, sports activities and family and household chores and routines, take a deep breath before you smack one of them.... All of which foreshadows the next part of the article that resonated with me: "Research may depict parenthood as a bile-inducing, rage-fueling, stress-producing ordeal, but parents tell us that becoming parents is the best thing they ever did". Truly, while they are a work in progress, my two offspring are my greatest creations. Cute, smart, funny, exasperating, argumentative, entertaining, gifted, demanding, irritating....

My sister sent me this earlier this month, and I finally got around to reading it: Men are from mars, kids are from Pluto. Very funny and liberating -- so what if your child wants to wear a Halloween costume to kindergarten? Every... day... for... a... month... Must be normal on Pluto....

I realize I am blathering a bit. But, I do have a point. How to reconcile the tiny little cherished moments of bliss with the daily grind of full-time work and full-time parenting? Though the connection may seem awkward, it makes total sense to me: it appears that the tiny little moments in parents' lives, those cuddles and kisses, the lap time, AND those sporadic, congratulatory notes from the boss, are like narcotics to addicts. Yes, it is the hope for reward, not the reward itself, that often drives us; and it is the tiny little moments of bliss that sustain us through the hard work it takes to do anything well.

MUN's Murphy Mashup: Learning in a Smarter World

2010-10-14T11:59:00.000-07:00

I am attending the EDGE 2010 Conference in St. John's Newfoundland today, and felt the urge to blog about an excellent keynote by Dr. Elizabeth Murphy (and not just because I enjoyed Mark, Mary, Dale and Michael's panel on blogging!).

Dr. Elizabeth Murphy's keynote presentation, entitled "Learning in a Smarter World: Imagining the Future", was delightfully different (at least to me). Dr. Murphy provided a brief introduction and concluding remarks that framed an engaging media mashup that she thoughtfully prepared ahead of time. Dr. Murphy's call to action focused on using our imagination and innovative technological resources to design smarter learning and learners. Key messages include:

Imagine a world in which every child is capable of critical and rational thinking. Imagine a world in which every child has access to all knowledge.
Imagine every child regardless of gender, geography religion, race or income with open access to all knowledge and to sophisticated learning tools.
Imagine more intelligent computers that help all students learn more effectively and efficiently. Imagine high quality learning activities and materials in the hands of every child.
Imagine children learning through play. Imagine children engaged and enthralled by every learning experience.
Imagine learning experiences designed for the whole child. Imagine a system of learning that responds to children's individual needs.

Dr. Murphy skillfully wove together readily available YouTube videos with thoughtful commentary in a compelling media mashup about smarter learning and the future of education. She distributed cards with a link to a set of delicious bookmarks she prepared so that people could enjoy the videos again after the presentation. Murphy's media mashup was a great approach to a keynote about imagining smarter learning.

I encourage you to experience a version of Dr. Murphy's presentation as preserved using delicious bookmarks and comments: Elizabeth Murphy's Edge 2010 keynote, Learning in a smarter world: Imaging the future

Divon's news: Tech-savvy teens take skill to the classroom

2010-10-13T14:42:00.000-07:00

Read a recent news article about teens learning with technology. I really enjoyed talking to Jordana from Metro News about Sharon Friesen and my research on engaged teaching and technology enabled learning. Jordana quoted accurately and in an appropriate context:

“We found they were a lot more creative in the types of projects teachers did with students, and they pursued more long term projects because the kids could take the technology with them at night to work on projects at home,” said Jacobsen.
... in spite of all the new advances in classroom technology, Jacobsen stresses the importance of having teachers on board. “All the technology in the world is not going to change things in classrooms if the teachers aren’t designing rich learning experiences for the students. So engaged teaching matters more than ever.”

Be sure to comment on the article.

Engaging, Purposeful and Meaningful Homework

2010-10-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

Calgary Catholic School Board has posted a new homework policy online; The Board has asked for feedback from the community. Global National's Francis Silvaggio asked me to comment on this policy, and aired a few of my responses on Oct 6th: No Homework Policy. Other views that I expressed during this interview include:

CCSB has proposed a balanced and flexible policy that enables teachers to be responsive to individual student learning needs;
A clear focus on meaningful and purposeful homework has been articulated;
Reasonable expectations for the quantity of daily homework have been set for children in different divisions (i.e., K-grade 3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12);
Homework can take different forms, from practice, to completion, to enrichment, to project work;
Punitive measures to discipline students for incomplete homework - no missed classes or loss of privileges - are inappropriate. Instead, focus on good communication between school and home;
Roles and shared responsibilities for students, parents, teachers and school administrators have been identified.

As an educator, I support the idea of regular homework that is engaging, meaningful and purposeful. I believe that homework can be a great opportunity for children and parents to connect and communicate about learning strengths, interests and needs. In higher education, professors and instructors have a great deal of flexibility given the learning characteristics of our adult students - most students do individual and group work outside of scheduled instructional time. For teachers and students in K-12, I believe that our expectations for homework outside of instructional time need to be guided by sound educational research on learning and teaching, and also be tempered by our understanding of the many demands on home and family life. Teachers and parents are BOTH focused on student / child success in learning, and effective processes can be put in place to communicate and negotiate a set of shared expectations for schoolwork and homework.

As parents, my husband and I engage with our own children on learning tasks most evenings and on weekends. The learning tasks we do together range from printing and practicing with text, lots of reading using diverse materials, fun activities both indoors and out, arts, crafts and music, and math and science explorations using a microscope, a stove and measuring cups, shovels and seeds, tools in the garage, and various other materials. That said, we are a family that also has to balance full time work and school, with music lessons, choir lessons, sporting activities, housekeeping, meal preparation and clean up, laundry, pets, and so on! In our busy and purposeful full-time lives, we expect to work together with the school on purposeful and meaningful homework tasks that help our children love school and love learning and experience success.

Education Canada: The Hard Work of Learning and the Challenges of Good Teaching

2010-10-04T05:51:00.000-07:00

Read this new article by Davis and Sumara (2010) on the weekend. In it, the authors challenge readers to consider a "change" focus versus a "challenge" stance in designs for learning. I plan to assign it to my student teachers for discussion and debate next semester. In the meantime, I encourage educators to read and contribute to the discussion using the comments feature on the CEA Website: http://www.cea-ace.ca/education-canada

Here is what I posted:

This is a thoughtful and important article to discuss with my student teachers - Thanks for the great read! Two parts that really resonated with me:
"... teaching that is focused on challenging learners is organized around the much more demanding tasks of setting situations that allow students to negotiate the level of difficulty, of trusting they will choose the tougher route when they are able, of really listening to where they’re coming from and what they know."
--- the design of meaningful work and learning opportunities, introducing challenging ideas, trusting students to make good choices and to engage, and attentive listening to learners
" [teachers] are doubtlessly challenging their students, refusing to make things easy and constantly expecting more than of learners than learners might imagine themselves capable."
--- Seymour Papert introduced an idea decades ago, "hard fun", that relates to a key idea that you are describing here - learners want to be challenged and engaged in a scholarly community of inquiry, and in these communities they thrive. Ref: http://www.papert.org/works.html

A Day in the Life of an Associate Professor

2010-09-25T05:09:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I wrote a "day in the life" blog. So, as I enjoy my Saturday morning coffee, here is a look back at my busiest day last week.

6 - 7 am - Answer email, read and respond to a graduate student paper, organize calendar.

8 - 9: 30 am - Drop dear child off at school; Drive to work; Talk to two colleagues by phone about research projects and committees; move more stuff into new office.

9:30 - 11:30 am - Academic Workload Advisory Committee

11:30 - 12 - Squat and gobble while printing handouts, agenda and updating website

12 - 1:30 pm - Chair, Educational Studies in Language, Culture and Technology Meeting

1:30 - 3:00 pm - Graduate Programs in Education Council

4:00 pm - Music lessons with child

6:30 pm - Sound check and mingle with cool educators!

7:00 - 9:15 pm - Panelist, CRC's Digital Citizenship Symposium

9:45 pm - Fill vehicle with gas and find my way home.

Thankfully, most of my days are not this busy - most professors can and DO handle a few of these busy days a month. In fact, many of my colleagues seem busier than me - emails at all hours of the day, and slightly disheveled attire and grooming, attest to their hectic and demanding schedules! [Having fun here, friends!].

An academics' busy schedule demands that we make trade-offs - we all have to make choices about how we spend / invest our time in order to maintain an active research program, prepare articles and grant applications, offer quality teaching and graduate supervision, do journal editing and make conference presentations, engage in administrative and leadership service on dozens of committees, and cultivate a healthy and happy family life. On that note, I have to go get ready for hockey practice with my two kids. Cheers.

Are tech-savvy students better learners?

2010-09-21T19:58:00.000-07:00

Are tech-savvy students better learners?
http://www.ucalgary.ca/news/utoday/august26-2010/education

As children of all ages head back to school this fall, many of them will have the benefit of having a laptop computer all to themselves. But does having this level of access to technology guarantee the individual student will be successful in their studies? According to two University of Calgary professors, access to technology is only one part of the equation. Quality teaching matters more than ever when computers come to school....

Best In Class Fund - Students Can Win 20K in Technology for Their School

2010-09-17T14:33:00.000-07:00

Girlprof supports putting technology into the hands of children for engaged learning at home and a school, which is why I became involved as a member of the Technology Advisory Board for the Best In Class Fund (BiCF). Secondary students and teachers from Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia can apply for a 20K grant and geek squad support for their innovative ideas about using technology for learning.

Get Involved to Win 20K for Your School!! Learn more: BiCF Guidelines

In brief, grade 7 to 12 students can work together with their teachers to develop an imaginative and engaging VIDEO and WRITTEN proposal to outline / demonstrate how they would like to integrate digital technology for learning in the classroom - be sure to focus on how technology will provide educational benefits in YOUR classroom. Students will work on the 2 minute video, and teachers on the 500-word written proposal, and submit both by Oct 24th.

What is your ‘big idea’ about why your school needs technology from Best Buy?
How will having new technology impact student learning?
Why are you passionate about technology in education?

Key Dates
* October 24 - Submission deadline at midnight, PST
* Week of December 13 - Announcement of program winners
* Spring 2011 - Video follow-up with grant recipients to evaluate impact in the classroom and to show how the program has come to life in the winning schools

Research on Engaged Learning With Technology

My own educational technology research focuses on quality teaching and engaged learning with technology - most recently, I have studied the learning benefits of laptop programs in junior high schools with my colleagues, Sharon Friesen and Candace Saar. Read more about this and related research:

CBC Website: Researchers Like Laptops in Calgary Classrooms
GlobalTV: U of C researchers probe whether tech-savvy students have an advantage
CHQR: Researchers study computer use at SW school
UCalgary: Are tech-savvy students better learners?
St. Albert Gazette: Okay class, There's an App for that
Education Canada: Teaching in a Participatory Digital World

Robert Thirsk: Open the Door to Opportunity

2010-08-16T11:02:00.000-07:00

Enjoyed an inspirational keynote by Bob Thirsk, Canadian Astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency, on Monday morning at Alberta Education's EMERGE Conference.

Powerful Ideas that Thirsk used to frame his talk that included photographs from the international space station, a video made by the crew and many, many stories about "the right stuff" for kids who are considering a career in space.

1. teachers are cool - Shirley Cole, Powell River, BC, barely remembers the day when John Glenn launched into space and she played the audio link for her grade 3 class. Most students just saw it as a passing event, but one student, Thirsk, was obviously inspired and went on to a career in space.

2. A career in space is not science fiction: Canada employs thousands of people in the Space industry

3. We learn best when we are engaged - careers in space are not desk jobs!
Get students involved in hands on activities inside the classroom and beyond via science centres, science fairs, get students involved in these fantastic learning opportunities. If you cannot get to Montreal, you can learn about these resources and use them through videoconferencing

4. A Career in Space is Challenging
Astronauts take inspiration from JF Kennedy, 'we chose to go to the moon, not because it is easy, but because it is hard (get rest of the quote)
- http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/We_choose_to_go_to_the_moon
We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon... (interrupted by applause) we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

5. Failure is not an option – speed of events and decisions, using expensive equipment, astronauts operate on behalf of researchers who have spent years designing their experiments, just like failure is not an option for students at exam time, at high school graduation, and so on, failure is not an option.

6. We go to school to learn how to learn
The door to opportunity only opens when students acquire the needed knowledge, skills and attitudes - there are specific ksa's that scientists and astronauts need to be successful. Astronauts need to understand very complicated systems, machines, vehicles; the space station is complex on another level of magnitude.
- Willingness to undergo advanced training on an lifelong learning basis; massive amounts of information need to be acquired in a short period of time

7. You don't have to be a geek to love math and science
We do wear white lab coats, but we also wear backpacks, space suits, hiking shoes; we love going to work, and get new challenges each day, every day is different.

8. Practice makes perfect
The bulk of an astronaut’s time is spent learning and practicing for the mission, and preparing for optimal and off-optimal outcomes, unanticipated events
Simulations - practice, doing procedures over and over to get it perfect

9. Its more fun to work in a group than to work alone
Attitude - decisiveness, team work, persistence
This is the most important competency of the three - you can always learn the knowledge and skills to do the job, but not everyone can learn the attitude needed to do the job well and be successful.

10. People are more interesting than facts
Students want to learn about the people who have made a difference, the explorers and inventors, and what attitudes and skills were necessary, instead of just the events and accomplishments - kids are inspired and learn from the dispositions, the attitudes, the people themselves, who they were.

11. opportunities are built upon a strong educational foundation
the next generation of space workers are in today's classrooms - so, teachers have an awesome responsibility to inspire the next generation of explorers, inventors and astronauts.

Gesture and Object Based Technology

2010-08-16T07:24:00.000-07:00

Dr. David Merrill, co-founder and president of Sifteo, was the first keynote at Alberta Education's Emerge Conference 2010 in Banff, Alberta.

Powerful Ideas David shared:

Key idea: it can take TIME to refine and improve how we use a powerful technology.
- Computer Mouse - a great idea that lasted over 40 years, from Englebart's (1968) original mouse, to the iMac mouse (1995), and latest wireless and gesture mice. Supports a range of interactions, and is also limited.
- Theremin (1928), gesture controlled pitch and volume, to O'Modhrain (2000), Stanford, who explored haptic feedback to increase playability of the Theremin, to the Wii (2006), to the Ocarina (2010), and the iPhone that supports multi-touch.
- Videogames, Damien Lopez (2008) worked on a taxonomy of game controllers, and the types of interaction they support.

Key idea: Why our tools matter: they are objects that help us to think (Draws upon Seymour Papert's seminal work on "objects to think with"). Trying many alternatives with a minimum of effort increases our good solutions and enables us to explore problems more fully.
- Rapid prototyping, Experimentation, expression
- Access to tools matters - anytime access allows us to try more possibilities, to rethink the problems themselves

Key idea: Siftables: Play, Learn, Create
- Key advances: multiperson, more mobile, 3D spatial, 2-handed all fingers bodily interaction, tangible: cognitively beneficial
- Object-based, gesture-based interaction with computers

David Merrill's TedTalk - demonstration of Siftables.

Latest Issue: CJLT / RCAT 35(3) - Fall 2009 - Online

2010-07-23T14:42:00.000-07:00

Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology / La revue canadienne de l’apprentissage et de la technologie (CJLT / RCAT): http://www.cjlt.ca/index.php/cjlt

Table of Contents

Editorial: CJLT: Changes in the World of Academic Publishing

Michele Jacobsen

Articles

Online synchronous communication in the second-language classroom

Elizabeth Murphy

Patterns d’interactions écrites asynchrones entre des classes branchées en réseau

Stéphane Allaire, Thérèse Laferrière

Using Videoconferencing to Provide Mentorship in Inquiry-Based Urban and Rural Secondary Classrooms

Qing Li, Patti Dyjur, Natalya Nicholson, Lynn Moorman

Gaming geography: Educational games and literacy development in the Grade 4 classroom

Heather Lotherington, Natalia Sinitskaya Ronda

Implementation of web-based learning in colleges of education: Barriers and enablers

Daniel W. Surry, Adrian G. Grubb, David C. Ensminger, Jenelle Ouimette

Cliquer, glisser, dactylographier ou sélectionner dans un menu déroulant : manipulations préférées des étudiants universitaires / Click, slide, type or select in a pop-up menu: Favourite manipulations of French-as-a-second-language university students

Nandini Sarma, Alysse Weinberg, Martine Peters

The effectiveness of web-delivered learning with aboriginal students: Findings from a study in coastal Labrador

David Philpott, Dennis Sharpe, Rose Neville

Use of Social Software to Address Literacy and Identity Issues in Second Language Learning

Jill Hutchinson

New Editor: Dr. Heather Kanuka, cjlt@ualberta.ca

Fall 2009 issue of the Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology / La revue canadienne de l’apprentissage et de la technologie (CJLT / RCAT): http://www.cjlt.ca/index.php/cjlt

Flapjack App & the Calgary Stampede

2010-07-07T08:44:00.000-07:00

If you are from the prairies, and even if you are a professor in the ivory tower in this city, you know that a Stampede is approaching Calgary. The first half of July is the time of year that most Calgarians and Hundreds of Thousands of Visitors don cowboy hats and boots, and travel to city center to enjoy the rodeo, the chuckwagon races, agricultural exhibitions and the midway. The Stampede Parade is this Friday morning, and corporate and academic Calgary shut down offices and classrooms for the morning so that staff and students can take in the show.

