Author Archives: Robert Basil

Free textbooks and other resources for students and educators

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Robert Basil

Students who suffer under the burden of high tuition and large student loans need all the financial help the world can provide them. For my upper-level communications classes the last couple of years I have been using an excellent online … Continue reading →

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The “trick to ambiguity”

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Robert Basil

From the great Language Log: Most of the ambiguity contained in normal language use is passed over without any awareness on the audience’s part of the potential for double meanings. If one of the two intended meanings in an ad … Continue reading →

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Needing Readers

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Robert Basil

In my classes, as well as in my career as a “communications guy,” I stress the requirement that all written pieces be read by one or several people prior to submission or publication. My friend, the scholar Jonathan Mayhew, has … Continue reading →

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The Muse

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Robert Basil

I’m not a great creative individual by any stretch, but I do respect my muse and do *not* screw with it. My friend kat passed along this letter by musician Nick Cave, which he wrote to MTV in 1996, in … Continue reading →

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Doing the reading …

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Robert Basil

Although I am sure there *are* professors who have estimated how long it will take their students to complete their assigned tasks – written assignments, presentations, homework activities, project research, and textbook reading – I doubt I know any who … Continue reading →

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Peruse this …

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Robert Basil

I recently finished a pretty good book, The Lexicographer’s Dilemma: The Evolution of ‘Proper’ English from Shakespeare to South Park, by Rutgers Professor Jack Lynch. It provides a helpful history of the English language dictionary (other European languages had dictionaries long before … Continue reading →

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Oh, British Columbia … You are consuming your seed corn

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Robert Basil

My province’s teachers have lost a big battle. From the Vancouver Sun just now: VANCOUVER – The provincial government has scored a major victory in court, with the appeal court Thursday overturning a judgment that would have restored class size … Continue reading →

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Nifty little animated lesson: The Psychology of Blame

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Robert Basil
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Yik Yak and Meerkat

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Robert Basil

When Ted Cruz announced his candidacy for USA president at Liberty University yesterday, many students in the audience used the Smartphone app Yik Yak to mock the junior senator from Texas (and to complain that they were coerced to attend the event … Continue reading →

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Marketing in the Digital World: Student Blogs

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Robert Basil

Posts and up-to-the-minute news from my Kwantlen Polytechnic University digital-marketing class. The learning in this course is truly crowd-sourced.

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