Thursday, January 31, 2008

Top Web Tools for Students

Top Web Tools for Students
We’ve done several posts on web tools for students. Larry Ferlazzo recently posted his top 14 list here. Ferlazzo’s top rated Web 2.0 tool is called Tumblr. Tumblr’s technology helps you make a “tumblelog.” What is that? Well, here’s how Tumblr defines it, “If blogs are journals, tumblelogs are scrapbooks.” Basically, tumblelogs are a place [...]

We’ve done several posts on web tools for students. Larry Ferlazzo recently posted his top 14 list here. Ferlazzo’s top rated Web 2.0 tool is called Tumblr. Tumblr’s technology helps you make a “tumblelog.” What is that? Well, here’s how Tumblr defines it, “If blogs are journals, tumblelogs are scrapbooks.”

Basically, tumblelogs are a place where you can quickly add information in multiple mediums. The creators say, “Blogs are great, but they can be a lot of work. And they’re really built to handle longer-form text posts. Tumblelogs, on the other hand, let you easily and quickly post and share anything you find or create.”

Check it out and let us know what you think.

Next Student also has a top ten list. Their number one suggested tool is called Bookfinder. Bookfinder, Next Student says lets you search through “125 million books for sale from 4,000 sellers.” I’ve always used AddAll for this but BookFinder seems to include more sellers.

And if you’re curious about our own Web 2.0 recommendations, check out our old posts here and here.

Posted By Sindya Bhanoo


educationbangalore.com - Education News for Bangalore

educationbangalore.com - Education News for Bangalore
Thanks to EducationBangalore.com. I have not missed any Admission or Exam or Result notifications. I get all education news in this one place.

The Theory of Gravity

Trying to come up with something professional and politically correct to say about this has proved fruitless. There are too many sweet spots to hit and if I start I won’t be able to stop. Inside Higher Ed had this up today: A new Web site has been created to serve as a clearinghouse [...]

Trying to come up with something professional and politically correct to say about this has proved fruitless. There are too many sweet spots to hit and if I start I won’t be able to stop. Inside Higher Ed had this up today:

A new Web site has been created to serve as a clearinghouse for the presidential candidates’ positions on science and technology issues. The site — created by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Association of American Universities — features the candidates’ positions on topics such as competitiveness, science education, health care, and energy research. The information is largely a listing of candidates’ stated positions and does not focus on stances taken by some candidates that run counter to scientific thinking — Mike Huckabee’s opposition to evolution isn’t mentioned.

Related post: Hope For College Science Majors

Posted by Alexa Harrington

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Write ?Buffalos and Dinosaurs? in Cursive

I’m not sure if it’s a nostalgia twinge for my elementary school days or if it’s just my own weirdnesses with regards to these, our modern keyboard-centric times, but I’m a little sad to learn that cursive writing might soon be a thing of the past. It’s being slowly phased out in schools. [...]

I’m not sure if it’s a nostalgia twinge for my elementary school days or if it’s just my own weirdnesses with regards to these, our modern keyboard-centric times, but I’m a little sad to learn that cursive writing might soon be a thing of the past. It’s being slowly phased out in schools. I fully admit that I sound like an old-timer: devoted to horses and bitching about those new-fangled cars. I should open my eyes and embrace all that is Now.

Oof. Can’t do it. I trust pens and paper, not silicon chippy things and keyboards. Seriously: cursive writing? They’re taking away cursive writing? It’s not that I want us all to be wearing impractical clothing and writing perfect Victorian letters to each other. The half-printing, half-cursive handwriting called “italic cursive” is totally acceptable. That’s how most people write, and it’s faster than strictly printing or traditional cursive (which I admit I do not remember how to do properly).

Maybe I’m worried that in a few generations we’ll all be running around communicating only by typing and printing and text messaging. Possibly grunting. Is the end of teaching cursive backward or forward motion? Probably forward but it still makes me sad.

Read for yourself what The Christian Science Monitor had to say about it:

[Cursive writing] is an endangered species given the rise of computers, the growing proportion of class time spent preparing for standardized tests, and the increasing perception that cursive writing is a difficult and pointless exercise.