Part of enjoying the Stampede Spirit and Fun is the annual quest to find free flapjacks throughout the city and surrounding area. Those of us who are used to this brand of Western hospitality do not find it curious at all to see folks line-up at 7 am for a free coffee, sausage and flapjacks. In fact, this brand of hospitality has spread beyond the Calgary Stampede and free pancake breakfasts often accompany folk festivals and other events at other times of the year.

On my drive to campus this morning, I learned about a new app for my iPhone on the CBC - the Flapjack Finder. I have written before about my enthusiasm for Apple's iPod, iPhone and iPad... In fact, just yesterday, I made my first visit to the Genius Bar -- Top Marks for Andrew and the other geniuses!! Anyhoo, back to finding flapjacks. You can bet that I have already downloaded the Flapjack Finder on my iPhone, and that I plan to slap on a straw hat, grab my kids and husband, and find some free and flat throughout the area in the next two weeks!!

Yahoo!!

Happy Canada Day 2010

2010-06-30T08:59:00.000-07:00

Canada Day is a welcome summer holiday. Our entire extended family celebrates July 1st by going to a parade together in our city, then gathering at one of our houses to stuff ourselves on home baked treats, cold drinks and a barbeque. During the parade, our children wave Maple Leaf flags, scramble to pick up candy, and suck on freezies. This year, my husband and I plan to try something new by taking the kids to the evening Rodeo. As a fitting conclusion to the day, we all enjoy evening fireworks in our city as well as on CBC.

Canada Day offers an opportunity to reflect on how privileged we are to be citizens of such a peaceful, beautiful and prosperous nation. Funny how Canada started with a Prime Minister who dreamed big about a railway to link East and West....

Canadians will enjoy Canada Day in many ways on July 1st, but first and foremost, it's about celebrating the strengths in our families, in our diverse citizens, and in the country and land we all love. I hope my many friends and colleagues will have fun tomorrow, and also take a moment to consider how incredibly fortunate and how incredibly proud we are (and should be) to live, work and play in Canada - this great country of ours.

Happy Canada Day!
;-)

Good bye Michael Anton Jacobsen (1940 - 2010)

2010-06-09T18:55:00.000-07:00

Family and friends,

Thank you for your many kind words, thoughts and prayers -- my mom, my sisters and I felt so lucky to be with my dad when he passed away Friday evening at 6:00 pm. He died as he lived - in the embrace of his loving girls.

It has been a long good-bye since dad's stroke in March 2008 -- we have celebrated the extra time we have had with dad as he progressed through the different final stages of life. Dad still went to the July 1st parades in his wheelchair, to family homes for Christmas and Thanksgiving dinner, and to his grandson's hockey games. We had many more birthday celebrations together. He enjoyed being outdoors in the sun, and always let us know, even as speech and eventually words failed him, how much he loved his family.

Through the joys and sorrows, we have been blessed to have had more than two extra years with dad since his stroke -- this extra time allowed us to enjoy dad's company, tell him often how much we loved him, and to be together as a family. After his time in the hospital, and a short stay at an extended care facility in Calgary, the five of us won the lottery and Dad was transferred to the Bethany Care Center and lived within five minutes of his wife, children and grandchildren.

This last week's vigil has been one of laughter, love and tears as dad's girls, his sons-in-law and his cherished grandchildren shared our many memories, and prepared for dad's / grandpa's passing. We are a strong family; we are helping each other with the next steps of preparing for the public service and celebration of dad's life this Friday at Bethany at 5:00 pm; we are also strong because of the love and support of our extended family and many good friends. In closing, thank you for your many kind words and wishes as we have been on this journey as a family.

With a peaceful heart,
Michele

CNIE 2010 Keynotes and Ning Online

2010-05-28T13:19:00.000-07:00

This is the first year in a long while that I haven't attended the annual CNIE Conference (formerly either the AMTEC or CADE conferences). So, imagine my delight in finding the three keynotes online. Kudos to New Brunswick Community College for capturing the video and coordinating with the presenter's slides.

Watching and listening to Nora, Alec and Daniel was great -- in fact, I would argue that post de facto online access is better, in some ways, than real time. I can play, pause, re-play, repeat the video / audio in ways that are better than real time. I can insert phrases in my French-to-English translator, which would be tricky in real time. Admittedly, the video was of varying quality, and there were some hiccups with the audio. Notwithstanding the dollars and time saved, and the lesser impact on the environment (see Anderson and Anderson's article about online vs. f2f conferencing), without real-time attendance, I still missed the many sessions and panels that are unavailable online. By staying home, I missed visiting with friends from across the country and around the world, and hearing about their latest research and teaching. Still, it is great to have the "keynote" taste of the conference available online.

Another "layer" for remote, post de facto participation, is the CNIE Ning site: http://cnie2010.ning.com/ This community resource includes videos, photos, forums and links. Hi Bruce!! Hi Brad!!

I cannot wait to see what the "Cascades of Innovation" CNIE conference is like in Hamilton in 2011.

We Need Academic Journals and We Also Need Academic Publishing to Change

2010-05-28T11:18:00.000-07:00

My colleague, Tony, asks: do we need academic journals anymore? As the "soon to be former" editor of a peer-reviewed, academic journal (Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology), my answer is a resounding YES. In various editorials for CJLT, I have written about the value and necessity of peer-reviewed forums for the sharing and dissemination of academic research and scholarship. For example, in Winter 2007 CJLT Editorial, I wrote: A great deal of hidden volunteer effort supports the scholarly review process of an academic journal. After a paper has been reviewed by the editorial team, it is blinded and sent to three expert peers for their assessment of the manuscript’s quality and potential contribution to the field. Peer reviewers submit comments and a recommendation to the editorial team to aid in the publication decision making process. At least 21 peer reviewers contributed their feedback and expertise to the review of the seven manuscripts in this issue. Peer review, by its very nature and, some would argue, by necessity, is anonymous. A journal maintains its scholarly integrity by employing a valid and reliable peer review process.

In my Winter 200 8 CJLT Editorial, I argued, "Academic journals disseminate both new research and the critique of existing research as an important part of the inquiry and knowledge sharing process. Scholars rely on academic, peer-reviewed journals for research on which they can build their own investigations and scholarship. ... Good academic journals tend to publish competing and even contrasting articles about a particular research field, question or topic – this approach to academic debate, combined with disciplined inquiry, is believed to characterize a vigorous, growing and dynamic body of knowledge and reliable research in a discipline. Canadian academics believe it is a right and a responsibility to analyze, synthesize and critically evaluate the current knowledge base and to identify inaccuracies, faulty arguments and claims that are not well supported with evidence".

Academic researchers, scholars, graduate supervisors and graduate students, campus and classroom teachers, journalists and citizens, will continue to need reliable, trustworthy and credible peer-reviewed research on which to build ongoing research and teaching and living efforts. Our current academic journal publishing and peer review models have served us fairly well (with a few notable exceptions -- leaked emails about climate change, anyone?), will continue to serve us well, for the most part, and also have to change and evolve in order to remain relevant and to serve the community well.

Here is my comment on Tony's blog: "You are asking a few good questions here, Tony. I believe that our academic journal publishing models DO need to evolve and change, and that the type and magnitude of change needed will take no small courage and a great deal of effort on the part of academics, faculties and institutions. As editor, I advocated for CJLT to become fully open-source and online in order to make present and past educational technology research freely and widely available. Going open-source and online is only the first small step for academic journals. Across disciplines, there is an enduring and widespread snobbery about "online" versus "serious, top-tier publishing in a paper journal" - going for tenure or promotion, anyone? I agree with my colleagues, Mark Bullen and Ryan Tracey, that there is a strong need for good academic research, and with Sean Lancaster, that the blind peer review process is vital for credible and trustworthy academic publishing. Peer reviewed academic journals also need to incorporate interactive and participatory social networking models in support of developing active academic research communities online. Key challenges that academic journals face include, but are not limited to: variable institutional support and academic merit for journal editors, heavy workload, quality and quantity of peer review, an enduring culture of snobbery and entitlement, and sustainable funding. Does academia have the appetite to change the status quo in academic journal publishing? We can always hope..."

A blog post by the Speculative Scotsman, Publishing Apocalypse... Now, has a relevant message, and funny bit about a grumpy old man, that I believe we can apply to academic publishing: "Publishing is assuredly not, as Keillor would have it, dying. It is only changing - as all things do. That it is not what it once was, that the industry has had to adapt to new technology, new media, new modes of communication, is symptomatic not of the end - woe betide us all - but of evolution".

Academic publishing is evolving, and will continue to evolve, however painful and disruptive this process might be, in the coming decades. I look forward to watching from the sidelines.

Should we filter and firewall in schools?

2010-05-26T11:03:00.000-07:00

For teachers and students to make full use of social participatory web 2.0 technological resources and processes for 21st century learning and competencies, then they need unfiltered, unrestricted access to these online resources in the classroom. In some of my classroom-based research, I have heard from a majority of teachers who are extremely frustrated by the filtered / firewalled restrictions placed on the rich and plentiful resources available online. Who is restricting access to things like blogs, wikis, youtube, facebook, and many other online resources and processes that characterize the social web? Often, it is the school jurisdiction or school IT folks - people who do not have a BEd.

A plethora of resources, experts and processes are available online - in education, we need to seriously consider and debate WHY we would restrict teachers and students from access to this growing and expanding online knowledge base.

Issues to consider:
- Decisions about appropriate online content / resources / processes to be used in the classroom should be made by teachers. What are the Alberta Education, Alberta Teachers' Association, CASS, School Council Committee, etc., positions on this issue of professionalism and teacher selection of online content and technological resources?

- Often, at the district level, and even at the school level, technology personnel, who are not educated as teachers / school leaders, are making "appropriate use" and "censoring" decisions about online content / resources / processes that are available to / restricted from teachers and students in classrooms. Who should decide what knowledge, perspectives and ideas are worthwhile, necessary and appropriate for Alberta teachers and students? Are we comfortable leaving these important decisions about "appropriate" and "valuable" and "dangerous" in the sole hands of technology staff? In the sole hands of administrators?

- POLICY regarding access to online content, technological processes and resources, should be created based on consultation among all relevant stakeholders - administrators, teachers, school jurisdictions, parents, technology personnel, AND STUDENTS.

- Every school jurisdiction, or even school, should be able to determine the policies that make sense WITHIN a greater provincial context and policy structure. Provincial policy and school jurisdiction policies on access to online content and technological resources should be reevaluated at the beginning of each school year to take into account changing students, changing technologies and changed thinking about teaching and learning.

I believe there is a role to be played by research:
- Which school jurisdictions have the most restrictive policies and why? How are these policies working? How do teachers, students and parents feel about these policies?
- Which schools or school jurisdictions have the least restrictive policies and why and how are these working?
- How do school jurisdictions and administrators justify the filtering / firewall policies that are in place? Are these policies defensible? Are these decisions supported by data from different stakeholders? Information from the research literature?
- What do parents say about access to online content and technological processes? How have we collected this data? Who have we asked? Whose opinions count?
- What is the real incidence of serious problems with unfiltered, unrestricted access, as opposed to ad hoc reporting or imagined problems or fear mongering?

Feel free to comment on my comments and ideas.

Designing for Inquiry and Technology Using Intelligence Online

2010-04-22T11:04:00.000-07:00

One of the key technologies I use with student teachers to explore designs for learning is Intelligence Online [IO]. Each semester, I am impressed by the creativity, imagination and skill displayed by my student teachers as they prepare inquiry projects for their future students.

Here is some student teacher reflection that demonstrates the depth and breadth of new knowledge constructed and shared over the Winter 2010 semester.

JK's The Big One: The IO Unit
SZ's Teckno Noob Not So Noobish Anymore
Bamboo Sensei The Secret to Inquiry

This post will expand as I add more examples to it.
For now, I have to get the rest of my marking done!

Happy 40th Earth Day, I guess

2010-04-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

I am all for the earth, and for what it is worth - and the planet IS amazing. In fact, I spent six hours reflecting on the beauty of our little corner of the earth as I drove through the Palliser Region yesterday. In plus 20 temperatures with a springy wind, I marvelled anew at the pussy willow sage green and gold rolling hills; the massive just-plowed endless fields ready for planting; the man-made irrigation systems, aqueduct and canals; the treelines, the scrub, the tumbleweeds; the marsh and ponds on which multicolored ducks and geese landed; the beautiful light cast by a rising sun, and then by a tie-died peach, orange and red setting one as I coasted home.

When my children asked, "Why do we celebrate Earth Day at School, Mom?", I resisted my skeptical response about rabid, eco-politico-socio-engineers and the profiteering green pirates.... (take a breath and read here for some Earth Day Predictions 1970 style) and the unethical scientists who fake data to skew political agendas.... (I love Rex Murphy's take on ClimateGate) and how "authentic living" is a new form of exclusionary language that denotes a new form of social status and economic privilege and snobbery (BTW, I am looking forward to reading Andrew Potter's new book).

Instead, .... cue robins singing and early tulips poking through the soil and spreading compost on my raspberry bed... , Ahh, yes. Eaaaarth Daaaay. Well, kids.... At breakfast, I talked about our shared responsibility to care for the earth, the unlimited beauty of the planet, doing our part to recycle and reuse rather than throwing things into the landfill, why we have a yuck-bucket under the sink and compost green and brown waste, and limiting consumerist practices, etc and so on. They seemed satisfied; after all, this is all part of their normal experience. Good.

As to the role of schools in providing environmental education programming, the science-technology-society connections are very promising, if taught through inquiry, steeped in disciplinary knowledge and connections, and using a participatory and democratic approach. I know that my children, along with many other Alberta children, and campus students and faculty, will participate in some fun and well intentioned games and activities today at school and learn a few new ways to be more responsible citizens of the planet. Good to great.

For the older kids, I suggest a little bit of reading and reflection today, accompanied by a great deal of time out in the fresh fresh air and undiluted sunshine. Here is a good article, "Earth Day Turns 40" by Ronald Bailey. Key idea: the US environment has fared well since the first Earth Day four decades ago - pollution levels have dropped while populations have increased since 1970. Since 1980, ambient concentrations of major regulated air pollutants have dropped by 54 percent, while U.S. population grew 34 percent, energy use increased 32 percent, automobile miles nearly doubled, and GDP rose by 126 percent. Looking good.

Here is another good article, "Earth Day Then and Now" that Ronald Bailey wrote 10 Years Ago when Earth Day was 30. Key Lesson? The prophets of doom were not simply wrong, but spectacularly wrong. We are not all baaaaaad as the eco-handwringer-mea-culpas would have us believe. We are actually doing great.

Enjoy reading and thinking and going outside on Earth Day.
Comments are spectacularly welcome.

Girlprof wants an Trifecta: iPod, iPhone, iPad

2010-04-15T12:48:00.000-07:00

Apple's iPod and iTunes changed the music / entertainment industries and how we think about multimedia content, distribution and choice. Going another step further, Apple's iPhone has changed the communication and creation industries and how we create and accessed multimedia using mobile devices. And then, changing the game is Apple's iPad which is poised to impact several industries, from book publishing and retailing to news creation and sharing...

Two Year Old Plays with Apple iPad - Lee Wilson on iPad for Education
Reminiscent of a video I saw in graduate school of a 2 year old playing with a Macintosh, in this article Wilson links to a video of a little girl playing with an iPad.

I tell my research and teaching friends that I waaaaant an iPad. Now. I neeeeeeed an iPad to go with my iPod and iPhone! For research, of course! In educational technology, we like to check out what the latest tech is good for... (see my colleague Dr. Mark Brown's post on The Impact of mLearning). For teaching, of course! Especially to share news about how it is being used, by who and how it impacts learning (Seton Hill Gives Incoming Class a MacBook and an iPad). And mostly for fun (and so my kids will give back my iPhone and iPod).

A few good reads on the iPad, Apple and Mobile technology:

- The Power of Apple
- Real-world iPad annoyances: A timeline
- The iPad Has Inspired Me to Give Up My Toaster
- Last Week I Didn't Pick Up My Laptop Once; and I didn't miss it
- Why Apple Is Kicking Everyone's Ass
- Fanboi's Top 10 Free iPad Apps
- iPads on Campus
- High schools aim to have every pupil using a laptop: Pilot program points to death of textbooks
- UPDATE: Consumer Reports review of iPad and Kindle

And now for something completely "pc-insane" but different - the Slate / Tablet Race:
- Google in Unique Position to Deliver "iPad Killer"
- Can Rivals force Apple's iPad Price Down?

Comments: I would love to hear what you think about Apple's iPods, iPhones and iPads, and even what the pc-world is coming up with to participate in this game-changing race.

Apples With Many Seeds: For the love of books and teaching

2010-04-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

Our Faculty of Education is lucky to have a host of engaged teachers who engage learners who go on to share their developing and emerging teaching talents with children.

