There are unique challenges involved in educating students in rural areas. This is something that the Faculty of Education at UBC is working hard to address, to help teachers in rural communities enhance their curriculum choices by using local resources and landscapes to broaden their students’ experiences.

This week, Jenny talks to Dr. Linda Farr Darling about the opportunities her position as Eleanor Rix Professor of Rural Teacher Education has offered  her in supporting rural teachers as they face these challenges. The Faculty has a number of initiatives in Rural Education currently ongoing, and Linda gives us some good examples of these projects (more information on these projects can be found on the Rural Teachers site). She also talks about her philosophy regarding the importance of rural education and informing  more urban communities about what’s happening.

Finally, Linda talks about the Restorative Justice summer institute taking place at the Mir Centre for Peace at Selkirk College, July 9-13.

Before that, your hosts discuss some great Twitter hashtags to follow in order to keep up with the Education conversation on that social networking site. Hashtags are a great way to not only follow conversations, but also find interesting people who share that same interest. Just make sure you check out the hashtags you discover for yourself before you use them!

In addition, there’s why we want to go to Education conferences (it’s not what you think), Dave’s budding writing career, and aliens (since there are no zombies this week).

We’d love your feedback on anything. Email us at podcast.eplt@ubc.ca

Find us on iTunes, (or just search for EPLT or Down the Hall in the podcast section of iTunes)

And we are now on Stitcher too! So you can take us with you no matter what phone you have. Just search for EPLT or Down the Hall on your Stitcher app if you don’t currently have access to the web.

Just a note that the views expressed in the podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and not necessarily the views of either EPLT or the Faculty of Education at UBC.

To access all links mentioned on this episode, please go to our blog page.

Down the Hall - Episode 32 (32:24)

Time Stamps

00:11 | Introduction

11:48 | Interview – Rural Education and Transformative Justice 

Interview with Dr. Linda Farr Darling

29:22 | What’s Happening in EPLT?

To access all links mentioned on this episode, please go to our blog page.

Credits

Our theme  music | “The Pharaos Theme” by The Pharaos through a Creative Commons license

Bumper music

Selection 1 | “Red River” by Jackie & the Cedrics

Selection 2 | “Emergency Exit” by Dr. Frankenstein

All selections thanks to Creative Commons licensing.

This week we are in an art frame of mind, as well as taking a trip to the museum.

Ok, we don’t take an actual trip (though perhaps we could do a remote podcast from one soon?), but we do discuss the importance of art and museums  and how they can play a vital role not only in a child’s education, but also in our lives in general. Dave interviews Dr. Kit Grauer and she talks about just how much museums have become a part of the educational process, as opposed to just holding the relics for us to look at. In addition, she addresses the importance of art in all of our lives as we live in such a visual culture in modern society. Finally, we talk about the 10th Museum/Gallery Teachers Summer Institute taking place at UBC’s Museum of Anthropology and Emily Carr University.

Before that, your hosts discuss their favourite school topics that you may not have heard us talk about before (so Dave doesn’t get to spend ten minutes going on about History), more newly found love of Twitter, and snow! The sun’s occasionally peeking out as this post is being written, but it was snowing the day of recording. That is not cool.

Speaking of bad weather, apologies for the audio quality in Kit’s interview. There was a major windstorm that day and the internet connection was spotty. However, we feel that the interview was fantastic and well worth listening to despite the audio problems. Thanks to Kit for that.

We’d love your feedback on anything. Email us at podcast.eplt@ubc.ca

Just a note that the views expressed in the podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and not necessarily the views of either EPLT or the Faculty of Education at UBC.

To access all the links mentioned on this podcast, please go to our blog page.

Down the Hall - Episode 31 (35:12)

Time Stamps

00:11 | Introduction

09:20 | Interview – The Importance of Art and Museum Education in our Culture

Interview with Dr. Kit Grauer regarding the Museum/Gallery Teachers Summer Institute

32:05 | What’s Happening in EPLT?

To access all the links mentioned on this podcast, please go to our blog page.

Credits

Our theme  music | “The Pharaos Theme” by The Pharaos through a Creative Commons license

Bumper music

Selection 1 | “Canzone” by LiberaMusica Libereldee

Selection 2 | “Alone in a Room” by Steve Dunston

All selections thanks to Creative Commons licensing.

This week, we hope to broaden minds with discussions of both history and intellectual property as it pertains to educational technology and learning.

We open the episode, however, by discussing our top three Physical Education experiences from our childhood, which may come as a surprise to our PE teachers. We all have experiences that shape us as children, and many of them happened in our PE classes. We’d love to hear about your own experiences that you might remember and take with you even to this day.

After that, Dave talks with Dr. John Willinsky, one of the organizers of the “Recurring Questions in Technology: A Brief History of Consciousness & Learning” summer institute being offered here on the UBC campus. John is teaching on the first day of this five-day institute, running this Summer from July 9-13. His topic is intellectual property and how it pertains to learning and technology, and he discusses how it can become an issue as more and more teachers and students collaborate online. He also discusses how the Recurring Questions institute came about and exactly how it will work for students.

Jenny then talks to Dr. Peter Seixas, the Program Director for the Centre for the Study of Historical Consciousness here in the Faculty of Education. Peter discusses historiography:  how history is taught, what stories are told, by whom, and how. Especially, why history is important to teach. Peter also talks about the Historical Thinking Project summer institute that’s being offered through EPLT in Toronto this Summer, July 9-14. Peter offers hope to those of us who truly value the study of history and how it is taught in schools.

All of that and a lot more, including a little Home Improvement and welcoming Jenny to the Dark Side.

We’d love your feedback on anything. Email us at podcast.eplt@ubc.ca

Just a note that the views expressed in the podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and not necessarily the views of either EPLT or the Faculty of Education at UBC.

To access all of the links mentioned on this podcast, please go to our blog page.

Time Stamps

00:11 | Introduction

Restorative Justice summer institute

14:13 | Interview – Intellectual Property in Learning & Technology

Interview with Dr. John Willinsky regarding the Recurring Questions in Technology summer institute

32:30 | Interview – Historiography and How We Teach History

Interview with Dr. Peter Seixas, Program Director for the Centre for the Study of Historical Consciousness, regarding the Historical Thinking summer institute

52:27 | What’s Happening in EPLT?

To access all of the links mentioned on this podcast, please go to our blog page.

Credits

Our theme  music | “The Pharaos Theme” by The Pharaos through a Creative Commons license

Bumper music

Selection 1 | “Wish” by Nobody.

Selection 2 | “Dream Catcher” by Daedalus’ Right Eye.

Selection 3 | “Popcorn” by Tenpenny Joke.

All selections thanks to Creative Commons licensing.

The next episode will be posted on Friday, March 16.