Algoma University Teaching and Learning Forum - The Blog Ate My Homework

So, the other day I gave a talk to some of my colleagues on using social media in the classroom.  There was some interest in having a recorded version for those that could not make it, or could not bear the sight of me.  (I choose to believe the former....)  

The title, by the way, is stolen, inspired by the title John Meadows gave to an interview he did with me on his podcast.

I have the powerpoints here, and here is the talk.

You Should Enter This Contest

I am the 'acadmeic colleague' from Algoma University at the Council of Ontario Universities.  We basically meet to talk about system wide issues etc in Ontario.  It is made up of the various university presidents and us, the academics from each school.  

One of the cool initiatives that COU has started is a contest about promoting mental health using social media.  I am the contact person for Algoma, and if you are an undergraduate or grad student in the Ontario system you should consider entering the contest.  There is prize money and everything.

From the site:

"Social media has revolutionized the way we communicate with each other. COU wants to see how graduate and undergraduate students at Ontario’s universities can use these social media tools to promote campus mental health. Show us how you would use social media to promote positive changes in mental health at your university, and you could win a cash prize and an invitation to attend a celebration in March 2014. You can work individually or as a team. The winners will receive $1,500 for first place, $1,000for second place, and $500 for third place."

So, get to it, ideas, content, whatever.  Oh yeah, a link might be useful.....

I hope to see some AU psych students get involved with this.

I Don't Live In My Basement With My Mom....

You hear a lot of crap out there about how people that spend a lot of time online are, by definition, anti social and somehow addicted to the internet.  I spend a lot of time online, I like twitter, facebook, G+ etc.  I listen to a number of podcasts, and produce a few as well.  I play online games on xBox Live and the PSN.  I comment on blogs now and then, and even have this blog here where I apparently think you want to listen to my rants...

I am, however, also plugged in to my family, my job and all of that other normal stuff.  

My online life is no different than my offline one.  Indeed, I find it hard to separate them in my mind.  I use the 'net for work a great deal and for play.  Ken, Me, the Dude and Tom at PAB 2010, photo credit Bob Goyetche

I get really pissed off when I hear people say 'you should get out more' or 'this is anti social'.  That is pure bullshit.  I have met people through online interactions that are real friends of mine.  I now consider people that I have met through this medium to be friends.  I mean real actual friends, not just people I know.  Indeed, I feel more oh, let's go with kinship, with people like Bob, Mark, the Dude and Tom than I do with many people that I see every day (I typically see these guys once a year for 2.5 days, and for all I know, they can't stand me....)  

These are people I never would have met without the internet.  OK, maybe with some weird sort of pen pal thing like we used to do in school when I was little, but that seems unlikely...

A couple of months back a person I know only through their username on wikipedia announced on his talk page that he was ill.  This was pretty shocking.  Many people on there announced their hopes for him, some even said they would pray (which was a joke of sorts, as he is an atheist).  He came back on a few weeks, perhaps oh 2 months, later and announced he was in ICU, but doing ok.  I was really happy with this.  I have never met this person, I have no idea what his actual name is, but I cared enough that it made me damned happy to see an update.  Is that anti social?  

Oh and for the record, I sort of do live in my basement, as that is where the family room is and where my beer fridge lives....