It Gets Better

Posted on September 16, 2010 by tsher

Turtle

OK, so I’m no Rembrandt.

I sketched this turtle with my iPad using Sketchbook Pro by Autodesk. It’s my second sketch with my first being a dog that was much better. I’m not very good at drawing turtles.

While I get what Postman is saying and appreciate his view in some ways even, I have to admit I find it a bit depressing and pessimistic. It’s a bit Michael Moore-ish to me. I’ve enjoyed reading what others have been saying in their posts as well though some of those posts are also a bit depressing!

I don’t think it is about what today’s technology is providing but more about what we’re able to look forward to – what it’s shaping. Yes, the iPad might not be the ‘answer’ to education but it’s a major leap forward and its innovation is leading and shaping what is to come down the road, and that is exciting. Incidentally, I purchased both of the texts for this course off of Amazon and onto the Kindle app for my iPad. I bought them cheaper than I could from the UBC Bookstore and I saved $80 in shipping (that’s what it costs me to get my books here in Singapore … even when I need PDF photocopies of articles they won’t send to me as PDFs .. but that’s another blog post entirely). On top of that, I saved trees and lessened my carbon footprint. I can still highlight text in my e-books and I can annotate when I want. I can also call up a dictionary at the touch of a finger.

The turtle represents change in technology actually being slow. Not the ‘new’ things that are always around the corner, but the actual necessary and positive changes that are a result of the quick advancements. The personal computer moving into the classroom made education/writing/learning individual and lessened the orality of the learnings, lessened the discussions. OK, but the Internet, download and upload speeds increasing and the affordability of the laptop, 1-1 environments and Web 2.0 have changed that and now students are more collaborative than ever. And more reflective. More of a world citizen than they were before and understand geography because they have seen it and manipulated it rather than viewed it on a flat map of the world. Augmented reality? I can’t wait for that to develop further!

I agree that too many are jumping on the bandwagon and throwing technology into classrooms without a thought about what they are actually going to do with it or the implications it might have. But if we are thinking about what we want and need then we are already thinking behind. It’s about what the students in our classrooms want and need and the medium they are comfortable in.

You can’t slow it down, progress is inevitable. And I do believe it is progress. I think you just have to be cautious of what is happening, where things are going and try and keep up enough without throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Sorry, a bit of a rant there I suppose. I likely wasn’t all that eloquent or articulate.

Tyler

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Technology as Change

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Heather MacLellan


I created this web with words that show my thoughts on technology. I think that technology brings change so I thought about ways that a technology can change a culture when it is fully embraced by that culture and becomes widespread.

Technology is the introduction of any tool that allows us to ‘get things done’ in a different way. In allowing us to get things done, it changes the way we think about tasks and doing tasks. This change in perception can greatly influences and impacts our society. Whenever we change society through the adoption of a new tool, we perceive a gain (in knowledge, sharing of information, ease and quality of life, etc.) but it is also possible to lose something in the change.

Human beings invent technology in an effort to make our lives easier but we don’t always consider all of the consequences of our inventions. When society adapts a new technology, it is important to understand the possible implications that come with the new technology so that we can be a prepared as possible for changes to our way of thinking.

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Text as meaning

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Heather MacLellan


I brainstormed words that relate to text and put them into this Wordle. The words that resonated most closely to what text means to me are the biggest. It’s interesting that the size and shape of the text itself, as well as the way that it is presented, can influence the meaning.

Text is a form of communication that carries meaning. We interpret the meaning based on our culture and our individual perceptions. Text carries meaning but the carrier itself – the structure and order of the symbols – shapes the meaning. The structure of the text itself influences meaning. When I look at a piece of writing, I can tell from the format and vocabulary who the audience is intended to be and what the purpose of the work is. For example, a journal article is structured differently than an essay and a children’s book uses different vocabulary than an car instruction manual. The structure of the work carries its own meaning.