One of great teachers in our Faculty is Tammy Flanders, who toils away in our library and technology resource area. Tammy is a bibliophile - one of those interesting and inspired individuals who love books, love to acquire and organize books, love to read and love to teach others about how to love books and love reading. As a fellow techno-pedagogical bibliophile, I recognize the fire in Tammy's eyes as she tells a story about the latest book she is reading or walks you over to the shelf to see that the Faculty has the whole collection of Australian author John Marsden's Tomorrow Series, and did I know that there is a movie coming out this September based on the first book? (Yes, I am eagerly reading the first book about Ellie and her friends, and plan to sign the others out so back off!).

I encourage you to visit Tammy's Blog: Apples With Many Seeds, where you will find a great mix of book reviews and classroom ideas about how to engage learners with great books in interesting and innovative ways. Another great feature of Tammy's blog is her blog list of other bibliophiles (BTW, she appears to add links to this into the wee hours of the morning!).

UPDATE: Something is in the air today, because I just came across another neat book site: Jenny Sawyer's PickoftheWeek at www.60secondrecap.com. PickoftheWeek is a short weekly vlog of a book hand-picked to appeal to today's teens. "Books with great stories, great characters, books that tackle big subjects. Books you just can't put down," says host Jenny, who has gained a reputation for making classic works of literature -- often required reading in classrooms -- accessible and exciting for today's readers.

Rex Murphy is right to criticize the "human rights" gong show in Canada

2010-04-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

In today's National Post, Rex Murphy skewers the Canadian "human rights" industry for its incredible gong show: "Please Don't Call it Human Rights"

"Is Canada a serious country? Do we staff close to a dozen offices, provincial and federal, spend nearly $200-million dollars across the great expanse of the country, to explore the human rights implications of rude heckling in comedy clubs? Or, the human right to undress in the locker room of your choice? For this, did the great armies of the West storm the beaches of Normandy? For this, did Solzhenitsyn and Sharansky endure their endless nights of hell in the gulag?"

Good point, Rex.

UPDATE: Here is a list of media rippers over the Guy Earle kangaroo court hearing in BC.

In addition to Rex, my second favorite is Margaret Wente at the Globe and Mail: "Have you heard the one about the stand-up comic and the lesbian? Actually, it's not that funny."

Research and Teaching careers can be family friendly

2010-03-31T09:14:00.000-07:00

In his Carpe Diem blog post, "Research Careers: Not Very Family Friendly", Mark Perry, an economics and finance professor in Michigan, points to a recent report by the AAUW, "Why so few?", about the paucity of women in STEM careers (i.e., engineering and science), and cites a few good quotes from Diane Auer Jones' Chronicle of Higher Education piece, "Are Women Partly to Blame for the Gender Gap in STEM Fields?". In these three articles, one can quickly grasp that there are diverse opinions about the presence of and reasons for the gender imbalance on campus (which appears to be more worrisome in some faculties versus others), and what might, can and should be done to address the "problem" however it is defined.

First, the McSnarky part of me has a simple (but ultimately unsatisfying and surface) answer for the "gender" imbalance: follow the research money - In Canada, there is 9 NSERC dollars invested for every 1 SSHRC dollar - so, Science and Engineering have BIG bucks, and few female faculty, while other faculties / disciplines struggle to get their research funded and have a higher proportion of female scholars.... Seems I have observed this trend in Medicine, too.....

Whatever.
Back to balancing career and family.
Having written about the intersections between academia and motherhood before, I felt moved to comment on Perry's blog: "I am a female professor who has been in academia for 20 years - I am part of a very small minority, male OR female (6 of 80+ faculty), who has small children at home. It is a challenge to juggle research, teaching, service on campus and maintain a healthy home life -- something always has to give. In my life, my children are a priority so I am not a research chair, an associate dean or list hundreds of publications [on my cv]. However, I do have two well balanced children in sports, a happy marriage and some teaching awards, some publications, two modest research grants, and edit a peer reviewed journal. Having a family does slow down a career, but I would argue that my children have made me a better teacher and researcher in that I am a sharper observer, extremely well organized (I have to be) and I have a deep well of empathy that I may have lacked when I was a single graduate student who worked 16 hours a day".

I believe that female faculty CAN and DO make good progress in their non-science academic careers by investing in and enjoying their teaching and graduate supervision, pursuing research that is important and worthwhile, take an active role in collegial governance and service, AND, build strong families and keep things in balance at home for self, partner and children. In my faculty and at my campus, there are many examples of women having it all by doing it all, and making an academic career and family work by working very hard and strategically -- the reasons and explanations are diverse and the stories are inspiring.

Our campus recently celebrated the appointment of a Female President, who happens to have enjoyed a highly productive, well recognized & well decorated career in Engineering (gasp!), moved into leadership in a male dominated field and enjoyed widespread support as a dean of engineering, WHILE raising two children in a two parent family and doing extensive work in the community. Of course, one can argue that this woman is an exception, and of course Elizabeth is an exceptional woman, but based on this and other examples of female professors who enjoy a successful academic career while raising a family, I have to argue that research and teaching careers CAN be family friendly -- often, it is a question of political and social awareness, keeping work and home in balance and making strategic choices about what is important, doing only work that you enjoy and believe is important and worthwhile, and learning to say NO when it makes sense.

Crosby Goal, Iginla Assist for Canada Gold in Men's Hockey!!

2010-02-28T15:59:00.000-08:00

It is completely fitting that my 87th post will be about a golden goal by Sidney Crosby, the 22 year old hockey player from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. Wearing his famous jersey, Crosby #87 popped a magical shot from Jerome Iginla past the U.S. goalie Ryan Miller after more than 7 minutes of nail biting overtime play. CBC's headline, Canada outlasts the US for hockey gold, doesn't capture the fast and physical game that our Canucks played right up to the last second.

Our household of parents, kids and friends spilled outside to hoot, holler and celebrate the win with neighbors and strangers! What a great game! What a great goal! Great for Canadian Hockey!!

Will Computer Engineer Barbie ... Work?

2010-02-25T09:41:00.000-08:00

A colleague sent me the link to this post, Real women engineers reflect on the new high-tech Barbie, on Seattle Blogs. It looks like Mattell has a new line of Barbies. Let's see... there is Babysitter Barbie, News Anchor Barbie, New Born Baby Doctor Barbie, Rock Star Barbie, Dentist Barbie, and Computer Engineer Barbie. Interesting. I wonder if this new marketing technique, aimed at selling more Barbies to girls and collectors, will work? It will be interesting to see which "career" Barbie sells the most, and to who (what do moms buy? what do dads buy? what do little girls want?). My bet is on the News Anchor or Rock Star.

I cannot help but wonder if this meek attempt at social engineering / product placement will work? Is there any hope that a doll with a laptop and a bluetooth headset will inspire girls to consider engineering careers, to buck the norm? McGratton, a software engineer, doesn't think so. In her blog post, Barbie and Me, Emma McGratton plans to ask female engineering students at the Girl Geek conference: "Does the fact that Software Engineering Barbie will soon join the Barbie stable of playmates mean that Software Engineering is now considered an acceptable profession for Barbie loving girly-girls?" McGratton promises to post the findings in an upcoming post.

In a linked blog, Is Barbie Ready for An Engineering Degree?, VP of Product Management, Deb Woods made a few good suggestions on upping the authenticity of this Barbie: "Still not sure that girls need a Barbie with a laptop and a bluetooth headset, but we do need to find creative ways to get girls more interested in technology related fields. Hats off to Mattel for trying a different angle on this one, let’s just get the Barbie doll to look like a ‘normal’ teenage girl though and maybe put an Open Source for Girls t-shirt on her."

Geek Dad made me laugh with one of his five suggestions on how to up the authenticity of Computer Engineer Barbie: "A switch to turn on dark circles under Barbie’s eyes from having worked until 2:00AM three days in a row to get all the bugs fixed before the new release is deployed". Good stuff!!

This new line of career barbies makes me wonder, Why didn't Mattell make the Professor Ken doll? Then I started to look around my campus and realized what he might look like: Wrinkled, rumpled and out of date wardrobe, eighties comb-over hair style, thick spectacles, mainlining coffee, dragging a full sack of books and marking home each night, bags under his eyes, pale skin untouched by the sun, .... NO!! A boy barbie like this would never sell. Bah ha ha ha....

Going Beyond Real Time and Using Real Time Better

2010-02-16T06:55:00.000-08:00

I am a professor in a faculty of education; my specialized area of study and practice is educational technology. Part of the joy I experience in my line of work is figuring out the best role for technology in learning -- how can access to technology help us to imagine and design better learning experiences for students? How can new media and digital tools empower us to design learning experiences that would not be possible without the technology?

In the design of my inquiry and technology seminar for student teachers, I built from the ways that real teachers use technology in promising ways in classrooms with real students. I research the ways that students from kindergarten to high school learn best and better with technology, and the ways that teachers design meaningful, authentic and challenging experiences for students. Based on my own research, and that of many others, I design learning experiences on campus that reflect the work that student teachers will do in their own classrooms with students. I require my students to engage with each other to design and develop projects and appropriate forms of assessment for their students. Student teachers complete the tasks that they design and subject these to peer review and critique.

Educational technologists aim to understand the dynamic connections within, between and beyond the disciplines as they design and study meaningful and innovative learning environments for today's campus. “Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources” (Januszewski and Molenda, 2008). What is the appropriate use of technology for learning on campus? The answer to this question varies depending on the purpose for instruction, the discipline of study, the characteristics of learners, and so on.

Educational technologists know that today's learners have ready and reliable online access to an ever expanding knowledge base and to each other. No longer tethered to the books in their hands, or the lectures by learned professors at 10 am every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, our university students can and do connect with experts, expertise and other learners anywhere in the world. Today’s social networking, augmented reality, enhanced visualization tools and mobile Web 2.0 capabilities have put powerful tools into the hands of every campus student and educator. So, given this new world, it is important to ask why so many professors still require a $100 textbook when students and the professor can access the original research and the researcher directly online? Why do we still see the standard lecture, textbook and test model in most campus classrooms?

Educational researchers understand learning to be an active social process. So, if learning is social, why does the "higher education experience" primarily consist of adult students sitting, listening and watching a professor who works through (or worse, reads) a set of prepared slides in an hour? This kind of "info-delivery" presentation can be done (often better) using a podcast. Why do many professors rely on lecture and multiple-choice exams? Part of the answer is scale - many professors do not know what else to do with 250 - 300 students in a classroom. Most professors have had no formal training as educators beyond their own watch and listen experiences as students. I argue that today’s educational technologies both require and enable us to rethink what face-to-face instruction and what online instruction is "good for" as we re-design and support new ways of blended learning on campus. Professors need support as they chart new territory with educational technology in their campus classrooms.

Educational technologies both enable and require new approaches to learning and assessment that transcend our hierarchical, industrial-based educational models. Educational media empowers us to go beyond the real time lecture three times per week. Let's explore what can happen if we make a few small changes in our "info-delivery" style educational designs. Here is my answer to the question, "if not lectures and tests, then what can I do?"

First, let's replace one of the three lecture time slots each week with some podcast lectures. With the support of an instructional designer and a media specialist, the professor prepares three 20-minute expert podcasts that students can access online and download to their iPod / iPhone. During each podcast, the professor goes beyond the textbook to present key ideas and concepts in the discipline of study. The professor highlights unsolved problems and gaps in the current understanding in the field. Each podcast can be framed by study questions and ill-structured problems that can become part of the learning task in the course.

Second, let's use the two remaining face-to-face times in the classroom for engaged discussion and debate. Most professors love a good debate over ideas and questions in their disciplines. When we invite educational technology into our higher education classrooms, professors have the opportunity to design learning experiences for students in which they engage directly with current disciplinary problems, issues, questions and ideas. So, when we bring 250 students together, let's design group tasks and opportunities for students to communicate, debate and interact with each other and the professor. Real time is best for real interaction, for that give and take discussion and debate over ideas and concepts and latest research findings. Real time is great for modeling the lastest research methods and techniques in our fields of study -- let's podcast the lecture, and use our face-to-face time for what it is good for, and use our educational technologies in a blended model for what the technology is good for -- going beyond real time.

Using online podcasts, both the professor and the students can go beyond real time. Students can download the podcasts on their iPod or iPhone (or other mobile media device), and access the podcasts. What do students gain when they view the expert lecture podcast online or using their mobile device? The podcast offers these "beyond real time" capabilities that extend beyond a face-to-face lecture: Stop Action, Replay, Repeat, Slow motion, Freeze frame, Sharing. Students can listen to the podcast as many times as needed to master the content and understand the key concepts. Students can take the podcast with them on the road -- while they travel to campus, while they work out, and whenever they have time and attention. The students can use the podcast to learn more about the content and bring their questions to class for discussion with their peers and the professor. The professor benefits from expert advice on designing and presenting their content and key messages with the support of instructional designers and media specialists.

When students are required to speak up, share their diverse experiences, draw upon the research in order to participate in a debate with other peers or with the professor, they are ENGAGED in their learning. Educational technologies can help us to give students a good reason to come to campus, to come to class - a reason that goes beyond listening to the professor and preparing for a multiple-choice test. We can use well designed, professional quality podcasts to present expert ideas and ill-structured problems. Students can engage with expert podcasts in ways that make most sense given their learning style and lifestyle. When we bring students together to demonstrate what they know, to ask their questions, to build knowledge with their peers, to create knowledge artifacts and work on group projects, then we are engaging them in real learning, in real time, and with real problems and issues in our dynamic disciplines of study.

So, using a relatively simple technology - podcasts - we can reform the standard lecture and test model. Podcast technology help us to imagine and design better learning experiences for students by making best use of online and face-to-face time. A simple educational technology like a well designed expert podcast, and on-campus interactive discussions, demonstrate how new media and digital tools can empower us to design learning experiences that would not be possible without the technology - going beyond real time.

... and, the Wheels Continue to Fall Off the Global Warming bus...

2010-02-02T11:01:00.000-08:00

From today's Calgary Herald: Wheels fall off global warming hysteria By Lorne Gunter

News of the manipulations, distortions and frauds perpetrated to advance and preserve the environmentalists' cause celebre are so numerous and coming so fast, it's hard to keep up.

From Saturday, Jan 30, on The Clamour of the Times blog, by Professor Philip Stott, Global Warming: the Collapse of a Grand Narrative. Two great parts:

1. These rats are leaving the sinking ship far faster than any politician, many of whom are going to be abandoned, left, still clinging to the masts, as the Good Ship ‘Global Warming’ founders on titanic icebergs in the raging oceans of doubt and delusion.

2. And what can one say about ‘the science’? ‘The ‘science’ is already paying dearly for its abuse of freedom of information, for unacceptable cronyism, for unwonted arrogance, and for the disgraceful misuse of data at every level, from temperature measurements to glaciers to the Amazon rain forest. What is worse, the usurping of the scientific method, and of justified scientific scepticism, by political policies and political propaganda could well damage science sensu lato - never mind just climate science - in the public eye for decades.

And today, Feb 2, on The Clamour of the Times blog: The Truth Will Out:

- Luckily for science, the atmosphere has now altered dramatically. Since December, 2009, since the UEA e-mail revelations, and since the Copenhagen fiasco, the wall has cracked. The Grand Narrative is increasingly losing its hold on the media, and the dam is breaking.

- Thus today, even in The Guardian, bastion of ‘global warming’ ecochondria, we have an exclusive (sic) to expose possible flaws in the ‘science’ of ‘global warming’. The move from the tabloids and the red tops to the ‘heavyweights’ is complete. As I said in an earlier posting, the media, as ever, hunt in a pack, and they tend to fall like nine pins.

The Blogosphere spread the news about unsettling the settled science fast. Still, its good to see that mainstream media is finally publishing the ClimateGate issue as "news".

UPDATE: Here is an article my colleague sent me by Tim Ball, professor emeretus University of Winnipeg, in the Canada Free Press, Jan 29: Andrew Weaver, IPCC Computer Modeler and Political Chameleon. Brief synopsis: Can anyone explain why a computer modeler gets a nobel prize for weather and climate forecasts, I mean scenarios, and a climatology scientist with almost three decades of experience researching climate cannot get a meeting with a politician? It is because Ball didn't cook his data until it was "green" enough?

Hidy and Howdy: the Spirit of the Winter Games Lives on 22 Years Later

2010-01-30T12:03:00.000-08:00

Until recently, the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver has seemed like an abstraction to me. Sure, I bought some Vancouver 2010 mittens for my kids, and my girlfriend gave me some neat post it notes and a great pin. My ambivalent feelings changed to true excitement and anticipation on January 19th, when my husband and I took our children to the Olympic Flame Relay celebration in our city. Both of my children were handed a bright red flag to wave around and there was lots to see. A huge stage was set up with huge televisions on each side, so the view was great from where we were standing. My children were excited by the performance artist who created a painting on the spot that will hang in City Hall, and sang along with some of the musicians. We enjoyed the crisp evening air, the music and the crowds of families, children, teenagers, seniors dressed in volunteer gear from LAST Olympics. Around here, we all know that means the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta held February 13 - 28, 1988.

