I’m really pleased to be celebrating 44 years of marriage with Susan my lover and long suffering partner. We’ve seen a few rocky moments, but always came back to the realization that we needed and wanted each other. And for that I am very grateful.
is What it was like in 1981 In Edmonton.
I was too much of a hippy to were a suit (much less a tux) in those days. The weather was cold (I wish I could say unseasonably) but now that we are back in Edmonton the low forecast for this Sunday is -29C, I guess it wqs normal – but bloody cold!
We went out with our friends Kathleen and Rory McGreal – a good time was had by all!
Every year in January, Susan and I take a short trip to celebrate our wedding anniversary- this year our 43rd! As often or not, we head for the Rocky Mountains and the nearest mountain town of Jasper. Alberta.
This year, we expected an unappreciated change in this “mountain jewel”. In August, a huge wildfire had swept through the Athabasca Valley, reaching and engulfing the area around the town. Sadly, the fire didn’t stop at the town’s edge and when it was finally extinguished about 30% of the town was reduced to smoldering ruins.
We couldn’t help but be disaster tourists as we slowly drove through the hardest hit western part of town. First we saw the ruins of the historic Anglican Church.
The building reminded me of the remains of European Church that time alone had reduced to stone corner and foundation. The churches walls, floor and arched ceiling trucked to the landfill and only these stones and a a pile of twisted metal from heating and fixtures remained
The adjacent suburb was mostly flattened ground with piles of rubble and two large excavators loading these piles into trucks. Remarkedly, the devastated area was marked by individual houses and one whole street that seemed untouched. Vehicles outside these surviving houses showing residents had returned – perhaps with a sense of survivor guilt. We later heard that firefighters had bulldozed certain houses (some already alit) to create fire breaks that allowed neighbors homes to be spared.
All that was left of the Esso service station and convenience store was the Esso sign and two iron ceiling beams. The Maligne Lodge and our favorite coffee shop now sadly a bulldozed, scarred empty lot.
Downtown Jasper, as expected of a major tourist destination, is full of restaurants, mountaineering stores, souvenirs and gift. stores and historic hotels. Sprinkled in of course are municipal buildings, banks, library and other services for a town of 5,000 residents.
The commercial buildings seemed intact and open for business, with two exceptions, In the middle of both main streets were blocks of 4-5 two story buildings that were now either empty or covered with scaffolding. This scaffolding was the only evidence we could see of active rebuilding in the whole town. It seems that, as in the suburbs, flying embers had set alight one of more buildings in the downtown core and firefighters had destroyed these to prevent spreading the wildfire spreading.
We then headed to the most famous hotel in Jasper, the luxurious Jasper Park Lodge. This hotel had been built to accommodate well healed visitors travelling on the newly constructed CN cross Canada Railroad. Unlike many of the other luxury railway hotels, the Jasper Park Lodge was not constructed like a medieval castle, but rather consists of a main lodges and 30-40 smaller cabins – that vary in size and cost from hotel studios to multi room log cabins.
We usually stayed at the Lodge for our anniversary but this year we just couldn’t see our selves paying $400 plus a night for the privilege of acting rich. However, we couldn’t resist a couple of visits to the main lodge to enjoy an expensive lunch or two.
In our hike around the lake that fronts the Lodge, we marveled at how close the fire had come. The lodge building were was completely surrounded (though with a buffer of 3-400 meters) by blackened stumps where once the fir forest had thrived. the next day we hiked up the Maligne canyon to really visual the forest destruction. In years past we usually put our ice cleats on and hiked through the frozen canyon marvelling athe ice encrusted rock walls. This year however the hike trough the canyon itself was closed as 3 of the wooden bridges and many guard rails that surrounded the canyon had been destroyed. Further down the river at the 6th bridge we walked through the forest, amazed at the blackened trunks, mostly still standing. WSe could see the work that had already done by Parks Canada staff to clear this trail of fallen trees and other debris. Very few of the trees had actually burned though – but all had lost their needles and many leaned on their denuded neighbours for support.
On most of the mountains surrounding the town, the fire had climbed up to the tree line. Blackening all the trees. Of course, fire in the forested mountains is partof the cycle of nature. The problem is this cycle revolves on time scales not set by humans. It will likely be far past my lifetime before Jasper’s mountain slopes return to their emerald majesty.
Despite the tragedy of this wildfire, the spirit of Jasper lives on. Fortunately the Marmot Basin ski hill was not burnt and though electrical and other utilities suffered, the Hill opened for skiers on time. The Town also is shaking off the tragedy. We attended the annual Street Party that finishes “January in Jasper” celebrations. The temperature – about -15C with wind was a wee bit chilly, but bonfires, propane heaters and our Riverdale friends from Major Love warmed the crowd with their music.
