MachIanations

And He Is Back!!...

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:07:00 +0000

Hard to believe that it's been three months since my last post - where has the time gone? It's been a busy Fall in this part of the World, lots going on, but I'm back and ready to post on a more regular basis - here are some of the things I'll be updating and commenting on in the next while:

My Virtual Cross Canada Trek - now over 2000 KM in, not sure where that puts me exactly, but I'll update as I hit major milestones and cities
Things educational including information literacy, new skills for learning professionals, meta skills for learning professionals, and informal learning...
Must "read" audio books (or is that must "listen"?) Hmmm...
And anything else that makes me go Hmmm...

Stay tuned...

Adventure of a Lifetime...

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 09:54:00 +0000

My friend and colleague Dave Jellicoe, has just launched the adventure of a lifetime - for the next year (at least), he will be teaching in Japan at the Hohoku School in Sendai . You can follow his adventure at his blog, The Uncarved Block.

Have a blast Dave and stay in touch! Hmmm...

Where Were You When...

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:33:00 +0000

With all of the looking back and celebrations yesterday of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission and man landing on the moon, I got to thinking about the "Where were you when..." events in my life and I have come up with seven of them:

Assassination of JFK - I was seven years old living in Bad Godesberg West Germany - I remember a cloudy dark day and everyone being terribly sad.
Assassination of Martin Luther King - I was 11 years old living in Soest West Germany - I remember lots of talk about racism and how Dr. King's death would set back the civil rights movement. We talked about it in school.
Assassination of RFK - I was 11 years old living in Soest West Germany - I remember thinking that the US was in trouble and that the next president had been killed - Nixon was the result...
Man on the Moon - I was 12 years old, and we were renting a cottage on Lake Milo in Yarmouth - we watched the moonlanding on my grandfather's old B&W TV - appropriate as the pictures from teh moon were also B&W. I will always remember Walter Cronkite's calm voice describing this amazing event
1972 Canada-Russia Summit Series - I was in Grade 11 at St.Paul's High School in Winnipeg - we shut down classes to watch the game, with the series being won by Paul Henderson's goal in the dying moments of Game 8 - the place went wild...
9/11 - I was facilitating a Visual Basic module team time at ITI Halifax when someone said a plne had flown into the World Trade Center - we all thought a small plane had gone off course and crashed - as we tried to get info the Internet literally crashed - eventually we got onto the BBC's site and discovered the magnitude of the event. People wanted to head home to look after their families - some thought a major war was starting...
The Election of Barack Obama - I was home glued to CNN watching the elections returns with far more intensity than I had ever had for and Canadian campaign. As the evbning progressed i kept in touch with friends and other political junkies through Facebook, Twitter and other Web 2.0 tools. Obama is the 2.0 president.

So where were you when and what events were they? Hmmm...

(Photo from HistoryCentral.com)

Vacation Blogging - My 21st Century Summer Reading List

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:49:00 +0000

Remember getting those summer reading lists when you were in school - titles to be read for the next school year? Spent summers doing almost anything except reading what was on that list? Then later, after school was over, making up lists of bookd you wanted to read for pleasure while on vacation or just sitting outside enjoying the weather?

Well, my summer reading list has morphed into vacation blogging. I'm on vacation for the next few weeks and have a list of things that have been making me go hmmm... for a while. Now that I have time, I plan on getting these things posted. Here's the list:

New skills for learning professionals
Meta skills for learning professionals
Informal learning
Twitter signs of success - business and adult entertainment
Can Community Colleges Save the U.S. Economy? (or any national economy for that matter)
Twitter in the classroom - twitter clickers
OS X plug-ins
Sarah Palin's rant
Version numbers
Canadians and Traffic Shaping
Wal-Mart and the Environment
Must "read" audio books

And I'm sure there are more, but that's my list for now. Better get started, but I see the Sun - maybe a walk first. Hmmm...

My Virtual Cross-Canada Trek 2009 - Montreal and Beyond...

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:11:00 +0000

It's been a crazy weather year, like summer hasn't really started yet - lots of wet and rain and fog with the odd sunny day tossed in as a teaser of a summer that hasn't shown up yet.

My cross-Canada trek continues - I'm about 100 KM east of Ottawa - in fact at one point I thought my virtual and real selves might have met his week as I am actually in Ottawa right now, but heading home tomorrow. Just as well - wouldn't want to be messing about with that whole space-time continuum thing anyway :-).

Montreal is one of my favourite cities in the World. I lived in Montreal many years ago and love it every time I go back. It's city full of life, and culture, and always something to do, and the food is amazing. From Dunn's for cheesecake to Schwartz's for smoked meat, you never need go hungry in Montreal (and both are MUST stops during any trip to Montreal). Old Montreal is an amzing collection of restaurants, boutiques, and artisans - a very cool place. If you like vibrant, mult-cultural cities with lost to do and see - head for Montreal.

Hard to believe I'm almost 1400 KMs into my yomp across Canada - next stop is Ottawa, then up over Northern Ontario for Sudbury and Thunder Bay. Now if only the weather would cooperate and allow summer to start...

Maybe NOW You Will Pay Attention to the Pre-Flight Safety Demonstration...

