Author Archives: John P Egan

I shan’t look back to see how long it’s been since I blogged: suffice to say it’s been quite a while. It has not, however, been too long: living life is more important than writing about it. Mostly. The first … Continue reading →

It has been, suffice to say, an exhausting and heartbreaking 48 hours. Emotionally difficult for me…but I’m in a warm bed in a dry apartment. My people? Not so lucky. Growing up in New York–living each summer on a peninsula … Continue reading →

Sometimes stuff even arrives.  Ours did last Tuesday. To use the local argot, “sweet as, bro!” The container took a mere 20 days from Vancouver to Tauranga NZ. However it took another 12 days for the last 100km journey. Luckily … Continue reading →

Having long passed the period for which I can reasonably blame space-headedness on jet lag, it seems a good time for an update.  So here it is! Job: I am settling in nicely, albeit slowly. My colleagues are awesome, the … Continue reading →

My last day in Canada was a bit stressful. Had hoped to sleep in, but awoke early. Even after a leisurely breakfast in bed (tea and toast) it wasn’t even time for my (now ex) office to open up on … Continue reading →

The last of the good-bye meals was last night. The 3 suitcases are nearly packed; ditto the two carry-ons (yay for Gold status and extra luggage allowances). There’s also the final load of laundry, tidying up, a quick grocery shop … Continue reading →

Life is full of paradoxes. For example: when I was offered my upcoming role at the University of Auckland, there were a few trajectories available to me to get the paperwork required to take up the role: A Work-to-Residence work … Continue reading →

I am disappointed with the UBC rumour mill, which has proven to be exceedingly inefficient… After 16 years, numerous roles and two post-graduate degrees, it’s time to leave UBC, almost entirely (I’ll still teach a bit online in the MET … Continue reading →

What did you do with your summer holidays? The beach? Mountain biking? Europe? The pool? Me? I did something I’d promised myself I’d do (again) over a decade ago: I went to Québec and did a French immersion program, UBC@Québec. … Continue reading →

Having read about this “controversial” graduation speech at an American high school commencement, I’d meant to hunt down the video and got distracted. However my cousin posted today in Facebook (thanks Jimmy!) and I’m glad I took the 12 minutes … Continue reading →

This morning the story of an Alberta teacher who rejects a “no zero” assessment policy caught my attention. I suspect there might be more to the story than meets the eye, but the policy in question isn’t, from my ancillary … Continue reading →

CanadaMoot February 12 – 15 2013! From Coding to Networking: Building Moodle on a Human Scale Just to remind you that BCcampus and the BC and Canadian Moodle communities invite you to join us February 12 -15, 2013 in Vancouver, … Continue reading →

Click here for a PDF of the PowerPoint. NB: due to a building-wide network outage today I delivered the session tethered–with the iPad and Apple TV tethered to my iPhone’s Personal Hotspot connection!

This week is the annual CTLT Institute–all sorts of awesomeness on offer, all of it currently over-subscribed–and tomorrow I’m presenting a lunch-n-learn session: Tablet Teaching with the iPad iPads are great for reading, surfing the web, and playing games—and for … Continue reading →

There’s a lot happening right now. One term completed; another looming large with a first-time taught course on a first-time used LMS platform. Throw in some holidays (Mexico), professional development (two conferences in Montréal), and an upcoming intensive language course … Continue reading →

Is the term really (nearly) over? Wow that zoomed by. For me, at least. Still tidying a bit of stuff up though. Which means marking. It’s nearly done; I’m well done. ETEC565A went well.’Twas the first time teaching the tweaked … Continue reading →

As we have moved through the program I have become increasingly appreciative of the mentorship I received in my early university teaching career. Those relationships—most specifically with Professors Allison Tom, Tom Sork and Dan Pratt—have served me exceedingly well fifteen … Continue reading →

For folks new to teaching online (or blended), managing your online space can be a bit challenging at first. Or rather challenging. Or hairy-pulling challenging. As someone who started teaching online back when the internet was based on fishing line … Continue reading →

After a guilt-free work at home day (very productive, in terms of work and chores), I hopped into the car at 16h30 en route to Cypress Mountain. Since yesterday morning there had been almost 60cm of fresh “powder”. In coastal … Continue reading →