voyeurism

"time is tissue"

using time as a catalyst for discussion, the sixty-seventh episode of ventriloquy asks whether or not we're putting the cart before the horse in our attempts to "integrate" technology in our classrooms.

i'm reminded of a political commentary i heard on the BBC World Service today - with regards Britain's current bout of navel gazing on the subject of cultural 'integration' - that, so often, 'integration' implies subsuming to a hegemonic authority. i'll leave you to think about who those authorities might be in the schooling context - they're certainly not our learners, for one.

this 3.4 MB episode draws inspiration (of sorts) from a frankly ludicrous Reuters article at CNN's website. as for the title of this post, well, let's just say it would make a lot more sense if one were to find snakes on a plane.

:-)

introducing voxpopuli

the sixty-sixth episode of ventriloquy launches a project i am very proud of: i have created a wiki based on my doctoral thesis.

as far as i can tell, this is somewhat of an innovation in terms of how Web 2.0 technologies are being used in academia so far.

the wiki - voxpopuli - is so named for two main reasons: first, my thesis on adolescent spatial cognition has been designed to bring out how young Singaporeans view and make sense of their local environments; second, because it is my hope that the affordances of the wiki will mean that the initial research work represented by my thesis will continue to evolve and grow beyond the confines of the original study, and it can only do so if people - such as yourselves - contribute to it :-)

as i see it, voxpopuli takes the characteristics of existing theses which are available for online-reading and download, and extends them in a very important direction - that of viewing the data, analysis and discussions as not static, but instead as something which has a life of its own.

voxpopuli is an implicit (and even, explicit) recognition that boundaries are only extended when we build upon each others' work.

i invite you to download this 4.3 MB episode, then visit voxpopuli.editme.com and take my research and run with it!

:-)

[update: turns out voxpopuli comes hot on the heels of last night's skypecast hosted by Steve Hargadon between Vicki Davis (Westwood Schools) and Adam Frey (wikispaces.com) on exploring wikis in education :-) ]

legalese

quite a few important signatures today :-)

the minor amendments have been incorporated into the thesis and it's been signed off both by Prof Gopinathan (acting on behalf of Allan), as well as by the Dean of the Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice (CRPP) - Prof David Hogan.

i have submitted the thesis - together with copies of papers that i've published based on it (turns out i've had eight of them :-P ) - to the Graduate Programmes and Research Office of the NIE, but not before signing Form 25A-01, which is a 'Permission Letter for Reproduction and Distribution of Thesis' :-) basically, i've granted "non-exclusive rights to the NIE Library for the reproduction and distribution" of the thesis, on condition that:

- prior approval be obtained from either CRPP or Prof Gopi; and
- the requestor requires the thesis for the purpose of research or private study and will not use it for any other purpose, nor must he / she have been already supplied with a copy by an authorised officer of the library, as per the Copyright Act of 1987

Form 25A-01 also contains the encouraging words, "please kindly complete the following section so that we can contact you on matters pertaining to your graduation ceremony"

:-)

God's grace :-) #8

what a day!

thanks be to God, a weight has been lifted off me.

it has been six months (plus one day) since i submitted the thesis to the three examiners.

it has also been twelve months (plus one day) since my previous supervisor (not Allan) broke a drought and finally gave me some feedback on the draft.

(please pardon my incoherence, i am very excited. what i am trying to say is that there is a pattern here:

- i submitted my draft thesis to my then-supervisors on 11 February 2005. i finally heard from them on 16 August 2005.
- i submitted my signed-off thesis to my examiners on 16 February 2006. i finally heard from them on 17 August 2006.)

i know these timings are not a coincidence. God works His perfect plan, and lets me have periods of rest and periods of activity.

i have only minor amendments to be made to the thesis - thank God that it does not have to be re-submitted to the examiners :-)

the examiners have had very encouraging things to say in their written reports. i do not know who my examiners have been, but i am truly grateful for their thoroughness, and for their professional input and advice.

i'm especially grateful for the heads-up on the works of Lynch and Appleyard, as well as Ron Abler. i'll certainly try my best to get up to speed with their research.

it's also a good time to reflect on all the help i have received from the many people who contributed in one way or another to making my doctoral research a success. you know who you are. thank you. many people say that the PhD is a solitary journey. you guys give the lie to that :-)

do it yourself

the sixty-fifth episode of ventriloquy focusses on the potential of grassroots initiatives in effecting change.

spanning the world from Gujarat in India, to the MIT, taking in Palo Alto along the way, i draw inspiration from a recent episode of 'Global Business' by the BBC's Peter Day and talk about the extent to which emerging technologies look to give the practitioners in the classroom - and their students - real power in designing, developing and sharing innovative practices.

have a listen to this 3.3 MB download :-)

Show notes:
- MIT Fab Central
- the Honey Bee Network

i've been granted a trademark for the 'quantum classroom®' :-)

woo hoo!

i have been granted a Class 38 trademark under the Singapore Trade Marks Act - for the concept of the 'quantum classroom®' - by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore :-)

the trademark number is T06/16240F

some of my previous thoughts on the concept are sketched in the following entries:
- 18 April 'the quantum classroom®'
- 3 May 'transcontinental'
- 28 June 'citizen of the world? or countergeographer?'
- 29 June 'my presentation at the IGU-CGE symposium'

Technorati Tags: quantum classroom®

the thrill electric

this is the obligatory DOPA episode of ventriloquy.

i add my voice to the ongoing debate about the Deleting Online Predators Act, which was passed by the American Congress last month. in my attempt to add value to what has already been said and blogged, i draw inspiration from a romantic novel first published in 1894.

Samuel Rutherford Crockett's The Lilac Sunbonnet: a Love Story introduced the world to the words:

"... the thrill electric of the contact,
the yielding quiescence of the girl he held to his breast,
stilled his heart's tumultuous beating"

Crockett's poetry, in turn, inspired Tom Standage to write - more than a hundred years later - The Victorian Internet.

And thus we come - on the fifteenth anniversary of the worldwide web - to the sixty-fourth episode of ventriloquy, which is a 3.5 MB download :-)

Show notes:
- US House Resolution 5319: Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006
- 'Save Your Space' petition
- 'DC to 2.0: Wake Up! (DOPA)' on The 463: Inside Tech Policy blog
- 'Chat rooms could face expulsion' by Declan McCullagh, CNET News.com
- 'In the midst of war, bloggers are talking online' by Sarah Ellison, Wall Street Journal
- 'How the web went world wide' by Mark Ward, BBC News