tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63558609133896549722024-03-27T19:54:16.482-04:00Dusty WorldTimothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comBlogger468125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-83128234579192389842024-03-08T06:29:00.003-05:002024-03-08T06:29:34.576-05:00Little Cyber Skills Bonfires Across Canada It's been one of those months when possibilities for the future keep going in and out of focus. My secondment ends in August. There might be a possibility of an extension, but there are questions around whether or not I'm allowed to do it contractually. There are also questions around whether or not I want to go back into the classroom at all. Here are some of the things that have happened Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-6430531215590239502023-12-29T10:52:00.030-05:002023-12-30T12:08:35.992-05:00International Cyber Cooperation: Reflections on the GFCE & GC3BI first experienced the frustration inherent in Canada's approach to cybersecurity education last year at the University of Waterloo's CPI conference. There Charles Finlay from the CyberCatalyst talked about how other smaller countries focus on a collaborative approach to cybersecurity that creates a coherent ecosystem of partners who support rather than compete against each other. In Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-74948351363670554882023-11-25T13:49:00.030-05:002023-12-04T14:33:43.704-05:00What You Need To Work in Cybersecurity: the secret sauceI see a lot of rules based 'quick fix' learning opportunities in cybersecurity. These are usually boot camp style condensed programs that promise to turn an accounting or science student into a cybersecurity practitioner in a single semester by showing them how to use tools in a formulaic manner. They treat cybersecurity as though it's an office job: we show you the cybersecurity rules and Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-80528599538540758012023-11-18T13:56:00.049-05:002023-11-20T07:19:35.353-05:00Cyber Education in Canada is Broken, Here's How to Fix ItI've been sitting on this one for some time. What's below is more like brainstorming than a clear solution, but I feel like it's moving in the right direction...The Problem: Canada's Cyber-education system is broken - or doesn't exist at allI've been ruminating on this since virtually attending the "How to protect our children in an increasingly digital and online world" meeting by Economic Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-35248209899511948562023-10-23T07:42:00.008-04:002023-10-24T20:55:02.908-04:00A.I. Isn't What You Think It Is I've been in a series of presentations over the past couple of months where organizations are getting frantic about catching the 'AI Wave'. This urgent need to feel like they aren't missing out on a fad is understandable, but like so many emerging technologies, getting 'into it' won't be effective if you ignore the foundations its built on, and the foundations of AI and the technology Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-33173262303111928352023-10-09T23:58:00.002-04:002023-10-09T23:58:49.779-04:00You Want to Teach WHAT?!? Reconfiguring Technology in Schools to Empower PedagogyCybersecurity is one of the more challenging subjects to try and bring into classrooms, even though every one of them depends on it every day to function; everything from attendance to lesson content happens via networked computers in 2023.Few people have advanced digital media fluency when it comes to using software and hardware, but that's just the tip of the iceberg with cybersecurity. It alsoTimothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-72412512874894195082023-09-21T08:37:00.008-04:002023-09-26T14:30:31.457-04:00EdTech Hockey SticksI've been lucky enough to find myself in Canadian classrooms from St John's to Vancouver over the past year. Canada is the only developed country in the world without a national education strategy, so this isn't something many educators get to experience. The only people who do span our country are the edtech companies that have surged into being to resolve a digital skills gap that doesn't look Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-27300596653828095322023-08-24T12:12:00.020-04:002023-09-04T18:56:28.322-04:00Stories of Innovation Are Never About One PersonI've been involved with Cisco's Networking Academy since we joined the CyberTitan national student cybersecurity competition in its inaugural year in 2018. It's the 25th anniversary of Netacad and this summer they asked alumni to tell them stories that arose from their association with the platform. I told the tale of the Terabytches and bringing the first all-female team to CyberTitan national Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-11101906239568368102023-08-13T10:12:00.034-04:002023-08-13T11:19:45.413-04:00If