Month: February 2019

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Don’t Believe the Hype! Leading Change in a Digital Age

The example I’ve chosen to explore is related the a particular trend that I’m particularly interested in. In interested in how businesses and organizations are able to take advantage of the possibilities of online learning. I live in the Northwest Territories, which is especially challenged by the need to serve a citizenry that is scattered across an immense territory. Being relatively underdeveloped, there is very little road access. The majority of the population is located in Yellowknife, while the rest of the population is dispersed among two dozen very small communities across the territories. In the majority of cases, access is provided only by air travel. Continue reading “Don’t Believe the Hype! Leading Change in a Digital Age”

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Technological Challenges to Teaching

The recurring question in the several articles as part of the reading list for Activity 1 of Unit 2 of LRNT 525 (Weiner, 2009; Biech, 2007; Weller & Anderson, 2013; Feldstein, 2017), is how to manage change, specifically technological change, with reference to the substantial changes taking place in education. As is often the case in this field, the questions attempt to determine how to address the change, instead of defining the nature of the change. An interesting perspective is offered by Weller and Anderson (2013), who consider an organization or institution’s “resilience” to change. Using the analogy of an ecosystem, the field of education much adapt to new environmental conditions, and the species itself must adapt. However, Weller and Anderson (2013) suggest that an essential factor for survival is that the “core function remain.” According to the authors, “In terms of higher education practice then, resilience is about utilising technology to change practices where this is desirable, but to retain the underlying function and identity that the existing practices represent, if they are still deemed to be necessary” (Resilience). Continue reading “Technological Challenges to Teaching”

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The Age-Old Question of Good Leadership

According to Proverbs 29:2, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” This contradicts popular assumptions that “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The cynicism is further reinforced by popular assumption, reflected in Orwell’s Animal Farm, that any attempt to reform power is ultimately futile. We seem to live in a pessimistic age. The gravest realities of the twentieth century are where high ideals have degraded into the most obscene forms of totalitarianism. The theory of evolution has been bastardized into Social Darwinism, where human progress purportedly thrives on self-interest. In July 2017, Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene was listed as the “most inspiring science books of all time” in a poll to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Royal Society science book prize (Royal Society, 2017). Continue reading “The Age-Old Question of Good Leadership”