“You still need to be able to write a signature and a personal thank-you note as well as read cursive,” says Cathy Van Haute, a pediatric occupational consultant. And “you can’t tell me everyone has easy access to a computer.”
Robert Martin, principal of O’Donnell Elementary, agrees. “It’s a dangerous path to go down if the only way you can communicate or record information is electronically or with printed letters. Cursive teaches things like how letters connect and a different type of hand-eye coordination that’s important.”

Kate Gladstone is a “handwriting repair expert” in New York. She is not surprised to see cursive going the way of the dinosaur, with only 15 percent of adults using cursive after high school. She’s not disappointed. She disagrees with the idea that students should first learn to print and then to write in cursive.

“You don’t teach someone English by first teaching them Chinese,” Ms. Glad­stone says. “We need to decide what the best way to handwrite is and just teach that.”

Gladstone promotes italic cursive, which she says is the fastest, most natural, and most easily readable form of handwriting. It’s also the easiest and quickest to teach children, she says. She also claims it’s the fastest-growing way to teach handwriting: 7 percent of students are learning this method, compared with 1 percent ten years ago.

The Palmer and Zaner-Bloser penmanship methods ruled the day for decades. Students spent 45 minutes every day on handwriting. Penmanship was a separate grade on report cards. Today, handwriting instruction might get 10 or 15 minutes a few times a week. Keyboarding skills are taught much earlier, now.
But in this era of standardized testing, Gladstone says, teachers need to train their charges to express themselves quickly with a pen or pencil. And that means italic cursive, to her.

Posted by Alexa Harrington

Continue reading ...

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

One Instructor's Exploration of Learning Objects

One Instructor's Exploration of Learning Objects

This short posting describes one instructor's search for a specific kind of learning object that might be useful for a specific course that she is teaching. I'm re-posting this item because I believe this kind of practical report is extremely useful. I'd like to see many more such reports about successes and failures by instructors in locating and adapting online instructional resources. _____JH

_____

Drums and Cymbals

"I am exploring learning objects which may be applicable to my on-line course. Specifically, I am looking for an interactive activity which will help students understand the exchange rate and its affect on trade, currency rates, etc.

First I have to learn WHAT a learning object is. I've read a few articles and have discovered they are supplemental activities or readings which engage the learner in some way. MERLOT has many which can be searched by subject area. Specifically, there were 8 results when I used the terms "exchange rates" for a search. Of the 8, a few were not applicable or simple text driven. However, there was one which interested me. I need to play with it more to see what its possibilities are."


Fight over sports fields brews in NYC

Dozens of sports fields on a tiny island off Manhattan have prompted a debate over fair play. Read more ...

OER Blogs--an Aggregator

The Open Courseware Consortium has started an aggregator site for blogs about open educational resources (OERs) and open access. The blog selections are organized by topics such as OER, OCW, Open Access, and Intellectual Property. The lead-in lines for the blog entries provide a quick way to decide whether a posting is of interest. ____JH

Continue reading ...

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Reading Comprehension Rockets With Audiobooks

Some people hate reading because they can't read fast and moreover, they don't grasp the context of the material they read. So, how do you improve your comprehension? Studies show that speed reading can improve your comprehension. Here are some articles on speed reading.
 
 
Here is an article by Bob Jenkins on reading comprehension.
 
Love of reading and reading comprehension go hand in hand, and audiobooks have proven to promote increased reading activity -- and advance reading comprehension, something many people struggle with on a day to day basis.

For students, audiobooks stimulate the imagination, help build vocabulary skills and enhance pronunciation. Also, whereas a thick-paged book might be intimidating to a student, most are familiar with computers, iPods and stereo systems - and are adept at using them. So why not give them an option that merges traditional reading enjoyment and comprehension with the high-tech universe they're immersed in?

Audiobooks can quickly become a source of pleasure for the student and can mean the difference in viewing learning as a fun activity or as a necessary annoyance to be avoided at all cost. That isn't to say audiobooks should replace traditional reading activities altogether, but they can contribute to the student's education and advancement.

Students who find themselves failing in the classroom can use audiobooks as a source of valuable information to help them catch up and forge ahead on almost any subject by increasing their comprehension. Audiobooks also offer the individualized attention that will ultimately increase a student's understanding of a subject.

Gifted students can also avail themselves of audiobooks to increase their knowledge of a subject or expand the volume of books they can read during a certain amount of time. With a teenager's schedule, there's often limited time to pursue academic activities, and audiobooks can be devoured on the go.

