Alberta Technology Leader in Education is a conference that supports education through the convergence of learning, leadership and technology. Kelsea Rose Klassen, a student who is currently becoming a teacher shares her experience with last year’s conference and how informative the keynote speaker Drew Dudley was. What I couldn’t agree more is what she takes away from the conference.

“We have to take pride in our accomplishments, especially as future teachers, because we are role models and if we can not accept a compliment how are we supposed to teach others to.  We build trust with people in our lives by being kind and gracious and taking the time to appreciate others in kind.  Small reassurances and recognitions can have the largest impact on all facets of a person’s life and we must try to make people know that they matter on a daily basis.”

Klassen also visited several vendor booths at the conference and provides her opinion about them, including InviteRight.

“InviteRight has a great concept to eliminate inefficient paper usage for forms in schools.  Dave and Ryan (I forgot to write down their last names) were eager to talk about their product and had plenty of information right there as examples.  The company helps with organizing consent forms, school lunch orders, ticket purchases, and even school course registration.  They also keep track of the accounting associated with many of these forms to make it easier for secretaries and the like to use their simple program instead of a pile of envelopes with money and forms.  I would definitely use them in the future as I remember how difficult it was to schedule courses on paper for high school and wait for hours to fix it.”

You can read more about her experience at the conference on her blog here.

As kids get prepared for the final months of the school year, several parents are pondering about what they can do to fixate their kids with for the summer. How about a zombie survival camp?

The first ever zombie survival camp will available to the public in Portland, Oregon where actors portray real-life zombies while campers will be trained in the best way to dispose of them. The aim of the camp is to blend fun with significant skills. Groups of campers partake in an assortment of movie-inspired zombie settings throughout a 2 day course. Instructors teach campers combat skills such as throwing axes, using a sword, constructing an outdoor fire and acquiring shelter.

The zombie craze has become enormously popular in western pop culture with many movies (28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, Resident Evil), books (World War Z, The Zombie Survival Guide) and television series (The Walking Dead) surfacing.

Why do individuals love zombies so much? People love the thought of the world existing in complete anarchy. Civilization must survive in small groups and trust each other in order to survive the epidemic. Unlike vampires and werewolves, zombies appear less mythological since they are the closest to humans – resurrected dead corpses.

So once the apocalyptic epidemic begins changing people into zombies, will your kids be prepared?

Thinking of going back to school to continue or upgrading your education? It’s a fine goal and the more education you get the higher salary you will command. The only question is how do you go about obtaining this education – in a brick and mortar campus or online?

PRO:

Taking classes or your entire college education online isn’t new but it’s also not widely adopted either. Convenience is the top of the list for reasons why people choose anything these days and if you can work and get your education at the same time then e-learning has incredible value.

Online instruction knows no boundaries; students from all over the world can be linked together with the common goal of studying. And online chat rooms, email and other technology evens the playing field when it comes to collaborating on assignments.

Going online is also more cost effective for students — no more being gouged by greedy parking lot owners; kiss goodbye to lineups at the bookstore and overpriced sandwiches on campus.

The downside?

CON:

University is tough and sometimes you need a support system to help you through the times when you’re feeling overwhelmed. What happens when you don’t understand the material, are homesick or generally feeling lousy because you’re run down from trying to balance work/school/home?

You also have to be an exceptionally motivated person — online learning is great if you have a lot of drive because there’s no one around you to spurn you on. There’s no class to attend and even if you are working in a group you don’t see them – so no real consequence if you blow off an assignment.

Technology is wonderful and with the right person it can be a blessing in disguise. But for most university students, being cloaked in the campus atmosphere is just what they need.

As a recent college graduate I can attest to the fact that student volunteers are a rare breed – they give until it hurts in the name — or pursuit — of resume references and meaningful work experience. One things that sets them apart from other volunteers perhaps is that they are “in the zone” when it comes to learning new things and practices.

Based on my experience, I found that charities and non-profit groups are more than happy to take on a student volunteer because students are generally eager to get some valuable hands-on work experience. When I went back to school it was later in life, so I had a little extra work and life experience to draw on. In some cases, I was even older than my volunteer coordinator. Yet, despite my age and experience, the perception seemed to be that students are only good for basic tasks, which is an attitude that has rankled me ever since.

Recently I came across a fantastic blog from Sam Lee – originally published in One+ Magazine. Lee pointed out that students are equal to short-term employees, provided they have the skill set you’re looking for, and your company or organization has a clear idea on how they will be utilized (I mean, besides coffee runs!).

Lee gave a few tips on how companies can use student volunteers effectively:

1.    Learn from the traits of your co-workers: Appreciate who it is you’re working with. A lot of student volunteers are enthusiastic, cheerful, ambitious, willing to learn, flexible and full of creative, fresh ideas that can be used by their more experienced peers.
2.    Find the best talent for your position: Contact the university’s career center, where there is a larger student database, which may be able to connect you with a wider range of student talent.
3.    Find effective methods for motivating the best student talent to work for YOUR organization: To recruit the best talent, you have to give them clear reasons to work for you. Clearly convey their tasks, how they’ll benefit and how their responsibilities are meaningful.

Read the full article here and we’d love to hear your thoughts on leadership, mentoring and volunteering in the blog comments.