As I stood there with one child or the other in my arms, I couldn't help but reflect back to the Calgary Winter Olympics in 1988. In January 1988, I started my first term as a university student - it is sometimes hard to believe it was 22 years ago. Wow! Twenty-two years ago I marveled about being on campus, about taking courses and writing countless essays, about spending hours in the library, about being a part of an active learning community. I drank countless delicious coffees from the coffee place that is kinda still operating in Mac Hall. I wish we still had the giant cookies on campus that the old food services used to make - these were oatmeal type cookies full of multigrain stuff and dipped half in chocolate; one of these with a large coffee was heaven! I used to run in the Oval back then, so I could afford one of these bad boys each day and still fit in my jeans. There are days when I still feel like a newbie on campus - usually at the start of every semester, or when I have had a few too many coffees in one day!

Back when I started university in Winter 1988, I was just about finished paying off my first car, and figured I should get into some student debt before buying a home. ;-) Hah! Tuition for my first semester was around $1100 - a bargain by today's tuition hit. I remember enrolling in four classes that were required for admission to the business school: math, math, economics and english. I was excited to open my brand new textbooks and course outlines (this feeling never changed, which probably explains why I eventually became a professor...). Once a week, I would have lunch with my grandfather who was very interested in hearing all about my experiences as a university student.

As a first term university student, it was pretty darn exciting to have the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. I rode the C-Train to campus most days, and it passed right by Olympic Plaza near city hall. From campus you could see the new Ski Jumps, bobsled tracks and luge runs at Paskapoo, I mean Canada Olympic Park. The University of Calgary had a brand new Olympic Oval and several new residences in the athlete's village that would eventually become student housing. One could take a five minute walk from campus to McMahon Stadium where the opening and closing ceremonies were held. Along with my parents and siblings, I watched two hockey games and enjoyed nachos and hot dogs at the still fairly brand new Olympic Saddledome -- since renamed after some petroleum company. The campus was teeming with people from all over the world - after all, athletes and media and coaches from 57 countries were in Calgary for the Games.

I remember wearing a spring weight jacket to campus that February and the media panic about "no snow" and the chinooks - I also remember getting hit by a typical Calgary deep freeze later that February. Campus rumors abounded about sightings of Katerina Witt or Elizabeth Manley practicing their figure skating routines on Oval ice. Everybody seemed to be wearing those corny volunteer snow suits & touques designed by Sun Ice. The new students' union building had 10 fast food outlets and a huge bookstore - a big improvement over old crappy Mac Hall. In the evenings, you could see the Olympic Flame atop the Calgary Tower from all over the city.

So, it was with no small emotion that my family and I welcomed the Olympic Flame into our city in January 2010. My husband and I hoisted a child each up onto our backs or shoulders so that they could see Airdrie's torch bearer and the Olympic Flame. All four of us sang along with the anthem and the songs. Later, we were able to snap a photo of our children with the Olympic Torch that will stay in our city on display. We watched the fireworks from the van as we drove home to get our children tucked into bed. The emotion and reflection caused by this event took me by surprise and filled me with excitement about the upcoming Vancouver Games, and gave me a cherished opportunity to reflect back on my beginnings as a university student 22 years ago the Winter that the Olympics came to Calgary.

ClimateGate & GlacierGate: is the House of Cards tumbling down?

2010-01-28T06:31:00.001-08:00

Climate Agency Going Up in Flames, by Terence Corcoran, National Post

- Andrew Weaver, described as one of Canada's leading climate scientists and mastermind of one of the most sophisticated climate modelling systems on the planet, is calling for replacement of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) leadership and institutional reform.
- Um yeah, Andrew - you might want to tidy up your own claims: "When Climategate broke as a story last November, Mr. Weaver dismissed it as unimportant and appeared in the media with a cockamamie story about how his offices had also been broken into and that the fossil-fuel industry might be responsible for both Climategate and his office break-in".
- Now, GlacierGate, "In the 2007 IPCC report that Mr. Weaver said revealed climate change to be a barrage of intergalactic ballistic missiles, it turns out one of those missiles -- a predicted melting of the Himalayan ice fields by 2035 -- was a fraud".

Scientists in stolen e-mail scandal hid climate data, by Ben Webster and Jonathan Leake, Online Times

- this gem: Details of the breach emerged the day after John Beddington, the Chief Scientific Adviser, warned that there was an urgent need for more honesty about the uncertainty of some predictions.
- "...admissions from scientists that the rate of glacial melt in the Himalayas had been grossly exaggerated".

Stolen emails revealing corruption in peer review process, cockamamie stories of office break-ins, overstated claims on glacial melt in Himalayas...

Build a house of cards on sorta, kinda, maybe science, and it starts swaying, swaying... ooops!
It starts tumbling down.

Humility and Integrity in Science Matters

2010-01-08T05:51:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while, I read a good essay that distills a contentious topic to a few salient points.

"In the battle for public opinion, global warming advocates have until now had the singular advantage of claiming that the bulk of respectable scientific opinion was on their side. If at least some of that scientific opinion is discovered to be not so respectable as all that, then it is not only their specific case that is harmed: it is science itself."

"It is pleasing to lecture global warming advocates, as many have, that “science is never settled,” but it is not quite true. That the earth is round may once have been subject to dispute, but it would be ridiculous to suggest the same today. The issue is not whether scientific questions can ever be settled in principle, but whether the particular thesis of man-made global warming has reached that stage".

"How to distinguish, then, between genuine authority and mere received wisdom? Conversely, how do we tell crankish imperviousness to evidence from legitimate skepticism?"

"Reasonable people can differ, in other words, but so can unreasonable people. Between “the science is settled” and “global warming is a hoax,” the experts and the public must grope their way to a common understanding." Andrew Coyne, 2010

A bar chart look at CO2 Emissions

2010-01-07T10:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I commented on a cheeky political cartoon about C02 emissions from Feb 09. As a graduate student, I was told to read a tiny little 1954 book that has turned out to be an important part of my education as a skeptic: Huff's "How to lie with statistics".

Today, as part of my ongoing campaign to present a range of perspectives on climate change, I comment on two bar charts about C02 emissions.

Turn this bar chart on its side, and it looks like... a hockey stick. Hmmm. Top 12 emitters in 2002? US, China, Russia, Japan, India, Germany, UK, Canada, Italy, France, South Africa, Australia.

CAIT 7.0 offers another perspective on C02 Emissions. On page 3, the top 12 emitters in 2005/6 are summarized - Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Trinidad & Tobago, US, Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Germany. But wait, where is China? Where is Japan?

Depending on the perspective, and the year, and how we look at the data, the "top 12 emitters" change - it depends on whether we are looking at total emissions or by capita. A different picture will emerge if we look at a computer model prediction of who the C02 emitter bad guys will be in 2020...

"Huffy" point to be made - how we collect data matters, how we read and represent and misrepresent data matters, and different visual and numerical representations can offer very different perspectives on an observed phenomena -- like the C02 emissions problem.

Individual efforts towards a greener planet

2010-01-07T08:54:00.000-08:00

I have written a few posts criticizing the lack of meaningful scientific debate and transparency about climate change - indeed, I am concerned that much of the discourse has slid down the slope towards a "global warming monologue". As a journal editor and researcher, it offends and worries me to learn that the peer review and scientific publishing process, not to mention the political and academic debate, has been perverted for what appear to be economic and power / control reasons rather than protecting the planet.

Am I a climate change denier? Um, no, but I am skeptical about what I read and hear.
Am I a greenie eco-activist? Um, no, but I am skeptical about what I am told to buy and do.

I do commit many small green acts.
I do attempt to be responsible about my impact on the planet.
I am raising my children to be aware of the beauty of the world around them and our collective ability to make good choices about our impact on the world.
I believe there are a number of individual / family actions that can contribute to a healthier planet.

Grow a garden - check
Compost green and brown organics - check
Conserve water - check

Ever since my sweetie and I started dating, we have recycled the usual bottles, cans and containers. At our house, we keep a green bucket under the sink for organic waste that gets redirected to our compost pile. Food for worms, I delight in saying to my children - and not just because I am a Shakespeare fan and a bit of a dirt fanatic [I love carting the rich black loam from the bottom of my compost pile around the yard in a wheelbarrow and blessing my garden and shrubs with it - heaven]. This year, I want to install a few rain barrels so we can collect and use the run off in our garden.

Recycle / redirect household waste - check
Walk or bike instead of drive - check (if and when possible)

Each year, my husband and I add one or two new strategies to our households habits in an attempt to be more green and to reduce our carbon footprint. We have four tubs in the back entrance in which we collect cardboard, newspaper / colored paper, plastics, metal, glass, electronics, and returnables (bottles and cans on which we have paid a deposit). Our city has a great recycling program and central depot, and a two bag a week limit for trash. We rarely, if ever, put out more than one bag - even when our kids were in diapers [yes, I recognized the apparent irony].

Our kids love going to the recycling depot. Sort, haul and tip: the kids cheerfully sort #1, 2 and 5 plastics into bins, haul boxes of cardboard to the warehouse where the bobcat operator scoops them away to the crusher, and tip tubs of newspaper into the back of the trailer that hauls them away. There is even a book exchange that is well supplied and regularly used by citizens. Last year, I hauled a few boxes of books to the exchange, and carted a few bags of books to various members of my family; I realize that it is time to cull my book collection again.

Program thermostat to optimize efficiency - check
Redirect or reuse gently used items - check

We donate gently used items to the thrift store, we pass along clothing and household items to family or friends, we take recent magazines to leave at the doctor's office, we sell items of some small value in garage sales or online, and in general, we try to limit what gets sent to the landfill.

We buy less and think carefully about what we do buy. We buy or bake or prepare several items in bulk and create our own lunch / portable snacks in re-usable containers instead of throwing away piles of "convenience" packaging.

Buy locally produced food - check

We visit farmer's markets to buy local produce and sometimes visit the local butcher to buy locally raised protein. We buy local produce and dairy items at the big grocery store - I love that yogurt from Lacombe. We use a blanket or throw on a hoodie rather than ratcheting up the heat in the winter; we change the filter every month on the furnace; we have almost completely switched over to more energy efficient light bulbs, and we shut off the water when brushing our teeth. We hope that each of these small efforts helps to reduce our footprint, and at the very least, balances out the many things that we do that are unhealthy for the planet [drive two vehicles, heat our home, wash our clothes, eat meat, buy apples from New Zealand and tea from China, etc].

At work, I have a personal recycling bin for paper and cardboard, and carry bottles and cans to the hallway bins. I aim to do more of my work electronically rather than printing paper copies and throwing tones of photocopies away. Students have picked up on my garbage picking habits after class when I rescue a juice box, pop can or bottle from the trash and carry it to the recycling bin. I keep a few plants in my office to contribute to air quality and aesthetic pleasure.

My point, in this post, is that each year, we try to do more "good" things, and fewer "bad" things, for the planet; we try to adopt more green strategies and habits to replace wasteful or harmful practices. In the bigger picture, I am an optimist and have observed signs of this greater awareness and commitment to acting greener for the greater good happening in my community, in my city, and yes, even in my country. Can we do more? Sure! There is always more that we can [and probably should] do.

In addition to recycling and making greener choices in the home, individuals can become more involved with the bigger economic, scientific, political and social issues that surround the health of our planet. Much more complicated and intellectually demanding than sorting plastics and paper, it is important that all of us attempt to understand the complex issues that surround concepts like climate change when we think about and act on the health of our planet.

Act locally - check
Increase awareness - check
Engage in the political process and vote - check

The issues are multifaceted and complex and deserve our attention as well as our skepticism as we wind our way towards better choices and solutions for our planet. I attempt to become informed by reading perspectives, calls to action and scientific studies on BOTH sides of the debate; I attempt to make sense of the plethora of information about what people, families, cities and countries in the upper and lower hemispheres can and should do about the health of the planet. I point out inconsistencies and inconvenient truths on my blog for my reader (thanks, Mom!).

As citizens we can choose to make changes in our own homes, to take action in small and large ways at work, and to become more aware of the issues that are being discussed and decided upon in our communities, our province, our country and internationally. We can choose to become engaged in the political process by increasing our understanding of the scope and magnitude of the climate change issues and take action by engaging in the debate, sharing information on both sides, and voting.

The point is that in a country like Canada, we can choose - some people celebrate the civil liberty and take seriously the civic duty to contribute to a greater good. Some people bemoan our individual freedom to choose as irresponsible and want to increase government controls on citizens, cities and countries that force them to do more about climate change and to do it faster [i.e., Copenhagen Summit]. There are others who do not recycle (gasp!), who do not care, or do not even believe there is a problem.

For now, we can still choose. I choose rationale acts of green followed by a healthy dose of skepticism.

Putting CO2 Emissions into Some Perspective

2010-01-06T05:03:00.000-08:00

Political opportunists in Ontario and Quebec have talked a dirty game with regard to Alberta's Oilsands and climate change.

The following Calgary Herald cartoon from February 2009 puts things into perspective. The only 'inconvenient truth' about Canada's CO2 emissions, based on this image, is that Ontario and Quebec's emissions are not included. Even if they were, Canada's overall CO2 contributions are miniscule compared to the US and China.

Debate Over 'Settled Science' May Lead to Common Sense if We Follow the Money

2010-01-04T09:47:00.001-08:00

As I pondered what my first post of 2010 should be about, this article by Barry Cooper arrived in my inbox: "Climategate folly gives common sense a boost". A few great lines from Cooper's article:
- ClimateGate "showed them [climate scientists] to be in the business of suppressing dissent and advising the UN to engage not in evidence-based decision making, but in decision-based evidence-making".
- "Best of all, those "fossil" awards that Alberta won for the amazing oilsands are not, as Globe columnist Jeffrey Simpson said, evidence "of seeing Canada at its worst." No sir! They are badges of honour, emblems of defiance of the moral panic orchestrated by those disgraced climate scientists living in a pink-coloured dream world."

In 2009, I wrote a few posts [here, here, here and here] about ClimateGate - the scandal about scientists fitting their "findings" to the whims of political and social leaders rather than reporting research results as objectively and transparently as possible. I questioned the A-list of consultants our government invited on a tax-payer funded junket to Hopenhagen: "Top Drawer Remarkable Canadians Advise Minister on Climate: Where are the Scientists?". So, it seems fitting to start the new decade off with a new post that gathers a few recent articles about the debate over ClimateGate.

As an Albertan, it is refreshing to read Peter Foster's "common sense" defense of Canada in the Hopenhagen negotiations: "Canada's Galileo Government": "Copenhagen represents the hypocritical in pursuit of the suicidal. There could be nothing better for the citizens of the world — as opposed to power, rent and publicity seekers — than that this toxic process should collapse". And, thank goodness there was no binding agreement coming out of Denmark.

Eastern Canada likes to deflect attention away from their emissions by citing the oil sands as the primary climate villain - however, an inconvenient truth is that the Alberta oil sands are just 4% of Canada's emissions. So, it was refreshing to read Don Martin's column in which he slams Ontario and Quebec politicians-who-behave-badly, and reminds readers of the economic contribution of Alberta to the Nation, "Frosty Front Splits Canada": "The massive buildup of oil sands infrastructure has delivered a cascading series of benefits to all regions of Canada... "

An earlier article, "Global Warming and the 'Settled Science' Baloney" by Claude Sandroff, had this great line: "Settled science is dangerous science." Sandroff critiques the unscientific debate about climate by pointing out who stands to benefit most from "settled science": "Mostly liberal politicians want access to unlimited tax revenues; for scientists and pseudo-scientists, global warming victory is a path to prestige and grants; for large corporations, it's a billion-dollar market (pioneered by Enron) for trading in carbon credits; for the hard left, it's a new path to dictatorial power and control; for venture capitalists like Kleiner Perkins and green startups at the public trough, it's a path to alternative-energy-funding bonanzas; for the radical greens, it's equivalent to the unquestioned adherence to a religious faith with analogs to God (the earth), priests (Al Gore), indulgences (carbon offsets), guilt (western affluence) and penance (conservation)." Follow the money...

Thomas Sowell published this gem in his article, "The Science Mantra": "Factual data are crucial in real science. Einstein himself urged that his own theory of relativity not be accepted until it could be empirically verified... Today, politicized "science" has too big a stake in the global warming hysteria to let the facts speak for themselves and let the chips fall where they may.... " Like Sandroff, he urges readers to follow the money.

Finally, Mark Steyn says it best as he tracks the new "carbon market" in his Maclean's column, "The Emperor's New Carbon Credits": "In 2008, carbon trading worldwide reached $128 billion. That’s why Morgan Stanley and Citigroup are hot for emissions schemes. According to the writer Jo Nova, carbon is on course to become the largest traded commodity—bigger than oil or gas. As she says, it’s the subprime mortgage of the commodities market. Like Al Gore, the world’s first carbon billionaire, it’s testament mainly to a kind of globalized gullibility. In the blink of an eye, the “settled science” of a small number of ideologues was propelled upwards into a “peer-reviewed” “consensus” and then an international fait accompli."

So, one of my wishes for the New Year and New Decade is that this reasoned debate over ClimateGate continues, that we continue to question 'settled science', and that we find our way to some common sense decisions and actions about governance, the economy and climate. To start, I suggest we follow the money -- when we uncover who stands to benefit from widespread panic about climate, we will unsettle the science and therefore improve the debate.