A rapid increase in language comprehension can also be obtained by the used of audiobooks. The connection between text and speech becomes clear with the use of audiobooks, helping the student to improve his reading and vocabulary skills.

Audiobooks are increasingly being used to help special needs students grasp the key between speech patterns and reading. Once this connection is understood by the student, he experiences a new level of self-esteem. The audiobook serves as a supplement to the educational tools the student already uses to gain clarity for a topic.

The activity of reading becomes a much more joyful and useful experience when enhanced by audiobooks. Students can visualize more readily the actions of the words in the book and it becomes much more stimulating to the mind of the reader.

Once a student perceives audiobooks as an enjoyable hobby, he or she can make the transition to consuming print books on subjects they feel will entertain or educate them.

Bob Jenkins is the founder of Hear2Read.com, an audiobook superstore with an unmatched member rewarsd/affiliate program. Bob brings ten years of high school teaching experience to his business. Visit Hear2Read.com for your next audiobook purchase.
http://www.hear2read.com

The Advantages Of An Undergraduate Online Education

Why Online Education?

After a hectic time in high school, most graduates want to take some time off and have plenty of fun and unwind. A few also take jobs in order to pay for their education later - and others just want take the time to find out what they want to do. However, all of these delays are only hindrances to obtaining a degree and can have a negative effect on economic stability and future prospects.

It is well known that a bachelor's degree is prerequisite to getting a lucrative job in any industry - and the earlier one has it, the better it is in terms of career growth. So with all these choices to make, online undergraduate programs are becoming more popular than ever.

The Advantages

With the Internet maturing day by day, the quality of online education is improving, removing all possible barriers to higher education. The primary benefit of an undergraduate online education program is that physical presence is not required to take a course. So with a busy lifestyle for a time consuming job, if a person has the zeal to pursue further education, the online option gives students the opportunity to do both.

When work takes up most of your time, even after a few hours of socializing and doing chores a few hours to spare, online education makes it easy to progress in your chosen career field. For those who cannot pursue a degree because of geographical constraints, pursuing an undergraduate education online enables them to attend classes from their home computer and saves them time and gas.

Other Advantages

Pursuing an undergraduate online education offers a similar level of education that is provided in regular classes. Students can work on their program of study at their convenience. Studies never interfere with travel plans, employment and basically any activity that couldn't be done on the campus. Undergraduate online education is unique. They are more facilitative, as discussions are quick and easy to understand. Classes are held through chat, Internet meetings and email, as well with the subject coordinator and other students. There are virtually no shortcomings in online interactions.

Another advantage of undergraduate online education is that it is different from traditional education and benefits students by giving them access to develop technological competencies and exposure to telecommunication technologies. Also, online education gives students an exceptional experience in education, irrespective of age and geographic location. It provides psychological support by shedding introvert behavior and slow learning processes. With online education, students have time to prepare notes and other information discussed in the virtual classroom because all the subjects discussed will be posted online.

The best and most valid advantage of undergraduate online education is that there are a limitless number of courses by many educational institutes. From courses in fine arts to medical science, most are provided online and these e-learning courses are as simplified as possible.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution's Six Sigma Online ( http://www.sixsigmaonline.org ) offers online six
sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

Wolfram Mathematics Demonstrations Project

Wolfram Mathematics Demonstrations Project
The Wolfram site is associated with Wolfram's well-known Mathematica, but it is not necessary to have the software to explore the demonstrations. Instead, visitors can download a free Mathematica player. I explored a number of the music demonstrations since I have a special interest in synthesizers and electronic music composition; the Jazz Voicings, Piano Keys, and MidiKeyboard Limits demonstrations were instructive and impressive. All demonstrations include access to the source code.

The Wolfram site is a good example of a resource site that combines a free service with advertising for a product; they provide free mathematical demonstrations (for teachers and students of mathematics, and for hobbyists) while advertising software that can be purchased by institutions that choose to purchase the full Mathematica package. ____JH (Thanks to Helge Scherlund's eLearning News for this initial information about this site.)

_____

"Conceived by Mathematica creator and scientist Stephen Wolfram as a way to bring computational exploration to the widest possible audience, The Wolfram Demonstrations Project is an open-code resource that uses dynamic computation to illuminate concepts in science, technology, mathematics, art, finance, and a remarkable range of other fields.