Part of Eillis Courtney’s job is to know the difference between a doctor and a physician and when to address each of them by their proper titles.

Courtney is the director of ceremonies and events at the University of British Columbia and a key member of a team of people who help organize convocation at the Vancouver, Canada school. This includes working out the logistics behind granting Honorary degrees to individuals who may not have stepped foot in medical school, or even a university for that matter.

Honorary degree recipients can be and have been comedians, talk-show hosts, environmentalists and politicians — to name a few.

There’s certainly plenty of controversy over whether people who didn’t attend school get a “free” degree, even if it’s largely a ceremonial designation, and there are also plenty of arguments started on how to address these folks after they accept their honorary degree.

Courtney cleared this up in her address to convocation officers from universities and colleges last October during a regional meeting of the North American Association of Convocation Officials (NAACO) at UBC Okanagan in Kelowna. Even though people who receive an honorary degree are addressed by universities as “doctor,” explains Courtney, “They are a doctor only at the school that awarded them their degree. This is the only time they should be addressed by this title. They shouldn’t be putting ‘Dr.’ on their business card.”

(more…)

Sometimes the last thing you need when you’re already over-the-top busy is more free advice. But if you are that comfortable what’s the harm in coming for a nice lunch and sharing your knowledge with other teachers at our Graduation Best Practices Seminar?

Here is how to register for either Calgary or Regina:

By email to sales@eventiq.com

Call toll-free – 1-866-811-3144

Or click one of the links to register online:

Calgary – Tuesday, January 29th 2013 – Noon to 4:00pm

Regina – Friday, February 22nd – Noon to 4:00pm

We’re about as objective as Santa Claus is about Christmas when it comes to talking about the benefits of this seminar but here’s a few reasons why we think it’s beneficial to attend:

Incredible value for teachers: This is a way for educators and business managers to share their best practices, have their questions answered and to network. In a survey of participants from last year’s events, 97% said other teachers would find this beneficial.

Capitalize on the group brainstorming: Learn from each other! Ask questions or discuss challenges and see what your colleagues have to say. What is the best way to find a grad venue (if you’re looking for a change), negotiating with suppliers, how to keep your grads from skipping class to get their hair done so they can look good in their pictures?

More buzz for your buck: Using Twitter and Facebook is a great way to engage with the grad class and parents as well as keep them informed. Hear from grad coordinators who are social media mavens.

You will take away: As soon as you register, you will receive a questionnaire to list questions or topics you would like answered during the seminar. We will discuss these questions but also compile the answers and share with attendees.

You will see first-rate examples: You won’t be sitting in a session wondering how the tools and processes can be applied to your school. You will hear first-hand how you can implement these ideas right away!

Over the years the gymnasium at Ross Sheppard High School has seen its share of highlight-reel dunks and shooting stars during the school’s annual Totem Hoop Basketball Tournament.

But the gym probably hasn’t seen this kind of fast break before. Shep students and alumni formed a break-dancing troupe and entertained the crowd with a routine that would make a contortionist impressed.

Check out the video and tell me if I’m wrong — while everyone with their face painted with Shep’s T-Bird logo and double-blue pom poms are there to watch some great young basketball players — the dancers stole the show on day one!

“Hug and kiss whoever helped get you — financially, mentally, morally, emotionally — to this day. Parents, mentors, friends, teachers. If you’re too uptight to do that, at least do the old handshake thing, but I recommend a hug and a kiss. Don’t let the sun go down without saying thank you to someone, and without admitting to yourself that absolutely no one gets this far alone.”

~ Stephen King – commencement address, University of Maine (7 May 2005)

URL: http://electionbuddy.com/

Service Offered: Personalized online elections

Special Deals: Varies

My Experience: Because our school is working towards our “Golden Council” award for NASC, we were very interested in doing an online election. I looked at various companies, but finally settled on ElectionBuddy because they seemed most capable of handling the needs of our mid-sized school.

Going online to ElectionBuddy, I was very pleased to see that they offered a free trial. The website itself is relatively simple to use. I setup a trial run and went for it. The sample election that I set up was really easy to do and it worked as promised.

Price: The price is separate for each election and varies depending on the type and number of voters:

Free, $0/election, up to 20 voters
Basic, $19/election, up to 200 voters
Middle, $49/election, up to 500 voters
High, $99/election, up to 1,000 voters

Shipping: None, the elections are delivered electronically

Customer Service: Because I had questions about pricing, I did have a chance to interact with customer service. ElectionBuddy offers an online form to help facilitate their customer service. Within a few hours, I was emailed with a response.

Product Quality: The elections work as promised and are easy to set up. Votes are tabulated and you have control over the many functions and features. I thought the ballots were easy to read, voting was clear-cut, and the instructions are very easy to follow. Many of the features were customizable.

- LuciA

“Don’t forget that you’re a physical being with a power-plant to take care of and maintain. I’m talking about the bod under the blue gown. I’m not going to say that we’re a lazy, overweight society, a fast-food eatin’, SUV-ridin’, soda-guzzlin’, beer-chuggin’, TV-watchin’, size-XL-wearin’, walk-don’t-run generation — except I guess I just did.”

~ Stephen King – commencement address, University of Maine (May 7, 2005)