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 23:50:00 +0000

OK admit it - you get settled into your seat on board yet another flight and bury your head into the newspaper, magazine, or book you brought on board with you while you completely ignore the flight attendants who are waving their arms about like hyper traffic cops doing the pre-flight safety demonstration.

Well that may be about to change. The folks at Air New Zealand have taken a whole new approach to the pre-flight demo - with smiles and body paint:

Too funny, but gets the point across - pay attention to the pre-flight demo - I know I will next time I fly, just in case...

And here is the blooper reel which might even be funnier:

Enjoy! Hmmm...

RIP Compuserve...

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:55:00 +0000

AOL has terminated the CompuServe Internet service. For those of us who have been on the Internet since the days of Betty, Veronica, Archie, Gopher, and Lynx remember CompuServe as one of the first commercial Internet services - it's been around since the 70s - sort of a private Internet almost - well it's gone now.

I will always fondly remember the hundreds of unsolicited floppy disks (5 1/4 and 3 1/2), and later on CD-ROMs offering connectivity through CompuServe (and then later on AOL after AOL consumed CompuServe - anyone still have CompuServe or AOL beer coasters?). I will even admit to having a CompuServe account for a few months (yep, I actually installed one of those hundreds of floppy disks :-)...

CompuServe hasn't been the same since the advent of high-speed access and has now been relegated to the halls of the Computer History Museum.

RIP CompuServe...

Shambhala ALIA Institute 2009 - Some Additional Thoughts and Images

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:10:00 +0000

It's been almost a week since ALIA 2009 came to a close and I'm still pondering and reflecting - one of the highlights of the week for me was the focus on self, the reflections of just what my skills were when it came to hosting and facilitating. I learned a lot, met some incredible people and have taken away some amazing stuff that I will be sorting through for some time to come.

I have come to some conclusions though:

for me ALIA 2009 was a great experience - it was both relaxing and restorative after a very long academic year, yet stimulating and challenging. I was definitely forced out of my comfort zone several times during the week and I think that stretching was good for me.
I am a very good educator and facilitator and have added to my tool kit and practice through what I have seen and participated in at ALIA 2009
There is still a ton of stuff out there to learn and distill
There is a place for the arts - music, dance, art, and more in education - we need to expres what is in us and for many that is through the arts - amazing people at ALIA
My reflecting and analyzing of my experience at ALIA 2009 is far from over...

I've also posted some photos from the week on my Flickr site in a Photo set called "ALIA Institute 2009".

I suspect that I will posting additional thoughts on my ALIA 2009 experience. Stay tuned. Hmmm...

Happy Birthday Canada!! Canada Day 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:43:00 +0000

Happy 142nd Birthday Canada!! You may be a young nation, perhaps barely a teenager, but you are still the best place to live in the World. May you have the greatest of days wherever you may be - East, North, West, or South... It is July, so one of the two days of summer should be appearing shortly (of course we don't really have summer in Canada - just two seasons - Winter and Construction - ask any Canadian driver that :-)). As Canadians it is our national heritage and birth right to complain about the weather, so here is something to help you cool down if your part of the country is having one of the those days of summer today (actually with Global warming, I think we are up to four days of summer):

I can feel the snow and sleet and freezing rain already (now where did I put my boots and parka? Hmmm...). Despite our complaints about the weather being too hot, too cold (must be all that oatmeal we eat) it really is just right, "it's a dry cold" (I'm sorry -40C is cold wet or dry), or "just wait 10 minutes it'll change" (from wet and miserable to truly rotten :-)), Canada is still the best place to live - wide open spaces, beautiful scenery, a social support network, complete with its good and bad, multiculturalism, a democracy that believes in and supports basic rights, and so, so, much more....

I'd like to send a special Canada Day Happy Birthday!! to all the members of our military, especially those in harms way in Afghanistan and other spots around the world - thank you so much for what you do for all of us every day. Shakespeare was right - you truly are a "Band of Brothers", true heroes, and I am so proud to have served with you...

Now speaking of the weather, it's pouring here today, so it looks like fireworks are out, so for all of my fellow Maritimers and for anyone else with gray skies and low ceilings, here are some Canada Day fireworks from Ottawa, Our Nation's Capital:

Happy Canada Day to all Canadians wherever you may be...

(Canada_Flag_Sunset from Cynergy Diva)

A Pop Star Dies, A Nation Disappears...

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:12:00 +0000

Now THIS is social commentary - for the past weeks Iran has been the number one story - now it's faded from the headlines over the death of a washed up, and apparently drug-addled and financially ruined pop-icon who the media have spent the past 20 years vilifying - what's THAT all about? Guess they are mad they won't have him around to kick anymore.

CNN dedicated the whole night Thursday to Michael Jackson, the proclaimed "King of Pop" - Iran was reduced to ticker status. The Iran posts on Twitter dried up, replaced by RIP MJ...

What does it say about our society when a nation is in revolution, trying to free itself from oppression, that world economies are near ruin, and we forget that completely so we can mourn a musician? Yes admittedly a musician who in his prime changed the music industry (some would say saved the music industry with "Thriller" - I own one of those 100 milion copies sold) and pop culture, paving the way for a generation of stars.

Michael Jackson will probably be the last of the great icons - there will be no more Elvises, or John Lennons, or Michael Jacksons - those stars who many remember where they were when they died. Here is an interesting article on that subject from the New York Times carried by my local paper - Fame Will Never Be The Same.