Despite the challenges that lay in front for residents, flora and fauna of Jasper National Park, irt remains a jewel in the Rockies and this will not be our last visit.
I have been neglecting this blog for so long, that I think it was threatening to get rid of me!
I am well, have a new PaceMaker to keep the ol’ heart beating on time and have survived another Edmonton Winter. I spend far too much time trying to understand and lately combatting the illeral left and their ideological wars or free speech and the increasing racism of the “anti-racists”.
However, I had occasion to want to learn how to do a video edit, without clogging up my overloaded hard drive, so I tried Microsoft’s new and free of charge ClipChamp program. Of course I had to have a video file to practice on, so I stumbled upon a recording I did last year of the Huron Carol. I managed to edit it a bit and add a title and save and publish it – so very belated or early Winter Solstice/Christmas greetings to all.
The following post will perhaps be of little interest to those not involved with Unitarian Universalism (UU). However I believe this issue has relevance in our broader society including the universities, government, NGOs and businesses . So please – read on!
The post documents the recent fall of Canada’s most liberal church into one now dominated by critical theory ideology. Critical ideology has been gaining adherents in both social and commercial life since it emerged from the Universities in the last two decades. However, I hope the story will perhaps be of value to other denominations and organizations confronting the challenges of this ideology.
Unitarians have always been leftist leaning progressives, with liberal values built right into their Seven Principles. The first and arguably the most important Principle is “inherent worth and dignity of every person.” Thus, it was a complete surprise to me, to see that Unitarians are being asked to understand and to describe themselves as a racist organization, because the vast majority of Unitarians are ‘white’ and thus have, and continue to enjoy ‘white privilege’.
We are challenged by Critical Theory to be “woke” to the inherent racial and gender issues that demand our immediate attention. As I read and learn, I have come to believe that this agenda challenges, in a variety of ways, the liberal values of free speech, compassion, and independent thought, and thus should only be undertaken with caution and a great deal of open and honest discussion.
In this post I discuss and provide links to some of the articles and books that have been influential to me in this important discussion – not just to Unitarians, but to all.
However, the spark for me was lit by Rev. Todd Eklof when he wrote, printed and distributed a book the The Gadfly Papers: Three Inconvenient Essays by One Pesky Minister or free PDF download here at the Annual 2017 UU General Assembly – to which his church was host. The book has three essays. The first takes ideas from The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure. Eklof applies these coddling ideas to such things as being afraid of honest debate for fear of causing harm to the other and of believing that every feeling that passes through your being must be acted upon. In the second essay “I want a divorce” he argues that the 1962 merger of the Unitarians and Universalists hasn’t been good for either. In the final essay he recounts a version of the events and controversy over staff hiring that led to the resignation of the President of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA).
I liked many of the ideas in the first chapter and went on to read the coddling book. I personally wasn’t convinced by Eklof’s argument that the UUA ought to divorce, but I certainly don’t think writing about the possibility is a major sin. The final chapter, a blow by blow description of a really sad hiring episode in the American Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) always has at least two understandings of what occurred. So – an interesting book, but one that contains ideas with which some people will not or cannot engage.
The astounding part of the story for me comes from the reaction of the UU Ministers Association and the UUA. Within days an open letter shaming Rev. Eklof was signed by over 500 UU ministers – must of whom likely had no time to even read the book. Eklof was subsequently ejected from the Ministers’ Association and efforts were made to undermine his support in his own congregation. A shameful public ‘outing’ of a respected person merely for writing a book.
“Among our objections to The Gadfly Papers are what we believe to be misrepresentation of easily verifiable facts about recent events in the UU community, claims that historically oppressed minorities are putting their own interests above everyone else’s, assuming the worst intentions in others while insisting that the historically privileged be judged only by their good intentions, and dishonest appeals to logic and reason meant to discredit the emotions and experiences of marginalized populations while absolving the historically privileged of any responsibility for self-examination. By doing this, The Gadfly Papers violates the first and second principles of Unitarian Universalism. These essays deny the inherent worth and dignity of every person by dismissing and demonizing the voices of marginalized people, and argues against seeking justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.
As I read the book for myself, I reached none of the conclusions noted above. I also note that very few of Eklof’s critics, provide direct quotes that are harmful or are willing to engage with the issues he raises.
“The purpose of this book is to introduce readers to the new “White Supremacy Culture” (WSC) anti-racist movement of the left and several closely related concepts: White privilege, implicit bias, micro-aggressions, and white fragility. The analysis examines the potential impact of these ideas on anti-racist social justice work and the unintended negative effects on fundamental U.S. values such as free speech, freedom of conscience, individualism, objectivity, logic, reason, efficiency, and others. This is a critique from the left of the extremist form that the White Supremacy Culture strategy of anti-racist work has taken, especially within Unitarian Universalism. “
For those not wishing to read the whole book, a shorter, open access essay covering much of the same ground is available here. Schneider writes that this is a book she didn’t wish to write, but the alarming adoption of Critical Race Theory by Unitarian ministers, seminaries and organizations demanded her response.
