Hello World.

I’m back for a spell. Lots of news, and things have sure changed a lot in the last 3 years. I’ve changed a lot. Oh, I’m still frustrated with EdTech, angry at the world, confused like most of you, about what the hell is going on. But I figure it’s time to go public and write this down again as I’ve got some burning things to say.

So, what’s new work wise? Well, I got promoted. I’m not so naive to think I did it entirely on merit, I had, and have, some great allies who believe that I can be a “Lead Learning Technologist”. I know I will struggle with elements of the job, which have some oversight duties – but it’s the sort of job I’ve been working for my whole career. I don’t know if putting an anarchist in charge of things is the safest move, but I’m proud to inhabit the role and defend my colleagues on my team fiercely. I had given up frankly and was settling into the idea that maybe just doing what I was doing would be OK.

But you don’t have a degree, right? Well I do now. And I’m in UBC’s Master of Education Technology program. I was really proud of working at a university without a degree. I got hired because of references, and experience (and the right place at the right time). The degree was underway since 2009, some of the posts here will reflect that. I finished in 2018. I thought I don’t want to do more. I’m not convinced I’m in the right program, but I’m going to make it work as best I can. There’s so many times where I hold back commentary so I’m not the dude who’s always droning on about being in an early MOOC or remembering pre-web 2.0, never mind hand writing HTML in 1997.

What about that music writing podcast thing? It was fun. I’m sad it didn’t really take off. Two years seemed to be as much as I could wring out of myself and I killed it at the beginning of the pandemic. No one cared, so you shouldn’t either.

Other stuff? I didn’t talk about family here, but my son moved out with his husband. My dog died in November. We rescued a new (older) dog in December. My wife, Kate is coping with me being home, and has taken up drums and pottery. My mom, Laurel Kruithof (nee Moverley) died in January 2019. My dad, Johannis Kruithof, died weeks after we buried my mom’s remains in June 2019. My parents and I were never close, but the loss feels heavy sometimes. Not overwhelming like some people experience, but heavy. I don’t want people to say I’m sorry. Don’t sweat it. It’s three years later. I spent most of the winter of 2019 trying to find some Dutch relatives to tell them their estranged brother had died, but no luck. I guess weird family dynamics run in the family. Someday we’ll get to travel again safely and I’ll get to the Netherlands to see what it is like.

So, EdTech is even more full of charlatans and tricksters than ever before, eh? I have got some stories for you. Hope you find them helpful. That’s my plan for the future. For now. I’ll try not to temper my snark and lose my job in the process.