The long road back

The long road back
The English High School, a historic icon and once one of Boston's premier learning institutions, has become one of the city's worst schools. This year, it must improve or face closure. This story is the first of several about the students, teachers, and headmaster at English as they try to reverse the school's troubled course.

WorldWideScience

Science students and instructors will want to put this web address in their bookmarks because WWS provides a federated search of science sites around the world. By combining WWS with Scirus--plus a discipline-specific search and a general search in Google--a searcher will have made a serious first-pass at finding information. ____JH (Via the Development Gateway's E-Learning distribution.)

____

"WorldWideScience.org is a global science gateway—accelerating scientific discovery and progress through a multilateral partnership to enable federated searching of national and international scientific databases. Subsequent versions of WorldWideScience.org will offer access to additional sources as well as enhanced features"

Read the rest ...

Minnesota Educators Want to Ban Axe Body Spray

In Minnesota, however, school district officials wants to turn back the clock by banning the miracle potion. They say the man-spray has been abused and the aerosol stench is a hazard for students and faculty. Continue reading ...

firearms acquisition

firearms acquisition
Terra Nova Armoury is an authorized training institution to provide Firearms Safety Course and the Hunter Education Program to individuals seeking to obtain Canadian Firearms Licence and Canada Hunting Licence

Teacher Compensation Reform

I remain wary of Obama’s teacher compensation plan, but here are two articles on the subject. As I opined previously, the idea of paying the good teachers well is wonderful and I would wholeheartedly say “yes” if the world were more with the logic and the black-and-whiteness and less with the grey areas and [...]

I remain wary of Obama’s teacher compensation plan, but here are two articles on the subject. As I opined previously, the idea of paying the good teachers well is wonderful and I would wholeheartedly say “yes” if the world were more with the logic and the black-and-whiteness and less with the grey areas and red tape.

Perhaps I’m being too pessimistic, but I worry that somehow, even the great teachers who are doing the best they can with what they have will get screwed because they don’t have the resources available to them to do the proper job of educating that they’d like to do. Also, it strikes me that the only way for the powers that be to know which educators are improving/ being wonderful teachers is to test the students. That brings us right back to standardized testing and kids being caught in the middle and that always just pisses me off. Sometimes I wish I were brilliant think-tank fodder so I could solve problems like this.

Further Reading:

Obama Pushes to Reward Great Teachers
The Future of Teacher Compensation
School Leaders Target Salary Reform Toward Newer Teachers
Lessons From 40 Years of Education ‘Reform’
National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality: Useful Links
Democrats for Education Reform

Posted by Alexa Harrington

image source

Read the rest ...

Bihar : There are many problems facing our country today

Bihar : There are many problems facing our country today
Bihar : State-wise opinion poll * Corruption 27.20% * Crime 5.80% * Drug or alcohol abuse 6.20% * Educational system 3.30% * My country's relationship to its neighbors 4.30% * Poverty 4.20% * Rising prices 6.50% * Unemployment 28.10% * Others 14.40%

MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Competition

Should be interesting to see what emerges from this new funding direction by the MacArthur Foundation. ____JH

____

"Awards will be made in the two categories of Innovation and Knowledge-Networking.  Innovation Awards ($100,000 and $250,000) will support learning pioneers, entrepreneurs, and builders of new digital learning environments for formal and informal learning. Knowledge-Networking Awards ($30,000 base award, to a total of $75,000 if budget warrants) will support communicators in connecting, mobilizing, circulating, or translating new ideas around digital media and learning. Entries to the Competition are due October 15, 2007.

Details and application requirements can be found at www.dmlcompetition.net.  If you have comments or questions about the Competition that you would like to share publicly, we would love to hear from you via this Spotlight Blog."

Read the rest ...

NY Legislature agrees to state budget

NY Legislature agrees to state budget
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said late Saturday that New York's Legislature has agreed to a state budget that keeps school funding flat, restores aid to New York City, and increases income taxes on wealthier New Yorkers.

NY Legislature agrees to state budget

NY Legislature agrees to state budget
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said late Saturday that New York's Legislature has agreed to a state budget that keeps school funding flat, restores aid to New York City, and increases income taxes on wealthier New Yorkers.

L.A. Unified to observe Chavez Day

Board will honor birthday of the late United Farm Workers leader, exchanging it for another holiday in the school year.

Two years ago, 500 middle school and high school students skipped classes in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles and marched to demand that Cesar Chavez's birthday become a holiday.

Continue reading ...

Seniority, not quality, counts most at United Teachers Los Angeles

Seniority, not quality, counts most at United Teachers Los Angeles
Here's what I did:

Tom Carey Answers Questions about MERLOT

Tom Carey Answers Questions about MERLOT

In this interview in eLearn Magazine Tom Carey answers questions about MERLOT. In addition to his professorship at the University of Waterloo, Prof. Carey also acts as chief learning officer for MERLOT. Among other topics, Carey explains how MERLOT relates to other open education repositories and gateways. ____JH (Via the Development Gateway dgAlert.)

______

"Instructors in higher education get e-learning support from two distinct sources: their own institutions, through colleagues and faculty teaching centers, and their disciplines, through subject area experts and scholarly associations. Tom Carey, professor of management sciences at the University of Waterloo and chief learning officer of MERLOT, explains how the MERLOT consortium is finding the sweet spot where those two processes come together."

Michelle Obama to address Calif. uni's first class

Michelle Obama to address Calif. uni's first class
Seniors at the University of California, Merced couldn't rely on a wealthy and established network of alumni to reel in a famous speaker for this year's commencement address.

Tougher ISTEP reviewed after it makes kids cry

Tougher ISTEP reviewed after it makes kids cry

Teachers at Clinton Prairie Elementary School in Frankfort knew quickly that something had gone wrong on the ISTEP test this month: Students came to the office in a panic, and parents called to complain about children in tears after school.

David Wiley's Open Course on Open Education

Here's the link the to wiki syllabus for David Wiley's Fall 2007 course about Open Education. There's still time to sign up for this online course. "The goals of the course are (1) to give you a firm grounding in the current state of the field of open education, including related topics like copyright, licensing, and sustainability, (2) to help you locate open education in the context of mainstream instructional technologies like learning objects, and (3) to get you thinking, writing, and dialoguing creatively and critically about current practices and possible alternative practices in open education." Those who don't want to participate in the course will still find value in the online readings and the links to OER sites. ____JH Read more ...

