The push to police the way that women dress continues across Africa on the pretext that it causes sexual harassment and violence against women. What really underlies this censorship of women’s expression? asks Bibi Bakare-Yusuf
Women’s dressing has become the site for pernicious policing and debates about social and moral decay in Africa, with calls for intervention within Nigeria’s higher education institutions, by religious organisations, and the media. Over the past decade, some universities have banned the wearing of trousers and any 'revealing' clothes by young women because they are seen as a distraction to male students and lecturers. The argument is that revealing attire has made sexual violation and harassment a marked feature of university life in Nigeria, and therefore imposing a strict dress code on female students is the only way to stop it...[continue reading]
Of mini-skirts and morals | In Nigeria
The Death Of The Diploma?
More hereEducation is changing, and it’s changing fast. Anyone can put together a personalized educational experience via digital textbooks accessible by iPad, video learning from top university faculty, or peer-led discussion. People of all demographics are gathering their own seeds of education and cultivating lush sets of hybrid tools to deal with the rapid knowledge replenishment that’s essential in an economy where massive career specialization and constant innovation reign.This is the first piece in a Collaborative Fund-curated series on creativity and values, written by thought leaders in the for-profit, for-good business space.What we’re witnessing is a bottom-up revolution in education: Learners, not institutions, are leading innovation. This is an era of plenty. I like to call it the Education Harvest.
Michael Karnjanaprakorn CEO of Skillshare
Celebrating Women Scientists
..."[Winning the award] gave me a huge push forward to write research proposals, mentor new graduate students and spend more time in the lab," Lubna Tahtamouni, chair of the department of biology and biotechnology at the Hashemite University in Jordan, and a recipient of an OWSD award, tells Times Higher Education.More here
She says that, in Jordan, smart women are "labelled as unattractive, not feminine enough or even masculine," and told to prioritise their family and household, adding that "many times over the years I thought of leaving academia because of the frustrations".
"It is important to highlight that women, even from developing countries, are doing great things: making breakthroughs, contributing to advances in medicine, science, chemistry and engineering — becoming leaders and experts in their fields," says another researcher honoured in the 2011 awards, Denise Evans from South Africa.
Forest income and poverty reduction
A recent study co-authored by UNU-INRA’s Director, Elias Ayuk, finds that forest income reduces both income inequality and poverty in rural Nigeria. The analysis presented indicates that the decision to participate in forest extraction increases with more access to community forest areas, larger and poorer households and membership in forest management committees, and decreases with higher educational attainment. Furthermore, the researchers’ poverty and inequality simulations revealed that household welfare in rural Nigeria could be improved through policies and programs that can stimulate earnings from minor forest resources and assist households to earn income from alternative sources such as agriculture and commerce...[continue reading]
Photo | Alan Lew
Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 01/10/2012
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Report calls for investments in STEM education, broadband - The Hill's Hillicon Valley
New report just released from the US Commerce Department this past Friday. You can expect even more investment in STEM.
“Underinvestment in sectors like STEM education, high-tech research, and 21st century infrastructure has diminished the nation’s competitive edge. Sustained federal investment in these sectors will not just help grow today’s economy, but it will also lay the groundwork for generations to come.” -
Seth's Blog: Simple thoughts about fair use
Seth Godin writes about fair use. Whether you claim fair use or not, give credit. That is the right thing to do.
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I'm glad all of these organizations have received money to recruit and retain women in computing and technology fields of studies, but I sure would like to see some online initiatives, campaigns, and social media type things being done. This approach seems a bit traditional to me.
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35% of Child Sex Abuse Caused by Minors - TIME
We have a hidden problem. Is it lack of supervision? How is it that 1/3 of sexual abuse of children is by other children?
"Recent high-profile cases of child sex abuse have roused national revulsion against the adults who perpetrated them. Rarely mentioned is the sobering statistic that more than one-third of the sexual abuse of America's children is committed by other minors."
Time Magazine -
The Human Anatomy, Animated With 3-D Technology - NYTimes.com
NYU Medical students wear 3-D glasses and dissect a virtual cadaver projected on a screen. The professor says "it's like a living digital textbook." I do, however, really hope my doctors have experience with the human body and don't do like a kid who has practiced basketball and never played in the game - bumble the ball as they start. No one wants to be a practice dummy - in this case a practice cadaver.