Its daily-growing collection of interactive illustrations is created by Mathematica users from around the world, who participate by contributing innovative Demonstrations.

Interactive computational resources have typically been scattered across the web--requiring specialized programming knowledge that's made them difficult and expensive to develop. As a result, their coverage has long been limited, and progress has been slow.

In many ways, The Wolfram Demonstrations Project introduces a new paradigm for exploring ideas. The power to easily create interactive visualizations, once in the domain of computing experts alone, is now in the hands of every Mathematica user.

Demonstrations can be created with just a few short lines of readable code, powered by the revolutionary advances in Mathematica. This opens the door for researchers, educators, students, and professionals at any level to create their own sophisticated mini-applications and publish them online."



mLearning-World

mLearning-World
The byline of this blog is "Education for the iPod Generation." I haven't explored much in this mobile computing world, but this Christmas I received an iPod as a gift and my daughter received an iTouch. Now that I've had an opportunity to see some of what is available for entertainment and education I'm more of a believer than I was previously. Certainly the convenience of carrying these devices and the easy access to wi-fi spots for their use makes them inevitable tools for multi-computing and communicating now and in the future. There's simply no comparision between lugging a laptop and carrying an iPod or iPhone. Students growing up with these tools will have learning styles and learning preferences that are very different from those of us who grew up in the typewriter era. It's certainly useful to have a blog devoted to tracking developments in this arena.  ____JH

____
"Introduction 2.0
The widespread introduction since the 1980’s of the personal computer, the internet, and now ubiquitous mobile devices, has allowed large amounts of information to be carried and accessed wherever a learner goes. Policy responses to these developments has ranged from widespread adoption, to the banning of websites and devices. What future developments this 'always on' access to local networks and the entire internet, combined with the digital storage capabilities of todays devices will lead to has yet to be determined."

A snapshot of young voters

-- Young voter turnout rose in the 2004 and 2006 elections. In the 2004 presidential election, about 20.1 million young people, ages 18 to 29, voted. The turnout rate was 49 percent, up 9 percentage points from 2000. The turnout rate in 2006, a non-presidential year, was 25 percent, up 3 percentage points from 2002. Read the rest ...

Monday, January 28, 2008

Soothing the magnet panic

Soothing the magnet panic
It's December, and the pressure is mounting. Not from the presents or the cooking or the relatives. Those are a piece of cake -- a fruitcake, perhaps. It's the agony of choice. Or, more accurately, CHOICES.

FREE IN THE WORLD

Find Software as a Service white papers, case studies, webcasts and product information from multiple vendors. This information will help educate you so that you can make informed Read the rest ...

Education and Technology

Education and Technology
The ever-evolving science and technology has greatly revolutionized communication. This has opened new gateways and presented new opportunities in almost every field and education industry is also not left behind. This development has facilitated the growth of online tutoring & sites like 24hourstutor.com are providing virtual learning environment.

Self-Directed Student Toolbox: 100 Web Resources for Lifelong Learners

Self-Directed Student Toolbox: 100 Web Resources for Lifelong Learners
If you haven’t come across the OEDb (Online Education Database) site as of yet, your first perusal should be their awesome article/list: The Self-Directed Student Toolbox: 100 Web Resources for Lifelong Learners. It’s pretty cool considering they had to keep the list at a manageable one hundred. It’s neat and tidy, [...]

If you haven’t come across the OEDb (Online Education Database) site as of yet, your first perusal should be their awesome article/list: The Self-Directed Student Toolbox: 100 Web Resources for Lifelong Learners. It’s pretty cool considering they had to keep the list at a manageable one hundred. It’s neat and tidy, solid but simple. Plus, you know, lots of info for the learners (life-long, college, or otherwise). It’s a lovely website rabbit hole to fall down and explore for a while.

Here’s the article explaining why the OEDb felt compelled to compile such a helpful list:

According to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), at least a quarter of the adult population fails to reach the minimum literacy levels needed to cope adequately with the demands of everyday life and work, let alone structural economic and social change. This information was gathered from a survey conducted in 12 OECD countries, which include the U.S., the U.K., and Australia. On the other hand, many adults are turning away from the television and turning on to lifelong learning through traditional classes, online schools, and travel.

