Today's technology can transform classrooms

Times Colonist: 2010 August 31

'Personalized learning" was the topic of a recent speech to a group of B.C. school superintendents by deputy minister of education James Gorman. 

While it takes some doing to excite a large group of superintendents, Gorman pulled it off.

 

 

Internet may phase out printed Oxford Dictionary

Washington Post: 2010 August 29

It weighs in at more than 130 pounds, but the authoritative guide to the English language, the Oxford English Dictionary, may eventually slim down to nothing. Oxford University Press, the publisher, said Sunday so many people prefer to look up words using its online product that it's uncertain whether the 126-year-old dictionary's next edition will be printed on paper at all. 

New website honours long-ignored Chinese who built the CPR

Vancouver Sun: 2010 August 28

The launch of a new website changes all that today. The Ties That Bind: Building the CPR, Building a Place in Canada (www.mhso.ca/tiesthatbind)documents the seldom-told story of Chinese immigrants and their role in creating the Canada we share today. A project by the Foundation to Commemorate the Chinese Railroad Workers in Canada, the Multicultural History Society of Ontario and Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the website provides a virtual exhibit that explores the history of Chinese-Canadians, the railroad workers and their long struggle to find equality.

Should Kids Get Ebooks in School?

Library Journal: 2010 August 24

Searching for information is NOT like trolling for fish. You know the saying: "Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish and you have fed him for life." Answer someone's question, and most likely they'll go away for today. Teach someone how to search for the answer, and they'll continually hunger for more.

Kutapira bangs drums for culture, crowds

Vancouver Sun: 2010 August 17

Val Dare, the program's founding co-ordinator, says it all began in the mid-1990s. Now retired, the former teacher/librarian for Britannia secondary and member of the arts advocacy committee for the Vancouver school board visited ArtsCan, an annual showcase for artists who want to perform in schools. There, Victoria-based band Marimba Mazuva had brought literature on how to build a marimba.

Big Win for Copyright Collectives

The Tyee: 2010 August 17

The introduction of long-awaited copyright reform legislation has generated considerable discussion among Canadians about whether the latest bill strikes the right balance. While concern over Bill C-32's digital lock rules has garnered the lion share of attention with expressions of concern from all opposition parties and a wide range of stakeholders, the other major issue in the bill is the extension of fair dealing -- Canada's version of fair use -- to cover education, parody, and satire. 

Plagiarism for Beginners

The Tyee: 2010 August 10

Welcome, class of 2014. You're about to enter post-secondary armed with your smartphone and laptop, and every campus is now wireless. This is a good time to think about the hazards of plagiarism.

E-books boost use of Lower Mainland libraries

CBC News: 2010 August 10

The rising popularity of electronic books is boosting membership at libraries in the Lower Mainland, officials say. 

E-books can be downloaded to an electronic reader or to a personal computer and offer a feature that saves forgetful book borrowers those pesky late fees — they "return" themselves after three weeks by being automatically erased from the devices.

So-Called "Digital Natives" Not Media Savvy, New Study Shows

ReadWriteWeb: 2010 July 29

"In Google we trust." That may very well be the motto of today's young online users, a demographic group often dubbed the "digital natives" due their apparent tech-savvy. Having been born into a world where personal computers were not a revolution, but merely existed alongside air conditioning, microwaves and other appliances, there has been (a perhaps misguided) perception that the young are more digitally in-tune with the ways of the Web than others.