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J.Randolph Radney

The Strength of Weak Ties » On Common Ground - 0 views

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    "I make choices that help me learn and do my best work. I am aware of the needs of others and do great things for them. I learn about myself and all that I can do by trying new things. I think of new ideas and share them with others. I think about people's feelings and help take care of others. I learn from my mistakes and build on the things that I do well. I work with others to learn and complete a task. I push myself to do my personal best and keep improving. I learn about and respect different people and include everyone. I care for and learn from nature. I take time by myself to think about what I have learned."
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    Do these statements apply to you?
J.Randolph Radney

Websites and IMs and Blogs, Oh My! : A Response to Dr. Jill McClay's BCTELA Presentatio... - 0 views

  • Jill began by talking about the "new literacies" of technology, including blogs, instant messaging, sharing videos online, and many other kinds of literacy that go well beyond "print on paper." One of the most interesting and potentially alarming things Jill told us was the fact that eight- to ten-year-olds are the fastest-growing group of users on the internet.
  • According to research done by media-awareness.ca, a non-profit organization that develops media literacy programs, kids can be exposed to inappropriate content and risky situations online, including bullying and sexual harassment. On the other hand, the same survey makes it clear that most young people have positive experiences online, and they use the Internet to foster existing social relationships and create new ones. How can we help keep kids' online literacy experiences positive?
  • Jill gave us some examples that made us realize that, regardless of the fears (and often, regardless of the rules) of parents and educators, kids are using the web and joining online communities; they are sharing their writing and secrets, reading those of others, and creating relationships. The Internet is not going away; in fact, access to the web is nearly universal in Canada, either at home, at school, or at public libraries and Internet cafes.
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  • we need to participate in web-based communities and literacy and respect, not dismiss, kids' online relationships. We need to learn the conventions of online literacy. Young people are not going to learn about online safety and security from us unless they see that we know what we're talking about, and that we are also part of that community.
  • Jill's presentation made me realize how much more was out there, and that a lot of it could be very useful in the English classroom and beyond.
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    This is another recent article written on the use of social media in education, particularly by younger students.
J.Randolph Radney

Teaching in Social and Technological Networks « Connectivism - 0 views

  • Technological networks have transformed prominent businesses sectors: music, television, financial, manufacturing. Social networks, driven by technological networks, have similarly transformed communication, news, and personal interactions. Education sits at the social/technological nexus of change – primed for dramatic transformative change. In recent posts, I’ve argued for needed systemic innovation. I’d like focus more specifically on how teaching is impacted by social and technological networks.
  • social and technological networks subvert the classroom-based role of the teacher. Networks thin classroom walls. Experts are no longer “out there” or “over there”. Skype brings anyone, from anywhere, into a classroom. Students are not confined to interacting with only the ideas of a researcher or theorist. Instead, a student can interact directly with researchers through Twitter, blogs, Facebook, and listservs. The largely unitary voice of the traditional teacher is fragmented by the limitless conversation opportunities available in networks. When learners have control of the tools of conversation, they also control the conversations in which they choose to engage.
  • Course content is similarly fragmented. The textbook is now augmented with YouTube videos, online articles, simulations, Second Life builds, virtual museums, Diigo content trails, StumpleUpon reflections, and so on.
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  • Thoughts, ideas, or messages that the teacher amplifies will generally have a greater probability of being seen by course participants.
  • The following are roles teacher play in networked learning environments: 1. Amplifying 2. Curating 3. Wayfinding and socially-driven sensemaking 4. Aggregating 5. Filtering 6. Modelling 7. Persistent presence
  • Views of teaching, of learner roles, of literacies, of expertise, of control, and of pedagogy are knotted together. Untying one requires untying the entire model.
  • The curator, in a learning context, arranges key elements of a subject in such a manner that learners will “bump into” them throughout the course. Instead of explicitly stating “you must know this”, the curator includes critical course concepts in her dialogue with learners, her comments on blog posts, her in-class discussions, and in her personal reflections.
  • I found my way through personal trial and error. Today’s social web is no different – we find our way through active exploration. Designers can aid the wayfinding process through consistency of design and functionality across various tools, but ultimately, it is the responsibility of the individual to click/fail/recoup and continue.
  • Fortunately, the experience of wayfinding is now augmented by social systems.
  • Sensemaking in complex environments is a social process.
  • Perhaps we need to spend more time in information abundant environments before we turn to aggregation as a means of making sense of the landscape.
  • magine a course where the fragmented conversations and content are analyzed (monitored) through a similar service. Instead of creating a structure of the course in advance of the students starting (the current model), course structure emerges through numerous fragmented interactions. “Intelligence” is applied after the content and interactions start, not before.
  • Aggregation should do the same – reveal the content and conversation structure of the course as it unfolds, rather than defining it in advance.
  • Filtering resources is an important educator role, but as noted already, effective filtering can be done through a combination of wayfinding, social sensemaking, and aggregation. But expertise still matters. Educators often have years or decades of experience in a field. As such, they are familiar with many of the concepts, pitfalls, confusions, and distractions that learners are likely to encounter.
  • To teach is to model and to demonstrate. To learn is to practice and to reflect.”
  • Apprenticeship learning models are among the most effective in attending to the full breadth of learning.
  • Without an online identity, you can’t connect with others – to know and be known. I don’t think I’m overstating the importance of have a presence in order to participate in networks. To teach well in networks – to weave a narrative of coherence with learners – requires a point of presence. As a course progresses, the teacher provides summary comments, synthesizes discussions, provides critical perspectives, and directs learners to resources they may not have encountered before.
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    Here are some additional concepts that are a part of my approach to teaching.
J.Randolph Radney