I give Michael Jackson full dues for who he was and what he did, but he was at best a shell of himself when he died and the media revelled in that, spending most of their time the last twenty years vilifying him as a child molester and for being just plain weird - now all of a sudden he was a genius and an icon who will be missed - that's the real story - the hypocrisy and gnat-like attention span of the media, and of society as a whole.

And what of Iran? Has it disappeared from Western consciousness? Is it yesterday's news? Even the Twitterverse has dried up and the number of green avatars is shrinking. Yes, much of the drying up of news is likely due to everything being shut down in Iran, but where has the World's outrage gone? Oh yeah, it's been put aside for MJ. Rest in Peace Michael - maybe now you will have the peace and joy that seemed to elude you in life.

Let's mourn for Michael Jackson and his family, he will be truly missed and remembered by millions of people. But let's not forget the millions of people strugglingto be free either. Time for the media to get their eyes back on the stories that matter - Iran, climate change, the world's failing economic systems and so many more that will impact us in the following days, weeks, and months. Hmmm...

(Map from Iran Tours)

Shambhala ALIA Institute 2009 - A Few First After Thoughts...

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:27:00 +0000

It's been a couple of days since the end of ALIA 2009, and my head is still full of "stuff" ("stuff" is the universal technical term :-)). Thought I'd spend some time getting some of that stuff down here along with some of the links and resources shared by others during the week.

One of the benefits of going to ALIA this year is that it brought me back to being people-focussed. It's not that I am not people-focussed, I mean as an educator if you are not people-focussed, you have issues. It's just that after a long academic year, working with processes and policies, and procedures, the people-focus can at times become a little fuzzy. Mine is now sharp and crystal-clear - good timing as we move into the summer and planning for next year - hiring, enrollments, academic advising - all people-centric activities. At its core ALIA is about people, as any form of leadership should be - it's about the people around you and how they all best fit together.

ALIA and the Shambhala movement are definitely people-centric and in many ways self-centric too - it was good to rediscover some of that self through the meditation practice, through calligraphy, and through the modules and rich conversations - for me ALIA was like a spa for my mind...

Lots of resources and links available for anyone looking to learn more about ALIA or thinking of attending next year (I highly recommend it). The ALIA Web site does a great job of describing the institute. The best resources though are the ALIA Community (a Ning site I think), and in particular to ALIA 2009, the Summer Institute blog. If you want to know more about ALIA, the ALIA Community is a great place to start. Sign up and engage in the conversations...

One of the most interesting people I met at ALIA 2009 was Thomas Arthur - juggler, filmmaker and coach, he was the videographer and photographer for the week. Here is the video harvest he compiled that was shown at the closing ceremony:

Shambhala Summer Institute 2009 from ALIA on Vimeo.

Amazing stuff - the original video is at the ALIA Blog (lot's of great pictures of the week from Thomas too), and at Vimeo. Also, check out Thomas's company Woven Essence. He is a unique individual who would bring something special to your space.

Still more "stuff" to reflect on, so I suspect that this will not be my last post on ALIA 2009. A great week and now it's back to the campus and seeing where all this "stuff" fits. Hmmm...

Shambhala ALIA Institute 2009 - Day Five

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 09:34:00 +0000

Can it be Friday already? The past five days have literally flown by - hard to believe that ALIA 2009 is over. Well, the institute might be over by the thinking, reflecting and general going Hmmm... is just beginning, so I guess this would be the end of the beginning...

A great end to a great week. The principle today in our last module session was Clarity - bringing things together - we did a circle of younger-elder-middle - very powerful stuff - each takes that role and says a word or phrase of what comes to them. Interestingly enough younger and elder are very close as both are about self, while middle is different as the middle is about others - cool stuff and a very neat exercise. Think that may be why youngers and elders get along so well - they are asking the same questions (look at the relationship between a grandchild and their grandparents...).

Ended the session with Barbara getting us to make a last mark using a big brush - all done in silence and very powerful (one of my big "takeaways" from this week is the power of silence - something I will incorporate into my practice). I drew an open circle representing the importance of community and being open to invite more in.

Then in probably one of the most spiritual and intimate moments of the week Barbara was asked to make the final brush stroke, but before she did, each of us in turn took a moment to touch her - a way of adding some of us to the stroke - a wonderful moment. The picture above is her stroke, or perhaps it is our stroke? Lots of hugs as we ended and lots of picture which I'll get up on Flickr this weekend...

After lunch was a wrap-up of the wealth discussions started at the world cafe and what can tangibly be done - it took a turn away from leadership and more into the Shambhala spirit I thought, which was not a bad thing , but for me, not what I came to the Institute for. The closing event was really nice, with a video of the week and the presentation of a Shambhala pin and its significance to all first year attendees got a - done with great sincerity and reverence. I admire those who follow the Shambhala principles and spirit and I think that there is (and I have) a lot to learn from them.

The institute ended from my perspective, the only way it could with Barbara Bash making one final mark - here it is and you can get from it what you will - it is rich and full of meaning and I am sure that everyone who attended ALIA this year saw something unique in the brush stroke.

