Martin de Wit argues that:
There are a growing body of evidence concluding that Sub Saharan economic growth is largely achieved by a depletion of capital (asset stripping). Higher levels of investment in different forms of capital as well as institutional strengthening is urgently needed.Sub Saharan countries are not homogeneous and different investment strategies and institutional focus would be required for different countries.
Let's think big picture here folks- in 2012, we have a chance to elect to the House and Senate people (and I honestly don't care what party they are from) who will push for a balanced budget, reform of our entitlement programs so that they will be more fiscally sound, protection of private property, lower and more fair tax rates (more fair means flatter with less loopholes for politically connected elites), less regulations on businesses, more liberty and freedom for consumers and investors, and increased efficiency in the delivery of government services. These sorts of 'tea party' Congressman will drive the agenda, generate ideas, and provide oversight to the other two branches.
In the meantime, we have a chance to rally behind an effective and able clerk of a President, Mitt Romney, who will capably exercise the executive powers of the United States and serve as a good diplomat, effective CEO, able commander-in-chief, and solid head of state. Sure, he probably isn't going to generate the ideas, drive the agenda, or be a mover-and-shaker in the White House- but he'll be good enough for the next 4 to 8 years, and that's okay too.
Furthermore, if the Republican Party rallies behind Romney and helps him to defeat Barack Obama, there is an opportunity to stock his administration with the kid of talent that will help set up the future of our nation over the next several years. Romney can name as his Vice President or put in his administration as top cabinet officers some young, exciting, conservatives- people who currently are not considered for the President because they lack executive experience and a track record of success at the national level- the very things that they can get while serving in a Romney administration. Remember people, this isn't a liberal blog, so I don't think people are just entitled to positions of authority and power and I actually think results and experience matter- so let's give our young, exciting, conservative Tea Party voices the experience and track record of success to pair with their ideas and views, and assure our nation a brighter future.
Previously I have suggested that he name as his Vice President Sarah Palin, arguing that she would be a positive asset to his campaign and would provide his administration with a great voice (I've also suggested that Palin be named as Secretary of Energy, another effective use of her talents). Other great candidates who Romney could pick for Vice President or Cabinet positions are Michelle Bachmann, Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal, Allen West, Jeb Bush, or even Rand Paul. All of these people would balance the ticket and be the sort of young, exciting, passionate conservatives who would bring a great voice to Washington and get experience and gain in leadership to set up future runs for the President. Imagine all of them in an administration headed up by Romney with a Republican Congress dominated by tea-party types, and your day is sure to brighten!
Even further outside the box though is Condoleezza Rice. People aren't talking about her, but she would make an amazing VP and addition to the ticket, and if not VP she could step in right away and be an immediate asset as a cabinet Secretary of State. The Washington Times recently reminded that she is still out there:
...America’s first black female secretary of state is quietly positioning herself to be the top choice of the eventual Republican presidential nominee, ready to deliver bona fide foreign-policy credentials lacking among the candidates. The 56-year-old has recently raised her profile, releasing her memoir in November and embarking on a monthlong book tour.I know many of us want the Presidential candidate from the Republican Party to be the bold, bright conservative that boldly shoots tea party values, but the truth of the matter is that generic Republican does better in the general election than anyone matching that description, and so let's pick generic Republican Romney, win the election, and then staff his administration with the future. Get excited people!
After 2 1/2 years as a professor at Stanford, Miss Rice is reportedly getting “antsy” to get back into the political game. “She’s ready to go,” said one top source.
Ready indeed. She still rises at 5:30 a.m. and runs through a vigorous P90X workout. (Her guns are now a match for those of first lady Michelle Obama.) Sure, she’s been playing a lot of golf, and no doubt banging on the piano (sometimes with cellist Yo-Yo Ma), but she’s clearly ready for more.
Her addition to the ticket, which wouldn’t come until late next summer, would dramatically change the dynamics of the 2012 election. As a black woman - her family has roots in the Deep South stretching back to before Civil War era, and worked as sharecroppers after emancipation - she would mute Democrats’ charges of racism among conservatives, especially tea party members. And her sex would likely prompt moderate women to take a serious look at the Republican ticket....
From Pambazuka, The Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ Kenya) and the Konrad Adenaur Foundation invite contributions to be published in a Special Issue on Electoral Systems Reform in Sub Saharan Africa:
It is increasingly becoming a trend in Africa, that, whilst elections are supposed to anchor and ensure sustainable growth in democracies, in countries such as Kenya and Zimbabwe, elections have become a liability. Instead of institutionalising democracy, they have fueled political instability. Consequently, the essential question is: to what extend do electoral systems and institutions in Sub Saharan Africa turn into political assets and / or liabilities?