Lifelong learning means that individuals can have access to and are willing to participate in ongoing, not recurrent, education. This “learning to learn” philosophy can begin with toddlers and it can extend throughout a person’s life with branches that can extend into various experiences and careers. Since lifelong learning has become a prerogative for many organizations, it would be impossible to list them all here. Instead, we’ve chosen the best resources for adult learners in ten categories to develop a self-directed toolbox that can lead you, the lifelong learner, to other resources that you may need to meet personal goals.

Posted by Alexa Harrington


Sunday, January 27, 2008

Students get a last chance -- rap

Students get a last chance -- rap
Hip Hop High counters a neighborhood culture of extreme violence and poverty with respect, attention and the chance to make music.

Jennifer Murphy knows tough schools. She has been cursed at and threatened, has broken up fights and confiscated weapons. Still, she looks slightly queasy as she sits in her glass-walled principal's office, staring at a huge flat-screen monitor.

Union student achieves perfection on ACT

Union student achieves perfection on ACT

"I figured if I go up, OK; if I don't, I still have a 32."

Perfection means not being satisfied with mere excellence. One Union student who reflects that is senior Lexie Kinion who scored a perfect 36 on the ACT college entrance exam after previously scoring high marks ... via TulsaWorld.com - Education


The State of Education

The State of Education
Supt. Jack O'Connell's plan is sensible, if not revolutionary.

The subject of education reform can inspire rhetoric verging on the poetic, replete with pedagogical innovations and experiments that promise the academic and social uplift of struggling students. But the work of improving schools is often anything but lyrical. It's research, collecting data, aligning standards.

Our education system has failed: Amjad Ali Khan - Hindu


Our education system has failed: Amjad Ali Khan
Hindu, India - 41 minutes ago
Varanasi (PTI): Indian education system has "failed" to create good human beings but music has contributed in a big way in bringing together different ...
Read more ...

Saturday, January 26, 2008

The Digital Divide : Geographic

The Digital Divide : Geographic
We don’t tend to be controversial or tackle big issues on DigMo! but the last couple of weeks frustration has lead to this post. Having falling in love the with Apple Mac it is easy to see their instant value to education.

Researchers Take Step Toward Synthetic Life

Researchers Take Step Toward Synthetic Life
Researchers say they have created the entire genome of a bacterium by stitching together its chemical components.

The Teachers You Remember

I had the best fourth-grade teacher. He was amazing. Everyone loved him. I was in his guinea pig class—the class he had his first year teaching at our school. Before he showed up, the teacher population in the town’s only elementary school had been all female. I showed up on [...]

I had the best fourth-grade teacher. He was amazing. Everyone loved him. I was in his guinea pig class—the class he had his first year teaching at our school. Before he showed up, the teacher population in the town’s only elementary school had been all female. I showed up on the first day of my fourth-grade year and searched the posted class lists outside of both of the classrooms that I knew to be fourth grade. No me on either list. My Dad was grumpy and had to get to work, so he and I started at one end of the school and read every class list outside of every classroom until my Dad spotted my name. He hollered that he’d found me. I hollered back that he was mistaken, because that was not a fourth grade classroom. He read (very) out loud: “Mr. Fridae. Fourth grade. Alexa Harrington.” Certain he was wrong, my response was loud and sarcastic as I stomped my way across the courtyard to read for my damn self just how wrong my Dad was.

When I saw that there was a new teacher in town, he was a boy, and I was in his class, I burst into tears. Total meltdown. My Dad has nary a sympathetic bone in his body, so you can imagine how far my tears and pleading for a girl teacher got me. He stood there watching me. I think he blinked a few times in an unimpressed manner. And then said, “Well. Have a good first day. See you after work.”

I was pissed and then I was miserable. I was not the only one suffering. Everyone else who’d been unlucky enough to have their number pulled and to end up in the new guy’s class was out on the playground, being teased mercilessly by the other kids. We were the pathetic freaks who had three strikes against us: our teacher was new, he was a boy, and his name was Fridae. What kind of name was that? It wasn’t even spelled right. The bell rang and saved us from mean chants involving the days of the week.

We lined up, followed our new teacher inside, sat down and waited for him to explain himself. He was going to need to dig deep to save us all (himself included) from what could surely be the worst year of our elementary school lives. We were not going to help him; he had gotten us all into this mess and it was up to him to get us out. We were surly and glaring and gave him nothing, not even the benefit of the doubt.