Your Car Was Engineered Like Your Cloud Computing SolutionWhen you take engineering seriously, theresults are resilient, and elegant.Imagine you're buying a car from a reputable manufacturer. That manufacturer doesn't build all the components itself. It partners with other specialists and works with them to tight tolerances so that all the bits fit together and work properly.In a tightly controlled supply chain like that you end up with complex systems Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-42553749043191907752023-06-21T08:28:00.000-04:002023-06-21T08:28:02.073-04:00Education Isn't About Job Training, and Other Privilege Based EDUMythsIn fairness, since then Ontariohas released new computerstudies curriculum that actuallyincludes the word 'cybersecurity'in it! That'd be the first timeanywhere in Canada.It's 2023. I posted a piece about the drastic ongoing shortage of cybersecurity specialists in Canada last week. Those would be the people who keep the digital communications we depend on every day running... and we Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-40037137638406785042023-05-25T16:07:00.092-04:002023-07-12T10:10:10.701-04:00Why #edtech has failed to improve learning: 2023 edition Back in 2014 I had one of those strange moments when I suddenly found myself freed from the day to day necessities of the classroom and thrust into a space where I had time to think about pedagogy. I once had an administrator tell me, "what does pedagogy even mean anyway? It's one of those words that doesn't mean anything." I've never felt that way but perhaps that's because I've focused myTimothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-54558062606602022072023-04-13T07:01:00.023-04:002023-04-15T11:38:37.740-04:00How To DIY Your Way To Digital Fluency "We've all become used to thinking of Gen Z as the first truly “digital native” generation. They were born when the internet was available to everyone and don’t remember a time when it wasn’t normal to carry a smartphone wherever they go and document their lives on TikTok and Instagram. Unfortunately, it turns out that this form of digital native might not translate to being able to work Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-60948989800345832772023-03-25T12:51:00.003-04:002023-04-19T11:57:16.631-04:00And Now For Something Complete Different: Quantum Computing If you're not paying attention to quantum technology development, you're missing out on the most exciting tech evolutions happening. Quantum computers are still in development, but as MIT suggests, "Thanks to some recent breakthroughs, aggressive roadmapping, and high levels of funding, we may see general-purpose quantum computers earlier than many would have anticipated just a few years Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-61055707673214933972023-03-04T10:40:00.013-05:002023-03-05T17:09:44.137-05:00Computers Are Like PizzasI'm currently working with partners developing curriculum that creates an understanding of how computers work. The challenge is in getting adult focused instructional designers to recognize the enormous gaps students have in terms of their understanding of computer technology. Digitally fluent adults assume young people have an intuitive understanding of how these machines work, but they don't. Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-28036053249126366282023-02-25T12:56:00.001-05:002023-02-26T10:33:48.659-05:00Refocusing on Learning Conditions (Teacher Working Conditions) in Ontario Education All sides are going to drag their feet for as long as they can with the new teacher contracts in Ontario. I'd certainly like my pay to keep up with inflation, but that hasn't happened in any time recently, so I'm not sure why it should be a show stopper now. My buying power, even with the sub-par increases we've eked out, is significantly less than it was in 2010. This isn't a 'this Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-85091131754385949532023-02-20T11:44:00.016-05:002023-02-20T12:06:21.501-05:00The New CreativityPicture Limitless Creativity at Your FingertipsI recently did a talk with the awesome Heidi Siwak about how educators might understand and engage with emerging artificial intelligence technology rather than doing what education usually does and bury its head in the sand.A few days later I'm reading WIRED and Kevin Kelly nails down not only a way to migrate into this disconcerting future full of Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-8195386318789713672023-02-13T09:08:00.016-05:002023-06-30T11:44:32.200-04:00Why Canadian Education is so Reluctant to Move on Digital Literacy I had a talk the other evening with a Vancouver educator teaching cybersecurity curriculum at his local school board. Like me, Todd has been working alone, offering the local students