"This topic is impossible!": Social Media as Research Panacea? (Part II) « Th... - 1 views

  • Rather than having vague status-update conversations with students, where I’m typically assured that everything is “going well” (a response which, in its vagueness, I can neither confirm nor deny), I, by virtue of being connected to my students’ Diigo networks, would be able to look at their sources, and more importantly, their annotations for those sources, and give them specific feedback about their level of engagement and depth of research. Not only would this ability allow me to see what progress they’ve made on their research, but it will also help students develop a clearer sense of what constitutes valuable active reading and how one distinguishes salient, useful information from that which is less valuable.
    • J.Randolph Radney
       
      This feature would allow me to better coach students in the research process.
  • as I imagine that all students will be connected to one another’s Diigo networks, those working on related topics would be able to share ideas, sources, and insights about their progress. At present, I sense that each student perceives his or her research process to be a very isolated one that is disconnected from his or her peers. By employing a network where students could see the notes their peers have made about the sources they’re reading (though Diigo does offer a “private note” feature, which keeps one’s comments hidden from view by others) as well as those that might be potentially useful, the students will hopefully feel less disconnected and despondent about their progress when they hit a speed bump, and instead will look to their peers for guidance and insight.
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    "However, perhaps the most exciting element of Diigo from my perspective, is the insight it will give me as a teacher into the students' research process. Rather than having vague status-update conversations with students, where I'm typically assured that everything is "going well" (a response which, in its vagueness, I can neither confirm nor deny), I, by virtue of being connected to my students' Diigo networks, would be able to look at their sources, and more importantly, their annotations for those sources, and give them specific feedback about their level of engagement and depth of research. Not only would this ability allow me to see what progress they've made on their research, but it will also help students develop a clearer sense of what constitutes valuable active reading and how one distinguishes salient, useful information from that which is less valuable."
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    This is an evaluation of social media tools for classroom use.
J.Randolph Radney

Why Writer's Block is Your Secret Weapon | Copyblogger - 0 views

  • When you work it right, writer’s block is your secret weapon to becoming a better and more resilient writer. And when your ability to write is what pays the bills, that’s gold.
  • face the fear that any act of writing brings.
  • use writer’s block as a signal to stop and reflect on what you fear and why, because if you don’t acknowledge the fear, you’ll never be able to face it. All it takes to move through fear is facing it, feeling it. Saying to yourself, “Okay, this is scary. But it still needs to be done.”
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  • Take a blank sheet of paper and write down a one-line summary of what you think you’re supposed to be writing.
  • Write down all the ideas and opinions about that topic
  • put that page aside because that’s not the one that’s going to turn your block into a weapon. (In fact, it’s the one that will keep you stuck.)
  • Get another blank sheet of paper. Again, write down what you think you should be writing in the center of the page.
  • Dig deep into what you have to say, what you think, and what your opinion is, stripped away from all of those from the first sheet. Put it all out on the page, and take more pages if you need to. Remember, there is no one to judge you and your task is to write without any reference to the ideas or opinions from that first sheet, but write only from within you.
  • Each time you unblock yourself by writing despite your fears, it builds confidence. You realize, “Hey, I’ve got a lot to say! And I’ve got a unique position!”
  • You teach yourself that even though your job requires you to write to and for other people, you’re really doing it for yourself
  • To be a resilient and fierce writer, you need to write despite your fears. And you need signals, such as writer’s block, to help uncover your fears so you can face them.
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    For those of you who find the writing for this class too much to handle: Read this; read it several times; try to follow it's advice.
J.Randolph Radney

