Meet Brian Lamb
Brian enjoying a liquado at the University of Sonora, 1998
I graduated from McGill University in the 1990’s with a Master’s Degree in Literature, and no career plans at all. I recall thinking this new “internet” thing seemed interesting. But really, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I thought I would try to get a job teaching English in some country other than Canada. It was then that I received one of those rare opportunities that completely transforms a life. I was hired as a Profesor de Ingles (yes, that was my title) with the Tec de Monterrey, Campus Sonora Norte in Hermosillo. At that time, the TEC was engaged in a process of El Rediseño, which in many ways was an early version of the flipped classroom model, using technology to free up class time for collaboration, investigation and activity. I cannot express how much I grew during my two years in Hermosillo, or how much I enjoyed the time in Mexico.
Eventually, I found my way to The University of British Columbia, where I helped to start what I believe were some of the earliest blog and wiki services for higher education. I was very excited at the potential of the open, personal and social web back then, which led me to become active in areas such as open education. I could say much more, but maybe that is best saved for our conversations in the coming months!
I have a blog at http://abject.ca, though I don’t update it nearly often enough. My most recent “real” published article was called “Reclaiming Innovation”, which was co-written with the wild and wonderful Jim Groom. I have also had some of my writing translated into Spanish, if you are interested:
“Educación abierta y expandida: observaciones y conflictos”. En Zemos98, Educación Expandida, el libro. 2012.
¿El Paréntesis de Web (Libre y Abierto)? – Presentado en ¿El Paréntesis de Gutenberg? La conversión digital como proceso civilizatorio., del 11 de noviembre del 2010, Buenos Aires.
“La ineducación del tecnólogo”, con Jim Groom. Revista de Universidad y Sociedad del Conocimiento (RUSC). 2009.
Interests
As you may guess, I am interested in participatory, open, user-owned and user-controlled media. These things are powerful in combination with things like “remix” and learning that results in authentic public engagement.
I love messing around with audio files, making remixes. This is a session I mixed for an online conference: (@cogdog helped with presenting it in Second Life). (57 MB MP3)
I also like to try to play music with friends. Mostly drums, some guitar. Usually rock music because the beats are simple.
I honestly think Mexico has the best food I have ever eaten. Even when I am in Canada I try to eat and cook Mexican food as often as I can. (My friends will say that is true.) So I cannot wait to eat and hopefully learn more about la comida in Jalisco this year.
I hope people in Guadalajara are OK if I speak bad Spanish to them. Me encanta la lengua, pero se me ha olvidado todo!
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