Development Team

 

I have been a professor in the Faculty of Education here at SFU since 2000. I started the lab to develop projects that will develop the potential of online learning relationships that span organizations, communities, and stages of life. The Internet presents a host of educational possibilities beyond those suggested by the "digital library" metaphor. Children having their fingertips on a wealth of information is of little value if they do not also have ready access to the guidance they need to work with this information in discipline-appropriate ways. In a happy coincidence, the learning and development of adults can be enhanced in unique ways when they offer advice and guidance to youth who are struggling with difficult tasks. Networked media now enable these sorts of learning relationships to develop where work and school schedules conflict, or where face-to-face meetings are otherwise impractical. If you'd like to know more about me and my work, my personal page is located at http://www.sfu.ca/~koneill/

I expend the bulk of my academic efforts investigating the question: How do you know what you know about different groups in society? My research studies the relationship between school-derived and media-derived knowledge about social groups. I examine how media and schools are part of a network of socially-constructed institutions that establish the norms of society, representing who the "average" person belonging to any particular group is, what s/he looks like, what type of family relations s/he has, what s/he aspires to be, what s/he wears, the music s/he likes, the type of trouble s/he has at school, who s/he wants to take to the school dance, whether s/he is lazy, studious, quiet, and so on. I investigate how media curriculum and school curriculum together shape our knowledge about social groups based primarily on race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, ability, religion, first-language, and class. In this investigation, I also examine the ways that media and school representations influence our relationships with one another, as members of differing social groups, and our differing degrees of access to societal resources and institutional power. http://www.sfu.ca/~ozlem

I am a Master‘s student in the Educational Technology and Learning Design program at Simon Fraser University. When people ask me “what do you study?”, I tell them that I study how people learn and how technology can be used to help people improve learning. I am interested in educational psychology and technology utilization in second language teaching for children. “Learning by doing” and “learning by play” are the models I want to integrate into children’s second language instruction design. It’s a pleasure to be a member of the “Compassionate Canada” team. Currently, I am working for the website building and will contribute my passion to other works of this research. If you have the same research interest as I do or have any suggestions for the design of this website, I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas. ydong@sfu.ca

After nearly a decade spent splitting my time between teaching digital video editing at Vancouver Film School and working on independent film and video projects, I decided to further my education by taking a Master of Arts in Education and Technology here at Simon Fraser University.Through the course of my studies and research, I became interested in developing technology-infused curricula and supporting materials to be used in the secondary social studies classroom. In the fall of 2008, I will continue to pursue those interests as I begin a PhD at the University of British Columbia in Curriculum Studies focused on Social Studies education.

Currently I am enrolled in a Master of Arts in Education at Simon Fraser University . My area of specialization is diversity and inclusion in curriculum and instruction. Before moving to Vancouver , I attended the University of Alberta where I received my Bachelor of Education, majoring in social studies. For a long time I have been interested in high school social studies curricula and issues regarding social equity. It is my interest that has motivated me to do work in the area of developing curriculum which generates critical thinking on the part of students and teachers. My specific interest, and the topic I am currently writing my thesis on, is critical multiculturalism and culturally relevant pedagogy.

I am currently a Master’s student in the Inclusion and Diversity in Instruction and Curriculum program at Simon Fraser University. I completed my undergraduate in B.A. in Educational Studies and B.Ed. at Bishop’s University in Quebec.  After teaching abroad, I returned to Quebec to work as an elementary teacher until deciding to pursue graduate work.  I am interested in teacher identity, peace and global education, and teachers as agents of social change.