I’m back. After traveling to South Africa and Kenya with Teachers Without Borders - Canada , I am filled with so many emotions that it’s difficult to put it all into words. That’s why I’ve been putting this off - I initially planned to start reflecting right after my return from Africa, but I think [...]

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ll be doing a live streaming interview with Clay Shirky this Thursday at 11 am at my Ustream Channel. I’ll be picking his brain on how what he sees are the educational implications of the changes and shifts set out in his book “Here Comes Everybody,” and I’m hoping you’ll participate [...] SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Live Shirky Interview This Thursday 11 am EST", url: "http://weblogg-ed.com/2008/live-shirky-interview-this-thursday-11-am-est/" });

She’s five, maybe six years old, and her eyes are glued to my camera. After some hesitation, she comes up to me and says, “Can I see?” I kneel down on the wet concrete and show her the camera. I point to the viewfinder. She puts her small hand on mine and gingerly lowers the camera [...]

Nothing has brought pedagogical theory into greater disrepute than the belief that it is identified with handing out to teachers recipes and models to be followed in teaching . - John Dewey, Democracy and Education I’ve written about this before, but the concept of engaging students in conversations and engaging, as an educator, in conversational assessment, [...]

Cross-posted to jokaydia.com Leigh Blackall’s work on the islands of jokaydia in Second Life is truly inspiring. We’ve had many discussions since he agreed to take part in my Virtual Classroom Project and it’s been fascinating to observe his progress. I envisioned the Virtual Classroom Project as an opportunity to explore alternatives to our traditional notions [...]

I’ve been very busy lately. First, I had to finish the complete draft of my thesis to be sent to the external reviewer before the defense. Then, I immediately turned my attention to EduCon 2.0. It’s an important event for me for many reasons. First of all, it comes at a time when my research [...]

The virtual EduCon 2.0 presentation and conversation space is ready. It is located in Second Life at Learning Landscapes on the beautiful island of jokaydia (which recently hosted the 2007 Edublog Awards Ceremony). Click on the picture below for the link to the virtual EduCon 2.0: EduCon 2.0 in Second Life If you’re not a Second Life [...]

“Education is not merely about transferring information. It is about contextualizing that information in the real life experiences of the learners, and in relation with the experiences of other learners…It is the relationships among people and sharing contextualized experiences that create emergent knowledge that is the basis of education.” Mark Federman One of the things that [...]

On November 19th, I will be hosting a Second Life workshop for pre-service teachers from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. They are currently taking a course on instructional technology in teaching. They have already explored technology integration, internet safety, and information literacy. They’ve read a number of entries on this blog and then, as [...]

The first two full weeks of school are now behind me. My grade eight students have been given their blogs. They posted their first entries. The class blogging portal is slowly filling up with student voices. Naturally, I look forward to seeing how these voices will interact and intertwine. What I am really concerned about, however, [...]