Merry Christmas 2009

2009-12-24T17:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, my mom, my younger child and I dropped off several boxes of food and supplies at the Airdrie Food Bank. It is important to our family to discuss and be aware of wants and needs, and to act on our responsibility as neighbors and citizens to help those in need. At the same time, dropping off food raises a few mixed feelings; while I feel good believing that our small contribution helps a few people in need, it also troubles me that so many people are hungry in our rich nation, in our rich province, in our rich city. When I start to think about the needs world wide, the problem of balancing the wants of the rich with the needs of the poor seem overwhelming, especially when I know that enough food is produced to feed everybody on this planet. So, as we get our children ready for Santa's visit, I am pondering what more our family can do to balance the scales locally, nationally and perhaps even internationally.

My child asks me, "mom, are we rich?". Compared to the majority of people on this planet, I answer "YES". For Christmas Eve, the four of us enjoyed a great family day at home today. After a hearty breakfast, we played with toys, baked some banana bread, mixed and baked a sweet potato casserole for tomorrow, and broke apart the gingerbread house for dessert. We put a few extra presents under the tree that people dropped off. I sewed a few holes in hockey socks while the two kids sewed some designs on some fabric scraps. We wandered over to the store to pick up a few last minute items for tomorrow. We played Yahtzee and video games. My sister dropped over for a visit. The kids and I visited my dad and wished him a Merry Christmas -- we will visit him again before lunch tomorrow. Overall, a great Christmas Eve -- we do not worry about our next meal, heating our home, keeping our bodies and minds healthy, clothing our bodies, educating our minds, staying safe -- we are so very blessed, safe and secure compared to so many in our community, our province, our country, our world who struggle and suffer.

As I reflect on the many blessings that we enjoy as a family, I sent our a wish to everyone for a Blessed and Merry Christmas.

One of the ways that I like to celebrate the birth of Christ is to listen to my favorite Christmas Carol - What Child Is This? There are many different versions - I love it when my husband plays Greensleeves on his guitar.

What child is this who laid to rest
On Mary's lap is sleeping
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
While shepherds watch are keeping

This, this is Christ the King
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing
Haste, haste to bring him laud
The babe, the son of Mary

Why lies he in such mean estate
Where ox and ass are feeding
Good Christian fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading

So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh
Come peasant king to own Him
The King of kings, salvation brings
Let loving hearts enthrone Him

This, this is Christ the King
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing
Haste, haste to bring him laud
The babe, the son of Mary

Skepticism lies at the heart of real science

2009-12-18T05:53:00.000-08:00

Where is the SCIENCE in today's economic-religious-political battle over climate change?

A lead story at CBC: "Climate Summit Hangs in the Balance" - Political leaders will try to break the log-jam at climate talks today. Money, not science, is the biggest variable: "it appears the rift between rich and poor nations appears to be as wide as ever".

Another Lead Story, "Authoritarian Propaganda", James Taranto, Wall Street Journal
"... what is clearest from the University of East Anglia emails is that climate science has become more political than scientific. Researchers have been abusing the scientific process in order to produce support for an ideologically predetermined outcome. And global warmism has strong religious overtones too, as evidenced by this headline in London's left-wing Guardian: "This Is Bigger Than Climate Change. It Is a Battle to Redefine Humanity."

An earlier article by Taranto, "Gore Brushes Aside Evidence of Scientific Misconduct"

From George Monbiot's, "anti-US", Guardian article, "A new movement, most visible in North America and Australia, but now apparent everywhere, demands to trample on the lives of others as if this were a human right. It will not be constrained by taxes, gun laws, regulations, health and safety, especially by environmental restraints. It knows that fossil fuels have granted the universal ape amplification beyond its Palaeolithic dreams... Economic growth is the magic formula which allows our conflicts to remain unresolved." The Nature article that Georgie cites uses data from 1900 - 1920 in its predictive computer model... (BTW, "self-styled climate change expert" George Monbiot has authored an anti-capitalist book, as well as investigative travel books).

IF any kind of deal emerges today it will be a miracle -- IF a deal emerges, it should be a flexible draft that is subject to critical analysis and sharp skepticism by citizens in every country.

Professors Keep Secrets and So Should Our MPs

2009-12-15T07:20:00.000-08:00

Just a brief post today, because I am still doing my marking (and enjoying every minute, let me assure you). ;-)

As one might imagine, professors keep many, many secrets. An important part of teaching is designing great tasks and then assessing the quality of student work. My assessment is a professional judgment based on defensible criteria drawn from established criteria and external standards. While I provide a summative assessment of performance over a semester to a student and to the Faculty of Education, I do not, can not, and must not broadcast my professional assessment of an individual student's performance to anyone else - it is not my secret to tell, and it would be an unforgivable breach of privacy.

So, professors keep secrets. In order to carry out my teaching, research and service work on various committees, I interact with student teachers, graduate students, academic colleagues, school teachers, school principals, school boards, fellow researchers, university administrators, and individuals from across organizational and industrial contexts; I serve on examination committees for masters and doctoral students; I observe students and teachers carrying out the educational work of learning and teaching in classrooms; I serve as an external examiner for tenure and promotion decisions; I blind peer review articles for journals; I peer review research proposals for provincial and national funding agencies; I serve as an expert advisor on various faculty and university committees; I bear witness to excellent teaching in classrooms in schools and on campus, and I also bear witness to many things that can be improved. Therefore, in my role as professor, there are many things that I SEE and DO, but do not TELL, TALK or TWITTER about. Professors keep a lot of secrets, and so they should.

Therefore, I was interested in this newspaper article and the question:
Should elected Members of Parliament have the right to know every secret in Canada?

This question arises in the context of the uproar over how Afghan terrorists were handled by the Canadian Military in 2006. However, the request by one political party for completely unfettered access to any type of information at anytime should worry all Canadian citizens no matter what political stripe they wear.

According to a Liberal back bencher, cited in this CBC story, "the government is obliged to supply to the committee whatever information it requests in the performance of its mandate from the House". Defence Minister Peter MacKay has said the material [about Afghan detainees] needs to be checked by the Justice Department to ensure nothing is disclosed that could pose national security risks. Levant writes that Canada’s laws about state secrets are clear: the Security of Information Act (the successor law to the Official Secrets Act) makes it illegal for a Canadian diplomat, soldier or spy to tell a state secret, even to a curious MP. TWOOPS: the same liberal backbencher calling for open season on state secrets broke the law and was caught TWEETING about confidential house meeting information. So, some MPs could learn a thing or two about keeping secrets.

"Whatever information" a tweeting MP requests, eh? Do I want MPs to have unfettered access to my professional and personal secrets? Do I trust politically charged and rabid back benchers with provincial and federal secrets that may pose a security risk and put Canadian citizens in danger? I have to say, I agree with Levant on this one: "That's nuts". Giving Curious MPs access to state secrets can turn them into "omnipotent snoops, destroying privacy in every field from military affairs to international trade to criminal convictions". That is just too Curious George Orwell for me.

Has the Climate Debate become a Climate Monologue?

2009-12-12T07:32:00.001-08:00

Thanks to my friend John for these links:

Mike Flynn, "UN Security Stops Journalist’s Questions About ClimateGate" I have to wonder, why has UN security been sent in to stop a journalist from questioning a Stanford professor about ClimateGate?

In this video, PJTV Bruce Bawer reports on Copenhagen's climate nonsense, and the "climate political correctness". This isn't Copenhagen its Hopenhagen, more about politics than science.

The number of polar bears has increased.
"Cut the mic!" in, Al Gore and the Death of Journalism, first Gore's inexpert stickhandling about "errors" in the movie that will be shown in schools, the attempt to deflect a debate about polar bears whose numbers are increasing, and then cutting off the journalist's questions entirely. Is this what Al Gore meant when he said "The Debate is Over"? Here is another perspective on the same question and stickhandling about polar bears - "Daring to question Gore".

ClimateGate: Two Canadians Stickhandle Corrupt UK Scientists

2009-12-11T10:41:00.000-08:00

The optics on "ClimateGate" are very, very bad for climate scientists, and for science: One bad apple rots the entire barrel. However, on the up side, the increased scrutiny and fact checking may restore high standards of blind, peer review and bring new integrity to the scientific method and publishing process: Sunshine is the best disinfectant.

From the 13th issue of the 15th Volume of the Weekly Standard, "Scientists Behaving Badly: A corrupt cabal of global warming alarmists are exposed by a massive document leak", by Steven Hayward: "What they reveal is something problematic for the scientific community as a whole, namely, the tendency of scientists to cross the line from being disinterested investigators after the truth to advocates for a preconceived conclusion about the issues at hand." Hayward is clear in that the CRU documents / emails do not in and of themselves reveal that catastrophic climate change scenarios are a hoax or without any foundation. However, the text of over 1000 documents and emails "expose scandalously unprofessional behavior" by trusted paleoclimatology scientists who built their careers on the notion of human caused global warming.

The entire article is worth a read. My favorite part is about "'two mild-mannered Canadians, retired engineer Stephen McIntyre and University of Guelph economist Ross McKitrick, [who, in 2003,] began making noises about serious problems with the by-then iconic hockey stick graph". As a result of McIntyre and McKitrick's persistent questions about the "hockey stick graph depicting rising temperatures", an investigation was conducted by NAS, and part of their conclusion was about sharing data: "Our view is that all research benefits from full and open access to published datasets and that a clear explanation of analytical methods is mandatory. Peers should have access to the information needed to reproduce published results, so that increased confidence in the outcome of the study can be generated inside and outside the scientific community."

More damning than the letters is the shoddy state of the data set that is about to be shared. "the climate policy process contemplates trillions of dollars in costs to economies around the world based partially on this incompetent work".

So, in Hayward's words, there are a "lot of unbiased scientists trying to do important and valuable work" who will be overshadowed and damned along with the rotten apples, the "utterly politicized scientists such as Jones, Mann, and NASA's James Hansen".

"Top Drawer, Remarkable Canadians" advise Minister on Climate - Where are the scientists?

2009-12-10T07:45:00.000-08:00

17 prominent Canadians to advise Environment Minister during Copenhagen Junket - and not a climate scientist among them. And all on the TAXPAYER's dime. Typical. Sorry, I just have to say, what the f**k does the owner of Superstore, Gaylen Weston, know about the SCIENCE of climate change? Here are the rest of the 'consultants':

- Gary Doer, Canada's 23rd ambassador to the United States
- Mike Holmes, Host and creator of the popular television show Holmes on Homes
- Shawn A-in-chut Atleo, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations
- Mary Simon, President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, a national Inuit organization
- David Emerson, former federal liberal cabinet minister, business man, politician
- Nancy Southern, president and CEO of utility giant Atco Ltd., Spruce Meadows
- Galen Weston, the executive chairman of Loblaw Companies Ltd (incl. Superstore)
- Jacques Lamarre, former SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., executive, engineering and construction
- William Lahey, Director of the Dalhousie Health Law Institute (lawyer)
- Elyse Allen, President and CEO of GE Canada
- Charlie Fischer, Former president and CEO of Nexen Inc.
- Daniel Gagnier, Chairman of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, former chair of Alcan, and Chief of Staff to Quebec Premier Jean Charest in 2007
- Linda Hasenfratz (Newton), CEO of Linamar Corp
- Robert Prichard, President and CEO of Metrolinx

At least there are a few researchers & post-secondary leaders on the junket as well:
- Dr. Steve MacLean, President of the Canadian Space Agency, and laser physicist
- Dr. Heather Munroe-Blum, President, vice-chancellor and senior officer of McGill University (professor in Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health)
- Dr. Indira Samarasekera, President of the University of Alberta (metallurgical engineering)

The Honorable Jim Prentice, environment minister, is missing direct input from Canadian CLIMATE SCIENTISTS. At least in the US, they pretend to consult the scientists, says Barbara Oakley, in "Take this paradigm and shove it". There is a saying about patronage politics in Alberta: "Hogs at the trough" (look in comments).

In spite of the few researchers invited along, the optics on this 17 person, tax dollar funded junket of "top drawer" Canadians to Denmark stink. While I enjoy watching Mike on "Holmes on Homes", and the horse jumping at Marg Southern's Spruce Meadows (Nancy's mom), many of these highly paid, CEO consultants should just back away from the climategate buffet.

Let the scientists, the kind Rex Murphy talks about in ClimateGate, who are the "humble servants of the facts of the case", inform the climate science debate.

Take the Macleans.ca "Is Canada Shirking is Responsibilities" poll - You will be surprised by the result. It is likely the only input that TAXPAYERS will have, other than footing the bill for patronage junkets like this one, on issues of climate change.

Rex Murphy on Climategate - Corruption is No Joke At All

2009-12-07T12:32:00.000-08:00

As a researcher, I was interested in this "take" on the role of science in society: "humble servants of the facts of the case". In this overview of "Climategate", Canada's Rex Murphy reminds us that the science on climate change is anything but "settled". A few quotes:

Climate science and global warming advocacy have become so entwined, so meshed into a mutant creature, that separating alarmism from investigation, ideology from science, agenda from empirical study, is well nigh impossible.
Climategate is evidence that the science has gone to bed with advocacy and both have had a very good time.
That the neutrality, openness and absolute disinterest that is the hallmark of all honest scientific endeavour has been abandoned to an atmosphere and dynamic not superior to the partisan caterwauls of a sub-average question period.
The stink of intellectual corruption is overpowering.

According to Murphy, climate science = climate politics, at least in part. Read the emails, Rex challenges the viewer, and you will never look at climate science the same way again.

UPDATE: There is a great article by Mark Steyn in the Dakota Beacon, entitled "Climate science and the peer-review consensus forgery"

A few favorite quotes:
- if you take away one single thing from the leaked documents, it's that the global warm-mongers have wholly corrupted the "peer-review" process.

- Pressuring publishers, firing editors, blacklisting scientists: That's "peer review", climate-style.

- Andrew Revkin... served Mann's words up to impressionable readers of The New York Times and opportunist politicians around the world champing at the bit to inaugurate a vast global regulatory body to confiscate trillions of dollars of your hard-earned wealth in the cause of "saving the planet" from an imaginary crisis concocted by a few dozen thuggish ideologues.

UPDATE: Mark Steyn has written another good essay on climategate in Macleans, entitled "The Science of Global Warming: These leaked documents reveal the greatest scientific scandal of our times—and a tragedy "

Key Points:
1. The Settled Scientists have wholly corrupted the process of “peer review.”
2. The Settled Scientists have refused to comply with Freedom of Information requests by (illegally) deleting relevant documents.
3. The Settled Scientists have attempted to (in the words of one email) “hide the decline”—that’s to say, obscure the awkward fact that “global warming” stopped over a decade ago.
4. The Settled Scientists have tortured the data into compliance with political requirements.

"Science is never “settled,” and certainly not on the basis of predictive models. And any scientist who says it is is no longer a scientist. And the dismissal of “skeptics” throughout the Jones/Mann correspondence is most revealing: a real scientist is always a skeptic."

UPDATE: Editorial in Nature, "Climatologists Under Pressure", aside from the name calling, "denialists", which is unworthy of a scientific publication, one quote stuck out in particular: "global warming is real... human activities are almost certainly the cause". Almost certainly? Is that like "almost pregnant?" For shame. The editor focuses on slandering critics rather than bringing the science to the forefront. For shame in a peer-reviewed publication that toots its horn as the "world's most highly cited interdisciplinary science journal". "Nature" has betrayed its nature.

Free Speech Justice in Alberta

2009-12-05T14:01:00.000-08:00

I have written about the politically correct chill on expressing one's religious beliefs and "certain" political perspectives in the Alberta press here, and here. The following offers a brief update on the outcome of Boission's appeal against the ruling by the Alberta Human Rights Commission:

From Colby Cash: The Boissoin case: Freedom gains a moral victory, Macleans.ca . Specifically, Judge Wilson tossed out the Boissoin human-rights panel ruling. The Judge notes that the Alberta HRC had NO statutory warrant for ANY of the punishments it levied against Boissoin - which included public shaming by apologizing for his views, a cash fine to be given to his accusers, and a restraint on future speech.

From MBrandon8026, Freedom Through Truth site, ...Stephen Boissoin Wins In General: Not a Total Victory But a Reasonable One. Specifically, the application of the provisions by the Panel was not within the acceptable limits of the legislation itself". IOW, the panel went beyond their legal mandate in drafting a punitive set of judgments against Boissoin. MBrandon8026 writes further about the Stephen's LETTER, based on his original post back in September, the LETTER.

Will we see the story "break" in the mainstream media? Will other writers build on the story published by Cash in Macleans.ca? Hmmmm. Let's wait and see.

The bottom line for me is the free speech victory for Boissoin, which is really a free speech victory for all Albertans -- citizens can voice their religious opinions, and even write letters to the papers, citizens can voice dissenting opinions and views, without fear of being shamed, fined and muzzled.

Clearly, it took a team of Real lawyers and Real judges, like those in Court of Queen's Bench, to come to a reasonable and logical interpretation of the legal rights of an Alberta citizen to write a letter to the editor about his views. If we leave important decisions like "who has the right to say what when" to government 'human rights = activist' bureaucrats, such as the former divorce attorney who tendered the decision in the Boissoin case, we are all in deep, deep trouble.

