It's About Learning

More VP Academics Choose…iPad or MacBooks

Dwayne Harapnuik — October 13, 2011 — 1 Comment

This is a shot of the technology use at my table at NATVAC 2011, the national meeting of Canadian Provosts and Vice President Academics, in Ottawa. In addition to the 2 MacBook Air there are 3 iPads as well as 5 iphones being used at my table. We were allowed to self select where we sit so this concentration is not planned. There are several other tables with all 5 members who are using iPads or other technologies. I took the time to scan the room and out of the 65 attendees there are only two people using PCs and most people are using iPads, MacBook Airs or MacBook Pros. Similarly the smart phone of choice is the iPhone and most people are using the iPhone 4.

More than 3/4 of the VP Academics in attendance are actually using technology in this session. Yes, the iPads or MacBooks are on the tables are being used as the sessions run. A quarter or less people are using paper to take notes during this session and many of those taking notes on paper are also using iPhones to check email or whatever else they need to do.

Why is this significant? This is my first meeting but I have talked to a few other longer term attendees and they confirmed that this is a very recent phenomenon. With more iPads in use than any other device one can only speculate that the iPad was the device that has changed the way that the VP Academics work. Many of these people are no longer just passively listening they are either engaged in taking notes or are engaged in some aspect of work. This is very good to see. If the iPad or similar technologies are good enough to use in workshops/meetings at this level then it isn’t a stretch to promote this type of technology use in the classroom.

In iPad

Canadian universities must reform or perish

Dwayne Harapnuik — October 13, 2011 — Leave a comment

Canadian universities must reform or perish – The Globe and Mail via kwout

“Its about the learning” or a least it should be according to several authorities quoted in this Globe and Mail article. Canadian universities must place as much emphasis on teaching and learning as they do on research. This is not a new warning and organizations like the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) have seen the proverbial writing on the wall and are looking at how Canadian universities can proactively address these challenges and has developed a website called Great Beginnings that points to examples of innovative teaching and learning in undergraduate education. Institutions like Concordia are in a unique position to provide leadership in undergraduate education because for the most part we have been focusing on teaching and learning while balancing our research efforts.

The call to action for Universities to change here in Canada by AUCC the Federal and Provincial governments and many other stakeholders echo similar calls for change that we are seeing in the US. Richard Arum points to even greater challenges in Higher Education in the US in his book Academically Adrift:Limited learning on college campuses. Arums findings show that 59% of students show no significant difference in their critical and thinking skills after 4 years of undergraduate education. The solution to the problem is really not that difficult and is well within the reach of all academic institution. Arum recommends that if students were to simply read and write more then most of these problems will vanish. The solution really is this simple–we need to embrace the fundamentals of reading and writing with in a context of critical analysis and our learners will be better prepared to learn how to learn.

We need to move from the passive educational environment of main lecture points, rubrics, individual competition and standardized testing to an active educational environment of interactive presentations, critical and analytical thinking, collaboration and meaningful projects. We already do this at Concordia but we can do it better and we also need to let the world know what we have to offer.

In Learning

Julian Treasure: 5 ways to listen better

Dwayne Harapnuik — October 12, 2011 — Leave a comment

I generally try to post only one video for my Wednesday Watch list but I didn’t want to wait until next week to share this gem. Enjoy!

In Video - Wednesday Watchlist listen

Graham Hill: Less stuff, more happiness

Dwayne Harapnuik — October 12, 2011 — Leave a comment

In Video - Wednesday Watchlist edit, less, stuff

Steve Jobs talks about the Crazy Ones – who think different

Dwayne Harapnuik — October 7, 2011 — Leave a comment

Over the next few days we will see many blogs, videos and news shows that pay tribute to Steve Jobs. It is doubtful that you will see this first video in any of these tributes because the sound and image quality is a bit off yet it captures the essence of what made Jobs unique and explains the foundation to the “Think Different” campaign and the core values of Apple. Staying true to ones core values is not only the key to marketing success it is key to one personal and corporate identity.

The second video offers just the Think Different add narrated by Steven Jobs…the original Think Different add that was published was narrated by Richard Dreyfus.