Summer in September

Wow, we have been truly blessed with some late summer weather in Alberta this year!!  Marie and I made the "trek" to Ptarmigan Cirque in K-Country and we're amazed at the fall colours and warm temperatures.  Pictures and videos can be found here :)

To Teach is to Learn Twice (Joubert, 1842)

Dan McWilliam, the Professional Development and Collaboration Coordinator for the Calgary Science School, and a group of his grade 8 students provided an orientation to Google Applications for the new Education students. Using their school Connect Blog they discussed how these technologies can be used as a catalyst for an inquiry-based approach to learning by getting parents and the wider community involved in their education. They clearly demonstrated the concept of “we-learning” and the idea that it “takes a village to raise a child”. We appreciate them posting their reflections of their visit on the CSS Connect blog :)

Calgary Corporate Challenge - Mount Royal 10km Running Team

Mount Royal University has participated in the Calgary Corporate Challenge since its inception in 1995. Now entering its seventeenth year, with over 18,000 participants from 180+ companies, the Calgary Corporate Challenge is one of the largest annual, amateur, athletic event in Canada! The competitions and special events take place over two weeks in September - in the evenings and on weekends.

Dr. Norm Vaughan, from our Department of Education and Schooling, was once again the Captain our MRU’s 10km running team. Everyone on the team finished the race but we noticed that our times are getting slower - as we all get older - we’re definitely in need of some “new blood” or the MRU mascot “George” is going to have to start running:)

North Island College, British Columbia - August 2012

Dr. Norman Vaughan had the opportunity to visit North Island College (NIC) in Comox, British Columbia to facilitate a keynote session and workshop on student engagement and blended learning. No other college in British Columbia serves a region as vast and diverse as NIC. Their region includes northern British Columbia from Ucluelet to Cape Scott, and the BC mainland coast from Desolation Sound to Klemtu. NIC is very interested in using digital technologies and a blended approach to learning to expand and diversify their program delivery.

Cottage - Summer 2012

Wow, this summer was a hot one at the cottage - very high temperatures and very little rain.  I drove to the cottage this summer (good CBC podcasts :)

I spent some time alone at the cottage and I was joined by Alex for three weeks, Marie for one week, and Christy and family for almost two weeks.  Eric worked at a summer camp so unfortunately was not able to join us this summer.

As usual, I took lots of pictures and video of our family cottage activities together!!

2012 International Conference on ICT in Teaching and Learning - July 2012

Dr. Norm Vaughan travelled to Hong Kong in July to facilitate a pre-conference workshop and the opening keynote session for the 2012 International Conference on ICT in Teaching and Learning. The conference was hosted by the Open University of Hong Kong and St.. Paul’s Convent School. The focus of the conference was on engaging learners through emerging technologies. Norm is also helping the Open University of Hong Kong’s Business School redesign their programs for a blended approach to teaching and learning and has posted several pictures from the trip to his personal web site.