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Emergency remote instruction in Ontario continues to fail our students, teachers and families
I used to think that online education held great possibility for the democratization of access to information, and for the provision of schooling “anytime, anywhere” to learners who — for a host of complex reasons — needed flexibility. Thinking back to “the before times” I used to love teaching online. I loved the way that…
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Safer by Design : A call for teaching practices that empower young people to become more connected, critical and compassionate digital participants
It has never been more important to consider how we are centring connection in our work in Education. In this keynote talk, I offer some insights on how we might centre connection, critique and compassion in the work we do, systemically in schools to support learners. Resilience is a complex and multifaceted process — and…
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The CHENINE Charter Priorities for Education Futures : A Presentation for Kinsale Community School
Directed by Dr. Andy Hargreaves, CHENINE is an interdisciplinary research collaboratory at the University of Ottawa, focused on articulating and advancing action that aligns with a set of principles and priorities for Education futures. As a member of CHENINE, I was invited this week to present the CHENINE charter and points of important synergy between…
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Remembering Denise
I was the last person to sit beside her. In that moment, I hope that she felt warm and safe; loved and carefree. I hope that she felt happy. Together, we were all singing. Loudly — like 18 year olds do when everything is right in the world, and nobody is watching. We were in…
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Keynote Presentation
On Tuesday, August 18th, I’ll be presenting some of my thinking about Critical Digital Participatory Practices to educator colleagues at the Ottawa Catholic School Board. Slides here. Full text will be posted after the presentation for anyone who missed the talk. Full Text of the talk here: SLIDE 1Thank yous — to Alison Kinahan, and to…
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Learning to Teach Online : An Open Educational Resource for Pre-Service Teachers
Teacher candidates at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Education will be doing all of their course work online this fall. Their experiences will give them new opportunities to consider not just what it means to learn in online environments, but also how to teach online. To support their thinking and learning over time this…
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New Research Project : Creating conditions for Digital Equity in Ontario
This week, with my colleague Dr. Megan Cotnam-Kappel and research assistants Jean-Luc Ciocca, Sima Neisary and Alison Cattani, we launched the first phase of a new, SSHRC-funded Insight Development Grant called Exploring the Digital Lives of Youth: Creating Conditions for Digital Equity in Ontario. During this phase of our work, we will be interviewing Ontario…
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For my students, becoming teachers on a Pandemic Monday
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Clarity, communication, connection: Priorities for our global pivot to online teaching
I’ve been thinking all week about what really matters as teachers everywhere try to reframe their courses in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Honestly, I think it all comes down to clarity, communications and connection. No matter the technologies we use, what really matters is that we do our best to lay out a clear…
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CBC’s Ontario Today with Rita Celli: Is mandatory online learning a big deal?
Yesterday, I had the privilege to speak with Rita Celli, host of CBC Radio’s Ontario Today, and with callers from around the province, about the issue of the proposed mandatory online learning courses for Ontario high school students. As work by Michael Barbour, Randy LaBonte and their colleagues has shown, Ontario already has the highest…