So what does it all mean? The full answer will take a while, but here is some what I've got so far:

Silence is powerful, and rich, and full of thoughts and deeds - in many ways better than voice or sounds
I am very good at what I do - I had a lot to offer and I did - I think it was appreciated by many as evidenced by the hugs and comments as we parted
I like calligraphy - I am not good at it yet, but that does not matter, and I love the spiritualism, the quiet, the mystery of the stroke, and the relationship with the brush. The only thing that I have found in my life that comes close is hitting that perfect golf ball through a morning mist...
Questions are the key (which is great because my colleagues, friends, and learners will tell you that some days all I do is ask questions - no answers, just questions) - just need to be better at crafting and asking
In many ways, answers are not as important as we make them out to be - sometimes the best answer is another question
It's not about the tools, it's about the hosting - letting go and checking your ego at the door
Give up control to the field or community
The module hosts this week were beyond amazing - I spent a lot of time watching them and how they interacted with us and each other - they had a plan, but were also flexible and open to allow us , the field or community to go where we needed to be. So if your group or community wants to do some exploring or learning you need to get Chris, or Tim, or Barbara to help you with that journey. And many thanks to Caitlin Frost too for her insights and for sharing Chris and her children with us this week - the brought some cool things to the mix. Thanks to you all, I learned so much from each of you and from all of us - thanks all!!

I know there is a lot more and as I review my notes and thoughts over the next few days and weeks that there will be more to say here - I loved the exercises we did and I will be bringing them "home" with me to add to what it is I do (and when I have that figured out, I will know where they all fit too :-)).

I will be back at ALIA next year - the modules and sessions were amazing and it was a transformational experience - I would recommend the experience to anyone looking to do some stretching and expanding of their comfort zone. I got a lot of validation from the week too - I know I'm very good at what I do, but rarely think of it that way in comparison to others - it was nice to see that a lot of what I do is OK. I'm not ready to be a Shambhala warrior anytime soon, but they do offer a lot of things to think about and that is never a bad thing. Hmmm...

Shambhala ALIA Institute 2009 - Day Four

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:47:00 +0000

Another full and amazing day at ALIA. I missed meditation this morning because there was a bunch of us in a great conversation about everything and nothing - what to see in NS, education, fishing, we were all over the place - very cool people :-).

The module session principle today was ? (or the principle formerly known as ? with apologies to Prince :-)). The practice of asking questions. I was in my glory :-) - I LOVE questions :-). One of the first things we talked about was what makes a powerful question? Here's the list:

Simple & Clear
Thought Provoking
Generates Energy
Focuses Inquiry
Challenges Assumptions
Creates New Possibility
Evokes More Questions
Fearlessness (came from the group)

Also came to the conclusion that when hosting or facilitating don't work alone, work with all - helps with the hard questions and avoids ego. We then did a neat exercise around elder, adult, and younger - what kinds of questions do each of the groups ask - very cool - at the end could have switched the title of the Younger questions sheet to Elder and they would have been relevant (if you think about that explains the close relationships many of us have jad with grandparents and why your kids may get along so well with their grandparents - they ask the same questions :-)) - very cool.

I took pictures of the sheets and will get them up on Flickr this weekend. Questions should change and shift and cause more questions. I got a lot of value from talking about questions - and again silence came up as a good tool for use with questions - key I have found with questions is that in many cases it's not the answer that is important, it's the next question, and the one after that that gets everyone engaged in the journey...

We then did an open spaces exercise - would love to try one at the College - I see some real practical uses for the technique to get learners and others involved in solving problems and making issues their own. I love the principles of Open Spaces:

Whoever comes are the right people
Whatever happens is the only thing that could have
When it starts is the right time
When it's over, it's over

The Law of Two Feet - when you don't like it use your two feet and leave :-). Lots of great open space resources at Chris Corrigan's Web site - (in fact check out his whole site along with those of Tim Merry and Barbara Bash - all are simply awesome and very useful).

The afternoon session was our second calligraphy session with Barbara - we got big brushes and ink today! :-). Drew four different characters and all done in silence - a very spiritual, relaxing, connected, wonderful, anxious, amazing experience - felt like you were in a relationship with the brush (sometimes you drew what you wanted and sometimes the brush drew what it wanted :-))- so relaxing - I may have to investigate further. Hmmm...

BTW I have been saying "Heaven, Heart, Human" all week and it's actually "Heaven, Earth, Human" - that's OK because my Heart is my Earth - my grounding, and my centre - it's a very neat and spiritual way to look at things...

Last session was a world cafe on what we can do about the world and wealth and community etc. - actual solutions to problems. Run simultaneously in three places - at ALIA, in Second Life, and on Skype (I'm a big fan of both - been in Second Life (SL) for over 3 years - I'm hondomac Dalgleish in SL , and I've had a Skype account even longer - no more long distance charges...). I thought they might have better integrated them all with voice, but they just read the transcripts from SL and Skype - a good start though, and proof that you can use virtual worlds and other technologies to connect with people. Next step would be live interaction between the three technologies to have one slightly larger world, complete with two-way voice and video - the technology exists to do that now...

Here's a look at the world cafe, Second Life style...

Many thanks to LoriVonne Lustre (in SL) for the postcard. If you are ever in Second Life, track down LoriVonne - she will greatly enhance your SL experience...