Yet, do you realize that we could now add human dissection to anatomy class? In 3D you could dissect the human body? There are very exciting things coming in this area.tags: news science 3d science_health invention
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CBAL ELA Competency Model and Provisional Learning Progressions - home
This is interesting. ETS has launched a website about:
"Educational Testing Service (ETS), the world's leading measurement and research organization, has launched a new website to stimulate discussion, debate, and promote empirical research to help teachers and students meet the goals of the English language arts (ELA) Common Core State Standards." but this is most definitely a wiki (looks like wikispaces.) I find it fascinating that a company would use a wiki because so many have resisted this. I wonder who can join and who can edit. Interesting.
It says you can join. It will be interesting to see what they are doing with this. Perhaps some of you common core experts should join. -
Mystery Apple event to focus on education, iTunes U, digital publishing? | ZDNet
The end of this month we'll get a new kind of Apple for the teacher. Apple has a big event planned in New York (publisher central) that is rumored to talk about iTunes University, and textbook publishing. It willbe big news as this is a topic that is said to have been "dear to Steve Jobs."
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Kno Adds 15 Publishers to its Catalogue -- THE Journal
Textbook app, Kno, adds more publishers to the app.
The publishers include a range of diverging specialties, from humanities publisher Hackett to scholarly publishers such as The MIT Press, University of Nebraska Press, and Indiana University Press as well as more general publishers and Norton Publishing, producers of the long-time campus standby Norton Anthologies. Other recent additions include Morton Publishing, Oklahoma Career Tech, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, and AVA Books. -
Alfie Kohn: The Risks and Potential of Required Community Service
Requiring community service. I do this in National Honor Society. They have a certain number of hours to earn, however, they choose what they do. Serving and helping others is part of what we do. However, I see the points he makes in this article, particularly if a competition or reward is put in place.
tags: education communityservice news
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Tom Vander Ark: How Intelligent Scoring Will Create an Intelligent System
Yesterday a competition to improve automatic scoring of essays kicked off and computer scientists are invited to join the competition to "best well known testing firms including AIR, CTMMcGraw-Hill, ETS,and Pearson." The Open competition runs through april.
This is an effort to grade essays without a human grader involved.Personally, to me, writing implies audience and to not have a human read the writing of these students is problematic to me. -
Here we go again: Congress considers blocking government's open access policy
Publishers don't like the Federal government's open access policy that requires that research funded by government-sponsored grants be released to the general public a year after publication. I cannot believe how the publishers are continuing to try to shut down the flow of information. This is as infuriating as SOPA.
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Make a Local Backup Of Your Gmail Account - Wired How-To Wiki
How to make a backup of your gmail account. (I may have to do this to archive old emails as I am beginning to get a full inbox. Just don't know that I need things from 2007.)
Quick Hits
'David Cameron, homosexuality, and HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa' by Seye Abimbola
Africa rising, but not necessarily in democracies
Medical devices save lives, but only if they are appropriate and functional: It's the challenge of ensuring quality care in limited-resource settings.
Women scientists honored at the launch of the Pan-African university
Richard Dowden on transforming Nigeria
"The Chinese are not respected by whites because they wear expensive clothes or drink expensive whisky, but because they produce and innovate"-Prince Mashele
Its about time...Nigerians Should Now Ignore the Church
Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 01/05/2012
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The 2012 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Presence Rankings
The Rankings of university based academics who are contributing "most substantially to public debates about school and schooling." My friend Curt Bonk is on the list.From Edweek. "The rubric reflects both a scholar's body of academic work--encompassing books, articles, and the degree to which these are cited--and their 2011 footprint on the public discourse."
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If your family has a heritage from Ireland, they've posted their entire military history online in a fascinating project.
Now is your chance to solve that old mystery – was your grandfather a hero of the 1916 Rising? Did your grandmother stand up to the Black and Tans? Did your family suffer a Civil War split? -
Duncan Quirk: A Brave New Fahrenheit 2012
Scroll down in this article to get a great overview of SOPA along with the convoluted ways that this could cause problems in education.
The fundamental flaw of SOPA is making the website solely responsible for its users' actions. Instead of allowing sites to act in good faith with the copyright holder, it will punish the site rather than the user. This is akin to issuing speeding tickets to GM for drivers going too fast. -
David Truss :: Pair-a-dimes for Your Thoughts » A Conversation Starter
So, you want to start conversations. Watch this 3 minute video by David Truss including such thinkers as Alan November, Diana Laufenberg, Adora Svitak, Chris Lehmann, Chris Kennedy, Tom Grant, Stephen Heppell, Mitchel Resnick. Nice work.
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Mobile Learning in the classroom. 80 page free ebook from Jackie Gerstein. (This is a compilation of blog posts written about mobile learning.)