UPDATE: By Mark Steyn, Canadian Lifetime Speech Ban Lifted; Mark quotes from the Judge's ruling: "The direction to cease and desist the publishing of "disparaging remarks about gays and homosexuals' is beyond the power of the Panel. "Disparaging remarks"were not defined by the Panel. But clearly, "disparaging remarks" are remarks much less serious than hateful and contemptuous remarks and are quite lawful to make. They are beyond the power of the Act to regulate and the power of the Province to restrain. (emphasis mine)"

UPDATE: by Ezra Levant, Rev. Stephen Boissoin's conviction overturned; Having fought his own battle against the Alberta 'human rights' commission, Levant knows that the process is the punishment, 'more than seven years later, and Rev. Boissoin has finally been acquitted. Rev. Boissoin had seven years of his life wasted -- seven years in which he bore the stigma of being called, by the state, an illegal "hater". And Rev. Boissoin had to bear the enormous legal costs -- first, of his kangaroo court trial, then of his appeal -- on his own'.

UPDATE: by Deborah Tetley, Calgary Herald, "Judge overturns hate ruling in Red Deer Case: Allows anti-gay remarks", Judge "Wilson ruled Andreachuk made many errors in her ruling and that her order for Boissoin to pay Lund $5,000 and to refrain from making "disparaging remarks" about gays was illegal and unenforceable."

UPDATE: Winnipeg Press, breaking news, "Alberta Judge rules anti-gay letter not hate speech, overturns ruling".

UPDATE: Canadian Constitution Foundation, "Partial victory for free speech in Boissoin court judgment". From a real lawyer, “I am pleased that the Human Rights Panel Order against Reverend Boissoin has been overturned,” stated John Carpay, lawyer and Executive Director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation". And then, chilling: "“In spite of today’s court ruling, Albertans need to continue to exercise extreme caution when speaking about public policy issues, lest they offend someone who then files a human rights complaint. No citizen is safe from being subjected to a taxpayer-funded prosecution for having spoken or written something that a fellow citizen finds offensive,” continued Carpay. (emphasis mine)"

Sitting Ducks and Guardian Angels

2009-12-04T23:16:00.000-08:00

Maybe we were crazy to attempt a trip into the city in blizzard conditions. However, Mom and I do love Stuart Mclean; the last time we attended the Christmas concert was 2007. Ever since my husband gave me tickets in September, Mom and I have been raring to go to the Vinyl Cafe Christmas Concert. Today, Southern Alberta was hit with the second big blizzard in a week. Last Friday, instead of driving 40 minutes North to take our son to a hockey game, we snuggled in at home with a movie. We soon learned that the highway was closed. The next morning, we saw cars in the ditch; there had been several accidents, and one man died.

With prairie determination, Mom and I set off to the city. It took us about an hour to get to the auditorium. We took the secondary highways and experienced a few white-outs and close calls on our way in. Arriving more than an hour early, we rejoiced at the great parking spot near the front doors. Shoulders hunched against the icy wind, we hustled into the Jubilee. We unfolded in the warmth of the lobby, took off our coats and made our way to the bar. As we enjoyed a drink and thawed our feet, an appealing looking man approached us and reached out to shake our hands.

"Thank you for coming to the show", Stuart Mclean said in his trademark, gentle voice, "Especially on an evening like this one." Yes, he has warm hands.

Starstruck, I could barely mumble, "We are really looking forward to your show. Thank you!"

Mom and I grinned and marveled as Stuart Mclean greeted all of the people who were in the lobby an hour or so before his show. What a genuinely classy gesture of goodwill and gratitude from a busy man.

Before the show we had time to spare so we wandered around enjoying an uninterrupted conversation. About ten minutes before show time, we settled into our seats. Five minutes later, Stuart ambled on to the stage, and greeted the audience. He thanked us for braving the trip to see the show, and offered to answer a few questions. A young boy asked Stuart who inspired him to write; another asked him which of his characters he most resembled. W.O. Mitchell and E. B. White and Sam were Stuart's answers, given as part of a delightful introduction and back story. Stuart told us how the show would start and that we were welcome to break into enthusiastic cheering and clapping whenever something moved us.

From beginning to end, Mom and I enjoyed our Stuart Mclean's Christmas Concert excursion. The musicians and singers were great. Jill Barber has a voice and style from the 1940s and 1950s and her singing sent a thrill through the crowd. A young man from New Brunswick, Matt Andersen, is clearly an upcoming Star - his soulful voice is a thing of rare beauty. Of course, Stuart's stories made us laugh out loud and his warm nature and enthusiastic appreciation of the musical artists won us over again. Stuart Mclean's Christmas Concert is a superb way to spark the spirit of the giving season.

The drive home through a prairie blizzard was perilous. It shook us to our boots. Mom and I snaked through the city and made our way to the major highway north. The roads in town were okay and there were fewer than usual cars on the road. As we left the city, the traffic thinned; the road consisted of two narrow sets of double ruts in caked snow. I was able to manage speeds of 50 - 60 km until we hit the construction zone where a major interchange is being built.

After the overpass, it became a whiter, eerier and lonelier trek north. There were only a handful of vehicles and most of these had their hazards on. A few pickups flew past, and the two of us clucked about driving without a brain. We inched north single file; cars traveled at speeds of 30 - 40 Km. Mom and I kept chatting about the road conditions, where the other cars were and the power of the wind as it howled and whipped snow across the highway -- anything to keep our growing unease at bay. "Just keep moving forward," I chanted under my breath.

Just past the mall, we experienced the first of several whiteouts. Thick gobs of snow pelted the van; we could not see far in front or behind. It was hard to tell if we were in the right or the left lane. I hoped we were in the center lane. We slowed right down and tried to follow the tail lights of the vehicle ahead of us. Soon, this vehicle was able to pull away and we were left alone. I slowed right down to 10 Km and then stopped. We were all alone in a howling, whirlwind of snow.

It is terrifying to sit like an exposed duck out on a prairie highway surrounded by a swirling blizzard. All you can hear is the howling power of the icy wind as it rocks your vehicle and seeps in through cracks. So many things can go terribly wrong when you stop on the highway in a blizzard, from running out of gas and having to walk in the wind & snow, to getting hit by another vehicle whose driver is blinded by the snow but kept on moving, or getting out of your car to help someone else and getting hit yourself.

After a few minutes, the windshield was covered in wet, chunky slush balls that the wipers could no longer move. I had to get out of the van to crack the slush chunks off of the windshield wiper blades. As I stepped out of the car, I sank into snow covered grass.

"Okay, we are on the 'left' side of the highway", I thought, oddly relieved to have this little piece of knowledge.

I was only able to dislodge the slushy ice from the left wiper as icy wind whipped through my hair and down my back. It was too cold to be in the bone chilling wind, so I skipped the right. I dove back into the van and tried somewhat successfully to clear the windshield. Luckily, we could see a few headlights from on-coming traffic, and a quick look behind revealed a car approaching us. We waited until the car passed us, and then slid in behind to follow this car like it was a mother duck. Soon, another car was following us, and eventually we made our way slowly into our city like several sopping wet and frozen ducklings.

With city lights and a few cars around, it was much easier to navigate. We wheeled through town, and I dropped Mom off at her house where she had to stork step through 2 foot high drifts up to her front door. I promised to call when I got home, as is our custom.

The 5 minute trip from Mom's to my neighborhood was relatively uneventful, as were the final few blocks towards home. In my eagerness to get to my family, I turned the final corner, looked for my house, and ploughed the van right into a 2 foot snowdrift. I tried forward, reverse, forward, reverse. No go - the tires were covered. I tried to dig the front tires out, but there wasn't much I could do with a windshield scraper. Just as I was ready to leave my hazards on, turn the van off and head home on foot, three fellows showed up with two shovels and big hearts. These men had just dug another car out of a snowdrift.

It took about ten minutes for the four of us to get the van out of the snow drift. One fellow drove my van, and the other two dug out the front tires. A few pushes from the diggers and me, and the fellow drove my van a dozen yards down the street into another small drift. He back up, we caught up to push, and then he drove forward. After a few such forays, the man was able to get the van out of the drifts. He pulled ahead and waited so I could jump in. Then, he drove me home.

I would never have gotten out of the snow drift tonight without the help of these good neighbors. I feel bone deep gratitude for these good samaratins who helped me get the final 200 yards home. Thank you to the three guardian angels who pushed and drove my van out of a snow drift tonight. I appreciate your kind and generous hearts.

Thank you to the other drivers on Deerfoot for using your hazard lights and driving slowly and carefully. Thank you, God, for Stuart Mclean and for seeing my mom and I safely home.

Academically Rigorous Digital Work by the Net-Generation

2009-12-02T12:02:00.001-08:00

A colleague of mine, Mark Bullen, has created a "Net Gen Skeptic" blog that I follow -- his aim is to debunk the myth, largely created by "hire a keynote" speakers like Don Tapscott, that this generation is born "digitally native" and can magically do anything with technology from the time they emerge from the womb. More specifically, Mark and his research team aim "to provide a balanced exploration of research and commentary on generational differences, particularly the net generation discourse and impacts on learning, teaching and the use of technology. Mark's goal is to expose the hype and promote an informed discussion of evidence-based strategies that postsecondary institutions can use to harness the power of Web 2.0 and other learning technologies". Bullen's blog makes a lot of sense by taking a research perspective, an evidence-based view, on the 'net-gen' concept.

While I do believe, based on 16 years of teaching and research in educational technology and a vast research literature that supports this view, that children of all ages CAN and often DO accomplish amazing things with technology, I have also learned that amazing digital work by children usually emerges in response to a rich invitation into meaningful and engaging inquiry - a big question, an enduring idea, an wicked problem to solve. When children do amazing work using digital forms, it usually involves reliable and robust hard/software and networks, and occurs in a strong culture of inquiry, expectation, pressure and support, and is guided by knowledgeable teachers and parents.

In the many classrooms that I visit, teach and conduct research in, kindergarten to university students complete high quality projects, create rich and diverse online portfolios, collaborate and create knowledge online, and stun me with creative and beautiful performances using technology -- I have seen these achievements occur Most Often When (MOW):

Students are asked to do work that is authentic, meaningful and interesting, and gives students an opportunity to express their unique character and diverse strengths;
Students are asked to do work that is academically rigorous, work that is deeply connected to a discipline, or to several disciplines, that represents work that historians, mathematicians, artists, authors, scientists, DO;
Students are connected to experts and rich sources both within and beyond the school, both in person and online;
Students have a role in designing assessments of high quality work and students receive regular feedback on their work, formative assessment is focused on continual improvement, and reviews of their work come from several sources (i.e., teacher, peers, parents, experts in community);
Students use technology appropriately, which means building knowledge more effectively, efficiently or differently with technology, and even better, that the technology enables teachers and learners to do something new, something they cannot do without the technology.

High quality academic work, whether it results in digital or physical artifacts, emerges and evolves within a culture and context of inquiry (i.e., disciplined research and ongoing questions about what is worth knowing), expectation and pressure (i.e., a belief in every child's ability to meet high standards and expectations for the quality and nature of discipline-rich work), and, importantly, support (i.e., from leaders, parents, teachers, peers). So, like other kinds of deep learning, acts of creativity and bursts of imagination, I believe there is a great deal more "in play" than a savvy generation of kids in the same room with a bunch of computers.

For authentic images of the learning and creation that children are capable of when they learn with technology, I encourage you to take a trip through some academically rigorous, inquiry-focused, technology-enhanced projects completed by students and teachers at the Galileo Network's Inquiry Exhibits site: classroom exemplars.

Remembering Nichola and All of Our Canadian Soldiers

2009-11-11T05:26:00.000-08:00

Today we will take our children to the Remembrance Day ceremony in our community. We have taken our children to Remembrance Day ceremonies, or have watched them on television, each year since they were babies. My husband and I believe it is important, it is our duty and our right as Canadians, to remember and honor the many Canadian soldiers and civilians who have given their lives to defend our freedoms and the freedom of people far away.

When I was younger, Remembrance Day brought to mind my grandfather, PJ, who served in France during the Second World War. I also heard stories of a great uncle, a pilot who died serving his country in WW2. As new university student, I used to have lunch with my grandfather every week. From time to time, the door bell would ring, and my grandfather would have a visitor, a wizened old soldier friend who would drop by just to talk. My grandfather was very discrete about what happened overseas during the war -- I wish he had told me more. I suspect there was a great deal that my grandfather did not want to talk about.

As we do each year, today we will tell our children the story of Nichola Goddard, a young Captain and soldier who served her country well in the Afghanistan War. Captain Nichola Goddard of the 1st Regiment of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery was the first Canadian woman to die in the Afghanistan War; she was killed in a grenade attack in the Panjwaii district, west of Kandahar city, on May 17, 2006. My husband and I will share our memories of Nichola's joie de vivre and courageous leadership, of her family, of her wedding to Jason that we attended when I was pregnant with our first son, and the return of her body to Canada.

In Tim Goddard's words, Nichola died too young, but she died doing something she believed was important, something she was good at, something she loved doing, and surrounded by people she enjoyed and respected. Nichola talked about helping the children of Afghanistan, and through her parent's tireless support, a legacy has been started: Light Up Papua New Guinea. Nicola's father Tim has served this country well by reminding the Prime Minister, and those in the military who make such decisions, that Canadian citizens have the right to openly and publicly welcome our dead soldiers home [here][here].

On my way to work yesterday, I was listening to Stuart Maclean's Remembrance Day Concert on my iPod with tears pouring down my face. It wasn't exactly just sadness I was feeling, although I was sad; rather, I was overwhelmed by gratitude, love, compassion, empathy, sympathy for the soldiers and their families -- these emotions literally welled up and overflowed as the bagpipes started playing. I found myself chanting a prayer over and over:

Thank you God for the men and women who fought to protect our freedoms.
Please God, protect those brave and courageous soldiers who still fight for the freedom of those who are oppressed.

We will pause and stand in silence before, during and after the 11th minute, of the 11th hour, of the 11th day, and remember.

Pink Technology is a Dumb Idea

2009-11-10T08:30:00.001-08:00

For my 65th blog post, I choose to reflect upon my mixed relationship with the color pink.

Pink Ribbons
I like pink ribbons. Not to wear, per se, although these are fine for baby people or animals. My affinity for pink ribbons comes from the connection with breast cancer and research. My mom, an aunt, a good friend, a doctoral student -- fortunately, I know women who have had this dreaded cancer who have survived. Still, my aunt died of breast cancer at the age of 42. To me, a pink ribbon symbolizes a woman's triumph over breast cancer, or her death from it -- pink ribbons bring to mind both hope and remembrance. At the same time, I am troubled by the feeling that I am a pawn in a much larger, more crass marketing pitch when I buy my pink daytimer and pens, and see rows of pink ribbon candies, &candles, &t-shirts, &slippers, &pyjamas, &coffee mugs, &bbq lighters, &kleenex, &key chains, &gardening tools at the store. So, while I am touched by the symbolism of pink ribbons, I can also appreciate Samantha King's important critique of 'pink ribbon politics' in her book, "Pink Ribbons, Inc".

On wearing pink
For most of my adult life, I cheerfully avoided pink - perhaps this is an unexamined, and deeply buried throwback to my mother's despair over the many, many holes in my white leotards as a girl. Eventually, she stopped putting me in dresses. In the past 7 years, though, I have gradually added more pink items to my wardrobe. Rather than expressing a particular affinity for the color itself, I believe I have gravitated towards pink because of the increased number of boys in my family. Allow me to explain...

I am a tomboy. Lucky for me, I had a father who nurtured my interests and believed girls could and should do anything. I learned to ice skate before I started school, and received a leather ball glove for my 7th birthday. While I was growing up, my father taught me how to use the tools in his well stocked, carpenter's garage. Since before kindergarten, I have sawed wood, hammered nails, turned screws and glued bits of wood together for fun. I took automotives in high school, and for a time I believed I would become a mechanic. Dad gave me a Craftsman Toolchest when I got accepted into the auto mechanics program at the local technology institute. It was a significant milestone to be trusted to back the crew cab into the garage - I still love backing up using my side mirrors, though now I drive a mini-van. Even though my path did not end up in mechanics, I still have that rolling, red toolchest in my garage, and it is full of tools. I still feel a familiar and certain satisfaction when working with tools and materials, building things, fixing things, hanging up Christmas lights, painting fences, and so on. Dad praised me plucking feathers from the ducks he shot; I enjoyed helping him eat the ducks while my sister and mom cringed. I had an N-scale train, and set up a tiny track inside of the H-scale train that my dad built. While I had long, blond ponytails and attended brownies and girl guides with dozens of female friends, I also loved playing soccer and kick-the-can with the boys at recess and after school. Snapshots from my tomboy childhood are in black and grey, but definitely not pink. Baseball uniforms, snow pants and sturdy clothes suitable for crawling around in the garage and the garden are on the darker end of the spectrum. My mother dressed me in colors that were easy to clean.