Open Educational Resources--UNESCO/IIEP Virtual Conference

Open Educational Resources--UNESCO/IIEP Virtual Conference

Over three intense weeks from Nov. 13 to Dec. 1,  I participated, along with 700 others, in the UNESCO-sponsored virtual conference on Open Educational Resources. "Organized in partnership with the OECD Centre for Research and Innovation, this Internet discussion forum is the latest in a programme of activities designed to raise awareness and build capacity on Open Educational Resources." 

I would say that this conference was the best of the three UNESCO virtual conferences that I've "attended" about OER over the past year, partly because of the quality of leadership guidance by Susan D'Antoni, Claude Martin, Alexa Joyce, and Jan Hylen, and partly because of the quality and focus of the postings from well-qualified participants such as David Wiley, Stephen Downes, Fred Beshears, Marianne Phillips, Derek Keats, Wayne Mackintosh, and many others. Also this conference clearly benefitted from the formulations and exchanges that emerged from earlier UNESCO conferences about OER, especially the preceding conference about Free and Open Source Software in relation to OER. 

In the past when I've participated in UNESCO's and other conferences, virtual and actual, I've blogged about them while the conferences were underway. For this conference I'm going to blog retrospectively by posting a number of items that I kept on my computer from the hundreds of postings that were made over the three week period. I'll also post links to the reports about the conference as they become available. 

High on my education wish list is a very strong request that many, many other educational organizations begin to run open virtual conferences, if not to replace their regular conferences, then in parallel with them and in between them.  The bountiful possibilities for enriched educational exchanges that are now available with via simple communication tools on the web would be mutiplied exponentially if only organizations and conferences would move in this direction. (And we can leave suitcases at home.)

_______

 

Conference Invitation from Jan Hylen

Dear Colleague,

I would like to invite you to participate in an online discussion that will focus on the findings and conclusions from the OECD study on Open Educational Resources. The forum will run from Monday 13^th November through Friday 1^st December.

We hope that you will be interested in participating since you have actively contributed to the OECD study – either by answering our survey, carrying out case studies or participating in expert meetings. This study is approaching its final stage, and it is time to summarize our findings and draw some conclusions for the final report that is scheduled to be published in March/April 2007. By inviting you to participate in the discussion we would like to give some feedback on your participation and offer you the opportunity to discuss, comment and have a say regarding the conclusions and the recommendations coming out of the study.

The forum will be organized as follows:

·       Week 1 (13 – 19 November): What do we know about users and producers of Open Educational Resources?


·       Week 2 (20 – 26 November): What are the motives or incentives and barriers for individuals and institutions to use, produce and share Open Educational Resources?

·       Week 3 (27 November – 1 December): What are the policy implications and the most pressing policy issues on institutional, regional and national level coming out from this study?

Participants in the discussion will receive two background notes summarizing the main findings from the OECD study on who the users and producers of OER are, and the motives or incentives for individuals and institutions to use and produce OER.

The forum is one of a series of discussions organized by UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) for the purpose of awareness-raising on OER. The Community of Interest that has been formed has been active since October 2005 and has more than 600 members from 94 countries. You can find information on previous topics of discussion at: http://www.unesco.org/iiep/virtualuniversity/forums.php

To participate in the forum, please send an e-mail to Susan D’Antoni at: virtual.university@iiep.unesco.org and mention the OECD study. Your name will then be added to the OER Community for this specific online discussion.

And for more information and continuous updates regarding the OECD study, you can refer to: www.oecd.org/edu/oer .

We hope that you will be able to join us and contribute further to the reflection and discussion of OER and our findings.

With best regards,

Jan

Jan Hylén
Analyst
Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI)
Directorate for Education, OECD
2 rue André Pascal
75775 Paris Cedex 16, France
Tel: +33 (0) 145 24 17 06
www.oecd.org/edu/ceri/update

Parents rally at State House to protest education cuts (7 News Boston)

Parents rally at State House to protest education cuts (7 News Boston)
BOSTON -- Dozens of angry parents rallied at the State House Thursday to protest cuts in education.

WorldWideScience

Science students and instructors will want to put this web address in their bookmarks because WWS provides a federated search of science sites around the world. By combining WWS with Scirus--plus a discipline-specific search and a general search in Google--a searcher will have made a serious first-pass at finding information. ____JH (Via the Development Gateway's E-Learning distribution.)

____

"WorldWideScience.org is a global science gateway—accelerating scientific discovery and progress through a multilateral partnership to enable federated searching of national and international scientific databases. Subsequent versions of WorldWideScience.org will offer access to additional sources as well as enhanced features"

Continue reading ...

Threats disrupt 10 southern Delaware schools

State police have arrested three people after bomb threats and text messages warning of shootings disrupted the final day of state standardized testing at 10 southern Delaware schools.

Read the rest ...

External Hemorrhoid Treatment

External Hemorrhoid Treatment
This blog will help educate people about external hemorrhoids, and provide information on how external hemorrhoids can be treated using herbal remedies

MCAS results released today

MCAS results released today
The Massachusetts Department of Education today released the results of the 2008 MCAS tests and the department said statewide they show impressive math gains in all grades and strong improvement in eighth grade science and gains in English language arts, math and Science, Technology/Engineering in Grade 10.

MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Competition

MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Competition

Should be interesting to see what emerges from this new funding direction by the MacArthur Foundation. ____JH

____

"Awards will be made in the two categories of Innovation and Knowledge-Networking.  Innovation Awards ($100,000 and $250,000) will support learning pioneers, entrepreneurs, and builders of new digital learning environments for formal and informal learning. Knowledge-Networking Awards ($30,000 base award, to a total of $75,000 if budget warrants) will support communicators in connecting, mobilizing, circulating, or translating new ideas around digital media and learning. Entries to the Competition are due October 15, 2007.

Details and application requirements can be found at www.dmlcompetition.net.  If you have comments or questions about the Competition that you would like to share publicly, we would love to hear from you via this Spotlight Blog."

State seeks to gauge whether students or teachers are lagging

MALDEN - Each fall when the state releases MCAS scores, principals often blame a drop in scores on the students, tactfully arguing that the class in question was perhaps not as superb a group of mathematicians or as voracious readers as their predecessors were. Read the rest ...