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San Diego Prosecutors Charge 5 School Officials For Corruption, Bribery
Bribes in San Diegofor construction contracts. I think if some looked deeper, they may find technology has some things happening as well. Be honest and you don't have to lose sleep.
Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 01/03/2012
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Columbia University to Offer ‘Occupy 101′ Course
"Columbia University is offering a new course on Occupy Wall Street next semester — sending upperclassmen and grad students into the field for full course credit. "
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Gov. Cuomo to announce state education commission to reform schools: A.M. News Links | SILive.com
On Wednesdain in New York state, education reform turns up a notch...". Gov. Cuomo, in his second state-of-state address Wednesday, will accuse New York's schools of being unaccountable and announce a commission to come up with reforms, the Daily News has learned."
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If you like open and free resources, you won't want to miss this humdinger of a post.
tags: news opensource open free
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A Difference: The Difference Between Curriculum and Pedagogy
Darren Kuropatwa writes about some of the current controversies in Manitoba Canada as they grapple with being ranked 10 out of 11 in a recent government benchmark. Again, it is troubling when governments get more into ranking than in to comparing how you did this year versus last year.
tags: education curriculum pedagogy thoughtleader canada news
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The annual social network lynching mob arrives
Ewan McIntosh bemoans another round of social media critics in Scotland and the guidelines they are drawing up for educators. Some things are ubiquitous and this misunderstanding of social media and the role in education is just one of them.
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My 2012 Goal: To Embrace Ipukarea
Ss the Free Range Librarian heads to New Zealand, I am completely fascinated with the theme of this conference. ".Ipukarea (from the Māori language – Te Reo Māori) refers to the ancestral homeland, a significant water or land feature which relates to identity and source of livelihood. It is a place that represents New Zealand history and emotional attachment, a place to go to be rejuvenated, a place that represents the hopes and aspirations of the people and the life-giving waters from which they drink."
tags: news librarian themes interestingwords
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A New Year: A New Learning Journey Begins
Beth Kanter is one of the leaders in managng a nonprofit and using social media. her upcoming booknaounds exciting. if you are a nonprofit or fundraiser you need to rewd her blog. here is her announcement anout what 2012 holds for her. ". As Visiting Scholar to the David and Lucile Packard Foundation this past year (my 3rd), one project I worked on was facilitating peer learning groups to test and develop case studies and frameworks for my next book, Measuring the Networked Nonprofit” that I co-authored with KD Paine and editor, Bill Paarlberg. The book will publish in the second half of 2012. The book is a how-to guide for using measurement and learning to improve networked nonprofit practices."
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The Best Space Stories of the Year
The top space stories of the year including amazing phooe you will want to use. (Except for the pic of the Russian cosmonaut Bresnev sent into space knowing he would die.)
tags: news space earth science_teacher
Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 12/31/2011
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Curriculum changes could spark supply crisis - news - TES
The US is not the only country in government educational induced turmoil. Here is an overview of what is happening in England right now.
"Make teachers redundant or have them teach subjects they are not trained in - that is the stark choice cash-strapped secondaries will face if national curriculum changes proposed this week are introduced, ministers are being warned.
The bleak scenario is predicted by heads’ leaders and teacher recruitment experts if the Government follows the recommendation of its national curriculum review expert panel to make history, geography and modern foreign languages compulsory for all 11 to 16-year-olds from 2014." -
January is national slavery and human trafficking prevention month. I don't care if this is an unsavory topic to many, there are more human slaves in our world this moment than in the history of this big globe in the sky. Don't criticize the slave owners and people in early US history if you're not willing to speak out now. There are age appropriate ways to broach this topic. Think about how the people of pre civil war times felt when you toss this topic over in your mind.
January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking prevention month. Celebrate it well and plan ahead. Yes, there are slaves in this country and you can educate students on how to protect themselves as well as bring awareness to what is happening in other places.tags: education news abolition slavery all_teachers edu_news
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Content Filtration: A little dirt for your health?
I was rereading this old post for some writing I'm doing about filtering and it struck me that although this post was written in 2008 it reads like it was written this morning. I think there are some very valid arguments to share as you discuss content filtering in your school.
When asked about how to help kids with allergies, researchers have made the bold statement , "Let them eat dirt! " As I read these articles, I was struck with the parallel to the content filtration debate that rages in education today.tags: education news filtering firewalls techintegrator
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Submissions | Apps for Science
A science app competition with a hodge podge of "winners." This isn't what you think. It is more higher level science websites that provide functions. One of the first mentioned is altmetric which measures the impact of research studies in social media. (Not sure if this is hugely important, but I guess it could be useful to those wanting to respond to the tweets, etc. of an article. I certainly hope scientists would also have offline conversations about these as well.)