Derek Newberry of Next Billion reports:
The Miami Herald interviewed Root Capital founder Willy Foote this week about the basics of his enterprise development organization. Root Capital identifies and supports SMEs in countries where the private sector is dominated by micro-enterprises and large corporations. This structure represents a dearth of businesses in the investment range of roughly $100,000 - $3 million - the infamous "missing middle"Willy, a key player in this space, believes that providing success stories of SME finance can help set off a rising tide of investment in this sector - very similar to the New Ventures approach. In his words: "...we can really do what microfinance did. That is, show local financial institutions that this is an asset class they can penetrate profitably."
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.
Larry Ferlazzo can curate some sites. If you are interested in international testing, these are some good sites to review.
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.
Virtual Worlds - Resources - TES
This is a video investigating the use of virtual worlds in schools in the United Kingdom. It goes from college level into younger students. This video and background documents is available. Although second life excitement has died down (particularly with open source alternatives and things like Jibe and Unity platforms that will let you deploy to tablets and gaming environments) the potential is still there. June 2010 video.
The part you MUST see is at minute 6 where they are at a jetty where they are taking measurements and preparing to put it into the virtual world. They take pictures and measurements to build a real-life location into the virtual world. This is a phenomenal use of so many cross disciplinary concepts.
Introduction to PLN - Flat Classrooms
A screenshot of a teacher's PLN on iGoogle. You can look on the left to see different things included on her pln.
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Michael McConnell asserts that President Obama's pay czar is unconstitutional and that all of his acts and activities are in the violation of the rule of law in our nation. McConnell is a smart guy- professor at Stanford University Law School, director of its Constitutional Law Center, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, and a former federal judge on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals- so he kind of knows his stuff.
Obama's "pay czar" Kenneth Feinberg recently called up top executives at private companies that work in the United States and told them that he had decided to slash their pay in half. Where does he get the just and legitimate power to do this?
As part of the hastily enacted and seldom-read legislation establishing the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), Congress authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to "require each TARP recipient to meet appropriate standards for executive compensation." To carry out this task, last June the Treasury promulgated an emergency "Interim Final Rule," waiving ordinary requirements for a public comment period.This is the government that will soon be deciding what is 'appropriate' energy use, 'appropriate' spending on healthcare, and 'appropriate' content for radio. Read the language of the kind of bills that Democrats are working to pass as laws in our nation- they are putting in unelected, unconfirmed bureaucrats who will run our lives for us. This is not protecting our freedom and property better- this is tyranny.
As part of this emergency rule, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner created the office of "Special Master" for compensation, delegated his TARP authority to set compensation standards to this officer, and appointed Mr. Feinberg (a lawyer and mediator) to this position, without obtaining Senate confirmation.
Therein lies the problem. The Appointments clause of the Constitution, Article II, section 2, provides that all "Officers of the United States" must be appointed by the president "by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate." This means subject to confirmation, except that "the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment" of "inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments."In other words, the pay czar in unconstitutional.
There is no doubt that Mr. Feinberg is an "officer" of the United States. The Supreme Court has defined this term (Buckley v. Valeo, 1976) as "any appointee exercising significant authority pursuant to the laws of the United States." Mr. Feinberg signed last week's orders setting pay levels for executives at Bank of America, AIG, Chrysler Financial, Citigroup, GMAC, General Motors and Chrysler. They have the force of law and are surely an exercise of "significant authority" pursuant to an Act of Congress. He is not a mere "employee," acting at the direction of a superior. That means his office is subject to the requirements of the Appointments Clause.
While somewhat more disputable, Mr. Feinberg's is probably an "inferior" officer, defined as one subject to supervision and removal by a member of the cabinet. Although he has substantial discretion and independence, Mr. Feinberg reports to the secretary of the Treasury, who can fire him any time for any reason. This means that Congress could, if it wished, vest the appointment of the pay czar in the secretary, without any need for Senate confirmation.
But Congress has not done so. On the contrary, it vested the authority to implement TARP's compensation provision in the secretary of the Treasury. The secretary may sub-delegate that power to someone else—but that someone must be an "officer" properly appointed "by and with the advice and consent of the Senate."
