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Monthly Archives: December 2012
Ban the Bag World Map… plus a Paper House!
Toronto’s casual flirtation with banning plastic bags has recently been squelched. But in our schools, our teachers continue to inspire and be inspired by students who will grow up to make different choices–and create a different world. What can we learn from what is happening elsewhere?
(Screenshot taken from Plastic Bag Ban Community Page)
Try out Factory Direct Promos’ new interactive plastic-bag-ban world map that tracks how places all over the world are addressing the plastic bag problem and its possible solutions. Click on one of the color-coded pins to learn why some places have a law that prohibits plastic bags, uncover where efforts to implement a bag ban were unsuccessful, and discover the path that different places have taken which led to a tax or fee in place of disposable bags. Neat lens for viewing the world through this environment-friendly action!
(Screenshot taken from Inhabitat)
This office building is made entirely from recycled paper! Two German architects have taken recycled paper use to new heights. Click here to view the “Paper House,” a 2,045 square foot temporary workspace composed of 550 bales of compressed, recycled paper sourced from area supermarkets.
Canada’s History: Nature’s Past
Over the next few months, we will be featuring a six-part podcast series by Sean Kheraj, Assistant Professor in the Department of History at York University. Entitled Nature’s Past, the series discusses the role of climate in Canadian and global history. Future episodes will take a look at the Canadian Environmental Movement, Fisheries, Food Production, and the Tar Sands.
You will find Nature’s Past in our Online Exclusives section, and can listen to the first two episodes now: Global Warming and Aboriginal Health and Environments.
Canada’s History: Great War Album
… send us your family photos and letters for consideration in our new book project the Great War Album. Those who contribute to the book will have their name entered into a draw for a free, signed copy of the book. There are three prizes available.
Inside National Geographic
Why the World Didn’t End Friday
Our experts break down the Maya 2012 doomsday myth with facts and photos
Full access to all of the above available here.
Films for Action: Wall of Films
It Starts with Independent Media.
Film offers us a powerful tool to shift awareness and inspire action. It offers a method to break our dependence on the mainstream media and become the media ourselves. We don’t need to wait for anyone or anything.
Just imagine what could become possible if an entire city had seen just one of the documentaries above. Just imagine what would be possible if everyone in the country was aware of how unhealthy the mainstream media was for our future and started turning to independent sources in droves.
Creating a better world really does start with an informed citizenry, and there’s lots of subject matter to cover. Our country has to come to terms with the true history of Western civilization. It has to learn about basic ecology. It needs to understand some basic truths about peak oil and the monetary system, the truth about capitalism and governments.
Our society needs a new story to belong to. The old story of empire and dominion over the earth has to be looked at in the full light of day – all of our ambient cultural stories and values that we take for granted and which remain invisible must become visible.
But most of all, we need to see the promise of the alternatives – we need to be able to imagine new exciting ways that people could live, better than anything that the old paradigm could ever dream of providing.
And all of this knowledge and introspection, dreaming, questioning, and discovery is essential for a cultural transformation that addresses root causes. This knowledge is vitally necessary. Taken together, this knowledge, which is documented throughout the 350+ documentaries we’ve featured above, will lay the foundation on which the next paradigm will be built, post empire.
So take this library of films and use it. Host film screenings, share these films with friends, buy and give copies to your elected officials and school faculty. Get this information out in to your community and you will be laying the foundation for a local movement for mass societal, environmental and economic change.
Five Alternatives to YouTube Worth Trying
Arguably, YouTube is one of the greatest resources when it comes to video marketing as well as providing educational content for the numerous students pursuing media-related courses. It is essential to appreciate the fact that having a wide selection of resources in the classroom boosts the learning culture in the classroom. Besides, having various alternatives brings forth a variety of platforms through which video marketing objectives can be achieved.
See Also: The 100 Best Video Sites For Educators
YouTube marketing is particularly popular in today’s modern world where technology has completely revolutionized how things are done. If you are a video marketer, taking time to imagine how difficult popularizing your video would be without YouTube is enough to create a business-dwindling scenario. So, are there YouTube alternatives? Find out below.
- School Tube
- Teacher Tube
- Academic Earth
- How Stuff Works
- Social Networks
Read the summary descriptions of each in the Edudemic e-newsletter, Dec 14th, 2012.
The Encyclopedia of the Earth
The Encyclopedia of Earth (EoE) is an electronic reference about the Earth, its natural environments, and their interaction with society. The EoE is a free, expert-reviewed collection of content contributed by scholars, professionals, educators, practitioners and other experts who collaborate and review each other’s work. The content is presented in a style intended to be useful to students, educators, scholars, professionals, as well as to the general public.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
This year’s Governor General’s History Award for Popular Media, also known as the Pierre Berton Award, goes to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography/Dictionnaire biographique du Canada. The ongoing publishing project began in 1959 and is updated simultaneously in French and English editions. To date, it includes more than 8,400 biographies that are available online as well as in 15 print volumes.
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography currently receives over 1 million visitors per year at its website Biographi.ca.
Food Mythbusters
Anna Lappe, daughter of Frances Moore Lappe (of Food First and 12 Myths of Hunger fame) has launched a new video and website, titled Food Mythbusters: The Real Story About What We Eat.