The week is drawing to a close, but I think much of my learning is just beginning - there has been a lot of great information and discussion this week - now the distilling, reflecting and actual using of those principles, tools, and techniques that work for my situations begins. Welcome to the end of the beginning. Hmmm...

Shambhala ALIA Institute 2009 - Day Three

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:31:00 +0000

Another interesting day at ALIA - I even managed to keep my eyes open for most of the meditation session this morning :-).

Today in the module we looked at emergence, what is starting to emerge from our discussions on hosting etc. There was a lot of silence today - my God I never realized how powerful silence was - I plan on using it a lot more - again in the circle we were asked to say what had emerged for us - I said a deeper awareness and the knowledge that silence was as powerful or more powerful than voice or noise. The power and energy of the shared thoughts in the circle and in the room were quite palpable

We did a very cool exercise working with limiting beliefs. We were asked to pick a group (I picked learners), and to write down beliefs about them that were negative or limiting - so I wrote down things like frustration, lack of effort, not coming to class etc. The one I chose for the exercise was "Learners work hard at avoiding work". We then paired up (I got lucky and was paired up with Chris Corrigan - amazing guy...) and went through a facilitated discussion that was almost completely silent except for some guiding questions and gentle facilitating - I think it would be amazing to try with faculty or even learners. Some of the guiding questions asked were:

Is it true?
Can you absolutely know it is true?
How do you react - what happens when you believe that thought?
Who would you be without that thought?

Then we turned the thought/belief around - very powerful stuff.

Balanced rocks - what do they mean to You? Balance, synergy, community - connectedness? Hmmm...

We were then sent on a 10 minute silent aimless walk after which we came back and made an ink stroke on a piece of paper - mine was a diagonal line across the page - meant journey and two sides and a lot more to me :-)

Had an interesting session this afternoon on complementary currencies - some of teh examples include LETS Local Exchange Trading Systems (here is a link to a list of LETS worldwide) , the Onion River Exchange, Global Community Initiatives, and LASER were some of the resources mentioned - brief economics lesson on the difference between currency and money and then a look at different types of complementary currencies - there are a lot of them around - seen by some as the salvation of the world economies (complementary currencies are not new - depression-era "scrip" was one of the examples shown). Annapolis Royal has set up a complementary currency. The concept of the various kinds of complimentary currencies and the power and stability they can bring a community are some things to think about. How would the introduction of complementary currencies in Canada (besides the business ones we know like Air Miles, Aeroplan, and Canadian Tire Money...) effect our economy? Or do we already have large scale use of complimentary ecomonies hhere - we just call is volunteerism? I like the idea of a time bank as a way to increase community activism and engagement.

Another great day at ALIA - I think I'm starting to get the big picture of "Heaven, Heart, and Human" and how I might apply it to parts of my life. Another full day tomorrow...

(Currency and Community Image from Gwendolyn Hallsmith)

Shambhala ALIA Institute 2009 - Day Two

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:07:00 +0000

Another wonderful day at ALIA. Started this morning with 45 minutes of mindful meditation - went better than yesterday - almost kept my eyes open the whole time :-). I found the experience restful and at the same time difficult - lots of adjusting to find my centre and trying to clear my mind - it's obviously a life-long practice that requires a lot of commitment and practice.

The module session today was good - some very cool exercises to build community and we went through both an appreciative inquiry and world cafe exercise. One of the exercises involves putting people in a circle then selecting someone who folds their arms over their chest, closes their eyes and is launched into the circle by someone - they keep walking until someone on the edge of the circle stops them and sends them off in a different direction. You then slowly add more blind walkers to the mix and watch the fun happen - people on the edge holding walkers so they don't collide and sending off in a clear direction - I think it would be a great ice breaker for classrooms, and at our own faculty and staff development program.

The afternoon session on calligraphy was amazing - who knew drawing lines could be so spiritual and involve the body as much or more than the mind... We weren't trusted with ink today - a very good thing :-) (we get ink on Thursday :-)), so we drew lines with water on paper - a very cool, focussed, and yet relaxing exercise. Also did some body movement to get the feel of how the body moves through calligraphy - Tai Chi based. Barbara Bash was the facilitator and she is amazing - she has such a calma nd commanding presence. She passed on a poem about calligraphy from one of her mentors:

Bone Heavy
Spirit Light
Heart Even
Intention Far
True Interest
Self Expressed
Upright Energy
Dives and Swirls

(Professor Chong Man'Ching - translated from Chinese)

It captures the art and life of calligraphy perfectly for me.

So much is floating around in my head after the first two days of ALIA - I'll keep twittering and blogging my thoughts, but some of the things I've captured so far are:

Heaven, Earth, Human
Do everything with intention
Wealth is all around us and in many ways has nothing to do with money
Silence is as important as noise
Let communities form themselves from within - guide, don't direct (already knew that one!)

I've taken a few photos of what we've been creating together and I will eventually get them posted to my Flickr photostream.

Another day full of ideas, and notions, and intentions and a lot of things that made me go Hmmm...

Shambhala ALIA Institute 2009 - Day One

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:06:00 +0000

Day One of the ALIA institute was thought provoking, active, and a little overwhelming too - 7:15 AM - 6:00 PM - what a day! and it flew by! This is going to be a transformational week.