The power to set compensation at large American businesses is especially subject to potential abuse, favoritism, arbitrariness, or political manipulation. It is no reflection on Kenneth Feinberg, who has a sterling reputation and who appears to have approached these sensitive duties with a spirit of commendable integrity, to say that the checks and balances of the Constitution should be scrupulously observed. They were not. Because he is not a properly appointed officer of the United States, Mr. Feinberg's executive compensation decisions were unconstitutional.You vote Democrat, you get a government that supports the violation of our constitution and a government that takes away liberty, property, and life. You get a tyrannical government, the kind that our founding fathers faught against.
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.
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.
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.
Open education resources in Brazil and where it is now. This link is to Stephen Downes' overview of the work.
Richard Gnodde writes in the FT:
For the past five years we have seen a strong period of global growth and wealth creation driven by the opening of new markets, financial innovation, favourable credit conditions and disciplined corporate management. Perhaps more striking has been the breadth of this growth – across geographies, asset classes and industries. We have one global economy, but it is increasingly powered by multiple engines, with multiple sources of demand and liquidity.
The new flows go beyond the increased investment in emerging markets to include investments from those markets into mature economies, and cross-border investments between emerging economies. Since 1990, cross-border capital flows have grown more than 10 per cent annually. Over that period, capital inflows to emerging markets have grown twice as fast as inflows to developed countries. Investment flowing to developing countries now accounts for nearly half of world total FDI inflows, compared with only 20 per cent in 1990. Even excluding China, the share doubled to 32 per cent.
Vernon Wessels at Bloomberg reported that:
Investment bankers who until now had flown into Lagos to do deals then retreated to homes in New York or London are now opening offices in the country as record oil revenue, asset sales and a crackdown on corruption spur economic growth. Nigeria may overtake South Africa as the region's largest economy by 2020.
Global Integrity launches the Liberia Local Governance Toolkit:
The Sub-National Integrity Indicators scorecards for Liberia assess the existence, effectiveness, and citizen access to key governance and anti-corruption mechanisms in each of Liberia's 15 counties. Each county scorecard comprises more than 200 individual Integrity Indicators questions that are guided by consistent scoring criteria across all counties and supported by original document research and interviews with experts. The indicators explore issues such as the transparency of the local budget process, media freedom, asset disclosure requirements for political leaders, and conflicts of interest regulations at the county level...[continue reading]
At the African Executive Fred Kwoba writes:
There is no sustainable way to poverty reduction unless Africa widens the base of economic participants. When knowledgeable people speak of indigenous capital ownership as the sine qua non of sustainable development, they point to the right solution. I have in mind a specific new development paradigm, based on broad participation of the population in market driven economic activities. This paradigm is discussed thoroughly on DeniAfrica.com where it does not only postulate but provides a road map of how Africa can create millions of entrepreneurs and business asset owners and not just a handful of millionaires. The ingenuity of this concept, called Direct Expatriates Nationals Investment (DENI), is to widen the base of Africans participating in the revival and stimulation of their economies...[continue reading]
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The Washington Post reports on Frontier markets:
"A lot of hidden gems are no longer hidden," said Hugh Hunter, head of global emerging markets at WestLB Mellon Asset Management. "Clearly, frontier markets are the next tier. . . . We have no option but to go forward in this area."...Aside from the need to keep looking for new investment opportunities, Hunter and others say, economic growth and development of the capital markets have turned some frontier markets into appealing, long-term investments for those with a healthy appetite for risk. Money managers view the frontier economies much as they did the emerging markets of a decade ago. They are hopping on airplanes to visit countries where as few as a half-dozen companies are listed on the local stock exchanges.
Although the media is really playing up the fact that Mitt Romney won the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference straw poll over Rick Perry 51% to 17%, I was there, and the reality is that most of the people there voted prior to hearing either candidate speak and that after hearing both Perry and Romney speak, the race is a lot more even then the margin in the straw poll.
Romney is playing a defensive game, saying all the right things, hitting all the right spots, meeting with all the right people, and clearly is going to attempt to win the Presidency by not making any major mistakes. This might be the way to play it this election, but I doubt it- Obama sounds like he is getting into campaign mode, and although Obama couldn't manage his way out of a paper bag, he can get his hands on a lot of money and win himself office. So the better candidate for the Republican Party might just be Rick Perry.
In a marked contrast to the coached and artificial Romney, Perry is a lively person and is full of personality. He sounds a little bit like Own Wilson with his southern drawl and has a bounce in his step- I see him as a little more of a wild-card in the race, someone who will say some pretty good lines but will also make mistakes- for example, the stuff about not building a fence and providing in-state tuition for people who crossed the border illegally are important mistakes, although in reality these are peripheral to the job of being President.
