I'm using this blog only off and on. Google certainly does have their shit together, but ~ I'm currently using Tumblr ( http://www.tumblr.com/blog/kelorii ) for a more up-to-date blog. However, I think that this one may be more of a "when I remember" thing =^_^=
Just an update on my current state of my project ~ the intro isn't finished, but the groundwork for it is (meaning, I haven't written it, but I've done pretty much what I can for the backing information behind it). I'm just now learning to program ~ and my brain is melting! I am learning PHP, JQuery, Java, and HTML 4/5. Of course, there will be other stuff in there (such as MySQL). Why? To create the prototype.
I'm sure I mentioned that in the past. But I think that a little refresh can't hurt!
I'm finding the challenge a great deal of fun and I'm learning soooo much! It's exciting! I'm going to be applying to several universities in Japan and also one of the major universities (BCLU) in Beijing. Both Japan and China offer full scholarship for Ph.D. students ~ of COURSE it is highly competitive! Worth the shot though, right? What's the worst that can happen ~ they say NO. Then I'm right where I am now, and not the worse for wear, but if they say YES... I'll finally be able to relax and totally focus on my project!
One day... I sincerely hope that I can give this project to the world... free access to educational information around the world... sure, you don't have a teacher, you can't ask questions about your projects, there's not "classroom" (even online)... but the INFORMATION is there... how the class is taught, what's used, and so on... parents and students can look to the place they're going to move and find the information they need to determine which school is best for them.
Anyways... if this "utopian" project works ~ I'll be happy for having given something to the world.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
G.A.E.M.3.
The grad project is a go, is accepted, and is currently underway.
From here on in, it will be a great deal of work on my part to first learn to program (PHP, HTML 4/5, and Java (not JavaScript). In addition I will have to write anywhere from 20 to 60 pages of text detailing the outline of my project and the framework therein.
There will be several sublevels as well as front end development. Much of this (in the future) I will have to (likely) do on my own, but at the same time, there will be a significant effort to out-source the programming to others. If people are interested ~ I must stress that I am a task-master with a bent for perfection. Each segment and module that I or others program will be expected to function EXACTLY to spec, and nothing more. This means that if I request something that does the A+B=C algorithm, it will to precisely that and nothing more, nothing less. This will avoid complications and provide ease of use.
The project, as I have stated briefly previously, is one where I wish to open up the world of education to, well, the whole world. As it stands, education is a secretive society. Don't believe me? Here's something for you to try to figure out ~ and you have 15 minutes to find this information:
What books, what targets, what materials, what methods are used to teach English 12 by each teacher of that subject in North Vancouver Senior Secondary School? I'll save you the trouble - you won't find much, if anything. Not without a significant number of e-mails and a great deal of time. Even then - *IF* you're lucky, you'll be given the runabout until eventually someone takes pity on you and tells you what's what. Likely you'll have to go in person and nearly interrogate the teacher for the specific class in the specific school, and ask very specific questions else you'll wander off with even more questions.
My goal, is to bring all this information to bare and allow for anyone who can obtain access to the internet anywhere to get the information they want - so they can assess if the school or educational method is right for their child or themselves, or even their institution or state (country). This allows for freedom of development and access on a global scale.
Sounds like a lot of work doesn't it? It is. It will be an ongoing project for several years to come.
What do I get out of it?
Recognition, perhaps. A good job, maybe. A Nobel Peace Prize - not likely, but possible. Ultimately - the knowledge that I've managed to help millions of people globally access a once private system, and that for me is the penultimate goal.
From here on in, it will be a great deal of work on my part to first learn to program (PHP, HTML 4/5, and Java (not JavaScript). In addition I will have to write anywhere from 20 to 60 pages of text detailing the outline of my project and the framework therein.
There will be several sublevels as well as front end development. Much of this (in the future) I will have to (likely) do on my own, but at the same time, there will be a significant effort to out-source the programming to others. If people are interested ~ I must stress that I am a task-master with a bent for perfection. Each segment and module that I or others program will be expected to function EXACTLY to spec, and nothing more. This means that if I request something that does the A+B=C algorithm, it will to precisely that and nothing more, nothing less. This will avoid complications and provide ease of use.