A great group of people - very eclectic and interesting - the Shambhala followers are very calm, very centred and very, very smart - they speak softly, almost in a whisper - slow talkers - you really have to pay attention to them - an interesting technique. It initially came off to me as pretentious, but that's not the case - very genuine and caring...

Silence seems to be valued almost more than speech and noise (although there was lots of that and movement too :-). Everything has a purpose and all has meaning - very significant and a different perspective for sure. The following guiding principles are the foundation of the ALIA Institute:

Authenticity - there is a depth and clarity of attention and intention (this word has been used a lot at ALIA - intention is fundamental in any word or deed) as a foundation for leadership
Clear Seeing - effective leadership begins with seeing situations clearly and directly
Inherent Capacity - building on the inherent intelligence and creativity of people and groups. The module I am in "The Art of Hosting Conversations and Collborations Across Generations" speaks a lot to thsi inherent capacity in people, groups and communities
Transformative Learning - leadership development is seen as an ongoing journey of personal and collective transformation. This has been my experience so far. The ALIA institute combines art, music, meditation and other techniques and disciplines out of my current comfort zone, resulting in quite a transformative experience for me so far
Transformative Action - no sense having learning without action - it is an ALIA Institutre guiding principle that the programs and acticvities we are seeing this week will enable us to put into action items of change - I think that this will bevery true...

I have seen ecidence of these guiding principles in everything I have participated in so far.

After the opening address we began with a session of Mindful Meditation that went well except I couldn't keep my eyes open (I need practice). I found it to be a balancinga nnd centriung exercise, one that I will do every morning of the institute and possibly beyond.

There was series of "getting to know us exercises" - we were arranged in a circle by age (16-68), we went to the four points of the compass based on where we had come from (Hungary to Australia, to California to South Africa and back to Nova Scotia), and then joined in a dance of head, heart and hands - got warmed up and met some great people. I can see a great use for these exercises with any froup or classroom. Again the words intention, inquire and learn came up - a banner of intentions was created. My intention for the week is to inquire and learn...

One of the main themes of the week is wealth (in all its shape and forms) - we had a learning cafe on several questions around wealth and most of the discussions had little to do with money - the focus was on community and the wealth of the spirit and other forms of wealth and poverty - being rich and poor in many ways at the same time. An interesting perspective on complementary currencies as well. Some great stuff on complementary currencies here. Heard from Silas Louie from Zimbabwe on teh use of a complemetary currency that brought economic stability and a sense of community to his community

The afternoon was dedicated to the module sessions - mine as I said is "The Art of Hosting Conversations and Collborations Across Generations" hosted by Chris Corrigan, Tim Merry and Barbara Bash who are all great facilitators - at first I thought they were going to do all the talking, but they were just setting context - we did a talking circle - we were asked what our source was and who we served - my source was my passions, particularly my passion for learning and I serve my learners, faculty and staff, but also the economy and people of NS - several people were brought to tears by their stories - I think there will be a lot of tears and laughter before the week is out. Also got into a conversation about Choas and Order - I mentioned that I loved chaos over order in my classrooms because it caused learning - got lots of good feedback.

An amazingly full and eventful day that just flew by - it's taken me this long to digest things for this post - an amazing start to what wil be an amazing week. Hmmm...

Shambhala ALIA Institute 2009 - Day One - Opening Address

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:18:00 +0000

Day One of ALIA started bright and early with breakfast at 7:00 AM (I was fashionably late at 7:45). The opening keynote was "Bringing Authentic Leadership Into Action", by Michael Chender, a consultant and member of the Shambhala community. He spoke of several themes that will be explored throughout the institute - authentic leadership, complexity, and wealth.

Authentic leadership is a path or process not an ideal and will not be defined by ALIA - it's part of the journety of bringing the best to a situation and our current uncertain times demand authentic leadership. As you can see, lots of food for thought right from the top of the institute. I'm just starting to define authentic leadership for myself, but I think it inckudes being aware of everyone and including them in the process. There is more, but that's yet to clarify...

Complexity is ever increasing - the immediacy of the use of technology and the Web - authentic leadership is the essential ground from which to interact or work with complexity. ALIA is a relatively technology-high conference - it is being filmed and photographed, the site is tech-friendly with wireless and wired access, and several people in the audience were using Flip and similar style video cameras. In fact Michael specifically mentioned that he expected his address to be on the Web within the hour - more complexity and immediacy.

He talked about wealth and the need for appreciating natural wealth - I think there will be a lot of talk this week about wealth and most will not be about money.

Michael ended his address talking about meditation - the practice of doing nothing, and the ALIA approach of meditation and the arts bringing mind, body and action together - for me this will be the most interesting part of the journey this week as it is out of my comfort zone (not a bad thing). Finally, he wished us an unnerving week and I think it will be just that.

An interesting start to the week - lots to ponder on and lots to look forward too. Hmmm...

Shambhala ALIA Institute 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:52:00 +0000

This week I am attending the Shambhala ALIA (Authetic Leadership in Action) Institute at Mount Saint Vincent University.

The institute started Sunday evening with an opening banquet and guest speaker. I had a great time - some absolutely fascinating people. Sat at the same table as Susan Szpakowski, the Executive Director of ALIA - a very calm, sure, centred woman - there may be something to the Shambhala way if she is an example - a very caring person - when I spoke with her it was like I was the only person in the room, and she was the busiest person in the room too!

