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Public school spending up dramatically in Canada despite falling enrolment: Fraser Institute. The provinces are spending more than ever on public school education despite a widespread decline in student enrolment, according to a new Fraser Institute report. Government spending on elementary and secondary schools increased 53.1% to $59.6 billion in 2011/2012 from $38.9 billion in 2001/2002 across the provinces. The number of students in public schools declined in every province but Alberta, which grew 5.4%, during the same period. Newfoundland and Labrador saw student enrolment decline 22% over 10 years, the widest drop in the country. Per-student spending increased 63.2% to $11,835 from $7,250 across Canada.

Report co-author Deani Van Pelt told the National Post the study was intended to prompt serious questions about how money is being spent “in a time of constraint.” ‘Are we getting results for these dramatic, marked increases in spending? “Are we getting results for these dramatic, marked increases in spending? Ms. “Can we be wiser in how we’re spending?” Ms. Ms. National Post.

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The 6 Technologies That Will Change the Face of Education -- Campus Technology. Ed Tech Trends The 6 Technologies That Will Change the Face of Education Makerspaces, wearable technologies and adaptive learning technologies are three of the six technologies that will have a profound impact on higher education within the next five years, according to the NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Higher Education Edition, released Wednesday by the New Media Consortium and the Educause Learning Initiative.

The annual report is developed by a panel of higher education experts to identify major developments in education technology and technological trends that will help shape teaching and learning in the near future. The researchers also identify the six most significant challenges facing education in the coming years.

Technological developments are sorted into three categories: those whose impact will be felt soon (or is being felt now), those that will come into p[lay in the mid-term (two to three years) and those that are a bit further out on the horizon (four to five years). Educational Discourse. Add New Post ‹ Educational Discourse — WordPress. Add New Post ‹ Educational Discourse — WordPress. Add New Post ‹ Educational Discourse — WordPress. Educational Discourse › Log In.

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Learning Through a Lens. Phoenix Rising | Educational Discourse. I’ve recently began the #dcmooc – Digital Citizenship and am looking forward to the connecting and learning. The prompt for this week was: What are your goals for #DCMOOC, and what will you do to achieve them? My response had covered three areas: Deeper learning, Connections, Reflection. The reflection part I hope to capture, to some degree, here. But to do that, I’ll have to write. About my learning.

It’s not the writing Unlike a lot of other people I have talked to about blogging, I don’t have any problem in coming up with topics or with the writing. See, I wrote a post and a fairly influential blogger disagreed. But it wasn’t the disagreement… it was the comments that followed…. because I didn’t just give up my ludicrous position and ideas and agree….I was accused of a few nasty things, called a bunch of names.

That would have been okay with me but it continued…….. with every post I wrote the person would return ——– nonstop abusive comments. Public humiliation. on my blackberry Kelly. Why don’t you connect? | Educational Discourse. Exercise. Physical activity. Working out. Whatever name you give to this aspect of our lives, it’s important. I just started back into an exercise routine. It happens about twice a year – I begin exercising again. The biggest deterrent isn’t doing the exercise. I don’t know why. So why don’t more people exercise regularly?

The same kind of questions can be asked of teachers and their willingness, or lack of it, to make changes, especially when it comes to technology. I guess that’s why, for most teachers, exercise and their own learning both get done “when I have time”. Connecting – Exercise for our Learning As I was going through my routine today, I was thinking about a post I had read by Jana Scott Lindsay – Courage to Connect. Connecting requires real courage. Like exercise or making a decision to eat right or to change a habit or reach out ….. doing something requires that one gets started. That’s why 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. It’s okay to be different? | Educational Discourse. Digital Citizenship – what does it mean to be a citizen? Different – why do I have to be okay with being different? My daughter is a goalie and anyone who has been around hockey, or any sport that involves a goalie, knows that the message is that they are a bit “different”. She cannot wait for hockey season. She enjoys a game where she gets 50 or 60 shots.

