Posts tagged health
ELR11: Ian Vickers on Teacher Well-Being
0by Justin Baeder
posted in Radio
In this episode of Eduleadership Radio, Ian Vickers joins me to discuss how we can take steps to improve teacher well-being in our schools.
Educators are no strangers to hard work—sometimes at the expense of our own health. How can we do great work on behalf of kids, while also taking care of ourselves?
Concerned about teacher stress, burnout, and related health implications, Ian embarked on a year-long campaign to promote health and wellness among his staff at Sancta Maria College in Flatbush, Auckland, NZ.
He found that a series of small steps, which he has compiled into a booklet that he makes freely available, dramatically reduced the illness rate in his school. Ian was kind enough to explain his approach, the strategies, and the results in our conversation.
Over the past year, Ian has shared his teacher well-being initiative with hundreds of principals around New Zealand, and welcomes further interest from around the world.
To contact Ian about his teacher well-being program, you can email him at teacherwellbeingglobal[at]gmail.com.
Listen Now:
Download this episode (MP3 format, 29 minutes, 14 MB)
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Ian adds:
Below is a YouTube video of a Maori song called “He Tangata” by a group called Oceania.
There is a Maori proverb – He aha te mea nui o tea o? He tangata! He tangata! He tangata!
This roughly translates – What is the most important thing in the world? It’s the people, It’s the people, It’s the people.
The song is saying that people are the most important aspect of our world, town, workplace, and schools.
Literacy Bridge Field-Tests Talking Book Device
0by Justin Baeder
posted in Education News
Literacy Bridge is a Seattle organization devoted to making a simple audio recording and playback device for the developing world. They recently field-tested the device in Ghana. The details are here, and are definitely worth reading.
Literacy Bridge (http://literacybridge.org), a non-profit technology startup, is using low-cost technology to solve some of the world’s most challenging problems: global poverty and disease. Through the development and application of a digital audio device, Literacy Bridge’s Talking Book Project is designed to make access to information available and affordable to those who have the fewest resources but the greatest need. This series of blogs summarizes the Talking Book Project and describes how it improves global literacy and access to information. Most importantly, this project demonstrates the power of combining community and appropriate technology to change the world.
Readers of this blog may not appreciate the ease at which they are able to acquire knowledge to improve their productivity. While one portion of the world takes for granted the electricity and literacy skills required to read publications like this one, another portion lacks these prerequisites, yet has an even stronger need for efficient access to information. Recognizing an opportunity to apply technology and open source principles to this inequity, Literacy Bridge launched the Talking Book Project.
The Talking Book Device is a digital audio player/recorder designed for the 2.6 billion people living on less than $2 per day. Most of these people have minimal literacy skills and live in rural areas without electricity or Internet access.
Unlike a common iPod or most other MP3 players, its power source is not dependent on grid electricity, and its audio content distribution is not dependent upon computers. This device also distinguishes itself with its rugged design, variable-speed playback, internal microphone and speaker, and an easily programmable user interface. link