The guest speaker at the opening banquet was Shauntay Grant, Halifax's Poet Laureate - very powerful writer and a great storyteller - there is a real story telling theme to the conference and one of the major themes is wealth - not just monetary wealth, but wealth of mind, and spirit, and knowledge, and sharing - it is going to be a very cool week.

I plan on Tweeting the conference when I can- I'm hondomac on Twitter and will be using the #alia hashtag. Here is the schedule for the week - http://www.aliainstitute.org/programs/2009summer/schedule.html.

I'm looking forward to an interesting, thought-provoking, challenging, and maybe even a little bit of an uncomfortable week - a week full of learning options and opportunities. I'm going to try and post at least once a day, but there is a lot here that makes me go Hmmm... so may not be a daily event...

Image - ALIA Logo from the ALIA Institute Web site.

Britain's Got Talent - The Winners

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Sun, 31 May 2009 01:35:00 +0000

Susan Boyle came second in the Britain's Got Talent final to these guys - the dance group Diversity:

Amazing performance...

Here is Susan Boyle's performance in the final:

I'm sure we haven't heard the last of Susan. You decide who the real winner is...

My Virtual Cross-Canada Trek 2009 - Bienvenue Au Ville de Quebec

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Sun, 31 May 2009 00:50:00 +0000

Now 929 KMs from home, just passing by Quebec City. Quebec City is on eof the oldest in Canada - full of great sites, sounds, and tastes, including La Citadelle, regimental home of the legendary Vandoos - Le Royal 22e Regiment of the Canadian Army.

As the weather gets better I'm making greater daily progress as I keep walking across Canada. Next major destination is Montreal, a mere 272 KMs down Autoroute 20. I prefer the scenery along the South shore of the St.Lawrence River to that of Autoroute 40 and the North Shore.

The trek continues...

Seal Clubbing - The True Story???...

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Tue, 26 May 2009 09:43:00 +0000

Sometimes the best way to deal with the uninformed and hysterical is with humour and satire. Graphic design and digital animation learners at CONA (College of the North Atlantic) in Newfoundland and Labrador, have done just that with an amazing;y well done rebuttal to the European Union's ban on seal products due to the EU's perception of the seal hunt being barbaric and cruel (how barbaric would it be if seal pups were ugly? Hmmm...). Here is their amazing video "The Shame of The North Atlantic" (pay close attention to the name of broadcast company...) - enjoy!

My Virtual Cross-Canada Trek 2009 - Bienvenue Au Riviere-Du-Loup!...

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Tue, 19 May 2009 23:24:00 +0000

With the weather getting better, I've sailed right on through New Brunswick, passing through Edmunston and now find myself in Riviere-du-Loup PQ, 820 KMs from Halifax.

Several people have remarked that I am looking thinner although I've only noticed minor changes so far - I'm in one more hole on my belt, clothes are fitting a little better and I definitely have more energy. Still a long way to go...

I have no idea how much I weigh and probably won't weigh myself until the Fall - for me it's not about how much I weigh, but rather how well I feel and I am feeling good. Looking forward to a long summer of walking, with the next two big stops being Quebec City and Montreal. Bring on the hot weather and the miles!...

The Bluenose 5K 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Sun, 17 May 2009 23:50:00 +0000

I took part in the Bluenose 5K walk/run earlier today for the second straight year. The 5 K is one of several races run on the Bluenose Marathon weekend. The 5k was actually called the "Ben's Smart Walk/run" after the title sponsor Ben's Bakery and their Smart bread.

The day was cool, cloudy, drizzly/misty, and a little windy - apparently almost perfect race conditions (there is a long tradition of the Bluenose race day having terrible weather). Things got started at the Metro Centre where race bibs and t-shirts were picked up.

Interesting start – the Metro Centre was a ZOO! They need to do a better job of organizing – I checked in and they did not have my size t-shirt (despite registering in January), so I ened up with a men's large which may cover one arm (I usually wear XXXL t-shirts). What happened apparently is that people asked for sizes bigger than they registered for and they were all out of XL and XXL (what I had asked for as it was the biggest size they had made).

There was also little evidence of Bluenose hospitality – two women swore at me when they ran into ME!! What’s that all about? I did notice a significant improvement in attitude after the race, so I will attribute the lack of friendliness to “race face” :-). It was a sea of humanity, verging on a mob :-)...

The weather was perfect once we got started– cool, cloudy, a little breezy, and misty – I was cool all the way (but still SWEATY!!!). Did not see a single person from NSCC, but did run into others I knew including John O'Donnell. John was my padre when I was commanding officer of 33 (Halifax) Service Battalion. For the last several years he has been one of the driving forces behind L'Arche here in Halifax. They just opened their Halifax home after many years of hard work.

I twittered my progress on the walk/run (I mostly walked) - it was so cool tweeting the whole thing (you can follow it using the hash tag #bn5K or checking out my Twitter stream)– hopefully I didn’t go overboard – I think I am truly a twitterholic now – the sense of immediacy and community that you get with Twitter is just too cool. I actually felt like I was being supported by people coming along with me. I also posted some pictures at Flickr.

I felt great after the walk and am already thinking of next year - perhaps the 5K run? Hmmm...