Obama's educational hypocrisy

Obama's educational hypocrisy
"Because they saw it as a threat to their political power, Democrats in Washington appear willing to extinguish the dreams of a few thousand poor kids to protect their political base." Teachers' unions are a vital part of that base, many of whose members fear competition.

Parolee in police shootings linked to rape

Parolee in police shootings linked to rape
Oakland police say the parolee who killed three Oakland police officers and left a fourth brain-dead had been linked by DNA evidence to a rape the day before the shootings.

Idaho State University to host CEDA Nationals, largest collegiate championship debate tournament

Idaho State University to host CEDA Nationals, largest collegiate championship debate tournament
Idaho State University will host the 2009 Cross Examination Debate Association Nationals, the largest collegiate championship debate tournament in the country, March 19-24 on the ISU Pocatello campus.

This event is expected to attract as many as 500 debaters from colleges and universities from throughout the United States. Adding to the prestige of the event is the attendance of teams from Harvard, Emory, George Washington, Gonzaga and Pepperdine universities.

"We feel extremely honored to be given this vote of confidence by CEDA," said James DiSanza, chair of the ISU Communications and Rhetorical Studies Department.

Sarah Partlow-Lefevre is the director of the Idaho State University James M. and Sharon E. Rupp Debate Society. During her seven years as director, the team has risen to national prominence ...

Watch Online Hollywood The Education of Charlie Banks Movie

the education of charlie banks 2009 movie watch online english film review hollywood overview & trailers cast crew Continue reading ...

New Nursing Degree Program

For college students interested in pursuing nursing degrees, their timing couldn’t be better. The shortage of nurses is starting to reach acute proportions, and the people in charge are starting to freak out. To make matters worse, last year 50,000 applicants couldn’t get into nursing programs because there wasn’t enough room. In [...]

For college students interested in pursuing nursing degrees, their timing couldn’t be better. The shortage of nurses is starting to reach acute proportions, and the people in charge are starting to freak out. To make matters worse, last year 50,000 applicants couldn’t get into nursing programs because there wasn’t enough room.

In an effort to educate more students in the ways of the nurse, new, online versions of the accelerated BSN programs are being launched:

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the nursing shortage has severe national implications, with approximately 1 million unfilled nursing positions projected by 2020. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), has reported that nursing schools must increase the number of graduates by 90 percent in order to combat this shortage.

This fall, Marian College students will begin classes in an online accelerated BSN program that blends the convenience of online learning with on-site clinical education at St.Vincent Indianapolis Hospital. Individuals who currently hold a baccalaureate degree in a non-nursing field will be eligible for the program. Marian College has offered a more traditional, classroom-based accelerated BSN program for several years, and this program will continue to be offered on the Marian College campus.

Resources:

American Association of Colleges of Nursing
American Nurses Association
National League for Nursing
Bureau of Labor Statistics: LPN and LVN
Bureau of Labor Statistics: RN
Nursing School Education Resource Center

Posted by Alexa Harrington

image source

Read more ...

Gloucester teen lobbies for sex education

WASHINGTON - Zoe Paddock has not yet found romance. But when the 14-year-old does fall in love, she wants to be ready. That, she said, is part of why she came here this week to talk to lawmakers about that ever-awkward topic: sex education. Read more ...

Strategies for Reading Assessment and Instruction: Helping Every Child Succeed

Strategies for Reading Assessment and Instruction: Helping Every Child Succeed
Strategies for Reading Assessment and Instruction: Helping Every Child Succeed is "a textbook for classroom teachers and teaching students that presents teaching strategies for improving elementary schoolchildren's reading comprehension and literacy," writes Book News, Inc.

Ray Reutzel (early childhood education, Utah State U.) and Ray B. Cooter (reading and urban literacy education, U. of Texas at Arlington) "cover classroom reading and oral language assessment, children's concepts about print, phonemic awareness, phonics and word attack skills, teaching and assessing vocabulary development, story comprehension, developing research and reference skills, and literature response." The third edition of Strategies for Reading Assessment and Instruction provides a wealth of complementary and practical ideas for teachers who need to assess and address students' reading achievement. Each of the strategy-driven chapters moves from a set of theory-informed assessment tools to intervention strategies that will address students' reading needs.

IF-THEN charts present these strategies in an instantly applicable manner. Readers diagnose the specific problem their students are having, then immediately discover which of the chapter's strategies are most beneficial in assisting them. Reading Specialists, Literacy Coaches, and General Inservice teachers.

Open Education Search Project

Open Education Search Project

The O'Reilly Radar blog reports that ccLearn, Google, and the Hewlett Foundation are working together to build a search portal focused on open educational resources. Everyone interested in the OER field will certainly be following this new OE Search project closely. ____JH

"ccLearn is working with the Hewlett Foundation and Google to build an 'open education web-scale search,' part of a larger effort to offer web users simple, overarching mechanisms for discovering OERs. This tool aims to direct search engine traffic to the incredible diversity of OER repositories and communities. While such a tool would not replace the more specialized and sophisticated search sites and portals that the community already uses, we believe it would expose a much wider public to our community’s materials. This is also an opportunity to encourage OER adoption and specify legal and technical conditions for making educational resources openly available. We see this project as an important step for achieving large-scale access to and use of open educational resources. "

 

Open Education Search [del.icio.us/tag/oer]

Was Robin Hood Good, and Does It Matter?

New evidence critical of Robin Hood adds to the mountain of speculation surrounding him, but does it suggest something about this moment in history? Was Hood a Crook? Academic Julian Luxford says he's uncovered ...

Continue reading ...

L.A. third-grader basks in glow of a presidential moment

L.A. third-grader basks in glow of a presidential moment
Ethan Lopez, 8, is spotlighted by the media and cheered by his classmates for being selected by Obama to ask the final question at a town hall meeting.

Ethan Lopez became an instant celebrity at his Los Angeles elementary school Friday, the day after President Obama selected the 8-year-old to ask the final question at a town hall meeting. Media crews filmed the boy and his family while the school principal and teachers gushed over his question about teacher layoffs, and classmates cheered.

At Amherst, a lesson in generosity

Students at Amherst College have donated $70,000 from a reserve student activity fund to boost financial aid and help the school's lowest-paid employees avoid wage cuts. Read more ...

L.A. third-grader basks in glow of a presidential moment

L.A. third-grader basks in glow of a presidential moment
Ethan Lopez, 8, is spotlighted by the media and cheered by his classmates for being selected by Obama to ask the final question at a town hall meeting.

