Final Vision of the Tech-Sum Being Greater Than Its Parts

Posted on July 4, 2018 by Thornquill

I will not lie, putting this together has been challenging. Considering where I started, a goodly portion of developing a final vision, specifically for the incorporation of technology, for our school library learning commons (SLLC) hinges on a great many factors. Not the least of which is developing a leadership plan for incorporating technology and taking steps to ensure that it is implemented effectively. No matter how glossy or great technology or its applications are, if no one is interested in using it, it goes nowhere.

Our school has really had consistent internet for a few years. Until very recently, teachers were hard-lining into the network via Ethernet cords into their district issued laptops for the hopes that they would get a consistent connection. Wireless was not even a thing worth considering until they upped the connections through the school and each classroom got its own node, with the SLLC getting two. So, it is only now, with consistent internet and Wi-Fi capacity that I really think that we can implement some of the technology that will make our learning commons and school more effective in what it is supposed to deliver. Continue reading →

Another Piece of the Technology in Education Conversation – Inquiry Blog #4

Posted on June 16, 2018 by Thornquill

My father-in-law was a computer geek long before that was a thing. He was with a phone company as they were looking into delivering things other than voices through their telephone lines and was a part of the crew than installed the first, 1.5-megabyte memory system at SFU that was basically a metal rod suspended in a vat of baseball sized magnets.

Before his passing 10 years ago, he was looking into the idea of Linux and getting excited about school districts perhaps looking into that operating system and alleviating some of the financial pressures that were coming along with Microsoft and Apple. Part of this was his research into the One Laptop Per Child initiative that was coming out of MIT. He adhered to the philosophy regarding the necessity of having a tool that was internet compatible and able to operate all over the world. The biggest areas at risk of loosing out were the developing world and the poorer areas of the developed world, creating a technology austerity.

Continue reading →

LIBE 477 – Reading Review Part B

Posted on May 17, 2018 by Thornquill

The point of this post is to collect and present resources that could help investigate the topics that came up in Part A. I have to admit that in going back and forth with the criteria and considering the course outline, I started to doubt if I was on the write track. The main source for my doubt was the use of “keywords” in the Part A criteria.

Now, this has no reflection on the clarity of the instructor’s write-up or the course, it has everything to so with my own self-doubt. See, while writing my previous post regarding Part A, I was less concerned about discovering a “something,” such as an application, methodology or technique, so when re-reading it, I started wondering if I had missed the point. Continue reading →

LIBE 477 – Reading Review Part A

Posted on May 13, 2018 by Thornquill

It has been a number of years since I have tried to put so many aspects of technology together in a functional manner. In the classroom, I could try a Kahoot here, a backchannel discussion through TodaysMeet there, the occasional professional tweet, homework through Remind, Edublogs (duh, English teacher), but my biggest experiment remains the implementation of Moodle. All met with various degrees of success and student buy in. Much of it was novelty I’m sure and, in a twist of technological irony, the easier technology and the more students accessed it, the less they seemed willing to participate in my experiments. The learning of and adapting lessons to incorporate technology became less rewarding and was not getting the results I was hoping for, so I used it less frequently.

Being off of the grid for a while was refreshing Continue reading →

Rekindling the Music Lover

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Thornquill

It has been a long time since I anticipated the release of a new album. Since getting this new iPad, I have kept my eye on the iTunes store and even chanced the $7 on a band i have never heard of on the recommendation of the CBC’s afternoon host, Steven Quinn. I purchased Of Monsters and Men’s My Head is an Animal and this Icelandic band didn’t disappoint, or should I say ‘thank you’ Steven.

What kept catching my eye though was Jack White’s first solo effort, Blunderbuss. After hearing the initial single, “Love Interrupted,” I must admit to anticipating hearing him again and having a chance to listen to his solo work.

If anyone has managed read this far without quitting due to my laborious writing style, I would definitely recommend this album, even if you are a moderate fan of his White Stripes work. This album is heavily laden with provocative metaphor and “Love Interrupted” is a great sampling of what to expect with the lyrics. (Speaking of, I need to find a way to introduce the concept of paradox through this song.)

He manages to keep his simple, unique sound throughout the album, yet introduces interesting variations to separate it from earlier efforts. Maybe, like me, he has managed to mature just a bit, heh.

There has been more interest on my part with trying to keep up with music releases due to iTunes. I have really had to suppress the desire to start ringing up the credit card with purchases of both new and old stuff, that stuff that I could never remember to look for in the record shop until I got home. I also went with ITunes Match and, at the risk of sounding like a total fan boy, it has been working glitch free with making my music library available to my iPad. This may not sound like much, but I am listening to my music again; in the car and at work, through headphones or piping it through my desktop speakers.

It might be a while before I find the time to head back to live shows, due to little ones running around now, unlike the earlier stages of life, but for now I can celebrate music again through a newfound accessibility.

[Wow! I am out of practice at this. I’ll end it here and avoid inflicting further pain on anyone reading this. Just buy the album.]

Proroguing Article

Posted on January 23, 2010 by Thornquill

The cynic in me has long prevented me from getting too emotional regarding anything much associated with politics. That is not to say that I suffer from political apathy, I just funnel my energies into the smaller, more local advocacy and am trying to change the world with more subtle means than by loud, resounding gestures.

A couple of days ago The Tyee gave me an article that might start me thinking back the other way:

Dinosaurs Laughed at Facebook Revolt