Chris Betcher

By default, your computer's drives usually have creative names like "My Computer" or "Macintosh HD". Home wireless networks usually have equally uninteresting default names, like "linksys" or "netgear", or that ultimate of all default SSID names, "default". USB Memory sticks and portable USB drives often have even less interesting names, usually based on their brand, or a series of random characters. Some people give their computing equipment names that make them a little more interesting, or at least a little more unique and personal. I've seen people use names of planets, Greek gods, fictional characters, and many other esoteric collections as the source of inspiration for the names of their networks and computing gear. I once worked as the network manager in a Catholic school where all the servers were named after saints. IT geeks often have an unusual sense of humour, and it commonly shows up in things like this. As I was ...

So here I am in Christchurch, New Zealand for Ulearn 09, certainly one of the biggest Ed Tech conferences in NZ, and probably one of the biggest in the southern hemisphere I would think. It's a education conference that I've wanted to attend for the last few years, having only ever heard good things about it, but for whatever reason I just haven't been able to get here for it. This year was different, and after hearing how good it was from my work colleague, @sirchriss , I was very keen to get here. Fortunately, a number of Australian educators were sponsored to attend the event this year and I was lucky enough to have my presentation submissions accepted, so here I am. It really is a beautiful part of the world, and Christchurch is a very attractive city. The conference itself is quite large, with close to 2000 delegates, 400+ workshops and presentations, 150 support staff and over 60 vendors. The logistical effort to plan and host a conference of this scale is signific...

Our school is just about to provide Netbook computers ( Lenovo S10 s in case you're interested) to all of our Year 6 students.  This is part of a project to provide an immersive technology-rich year at an age where we think it will do the most good.  Lots of Web 2.0 and open Source software tools, use of Open Office and Google Docs as their main productivity environments, access to school hosted blogs and wikis, etc.  We are trying to make use of these tools to promote creativity, productivity and higher order thinking. We want to expose them to the many great digital resources out there, while teaching them the information literacy skills needed to navigate through the massive amounts of information available.  The kids and their teachers are SO excited and, to be honest, so am I. So when I stumbled across this video this morning I really had a giggle.  The students who made this clip did a great job of pointing out the limitations of non-digital media in a very funny way.  It...

There is a backstory on this video, but to be honest, it probably doesn't really matter all that much.  It was made by Matt Harding , the famous " wherethehellismat t" guy from YouTube. The real point for me is that life is for living and that people all over the world want basically the same things - to be loved, to feel happy and to enjoy life. Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo . I look at that video and love seeing the sheer joy on people's faces that comes from just being happy. Enjoy.  I'm off to dance!

I was just doing a tidy-up of my hard drive and I found this video that I'd almost forgotten about, so I thought I'd put it up on YouTube so I know where to find it in future. Back in 2006, I spent a yea r teaching in Oakville, Canada, as part of a teaching exchange.  I really enjoyed the whole experience, which was life-changing in many ways.  In fact, I'm back in Toronto at the moment and despite the -24 degree temperatures this really is like my second home. When you go on a teaching exchange you act as somewhat of an ambassador for your country, taking whatever opportunities you can to share some of the culture of your own country with the locals.  So one day, I decided to let my Grade 9 BTT101 class experience the classic Australian taste of Vegemite .  Most Aussie kids grow up with Vegemite , a yeast based spread that usually goes on toast, crumpets and crackers.  Seeing the reaction of non-Aussies makes me realise that it's somewhat of an acquired taste, but it...

I take a class of kids with some pretty severe learning difficulties once a week to do some computer stuff with them.  A few weeks ago, one of the girls finished her work early and since there was only a few minutes till the bell she asked if she could play Tetris online .  A moment later when I walked by she was playing the game and she was totally awesome at it!  I mean, I was blown away at just how fast and accurate she was...  this is from a student that usually really struggles with many other intellectual tasks. Tetris, although based on a simple concept, is a game that requires a good sense of spatial awareness, timing and multitasking to play well... and this girl was playing really well! I called her regular teacher over and pointed out how good this girl was at the game.  Her teacher had never actually played Tetris before and wasn't quite sure how the game worked, so I asked the student to give her teacher a lesson in how to play it.  It was gre...

A friend sent me one of these silly emails, but this one actually made me laugh. It's unnervingly close to the truth! Here goes... Scenario: Jack goes quail hunting before school, pulls into school parking lot with shotgun in gun rack. 1977 - Vice principal comes over, looks at Jack’s shotgun, goes to his car and gets his own shotgun to show Jack. 2007 - School goes into lockdown, the RCMP are called, Jack is hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors are called in to assist traumatized students and teachers. Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school. 1977 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies. 2007 - Police are called, SWAT team arrives and arrests Johnny and Mark. They are charged with assault and both are expelled even though Johnny started it. Scenario: Jeffrey won’t sit still in class, disrupts other students. 1977 - Jeffrey is sent to the principal’s office and given a good paddling. Returns to...