Knol

Knol
Both students and instructors use the online collaborative encyclopedia  Wikipedia and both are likely to make use of Knol. The new Google site offers short articles on a very wide range of subjects from Backpacking to Malaria to Barbecue Sauces. Net watchers will be looking closely to see if Knol grows at the same pace and to the same scope as Wikipedia. ____JH
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The Knol site has one goal: to help you share what you know.

"The Knol project is a site that hosts many knols — units of knowledge — written about various subjects. The authors of the knols can take credit for their writing, provide credentials, and elicit peer reviews and comments. Users can provide feedback, comments, related information. So the Knol project is a platform for sharing information, with multiple cues that help you evaluate the quality and veracity of information.

Knols are indexed by the big search engines, of course. And well-written knols become popular the same as regular web pages. The Knol site allows anyone to write and manage knols through a browser on any computer."

Mixed results on education reform

Mixed results on education reform

It has been 10 years since S.C. leaders set a goal to be among the top half of states in student achievement by 2010 and instituted sweeping education reform focused on high-stakes testing.

Irrational Pessimism

Irrational Pessimism
This has nothing to do with education (other than the diminished capacity for paying for it) but the phrase “irrational pessimism” was too good not to take note of. In recent years I’ve made a concerted effort to be a less sarcastic and a more cheerfully optimistic girl, mostly because I feel like I [...]

This has nothing to do with education (other than the diminished capacity for paying for it) but the phrase “irrational pessimism” was too good not to take note of. In recent years I’ve made a concerted effort to be a less sarcastic and a more cheerfully optimistic girl, mostly because I feel like I should grow the hell up.

It’s gone mostly well, but sometimes my morbid sense of humor or my cynical side comes out. Today when I was reading the CS Monitor the concept of irrational pessimism brought to mind an entire nation of cranky, pessimistic grouches wandering around, bitching and moaning about the nasty, brutish shortness of life and it cracked me up. Perhaps that’s funny only to me…

Posted by Alexa Harrington

photo credit: noppadol paothong