He began his speech on Mackinac Island at the Grand Hotel by talking about how once America built things- like cars and bridges and beautiful hotels- and if we elect him, "our best days are still ahead of us." I like that idea- that is a marked contrast to Barack Obama, who appears to be trying to play a zero-sum game of class-warfare in America, where he wants to take the existing/shrinking pie and divvy it up to his supporters and allies rather than growing the pie so we all are happy. Perry is patriotic- he said something like 'the greatest nation on Earth is the United States of America'- and I love people who love America.
But what I really liked about Perry was his appeal to Reagan Democrats- although a lot of Republicans who are following the primary are all about picking the best candidate in the primary, in reality the most important consideration they should be thinking about is who stands the best chance of beating Obama. Romney is a good moderate who is business-like and a safe pick, and this gives him a solid edge, but Perry talked about willing over the Reagan Democrats, those people who are still in the Democratic Party even though every year the Democratic Party becomes more militant progressive and socialist. Yeah, the Tea Party might make this GOP not the GOP of your fathers- but the Democratic Party is not the Democratic Party of a generation ago, and having a candidate like Perry in the running who tries to win these Reagan Democrats might be a great asset.
"We will take the boots of over-taxation and over-regulation off the necks of small businessmen and businesswomen" he stated, laying out his theme that it is centralized control and elites in a far away capital who are being a barrier to the progress of America. Restoring freedom and liberty, he feels, will lead us forward better than having government bureaucrats rule over us- the freedom and liberty to make choices and take responsibility from those choices and letting the collective wisdom of the marketplace guide decisions in society will lead to a more prosperous and happy nation. "We don't need the rhetoric of change, but rather a record of change" he declared.
To be honest, his approach is a gutsy approach- it takes courage to let go of power and trust the American people to create jobs and goods and wealth- rather than tell the people what to do with regulations and a controlling tax code, Perry is suggesting that people be free and make decisions freely and that that will result in greater production and wealth. It's a tougher argument to make, but the right one, and I really hope the American people listen more closely to what he is saying.
"There is nothing ailing our nation that freedom can't cure," he said, pointing to crushing debt, increasing regulations, and legislation like Obamacare as the reason why our economy has failed to recover from the 2008 recession. He outright rejected Keynesian economic theory, and it was great to hear a major candidate cite economic theories, because our current President doesn't rely on any sort of economic theories to underpin his policies, unless you consider the mutated and mangled version of Keynesian theory he is ignorantly applying a real policy.
"I will guide this nation with a deep deep rudder," he said- and that to me is perhaps why he moved ahead of Romney as my choice in the straw poll. Sometimes I am concerned that Romney will not steer the ship of state with a deep rudder, but rather a shallow one, and that's okay- with a GOP Congress dominated by the Tea Party, it's okay to go on that current and see where it goes, and after Romney is done America will be a much improved nation. But with Perry, he'll steer our nation in the direction he wants to take it, even if the current flows another direction, and if we do defeat Obama, that might benefit our nation more in the long run.
And as long as Rick Perry keeps rolling off lines like the one he left the lunch crown with, I think he'll be okay- he finished with- "Every day I will try to make Washington DC more inconsequential in your lives".
Paul Collier writes in ANSA:
...as the radically different trajectories of Botswana and Sierra Leone illustrate, growth based on resource exports is critically dependent upon the quality of public choices. A long chain of decisions has to be got right, not just once but repeatedly for a generation. The upstream part of the decision chain involves reconciling strong incentives for prospecting with capturing as much as possible of the resource rents for society. This requires overcoming acute problems of agency, of time-inconsistency, and of asymmetric information. As the Niger Delta and the Gulf of Mexico demonstrate, it also requires the effective restraint of environmental damage.More here
The downstream part of the decision chain is about harnessing revenues for sustainable growth. Resource revenues need to be treated distinctively: they come from the depletion of a natural asset and should be substantially offset by the accumulation of other assets. The only European model of prudent use of resource revenues is Norway, but the Norwegian model is inapplicable for Africa. Norway has more invested capital per member of the labour force than anywhere else on earth, whereas Africa has less. Hence, whereas it is appropriate for Norway to accumulate foreign financial assets, Africa needs to invest domestically
Via memeorandum, from CNSNews story March Madness: U.S. Gov't Spent More Than Eight Times Its Monthly Revenue:
The U.S. Treasury has released a final statement for the month of March that demonstrates that financial madness has gripped the federal government. During the month of March, according to the Treasury, the federal government grossed $194 billion in tax revenue and paid out $65.898 billion in tax refunds (including $62.011 to individuals and $3.887 to businesses) thus netting $128.179 billion in tax revenue for March. At the same time, the Treasury paid out a total of $1.1187 trillion. When the $65.898 billion in tax refunds is deducted from that, the Treasury paid a net of $1.0528 trillion in federal expenses for March....Let's summarize what is happening under Democrat President Barack Obama's leadership with Democratic control of the Senate (currently blocking attempts by the brand-new Republican House):
....To help pay off its $1.0528 trillion in monthly bills on only $128.179 in monthly tax revenue, the Treasury turned primarily to new borrowing. During the month, according to the Treasury statement, the government sold $786.5 billion in new securities. It also drew down its cash balance from $190.6 billion at the beginning of the month to $118.1 billion at the end of the month. It also reaped $18 billion from the sale of assets in the Troubled Asset Relief Program....