City Brights: Howard Rheingold : Crap Detection 101 - 0 views

  • "Who is the author?" is the root question. If you don't find one, turn your skepticism meter to the top of the dial. And use easywhois.com to find out who owns the site if there is no author listed. If the author provides a way to ask questions, communicate, or add comments, turn up the credibility meter and dial back the skepticism. When you identify an author, search on the author's name in order to evaluate what others think of the author - and don't turn off your critical stance when you assess reputation. Who are these other people whose opinions you are trusting? Is the site a .gov or .edu? If so, turn up the credibility a notch. If it helps, envision actual meters and dials in your mind's eye - or a thermometer or speedometer. Take the website's design into account - professional design should not be seen as a certain indicator of accurate content, but visibly amateurish design is sometimes an indicator that the "Institute of Such-and-Such" might be an obsessive loner.
  • More good questions to use as credibility probes: Does the author provide sources for factual claims, and what happens when you search on the names of the authors of those sources? Have others linked to this page, and if so, who are they (use the search term "link: http://..." and Google shows you every link to a specified page). See if the source has been bookmarked on a social bookmarking service like Delicious or Diigo; although it shouldn't be treated as a completely trustworthy measurement, the number of people who bookmark a source can furnish clues to its credibility. All the mechanics of doing this kind of checking take only a few seconds of clicking, copying and pasting, searching, and judging for yourself. Again, the part that requires the most work is learning to do your own judging.
  • I use martinlutherking.org as an example with my students today - it's not owned by admirers of the late civil rights leader, but you wouldn't know that at first glance. Another, less sinister but equally sobering teaching story: "The parody site Gatt.org once duped the Center for International Legal Studies into believing it was the Web site of the World Trade Organization.
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  • on the cutting edge of community-based filtering tools, Intel labs' Dispute Finder Firefox Extension "highlights disputed claims on web pages you browse and shows you evidence for alternative points of view."
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    This site has some very helpful tips for research evaluation.
J.Randolph Radney

Gender Mainstreaming in Poverty Eradication and the Millennium Development Goals - 1 views

  • Chapter 1 provides a brief history of the changing policy discourse and the processes that led to the greater visibility of both poverty reduction and gender equality
  • Chapter 2 charts the gradual evolution of macroeconomic analysis from its earlier gender-blindness to current attempts to make it more gender aware.
  • Chapter 3 sketches out an ‘institutional framework’ for the analysis of gender inequality within the economy and explores its variation across the world.
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  • Chapter 4 turns to a more detailed examination of the relationship between gender inequality and poverty at regional and national levels, drawing on findings from three different approaches to poverty analysis: the poverty line approach; the capabilities approach (using human development indicators); and participatory poverty assessments.
  • Women’s role as economic actors – and its critical importance to the livelihoods of the poor across the world – is considered in Chapter 5.
  • Chapter 6 focuses on the human development concerns of the MDGs.
  • Chapter 7 reinforces the critical importance of certain resources to women’s capacity to exercise agency, but this time focuses on forms of agency that are in the interests of women themselves – in other words, those that serve the goals of women’s empowerment and gender justice.
  • The final chapter (Chapter 8) attempts to draw out the implications of the relationship between gender equality and pro-poor growth for policy efforts to achieve the MDGs.
  • Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on poverty eradication.
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    poverty is my main topics for my essays. so i think this is interesting to me
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    "In September 2000, at the United Nations Millennium Summit, 189 governments across the world made a commitment to take collective responsibility for halving world poverty by 2015."
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    So far, one of the few countries making progress on-track to achieve this goal is (surprisingly) Bangladesh (cited in Yunus, Mohammad. _Creating a World Without Poverty_)
J.Randolph Radney