She thrives on one goal leads. She’s learned to let that last goal be a distant memory and that bad game be a distant horizon. She enjoys watching the game – is disappointed when her teams don’t win and doesn’t like to see any goalie get blown away. But that’s not really why she’s different. I thought it was simple – what do you want to eat? Along comes sister. You want a hotdog? Youngest says something And a drink. Head nod. Dumbfounded stare. She wants a hotdog and drink from Orange Julius over there. Dumbfounded stare. She was different. For many years, I am guilty of seeing her as “different”.

She’s different. She’s different. It’s hard. It’s okay to be different? | Educational Discourse. They will grow up | Educational Discourse. First off, I’d like to thank Dr. Alec Couros for a great second session at #dcmooc and Katia Hildebrandt and Joanne Saunders for the work they have done in gathering, organizing and sharing materials. The prompts this week from the #dcmooc discussion focus on guiding students/children to develop the skills and means to become self-regulating, self-filtering, self-monitoring individuals who consume and create material in an ethical manner and are aware of the need to actively reach out and help others wherever they might be and the role the school has in helping them grow in these areas.

Where to start? In a number of posts the idea of exploring the web and digital citizenship has, naturally, been the topic of discussion. There is no Manual The picture that opens this post is of our family. “It’s your story. As a parent to eight children, I am very careful about giving out parenting advice. What is my relationship? Okay, that was two questions. Around the World in 192 Days. Yoda was Right – A Reflective Post. For the past 4 months I’ve been pondering what route to explore next. After 23 years in education, the last 13 as an administrator, I made the decision in May not to return to my current position and resigned. Since then, I’ve done a great deal of thinking, reading, thinking, listening, thinking and then some more thinking. During this time, I’ve been able to read through blogs and articles, engage in chats and basically do a great many things that I found it hard to do.

And as I’ve had time to think and play with my 4 year old son, I’ve seen that indeed, Yoda was right - Do or Do Not, there is no try For many things in life, it is okay to try – new foods, clothes, hairstyles, hobbies, books, blogs and various other things require us to try. The one big one I’ve discovered is forgiveness. As an administrator, the most important thing for building a positive and productive culture is trust. Helping others. All of these are part of living a life of fulfillment and joy. Like this: Where do you get your reading? Where do you go for new sources of reading? Suggestions from other administrators? Other educators? Suggestions from known educational authors? From particular organizations? Do you seek ideas outside these circles? Read to Lead I’d like to suggest you check out Jeff Brown’s @THEjeffbrown podcast at ReadtoLead.com . Like this: Like Loading... The Power of Brands: a 67000% Return in One Day & 3 Tips to Make your Personal Brand the Next Apple.

See on Scoop.it – Educational Discourse I’m a child of Descartes. I grew up in a rational world where logical thinking was the best weapon against ignorance, the right way out of dogma, and I still think today that it’s a decent objective. Kelly Christopherson‘s insight: In educaiton, we need to focus on #3. We need to develop ourselves our brand, as educators.

See on blog.scoop.it Like this: Like Loading... Phase Two – Giving Support. Cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Thai Jasmine… Teacher growth is very important. As a beginning teacher, I realized that I needed help with so much but there was this unwritten code – if you ask for help you are weak. So I stumbled along learning by fire. I was barely adequate. After my first 2 years I wanted to quit. It’s Not A Badge Trial-by-fire isn’t a badge new teachers get or something that they add to their website or blog. In my first post – Phase One – Reaching Out – I explain how, as an administrator, it’s critical to have formal conversations with teachers about their professional growth and helping them plan for this growth. Giving Support After meeting with each teacher to talk about their Professional Growth Plan and brainstorm some ideas, it’s important to meet with them shortly afterwards.

As an aside, I highly encourage people to read Beyond the To Do List by Erik Fisher and to subscribe to Read to Lead podcast with Jeff Brown. “Be good to other people. Educational Discourse.