Culled from the Financial Standard ,Nigeria Properties Online reports:
Property securitisation entails the raising of funds from the capital market for housing development, using the house to be developed as collateral security for the capital so raised. In other words, the houses to be developed serve as asset-backed securities (ABS) to which investors subscribe in the capital market. The investors are subsequently paid their 'dividend' when the houses are completed and sold by estate developers. In some types of property securitisation, the investors get annual dividends if the houses so developed are rented and the tenants pay annual rents...Through property securitisation, investors can trade shares held in properties built with their funds. This in effect means that an investor who wants immediate cash could sell off his shares in a securitised property. Property securitisation makes cheap and easy funding available for the housing sector.
This is because, through the capital market, individual investors could pool their resources together for development of property which would be sold or rented at market rates.
The scheme, if properly managed, could provide a positive turning point in housing development in Nigeria. It could lift the burden of housing finance off the government and private developers. Investors will now do it as a worthwhile venture, and housing development would no longer be seen as a social service which the government must shoulder. This implies that housing development would experience exponential growth, and the growing need for accommodation by teeming Nigerians would be assuaged.
CityWire reports on the challenges faced by funds in deploying capital:
A surge of investors moving into Africa has hit liquidity in the market so hard that Investec Asset Management is considering soft closing some of its funds investing in the continent...David Aird, managing director of Investec, said: ‘The liquidity in these areas (ex-South Africa) is a little bit of a challenge for us given the level of interest from retail investors. It is improving as new companies come to the market and more stock exchanges open up, but at the moment it’s a bit tight.
‘If the total funds’ size comes to the point where we cannot manage them efficiently, we will close the products – we have no hesitation in doing that. It’s a bit of a moving target, and everything depends on how much these markets can take, but we’re hoping that in six to 12 months the liquidity may have improved.’
President Barack Obama is going to drop the most money ever in the history of campaign spending in this coming election- likely far in excess of a billion dollars. A small amount of that money will be spend on positive advertisements- ads which show Obama giving good speeches, receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, making the call to take out bin Laden, etc- but the majority of the money will be dedicated to hit pieces against the GOP candidate. Most of the ads will be phony made up charges accusing/implying that the GOP candidate is racist, or obstructionist, or against the working man, or radical/extreme, or a tool for some sort of sinister plot. But the people who run Obama's campaigns are not fools, and will do some research on their opponent, and honestly they're not clever or creative, so they'll just recycle old arguments.
If Mitt Romney runs against Barack Obama, Obama will run the following advertisement (or some variation of it). It was originally produced by Ted Kennedy, who knew how to win office even though he murdered people. Kennedy beat Romney in a 1994 Senate race (17 years ago) by attacking Romney’s record at the consulting firm Bain and Company. See, Romney is a savvy and skilled businessman, and that's his biggest draw- but if voters can be convinced that he made his money by firing poor workers and leveraging government handouts so he could make millions, than his biggest asset for office can be considerably weakened.
Here is the video that Mitt is going to have to figure out how to counter if he runs for President against Obama:
Augment - "to enlarge or increase" Wordnetweb.
QR Code for this blog. Try it!
Augmented Reality(AR) "describes the enrichment of the real world with the virtual.
hyperlink - "a link from a hypertext file to another location or file; typically activated by clicking on a highlighted word or icon at a particular location on the screen"
hardlink - a link from the physical world to resources and information in a virtual world (definition mine)
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| Fashion: Augmented Reality App Adds EBay Layer |
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| Turketom's photo stream - Flickr - Some rights reserved. |
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.
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.
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.
10 predictions for 2012 | Daniel Pink
Dan Pink's predictions for 2012, bound to have some people talking.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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+.
