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Back to school - issues & experts
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August 30, 2004
Heading back to school…Classrooms will soon be filled with students back at work. It's a scenario veteran education professor Milt McClaren has studied for decades. As both teachers and students prepare for another year, McClaren can look at such issues as curriculum, class size and study habits, as well as the impact of technology in the classroom. Though semi-retired, McClaren resides in Kelowna and continues to work with SFU's education faculty.
- Milt McClaren, 1.250.764.8781
Electronic distractions stealing classroom attention...Cell phones, laptops, palm pilots, they're just some of the electronic gadgets stealing the attention of kids in our gadget-obsessed culture. SFU communication professor Richard Smith can talk about the pros and cons of prolific net surfing, text messaging and ringing cell phones in the classroom. “It isn't all unproductive distraction,” says Smith. “However, due to its growth, we as instructors need to think about how we're going to cope. Some may ban or restrict the use of gadgets. Others may design educational computer games for use in the classroom.”
- Richard Smith, 604.291.5116, 604.618.0276, smith@sfu.ca
Sparing the challenged and the gifted from cuts…B.C. school boards have been slashing budgets, viewing certain resources as expendable in tight times. Among those axed have been programs for the gifted and children from socially and financially challenged families. Lannie Kanevsky, a SFU education professor who studies initiatives for gifted children, can comment on the importance of maintaining enriched and gifted programs. She can also talk about the many different types of gifted students, some of whom face learning challenges themselves. SFU education professor Lucy LeMare sees the reduction of programs, such as HIPPY Vancouver, as a tragic move. She can elaborate on how such cuts could reinforce the cycle of crime and poverty among children from socially and financially disadvantaged families.
- Lannie Kanevsky, 604.291.5965, lannie_kanevsky@sfu.caLucy LeMare, 604.291.3643, lucy_lemare@sfu.ca
Learning through writing…It may be best known as the second 'R' in the old adage. reading, writing and 'rithmetic', but it's been a lifelong top priority for researcher Bernice Wong. The veteran SFU education professor has spent decades working with students in studies and participatory projects all designed to deepen students' appreciation for and understanding of the need to hone writing skills. She worked for several years with high school students at Eagleridge Secondary, and is now half way through a new study, working with Grade 5 students at Sir Thompson Elementary School in east Vancouver. The study involves teaching students to improve learning through their writing, by sharing their work with fellow students and examining more closely what they write. To date Wong has found learning improvements in 20 of 29 students. The study runs until 2006.
- Bernice Wong, 604.291.4116; bwong2@telus.net
A new semester brings wide range of courses…New courses that meet evolving demands for training in ethics and communications are starting this semester. They include retired diplomat Jon Scott's popular new course on ethics and politics, communication's The Philosophy of Technology, and a new humanities course exploring the causes and consequences of nihilism, or meaninglessness. Scott's course will teach students to build a variety of analytical skills, including recognizing the importance of ethical values as applied to international relations. Scott served in various positions in the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Privy Council Office in Ottawa with stints in Tunis, Bonn, Caracas, Jakarta, and Canberra. A long-time course, focusing on timely issues, is Peter Anderson's Communication to Mitigate Disasters. It will examine creative use of technology in addressing yet another forest fire season in B.C.
- Jon Scott, 604.291.3035, jonjscott@shaw.ca Peter Anderson, 604.291.4921, peter_Anderson@sfu.ca
Environmental consciousness captures educators…Environmental education is a hot topic in public school these days. Teachers are attending special conferences to develop strategies for taking a holistic approach to teaching students why they should, and how to, care for the environment. David Zandvliet is an assistant professor of science and technology at SFU, and an expert on raising environmental consciousness in the classroom. He can talk about the success of a recent conference on environmental education.