Ethan Lopez became an instant celebrity at his Los Angeles elementary school Friday, the day after President Obama selected the 8-year-old to ask the final question at a town hall meeting. Media crews filmed the boy and his family while the school principal and teachers gushed over his question about teacher layoffs, and classmates cheered.

EduResources Portal Closed

EduResources Portal Closed

The EduResources Portal was closed this month. The Portal, which was formerly at http://sage.eou.edu/SPT was shut down by Eastern Oregon University (EOU) when the server could no longer be maintained. Because of financial pressures, the University must focus on "supporting hardware and software that directly contribute to the central mission of the institution."

I began the EduResources Portal in 2003 while completing a sabbatical research project; the Portal was established to provide a starting point for instructors who sought to locate online instructional repositories. When I retired from EOU in June 2004, I continued to maintain the Portal from a distance with the assistance of the Computer Center at EOU. The Portal operated in conjunction with this EduResources Weblog; the Portal provided organized links to sites that contain instructional resources for higher education and the Weblog provided commentary about news related to online instructional resources.

I intend to continue the EduResources Weblog for at least another year. I recommend that users who relied on the EduResources Portal make use of the TLT Group's Collection of Collections to guide their searches for online resources: "Exploration Guide: Collections, Repositories, Referatories of Instructional Resources on the Web."

Education News: Autism, Budgets, Stress Reduction, and More.

The weekly digest for March 15-21, including news on increasing autism rates, an earnings gap for those with four year degrees, the new US Education Secretary's stance on science education, and innovative ways for school to battle student anxiety. Read the rest ...

NC Supreme Court keeps lottery law in place

NC Supreme Court keeps lottery law in place
The North Carolina Education Lottery can still operate after the state Supreme Court deadlocked Friday over whether the votes creating the games were lawful.

Live Blogging TLT Friday Virtual Conference on Web 2.0--Background Information

Here's another virtual conference, this one from the Teaching. Learning and Technology Group featuring Drew Smith, Lisa Star, and Steve Gilbert talking about Web 2.0. (See the background links for more information.) _____JH

------------

"ORIENTATION to help participants understand what is happening to all of us with Web 2.0. What is in common to the amorphous Web 2.0 that is significant potentially for higher education."

Consult:

Session Planning - Google Docs Doc

Spotlight on Web 2.0 - Resources
Characteristics & Definitions;   Applications; 
Related Terms;   Related Resources
Session 1 Syllabus;  Pre-Requisites

Today's Schedule (12-8) & Key Factors/Characteristics

• http://kosmar.de/wp-content/web20map.png

• Questions to ponder - Drew & Lisa
   e.g., see  http://www.tltgroup.org/ProFacDev/
  DangerousDiscussions/Issues/blogs.htm

• Option for Sharing Examples - Especially Educational Applications  [TLT-SWG Blog]

• Table of Web 2.0 Factors & Examples [Google Docs Doc]

• Invitation to Session 2, January 5, 2007
  "Our Favorite Educational Implications/Applications of Web 2.0"
  Register for free - but advanced registration required

Also:

http://www.tltgroup.org/OLI/Archives.htm

http://www.tltgroup.org/ivoc.htm

Continue reading ...

APB Hanoi: Further Investment to Expand Business

VNBusinessNews - Hatay Brewery Limited, brewer of Tiger and Heineken beers in North Vietnam, has been renamed Asia Pacific Brewery (Hanoi) Limited (APB Hanoi). According to Mr Larry Lee, APB Hanoi’s new General Manager, aligned with the corporate renaming is a commitment to increase the company’s participation in the northern region of Vietnam to continue serving the needs of its consumers and propel APB Hanoi into the next phase of growth.APB Hanoi serves international and regional brands inclu Read the rest ...

Mass. schools to get $280 million for special ed

Mass. schools to get $280 million for special ed
Massachusetts school districts will receive $280 million from the federal stimulus package during the next two years to help them pay the cost of special education.

How An Online Psychology Degree Might Be The Best Choice For You

How An Online Psychology Degree Might Be The Best Choice For You
There are many advantages to getting an online psychology degree. First of all, there are numerous prestigious universities and colleges that offer online psychology programs that are taught by the same faculty who also teach in their classrooms. The online psychology degree offers through the online range from the Bachelor degree to the [...]

A Quantum Leap in Education -- Fast, Free and Personalized

A Quantum Leap in Education -- Fast, Free and Personalized

Educational Family Nature Trips

Educational Family Nature Trips
Children may complain about going to school every day. However, there is a way to sneak in fun and yet educational activities without getting boring. Organize a nature trip with your family and you can be assured that your children will love the thrill and sense of adventure.

Crashing

Crashing

I experienced a major crash of my computer and my backup system recently. Consequently, I've not been able to post messages for several days. Also, I've not been able to fully recover past messages. Hope to fully recover the system today or tomorrow.

JH

At elite colleges, new aid for the middle

Some of the nation's most elite colleges, trying to ward off perceptions that they've become unaffordable to even high-income families, are bolstering their financial aid packages by offering grants to students whose parents earn as much as $180,000 a year. Read more ...

Digitizing Knowledge

Digitizing Knowledge
Tomorrow’s Professor has a guest post up by Sarah Scrafford in which she lays out the pros and cons of the imminent shift to the digital realm that academia will someday make: The term education is no longer bound by the traditional concepts that shackled it for so long - we don’t have to [...]

Tomorrow’s Professor has a guest post up by Sarah Scrafford in which she lays out the pros and cons of the imminent shift to the digital realm that academia will someday make:

The term education is no longer bound by the traditional concepts that shackled it for so long - we don’t have to rely on the traditional methods of information access and content delivery that formed our staple learning diet all these years. Thanks to the Internet and associated technology, there have been rapid advances in the way we access and assimilate information.

Digitizing information and knowledge is so simple and helpful in some ways; the severe reduction in the usage of physical space is a huge bonus. The downside of course being (all romantic notions of books and libraries aside) every aspect of copyrights, royalties, and the validity of digital versus traditionally published and printed information is just a big fat new ball of wax that has been dumped into a squirming bucket of worms. It’s an effing mess, but like most painful evolutions, it’s inevitable. The best thing to do is take a deep breath and get on with it.

