Brain Album

Edmonton New Media Roundup 15

 

It’s back-to-school season in our house. The kids return to class on Thursday, Trustee Spencer’s meetings have resumed, and I am preparing to teach (!) reporting and news production in the journalism diploma program at Grant MacEwan University. So I’m in an education frame of mind for this week’s roundup.
 
In many ways, the Internet has disrupted education as much as it has disrupted journalism. As with journalism, there are some in education who resist the change, pine for the good old days and are certain things are going to hell. And then there are people like George Couros, who embrace change and see all the good that can come of it.
 
I haven’t met George, but I’m a fan of his Twitter feed and find myself increasingly drawn to his blog as I work on turning myself into an educator. He is a principal in Stony Plain and now holds a newly created position as division principal in charge of innovative teaching and learning in the Parkland School Division, which covers several communities west of Edmonton.

George has exactly the attitude I want to see in anyone involved in teaching. He considers it part of his job to turn students into “strong Digital Citizens,” and he models that behaviour by being one himself. He also created Connected Principals, a group blog where school administrators from all over share what they’ve learned. From where I sit, Parkland is pretty lucky to have him.

What networked teachers inspire you? Let me know in the comments, on Twitter or on Google+.

Rounding up some other new media stuff from the past week:

— Speaking of networked education, registration is now open for EdCamp Edmonton, a one-day unconference on learning. It will be held Nov. 5 at Lillian Osborne High School. I’m planning to be there.

— Which reminds me, plans are underway for another MediaCamp Edmonton. The first one was held in May 2010, and it felt like a success, but then life got in the way of working on the next one. Efforts are now resurrected. An organizational meeting will be held at Guru Digital Arts College at 6:30 p.m. tonight (Aug. 29). Minutes will be posted here.

— My own education efforts this fall will be centred on guiding students through the production of West Edmonton Local. MacEwan grad Mathew White has done a bang-up job keeping the site going through the summer, and he’ll be helping me and Lucas Timmons turn it back into a learning experience for the next group of MacEwan journalism students. If you have any suggestions for improvement, let us know.

— In other news, Andy Grabia has launched a new photo project called My Edmonton, documenting the beautiful buildings in our city. As Andy points out, there is a lot of talk about how ugly our architecture is, and while much of that criticism is deserved, it obscures the fact that we have lovely and striking architecture here as well. He’s looking for suggestions, so be sure to chime in.

(Addendum: Also on the theme of beautiful things about Edmonton, see Sharon Yeo’s post on Edmonton Transit’s historical tour.)

— Speaking of Andy, a fierce opponent of the proposal to build a new arena for the Oilers downtown, the discussion continues in Edmonton’s blogosphere in light of the city’s new proposal to fund the arena through an expanded community revitalization levy. Of note are Alex Abboud’s call for downtown development with or without the CRL, Ryan Batty’s skeptical look at CRLs, and Mack Male’s coverage of the proposal to expand the CRL boundary. For more commentary and links to what mainstream media and others are saying about the arena, keep an eye on the edmontonian.

(Addendum 2: Looks like the edmontonian is hanging up its cleats. Nooooo!)

For more on media new and old, check out Mack’s Media Monday.

(Image of George Couros courtesy Kevin Jarrett, taken Jan. 30, 2011)

Edmonton New Media Roundup 10

“Have you read Zoe Todd’s latest?” I have asked this question several times in the past month, in various discussions about urban planning, architecture and the general effort to make Edmonton look and be better. Her blog, Urbane Adventurer, has become a must-read for me, and if you are interested in such things, you should put it on your list as well.
 
My first encounter with Zoe was hearing her impressive talk on “Edmonton as an Aboriginal City” at Pecha Kucha Night 7 (the image above comes from Edmonton NextGen’s Flickr set from that night). She revisited that theme in an excellent guest post at The Charrette in June. Although she spends some of her time in Aberdeen, Scotland, pursuing a PhD in social anthropology, she thinks a lot about Edmonton, as is clear in recent posts on preserving historic buildings and the “back alley” view of the city.

She has launched a Tumblr called Post-awesome: a prairie movement. It’s “a place to look at ‘crap architecture’ in the city of Edmonton. And to celebrate good architecture, too,” riffing on Mayor Stephen Mandel’s famous lament about the current state of design. She’s a musician, too. Zoe is an all-round impressive Edmontonian, and worth following in all ways (including on Twitter: @z_todd).

And now, rounding up:

— Speaking of urban affairs, Deborah Merriam had an interesting blogpost recently about sustainable development in the suburbs. It reminded me of some of the issues that the Edmonton Journal’s Elise Stolte is exploring in her Living on the Edge series and blog.

— Urban planner Myron Belej had a piece about making business districts more walkable on YegNews. Speaking of which, YegNews is now back to regular publishing after a little hiatus, with Dave S. Clark replacing Scott McKeen as editor. I still think YegNews should follow my advice, although I do notice a few more links out. I also like that publisher Alain Saffel has taken the time to comment on other blogs (including mine) and on stories on the site. Being an active participant in the conversation makes for a more civil community, as Anil Dash writes.

— For an excellent chronicle of Edmonton’s watery backbone, check out Donna’s River Valley, a walking diary by Donna McKinnon (@illustratedword on Twitter).  

— And if this summer’s raininess has been getting you down, look at the bright side: it makes for pretty pictures. Randall Talbot proves it.

For more urban planning and development, it’s always worth your while to check out The Charrette, and the edmontonian does a bang-up job of rounding up the headlines on these and other matters. For more media news, see Mack Male’s Media Monday. Comment below if I’m missing something, or find me on Twitter.