This of course made me need to understand Critical Race Theory. The following quote from Critical Race Theory (Third Edition) by Richard Delgado & Jean Stefancic illustrates the breadth of CRT and the challenge it presents to “traditional civil rights”.
Unlike traditional civil rights discourse, which stresses incrementalism and step-by-step progress, critical race theory questions the very foundations of the liberal order, including equality theory, legal reasoning, Enlightenment rationalism, and neutral principles of constitutional law.
This is a scholarly book that chronicles the development of critical theories from their birth as post modern critique and deconstruction of dominant ideas and practices. The conversations were mostly confined to Universities until they spilled out of the academy and now are propelling reflection, writing and social action, a whole panorama and a multi billion dollar race relations and inclusion training industry. The book covers similarities and differences amongst the family of critical theories including gender, feminist, gay, trans, queer, disability and fat theory. The final chapter details how liberalism – without identity politics – is a far superior way to meet the challenges of 21st Century living. Critical theories and their enactment leads to and is dependent upon controversy, challenge and disruption.
Pluckrose has gone on the develop a support site for those being challenged or shunned for beliefs not aligned with CRT dogma. Her Counterweight site has some excellent videos and I especially liked the video explaining the difference between liberal and critical social justice.
Canadian UUs 8th Principle
The validity and rationale for the rushed and spontaneous adoption by the Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) at its 2021 AGM, of a new 8th Principle and for a move to CRT, was grounded in a survey conducted and a final report by a Dismantling Racism Study Group of the CUC. The survey found that Canadian Unitarian churches harbour persistent racism and white supremacy. The survey methodology and its biased question wording was severely criticized by a professional statistician from Vancouver. However, there was no response to these concerns from the Study Group.
I now understand Critical Race Theory research does not necessarily depend upon or even search for an objective ‘truth’. Rather, if the research furthers the aim of the ‘cause’ then it can be righteously manipulated and used as a tool – in this case to ”dismantle racism”.
The delegates to that meeting passed an extraordinary motion to immediately adopt an 8th Principle. This rushed process was later deemed to be in violation of the CUC’s own bylaws and I believe also violated the 5th Principle of supporting demographic processes.
The proposed 8th Principle states “We, the member congregations of the Canadian Unitarian Council, covenant to affirm and promote: “Individual and communal action that accountably dismantles racism and other oppressions in ourselves and in our institutions.” The CUC then set a process for educational courses and special meeting to discuss and vote on the proposed principle in Nov. 2021.
The CUC then hosted a series of Zoom forums to discuss the proposed 8th Principle and possibly to recommend changes to the wording. Very unfortunately, these “Forums” ,were structured lessons in Critical Race Theory at which all were required to “do the work” including a good dose of atonement. Again, no space was given to allow divergence of thought, no place for different opinions or conclusions and essentially no debate was permitted on the wording of the proposed Principle. The Woke have a profound distrust of engaging in potentially divisive conversation- no matter what its validity. This rejection of dialogue is common in many illiberal and authoritarian groups but very novel to Unitarians.
Prior to the vote, the CUC called out the “big guns” of the Canadian UU Ministers – all of whom spoke (by video) for the need to pass this 8th Principle- without amendment. These ‘professionals’ supported, by paid CUC staff members, conducted an all out campaign to insure the Principle passed. Moreover, no one addressed issues of the meaning of accountability, definition of racism, or even what dismantling really means. The one change in wording that was accepted dropped the words about changing “other oppressions” to more clearly focus on dismantling racism and systemic barriers to full inclusion”.
Let me be clear I do not support racism – either systematic or overt and welcome effective efforts to eliminate it in all of its forms. However, I don’t support this principle for a number of reasons.
First, it isn’t a principle, but rather a call to action. I can think of other actions, notably climate change, that demand response from all of us, as required by our commitment to the 7 existing principles. The CUC’s 2008 Statement of Principles Task Force recommended that the CUC “lead a process to include a “Call to Action” in the envelope text.” I think that if Principle was an action statement on racism and climate change would be useful.