Long after working in hospitality, going to university, becoming a teacher, completing graduate school in educational technology, and several years after becoming a professor, the tomboy became a mother to two boys. While I was pregnant, I wore my first pink since babyhood - it was a maternity blouse I inherited from my sister. Once my first son was born, I gradually started to react to the higher levels of testosterone in my home. After my second son was born, I was clearly outnumbered. Rather than becoming overwhelmed by the testosterone, I like to joke that I started to wear pink as a defense mechanism! As the boys grow and do more boy-like things, and become more shaped by the gender discourse on the playground, I feel the need to remind all three of my boys that girls can do anything, and they can sometimes do it better. And, I am not joking. Both of my children play stick sports on ice, and both are on mixed teams, and have a mixed set of coaches - still, it is an uphill battle to counter-act the stereotypes that exist on the bench and in the change room.

Pink Technology is Dumb
As part of my exploration of pink, the tomboy in me takes issue with the "pink technology" marketing ploys targeted at women (and children, come on... what is with a Barbie computer??). Pink DS, Pink CD players, Pink iPhones are just plain dumb and devoid of any reference to relevant research, a sampling of which can be found here (1998) and here (2009). Read this neat "anti-pink-tech" post by Belinda Palmer: Technology: Is it different for girls? My favorite quote, "Technology brands must put an end to these clumsy marketing strategies and put money and time behind understanding how real women in the real world engage with technology. Women are no longer the second sex. We are the more profitable sex."

I rely on technology as part of my professional and academic life: a cell phone, an iPod, a laptop for travel, a work desktop and a home desktop and wireless network. At home, four people share three computers, six gaming systems, multiple sound systems and DVD players, and three televisions. Although I have ovaries, and have recently enjoyed wearing more pink, I would NEVER buy or carry around a pink computer. The companies that Belinda Palmer refers to will never get a dollar from me. I suspect that many professional women, who have money to spend on technology, have earned their salaries by competing with men; a good number of these accomplished women are not going to be wooed by pink when they buy their tools of the trade - they will look for function over form.

I am a female academic working on a campus with a 65 to 35 male to female ratio in the professoriate. While I have chosen a pink theme for my blog, and enjoy throwing on a pink scarf from time to time, I would never open a pink laptop in a meeting with my education, engineering or medicine colleagues. It would simply feel ODD. Part of me would wonder whether the male professors perceived the "pink computer" as a sign of female superficiality, or weakness (hapless female who needs protection); Worse, pink might convey a lack of academic and research rigor, a lack of seriousness or commitment, a frivolousness not welcome in the hallowed halls of academia. Nope, the tomboy in me thinks tools -- function over form -- and I believe it is much better to stick with straight-forward stainless steel, macbook white, dell-black. My one concession to form is the green case on my mac laptop (meant to convey my higher consciousness about the state of our ecosystem... Not! It is just my favorite color).

Pink History / Herstory
I am not a gender scholar, feminine theorist or history researcher. However, as a final inquiry into pink, I hunted around a bit and found this interesting little tidbit in google answers: it appears that the feminine association with pink, that has been a heretofore unacknowledged and deeply buried theme in this tomboy's life, is in fact a multi-layered and has an interesting history, part of which is that pink used to be for boys and blue for girls. So, even with pink, there are many shades of grey.

Doing our part to train the next generation of consumers

2009-11-06T07:26:00.000-08:00

As I was slapping together three "teddy bear" peanut butter and "squeeze jam" "smart bread" sandwiches this morning, I reflected on how the media has influenced our children's diet. It used to be that in response to the KFC commercial where the mom heroically brings a bucket of dinner home, I would chirp sarcastically to my husband, "Yeah, right -- there is a 'good' mom". Back when we had one baby drinking breast milk, I swore my kids would not grow up on KD and hot dogs; we planned to feed our children a healthy and wholesome diet. Now my kids know "Taco Tuesday" and "Toonie Tuesdays" might mean greasy take-out before hockey practice. Yum! My kids love pizza, mac and cheese, and hot dogs. Thankfully, my children will also eat cooked and raw veggies, massive loads of fruit, whole wheat everything, and a range of meats and proteins. They also ask for sugar coated, marshmallow infused breakfast cereal that a manic leprechaun sells on TV, along with other amazing items.

"Mom, buy that kind of shampoo, it will make your hair thick and shiny" said my 4.5 year old as we cruised the aisle.

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"Mooooom, its on TV" he sighed, as if I was the most clueless parent on the planet.

In the next aisle, my oldest son gets excited and points to a certain box of cereal with a tiger on it, "Mom, get that one... it tastes GRrrrrrreat!!".

While sitting with my children watching some television, I listen as my son mimics the announcer who is demonstrating a food chopper: "Time for a handheld breakfast, just start with your boiled egg, one chop, and then add a pickle and ham. ... You are going to like my nuts...".

Both of my children sing along with several commercials for junk food and know the jingles for a range of items we would never consider buying. Should I be worried when they chant the themes for cartoons on Treehouse and RetroTunes? When they list the toys they can get with a happy meal at McDs or Burger Thing? I do worry that our children's TV exposure to market savvy media, along with the "what have you got?" school competition at recess and lunch, and our own desire to make them happy, have slowly affected some of our healthy household buying habits at the grocery store.

As I pop the PBJ into the SpongeBob and Lightening McQueen tupperware containers, I take a big bite of my own sandwich and wash it down with my double milk Tim Horton's coffee, and wonder whether this is an issue to spend much more time worrying about.

On being a Canadian and a Hockey Mom

2009-11-01T04:49:00.000-08:00

I wonder, as I drink my first coffee of November before 6 am, how many of my colleagues in the professoriate are also awake and getting ready for a 6:45 hockey game? Maybe a handful. I also wonder how many got to go trick or treating with a super hero, a rock star and a hippie last night? Perhaps a very lucky few.

Truly, I find myself humming the "I am Canadian" song and thinking of a Tim Horton's commercial (the one with the dad and his dad sharing a coffee at hockey) as I get the two of us ready to drive to the arena:

I know this place is where I am,
No other place is better then.
No matter where I go I am,
Proud to be Canadian!

Envy me all you like - I totally get it.
Pity me and you just don't get it.

A few thoughts about the ethical, economic and political crisis on campus

2009-10-29T11:53:00.000-07:00

It is great to be remembered as someone who looks on the bright side of things. My teacher's heart sings when I learn that I have had some positive impact, however small, on a past student, especially one I remember fondly. I try to live by the principle that we need not borrow worry from tomorrow because we have enough to deal with today. "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" Matthew 6:34. I resist the hoarding and protectionism and hallway politics that seems to afflict some of my colleagues because I am a living example of there being "more that enough work to go around".

These days, I do find it harder to keep worry at bay. We said goodbye to another dozen support staff last week -- it was an incredible blow to the Faculty of Education, to people who have contributed to the life and soul of this faculty, and these departures have left a gaping pit of sadness and no end of stunned questions in the hallways. It is hard to swallow this loss, and see a bright side to things, when veteran staff are being escorted off of a campus still reeling from a 4.5 million dollar handshake for the CEO.

However, while it feels like the self-imposed, rose-colored glasses have been ripped from my eyes, I do still believe the problems which plague this campus are complex and multifaceted, go beyond any one individual, and that much of the needed information or rationale (if one exists) for such decisions is hidden from line faculty and support staff. I do believe that campus will continue to founder until greater transparency is achieved and faculty are re-engaged in a democratic, collegial and trustworthy governance structure. I believe that I work with some of the brightest minds in higher education and that we can find a way to steer this faculty and this campus in the right direction.

It would be great to have a crystal ball, but unfortunately we do not; there are those in power who are committed to staying in power, and the Academy is not immune to careerists and power players who seriously muck things up. Therefore, I do not swallow Becker's claim that "there would have been a real chance to prevent this perversion of the Academy and change things 6 or 7 years ago when it became clear to some of us what the Pres. had planned". I sincerely doubt this sweeping claim is true. Who is "some of us" and how & what did they know? Who knew what, when, and who did they tell? Where is the proof? The "UofC = bad" and the "MRU = good" claim rings a little false to me.

A sprawling campus of 16 faculties and thousands of faculty and support staff and ~30,000 students is an extremely complex organization that is subject to many social, political, economic and academic influences from both without and within. I cannot help but think that known and unknown events and factors in the last 6 - 7 years have contributed to the current crisis and lack of meaningful engagement of faculty in campus governance; it can hardly be summed up in the nefarious works and plans of one man. We may have a new president in January; at the very least, the present prez will be gone. Who knows what the future holds for the Academy; I am fairly confident that whoever takes on the presidency will have a hell of a difficult job to do.

I keep hoping that the devastating changes across campus and within my own faculty will provide the opportunity for positive improvements, for needed changes, and for re-engagement in faculty and campus governance. I know that I am re-engaged and aim to serve my faculty well as major decisions get made about our future.

This one is for Becker: "When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us." - Alexander Graham Bell. I continue to be proud of your achievements at your new campus and hope for your continued success.

Finding the appropriate blend of online and oncampus

2009-10-26T07:42:00.000-07:00

I am at the "The Future of Online and Blended Learning: Strategy, Policy, and Practice Conference" in Vancouver, BC. Today, I will present my ideas about the design of the UCalgary Online Doctorate in Educational Technology, as part of an expert panel that includes Arshad Ahmed from ConcordiaU, Jim Greer from USask, and Karen Swan from UIllinois.

A talk that stood out for me yesterday was presented by my friend, Mark Brown, from Massey University in New Zealand. The title of Mark's talk, Finding Your Own Blend: An Online Scenario for Conversations about Learning Design, gives you an idea of what he talked about. Mark talked about the need to invest in new hi-tech forms of professional learning that challenge traditional ways of teaching to support teachers who are making the transition from stand and deliver to interactive forms of online learning. Mark demonstrated a web-delivered problem-based scenario that was designed for use in either a stand-alone online module or face-to-face professional development workshop on how to design a blended course for distance delivery. He described the early design and development of SBL along with the iterative process of authoring the scenario in the e-tool SBL Interactive.

Key ideas I jotted down from Mark's talk include: 1) we need to add value for learners for any adoption of any educational technology; 2) two key principles to consider in learning design - understand student's needs, and define what you want students to learn; 3) the right blend of online and oncampus is still a vexing question, 90/10 might be right, and also 10/90 - context vital to correct blend.

More on PFLi and the eCDF at http://pbl.massey.ac.nz

Safe Air Travel With A Fracture

2009-10-20T15:14:00.001-07:00

I have to fly from one end of Canada to another next week (i.e., from Vancouver to Halifax). I have a broken wrist. Should I be worried? Normally, I would think nothing of flying with a broken wing. However, in 2008, I lost a dear colleague who flew back to Canada from New Zealand after breaking his leg. His death was completely unexpected. I believe the cause of death was attributed to Deep Venous Thrombosis (a Blood Clot) in the leg; clots in the legs are not serious in themselves, unless they break off and travel to the lungs (called pulmonary embolism) causing chest pain and shortness of breath, and can be life threatening.

So, I tracked down a bit of information on the Aerospace Medical Association's website.
From their extensive document called, "MEDICAL GUIDELINES FOR AIRLINE PASSENGERS" published in 2002:

Fractures: Most passengers with treated fractures can travel safely by air. The only potential problem is swelling of the tissues under the cast that can occur due to a decrease in barometric pressure at altitude. This could interfere with healing and cause pain. In general, the risk of swelling is greatest the first 72 hours after the cast is set. It is, therefore, advisable to wait 3 days before traveling. However, if this is not possible, your physician can fix the cast in such a way that it can be loosened (by splitting it along the sides and wrapping with an elastic bandage—called bivalving), if necessary. A bivalved cast will probably have to be replaced at the destination.

Okay, then -- given that my cast will have been on for 5 days, I should be A-OK. I hope.

Girlprof hits the ice

2009-10-19T07:45:00.000-07:00

Quite literally, I hit the ice hard yesterday while skating with my family. It is a normal Canadian family activity - ice skating together, at the rink or on the pond behind our house. Both of my children are in stick sports, hockey and ringette, and get a few hours of ice time each week. Recently, I somehow ended up assistant coach for my youngest child's team when I mentioned in passing that I was willing to help out on the ice. So, our family has decided to slip another hour or two of skating in each weekend so that mom and dad can get back in fit skating form.

After helping the two kids get their skates and helmets on, I tied on my hockey skates. I really enjoy skating around with my husband and two children; even though my oldest laps me and wins when we race around the perimeter. Not for long!! I chuckle inwardly as the kid wins again... Just you wait, I will catch up!! Then, while executing an elegant stop maneuver while skating backwards (i.e., try to imagine a giraffe on ice skates), my center of gravity shifts and I try to use my picks to stop - Oh No! Too late, I remember I am wearing hockey skates - unlike figure skates, these have no picks on the front of the blade. Down, down, down I go. I reflexively put out my right hand to break my fall. I think I may have broken my wrist. My right wrist. I am right handed. Last night I found that advil & tylenol do little to stop the ache of a damaged wrist.

This morning I showered with a bag over my hand. Right handers: have you ever tried to wash your hair or brush your teeth with your left hand? It never occurred to me how much I relied upon my right hand to do things until I had to wrap it in a tensor bandage and cradle it carefully to prevent jolts of blinding pain. Eating cereal, trying to drink coffee while driving, answering my cell phone -- all new adventures in managing to get through the day! Off to the doctor after a few meetings on campus. I will let you know if I get a spanky new cast.

UPDATE: After a few hours of waiting, I got to see a doctor and have an x-ray. The verdict? Broken scaphoid. Who knew there were eight little bones in the wrist and it was the most complex joint in the body (an ellipsoidal joint that allows all type of movement except pivotal)? I now sport a stylish new cast in my favorite color on my right ellipsoidal joint. I need to wear the cast for a few weeks. Both kids and hubby signed it with love. No more skating for girlprof for a while.

Nothing should be beyond speaking about

2009-10-16T13:06:00.000-07:00

Mark Steyn describes how the liberal leader has been curiously silent on the issue of free speech, and has apparently given up his principles while in power. Iggy: "the right to freedom of speech is the precondition for having any other rights at all". In the title of this post, I am quoting Mark Steyn, who is quoting Michael Ignatieff in his latest Maclean's column: "Thinking about the old Ignatieff Speaking of free speech, Steyn speculates about what the Liberal leader can’t say now".

CBC Online: "Writers call for probe into human rights commission" - a story about the Oct 6th Justice Committee Hearing on Section 13 and the views expressed by Levant and Steyn. More here, in Steyn's Poor Jenny blog post. Earlier this year, in a Maclean's Editorial, "Human rights commissions, as they are evolving, are an attack on our fundamental freedoms and the basic existence of a democratic society,” Stephen Harper said in a 1999 interview with Terry O’Neill of BC Report newsmagazine.“ It is in fact totalitarianism. I find this is very scary stuff.” He went on to complain about the “bastardization” of the entire concept of rights in modern society.

Left and right views on the issue of Free Speech and how politicians appear to voluntarily give up this right - perhaps this explains both the Left and Right's non-action on the corrupt Human Rights Commission.

Eastern Bums and Creeps Raise Crime Rates: Klein Was Right

2009-10-08T05:51:00.000-07:00

I have been at the University of Calgary for over 20 years. As provincial funding shrinks, and as central admin "redirects" funding to choice programs on campus, I have watched the gap between spending and income in my own Faculty yawn wider each year. I have written about the budget woes in my own Faculty, and the need for positive changes in Faculty coffers. Lest you think the spending problem is in our faculty -- let me correct your view: our current shortfalls are brought about by the budget two-step across campus. Even though there have been signs of administrative corruption, evidence of a recent crime committed at the University of Calgary by our own president leaves me stunned. While I am being expected to buy my own paper and toner, take on more teaching and graduate students, to seek out new research funding, I learn that our CEO rigged a multi-million dollar golden handshake to line his personal coffers. I am dismayed, outraged and disgusted by the current revelation that our outgoing CEO, formerly of McMaster University in Ontario, who is quitting early, is taking a cool 4.5 million in pension when he abandons this sinking ship. Yep, I am calling him a rat.

I have lived in Alberta my entire life; I am aware of some of the stereotypes associated with my dear province (i.e., rednecks). It is true that our former Premier, Ralph Klein, was known for his colorful language. In fact, many in the East liked to hold their noses and poke fun at our colorful Premier. However, in the case of this Easterner, I am inclined to believe Klein was right when, as mayor in 1982, he told the bums and creeps to stay home. Klein, or someone like him, should have told the imported Robber from McMaster to stay home. Instead, in the last 8 years, the University of Calgary, and the province of Alberta, has been HAD by this creep and bum from the east -- and we do not like it.

In an internal document this week, TUCFA's President weighs in by calling for an immediate forensic audit of the finances of the University of Calgary. One juicy quote: "the widespread belief is that there are all sorts of undisclosed expenditures hidden within the budget – slush funds to support the pet projects of the powerful few within the University administration – while the core programs are left to wither through continuous erosion of funding". In my faculty alone, we have lost over 10 professors and instructors, and several support staff -- and we have been told there will be NO HIRING for the next five years. Thanks, Rat - you have done a great deal to cement the view that many in the East regard Alberta as a ripe plum to be plucked.

More on Eastern Harvey's 4.5 million heist here: Cooper, Pension plan all the buzz on campus . I agree, Barry - the optics stink.