I don’t think he noticed our negative attitudes. He was so damn happy to be there and to get the school year started that he mowed right over our hostile little ‘tudes and started teaching. We had never seen a teacher move that much. He was all over the place. He smiled. He laughed. He thought so far outside the box that there was nothing square left to see. He taught by doing. We always had some crazy, messy, perfect project going in our room. Kids from other classrooms would go out of their way to walk by our room so they could stare through our windows at the huge, anatomically accurate, exactly to scale papier-mache eyeball on their way to the bathroom. It took us weeks to build that thing. It was three feet in diameter and I can guarantee that none of us will ever forget that the image the retinas send to the brain is inverted.

He would keep us in after the recess bell rang if he was in the middle of an important thought. He had total control over the room and no one would move until he gave the nod. The first time it happened, all the other kids filing past our windows on their way out to play stared in at us, clearly wondering what atrocity we had committed that was resulting in the missing of recess. Out on the playground the kids grilled us for cause. We told them the truth: Mr. Fridae had still been talking so we had to wait. They laughed and said surely the jig was up, he’d seemed cool for a while there but it was looking like he really did suck (cutting into recess is death for a teacher, everyone knows that). We worried that maybe they were right. The last few months had been pretty fantastic, but if Mr. Fridae was unaware of the sanctity of recess, then maybe he was not as great as we had started to believe.

A few minutes later the bell rang. We hadn’t had nearly enough time to run around. We all lined up. The other lines were laughing at us and we were irate: we had pledged our allegiance to the wrong teacher. The teachers headed up their lines, waited for that thing teachers wait for as proof of respect, obedience and cooperation: that fraction of a second of stillness and quiet amidst the cacophony. Once we’d shown them that they were still in charge, the teachers all motioned for us to walk back inside. We lifted our feet and all lines moved but ours. Mr. Fridae had his hand up, signaling us to stop.

We lowered our feet. Mr. Fridae waited only long enough for the other lines to notice that we weren’t moving. They were all still within disbelieving earshot when he told us that in return for allowing him to finish his thought earlier, he was giving us payback of the recess loan plus interest. The other teachers were confused, the other kids were envious, and we were stoked. This was unprecedented. It was beautiful. Extra recess on an empty playground. No teacher has made me happier than I was at that exact moment.

Something as simple as the subtraction or addition of recess doesn’t seem like it should be huge to grown-up me. And it wouldn’t be if the memory didn’t come attached to the emotions I had at that moment. Turning and running out onto that pristinely empty playground while everyone else walked back inside was the end of ever questioning Mr. Fridae. From that moment on, we were utterly devoted.

I’m happy to report that his wonderfulness and over-the-top enthusiasm didn’t end after our class. He kicked ass two years later when my little brother had him and has continued to do so. What was it about Mr. Fridae that my classmates and I loved so much? That he enjoyed teaching? That he consistently went above and beyond? That being in his class was like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with textbooks and spelling tests? I think it must have been all of the above, with the important addition of his wanting to be there teaching us. He was having an adventure and he wanted us to be in on it, too. It was like being taught by a really tall, super-smart fourth-grader who had the authority to request school buses for field trips.

Further Reading About Amazing Teachers:

*In Praise of Good Teachers
*For Physics Teacher, Experiments in Learning
*Her classroom comes alive—and so do her students’ minds
*Teacher of the Week: Karen Neukamm
*ASU teacher earns 2007 Arizona Professor of Year

Other Thoughts On What Makes A Teacher Great:

*What Makes a Great Teacher?

*How to be a Good Teacher: Three Building Blocks
*Practical Theory: What Makes a Great Teacher?
*The Myth of the Great Teacher
*Unlocking the Mysteries of Great Teaching
*Qualities of a Good Special Education Teacher
*Tips on Becoming a Teacher
*What Makes a Good Teacher? Lessons from Teaching Medical Students

Posted by Alexa Harrington

Continue reading ...

Friday, January 25, 2008

NH legislators wrestling with amount of aid for at-risk students

A special legislative committee pricing the state's share of public education has given preliminary support for extra aid to educate non-English speaking students. Read the rest ...