Second, the language of the principle fails to meet the standard of a “simple and incontestable principle” called for In 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man. Some have argued that “it’s only words, let’s get on with work” however that is all a Principle is – words – and thus they must be chosen with care and wisdom. I find three words to be highly contestable and lacking of clear definition. The first is “dismantle” which does have some common understanding, but eliminate, end, or other words would be more easily understood. When an oil tanker is demolished, you still have lots of waste to deal with. How will you know when racism has been ‘dismantled’? The second word is ‘racist’, which used to have a fairly common meaning. But we have come to understand that it is a socially created concept and some are now arguing that black people can’t be racists and then all white people are racists because they have grown up in racist society or exist with a white supremicist Church – we see that the word is highly contested. Finally, and most bothersome is the key word ”accountable”. “Accountable” cries out for definition. Accountable to whom or to what? Holding others accountable for anything raises the spectre of thought police, speech police, outing, silencing, shaming and division. Unitarians do not all think, talk or act the same and this diversity should be nurtured – not extinguished. We are charged to engage in A free and responsible search for truth and meaning, not to be held accountable for thinking or acting differently than others. Holding each other accountable to others ideas or actions is also in direct contradiction to thethe intent of the principle covered by the First “inherent worth and dignity” Principle and the Second “justice, equity and compassion in human relations.”
Finally, adding additional principles only lessens their total impact. I do not oppose, on principle, addition of new Principles. However, any new Principle must be clearly written, easily understandable, aspirational and inspiring, and finally it must be shown to not to confuse or lead to widely disparate understandings. Highlighting only racism also leaves a lingering question of where is wealth inequality and climate change? What of those UUs whose passion and energy for social justice are focused on other challenging issues? How accountable can these people be and to whom?
I’ve since read a number of books on racism that I find much more reasonable. The first was Caste: the origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. This book notes that much of what we describe as racism is a form of caste oppression. A second and perhaps more relevant book is by Irshad Manji Don’t Label Me: An Incredible Conversation for Divided Times This book uses a pretty corny literary technique of a conversation with her blind dog, but contains a great deal of sound advice for dealing with other people. As the title suggests – she comes down hard on boxing and labelling people based on criteria that you invent or choose to focus on.
The latest move for “accountability” by the CUC includes publication on their web site of a Responsibility Covenant
This looks to me like an escalation of the “group accountability” theme that will require a host of thought and speech police to enforce and will drive liberals and Freethinkers away from Unitarianism in droves. Fortunately, there is no discussion (yet) on the use for or adoption process of this ‘covenant’.
This escalating debate has been referred to as “the Gadfly Movement” by critics. You can see a particularly alarming and one-sided critique of the “Gadfly Movement” by Rev. Sharah Skochko. She claims that the Gadfly movement is an alt-right movement, supported by white middle class men, who are determined to end the long UU tradition of working for social justice. I’ve been called many things, but this a first to be slandered as “alt-right”. Rev Skochko solution is to “Kick them Out“. She does note that Unitarians are quite rightly very reluctant to kick anyone out, but she sees no other solution.
I fear that most Canadians Unitarians won’t bother fighting this critical theory driven agenda and will just walk away. A much more reasonable approach to the controversy and to the vote on the 8th Principle would be to hold an honest and open debate. The Unitarian Universalist Multi-National Association recently held a debate on the 8th Principle, and I urge all Canadian Unitarians to watch thedebate.
Aftermath
Our Westwood Congregation had two zoom meetings in order to discuss the proposed 8th Principle and to instruct our two delegates on how to vote at the upcoming CUC Special meeting. I and a number of others spoke as elegantly as we could on the problems with the proposed Principle. However, there was little exchange, questioning or negotiation – both sides seemed stuck in either opposing or supporting (with elegant language) the proposed Principle In the end, our Westwood Congregation and later, the CUC voted to adopt the 8th Principle.
An ex-president of our congregation concluded that the CUC made a fundamental mistake of believing that all Unitarians can be forced to believe in a single ideology (of either left or right) and that the discussion, debate, and consensus can be discarded if the cause is of sufficient importance.
At this point, I feel that I can no longer support or be a member of an organization that supports and reflects Critical Race Theory in its programming. At its roots, I believe that Critical Race Theory is a racist ideology that is, (by design) extremely divisive. I also realized that I no longer felt much community with many of the members of our congregation.
Thus, I resigned my membership and with it my responsibilities for the Westwood website and as Building coordinator. However, I couldn’t walk away from my ‘beloved’ 🙂 Westwood Unitarian’s FreeThinker’s Book Club.
Thus, the end of my almost 50 years as a Unitarian. I look forward to a day when all of society works towards and acts with justice and compassion to all its members, but I see a near future of continuing and escalating confrontation. All of this reading has left me worried not only for Unitarians, but for all liberals who value diversity, free thought and tolerance. We should and can work on large challenges including racism, income and wealth disparity and climate change – but using critical theory as a basis for our thinking and actions will only lead to diversion and stall any real progress.
In 2014, I was honoured to be invited (with my wife Susan) to be a visiting scholar at Beijing Normal University (BNU). BNU is arguably the preeminent research university in distance and online education in China. One of my commitments during this visit was to create a review of the thorny and complex topic of interaction in distance education.