Swinefeld and Thorny Medical Ethics Issues In H1N1 Pandemic

2009-10-05T11:04:00.000-07:00

Every year I get a flu shot. As a professor, I work in a very public and populated organization - on campus, I come in contact with colleagues, staff and students. In my work in schools, I come in contact with hundreds of teachers and thousands of children of all ages. My husband and I are parents to two school age children who also play organized sports. So, my family is in regular contact with a great many people, from whom we could get a bug and to whom we could spread a bug. Each year, my whole family has gotten flu shots. This year, however, the decision to vaccinate, or not to vaccinate against seasonal flu is complicated by the onset of swineflu / H1N1 and the fear of a pandemic.

I have been doing a bit of reading and research about the current flu vaccination programs and policies. In Canada, while the seasonal flu vaccine will be administered to seniors and to people in long-term care facilities, most people are being advised to wait for the H1N1 flu vaccine, rather than getting two flu shots. The World Health Organization, the Public Health Agency of the Canadian Government, our Alberta Government, even my own campus has an emergency plan for Swine Flu. Government and Public institutions are warning their constituents about the swineflu / H1N1 season and how to try to protect themselves. So, why hesitate? As a good mother, as a responsible public professional, why would I even think about skipping the H1N1 flu shot?

What complicates my decision about automatically getting the swine flu vaccine for me and my family is what I have learned from one Canadian doctor, who suggests that the current panic about a swineflu pandemic is much ado about nothing and more about profits for pharmaceuticals and researchers, from another team of Canadian ethicists who ponder whether the government should mandate vaccinations, and a news source that identifies potential safety risks with the H1N1 flu vaccine - see the CTV News FAQ site on Swine Flu.

On Sept 19th "Swinefeld" episode of White Coat, Black Art on CBC, Dr. Brian Goldman talked about the thorny economic and ethical issues to do with the global pandemic of swine flu (also known as H1N1). Here is part of the tagline: "We've heard a LOT about the global pandemic of swine flu in recent months. Experts are predicting a deadly second wave of the illness this fall. Accordingly, Canadian health officials are scrambling to put plans in place to handle the expected health crisis. It's costing us millions and millions of dollars. But not everyone believes it's necessary. This week, we ask the question: could this be a pandemic about nothing?". Goldman suggests that there are a host of ethical and moral issues to do with pharmaceutical companies (who stand to benefit from widespread vaccination policies) pushing the pandemic panic button, and government (who has to be seen to be doing something) investment of millions of public dollars into a possible swineflu pandemic. Subsequently, on the WCBA blog: handwashing hogwash (Goldman suggested that getting people to cough into their sleeve to stop H1N1 transmission was a bit like asking school kids to "duck and cover" to save themselves from a nuclear blast).

After listening to Goldman's "Swinefeld" episode, and reviewing the CTV News site, I wondered if getting the H1N1 vaccine for my family was (1) worth the effort, or even (2) safe. Like any concerned parent, I want to do what is best for my children; as a professor, I have been vaccinated for seasonal flu each year. However, as an educated consumer, I wonder if I am being sucked into the fear flu factor by savvy pharmaceutical companies at the risk of safety - Canada / GlaxoSmithKline is using an adjuvant as part of its H1N1 vaccine regimen; adjuvants are chemical additives used in some vaccines to ramp up the response the immune system generates to a vaccine (GSK, Canada's pandemic vaccine manufacturer, has said its vaccine will contain its own proprietary adjuvant system, called AS03). So, serious questions arise about the "rush to approve" and the safety of the adjuvant-H1N1 vaccine for mid-November release.

A brand new Science Daily report, published Oct 4th, entitled "Medical Ethics Experts Identify, Address Key Issues In H1N1 Pandemic", summarizes key issues from nine papers published by the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics. Topics include duty of health care workers to work during a serious flu pandemic; government restrictions on individual freedoms and privacy and their responsibilities administering vaccination programs; how to allocate limited medical resources; and the obligation of rich countries to share such resources with those less fortunate. The report cites findings from the UofT Joint Centre for Bioethics telephone survey of the views of 500 Canadians and nearly 100 more via a series of town hall meetings, using seven topic headings: Duty to care, Priority setting, H1N1 vaccinations, Restrictive measures, Global issues, Risk communication and Vulnerability. One comment in particular caught my eye, "Coercion in vaccination policy could range from aggressive marketing campaigns, to introducing policies that exclude unvaccinated individuals, to introducing mandatory vaccination". Just wondering, would the aggressive marketing campaign to vaccinate be paid for by the pharmaceuticals (who stand to benefit financially) or government? Interesting "quick fact" from the GlaxoSmithKline website on fluvirals: "GlaxoSmithKline is the leading Canadian influenza vaccine manufacturer and will supply the majority of the Canadian government’s seasonal influenza vaccine purchases from 2005-2011."

Finally, there is ample descriptive media on what to do about Swine Flu / H1N1 (CTV for parents), and who should vaccinate: PBS here, CTV here and here, and CTV MedNews (for more, do a google search on swine flu latest news), and also a whole host of other media here, (GSK) here and here.

I will need to make an H1N1 vaccination decision for me and with my family in the next month - some estimates suggest the vaccine will become widely available in mid-November. From the CTV site: "There are still questions about whether everyone will want to be vaccinated. Keep in mind that H1N1 causes only mild flu in most people; in fact, some Canadians may have already been immunized through natural exposure to H1N1 during the spring's "first wave". Determining who has been exposed already is a scientific challenge at this time. Others might choose to wait until vaccine manufacturers gather more safety and effectiveness data".

Is the H1N1 flu vaccine safe? Is it even necessary? I am reading all that I can to make this important decision for me and with my family.

Free Speech Curtailed for the Sake of a Pluralistic Society

2009-10-02T13:47:00.000-07:00

When I opened up the latest SAFS newsletter, I ran across a reprint of Jonathan Turley's column in the Washington Post, April 12, 2009: "The Free World Bars Free Speech". Aside from learning about Dutch, Italian, British and Indian cases of repressing speech, a most chilling quote hit close to home: "History has shown that once governments begin to police speech, they find ever more of it to combat. Countries such as Canada, England and France have prosecuted speakers and journalists for criticizing homosexuals and other groups. It's the ultimate irony: free speech curtailed for the sake of a pluralistic society". It is well worth reading Turley's entire column. Turley is a law professor at George Washington University. More about SAFS involvement in current Academic Freedom issues / cases in Canada here - the ongoing discourse is archived online.

Canadian Human Rights Commission Appeals Recent Ruling

2009-10-02T05:09:00.000-07:00

Debate over the role of Canadian Human Rights commissions continues to heat up. I have written about the tensions between online free speechers, citizen bloggers and journalists, and advocates of the human rights industry, and try to follow the debate over the impact of the Canadian Human Rights Commission on freedom of speech and expression. Turns out, The Canadian "Human Rights" Commission has decided to appeal the Warman versus Lemire decision of Sept 2.

A few other developments:

1. Mark Steyn is going to Ottawa: The House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights will be considering Section 13 on Monday afternoon, October 5th.

2. Macleans column by Mark Steyn, "The case for the seeing-eye horse" in which he writes, "tyranny is always whimsical" in further study of the complaints reviewed by Human Rights commissions.

3. UofC's Barry Cooper has recently published a report on "Canada’s “Schauprozess”—Show Trials" in the Frontier Center Policy Series [Nice review of report here by Kathy S]

4. Brian Lilley on why "Harper Won't Touch the human rights commissions" and why we should actively question each MPs and Party leader's stance on the CHRCs.

It will be interesting to follow this appeal, the standing committee's deliberations on Mon, Oct 5th and the vigorous debate in the blogosphere.

Words Worth Repeating and Remembering

2009-09-29T14:03:00.000-07:00

I love Alberta. Here, I am surrounded by a diverse and rich ecosystem: the Rocky Mountains and snow, the prairies, hills and valleys and crops, the deserts and dinosaurs, the northern forests and lakes, flora and fauna painted overhead by the aurora borealis.

While I love traveling across Canada and around the world, I can honestly say, much to the chagrin of my wonderful Maritime-born husband, that I never want to live anywhere else. I was born approximately two hours southeast of Calgary; I have lived in Alberta my whole life. Generations of my family have worked the land, built and taught in the schools and worked on the oil rigs. One grandmother started a kindergarten in her basement when the town needed one; another grandmother taught elementary school all week and played golf in the scrub on weekends. My great-uncle raised sheep in the southern desert, and another uncle raised cattle and grew grain in the center. Cousins have worked the rigs, uncles have built hundreds of homes and office buildings, and aunts have nursed the sick in Alberta hospitals.

I guess you could say I am "dug in" because my roots are in Alberta. I have lived in or close to Calgary almost as long as the University of Calgary has been a University. I was schooled in Alberta, I went to University in Alberta, I work in Alberta, and I am bringing up my children in Alberta. I will probably die here (my sisters and I have talked about having our ashes spread at the foot of the Three Sisters Mountains near Canmore).

Why the focus on Alberta? Or me, for that matter? Well, it IS my blog... Really, though. I am currently reading Catherine Ford's book, "Against the Grain: An Irreverent View of Alberta". I picked this book up after attending Ford's talk at a conference in Banff. "Against the Grain" captures the spirit and complexities of the hard working settlers who carved homes and livelihoods out of the prairie, the ranchers whose cattle and lifestyle both complemented and competed with the land, and the oil and gas and coal barons who mined the riches beneath the land. On her tour through several cities and towns, Ford explores the complex tensions that characterize Alberta's social, political, economic and cultural heritage and present day life and landscape in the province.

Ford's book about Alberta is a "personal story, filled with the love and hope and anger of any intimate relationship" (p. 11). She describes Alberta as "a complex province, still young and growing, still not sure what it wants to be when it grows up" (p. 11). I love Albertans - while visiting with Eastern relatives or in-laws, it becomes clear that the entrepreneurial, hard-working and optimistic attitude that I associate with my people, which deserves respect, is often met with disdain and a lack of understanding - to some, we Albertans are "uncultured rednecks".

Rather than accepting "redneck" as a pejorative, my definition of a redneck is "a hard working, trustworthy urban or rural person who values freedom of expression and of religion, pays their taxes and distrusts the elites". Rednecks built this country, laid track for the railroad, settled the west, drilled for oil, fished the rivers, lakes and seas, rode the ranches and harvested the grain, and constructed the universities and businesses that are reflected in culturally, politically and socially diverse skylines across this Country. Last time I checked, the freedoms and values lived by Alberta "rednecks" like me are enshrined in the Canadian Charter, but we "péquenot" do not forget that rights are only rights for as long as we are willing to fight for them.

To be sure, there are problems, challenges and inequities in Alberta - these can be found in each province in our great dominion. However, I share Ford's view: "all things being equal, it is easier to work to reform the things about a rich province that are bad, than it is to find enough money to reform a poor province" (p. 10). And, we rednecks like to remind the East, Alberta is RICH.

Ford quotes from people she has encountered along the way, people whose words are worth repeating and remembering. As I add to this review, I will share some of these Ford gems with you. In the meantime, I encourage you to reach inside the "redneck" stereotype to learn more about Alberta here, here, here, here and here.

Academic Freedom, For the Common Good

2009-09-28T07:52:00.001-07:00

In the recent issue of the CAUT Bulletin, 56(7), there is a book review by Donald Savage (p. A7-8) of "For the Common Good: Principles of American Academic Freedom". In Savage's words, Finkin & Post's book is a "lucid and concise account of the evolution of the idea and practice of academic freedom in the United States over the last century".

Another review of this book, by Chibli Mallet, entitled "How Did Academic Freedom Make U.S. Universities the Best in the World?", was published in Campus Watch.

I plan to buy the book, $21.78 for Finkin & Post at Chapters.ca, and may even add my two cents on its contents.

Big Babies

2009-09-25T19:01:00.001-07:00

And now for something completely different... The following story captured my attention: Record-holding 19.2-pound baby boy draws crowds to Indonesian hospital". Perhaps it is because both of my babies weighed over 11 pounds and were 24 inches in length (no, I did not have gestational diabetes, uh, thank you for asking... ). My husband and I are both Tall. Both of us have Tall parents and Tall grandparents. Do the Gregor Mendel. I can imagine this Indonesian couple will be answering a lot of "well meaning, well intentioned, just curious" questions about how this precious miracle could have happened. I just hope that he is healthy, he gets enough to eat and his parents can pick him up to hug him regularly. Ta.

Academic Freedom on Campus by a Cranky Professor, or Two

2009-09-24T12:24:00.000-07:00

On the occasion of my 50th blog post, I decided to write about Academic Freedom and Tenure. People often misunderstand tenure to mean a "job for life" on campus; however, tenure is better understood in the context of academic freedom. This article caught my eye: The Nature and Value of Academic Freedom by Mark Mercer, The Saint Mary's Journal, 75(3), September 21st, 2009. Among other freedoms that come with tenure, professors are free to speak publicly about their own teaching and research, to make known their views on politics and society, and "some" tenured faculty members are free to criticize their universities (for now).

Freedom of inquiry and critique is defined on the Canadian Association of University Teachers’ (CAUT) website: “Academic freedom is the life blood of the modern university. It is the right to teach, learn, study and publish free of orthodoxy or threat of reprisal and discrimination. It includes the right to criticize the university and the right to participate in its governance. Tenure provides a foundation for academic freedom by ensuring that academic staff cannot be dismissed without just cause and rigorous due process”.

Most academics take seriously their freedom to inquire and to publish research on topics of their own choosing – academic tenure is a measure used by faculty associations and universities to ensure that faculty members can pursue research and publish their findings without restraint. Ideally, a university faculty member’s academic freedom is protected through a collective agreement that is enforced by member’s faculty association. However, academic freedom cannot be taken for granted or considered a “done deal” – in Canada and abroad, there are constant challenges to the concept and reality of academic freedom. For example, in Canada, several academics have had to defend their academic freedom in recent years. The following faculty members’ cases are listed on the CAUT website: Nancy Olivieri, David Healy, Gabrielle Horne, David Noble, Mary Bryson, Stéphane McLachlan and Ian Mauro, Denis Rancourt, Larry Reynolds, Anne Duffy, Paul Grof and Martin Alda, and many others.

A Canadian organization formed in 1992, The Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship (SAFS) is primarily concerned with institutions of higher learning in Canada, though they have members across Canada and in other countries. The two main goals of SAFS are to (1) Maintain freedom in teaching, research, and scholarship; and (2) to Maintain standards of excellence in academic decisions about students and faculty. A list of articles written by SAFS members indicates that the fight to protect Academic Freedom is alive and well, and still very much needed, in Canada.

A campaign for free inquiry and free expression in the United Kingdom, Academics For Academic Freedom (AFAF), defines academic freedom using two main principles: (1) That academics, both inside and outside the classroom, have unrestricted liberty to question and test received wisdom and to put forward controversial and unpopular opinions, whether or not these are deemed offensive, and, (2) That academic institutions have no right to curb the exercise of this freedom by members of their staff, or to use it as grounds for disciplinary action or dismissal. Founded by Dennis Hayes, a visiting professor in the Westminster Institute of Education at Oxford Brookes University, Academics For Academic Freedom counts thousands of international scholars among its supporters. Dennis Hayes, who is a recent article argued that “Academics have a responsibility to challenge conventional wisdom without any buts”, has been invited to be the Guest Editor of a special edition of the British Journal of Educational Studies on Academic Freedom.

Like Freedom of Speech in Canada, Freedom of Speech and Religion in Alberta, and Freedom of the Press in Alberta, Academic Freedom is not a "done deal" when a faculty member has tenure - whether or not academic faculty members actually have Academic Freedom requires constant vigilance and awareness to uphold and defend these rights.

Freedom of the Press Victory in Alberta

2009-09-24T12:05:00.000-07:00

From Karen Kleiss at the Edmonton Journal: Alberta's Human Rights and Citizenship Commission has dismissed nine human rights complaints filed against the Edmonton Journal and the Calgary Herald in connection with a controversial editorial published seven years ago.

A bit of background from Kleiss' article: In April 2002, the Edmonton Journal and the Calgary Herald published an editorial, titled "Apocalyptic Creed", in which strong language was used to condemn the use of suicide bombers, and to suggest the death of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy might have been used in a propaganda campaign urging children to martyrdom. A flurry of letters to the editor resulted, along with human-rights complaints filed by nine organizations.

With his senior officer's support, a human-rights investigator decided that the editorial did expose certain groups to hatred and contempt and forwarded a decision to a director for review in January 2005. The Edmonton Journal filed a notice of motion in July 2006 that argued neither the commission nor the province had the jurisdiction to decide the issue. "Political speech can't be the subject of provincial human-rights legislation," he said. "This was political speech, and the Supreme Court of Canada settled that issue many years ago with the Alberta Press Bill case."

Kleiss: "From our perspective, it is a victory for freedom of expression," Journal editor-in-chief Allan Mayer said. "There's a huge difference between a provocative editorial and hate literature, and that distinction has been clearly made by this human-rights ruling. Lorne Motley, editor-in-chief of the Calgary Herald, said this is clearly a victory for press freedom.