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!
;-)
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Good bye Michael Anton Jacobsen (1940 - 2010)
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
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
Friday, May 28, 2010
CNIE 2010 Keynotes and Ning Online
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.
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
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 2008 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.
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.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Should we filter and firewall in schools?
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.
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.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Designing for Inquiry and Technology Using Intelligence Online
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!
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
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.
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.
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