Author Archives: Jacqueline Ashby

Steelcase launched the NEXT Student Design Competition to encourage the creation of innovative learning environments. The winner will receive $1,000! Entries are due November 21, 2014. To learn more and apply, click here!

“Surfing’s one of the few sports that you look ahead to see what’s behind” ~ Laird Hamilton

The International Society of Learning Sciences: Naples – Network of Academic Programs in the Learning Sciences offers the public access to a series of free educational webinars on a variety of topics including cognition and metacognition; assessment; workplace learning with digital resources; gestures in teaching and learning; and much more!

A few that caught my attention:

Physiological measures in the Learning Sciences research
Neurocognitive foundations for the Learning Sciences
Learning by Design
Design and Design-Based Research

Cheers!

“If I could explain it to the average person, I wouldn’t have been worth the Nobel Prize.” ~ Richard Feynman
In general, people underestimate the knowledge and skill required to teach. It’s as if the public perceives teaching and learning as a some effortless process commonly referred to as osmosis. When in fact, teaching and learning are both rigorous exercises that involve extensive planning, organization, dynamic exchange, and ongoing evaluation. As I watch physicist Richard Feynman above, I am reminded of his brilliance and ability to engage a young group of students. A few days ago, Caltech released his physics lectures for free here but it sort of reminds me of my mundane experience reading Shakespeare. To reach a mass audience, you need the actor to embody and express these ideas and thoughts but more importantly to provide a human connection to the written word.

On August 1, The Province reported that the ongoing teachers’ strike and government lockout saves the government up to $12 million a day in teachers’ salaries. As a result, government officials announced that they would use this reported surplus to deliver “temporary education support” that assists eligible parents with their personal childcare needs:

“The daily payout [to parents], which totals $12 million a day, will be funded from the government’s $12 million daily savings in teachers’ salaries once the school year begins.” ~ Cheryl Chan, The Province, August 1, 2014

If media outlets are accurate, then one might interpret the government’s reallocation of these resources as a misappropriation of funds and a breach of fiduciary duty. The budget of our public education system is passed through legislation. To dispense these funds to the private good without due process suggests a lack of accountability and transparency. Furthermore, our Minister of Education is entrusted to act in the best interest of all students attending a BC public primary and secondary school. To restrict this “temporary education support” to those publicly educated children 12 years of age and under may be argued as discriminatory.

School supplies, access to technology, and teaching assistance have been cited as areas that require greater attention. In addition, BC public schools are in continued need of physical maintenance and structural repair. Our students deserve a learning environment reflective of the future that we want for them. To reroute this funding without public consultation and consent establishes a precedent and conveys to taxpayers that our investment in the public good is at risk.

I have three of Oliver’s books and thoroughly enjoy his sweet illustrations, sense of humour, and ability to engage the reader.

Who gets the top floor and why? If you loved this quick history on the highrise, you can catch Part II, Part III, and Part IV here. (Thanks Rob!)

Hey! Here are a few tuition-free courses in architecture and urban design offered by edX this fall and upcoming spring:

A Global History of Architecture – Part 1 (Starts September 23): This course is a history of architecture from a global perspective.

Future Cities (Starts September 24): A first course to understand a city’s people, components, functions, scales and dynamics, as precondition for its sustainable design and management.

The Search for Vernacular Architecture of Asia, Part 1 (April 2015): Join us in the Search for Vernacular Architecture of Asia and learn key concepts to better understand your own local built environment.

Cheers,
Jacqueline