As anyone researching distance and online education and many readers of this blog will know, interaction leading to active and engaged learning is a pivotal topic for teachers, learners and institutions. Interaction is multi-faceted (many actors, many modes) but also expensive in terms of student and teacher time. Thus, there has been a wealth of research on the topic during the 40 years that I have been an active researcher and teacher.
Thus, with no apology for the length, I link here the final 44 page review. Most obviously it is 7 years out of date, but I think distance education researchers and teachers will find something of value in the extensive research and references noted. Ironically when I returned to Canada I submitted the review study and was told it was published in China, However, I didn’t bother to promote or publish the review myself.
Fortunately, Grad student SCOTT A. HAUERT, saw the review in Chinese and asked me to make it available (in English)! I attempt to rectify this mistake by posting the review here under a Creative Common Public Domain license.
Almost two years ago I installed solar collectors on our Edmonton home and garage. Neither location was perfect- one facing WSW rather than South and one partially covered with shadow from trees an a neighbouring house. Nonetheless, I was able to install 20, 385 watt panels for a total capacity (under full sun) of 7.7KW. The total cost was around $18,000 Can and I received about $4,000 government incentive – so $14000 investment. For the first few months I stuck with my old supplier and saw minimal returns and terrible documentation of my micro-generation.
So last year I switched to a small energy coop the Alberta Cooperative Energy which has a great deal for micro-producers. I sell (and buy) electricity to the grid at a much higher rate ($.25 KWH) when my collectors are producing during the summer- yielding a nice monthly payment. During the winter I revert to standard rates in Alberta (~.06 KWH).
The annual bills from ACE revealed that we had used 5.940 MWHs from the grid and generated 5.950 MWHs to put back in! Self sufficiency – sort of. Of course in dark and cold Northern Alberta winter, we were consuming much more than we produced.
A further look at bills showed the financial payback detail. The first full year produced an annual return of 5.56%! Too bad the panels were snow covered for 4 months!
This return is tax free and appeals to my inherently frugal mentality.
I hope this data inspires others to make their own solar investments.
My friend Lloyd Marshall posted the image below to Facebook last week. It prompted this post reflecting on “the spiritual but not religious” meme we hear regularly in post-church society.
Let me begin by noting that I am an atheist. It god did exist, she would be way to busy starting new universes to worry about my sins or to be interfering in our lives. But I am also a Unitarian Universalist and thus choose to live (at least part of the week) in a religious fishbowl.
Let me start by explaining that Unitarian Universalists have hundreds of years of “religious” history, but have also long made room for atheists, agnostics, humanists and a variety of other non-theists. Unitarian Universalist (UUs) are non- credal – a religious term that means that we don’t have to believe any particular set of believes. Modern UUs do affirm seven principles. You will likely agree that they are pretty “motherhood and apple pie” type statements that almost any decent and well-meaning person ascribes to. For example the 7th principle is “respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.” This principle acknowledges our interdependence with all components of life, thus endorsing a positive ecological understanding of our place in nature and further, it encourages us not to screw it up! UUs also acknowledge six ‘roots” of our beliefs and actions – ranging from acknowledging the value of rationality and science, to affirming knowledge from “earth centred” or pagan religions.
So, why do a choose to live within a fish-bowl rather than swim freely as implied in the cartoon? My Father (a devote Baptist and golfer) used to quip that “certainly a person can experience God on a golf course rather than a church – but do they?” I don’t describe myself as a particularly spiritual person, but I do enjoy singing with others, listening to Bach, being in ‘sacred’ spaces and listening to inspiring speakers – in churches, on the radio and on podcasts. So, attending a UU Sunday service gives me a special place to go to and many of the things I enjoy happen there.
But most importantly I like the fishbowl for the community that swims with me in the bowl. Now, I am NOT saying that all UUs are bosom buddies – some drive me nuts! But, if I think of those individuals who I count as friends and that I see on a more or less regular basis, likely half of them I’ve met at UU churches. I also like the community because it empowers me and amplifies my effort to do more than I could by myself. UUs have a fairly strong sense of social justice – our tag line at Westwood is to “rest, grow and serve the world”. That service ranges from fund raising, to supporting women’s shelters and services for the homeless. I also donate money outside of the UU community, but I get more inspired and educated by noting and USUALLY supporting the social justice issues that are highlighted at Westwood. Finally, the fishbowl community gives me a place to stretch my mind. For example, I lead the monthly FreeThinkers’ Book Club at Westwood – a time and place that we discuss some very interesting books and at the same time enjoy each other’s company and in pre-covid times, homemade cookies!
For some the fish bowl also creates a safe space and churches have long offered sanctuary to the oppressed. I’m fortunately not feeling personally unsafe, but I do know others who value the acceptance and safety to swim as the type of fish they really are in the UU fishbowl.