Monitor: The net generation, unplugged | The Economist - 0 views

  • THEY are variously known as the Net Generation, Millennials, Generation Y or Digital Natives. But whatever you call this group of young people—roughly, those born between 1980 and 2000—there is a widespread consensus among educators, marketers and policymakers that digital technologies have given rise to a new generation of students, consumers, and citizens who see the world in a different way. Growing up with the internet, it is argued, has transformed their approach to education, work and politics.
  • But does it really make sense to generalise about a whole generation in this way? Not everyone thinks it does. “This is essentially a wrong-headed argument that assumes that our kids have some special path to the witchcraft of ‘digital awareness’ and that they understand something that we, teachers, don’t—and we have to catch up with them,” says Siva Vaidhyanathan, who teaches media studies at University of Virginia.
  • Any teenager can choose to join a Facebook group supporting the opposition in Iran or the liberation of Tibet, but such engagement is likely to be shallow. A recent study by the Pew Research Center, an American think-tank, found that internet users aged 18-24 were the least likely of all age groups to e-mail a public official or make an online political donation. But when it came to using the web to share political news or join political causes on social networks, they were far ahead of everyone else. Rather than genuinely being more politically engaged, they may simply wish to broadcast their activism to their peers. As with the idea that digital natives learn and work in new ways, there may be less going on here than meets the eye.
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    While it is impossible to classify an entire generation of people regarding characteristics and accurately apply features to an entire population, this article makes some interesting observations with regard to discrepancies between experience and expertise in using the Web. What could you write about such a topic? What does it mean to be a "digital native"?
Alison French

Doula Services Association :: Birth and Postpartum Doulas in BC - 0 views

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    " * Provide emotional support, physical comfort measures, and an objective viewpoint, as well as helping you obtain the information you need to make informed decisions. * Become familiar with your expectations, hopes, and concerns about the birth of your baby. * Remain with you as a constant support throughout the labour and birth process. * Provide guidance to partners, allowing them to participate at their own comfort level. * Help you and your partner create an ideal atmosphere for your birth experience at home or in the hospital. * Recognize childbirth as a key experience that you will remember for the rest of your life. "
Danika Bush

Home | PhotographyBLOG - 0 views

  • Labs have released the Topaz Detail 2 Photoshop plug-in, which features a user-requested speed boost versus Detail 1, a totally redesigned user interface, and more detail enhancement tools and presets. Topaz Detail’s underlying algorithm employs the most recent advances in detail enhancement technology. This new technology provides the unique ability to enhance detail and micro-contrast, with no over-sharpening, edge artifacts or halos, which often occur with other sharpening tools. Topaz Detail features three levels of detail co
  • ntrol, high-quality image sharpening, natural feature enhancement, and black and white conversion. Topaz Detail 2 is a free upgrade for existing customers and retails for $39.99. It is compatible with Windows and Intel-based Macs.
  • Topaz
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  • Topaz Detail 2 for Photoshop Zoltan Arva-Toth | Software
J.Randolph Radney

Weblogg-ed » No Choice - 0 views

  • One of my favorite things that Sheryl says when she talks about the challenges that schools face right now is that this generation of kids in our schools is the first not to have a choice about technology. Most of us grew up in a time when technology was an add on, and for many of us, we still see it as a choice, especially in education. (Just the other day I was at a meeting of about 25 school leaders and teachers to discuss how social learning tools can be infused into an inquiry based curriculum and only one person was using technology to take notes…me.) I look at my own kids and I know that technology will be a huge part of their learning lives because a) they want it to be and b) they’ll be expected to be savvy users of the devices of their day to communicate, create and collaborate (among other things.) They’re not going to be able to “opt out.”
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    What do you think? Will you be able to make a living at a regular job during your career without the technological skills involved in computer and mobile media operation?
J.Randolph Radney

Singular 'They': a Footnote - Lingua Franca - The Chronicle of Higher Education - 0 views

  • As English teachers, one of our responsibilities is to ensure that students master the conventions of standard edited English, so that they will not be judged in negative ways based on their formal writing. Whether it is fair or not, others (including other teachers and future employers) may judge a construction like singular they as “wrong”—as evidence that a writer is not well trained and “does not know better.”
  • I tell students that they are welcome to use singular they  in writing for my class, but they should footnote it the first time they use it and in the footnote explain their rationale for using singular they.
  • A fundamental goal of writing instruction, including instruction in grammar and style, is to encourage students to be highly aware of the decisions they are making as writers, from the level of the word, phrase, and sentence to the terrain of the paragraph and essay as a whole.
J.Randolph Radney

Reviews - 2 views

  • No matter how much money and sense of security we have banked, I think inside each of us there is, at some time, a barefoot and hungry vagabond, seeking shelter from the cold; someone who feels misplaced, worn to the bone, despondent. I have had many dreams about being homeless myself, forced to share a bed or sleep in a room with strangers. In one dream, I found shelter at a friend’s house. I was sitting on the couch until I realized it was her husband’s favored spot for watching T.V. and moved away. Her husband looked me in the eye and said, “It could happen to anyone.”
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    This is a wonderful 2-page essay with a haunting conclusion that I have highlighted. Please read the essay and comment on the social topic the essay discusses. (You can comment on this link directly in Diigo.)
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    This essay is about the poverty in society, and the way people deal with it. I feel knowing how you can personally deal with this issue will help society.
Emmy-Lou Sill

