Ed's Passing Lane

Passing Interest

Scott — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:58:53 +0000

A Weekly look at the links which have caught my eye.

Stanford Teaches iPhone Development for Free
http://www.openculture.com/2009/04/stanford_teaches_you_to_develop_iphone_apps_free.html
Tags: iPhone, programming

Oldtime Radio Times
http://www.oldtimeradiofans.com/
Tags: Oldtime Radio, Podcasting

Using Twitter to Break Down Classroom Isolation
http://teachingtechnology.suite101.com/article.cfm/using_twitter_to_break_down_classroom_isolation
Tags: Twitter, Classroom

Passing Interest

Scott — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:56:46 +0000

A Weekly look at the links which have caught my eye.

All About Explorers
http://allaboutexplorers.com/index.html
Tags: research, LwICT, fact checking

iPhone Music Performance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjx5_-SPhk0
Tags: iPhone, AppStore, Music

Cellphones in the classroom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW4AjHg68aQ
Tags: cellphones

Passing Interest

Scott — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:30:11 +0000

A weekly look at links which have caught my interest.

39 Whiteboard Tips and Tricks
http://docs.google.com/Present?docid=dhn2vcv5_106c9fm8j
Tags: Whiteboard

A great Listen
http://twit.tv/natn79
Tags: Digital Learners

DIY Podcasting
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/diypodcast/
Tags: NASA, Podcast

Mobile Device, Administrators
http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/columnists/guhlin/guhlin011.shtml
Tags: Mobile, Cellphone

Passing Interest

Scott — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:11:20 +0000

A weekly look at links which have caught my interest.

http://www.polleverywhere.com/
Tag: Cell Phones

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/technology/personaltech/12pogue.html?_r=2&nl=tech&emc=techa1
Tag: Twitter

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/12/twitter.shorty.awards/index.html
Tag: Twitter

http://ideasandthoughts.org/2009/02/02/podcast-44-facebook-filtering-and-all-that/
Tag: Filtering

http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates_unplugged.html
Tag: TED

http://tedfellows.posterous.com/creating-future-tedsters
Tag: TED

The answer is…

Scott — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:52:40 +0000

It doesn’t matter!

The answer does not matter, it is not important. What is important is the ability to find the answer. Schools for over a century have been teaching answers to questions. Students who learned the answers could expect a good job and a good standard of living. For the most part the system worked…for those who new the answers.

Today’s world is not the same as the world 100 years ago though. It has changed dramatically and exponentially. In todays world knowing the answer will not get you as far as being able to find the answer efficiently. In today’s world it is not if you know the answer that is important but who you can connect with to find the answer.

Who among the 6 602 224 175 people in the world (as of December 16) can you connect with to collaboratively find the answer? It’s true that 2 brains are better than one, but what about the 360 985 492 people in the world who are connected to the internet. How many of those people are you connected to? How many of those people can you connect with?

100 years ago people had to know the answer. People did not have the system of information they have now. If you lived in the rural countryside you could not find the answer unless you went to the town library. If the library didn’t have the book you needed, where did you go? Today you do not need to go anywhere. You can be standing on a street corner and you can find the answer. Using a smart phone you can find the answer to almost any question, you can search the web, you can connect to a network of people which spans the globe. Knowing the answer is no longer the focus of education, teaching students the ability to find the answer efficiently is!

Student Freedom

Scott — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 22:54:27 +0000

Recently I have been to inservices on inquiry and student engagement. However it was at my most recent profesional development on mentoring that I began to appreciate the link between inquiry, student engagement and technology.

For years I have enjoyed watching student learning using technology. Put a computer in a students hands and they become engaged. However, they are engaged with the technology, not learning. Students would use the technology for inquiry and you could see the excitement of exploring new media in their faces. Yet the inquiry was usually teacher directed. The engagement was there but true inquiry learning was not.

Inquiry learning is key to student growth, but it must be driven by student interests. The power of learning is when you see a teacher take student inquiry and address outcomes through it. Not address outcomes by giving students the inquiry.

Inquiry based learning allows the student the freedom to become engaged in learning.

Inspirational

Scott — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:31:20 +0000

Some ideas are so inspirational that they spread like wildfire through the blogosphere. If you are not on the cutting edge by the time you find it, they have been posted everywhere. Yet for me, coming back to them on certain days is just needed.

Have they been posted and blogged about already…Yes. It has been posted so many times already…do I need to add one more voice? Sure!

So I created a category which I will just call Inspirational, a category dedicated to posts, videos, and pictures that inspire us to so much more as educators.

The really hard part will be deciding what my first post under Inspirational will be. What would you choose?

Awakening Possibilities

Scott — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:15:11 +0000

For the second year MANACE (The Manitoba Association for Computing Educators) is sponsoring a pre-SAG (Special Area Group) presentation. The event will see educators from around the province, and the world, contributing their voices and ideas, highlighting tools and techniques that engage students.

Last year’s event was a huge success and I expect this year’s will be even bigger. If you are in the neighbourhood this Thursday be sure to stop by. Otherwise be sure to watch the event online.

The interesting aspect of this years event is that each presenter is only given 5 minutes to share, 15 seconds a slide, and unlimited possibilities.

Location: Room P107 Red River College Princess Street Campus
Date/Time: Thursday, November 27th 7 – 9 PM
Cost:Free-Just email Andy McKiel at andy@mckiel.ca to let him know you’re coming.

Welcome

Scott — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:00:32 +0000

Welcome to Ed’s Passing Lane.

I’m Scott!

So why the passing lane? Well Education is similar to a multi-lane highway. You have students and staff in different lanes, changing lanes, sharing lanes, and sometimes getting frustrated because the person in front, behind or beside them is going too slow, too fast or simply not moving at all.

It’s important when traveling a highway that you feel comfortable; however, feeling too comfortable can be dangerous as well. It’s important to challenge yourself. Every so often brace yourself and shift into that passing lane.

So welcome to my shift.

Hopefully along the journey we both laugh a little, reflect a little, learn a little, and join many of our students who are already in the Passing Lane.