Update: Even with all of the Twittering and conversations along the way, I finished the 5K walk/run in 54:15, almost 4 minutes faster than last year - the 1008th finisher. Next year I'm gunning for the top 1000...

CNIE 2009 Ottawa - Some Final Thoughts...

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Sun, 17 May 2009 23:22:00 +0000

Well, CNIE 2009 in Ottawa has been over for a few days now and I'm home and back to work in Halifax. This post is just a few final thoughts on the conference and my experiences there, and some lessons learned and thoughts for the future.

First, let me say that CNIE was a great conference for me - with it's focus on innovations in education it was right where I wanted to be, talking to a lot of like-minded people doing some amazing things with education, teaching and learning, and learning technology. Along with my collegue and friend Carolyn (Randommind), we gave our first presentation at a national conference and it went extremely well - I will be presenting at conferences again (in fact I cannot see myself going to a conference in teh future without presenting - it just adds so much richness to the experience. I plan on attending future CNIE conferences - CNIE 2010 is in St. John NB, a car drive away for me.

I plan on talking to the leadership at NSCC about becoming a member of CNIE - I think it is an organization that is in line with a lot of the things we are trying to do, particularly with blended and online delivery of learning.

The other major activity I engaged in at CNIE 2009 was tweeting the conference. The sense of immediacy and community that I got from twittering "live and in real-time" added so much to the conference plus I got to meet some amazing people who were doing exactly the same. I am truly and completely sold on Twitter now as a teaching and learning tool and I see all sorts of application for it in both face to face classroom and alternate deliveries (I think it would be very cool to add a Twitter stream to an online course - I feel another post coming on...). I certainlly plan on continuing to Twitter at future conferences and events...

Ottawa is a great city for a conference, and the Chateau Laurier is an amazing and elegant hotel, but holding CNIE 2009 in a hotel that basically had no wireless network and inconsistent Internet connectivity was a mistake. I can't remember the last time I used a network cable in a hotel room - it's been a while. If the Chateau Laurier is going to continue to host tech conferences, it needs a reliable wireless network throughout the hotel. I know this might not be that easy in such and old and well-built edifice, but at $13.95 a night for Internet service, cost should not be a factor (hint - join the Fairmont President's Club like I did and the Internet is free).

For me the following were the highlights of CNIE 2009:

Presenting at the conference
Twittering the conference
George Siemen's keynote
The Westminster College presentation on project based learning and competency-based assessment
My NSCC Colleague's presentation on the Chemo Prep programme
The Red Deer College Presentation on redesigning computer learning
being there with my NSCC colleagues and meeting a lot of mazing educators doing some very innovative stuff (and stuff is a technical term)

All in all a great week in the Nation's Capital - even had time to meet up with old friends - thanks again for supper Jason! Check him out, he's brilliant...

CNIE 2009 Ottawa - Day Three

noreply@blogger.com (Ian H. MacLeod) — Fri, 15 May 2009 00:56:00 +0000

The first session I attended on Day Three of CNIE 2009 was "BOLD - Blended Online Learning Design - An International Research Initiative". The study Web site is BOLD-Research.org. The study was conducted at two universities ("X" and "Y"). Several things came out of study:

A mix of synchronous and asynchronous online delivery was best - a psychological and sociological connection develops with faculty and learners
Flexibility was a key element liked by faculty, learners and others surveyed
Equity of access was important (comparing F2F and online)

Instructional Designer feedback included:

Potential to create more active learning environments
Important for ESL learners - can re-read and review multiple times
Easier to monitor learner participation

Learner Feedback included:

Flexibility
Quality
Group Reflection

Faculty Feedback included:

Ease
Flexibility
Everything at their fingertips

There was lower attrition in synchronous courses as compared to asynchronous course - learners wanted a synchronous component to foster group and community.

An ongoing study, BOLD validate a lot of my thoughts on what works in any delivery method - we really do need to be delivery agnostic - focus on strong outcomes and course development that creates the best course possible that can be delivered in multiple ways. Hmmm...

The second session of the morning was "Computer Learning 2.0 - A (Re)Design" This seesion was presented by three librarians from Red Deer College. The team, resonsible for computer learning at Red Deer College moved to a project-based multiple modes of delivery system of computer training at RDC. They shifted to projects with rubrics - learners needed to apply learning and higher level thinking to complete projects as opposed to completing "Menu" style assignments. They came up with some really innovative projects that not only allowed learners to grasp and obtain the technical skills that they needed, but also developed critical thinking and problem-solving skills too.

They have developed a series of online "Lib Guides", including one for this presentation - very cool stuff.

The closing keynote, "Fuelling Innovation Through Millennial Entrepreneurship" was by Andrew Fisher, Executive VP at Wesley Clover, an investment vehicle for Terry Matthews, founder of Newbridge Networks and Mitel among other companies.

Much of his presentation had to do with how innovation and entrepreneurship went together and that as innovative educators there was much we could do with regards to commercialization etc. of our innovative ideas and products.

An OK presentation, but I felt that he didn't really "grab" the audience, probably not always an easy thing to do on closing a conference. He did have a valid point - as educators we do nee dto at least think about entrepreneurship and commercialization and organizations like Wesley Clover who could support further innovation. Hmmm...