News

On Canada’s creativity gapApr 17, 2012 | Read

Canada has a peculiar problem with its university system; although we educate a higher percentage of university-aged people than any other OECD country, we lag behind when it comes to indicators of innovation, such as patents. Much lip service and many public dollars go towards promoting innovation here, and yet we’re still struggling as a country to transition from a resource-based, manufacturing economy to a knowledge-based, entrepreneurial one.

One theory as to why? Our society, from elementary school to university to businesses to bureaucracy, isn’t producing the type of creative minds we need. This “creativity gap” is the basis of a series of articles I’ve been working on for The Globe and Mail.

I started by visiting a unique university, the only non-profit, private, secular school in the country, where a group of brilliant academics are turning higher education on its head. Read how “Quest U takes an unorthodox approach to learning.”

After hearing from one of the country’s smallest universities, we headed to the biggest to talk about how to foster creativity in students with David Naylor, president of the University of Toronto. Read Naylor’s thoughts on the “self-taught innovator genius myth.”

Dalhousie University’s Deborah Buszard also added important insights having developed a successful program that offers a second major in sustainability to all undergraduate students in any discipline. Check out “How Dalhousie blew up some silos.”

How to navigate my portfolio

If you’re here to get a quick view of my writing and reporting portfolio, I’ve recently tried to simplify the navigation for this purpose.

Featured articles is a collection of some of my favourite assignments.

All articles is a nearly complete chronological archive of everything I’ve published in the past few years.

Or select On education, Reported Abroad or Food writing to view articles on those topics.

Click here to read more about my book “The Canadian Campus Companion” or visit its website campuscompanion.ca.

A new year, a new websiteJan 24, 2012 | Read

“If this is your new website, it looks suspiciously similar your old one,” you may be thinking. And, yes, it’s almost exactly like my old one. In the overused vernacular of my Thai friends, it’s same, same — but different.

At the beginning of every year, I start a new notebook of article ideas, review last year’s notebooks, and set some goals, most of which primarily serve to entertain me at year’s end. When I went through this process this month, I realized that my website wasn’t accomplishing what I wanted. I’ve always intended to be a prolific blogger, dutifully recording my thoughts and experiences as I travel and report, but I’ve rarely published to my blog more than monthly. So instead of focusing this website around regular blog updates, I’ve reorganized it to be more of a portfolio. My hope is that my online home highlights my best work and current interests, keeps my friends and colleagues up to date on my whereabouts and latest projects, and is easier to navigate.
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The latest from the roadNov 9, 2011 | Read

I write this from an open-air restaurant near the airport in Kuala Lumpur, where I await my second try at boarding a plane to Thailand. I distractedly missed my plane yesterday, and so I have involuntarily enjoyed the whole Air Asia experience by staying overnight in their hotel chain. Despite the fact that my room is so small I can’t open my suitcase anywhere other than on the bed, it’s really not that bad. I’m not sure that I would agree with their claim to “Five star accommodation for one star price” but it’s better than expected.

Anyways, what better time could there be to update the old website? But, first, you ask (yes, that’s you mom), where the hell am I going? I started this trip in Doha, Qatar on November 1, writing about the World Innovation Summit for Education, a major international conference initiated by Her Highness Sheikha bint Nasser, pictured here. WISE is an amazing experience for an education journalist as there are over 1,000 brilliant people doing innovative things in education in attendance. My first article, “Arab Spring could mark new education era”, can be read here. Upcoming articles will appear in the Globe and Mail and University World News, and I’ll post them here as they are published.
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“The Canadian Campus Companion” is now available in ebookOct 26, 2011 | Read

Ben and I received Kindles for Christmas presents last year, and we have been loving them. I particularly like the convenience of having all my favourite books on hand together so I can reread that great quote or interested factoid anytime, anywhere.

So we are super excited that “The Canadian Campus Companion” has been released in ebook format, both for Kobo and Kindle. Being a comprehensive guidebook, not the type of thriller you would read cover-to-cover, our book is the kind of book that I prefer to have on my Kindle. I can easily access it when I need it, search the text for the exact information I’m looking for, and navigate between the topics and chapters.

The Kindle version is available here.

The Kobo version is available here.