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Anis Bawarshi and Steven Corbett — Learning & Scholarly Technologies
Overview of the use of efolios in the Expository Writing course at the University of Washington. along with some sample portfolios. Currently the electronic portfolios are optional although having a portfolio is not.
"The six TAs who chose to teach with electronic portfolios discovered many advantages to introducing this technology. They found that students learned to write for a wider audience and were able to better connect to the course outcomes by showing a greater variety of examples such as graphics and links to relevant Web pages. The electronic portfolios also simplified some logistics, allowing the instructors to easily show examples of online portfolios and students to review each other's work. " -
Daily Kos: Internet giants seriously considering 'nuclear option' to stop SOPA
If Amazon, Google, Facebook and other Internet allies turn their home screens black to bring attention to the censorship of SOPA don't be surprised. Right now, SOPA is still favored to pass. time to call congress or email them. This website tells you how.
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Researchers Build Terminator Contact Lens
Small projectors, contact lenses with displays built in. Here is where we're going. These things make the "ban cell phone" movement even more preposterous. It is about behavior not banning or blocking as limiting behavior is only going to become harder.
tags: education news technology
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8 Amazing Emerging Technologies From 2011
Transmitting data via LED lightbulbs tops this list of 8 technologies from mashable.
By the way, the beginnings of display contacts is here - although it can only put one pixel on the screen (created by your contact) it is the beginning.
Again, we must get at behavior of our students. Because we will move from cell phones to glasses and contacts. We have to focus on helping people learn how to focus on the task at hand and hold them accountable for the work they do instead of playing the role of jailkeeper. Focus may indeed be the most important 21st century skill.tags: education news technology edu_trends
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ADHD: Your Brain On Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (VIDEO)
ADHD, medicine abuse, and a video to show you what it "feels like" to have ADHD. This post from Huffington is a great one to share with those who don't understand this disorder. There are still so many questions to ask, especially that of if we've somehow become so desk bound that our physical bodies are crying out for more running and moving, but that is for another post.
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So Here’s What I’d Do : 2¢ Worth
It started with Tim Holt asking "edtech gurus" how to actually do it. How to stimulate change.
This is a wonderful post from David Warlick on what he'd actually do. Many of these are great. The tough thing this brings to bear is that unless you can actually do it - it is hard to speak to it. This is why there is room for great practioners who are doing it to share how it works and what the results are. The tough thing is that in the real world, it is rarely simple and interpersonal dynamics often get in the way. The book I'd recommend is Kerry Patterson's the Influencer on this topic. -
10 Bad Trends in Ed Tech 2011 #6: Ed Tech Gurus - Holt Think: Ed, Creativity, Tech, Adminstration
Lots of conversation on this guru's post. Funny how the easiest way to get edubloggers to talk is to talk about edubloggers. ;-)
tags: education news innovation
Learning about Learning: Research and Edreform News and Views 12/30/2011
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Humble People More Likely to Lend a Hand | Psych Central News
Some people look down on the humble. Don't. They may be the one to help you when you most need it. For me, I like to follow people I see helping others on Twitter or Facebook because it tells me about who they are (i.e. the #endslavery tweeting some of us have been doing.)
On a note, does this mean that nonprofits who spend all their time sidling up to the arrogant are wasting their time? I don’t know and certainly “judging” people as to whether they are arrogant or humble is risky business. Sometimes I’ve thought a person was arrogant only to later find that they were really an introvert or nervous around large crowds of people.
“The only other personality trait that has shown any effect is agreeableness, but we found that humility predicted helping over and above that.”
In most cases, a person’s decision to help someone in need is influenced by temporary factors, such as time pressure, number of bystanders, momentary feelings of empathy, or a person’s own distress, added Wade Rowatt, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University, who led the study and co-authored the article.
“The research indicates that humility is a positive quality with potential benefits,” he said. “While several factors influence whether people will volunteer to help a fellow human in need, it appears that humble people, on average, are more helpful than individuals who are egotistical or conceited.” -
Psych Central - RSS Feeds, Gadgets and Widgets
IF you follow news such as this, here are the RSS feeds from this robust site. I find my RSS reader is an important tool in my PLN and have spent some time cleaning up and adding blogs to my RSS reader.
