My colleague and friend Andrew wrote a blog post about how the information in WikiLeaks should be handled in the classroom. Given the strong reaction of the US government, Andrew wondered if a teacher should even bring WikiLeaks documents into the class for students to analyze.
I think that even if we don't directly talk about the documents in class, there are many issues that we can still bring up. For one, WikiLeaks has come under intense government and corporation attack, and US politicians have labeled WikiLeaks a terrorist organization and even suggested assassination of its staff. Yet, WikiLeaks is partnered with the top newspapers in the world (e.g. The New York Times, The Guardian) and is only publishing information passed on to them by a whistle blower. The intimidation by the US government is a challenge to democracy and freedom of the press.
Here are some ideas for activities we can do in class without actually getting into the content of WikiLeaks documents. Students can research news articles and decide on a Value Line whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is a criminal or a crusader. Have students Examine Both Sides on the following questions: Is WikiLeaks releasing more information than the public should see? Does it undermine diplomatic confidentiality and is it a good thing? Is the intimidation by the government and corporations justified? These discussions should be able to address any PLOs related to democracy, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press.
What do you think? Do you have any other ideas on how WikiLeaks can be discussed in the classroom without incriminating yourself?
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Saturday, December 11, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Responsible marketing - does it exist?!
For our second cross-curricular inquiry assignment I decided to do a lesson plan on the following PLO: Identify the social legal and ethical issues involved in marketing products and services. This topic encompass such a wide area that I spent a long time doing searches on the internet trying to narrow it down. I finally ended up focusing on the issue of body image and how stereotypes are reinforced in advertisement. I found some really interesting things.
In 2004, Dove launched the Campaign for Real Beauty that feature real women of different shapes and sizes instead of models. According to a press release, Dove wants “to make women feel more beautiful every day by challenging today's stereotypical view of beauty and inspiring women to take great care of themselves.” The use of women “of various ages, shapes and sizes” is designed “to provoke discussion and debate about today's typecast beauty images.”
In 2006 Dove launched the Evolution ad, which spurred hundreds of copy-cat time-lapse videos of Photoshop beauty routines on Youtube.
And then followed up in 2007 with Onslaught. Both of these ads contain powerful and positive messages on body image.
However, I wonder if it is a bit insincere for Dove to portray such powerful messages with the goal of selling its own products. Boosting women's self confidence and changing typecast images are great, but the root of the problem still exist: the fashion industry ads, and teen magazines that depend on these adverts for survival - the unrealistic model image still persists.
A little more digging revealed that Dove's parent company, Unilever, also owns Axe, a product line notorious for its objectification of women. I'm not familiar with corporate business so I have no idea if Unilever can actually do anything about that since Dove and Axe are two separate companies.
Here's a video "exposing" this little fact:
Turns out this video is made by a marketing firm specializing in on-line promotions and viral marketing, which immediately makes the intent and purpose of this video suspect. Of course, used effectively, viral marketing can be a great use for positive change. By making a parody video of Dove's Onslaught, Greenpeace managed to have Unilever, the the biggest single buyer of palm oil in the world, to agree to support an immediate moratorium on deforestation for palm oil plantations. That's just amazing!
In 2004, Dove launched the Campaign for Real Beauty that feature real women of different shapes and sizes instead of models. According to a press release, Dove wants “to make women feel more beautiful every day by challenging today's stereotypical view of beauty and inspiring women to take great care of themselves.” The use of women “of various ages, shapes and sizes” is designed “to provoke discussion and debate about today's typecast beauty images.”
In 2006 Dove launched the Evolution ad, which spurred hundreds of copy-cat time-lapse videos of Photoshop beauty routines on Youtube.
And then followed up in 2007 with Onslaught. Both of these ads contain powerful and positive messages on body image.
However, I wonder if it is a bit insincere for Dove to portray such powerful messages with the goal of selling its own products. Boosting women's self confidence and changing typecast images are great, but the root of the problem still exist: the fashion industry ads, and teen magazines that depend on these adverts for survival - the unrealistic model image still persists.
A little more digging revealed that Dove's parent company, Unilever, also owns Axe, a product line notorious for its objectification of women. I'm not familiar with corporate business so I have no idea if Unilever can actually do anything about that since Dove and Axe are two separate companies.
Here's a video "exposing" this little fact:
Turns out this video is made by a marketing firm specializing in on-line promotions and viral marketing, which immediately makes the intent and purpose of this video suspect. Of course, used effectively, viral marketing can be a great use for positive change. By making a parody video of Dove's Onslaught, Greenpeace managed to have Unilever, the the biggest single buyer of palm oil in the world, to agree to support an immediate moratorium on deforestation for palm oil plantations. That's just amazing!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
My two-week observation in Comox
We just finished our two-week school observation and I was placed at V.P. Vanier in Comox, B.C. I had a wonderful time there and the teachers were super helpful in giving me tips and advises.