The project, as I have stated briefly previously, is one where I wish to open up the world of education to, well, the whole world. As it stands, education is a secretive society. Don't believe me? Here's something for you to try to figure out ~ and you have 15 minutes to find this information:
What books, what targets, what materials, what methods are used to teach English 12 by each teacher of that subject in North Vancouver Senior Secondary School? I'll save you the trouble - you won't find much, if anything. Not without a significant number of e-mails and a great deal of time. Even then - *IF* you're lucky, you'll be given the runabout until eventually someone takes pity on you and tells you what's what. Likely you'll have to go in person and nearly interrogate the teacher for the specific class in the specific school, and ask very specific questions else you'll wander off with even more questions.
My goal, is to bring all this information to bare and allow for anyone who can obtain access to the internet anywhere to get the information they want - so they can assess if the school or educational method is right for their child or themselves, or even their institution or state (country). This allows for freedom of development and access on a global scale.
Sounds like a lot of work doesn't it? It is. It will be an ongoing project for several years to come.
What do I get out of it?
Recognition, perhaps. A good job, maybe. A Nobel Peace Prize - not likely, but possible. Ultimately - the knowledge that I've managed to help millions of people globally access a once private system, and that for me is the penultimate goal.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Grad Project & Ph.D. Proposition
I have, just yesterday, spoken with an instructor - the convener of the engineering programme - to ask if she will convene my graduating project starting this May.
The project will be a combination of a design document, an involved essay, and a basic prototype that will function on a few levels (programmed) of the model I'm working on.
The idea behind the overall process will be to create not only my graduating project for my LSBA (Liberal Studies Bachelor of Arts) but also to be the proposition project for a Ph.D. which I will attempt to complete following my graduation (and perhaps a year or two off so I can rest my brain and really mull over what I wish to do with the project as a whole).
I don't recall (and am too lazy to look at the moment) if I've defined the project as a whole or not. However, the title for it is G.A.E.M.3 (said as: Game Three) - I will begin to add more documentation to it once the final project is underway - it will change in scope, minimal changes in direction, and overall completion levels, as time progresses.
What is the G.A.E.M.3 model? I will reiterate this in a future post with more detail...
Globally Accessible Educational Materials, Methods, and Models.
From there, I will define more as it comes up and moves forward. I hope to have a working prototype completed by December and possibly some published work defining in greater detail in peer-reviewed journals in that time.
Until then.
I don't recall (and am too lazy to look at the moment) if I've defined the project as a whole or not. However, the title for it is G.A.E.M.3 (said as: Game Three) - I will begin to add more documentation to it once the final project is underway - it will change in scope, minimal changes in direction, and overall completion levels, as time progresses.
What is the G.A.E.M.3 model? I will reiterate this in a future post with more detail...
Globally Accessible Educational Materials, Methods, and Models.
From there, I will define more as it comes up and moves forward. I hope to have a working prototype completed by December and possibly some published work defining in greater detail in peer-reviewed journals in that time.
Until then.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Starbucks in a Suit and Tie
Sitting here looking great, but feeling awkward.
I'm wearing a three piece suit and tie, grey-pinstriped pants, vest, jacket, a crimson dress shirt, a glossy white tie. I'm sitting in a Starbucks, using a laptop, writing a paper, reading for my classes tomorrow. Stressing out and relaxing. Spinning my wheels while getting stuff done.
I had a visitor at my apartment today ~ it was awkward letting someone in that close. "My room is a mess," was all I could think. Now all I can think is "what a terrible first impression."
Ironically ~ today is Valentines day, and of course I'm single as usual. I don't place a whole lot of importance on the day, at least not in the sense of the materialistic side of things. But ~ I really wish I could do something romantic with someone. The kind of thing that makes everyone go 'awww~~~.'
Next year will be the last year I spend in Canada on Valentines day - likely for a very long time. It would be nice, at least once, to do something fun on that day with someone, rather than alone.
I want to be playing in the mud. Walking through a forest. Listening to the ocean. Not cloistered in the trappings of white-collar life in a city. The more I come closer to becoming corporate, the more I feel like I'm being lashed to the ground; I'm being chained to stop my freedom of flight.
Oh well. At least I look good.
I'm wearing a three piece suit and tie, grey-pinstriped pants, vest, jacket, a crimson dress shirt, a glossy white tie. I'm sitting in a Starbucks, using a laptop, writing a paper, reading for my classes tomorrow. Stressing out and relaxing. Spinning my wheels while getting stuff done.