Scrafford makes an interesting point about the younger students’ ability to accept and adapt to this change, and the older educators’ trepidation after decades of printed and bound knowledge:

Students, with the advantage of youth and the capacity to embrace new technology on their side, are likely to adapt to innovations with an ease that their professors and teachers, who are steeped in tradition, cannot manage. This throws up an irony of sorts, as those who are meant to be taught end up grasping the medium of education (if not the content that must be taught) at a faster rate than those who are meant to teach.

For an excellent dousing of intense information regarding the current quandaries academe is facing due to the impossible-to-ignore technological advancement of mankind, may I suggest reading Scholarship in the Digital Age by Christine L. Borgman. I’ve read it, and found it simultaneously fascinating (it’s a complicated damn issue) and disturbing (I fear change and love dust-collecting, physical-space-wasting books).

Posted by Alexa Harrington

House passes school testing bill

House passes school testing bill

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The House voted yesterday to kill the state's current school testing system and direct the Department of Education to develop new educational standards and a new test.

BTER Jodhpur PAET and Diploma Results

BTER Jodhpur PAET and Diploma Results
bter, arsenal fc hull city, randy travis, arsenal hull city highlights, board of technical education jodhpur,bter diploma results,bter diploma results 2009,bter diploma results 2009,rajasthan diploma results,rajasthan technical university diploma results,rajasthan university results,rajasthan technical board diploma results,rajasthan university bte

Pearson Education's OnMicrosoft Podcasts Provide New Learning Tool

Pearson Education's OnMicrosoft Podcasts Provide New Learning Tool

MCAS results released today

The Massachusetts Department of Education today released the results of the 2008 MCAS tests and the department said statewide they show impressive math gains in all grades and strong improvement in eighth grade science and gains in English language arts, math and Science, Technology/Engineering in Grade 10. Read the rest ...

Bad year or good, AIG employees got big bonuses

A Wall Street firm loses billions of dollars, nearly destroying its business and crippling the nation's economy. But top executives still receive huge bonuses? Read more ...

EducationBug.org Launches Free Job Post

EducationBug.org Launches Free Job Post

ST. PATRICK’S DAY

ST. PATRICK’S DAY
Mar 17th, 2009by -S- | Stumble it! St. Patrick was a messenger, and all the news was good.From: Saint of the Day March 17, 2009 St. Patrick (415?-493?)Legends about Patrick abound; but truth is best served by our seeing two solid qualities in him: He was humble and he was courageous. The determination to accept suffering and success with equal indifference guided the life of God’s instrument for winning most of Ireland for Christ.Details of his life are uncertain. Current research plac

The Open Library Project

This interesting transcript of an e-mail interview  features Scott McLemee, a regular contributor to Inside Higher Ed, with a programmer, Aaron Swartz, who works on The Open Library Project. The short interview effectively captures the scope and vision of the project. ____JH

_____

Here's a sample:

"Q: How is Open Library funded? Are you working on it full time? And how many people are involved in the project?

A: It’s currently being funded by the Internet Archive, with the help of some state and federal library grants. We have some volunteers, but also about 5 people working full-time (a couple programmers, a designer, and a product manager)."

Read the rest ...

Acorn Media Group Launches Athena

Will market documentaries as continuing education under new... Continue reading ...

ZaidLearn--a New Blog about Open Learning Resources

This promising new weblog by Zaid Ali Alsagoff  is devoted to open learning resources around the world; Zaid is located in Malaysia. His blog is especially valuable for its extensive listing of links to bloggers who write about eLearning and its multiple links to Learning Tools, eLearning sites, OpenCourseWare sites, University Podcasts, and Learning Repositories. Zaid is currently at work on a book about effective learning and teaching that is scheduled for release in June 2008. ____ JH

Read the rest ...

Dog Behavior Questions About Crate Education - Revealed!

I have two awesome retriever mixes. And I get asked a lot of dog behavior questions all the time. One of the most frequent questions though is "How did you crate train your pets?" I think because my dogs ENJOY spending time in their crate (primarily when a lot of people are over at my home). Read the rest ...

ZaidLearn--a New Blog about Open Learning Resources

This promising new weblog by Zaid Ali Alsagoff  is devoted to open learning resources around the world; Zaid is located in Malaysia. His blog is especially valuable for its extensive listing of links to bloggers who write about eLearning and its multiple links to Learning Tools, eLearning sites, OpenCourseWare sites, University Podcasts, and Learning Repositories. Zaid is currently at work on a book about effective learning and teaching that is scheduled for release in June 2008. ____ JH

Read more ...

Happy Square Root Day!

Probably only middle school math teachers and geeks like me are aware that it’s Square Root Day (3/3/09). Square Root Day only comes around a few times a century, so be excited, damn it. The last Square Root Day was 2/2/04, and the next won’t be until 4/4/16. Is this only cool [...]

Probably only middle school math teachers and geeks like me are aware that it’s Square Root Day (3/3/09). Square Root Day only comes around a few times a century, so be excited, damn it. The last Square Root Day was 2/2/04, and the next won’t be until 4/4/16.

Is this only cool to math dorks like me? The answer to that question is yes. I don’t like crossword puzzles and I think Sudoku is a huge waste of time; I re-work all the exercises in my old college math texts for fun and neurological stimulation. I know what you’re thinking: Dorkity dork dork dork. I’m aware, thanks.

For the awesomely geeky middle and high school math teachers out there (and for anyone else who owns a Math Geek freak flag that they aren’t afraid to let fly), Pi Day is coming up on March 14th (3.14, get it?). It’s a big month for math geekdom.

via Scientific American

Posted by Alexa Harrington

image source

Continue reading ...

ZaidLearn--a New Blog about Open Learning Resources

This promising new weblog by Zaid Ali Alsagoff  is devoted to open learning resources around the world; Zaid is located in Malaysia. His blog is especially valuable for its extensive listing of links to bloggers who write about eLearning and its multiple links to Learning Tools, eLearning sites, OpenCourseWare sites, University Podcasts, and Learning Repositories. Zaid is currently at work on a book about effective learning and teaching that is scheduled for release in June 2008. ____ JH

Read more ...

Early Patrick supporter gets plum job

Early Patrick supporter gets plum job
Governor Deval Patrick, who campaigned on a platform to fight business as usual on Beacon Hill, has given one of his earliest political supporters a $175,000-a-year job as an assistant director at a state bonding authority, a position that had sat vacant for more than a dozen years.

