John McCain, RIP

F*** Nuance: A reflection on TPACK and theorizing

Aug 17, 2025

It is rare that one comes across an original journal article title that one HAS to click on and read. For instance, my favorite title of all time has been Alison Gopnik's article titled "Explanation as Orgasm." Not only is this a catchy title, it also make a profound...

TED is bullshit 🙂

Mar 11, 2010

Evrim Baran (who I often joke is the only reader of this blog) sent me this link to a set of notes by Jeff Jarvis from a TED talk he recently gave. He says that he used the opportunity of a TED event to question the TED format, especially in relation to education,...

The intangibles of teaching

Aug 10, 2011

Jim Garrison and A. G. Rud have a wonderful article on TCRecord on Reverence in Classroom Teaching. Though, reverence may be "too exalted a word to associate with the practical and often mundane activities of teaching," it appears to me that ignoring these deeper...

Happy Valentine’s Day: Old/New ambigram

Feb 14, 2017

I had made this design a while back, just hadn't posted it online. (Actually a hand-drawn version is on this website somewhere.) Have a great day, everyone!

Embracing failure (in a first year technology course)

Dec 1, 2020

In his book The child and the curriculum; and The school and society John Dewey identified four key impulses for learning that he placed at the foundation of the curriculum. The key education challenge, he argued, is to nurture these impulses for lifelong learning:...

The political psychology of images

Jul 15, 2008

Browsing through Nikita Prokhorov's website (see this posting about Nikita's new blog about the process of creating ambigrams) led me to a fascinating article about how symbols and the historical weight they can carry. I think a similar issue comes up regarding the...

Amruta Patil’s Family Album

Feb 25, 2008

A few weeks ago I had featured Nina Paley, animator and story teller. I just discovered another amazing talent: graphic artist Amruta Patil. I got know Amruta through the desi blog ultrabrown which recently featured an interview (Amruta Patil and Kari: A short Q&A)...

National Sun Yat Sen University & Taipei

May 16, 2008

National Sun Yat Sen Unversity has one of the most gorgeous campuses you can imagine. Nestled between hills, with wonderful views of the ocean, with little twisty roads that connect departments and buildings, just beautiful. My hotel room had a magnificient view of...

Krishnamurti & Dewey in the Metaverse: Education & Experience in an Age of Virtuality

Mar 21, 2024

What does it mean to have an educative experience? As Dewey famously wrote: The belief that all genuine education comes about through experience does not mean that all experiences are genuinely or equally educative ~ John Dewey Questions such as these come to...