I had a visitor at my apartment today ~ it was awkward letting someone in that close. "My room is a mess," was all I could think. Now all I can think is "what a terrible first impression."
Ironically ~ today is Valentines day, and of course I'm single as usual. I don't place a whole lot of importance on the day, at least not in the sense of the materialistic side of things. But ~ I really wish I could do something romantic with someone. The kind of thing that makes everyone go 'awww~~~.'
Next year will be the last year I spend in Canada on Valentines day - likely for a very long time. It would be nice, at least once, to do something fun on that day with someone, rather than alone.
I want to be playing in the mud. Walking through a forest. Listening to the ocean. Not cloistered in the trappings of white-collar life in a city. The more I come closer to becoming corporate, the more I feel like I'm being lashed to the ground; I'm being chained to stop my freedom of flight.
Oh well. At least I look good.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Today I got quite a bit further in my tutorial class. I finally felt the break past the wall that I've been facing for about 4 months now. While the work is still nearly overwhelming I no longer feel that sense of impossibility that comes from so many things crashing down all at once.
It's like a light went on in a dim room where only shadows were seen before. Now I have a concrete idea of where to go, and tomorrow I will be discussing with the convener of the LSBA (Liberal Studies Bachelor of Arts) programme in Capilano University (my university) about possibilities of final project.
So I'll let you in on it a little more.
Essentially I'm working to create a world-wide accessible form of education that can be accessed by the layman, that is to say anyone with access to a computer (even if it means minimal access) and no need for an account, but at the same time, people with accounts can participate in personal blogs, and educator (be they teachers, doctorates, institutions, or countries) blogs and forums, and then there'll be accounts for each of the bracketed groups. This way people can create, then reciprocate.
The idea is that a country like China can 'cherry pick' ideas for a new educational system and create their OWN system (rather than being told) based on the information they can access. From there, they can then re-submit (reciprocate) their newly developed system (as a combination of global ideas) back into the matrix of educational platforms and methods so others can see just what's been done.
This will facilitate globalized (not 'globalization' in the sense of 'free trade across borders' but rather, 'borderless') methods of education. It is my intent to generate a new way of approaching educational structures to give the greatest forms of flexibility while still providing individual presentation of materials. No one country or institution will be TOLD what to do, rather that they'll be given the option of a DIALOGUE in their own creation.
I could go on for hours typing out definitions and exploratory ideas, but that will be released in my thesis document, in full.
It's like a light went on in a dim room where only shadows were seen before. Now I have a concrete idea of where to go, and tomorrow I will be discussing with the convener of the LSBA (Liberal Studies Bachelor of Arts) programme in Capilano University (my university) about possibilities of final project.
So I'll let you in on it a little more.
Essentially I'm working to create a world-wide accessible form of education that can be accessed by the layman, that is to say anyone with access to a computer (even if it means minimal access) and no need for an account, but at the same time, people with accounts can participate in personal blogs, and educator (be they teachers, doctorates, institutions, or countries) blogs and forums, and then there'll be accounts for each of the bracketed groups. This way people can create, then reciprocate.
The idea is that a country like China can 'cherry pick' ideas for a new educational system and create their OWN system (rather than being told) based on the information they can access. From there, they can then re-submit (reciprocate) their newly developed system (as a combination of global ideas) back into the matrix of educational platforms and methods so others can see just what's been done.
This will facilitate globalized (not 'globalization' in the sense of 'free trade across borders' but rather, 'borderless') methods of education. It is my intent to generate a new way of approaching educational structures to give the greatest forms of flexibility while still providing individual presentation of materials. No one country or institution will be TOLD what to do, rather that they'll be given the option of a DIALOGUE in their own creation.
I could go on for hours typing out definitions and exploratory ideas, but that will be released in my thesis document, in full.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
This semester will continue with further focus on crossing the Iron Wall of China with regards to how education is viewed and reformed in the country. The rest of the developed world is trying to tell China what to do and how to do it ~ "our education system is the right one, so you should do it our way." This is fairly typical of most countries (even China does this for many things such as how to teach Chinese to students whose second or later language is not Chinese. This is not necessarily wrong ~ it's simply that there must be a better way to disseminate information and education to other peoples around the world without -telling- them how to do it. So that is part of my approach - how do I do this? How do I offer a new form of education to a country so resistant to being told (justifiably so) how to do things? When Canada and the USA have installed schools in China they did so with the idea that those schools would be taught in a parallel format to the country of origin. "Teach our way in these schools."