California Teacher of the Year laid off

California Teacher of the Year laid off
Hey, what do you expect? You want the state of California to place more priority on education than it does making sure some pot user does serious time? Get a grip.

LectureShare

LectureShare

This new web tool makes it easy for instructors to share text, audio, and video with students. Registration is required, but free. Use the FAQ and About sections to orient to the resources. Also look at Ezra Katz's sample course LectureShare 101 (once registered). ____JH

(Thanks to Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day for this reference.)

_____

• Give students access to course materials without the burden of maintaining your own webpage or the hassle of complex web-based solutions
• Post audio and video content easily
• Make class announcements that your students will actually read—via e-mail, RSS (coming soon), or SMS
• Effortlessly make your course available to anyone if you choose

Montana revenue estimates fall another $41 million

Montana revenue estimates fall another $41 million
Montana revenue estimates have fallen another $41 million, spiraling further downward just as the House prepares to take up the state's main budget bill next week.

High school journos take all-platform plunge

Josiah Jones is the editor-in-chief of an award-winning magazine, guiding a staff of 90 that also produces podcasts and a Web site. Continue reading ...

ZaidLearn--a New Blog about Open Learning Resources

ZaidLearn--a New Blog about Open Learning Resources

This promising new weblog by Zaid Ali Alsagoff  is devoted to open learning resources around the world; Zaid is located in Malaysia. His blog is especially valuable for its extensive listing of links to bloggers who write about eLearning and its multiple links to Learning Tools, eLearning sites, OpenCourseWare sites, University Podcasts, and Learning Repositories. Zaid is currently at work on a book about effective learning and teaching that is scheduled for release in June 2008. ____ JH

UAE’s Support for Education Stressed (Khaleej Times)

DUBAI - The role of the UAE in supporting education and launching the latest in IT technologies in schools, was emphasised during the Global Education Forum (GEF) and the Gulf Educational Solutions & Supplies (GESS) three-day exhibition cum forum that ended on Thursday. Continue reading ...

Fairy Godmother taps generosity, and makes prom dreams come true

It was her junior year of high school and Jenna Tolan of Hudson was determined to go to the prom. She had her ticket ready and a group of friends to go with. Read more ...

Flag on the play: Man arrested in bleachers crash

Flag on the play: Man arrested in bleachers crash
A driver accused of spinning doughnuts on a Colorado high school football field and crashing into the empty bleachers drew a penalty flag from police. Nicholas Lee Himmel, 21, was arrested on suspicion of criminal mischief, careless driving and driving under the influence.

North Myrtle Beach instructor wins S.C. Adult Education ESL teacher of the year

North Myrtle Beach instructor wins S.C. Adult Education ESL teacher of the year

Tammy Humphreys takes her students to the library like most teachers passionate about English do, but she also gives them coffee breaks, teaches them how to open checking accounts and understands if they have ...

Opening Up Education

Opening Up Education is an MIT Press book edited by Toru Iiyoshi and Vijay Kumar; the subtitle is "The Collective Advancement of Education through Open Technology, Open Content, and Open Knowledge." The free ebook is, appropriately, available in an open access ipaper edition (Flash format) or via pdf files. (A print version may also be purchased from MIT Press.) The book includes a useful Foreword by John Seely Brown and valuable Introduction and Conclusion sections by the editors; the core of the book contains 27 chapters by diverse authors, many of them leaders in their fields. 
____JH

____
"Given the abundance of open education initiatives that aim to make educational assets freely available online, the time seems ripe to explore the potential of open education to transform the economics and ecology of education. Despite the diversity of tools and resources already available—from well-packaged course materials to simple games, for students, self-learners, faculty, and educational institutions—we have yet to take full advantage of shared knowledge about how these are being used, what local innovations are emerging, and how to learn from and build on the experiences of others. Opening Up Education argues that we must develop not only the technical capability but also the intellectual capacity for transforming tacit pedagogical knowledge into commonly usable and visible knowledge: by providing incentives for faculty to use (and contribute to) open education goods, and by looking beyond institutional boundaries to connect a variety of settings and open source entrepreneurs."

Continue reading ...

Reading Success for Struggling Adolescent Learners: Edited by Jill Lewis and Susan Lenski

Reading Success for Struggling Adolescent Learners, a book co-edited by Dr. Jill Lewis, a professor of literacy education at New Jersey City University, and Dr. Susan Lenski, a professor of curriculum and instruction at Portland Sate University, has been published by Guilford Press. Continue reading ...

Beck's show to benefit Scientology-affiliated charity

Nothing was mentioned about any connections with Scientology, and the website for the charity turns up an error message. So what's the official word from the Church of Scientology? Is Educating Children International a charity working with Beck's known (and controversial) path of spirituality? It turns out it is. Read the rest ...

Judge: Gay student club must be allowed to meet

A federal judge has ruled that a student club that promotes tolerance for gays at a north Florida high school must be allowed to meet. Read more ...

Career Education Directory : Link Information

Career Education Directory : Link Information
There are two ways to increase your profits by using search engine marketing. The first way is to do it the natural way by using keyword placement. The second way is to pay for the placement of your site on the left hand side of the SERP. To optimize your strategy in using search engine marketing, hire a Search Engine Marketing fi

Expanding the Pool of Qualified Educators

Expanding the Pool of Qualified Educators

Education Center Online Celebrates Black History Month - Offering Online Education for People of All Races

Education Center Online Celebrates Black History Month - Offering Online Education for People of All Races

Global Environmental Policy and Sustainability

The College of Liberal and Professional Studies at the University of Pennsylvania is offering an open course called the "Global Environmental Sustainability Collaborative." _____JH

_____
"Please join faculty and students from The University of Pennsylvania, Kyung Hee University, and Ritsumeikan University, in a global, multi-continent discussion of issues around Global Environmental Policy and Sustainability led by Dr. Don Kettl, Professor of Political Science and Robert A. Fox Professor of Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania.  On this site you have access to the course syllabus and reading list, as well as have 'real-time' access to course lectures and discussions as they unfold. We invite you to join the conversation at no charge as a member-at-large. Create a profile, and join the course conversation as it evolves. As a member you will be able to add your thoughts to the course Comment Wall, Blogs and Forums. Members can also network with each other via email and instant messaging using the 'Facezone' .... Offering a Penn course in an open online forum is an exciting new initiative at Penn."
 
 
Continue reading ...

