(cross posted at the EdTech Posse blog) EdTech Posse 6.2 – The tiny stateroom The show felt a little like the crowded cabin sketch from A Night at the Opera. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZvugebaT6Q] The conversation started small with just Heather Ross and I talking mostly about the glorious gold medal victory of the Canadian women’s hockey team at the 2010 Olympics. Dean Shareski came onboard and described the Powerful Learning Practice professional development opportunity. Rick Schwier joined us as we were winding up that topic and starting to promote the TLt and IT Summit educational technology conferences that will be happening in Saskatoon in May. Alec Couros joined us and we wrapped up our conversation by talking about implementing a one to one laptop program (as is currently being considered by the Living Sky School Division). Some other links: Isabel Allende’s TED talk Powerful Learning Practice IT summit … Continue reading »

Thanks to the dynamic Donna DesRoches, digital resource consultant for Living Sky School Division, I had the good fortune last night to have dinner with David Warlick along with other members of the division instructional technology in-school teacher support (or something like that – we just call it the iSiTS group for short), a couple of our superintendents and some school based administrators. I was impressed not only with David’s grasp of many of the opportunities for improving student learning using some new digital tools (I’m trying to avoid the “21st century” prefix or “2.0″ suffix wherever possible because I still don’t know what those *really* mean) but also with his ability to find the right questions to provoke a really good conversation. My short-term memory being somewhat diminished as I grow older, I wrote down a few well-stated ideas … Continue reading »

It’s been over two week since the grand unveiling, although it won’t be released and available for sale until late March. Since that announcement, I have been reading the many critiques and accolades of the device. And yes, just like Stephen, I want one. I am an unrepentant gadget lover and the iPad is the ultimate electronic gadget. I’ve been trying to justify why I would need an iPad and thinking about that has led me to some insight about what the iPad is. I already my usage of the iPod touch as a portable browser/communication device/game machine. For creative projects, I have my MacBook (although the reworked iWork apps make a good case that the iPad is also a good productivity device). Steve Jobs positioned the iPad as being a category in between the iPhone/iPod touch and the full … Continue reading »