Understandably, there's a great deal of resistance. Crossing this wall is easier than it sounds, even in spite of popular myth that the Chinese will not listen to anyone else. For example, can you imagine the USA, for example, accepting the UK telling them how to run their schools? As I approach this project, I already have an answer in mind that I'm hoping will give not just China, but the entire planet, a way to utilize a system of education that will benefit each nation or culture on a personal and independent level, bereft of 'orders.'
Given the nature of this project, I am remaining relatively secretive about how much information I'm letting out at this time. However, once I've concreted the foundation for it ~ the intent is that this entire educational system will be set in motion on a global scale, and provided to the world for FREE. Please be patient with me in this.
Understandably, there's a great deal of resistance. Crossing this wall is easier than it sounds, even in spite of popular myth that the Chinese will not listen to anyone else. For example, can you imagine the USA, for example, accepting the UK telling them how to run their schools? As I approach this project, I already have an answer in mind that I'm hoping will give not just China, but the entire planet, a way to utilize a system of education that will benefit each nation or culture on a personal and independent level, bereft of 'orders.'
Given the nature of this project, I am remaining relatively secretive about how much information I'm letting out at this time. However, once I've concreted the foundation for it ~ the intent is that this entire educational system will be set in motion on a global scale, and provided to the world for FREE. Please be patient with me in this.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Thesis Update
Perhaps there's something to be said for being mentally exhausted and needing to 'turn-off' for a solid length of time to recharge. My project has evolved further into what I've affectionately dubbed the G.A.E.M.3 model. As it stands I have to choose for my graduating project just how I plan to approach the finalization of the project itself - either it will involve programming (and lots of it) which will mean that I must re-learn to program all over again, or it will involve writing a 60 page dissertation that details the layout of the model.
I've been looking towards finding universities that would take up a cross-disciplinary project which I've discovered to not be an easy task. I have also come to realize that while I do want to take this to the world stage - I don't want to take up the reigns once it has reached fruition. I just want to get my degree - give something to the world, then disappear into the annuls of time and find some way to escape.
Last week I was assigned 620 pages of reading all due this week, along with a written project (very simple), a presentation (not terribly difficult by any means), and this is understating the amount of work and reading I was given. A complaint? No. I knew this is what I was getting myself into. I have 5 upper level (third/fourth-year) classes, as well as two tutorial classes. I will finish my bachelor degree this December (2012). In spring I will either attend Senshu University in Japan, or I will take a TESL 2 course. Else I will take the TESL classes in spring then move to Japan following that.
My goal is to work for a while and continue to work quietly on my thesis and project, to try to fund-raise for its creation and development, and hopefully pay down my rather sizable student loans. Anyone who says that education is cheap in Canada is incorrect. This, of course, is my own beef with a system that needs a serious overhaul. Almost done though!
I'll post again when I have more to say - by the end of summer, I should have produced a body of work that I can then discuss online and more coherently.
I've been looking towards finding universities that would take up a cross-disciplinary project which I've discovered to not be an easy task. I have also come to realize that while I do want to take this to the world stage - I don't want to take up the reigns once it has reached fruition. I just want to get my degree - give something to the world, then disappear into the annuls of time and find some way to escape.
Last week I was assigned 620 pages of reading all due this week, along with a written project (very simple), a presentation (not terribly difficult by any means), and this is understating the amount of work and reading I was given. A complaint? No. I knew this is what I was getting myself into. I have 5 upper level (third/fourth-year) classes, as well as two tutorial classes. I will finish my bachelor degree this December (2012). In spring I will either attend Senshu University in Japan, or I will take a TESL 2 course. Else I will take the TESL classes in spring then move to Japan following that.
My goal is to work for a while and continue to work quietly on my thesis and project, to try to fund-raise for its creation and development, and hopefully pay down my rather sizable student loans. Anyone who says that education is cheap in Canada is incorrect. This, of course, is my own beef with a system that needs a serious overhaul. Almost done though!
I'll post again when I have more to say - by the end of summer, I should have produced a body of work that I can then discuss online and more coherently.
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