THE BORGIAS - Crime Library on truTV.com - 0 views

  • THE BORGIAS
  • The years of the greatest influence of the Borgias (1435 - 1520) correspond to one of the most important periods in European history. It is the age of the Renaissance, the beginning of the Age of Exploration, and the age of some of the great rulers, artists, and writers who have influenced our Modern Age.
  • The Borgia Era begins about the time of Joan of Arc (1430)
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  • It is the era of the great Medici family of Florence,
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    Borgia and Medisi Families that helped shape this modern world as it is today!
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    Here is more infomation on Borgia and Medisi Family, yet I have not found a BLOG on either Borgia and Medisi. shame, oh i may just create my own BLOG! what do you guys think? :)
Emmy Sill

Parika Pages - 0 views

  • We taught at Imbaimadai Primary School everyday. It's a one room school, divided into 4 sections by chalkboards, accommodating 70+ students from nursery to grade 8.
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    Emese's blog about parika and beyond, she is a friend i met down in mexico but her home is here in canada Vancouver! she is teaching a disipleship training program for the first time! me and her did a mission trip to the same place and we met! in mexico wen i was 15 years old. 
J.Randolph Radney

2¢ Worth » Can Literacy be Taught? - 0 views

  • Students who become fluent in reading, do so because they read, not because they were taught the basic reading skills.  Of course, it wouldn’t have happened without having been taught the basic reading skills.  But they become fluent because they are required to read for the rest of their formal education and beyond.
  • If we expect students to become fluent in the broader and equally critical information and technology skills of being literate in a networked, digital, and abundant (contemporary) information environment, then they should be required to use those skills in all of their formal education, just like reading.  Reading, for education, is a learning literacy.  Reading, processing, and expressing knowledge in a networked, digital, and abundant information landscape are equally important learning skills — learning literacies.
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    Are you reading, or just able to read?
J.Randolph Radney

Using Wordle in the classroom (1 of 2) - ProfHacker.com - 0 views

  • it’s now standard practice, for example, to require students in a first-year-composition class to know how to use a word processor and to learn how to make good use of a database: those are not considered “computing skills” anymore. They’re just skills.
  • we’ve long assumed that students become better writers by reading a great deal; and we assume that experience at writing makes them better readers. For many generations, these 2 sides of the textual coin have been taught hand-in-hand: we don’t teach students to be consumers of words and then maybe later teach them (or teach only some of them, depending on their major or their future career) how to create words. Instead, they learn those skills simultaneously.
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    The site as a whole is devoted to discussing Wordle (the program that produced the word-posters displayed on the MOODLE course websites for both 050 and 060), but notice what is quoted about computer skills (the first quote) and the connection between reading ability and writing ability (the second).
Emmy-Lou Sill

Rise Above Confrence - 0 views

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    I have been to this confrence! it was a sad expereince hearing from individuals telling how and what happened the catholic schools they were taken too. You understand why first nations are they way they are today. There are no guildance to how to get out of that hole of their past when all they need is God to heal them and themselves to accept what happened to them many years ago. It helped change the way i see the world, being first nation myself i saw their pain and hardships. it made me care for other discriminated nations by "assimilation"
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    And i plan on going again to learn more!! to see the brave first nations coming to this, and facing their inner demons. it give me courage to see the next day. Also God is a good God, he does not take away he gives life. but our **own** choices leads to destruction. We are all given a free will to choose our path. :D thought i would let you guys know!!! His love is greater than what we can comprehend. he forgives. Seek the kingdom first then all* else is added to your life :) my fave verse is John 1 3:16
J.Randolph Radney

"Look, Ma, No Boundaries!" Relationships in New Literacies Learning and Teaching | BCTELA - 1 views

  • As I think about the ways in which new literacies environments offer possibilities for young people to make relationships, some clear implications for teaching arise. Adults sometimes feel inadequate in newer literacy environments and uncertain about the value of such environments; some continue to deny that there is much new or much of value. But one undeniable value is that these are the environments in which our young people are learning about literacy, and, to some degree, learning about relationships. Our place in this environment is vital-as teachers, parents, researchers, and literate citizens-and our experience gives us a role in helping young people navigate this terrain. So the first point about relationships in new literacies teaching is that we must enter into relationships as participants.
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    This article is a recent discussion of the need to use social media in teaching English language arts in BC.
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