Graduate School of Digital Media Being Contemplated For Toronto

Three Ontario universities - Ryerson, Waterloo and the University of Toronto - are contemplating the creation of a graduate school of digital media to be located in downtown Toronto and which could be up and running within two years.

Ryerson President Sheldon Levy said that the idea is to create a centre where industry can bring their most challenging problems in this field and where graduate students can gain real experience, according to the Globe and Mail. The 3 universities are said to already be collaborating in the area of digital media and the 2 years is really required to locate a physical home for the program.

Back to School - taming the text book budget

NY Times writer Michelle Slatalla has written a great roundup on where to find used and/or cheap text books online. According to Slatalla, the average cost of new books is $700 to $1000 per year, so it's worth having a look around... particularly on a student's budget!

IM studying!

A recent conversation with my 15 year old went something like this...


Me: "I thought you had to study? You have exams soon!"


Him: "I am studying!"


Me: "Then why is the instant messenger bleeping all of the time? Doesn't sound like studying!"


Him: "We have an Internet study group, we are asking each other question."





I slyly peek at the screen to reassure myself that he is actually studying...



Me: "Cool!"

De-vice

It appears as though school boards everywhere are facing new challenges in their efforts to thwart cheats, and have been developing policies to ban or at least control the use of electronic devices in the classroom. One would expect those who are inclined to take the easy way out to quickly grasp the concept of texting but the little cheats are apparently more creative than I would have given them credit for... apparently some have taken to recording notes on their mp3 players and hiding their ear buds in the sleeve of their hoodies, placing their hand near their ear to listen to recording at the appropriate time. Even more ingenious is the use of the mp3 files tags to hide notes in a songs data for display on the screen... now that's using your brain! If only they would put those brains to good use and do a little studying.

News Release - Eastern School District - April 19, 2007 (pdf)

CNN article