I might also add that unlike real fishbowls, UU buildings have an exit door. An old joke is that UU’s are the only people that god trusts enough to take summers off from Sunday services. Unlike the Baptist church that I grew up in, UUs seem to come and go with some regularity. Many play active leadership roles and then seem to drift away or disappear. And that is OK.
So does the fishbowl restrict or distort my life in the sea? I prefer to think that it serves as a fine set of swim goggle allowing me to see the ocean and the creatures that abide within it more clearly. Or as a yellow submarine:
“And our friends are all aboard
Many more of them live next door
And the band begins to play
Each day brings news of more cancellations of social events. In many areas schools have closed and it seems as likely as not, that many campus based schools will be closing for ???? days/weeks. This is the black swan event that most financially pressed colleges didn’t really have the energy to think about. But now it is upon us. This creates both opportunity and challenge. In this post provide personal recommendations for an emergency move to online education. The unprecedented opportunity to learn from a crash course on distance education in a networked era.
The good news is that digitization is already in place across most campuses – likely both students and faculty are enrolled in an institutional Learning Management System (LMS) – (if not this should be a top administrative priority) or an institutional wide network on Google or another provider. There are a host of private and open source environments that would likely jump at the chance to host your course – perhaps even for free. Doing so is likely a very bad idea – unless there is absolutely no institutional system to safeguard emails, recordings and confidential marks. This is NOT the time to blazing innovation on the latest social software platform. Rather it is a time to get a course up running very quickly.
You can think of your course on the LMS as your own mini learning environment or classroom. When you think of the activities that go on in your campus classroom now, try to find a tool that allows you to meet that same, or very similar learning goals and learning activities – only online. For example, if you regularly use student presentations you can teach students how to be presenters on a webconference or to record and then share videos they can make with their phones. A good place to start looking for tools is the tool library in your MOODLE, BlackBoard, or Canvas LMS. It likely has tools for small groups discussions, quizzes, blogs, micro blogging, collaborative writing, gallery of photos and more.
Some wealthier and larger institutions may have classroom lecture capture systems that can be used to record your lectures, Oh yeah – your campus is closed. A simpler idea is to record a video – at home using your laptop with the built in microphone. This does not yield high definition television quality video – but it works. Again if you are lucky your institution has a contract with a video streaming service- if not you can always use YouTube.
These recorded and streamed videos of course are available 7X24, but watching video doesn’t have the same engagement and commitment value that arises when class and teacher gather online in real time. Especially, if you are taking an existing campus course online, a great tool to use is webconferencing. Web conferencing supports the real time presentation of content that defines many classrooms. However, in addition it supports student break out groups, text discussions, comments and questions and a host of quiz and drawing tools.
In education we have a long history of video conferencing (as distinct from webconferencing) courses. These courses using dedicated classrooms and very expensive technology – most of which was prone to breakdown. Current web conferencing tools like ZOOM, Adobe Connect, Big Blue Button and others can overcome many of the restraints of older technologies. These systems are great for classes up to around 60 students. The technology itself may scale beyond 60, but managing large lecture theatre takes more skill than seminar or classroom sized groups. Do remember that all of the students will likely not show up for each scheduled class. This is fine as you can record the interactions, and they can replay them when they wish to do so.
In the screen shoot above from Cornell University you can see how only three tools (Canvas LMS, Zoom webconferencing, and email), that are readily available to all teaching staff, can cover almost all the communications demands of a quality online education.
When designing and talking about online courses, I often think of the Community of Inquiry Model (COI) developed by Randy Garrison, Walter Archer at the beginning of the online course era. The strength of the COI model is its simplicity and capacity to act as guiding heuristic for online teachers. The model suggests that quality learning happens when three educational components (teaching, social and cognitive presence) are present in the online environment.
In an emergency online course, it is important for the teacher to quickly develop and nourish teaching presence. This means being present and especially in the first few days or weeks to be online daily. Second is to insure continuity of the course by posting dates and learning tasks for the remainder of the term. Although many courses run asynchronously, a great way to kick start teaching and social presence in an emergency course is with a real time class, using webconferencing tools described above. At minimum, the teacher should record a video, explaining how the course will continues in the near future.
Social presence creates a sense of security, support and humour. It is done by providing a space for students to meet and greet online, to ask questions, to chat about concerns with each other – as well the professor. The LMS is well developed to handle this informal interaction – think of causal conversation outside the physical classroom as well as creating a comfort zone where students can readily ask questions and express concerns.
Finally cognitive presence is the reason the course continues. The teacher stimulates cognitive presence by creating dynamic presentations, asking triggering questions for both individuals and small groups, monitoring interactions to clear up any misconceptions and challenges students to find ways to create applied knowledge from the information they are acquiring in the class.
