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Vancouver School Board considers social media policy
The Vancouver School Board is thinking of implementing a social media policy that would prohibit teachers from being friends with their students on social media sites. Teachers and students would only be permitted to communicate on these sites for educational purposes (ex: asking/answering questions about a classroom assignment, contributing to a class blog, etc).
Click here to read the article by CBC news.
UBC Education Library now on Twitter
It has been only three weeks since UBC Education Library joined Twitter and already we’ve gained quite a nice following! We’re tweeting news in Education and UBC Education Library events and workshops.
Won’t you follow us if you haven’t already?
Education group asks for mandatory aboriginal studies course in BC schools
From The Vancouver Sun article:
Key education stakeholders are asking the B.C. government to require all students to take a course in aboriginal studies before graduation.
While they already learn about aboriginal issues during Social Studies classes, this proposal would require students to also take a separate course, such as B.C. First Nations Studies 12 or the First Peoples course offered in Grades 10, 11 and 12.
Incredible TED talk on the power of connection in education
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFnMTHhKdkw[/youtube] Rita Pierson, a teacher for 40 years, once heard a colleague say, “They don’t pay me to like the kids.” Her response: “Kids don’t learn from people they don’t like.’” A rousing call to educators to believe in their students and actually connect with them on a real, human, personal level.
Pierson describes simple gestures like apologizing to students when you’ve made a mistake, focusing on their positives attributes and self esteem building. The funniest example of this attitude in action is illustrated when Pierson describes a student who got 18 questions wrong on a twenty question test. Pierson wrote “+2” and a smiley face on the top of the page explaining, “minus 18 sucks all the life out of you. Plus 2 says I ain’t all bad”
The take home message here: Every child deserves a champion and through the power of connection, learning is possible. Well worth watching.
BC school Wi-Fi debate resurfacing
From the Vancouver Sun Article:
Parents fear health effects, despite lack of hard evidence of medical risks
The debate about whether wireless technology in schools poses a health hazard is gaining steam, says the president of the B.C. Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils (BCCPAC).
Health Canada insists there is no convincing evidence that exposure to low-level radio frequency energy from Wi-Fi poses a health hazard,