he has access to the opportunity to learn cyber-skills that would benefit them in any field of study. And, like me, he has helped to launch a few students into careers in this radically underserved career Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-26439373342042327102023-02-10T07:01:00.008-05:002023-02-12T19:16:42.028-05:00The Ontario Library Association Super ConferenceI've watched my brilliant partner attend and then volunteer at the O.L.A. Super Conference for about a decade now. I've long had a crush on libraries (and librarians), but have never attended. In my new role I bring federally funded cybersecurity and digital skills opportunities into classrooms, so attending the OLA Super Conference offered an opportunity to connect and explore with library Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-4977989662393468152022-12-03T16:33:00.020-05:002022-12-05T08:31:05.705-05:00How Cybersecurity Might Become More Diverse, Equitable and InclusiveOne of the benefits of working in the same home office as one of the top teacher librarians in the country is that we're able to bounce ideas off each other. Making cybersafety awareness a part of every educator's professional standard of practice isn't a nice idea in 2022, it's a necessity, but the industry continues to have trouble attracting talent and many teachers have little or no Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-76349753624137611272022-11-19T13:40:00.016-05:002022-11-20T14:15:46.031-05:00Digital Disruption, The Collapsing 4th Estate and Foreign Inference in Canadian MediaToronto's traffic misery means I don't fight myway into The Six as often as I might, glad Idid on this occasion though.We battled our way into The Six last night to attend TVO Today Live's: Can Democracy Survive the Collapse of Media? The documentary is the story of the Toronto Star as it struggles to survive in our diverse mediascape. Digital disruption came to newspapers at the same time Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-72676889723937063982022-10-28T08:50:00.024-04:002022-10-31T13:12:48.878-04:002022 TMC7 Research Symposium: Table Talks and Future SkillsWe just returned from Treasure Mountain Canada, the 7th iteration of the Canadian School Libraries national research conference. Like the best professional development, this was self-directed and therefore relevant and meaningful to the people in attendance. Library learning commons have been under a lot of pressure despite the fact that these centers for information management are Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-2579522913779608662022-10-26T15:56:00.008-04:002022-10-26T17:46:51.999-04:002022 Treasure Mountain 7 Research Symposium & Thinktank: MediaSmarts Keynote & Digital Tools and Expertise for Resilient Learning The seventh iteration of the Canadian School Libraries Treasure Mountain Canada Research Symposium just wrapped up in Vancouver, BC. Canada is one of the only countries in the world without a national education strategy, though weirdly we have an international education strategy - just not one for Canadians in Canada. That is strange, Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-37859603958063574902022-10-24T01:05:00.002-04:002022-10-24T01:05:29.098-04:00The 2022 BCTLA Conference The BCTLA conference prior to Treasure Mountain Canada 2022 (where Alanna I were presenting) was challenging in all the right ways. David Robertson's opening keynote cajoled the audience with humour and deeply personal insights around why it's so important to give indigenous authors (ideally through an indigenous press) control of their own stories Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-66052751900524312542022-10-15T13:06:00.015-04:002022-10-27T06:44:51.641-04:00Creating A Canadian Cybersecurity EcosystemLast week I attended my first conferences in a long time. Someone will have to explain to me why classroom teachers have no access to professional development like this. On Wednesday and Thursday morning I was at SecTor in Toronto, making many new contacts in industry and realizing that the vast majority of companies on the front lines of cyber-defence in Canada are eager to help both the Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6355860913389654972.post-63685194696587722782022-09-27T08:41:00.007-04:002022-09-27T08:41:40.539-04:00The 4th Industrial RevolutionAn early 20th Century office - you don't haveto think too hard to see what classroomswere modelled on. Teaching tech in oneisn't any fun, especially when you'reburied in massive classes.If you're in education you're probably still teaching 'the' industrial revolution. Our subjects are still siloed and scheduled that way. There is little different in school organization and planning Timothy Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11365817155850227174noreply@blogger.com