last November, I participated in a debate hosted by Selkirk College Teaching and Learning Institute: Be it resolved that social media is making us lonely.Not so unique. This has been written about in countless publications by countless 'folks in the know'. But what was unique and important to recognize about the debate was not the resolution, the … Continue reading The Great Debate: The Bigger Picture →

Our fall professional book club has finished its book first read of the year, Paul Tough's How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character. (Kudo to our principal, Tim Huttemann @lvrprincipal for leading this professional development opportunity!).Like several books on pedagogy, learning and teaching, I read Tough's book through the lenses of … Continue reading Grit? Who Needs It? Apparently, Our Kids →

The statistics speak very strongly of the need of libraries now more than ever!Graphic courtesy of opensite.org

We all know that the British Columbia Ministry of Education is rewriting the competency standards for BC students to align with twenty-first century skills that are necessary for all contributing members of society to possess. To date it has identified several cross-curricular competencies as crucial: critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, problem solving, digital literacy, emotional literacy, … Continue reading What’s to debate? Debate already! →

Blogger and educational technology master's student, Gretel Patch, recently created a Period Table of Connectivism, as part of an assignment to interrelate the deep concepts of connectivism (put forth by George Siemens and others), personal learning networks, and communities of practice (perhaps even communities of learning?). This is very powerful visual concept and she deftly manages to connect … Continue reading A Periodic Table of Connectivism →

By now we've all heard the term 'learning commons' and it has become so you can't go to any school library professional gathering, conference, or workshop and NOT hear the term referred to by a presenter or keynote speaker. There are amazing stories of schools, school libraries, and school districts that have embraced the concept … Continue reading A School Library Repackaged? →

Admittedly, I have dodged the issue of 'curation' for the past two years. Without a clear definition and with so much grey area discussion I had chosen to wait until a better mousetrap was built.Well, the wait is over. I now actually 'get' 'curation' in the digital realm.And now, even more importantly, I recognize the … Continue reading What IS Curation? →

The numbers are pretty overwhelming, indeed!

Top Tools for Learning 2012 from Jane Hart An I'm going to take this a step further I strongly suggest that these tools are for all kinds of learning, but all kinds of individuals, in all kinds of different working and learning environments. I don't think it wise to relegate these to just 'tools for … Continue reading Top 100 Tools for Learning →

Here's a terrific Infographic on sharing appropriate cell phone use/etiquette with our students.You will recognize that these 'reminders' are not relegated to use in just our classrooms, but  they are appropriate for everyday personal use for all members of a digitally connected society. And let's not fool ourselves into thinking that while many young people … Continue reading Cell Phone Etiquette: It’s Never Too Late to Learn →