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Posted on September 15, 2010 by Oren Lupo

bpNichol (Barrie Phillip Nichol) Lane at the University of Toronto

In starting to read the texts for this course, I was struck by how much modern poetry, literature and word art is concerned with the dynamic between orality and textuality that we are learning about.

bpNicol’s poetry often plays on the discontinuities between writing as text and spoken language as sound. He was a Vancouver, BC born poet and UBC graduate (teaching certificate, 1963) whose works, among those of like-minded others, revolutionized Canadian writing in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

The above is a photo of an eight-line poem by bpNichol that is carved into a lane-way pavement behind the Coachhouse Press on the U of T campus, making a pun on it’s being a literal example of concrete poetry engraved into the street cement.

Poetry has always had a musical connection to song, and as such, it has its own system of rules for making poems fit certain musical patterns (prosody) that are different from ordinary speech. Poetry also has a dimension of sense to it, which is the statement or meaning that it makes, or the image that it suggests.

bpNicol’s work shows us that poetry written on the page, or scroll, or stone tablet has had from ancient times a certain look or form to it—a shapeliness, like that of an object—that distinguishes it from other forms of writing. Poetry activates sound, sense, and shape, all at the same time. For this reason, I thought that this poem and image would make a good jumping off point into the course.

About me

My name is Oren Lupo, and I’m a program coordinator in Continuing Studies at Langara College in Vancouver, BC. My areas of professional responsibility include business management and self-employment programs.

Before joining the College in 2005, I worked as an instructor in the department of English at the University of Toronto for a number of years. I taught mainly undergraduate survey courses in literature, the modern novel, and effective writing.

After moving to Vancouver in 2000, I worked as a writer, content editor and web designer for a number of start-up software and dot.com companies (RIP).

This is my ninth course in the MET program, and I am still getting the hang of being an online course participant. The main reason I chose the MET program was that it presents the opportunity to experience distance learning first-hand, while at the same time it provides a diverse education in the theories and cultures of online learning. I’m a big believer in the idea that how one learns–the context and environment–shapes to a great extent what one learns, how it is remembered, and how it fits into a meaningful pattern.

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Who is included?

Posted on September 14, 2010 by lbonnor

Medieval Multiculturalism?

In 1086, the Domesday Book added a new level of organization and control to the governing structures of Medieval England. It offers a rare glimpse of society at a time when books were laboriously crafted by hand. Originally in the hands of a select few, the written, then printed, typed and now web-based words are in the hands of the almost everyone. When I look at this illumination, it reminds me that perhaps not everyone benefits from these changes. There will be benefits and costs and as Postman states out these changes in our modes of communicating have a far-reaching “ecological” impact on our society as a whole.

I’m a Grade 4/5 teacher living on Vancouver island. I studied the Middle Ages at UofT and later received a teaching degree from UBC. I find the transition of methods of communication fascinating and how it plays out in my classroom and my life, even more so.

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Posted on September 14, 2010 by tsher

Young woman and man braille reading on park bench

This picture is of a woman and a man sharing a moment in time on a bench while the woman is reading braille. I chose this photo for a number of reasons, but mainly because text in this form has opened doors for many people that would not have had access otherwise. I see technology in the same way, that it opens doors for students in ways that we may not have imagined previously. Who knows what impact this has on our students down the road. Who knows where they would be without this opportunity.

My name is Tyler Sherwood and I am originally from the province of New Brunswick (Fredericton and Moncton/Riverview) but have been living overseas and working in international schools for about 10 years now. I am currently principal of an international IB PYP primary school in Singapore and have been working to implement a solid technology integration plan here for the past couple of years. My wife and I are expecting our first child in November so I’ll be fading in and out around that time during the course!

I’m looking forward to working with all of you and learning a great deal from your experiences.