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The Trouble with Small Psychological Studies | Psych Central News
This powerful article is one every research should read. Because researchers care more about being popular and hitting the media (which rightfully unleashes research dollars) they are producing shorter papers on studies with a much smaller sample size. This review at Psych Central of a new research paper studying the study-ers has profound implications. The fact is that researchers need more citations so they are giving people what they want to hear.
We need to evolve so that scholarly research has a place but that excellence in research is upheld. We also need researcher-leaders like Stephen Downes to help us see when certain things don't measure up.
"They define “bite-size science” as research papers based on one or a few studies and small samples.
“We’re not against [being concise or short and to the point],” says Bertamini. “But there are real risks in this trend toward shorter papers. The main risk is the increased rates of false alarms that are likely to be associated with papers based on less data.” -
Tightly Wound DNA in Brain Tied to Schizophrenia | Psych Central News
"New research has discovered that people with schizophrenia have certain brain cells where their DNA stays too tightly wound. When DNA is too tightly wound, it can stop other genes from expressing themselves in their normal pattern."
tags: learning psychology schizophrenia
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La. seniors show exercising is not an age thing - CBS News
Want to keep your brain young, exercise your body! This is a great story of a basketball team of older grandmothers who don't know how to lose. The women love it and they don't look like grandmothers. Why do we just have athletic leagues for the young? Perhaps athletic leagues are the fountain of youth...and the liquid of longer life is sweat.
"But when Wright studied very active seniors, she found exercise seemed to be protective.' These MRI images show how fat can infiltrate the muscles of a sedentary senior. Compare that a MRI from a 74-year-old tri-athelete, which looks very similar to one from a 40-year-old.
"We are not destined to go from lean flank steak in our 40s," said Wright. "if you think visually of what our muscles look like, to flabby rump roast. We do not have to become that way if we interject exercise throughout a lifetime.
It's an important 'if.' Regular, consistent and challenging exercise is key. The Tigerettes work out strenuously, four to five times a week. -
Understanding memory loss. Mini, small strokes may be the "silent" link. The test used MRI's on dementia free adults.
"Strokes so tiny they are termed ''silent'' may be linked to memory loss in older adults.
Previously, experts thought that memory loss among older adults was caused by deterioration in the hippocampus, the part of the brain involved in memory and other functions. Although that is still true, study researcher Adam Brickman, PhD, says his new research adds another possible cause to the list.
"What our study suggests is, even when we account for the decline in memory attributed to hippocampal shrinkage or degeneration, that strokes ... play an additional role in the memory decline," Brickman says." -
Why great people never stop learning? « BESIDE
Why great people never stop learning. This short, thought provoking post points out why we must keep learning. I particularly like the first three paragraphs. One note that I put in comments (awaiting moderation) is that we can learn from the people we meet on Twitter and through blogs.
Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 12/30/2011
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This is the catalog of books from Pedia press. While some editors are wikipedians, it is interesting to me how one of the top books is American Warplanes of WWII that has one editor. It looks like you can take it and pull from wikipedia and then edit. This is very interesting. While it is not new news about pediapress, when it first came out we didn't have such examples to review.
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Application for Flat Classroom® Project 2011-2012
Current application dates for Flat Classroom projects.
I'll be running NetGenEd and co-planning Eracism with Julie as well as work with the book club starting in February.
Flat Classroom Project - application deadline January 23, 2012 for FCP12-1
Digiteen - application deadline February 1, 2012 for Digiteen 12-1
'A Week in the Life...' - application deadline February 15, 2012 for AWL12-1
Eracism - application deadline February 30, 2012 for Eracism 2012
NetGenEd - application deadline February 1, 2012 for NetGenEd 2012
APPLY NOW! to become a Flat Classroom® Certified Teacher. Courses will run starting in September and November 2011, as well as March 2012.
Global Education Conference 2011 -
Skitch for iPad! - Evernote User Forum
Skitch for the Ipad is here. This whiteboard drawing, mind mapping ipad tool saves to evernote. If you love evernote, this is a must download tool.
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Dabbleboard - Online whiteboard for drawing & team collaboration - Interactive whiteboard software
An online collaboration whiteboard. You can use it for free. Try using this for mindmapping and brainstorming between teams.
tags: eduapp education collaboration edu_news
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10 predictions for 2012 | Daniel Pink
Dan Pink's predictions for 2012, bound to have some people talking.
tags: education news 2012 prediction edu_news
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Dan Pink predicted that next year's hot technology item is going to be the Lytro camera. It captures everything and lets you focus afterwards. It looks very cool but it is one of those things I need to see to understand. Anyone using one yet?
tags: education technology edtech news photography
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Great announcement about the winners of Microsoft's Global Educator Awards program. As a judge for the US competition, the coding guide is an amazing piece of research-based evaluation of teaching methods that should be shared. Unfortunately, this awards announcement has NO hyperlinks. It always makes me upset when teachers are recognized without Twitter handles, links to their efolios. If we want to disseminate best practice, it should be done using the web. Static press releases, especially for something like this, are a waste of space. now, I have to search for all of these things.