Spotlight from the MacArthur Foundation

Spotlight from the MacArthur Foundation

The Spotlight Blog, "blogging the field of digital media and learning," is supported by the MacArthur Foundation. Postings are sparse at this time, but should pick up to reflect the Foundation's continuring involvements with digital media and learning projects.____JH

_____

"Each week this Spotlight will provide a central focal point for "what's important" in the emerging field of digital media and learning.  But that's not all. This Spotlight is part of Digital Bridges, an initiative to bring coherence and collaboration to the field. Concretely, this site offers the public a first opportunity to get involved by signing up to get notified of major news and collaboration opportunities. This spring we will launch a larger Knowledge Network to centralize these efforts"


Education board rejects teacher drug testing (KHNL News 8 Honolulu)

Education board rejects teacher drug testing (KHNL News 8 Honolulu)
Honolulu (AP) - The Board of Education says it'd be too costly to randomly test teachers for drug abuse. The board has voted unanimously not to fund a proposed drug testing program for public school teachers.

Education and Business Innovation Summit (Democrat News)

Education and Business Innovation Summit for St. Francois, Madison, and Iron Counties Continue reading ...

Interview with Hewlett Foundation's Catherine Casserly

This interview appeared in Hewlett's November 2007 newsletter; Catherine Casserly is the Program Officer at Hewlett for Open Educational Resources. Her observations on how the OER movement has developed and perspectives on directions it may take are worth reading. ____JH

_____

"What are the implications of having high quality educational materials freely available without issuing credentials like diplomas to confirm a student has mastery of a subject? Right now the educational materials on the Web also serve to guide a student to an institution where they might want to enroll to learn about a certain subject. But I think eventually we will see the creation of institutions to issue credentials based on self-guided study via the Web. That will probably involve payments for testing and evaluation."

"Look into your crystal ball. What do you think all this will look like in another decade based on advances in technology and current trends? We can’t even imagine what the technology will look like in ten years. I think we’ll have a vast library of available knowledge and alternative ways for people to get access to higher education. I think we’ll have institutions that grant credentials for this learning. And I hope we’ll have students who engage in learning in rewarding ways that make them creators of knowledge. And it’s through that creation that they learn. That will be a big turning point."

Read the rest ...

SANTA ANA Contract worker accused of theft Read the rest ...

McGill University's Life Sciences Library assembled this excellent set of resources for medical instruction and learning. The site will also be of value to patients who want to be proactively informed about topics related to their own medical problems. The links include Databases, Journals, Directories, Multimedia Resources, Curriculum Tools, and the very interesting ABC of Teaching and Learning Medicine Series. ____JH (Thanks to Ray Schroeder's Educational Technology for this resource.)

Read the rest ...

The district does not expect a surplus from its $20 billion in bond issues, however, as costs continue to rise.

Declining enrollment has prompted the Los Angeles Unified School District to scale back its $20-billion school construction and remodeling program sought to relieve overcrowding and end involuntary busing. Read the rest ...

I'm always pleased to discover new sites that provide innovative learning resources. The Virtual LRC combines features of an online reference library and a meta search engine. This is definitely a site that students, instructors, and writers will want to keep available in their bookmarks or toolbars  to facilitate ready information checking. Virtual LRC was created and is maintained by Dr. Michael Bell, a former library administrator. ____ JH (Via Helge Scherlund's eLearning News Blog.)

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"The mission of the Virtual Learning Resources Center is to index thousands of the best academic information websites, selected by teachers and library professionals worldwide, in order to provide to students and teachers current, valid information for school and university academic projects!  The Virtual LRC is both a dedicated index of over 10,000 web pages maintained by a real human being, as well as a meta-search engine that includes in its results information gleaned from many of the best research portals and university and public library Internet subject guides recommended by teachers and librarians."

"The VLRC includes selected sites in a growing list of subject/information areas including: full-text magazines, newspapers, electronic text archives, art history, biography, biology, career information, psychology, history, government information, literature, medical information, social sciences, legal information, American Civil War, Art, Careers, Crime, Directories, Economics, Education, English Language, Electronic Texts, Foreign Languages, Geography, Genealogy, Government Information,Health/Medical, History, Legal Information, Lesson Plans, Literature, Mathematics, Music, Reference, Science, Technology, Tutorials on the Web, and Writing Style Guides."