Emergency courses often don’t have the luxury of time to create new content. Thus, the savvy teacher quickly checks out available open educational resources, that can be incorporated into the course. Teacher’s often think of OERs only as open textbooks and indeed, there are thousands of open text books available for free download and editing. In addition, there is a growing number of simulations, games, lab exercises, videos and graphics free for the asking. If you are fortunate there may be a dedicated OER support unit on your campus that you can contact for help finding resources. However there are many OER repositories and George Mason University runs a free OER Metafinder searchable data base.
The coming months will see lots of uncertainty and financial challenges for many, however these viruses tend to come and eventually to go. Hopefully the experience, for both students and teachers, will provide a healthy does of online education literacy.
In the perennial seasonal debate about the best kind of Solstice/Christmas tree we have been around the choices labyrinth. From the trees we harvested on our own land near Joussard, to ones we’ve purchased at the local Kinseman lot, to cheap ones from IKEA, through to a few years with a rummage sale artificial tree. Each option has usually conflicting eco and money encumbrances. Not to denigrate any other choice, but I think we have found a near perfect solution – at least for us.
Each year for the past five seasons I have harvested the crowns from a seven-cedar hedge that we planted 20 years ago. Standing precariously on our recycled wooden stepladder and armed with Susan’s Jr. Forest Warden pruning saw, I detach two of the tallest crowns. In the picture below you see in the middle ,Solstice Tree 2020, waiting for its big day inside, next year.
The individual tree crowns are a whee bit skinny, so I now harvest two crowns and wire them together.
Each year for the past 5 solstice seasons I have harvested the crowns from a 7 cedar hedge that we planted 20 years ago. Standing precariously on our recycled wooden stepladder and armed with Susan’s Jr. Forest Warden pruning saw, I detach two of the tallest crowns. In the picture below you see in the middle Solstice Tree 2020, waiting for its big day inside next year.The individual tree crowns are a whee bit skinny, so I now harvest two crowns and wire them together.Th
Despite the fact that it took Susan some time to get the bead garlands “just right”, even when I thought they were ‘good enough” two hours earlier, I think the tree looks great!
We don’t want the cedars to grow too tall, so as to block the solar panels and of course the zero cost appeals to my frugal nature. Add to that the zero transportation costs and the fun of growing your own, makes me think we have the perfect Solstice Tree.
Happy Solstice, Christmas and any other tradition that your are celebrating this season.
Last summer I was asked to join a “quality audit” team that had been created by the Commonwealth of Learning and contracted by the University of South Africa (UNISA) to do a Trail Audit. This process involved a trip to London and this month a trip to Petoria, SA. In this post I talk about UNISA, about my experiences (to which I am not accustomed) in business class and a brief encounter with the South African medial system.
The University of South Africa
The first thing you might notice from the picture below and when driving into Petoria from Johannesburg airport, is the imposing campus of the UNISA. This is the main campus in Petoria which is augmented by a network of regional offices and campuses spread throughout the country. Unisa boast over 340,000 students making it the largest university in the Southern hemisphere. All of the undergraduates work from home, businesses or regional offices. Thus, the campus houses faculty, a huge printing press, library and offices for graduate students – of which there are also thousands.
The University will be audited in 2020 by the Council on Higher Education (CHE) which is the accreditation and regularity agency of the Government of South Africa. In preparation for this Quality audit, the University contracted with COL to undertake a pre-trial quality audit.
UNISA Choir entertains
Unisa was the first university in South Africa from which all of the other universities spun off. Unisa was established by the Brits in 1873 after the University of London model in which no teaching is does, but they set curriculum and examine students who learn however they can. Nelson Mandela is their most famous grad. In 1947 the University started creating print packages, thus becoming the worlds’ first distance eduction institution. They have begun huge (34% of all postsecondary students in South Africa) and largest university in Africa. They are struggling to move from an Open and Distance Learning (ODL) university to an Open and Distance Electronic Learning (ODeL) university – with a zillion challenges. One of which is figuring out if they should abandon their printing presses (largest print shop in the southern hemisphere). The print shop has a warehouse sized “Vault” in which they guard the final exams, since they are terrified of ”leaks” , by which Mafia types obtain final exams and sell them a few days before the exams are written – all across the country on the same exam days. They have testing centres in Johannesburg that sit 2,000 students, at a time, 3 sessions a day. This places them – like most higher education institutions very vulnerable to academic fraud.
Our 6 person team was led by the President of COL and consisted of Professors from South Africa, Tanzania, India, Mauritius and Canada. and with interest in quality standards, technology, student support, African universities and African Open Universities. During the week of our visit we interviewed about 300 people – from President to many students, on main campus and 5 regional centres. The idea of hiring a group of outsiders to audit a whole Universities quality standards just doesn’t happen in Canada, so I really didn’t know what to expect. A really striking feature of the project was the posters, banners, meals, banquets and pomp and circumstances about this audit and our visit . Quite surprising to see notes on our arrival displayed all over the campuses we visited.