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American Teacher | Microsoft Partners in Learning
A new movie "the American teacher" is coming out and Microsoft is coordinating the community screening of this film based upon the New York Times Best Seller "Teachers Have it Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America's Teachers" produced by Vanessa Roth and narrated by Matt Damon. This website lets you order the DVD or volunteer to host a screening. I cannot find a release date on the site.
I hope it is balanced. Teachers aren't perfect but it is not ok how teachers are being treated. Unfortunately, very few people are talking about just teachers -- it seems to be focused on union vs. anti union at this point in politics with teachers caught in between. -
This is the Microsoft Research so.cl website (pronounced social) that is being tested in a few universities. I find it incredibly interesting that students sign in using Facebook instead of Windows Live ID, the preferred sign in for other services.
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Will the Google-FTC Buzz Settlement Butt Into Larry Page's Social Mission? - Forbes
For those comparing the FTC's stand against Facebook with Google Buzz, here is the Forbes article on the April 2011 Google Buzz settlement. We will have our Digiteen students looking at this material as they discuss privacy.
tags: education news privacy digital_responsibilities digital_literacy
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Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg: 'We've Made A Bunch Of Mistakes' - Forbes
Facebook faces 20 years of privacy audits by the Federal Trade Commission. Similar to an agreement with Google Buzz,this shows the FTC's commitment to project consumer privacy. (Any wonder Google Buzz is going bye- bye.)
tags: education facebook news privacy digital_safety digital_responsibilities
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New Google+ service Find My Face lets you opt in to photo tagging. For information on this service and how Google is trying not to repeat some of the "mistakes" of Facebook. However, some would argue that mistakes of Facebook have also been what made it wildly popular.
tags: education. socialmedia google news digital_communications
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Gaffe prompts official to resign - World News - MSN News UK
It seems harmless but sometimes just commenting on Facebook in the normal course of business causes problems. Now that every person on Facebook literally has a fan page (people can follow you without you having a fanpage) you are going to see this happen more often. If you really want to share with your friends, this certainly gives rise to websites like Path that only let you friend up to 150 people and keep things very private. Public officials may be left with no other option. Show me a person who doesn't say something politically incorrect and I'll show you someone in the graveyard. We all mess up.
tags: education news socialmedia digital_responsibilities digital_communications
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Google Apps Education Training Center
Free Google Apps training center. This will take you through the tools that are part of Google apps for education. Share this with your teachers and students.
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Age requirements on Google Accounts - Google+ Help
"The following age requirements apply for owners of a Google Account (with the exception of accounts in Apps for Education domains):
Spain: 14 or older
South Korea: 14 or older
Netherlands: 16 or older
All other countries (including the US): 13 or older
Keep in mind that specific products may have additional age requirements. For instance, Google+ requires users to be 18 or older." -
Frequently Asked Questions about Google Account and Age Requirements - Accounts Help
I'm seeing more information about children activating G+ accounts and putting in an age that is "too young" to have an account (under 18.) Here are the instructions for reactivating an account (which involve a credit card charge that is then removed.) As more kids move to G+ this will be a problem. I told my students to stay away from G+. Of course, having them on Google apps for domains helps you on this as the terms of service are between the school and Google and with parent permission, you are accepting the terms of behalf of the students.
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Why researchers want to overhaul the Gregorian calendar | MNN - Mother Nature Network
Give up accuracy and go for convenience? Wish your birthday or Christmas was on the same way every year? Researchers at Johns Hopkins think we need a new calendar. What do you think?
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iPads and the Embarrassment Factor - ProfHacker - The Chronicle of Higher Education
Fascinating read from a professor about the response of his graduate students when they all received ipads. Some felt that by carrying them they came across as elitist. Perhaps it is because so many people want them and they are still very expensive. Very interesting read.
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Times Higher Education - BIS research to study private providers
British government is studying how effectively private and alternative suppliers provide higher education services. As educators prime for the upheaval to learning that is already upon us, institutions of higher education are being eyed as places for potential cost savings and to determine if education can be delivered more effectively in other ways. They also looked at some US studies as they prepare this study.