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The LeMill world-wide web community (viewable in twelve languages) contains an impressive  online set of resources for teachers, which are attractively and functionally displayed within the web design. The resources include contents, tools, teaching methods, and stories/cases.  Although the educational resources available through LeMill are mainly at the K-12 level, higher education materials are also included (see, for a fine example, the "Brief History of New Media").  Since all the resources at LeMill are web-based, nothing needs to be downloaded or installed, editing of the resources can be accomplished within a web browser. Also, all of the resources are freely available under a Creative Commons attribution-sharealike license.

View the LeMill Overview for a quick orientation to the site, then examine the Tour and the FAQ. From there users can explore by browsing or searching resources and can also register to participate in the community. (Thanks to Teemu Leinonen for recent information about LeMill.)___JH

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"What is LeMill? LeMill is a web community for finding, authoring and sharing learning resources. First at all, you can find learning resources. You can use the resources you find in your own teaching or learning. You can also add your own learning content to LeMill. You may edit your content and combine larger chunks of learning resources from individual media pieces. If you wish you may also join some of the groups producing or editing learning resources. In LeMill the content is always easily found where and whenever you need them."

"Is LeMill another Learning Management System (LMS)? No - LeMill is not LMS. LeMill is a web site engine to author and share learning resources. All content in LeMill server are free/libre/open for all web users. Anyone may also start their own LeMill website. You can download LeMill engine, install it on your own server and put it online. After this you will automatically be part of the global network of LeMill servers. Because of this we like to say that LeMill is 'do it yourself' learning resource website engine. We love to see schools and other educational institutions taking LeMill in use."

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Reading with Fluency = Reading with Success

Materials: Fun short text with rhythm such as poems at the
Independent Level
Parents and teachers: Assist your children/students in
becoming fluent readers by:

1. Providing them with models of fluent reading. If you
are not a fluent reader, find someone who is and allow that
person to read to the children. The person who is modeling
must read with enthusiasm while allowing the voice to fall
and rise (vary pitch) at appropriate times throughout the
reading. For example, if a question is being read, the
reader should allow his/her voice to rise at the end. For
example, "Is this sufficient?" should be read as if the
reader is actually asking the question to someone in
person. The voice will rise at the last word because it is
after all a question.

2. Ask children/students to repeatedly read passages as you
offer guidance. They should practice reading passages until
they can read them as the model did, assuming the model is
an adequate reader. Do not allow someone to model reading
unless that person is an efficient reader. An inadequate
reader will hinder a child's interest in learning to read.

3. Model fluent reading. After you model how to read the
text, ask the children/students to reread it. By doing
this, the students are engaging in repeated reading.
Usually, rereading a text four times is sufficient to
improve fluency. Text with rhythm and/or poems is a good
choice for this activity. It is the actual time that
students are actively engaged in reading that produces
reading gains. Use text that is interesting to the child
and contains 100-200 words.

By listening to adequate models of fluent reading, students
learn how a reader's voice can make written text make
sense. I cannot stress enough the importance of reading
aloud daily to children/students. By reading effortlessly
and with expression, you are modeling and teaching how a
fluent reader sounds during reading.

After you model how to read the text, ask the
children/students to reread it. By doing this, the students
are engaging in repeated reading. Usually, rereading a text
four times is sufficient to improve fluency. It is the
actual time that students are actively engaged in reading
that produces reading gains.

Encourage parents or other family members to read aloud to
their children at home. As children/students hear several
models of fluent readers, they are exposed to many ways a
reader can sound. Soon they will see that some sound more
interesting than others or that some make the text come
alive more than others. Generally, children want to sound
just like the reader who made the text come alive and kept
their attention.

In addition, students improve their fluency by combining
reading instruction with opportunities to read books that
are at their independent level of reading ability. Books
that are at a child's independent level will require
minimal assistance from a parent/teacher. (see the three
levels of text readability below)

Readability Levels

Independent level text - This type of text is easy to read
with approximately 1 out of 20 words difficult for the
reader (95% success)

Instructional level text - This type of text is challenging
to read but manageable with approximately 1 out of 10 words
difficult for the reader (90% success)

Frustration level text - This type of text is too hard to
read with more than 1 out of 10 words difficult for the
reader (less than 90% success)

About the Author:

Your child's development is important and here at child
font, each lesson builds on skills from the previous
lesson; home schooling has never looked
brighter: http://www.childfont.com