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Saturday, January 24, 2004

A post from a snowy Calgary, AB.

I'm in at the office taking care of some last minute arrangements before my move to Victoria in the morning. I have mixed feelings about the impending move -- for one I'm really going to miss the interaction I've enjoyed with colleagues here in the Calgary offices of SMART Technologies Inc.

The good news is that I'll be able to continue to work for SMART while based in Victoria. Thanks to my employer for their flexibility in accommodating my situation with this arrangement. Travel to and from Victoria will be a little more difficult, in terms of connections and such, than it is from Calgary, but I'm hoping it doesn't prove too onerous.

One thing I won't miss is shovelling snow, although not having the mountains an hour away for skiing and 'boarding might be a bit of an issue.

All in all I think the move will be a good thing. I didn't realize how much I missed being around water until I was close to it again over the last couple of weeks while in Victoria. As always, watch this space for updates.

NOTE: Special thanks to all those in attendance for last night's send-off -- had a great time!

Tuesday, January 20, 2004

Off to LA ahead of a training session tomorrow in Garden Grove, CA for faculty and staff at the Lincoln Educational Center.

I'm really looking forward to the trip to California and working with this group of adult educators on how they can use SMART Board(TM) interactive whiteboards to make a positive impact in their classrooms.

Sunday, January 18, 2004

Salut from the Island....

Wasn't supposed to be here for a little over a week, but the weather in YYC yesterday provided an opportunity to make a dash to Victoria.

I'd already boarded a flight to YYC in SLC, but staff told us that inclement at our destination precluded making the journey. I was able to catch a flight to SEA and then buy a ticket to YYJ.

I was impressed with the level of service provided by the employees of three airlines -- Delta, Horizon and Westjet.

Head to YYC this evening and then off LAX for a couple of days and back to YYC at the end of the week.

On top of two real estate deals in two provinces which close the middle of next month, I've got all of 13 days to come up with a project proposal for CTL1922. Timely in that I need a Major Research Project, and one more course, to complete my M.Ed. degree at OISE/UT.

I'm keen to test the limits of the SMART Education Object (SMARTeo). A scaffold to support learning. Follow these steps to gain a better understanding of a particular topic or task.

How can individual -- or groups of -- learners use technology to create "objects" or "artifacts" to be catalogued or meta-tagged for sustainable knowledge-building activities within a given community of learning?

For example, encourage learners to use the model and a "do-it-yourself" approach with SMART Recorder and SMART Video Player to make "how-to" movies on topics that meet their needs in a way that makes sense to them.

NOTE: I've tried a couple of times to post a movie -- inline -- in this space, but have been unable to get it to work. Haven't been able to get the movie embedded as an object in our knowledge forum interface at school today either. It's a WMV file and I'll have to see if I have better luck with a ASX version.