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Microsoft Working On Social Network For Students
Microsoft not going for social networking but for educational networking. Before you roll your eyes, the fact is that overlaying educational networks on top of social networks is rife with problems. This is being tested at University of Washington, Syracuse University and New York University. There are many benefits to keeping work and personal separate and educational networks may be a great asset if done right, to the education space.
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Email blackout: Victory for workers or last gasp for trade unions? | ExtremeTech
Volkskwagen agrees to turn of blackberries after hours as part of a union agreement. While I don't know a lot of teachers connected via blackberries,I do personally know the complexities of global collaboration in schools. We must learn to balance work and home and know when to disconnect but then again, a work environment can become so fast paced that everyone seems to expect the others that they should work 24/7. Yet another reason to advocate checking email 2-3 times a day - let everyone know when you will be available and stick to the schedule.
tags: balance productivity news edu_news
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Connect anything to the cloud with Twine | ExtremeTech
New project started by 2 MIT students.Twine seeks to help you easily access your home remotely. The small bar-of-soap looking object monitors the temperature and movement of the device usinga simple app called spool. Increasingly computing is about intertwining with our lives.
I'm going to draw another conclusion here that may bother some of you. As we increasingly use our smart phones to control our homes, let people in the door, monitor things,are we causing danger and/or damage by denying students the right to access their phone, say, for example, if the house says it is on fire and mom and dad are out of town.
I think we're going to have to coexist with cellular and smart phone technologies. It is inevitable but it is also about behavior. A child wouldn't have 1,000 emergencies in a day ( a text message isn't an emergency) but may have one that becomes a big deal and a big liability.tags: education news technology
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If you like controversies between leading thinkers, you'll want to read wired.com's overview of the verbal jousting between Clay Shirky and Malcom Gladwell over the importance of social media in social uprisings. I think this author has a very neutral perspective that is valuable for evaluating this discussion between two very influential people.
The thing I find odd is that Gladwell in his book Outliers talks about the importance of "mavens" and their influence. Surely, mavens online can have more influence than ever before. I'm not sure how he can forget his own work in Outliers as he puts down the importance of social media in politics.tags: education socialmedia news
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Transistors made from cotton yarn, t-shirt computers incoming | ExtremeTech
T-shirt transistors. Wearable computing is very close. I doubt it will look like it does on the fantastic model in this post, but there are uses we cannot imagine as of yet. It would be fun to have students read this and invent the future of wearable computing. Or you could do this as a writing assignment and have them write about it.
tags: education news technology
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Why Hasn't Google Responded to Death Threats on Google+?
Big controversy running through Google plus. Because controversial photographer Brandon Campeaux had over a quarter of a million followers, they are connected to just about everyone. He left Google+ in a huff and deleted his account when he says Google refused to respond to death threats against him. Word is,some of the people he asked to help him "are on vacation."
On another note, once a Google+ post is reshared, you can no longer delete it. This is perhaps a very interesting case study for whether Google+ is ready to grow. By the way, Myspace still has more active users than Google+.
Elearning and global competency #flatclass #globaled 12/30/2011
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Application for Flat Classroom® Project 2011-2012
Current application dates for Flat Classroom projects.
I'll be running NetGenEd and co-planning Eracism with Julie as well as work with the book club starting in February.
Flat Classroom Project - application deadline January 23, 2012 for FCP12-1
Digiteen - application deadline February 1, 2012 for Digiteen 12-1
'A Week in the Life...' - application deadline February 15, 2012 for AWL12-1
Eracism - application deadline February 30, 2012 for Eracism 2012
NetGenEd - application deadline February 1, 2012 for NetGenEd 2012
APPLY NOW! to become a Flat Classroom® Certified Teacher. Courses will run starting in September and November 2011, as well as March 2012.
Global Education Conference 2011 -
A Twitter party talking about the 21st century workforce online January 5, 2012 from 8-9 pm EST. The hashtag is #edworld for this event. So, you already have your favorite hashtag? I find this a way to find and meet new people.
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Flat Classroom 11-3 Project - Awards
Watch some inspirational videos on technology with the Flat Classroom 11-3 awards. Scroll down to see the winning first, second, and third place videos. We had more than 200 videos submitted this time.
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Microsoft Working On Social Network For Students
Microsoft not going for social networking but for educational networking. Before you roll your eyes, the fact is that overlaying educational networks on top of social networks is rife with problems. This is being tested at University of Washington, Syracuse University and New York University. There are many benefits to keeping work and personal separate and educational networks may be a great asset if done right, to the education space.