Here are some thoughts:
Teacher enthusiasm and student engagement - From my observation the students respond most positively when teacher is enthusiastic about the class or the club. The school is a strong contender in robotics and improv competitions because the teachers are passionate about the class.
Student apathy - On the flip side, there are students who just don't want to participate despite the teacher's best efforts to motivate them. The school has a large catchment area and covers a wide range of socio-economic classes. Many students have issues at home that affect their learning but is outside the teacher's control.
Indigenous education - Vanier has a very cool Indigenous education program called the Ravens Program. Ravens is a combination of First Nations 12, English 11, and Planning 10. The teacher of the program is very charismatic and engaging. He often challenges students on issues and social perceptions from the Indigenous point of view. Due to funding, the program is currently restricted to students who self-identifies as having Indigenous ancestry.
Here are some thoughts:
Teacher enthusiasm and student engagement - From my observation the students respond most positively when teacher is enthusiastic about the class or the club. The school is a strong contender in robotics and improv competitions because the teachers are passionate about the class.
Student apathy - On the flip side, there are students who just don't want to participate despite the teacher's best efforts to motivate them. The school has a large catchment area and covers a wide range of socio-economic classes. Many students have issues at home that affect their learning but is outside the teacher's control.
Indigenous education - Vanier has a very cool Indigenous education program called the Ravens Program. Ravens is a combination of First Nations 12, English 11, and Planning 10. The teacher of the program is very charismatic and engaging. He often challenges students on issues and social perceptions from the Indigenous point of view. Due to funding, the program is currently restricted to students who self-identifies as having Indigenous ancestry.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Photo editing using on-line softwares
This week's assignment is about design and photo editing. I usually use Photoshop for my editing or Picasa if I just want to do some quick adjustments. But for this assignment I get to review some on-line editing tools. We are to find two Creative Commons licenced photos on the internet and use on-line editing tools to make some simple changes. I chose Picnik and Sumo Paint.
The first image I am using isDon't ya think pigs can fly by be_khe on Flickr.
Love me, don't eat me. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at www.flickr.com
I used Picnik for this photo and applied the following steps:
1. Crop
2. Increased exposure and slightly decreased contrast
3. Applied Soften and Matte filters.
4. Applied text and Drop shadow for frame
Review: Picnik is free to use and very nice and simple for quick edits. If you pay for premium version you get access to additional filters and tools such as curves and levels but it's not really necessary. The nice thing with Picnik is that it integrates with several photo sharing or social networking sites such as Flickr, Picasa Web Album, Myspace, Facebook, etc. Picnik is great if you have a lot of images to edit for a slideshow presentation.
For the second image I chose one of my own image on Flickr
Spring is Here! by Lawrence Wong is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
I used Sumo Paint - claimed to be the "Web's Best Image Editor - Hands Down!"
1. Duplicated the image on a second layer
2. Desaturated the bottom layer
3. Erased the leaves from the top colour layer so the only colour left is on the flower.
4. Drew the bee and added text; added outer glow and stroke effects to the text.
Review: Sumo Paint is indeed powerful. It's a web based app that opens into a new browser window and has many tools offered by Photoshop. The interface is instantly familiar to Photoshop users. It's very flexible, allowing multiple layers, effects, brush shapes, and tools pallete very similar to the one in Photoshop. It does have some quirks, especially when choosing colours. Because it's a web based app, sometimes it's not as responsive.
The first image I am using isDon't ya think pigs can fly by be_khe on Flickr.
Love me, don't eat me. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at www.flickr.com
I used Picnik for this photo and applied the following steps:
1. Crop
2. Increased exposure and slightly decreased contrast
3. Applied Soften and Matte filters.
4. Applied text and Drop shadow for frame
Review: Picnik is free to use and very nice and simple for quick edits. If you pay for premium version you get access to additional filters and tools such as curves and levels but it's not really necessary. The nice thing with Picnik is that it integrates with several photo sharing or social networking sites such as Flickr, Picasa Web Album, Myspace, Facebook, etc. Picnik is great if you have a lot of images to edit for a slideshow presentation.
For the second image I chose one of my own image on Flickr
Spring is Here! by Lawrence Wong is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
I used Sumo Paint - claimed to be the "Web's Best Image Editor - Hands Down!"