Gala Goodbye banquet with Jazz Quartet
The University (and the 5 particular programs that we selected for detailed review) undertook a self-evaluation (300 + pages of text) before our arrival. On the final afternoon we provided our initial findings to a cast of a few hundred. This presentation focused on areas lsuch as quality assurance measures, teaching and learning (my area), technology used, research capability etc. etc. Our report seemed to be well received – but how much credibility can you give to a self evaluation and 5 day visit by group of outsiders? Now we go home and pour through the notes from 2 scribes hired to record everything and then create (and have them verify) a final report. The report will have both commendations (what we impressed by) and recommendations (suggestions for improvement).
Adventures in Business Class.
Last March I had Speaking trip to South Africa as an invited keynote speaker at UNISA’s annual research week. Thus, I was well aware of the challenges of 23 hours in the air and another 10 so getting to, and switching airports. Thus, the offer to repeat the journey this month- but in business class was a real incentive. I got to savour the service on three different airlines (Westjet, KLM and Virgin Air). The trip from Edmonton in December involves travelling through two nights. Of course they treat business class passengers with a lot more choice and comfort than I’m used to in coach. I relaxed and actually fell asleep in 3 types of “sleeping pods”. The biggest surprise was opening the duffle bag at my seat on Virgin Air, thinking it would be the too small blanket that I would wrestle myself under. But no! It was a pair of flannel pyjamas – Like I am going to get into pyjamas and walk down the aisle – NOT!
The food was great – they even had a standup bar with snacks on the 747! But I didn’t do much but read, NOT drink too much, watch a couple of good movies and then sleep! I arrived at 11:00 PM Sunday and we had our first meeting at 7:30 AM the next day, so I didn’t have any time for jet lag. Getting a good sleep on the airplane seems to have almost eliminated jet lag – at least on this trip for me!
Now getting to the hard part – the carbon footprint. You may have read the data that the extra carbon cost of business class and I don’t doubt it is true. So I have little excuse, except to hope that our recommendations will impact the lives of 340,000 students at UNISA. And that that will make a difference.
My Encounter with South Africa and It’s Health Care System
South Africa is (at least by Canadian standards) a pretty scary place. Very visible poverty and unemployment are clearly visible. The protection industry is thriving guards (mostly unarmed), barbed wire, police cars and groups of people in the streets are everywhere. Alongside the poverty are miles of gated and fenced (and I mean big fences) communities. Thus there are many living in pretty severe poverty, while the evolving middle class (both whites and blacks) lives at least partially in a culture of fear. The scary irony is that the country (with its opportunities!) attracts thousands of economic refugees daily from other African countries.
I also had an adventure with the South African medical system. Two days after my arrival I started getting a pain in my lower leg, this continued into a purple rash that kept growing. I figured I better get it checked in case it was flesh eating disease or something worse! UNISA staff took me to the University Health clinic where the nurse suggested I should see a doctor. The clinic referred me to a hospital, but my hosts figured it would be too long of a wait so we travelled way into the burbs to a health clinic where I had an appointment with two doctors. It was weird entering the strip mall clinic (open 24 hours a day) and seeing signs in both Africans and English and staff of all races – expect the doctors that I saw were both white.
They pretty quickly diagnosed the rash as shingles, but they also did all kinds of pressing and pushing, blood test, heart stuff etc. I walked out with 3 prescriptions and a bill for about $100 Canadian total. Ironically, I had had a shingles c=vaccine four years ago, but I have come understand the chicken pox/shingles virus (they are the same critter) can erupt at any time from those who have chicken pox in their lifetime. I didn’t really understand the contagion issue with shingles at the time and so thought it best to cancel my one-day safari trip to see the lions. Fortunately it rained anyways, but we were told that when it rains when visitors come, it is a very good omen!
So South Africa seems to have a great health care system – IF you have money. This clinic was nearby the gated community where the black vice president who was hosting us lived, so we dropped him off at his home. He had a card to open the gate and let us drive into his house, but when we went to leave, the guards wouldn’t let me and the black driver out!! We had to drive back to the VP’s house and get him to verify that we hadn’t ransacked his house.
My flight home was uneventful- the best kind.
I hope you have enjoyed this brief chronicle of the trip.
is What it was like in 1981 In Edmonton.
All that was left of the Esso service station and convenience store was the Esso sign and two iron ceiling beams. The Maligne Lodge and our favorite coffee shop now sadly a bulldozed, scarred empty lot.
On most of the mountains surrounding the town, the fire had climbed up to the tree line. Blackening all the trees. Of course, fire in the forested mountains is partof the cycle of nature. The problem is this cycle revolves on time scales not set by humans. It will likely be far past my lifetime before Jasper’s mountain slopes return to their emerald majesty. 