Obama, taking on unions, backs teacher merit pay

President Barack Obama embraced merit pay for teachers Tuesday in spelling out a vision of education that will almost certainly alienate union backers. Read the rest ...

Forum: Universal vouchers would reverse progress in education

Forum: Universal vouchers would reverse progress in education

Public education is a favorite goat of conservatives. And let's be honest, on any given day you can find some outrageous story in the news about something stupid that happened at a public school.

Grocery tax, lottery due up before House

LITTLE ROCK - After sitting tight for more than a month, lawmakers are poised to take on another of Gov.

Read the rest ...

State's new math rules force textbook purchases

School districts throughout Michigan may see their costs multiplying after a recent decision by state education officials to standardize the math that students must learn.

Read the rest ...

The long road back

The long road back
The English High School, a historic icon and once one of Boston's premier learning institutions, has become one of the city's worst schools. This year, it must improve or face closure. This story is the first of several about the students, teachers, and headmaster at English as they try to reverse the school's troubled course.

The Failure of Good Intentions

The Failure of Good Intentions
World Politics Review was kind enough to run a brief opinion piece on one of the many ways I see Afghanistan faltering under the U.S. military’s institutional rigidity. A snippet: Interviewing village and community elders in Central Afghanistan can reveal a tremendous amount about what Afghans believe are the country’s most urgent problems. Security is certainly among them. One of the few lessons from Iraq that is applicable to Afghanistan is the pressing need for more troop presence, off o

University Learning = OCW + OER = FREE

ZaidLearn provides another valuable update to his omnibus listing of free educational resources for higher education. ____JH

_____
"In short, this post is about smashing all free University learning related OCW and OER resources and collections discovered into an all-in-one (sounds like shampoo!) quick-to-access/find juicy compilation. Hopefully, it will satisfy my thirst for quick access to free University learning related content. Interestingly, this post will be a dynamic one, meaning that I will continue to update (and revamp!) it as I discover, or others share ideas and recommend new oceans of free knowledge."
Read the rest ...

Educate Online Launches, Dedicated to Improving Student Achievement, Building Academic Confidence

Read the rest ...

Happy Square Root Day!

Probably only middle school math teachers and geeks like me are aware that it’s Square Root Day (3/3/09). Square Root Day only comes around a few times a century, so be excited, damn it. The last Square Root Day was 2/2/04, and the next won’t be until 4/4/16. Is this only cool [...]

Probably only middle school math teachers and geeks like me are aware that it’s Square Root Day (3/3/09). Square Root Day only comes around a few times a century, so be excited, damn it. The last Square Root Day was 2/2/04, and the next won’t be until 4/4/16.

Is this only cool to math dorks like me? The answer to that question is yes. I don’t like crossword puzzles and I think Sudoku is a huge waste of time; I re-work all the exercises in my old college math texts for fun and neurological stimulation. I know what you’re thinking: Dorkity dork dork dork. I’m aware, thanks.

For the awesomely geeky middle and high school math teachers out there (and for anyone else who owns a Math Geek freak flag that they aren’t afraid to let fly), Pi Day is coming up on March 14th (3.14, get it?). It’s a big month for math geekdom.

via Scientific American

Posted by Alexa Harrington

image source

Read the rest ...

Education secretary says DC kids should keep their private-school vouchers

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Wednesday that poor children getting vouchers to attend private schools in the District of Columbia should be allowed to stay there, putting the Obama administration at odds ...

Continue reading ...

Senate to vote on school vouchers

School-voucher legislation talked about for years by supporters of school choice finally reaches a critical milestone next week when it comes up for the first legislative vote in decades.

Continue reading ...

Evans: Confessions of a Teenage Marxist

Evans: Confessions of a Teenage Marxist
Guest Column: Gavin Evans As the world lurches into an economic and social crisis that threatens the political stability of the the current global order, I can’t help thinking how I might have relished this moment in my misguided youth, when I imagined that capitalism, with its inherent injustices, was riddled with structural contradictions that would cause its collapse in the face of the triumphant march of the organized working class, the midwife of a new world order of rationality, e

Health Sciences Online

HSO is an important new portal for health sciences information. Sponsors of the site include NATO, the World Bank, the US Centers for Disease Control, and the World Health Organization. ____JH

____
"HSO is the first website to deliver authoritative, comprehensive, free, and ad-free health sciences knowledge. Search and browse any health sciences topic from over 50,000 courses, references, guidelines, and other learning resources. Materials are selected from accredited educational sources including universities, governments, and professional societies, by knowledgeable staff at HSO."

"HSO provides free, online linkages to a comprehensive collection of top-quality courses and references in medicine, public health, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, basic sciences, and other health sciences disciplines. These materials are donated, hosted, and maintained by our distinguished content partners, so quality is maintained, and materials can be constantly updated. HSO is a sieve that includes world-class materials (currently numbering >50,000 resources), hand-selected by clinicians and other experts from already-existing reliable sources and resource collections. This includes medical specialty societies, accredited continuing education organizations, governments, and top-ranked universities such as Columbia, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Penn, and UCSF."

Continue reading ...

Peer 2 Peer University

P2P University has received favorable coverage by a number of bloggers (including ZaidLearn and Stephen's Web).  I just want to add my endorsement of this promising direction of development. ___JH

___
"The Peer 2 Peer University is an online community of open study groups for short university-level courses. Think of it as online book clubs for open educational resources. The P2PU helps you navigate the wealth of open education materials that are out there, creates small groups of motivated learners, and supports the design and facilitation of courses. Students and tutors get recognition for their work, and we are building pathways to formal credit as well.Find out more about what P2PU courses look like, and consider creating your own. If you just want to stay informed, please add your name to our mailing list, and we will send you a message when we launch." Read more ...

St. Louis Portrait, Lifestyle and Event Photography

We specialize in beautifully creative Wedding, Portrait, Lifestyle and Event Photography in the Greater St. Louis Area and Beyond.The Artistic Soup Difference is Profound. We are experienced professionals with an educational background in photography, extensive hands-on experience, utilize professional equipment with back up equipment and have Read the rest ...

Education Matters: Readers have Their Say

Throughout the ongoing debate over school vouchers in the editorial pages, I've not seen much input from people such as myself who have no children and do not intend to have any.

Read more ...

Two union candidates win L.A. school board races

Two union candidates win L.A. school board races
New UTLA-backed members increase labor's presence but probably won't tip political balance.