1. Duplicated the image on a second layer
2. Desaturated the bottom layer
3. Erased the leaves from the top colour layer so the only colour left is on the flower.
4. Drew the bee and added text; added outer glow and stroke effects to the text.
Review: Sumo Paint is indeed powerful. It's a web based app that opens into a new browser window and has many tools offered by Photoshop. The interface is instantly familiar to Photoshop users. It's very flexible, allowing multiple layers, effects, brush shapes, and tools pallete very similar to the one in Photoshop. It does have some quirks, especially when choosing colours. Because it's a web based app, sometimes it's not as responsive.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
CBC News - Consumer Life - The future of education: reboot required
CBC News - Consumer Life - The future of education: reboot required
This article seems appropriate after today's computer class which dealt with the use of social network technologies in the classroom. The article is an interview with Don Tapscott and a discussion on how the education system needs to change to be more student focused, engaging, collaborative, and adapting to the learning style of the multi-tasking net generation.
So far in my studies it has been emphasized repeatedly that teaching is about engaging students, encourage critical thinking, etc, etc, etc. I'm sure this has been taught in pedagogy courses for many years yet we still have teachers who lapse into lecture style of non-interactive teaching. Why is that? Is it because it's easier and takes less effort? How does technology fit into this? I'm a tech savvy person yet I sometimes still feel overwhelmed by technology because it brings in so much more information and I have to spend more time to filter through those extra information!
This article seems appropriate after today's computer class which dealt with the use of social network technologies in the classroom. The article is an interview with Don Tapscott and a discussion on how the education system needs to change to be more student focused, engaging, collaborative, and adapting to the learning style of the multi-tasking net generation.
So far in my studies it has been emphasized repeatedly that teaching is about engaging students, encourage critical thinking, etc, etc, etc. I'm sure this has been taught in pedagogy courses for many years yet we still have teachers who lapse into lecture style of non-interactive teaching. Why is that? Is it because it's easier and takes less effort? How does technology fit into this? I'm a tech savvy person yet I sometimes still feel overwhelmed by technology because it brings in so much more information and I have to spend more time to filter through those extra information!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
A Discussion on Educational Games
This weekend I participated in OrcaJam, a game development jam session where local independent developers gather and have 48 hours to work on whatever project they want to work on.
During a dinner discussion, I raised the topic of educational games and there was a consensus that most of them aren't fun. That is, many educational games that we've played lack creativity, variety, strategy, and replayability - qualities that bring players back for more. The only educational game that I have had a lot of fun with is Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. Admittedly, I'm not familiar with the educational games scene so there might be gems out there that I just don't know about. So, please, if you know of an educational game that you've enjoyed please post it in the comment below!
Having never developed an educational game before, I can only guess at the challenges that make the games less fun than they could be. Perhaps there were more focus on the education aspect rather than the fun factor aspect; perhaps the institutions that provide the funding put limitations on the developers; perhaps there weren't enough funding and time to make the game both educational and fun.
In the mean time, I'll go and play SimCity and Civilizations - very fun games that are not educational in nature but have great inherent educational values.
Update: Melissa's blog post brought my attention to a Canadian history game project based on the Civilizations game that Queen's University has been working on. The first chapter of a planned three-chapter series is complete and is available for free at The History Game Canada website. The site begins with an entertaining short video introducing the history of Canada in early 1500's. The game covers the New France period of 1525 to 1763 and the player may choose to play as Ojibwe, Huron, Mohawk, Algonquin, Montagnais, Mi'kmaq, Abenaki, France, or England. The game is essentially Civilizations III, but with Canadian content! Thanks Melissa for the tip!
During a dinner discussion, I raised the topic of educational games and there was a consensus that most of them aren't fun. That is, many educational games that we've played lack creativity, variety, strategy, and replayability - qualities that bring players back for more. The only educational game that I have had a lot of fun with is Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. Admittedly, I'm not familiar with the educational games scene so there might be gems out there that I just don't know about. So, please, if you know of an educational game that you've enjoyed please post it in the comment below!
Having never developed an educational game before, I can only guess at the challenges that make the games less fun than they could be. Perhaps there were more focus on the education aspect rather than the fun factor aspect; perhaps the institutions that provide the funding put limitations on the developers; perhaps there weren't enough funding and time to make the game both educational and fun.
In the mean time, I'll go and play SimCity and Civilizations - very fun games that are not educational in nature but have great inherent educational values.
Update: Melissa's blog post brought my attention to a Canadian history game project based on the Civilizations game that Queen's University has been working on. The first chapter of a planned three-chapter series is complete and is available for free at The History Game Canada website. The site begins with an entertaining short video introducing the history of Canada in early 1500's. The game covers the New France period of 1525 to 1763 and the player may choose to play as Ojibwe, Huron, Mohawk, Algonquin, Montagnais, Mi'kmaq, Abenaki, France, or England. The game is essentially Civilizations III, but with Canadian content! Thanks Melissa for the tip!
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