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Posted on September 13, 2010 by Jeff Miller

One Laptop per Child, on Flickr”>Ethiopian keyboard
Hello everyone,

This is a picture of a keyboard from a child’s computer in Ethiopia.  The computer, part of an international project called One Laptop per Child (OLPC), has been designed to include the Amharic language, the national language of Ethiopia. I chose this image in part because of a trip I took to Ethiopia last February on a research project relating to literacy and distance education. The use of technologies (from books through to computers) in the educational settings in Ethiopia are extremely complex, and even the use of script, English or Amharic, brings up politically charged issues connected to literacy in the country. Apart from the Amharic/English keyboard, the presence of laptop computers is also highly contentious: for some, the initiative is seen by some as an imposition of a western model of education upon the country: while for others, it is seen as a way to give children a chance to tap into educational resources that go beyond anything currently available within the limited infrastructure of the country. This is a country where books are in very short supply and where it is very uncommon for libraries to actually circulate their collections!

My name is Jeff Miller, and I am one of your instructors in ETEC540. You’ve likely read my bio in the course website, but I’ll add that I’ve been working on developing spaces for writing, reading and learning with UBC projects for about 15 years, and am currently very excited about the possibilities that open up in collaborative spaces like this weblog. It is great to see that we start off from a place of multimodality, with a mixture of texts and images to get us started on our explorations of text and technology. I look forward to seeing how this site grows and expands as you engage with the various topics and activities in the course!

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the test of time

Posted on September 13, 2010 by Tamara Wong

Stone Writing

As I was going through the information on this course it made me think of the first ways of writing as well as how long it lasts. Technology is ever changing and time degrades our ideas and thoughts unless they are found and written like this. I was also thinking about how the Internet is similar to a stone tablet. It is there for anyone to see, it can withstand things a book couldn't – like a flood or fire. I suppose the only thing it needs to be tested against now is time. Another interesting thing about this picture is before only the experts in the field would have access to something like this and now even someone in Canada can see it!

I am Tamara Wong and I teach an English as a Second Language in Toronto, Ontario. I did my undergraduate degree in History and English in a small university in Northern Ontario. I got married last year and am really enjoying having someone to make dinner for me when I am working all day.

I am really excited about this class as it incorporates many of my favourite subjects- history, language, and teaching. I can see it is going to be very interesting and I am looking forward to learning from all of you.

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It’ll fit?

Posted on September 13, 2010 by Kirklan Lum

bookshelf_computer_screen

The suggestion in this picture that volumes of information can be condensed down into a small area caught my eye because space is at somewhat of a premium at my place. I continued looking at other pictures, but I eventually came back to this one. I chose it because I started wondering how having the ability to instantly find exactly what you’re looking for (using the search function) might change how you gain information from the text, rather than browsing through a book for the information.

I’m Kirklan Lum and I live and teach in Nanaimo, BC. I am just starting the MET program, and I’ve never done any kind of online course before, so I’m a little jittery. I can’t really say whether that’s due to nerves or excitement though!

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Libraries? Books come to you!

Posted on September 13, 2010 by Cindy Leach

Some People Can't Go to Libraries. Books Come to Them.

This picture just made me laugh, I had to use it for the post. It spoke to me because of how easily books can come to you now. Automatically the UBC Virtual Library and eBooks came to mind. To be honest I do most of my course readings on the Go Train (my commuter train) each morning and evening using my eBook reader – I mean, why waste 2 hours of dedicated time each day! Plus with the eBook reader the weight of the readings doesn’t break my back hauling it back and forth each day :o)

Having said that my name is Cindy (Leach) Plunkett. I live in the small farming hamlet of Brooklin Ontario and do the long commute each day into downtown Toronot. I work at the University Health Network which is a grouping of Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital and Princess Margaret Hospitals for a combination of over 10,000 employees. I am the Lead for the Computer User Support Program within the Organizaation and Employee Development group here and we work to provide various training sessions to help our staff pair technology and clinical practice. We do 1:1, small group and telephone training. We also created Bleneded and eLearning modules to post in our corporate LMS (SumTotal’s Total LMS). I am currently taking courses 7&8 towards my MET degree. I was very much interested in this particular course as my first undergrad degree was an Honours degree in English. Aside from work and MET I have a 21mo old daughter and I also teach karate 2 nights a week to 25 5-8 yr olds as well as helping with the family class 2 nights a week (9yrs to adult). I am looking forward to this class, there are a lot of familiar faces that I look forward to hearing from again!

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