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Open education resources in Brazil and where it is now. This link is to Stephen Downes' overview of the work.
Edu app news: apps, ebooks, and sites for your classroom #mlearning 12/29/2011
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iPadApps-DigitalLearningFarm.jpg
Incredible resource to find apps. This is from Silvia Tolisano as a digital apps farm for learning. It includes apps, websites, tools. Pretty ubiquitous tools but some specifically ipad/iphone.
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FutureMe.org: Write a Letter to the Future
Email letters to yourself to remind you do to things. You can also write a letter to the future. All kinds of fascinating uses for this app and website.
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Academic Earth | Online Courses | Academic Video Lectures
Named a top website in education, academic earth aggregates open content of all kinds into courses. Of the best use, I think, are the ratings that let you see the best lectures, etc. To subscribe to the best lectures in your field as a sort of podcast would be powerful.
So, now the best professors have the potential to have their message taken around the world. -
behindEars: Education Resources
Very nice listing of open education resources for those of you looking for opencourseware. How long till schools start using these sites as their curriculum?
tags: eduapp opencontent opensource education
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Rethinking How We Learn To Play Music With Innovative Software @PSFK
So many things are being rethought in teaching including how we teach music. The new "playground sessions" from Zag invention is a system that uses gaming, popular songs, and the idea of play to improve musical ability. It sounds great but we'll have to see how well it is implemented. Never underestimate the power of a powerful app.
tags: eduapp music arts education music_teacher
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Five free Kindle Fire apps everyone should sideload | ExtremeTech
Dropbox tops this list from extremetech of the 5 free Kindle fire apps that owners of the hot new tablet should download. Dropbox rocks every platform because it is the glue that links us together -- much more ubiquitous than icloud, they must just have the killer app.
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100 best Android apps (hat tip to Theresa Allen) if you have android, take a look here.
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New RockMelt socializes Chrome's Omnibox, new tabs | The Download Blog - Download.com
Rock melt is still there. The social web browser with all kinds of sharing and Facebook goodness is now at Beta 5. rockMelt as a browser is used an overage of 7 hours per day and 60% of the users are under 25. I only use it when I'm feeling social as chats come up all the time. Interesting browser and worth a try if you stay up on this. It will be blocked for most schools that limit access to social media sites but what if you could have a built in portal like this linking you to your education networks?
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Gube Curates Kid-Safe YouTube Videos for iOS
Another website (this one reviewed by lifehacker) for giving kid-friendly access to Youtube. There is a cost. Gube is $3.99 one time. (Some services have monthly costs.)
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A new website that matches events with your personality type. Of interest is how you can find self improvement events. what happens when such a site takes educational activities and recommends matches. Interesting concept.
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New Dropbox for Android improves productivity - AGBeat
Nice tour of dropbox for android which has a lot of new features Android users will love.
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Cell and Cell Structure | Educational iPad App for Middle-School
The website for cell and cell structure. This looks like a phenomenal app. How long till textbook companies will start grabbing these apps and integrating them into their books? This is an ipad only app. It is not free but because of the strong review is being included for you to review.
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Cell and Cell Structure by Punflay.
This reviewer says that it is an "essential app for high school and university level life science classes." Costs $1.99 but got a 5 star rating. -
Easy Classroom Polling For Teachers and Students | ClassPager
This is an easy, private, free, polling system used by cell phone expert Liz Kolb. With her thoughts on this, I'm willing to plan it in during January.
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From Toy to Tool: Cell Phones in Learning: ClassPager for SMS and Polling Students!
Liz Kolb is using Class pager, a free tool that lets you create class alerts. There is no limit of students or parents for this private service. What is so cool is that you can also have free text polls. If you have an ipod touch you can use one of their free texting apps to interact with it as well. Here is Liz's review of the app.
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15 Free Charlie Chaplin Films Online | Open Culture
Charlie Chaplin was a film icon of the silent film era. I grew up watching these films when they were really films on a reel in the dining room. Now you can download these 15 free films from online. I showed some of these to my children just so they'd understand this small part of culture.
When I taught digital film, I had the students create their own silent film and then add sound effects and musical scores so they could see the impact that sound has on their film.tags: education eduapp filmmaking
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Tizi app turns your iPhone into a pricey iPad remote, enlists Siri for channel surfing -- Engadget
Further reinforcing the fact that ipads are becoming screens of choice. the Tizi app is a remote control for your ipad. So, if you have an ipad in your room hooked up to the projector, and want to control your ipad via your ipod touch or iphone, this app is for you. (We really don't know how these things will be used, do we?)







