September 30, 2010 - 4:47 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
School Board Trustee Mike Lombardi is really onto something with his push to have social media as part of the curriculum in our schools.
Last week when the local media picked up on School Board Trustee Mike Lombardi’s call to make teaching social media as part of a digital literacy curriculum, I heard some people say that it was a gimmick announcement – a well-timed media hit after pictures of the terrible gang-rape in Pitt Meadows a few weeks back went viral on Facebook.
But aside from the fact that kids need to be instilled with what is and is not appropriate conduct when it comes to their online social media personas, these kinds of statistics and scenarios are demonstrating how valuable its incorporation into learning can be in motivating and engaging students to succeed.
As much as I am discouraged by the way that kids are plugged in yet so tuned out at the same time, I think that Lombardi is onto something. Social media isn’t going anywhere, and if we can teach kids a code of conduct, and at the same time inspire enthusiasm within their studies, then I am all for a new curriculum.
September 21, 2010 - 10:27 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
The electoral future of the party is in the hands of COPE's powers that be.
Stephen Elliott-Buckley has an interesting live-blogging account of COPE’s AGM, which took place this past Sunday.
Now it must be noted that the one hundred people that showed up for the meeting, half of which were monthly contributors to the party, are about double the crowd that has bothered to show up for multiple meetings for the Non Partisan Association. And so in spite of the fact that recent polling shows that the NPA still attracts about 28 per cent support when compared to 13 per cent for COPE, the ability of COPE to produce an army for getting out the vote on election day is still very real and formidable. Election watchers will note that one of the NPA’s biggest downfalls in 2008 was the fact that their e-day contingent was absolutely dwarfed by the combined forces of Vision Vancouver and COPE.
Which brings me to the most important topic that emerged from the meeting: how the distinct stands of COPE over the past two years:
- opposing the tax shift from business to residents
- demanded a timeline on the province’s affordable housing sites
- reopening Little Mountain
- restoring arts funding
- city-wide wireless, and scooter parking
- campaign finance reform caps
- preserving Stanley Park farm and the Conservatory
- electoral reform
- opposing civil liberties violation by-laws before the Olympics
- amateur sports at Empire Bowl
- increasing green space at Hastings Park
- gave back Olympics tickets
- building a coalition to fight education cuts
- for transparent neighbourhood engagement
can be rationalized with a new deal of cooperation with Vision Vancouver. Because as I see it, Vision and COPE will be equally reliant on such an agreement being reached in order for both parties to fulfill their respective electoral goals.
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April 27, 2010 - 10:40 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
April 19, 2010 - 12:05 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
The BC Government should remember that behind each of these students, there are two parents concerned, angry and confused by the budget shortfalls being encountered by school boards across the province.
With the vote on the Vancouver School Board (VSB) proposed $18.12 million in budget cuts for fiscal 2010-11, the heat is rising on a provincial government led by a rookie Minister being thrown to the wolves by Premier Gordon Campbell.
Yesterday, over 500 parents and kids packed the John Oliver high school gym to rant against a provincial government that so far doesn’t have the guts to be honest with the amount of funding AND EXPENSES that are being passed on to school board across BC.
Speaking about the politics of the situation for a second, I interpret the shifting of the messaging from the Minister as a sign that the BC Liberals are beginning to realize that it is them rather than the VSB, or any individual school board for that matter, that is going to bare the brunt of the fallout.
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