Candidates backed by the teachers union won Tuesday's contested races for the Los Angeles Board of Education, but they will answer to not only the union but other powerful political forces, including the city's mayor and backers of charter schools.

The ABCs of federal tax breaks for college education expenses

You can save as much as $2,500 per student, but how much you claim depends on your income, the student's educational status and how and when you paid the bill.

If you're paying for a college education, you may need an advanced degree to figure out how to claim federal tax breaks for those expenses.

Read more ...

Zimmer leads in L.A. Unified returns

Two candidates with union support were favored, but in District 6, labor-backed Nury Martinez is locked in close race with Louis Pugliese. In District 4, labor-backed Steve Zimmer is leading Mike Stryer.

The financial backing of the teachers union made two candidates favorites to win in Tuesday's contested races for the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education, but early Wednesday morning one race was too close to call.

Read more ...

Cash-strapped schools thinking outside budget box

With nearly 400 school buses well past the date of retirement, Georgia's largest school district decided to try a new --and cheaper -- strategy for updating its fleet. Continue reading ...

Free Digital Texts and Free Online Course Materials

It's important when the free digital textbooks and free online course materials are covered by the LA Times. The issues surrounding pricey textbooks and digital alternatives are compactly discussed in this news article. ___ JH (Thanks to the blog Free Culture News for this reference.)
____
"Caltech economics professor R. Preston McAfee finds it annoying that students and faculty haven't looked harder for alternatives to the exorbitant prices. McAfee wrote a well-regarded open-source economics textbook and gave it away -- online. But although the text, released in 2007, has been adopted at several prestigious colleges, including Harvard and Claremont-McKenna, it has yet to make a dent in the wider textbook market."
"McAfee is one of a band of would-be reformers who are trying to beat the high cost -- and, they say, the dumbing down -- of college textbooks by writing or promoting open-source, no-cost digital texts. Thus far, their quest has been largely quixotic, but that could be changing. Public colleges and universities in California this past year backed several initiatives to promote online course materials, and publishers and entrepreneurs are stepping up release of electronic textbooks, which typically sell at reduced prices."
"Open educational resources is an amorphous category for publishers, but basically it includes e-textbooks, courses, videos, taped lectures, tests, software and other materials released online free to the public without restriction on use."

Continue reading ...

Open Education News

David Wiley announces the startup of Open Education News. This is another site to add to your list of rss feeds to monitor happenings in the field of open education. ___JH

_____

"The young field of open education is gaining momentum and energy. As additional projects, foundations, universities, and other participants join the movement, the need increases for a single source to gather, sort, analyze, synthesize, and disseminate news related to open education. As a field, open education is now where the field of open access was a few years ago. Peter Suber's wonderful Open Access News provides an invaluable service to the OA community, and we intend to replicate this service with Open Education News."

"Open Education News is essentially a group blog. A number of individuals from the US, South Africa, and eventually other locations daily monitor the internet for news related to open education. We then aggregate these items and publish them individually with minor commentary. Occasionally we'll publish bigger pieces of our own authorship; analyses and such. If you know of some open education news we should write about, contact David Wiley at david.wiley@gmail.com."

"Open Education News is graciously supported by the Open Society Institute and the Shuttleworth Foundation."

Read more ...

Books and Music That Make You Dumb

Books and Music That Make You Dumb

Virgil Griffith , the 25-year-old Caltech graduate student known for embarrassing numerous corporations with his WikiScanner , has aggregated Facebook data about the favorite bands and books of students from ...

Governor touts education reforms

Governor touts education reforms

Ted Strickland takes his proposals to parents, teachers, and students. By Ken Robinson, Newsradio WTAM 1100 Check out Ken's personality page Sunday, March 1, 2009 Gov.

A bigger federal role in college funding

A bigger federal role in college funding
The proposal would tie Pell Grants to inflation for the first time and make the government the direct lender for all federally backed student loans.

The government proposes to take on a greatly expanded role in making college affordable and in ensuring that students earn degrees or credentials.

Ark. lawmakers eye grade inflation lotto rule

Ark. lawmakers eye grade inflation lotto rule

Lawmakers working on a bill creating lottery-funded scholarships say they're considering easing a restriction that would exclude students who graduate from schools that have been cited by the state for grade ...

The Ultimate Guide to Using Open Courseware

The Ultimate Guide to Using Open Courseware
Another informative collection of categorized and annotated resource links for self-directed learning--this listing was compiled by Gartheeban Ganeshapillai. I especially like the inclusive scope of this listing. ___JH

_____
"While you can't get college credit for taking open courseware classes, you can make the most of the information and education they offer both in personal and professional aspects of your life. After all, even if you're not working towards a degree, taking the same courses as those in the ivy league can't possibly hurt you and may even be able to better keep you informed and on the cutting edge of what's going on in your field. So how can you make the most of these free online courses? Here are resources we've collected that can help you search for classes, find information and learn everything you need to know about how open courseware works."

The long road back

The English High School, a historic icon and once one of Boston's premier learning institutions, has become one of the city's worst schools. This year, it must improve or face closure. This story is the first of several about the students, teachers, and headmaster at English as they try to reverse the school's troubled course. Continue reading ...

Free Digital Texts and Free Online Course Materials

Free Digital Texts and Free Online Course Materials
It's important when the free digital textbooks and free online course materials are covered by the LA Times. The issues surrounding pricey textbooks and digital alternatives are compactly discussed in this news article. ___ JH (Thanks to the blog Free Culture News for this reference.)
____
"Caltech economics professor R. Preston McAfee finds it annoying that students and faculty haven't looked harder for alternatives to the exorbitant prices. McAfee wrote a well-regarded open-source economics textbook and gave it away -- online. But although the text, released in 2007, has been adopted at several prestigious colleges, including Harvard and Claremont-McKenna, it has yet to make a dent in the wider textbook market."
"McAfee is one of a band of would-be reformers who are trying to beat the high cost -- and, they say, the dumbing down -- of college textbooks by writing or promoting open-source, no-cost digital texts. Thus far, their quest has been largely quixotic, but that could be changing. Public colleges and universities in California this past year backed several initiatives to promote online course materials, and publishers and entrepreneurs are stepping up release of electronic textbooks, which typically sell at reduced prices."
"Open educational resources is an amorphous category for publishers, but basically it includes e-textbooks, courses, videos, taped lectures, tests, software and other materials released online free to the public without restriction on use."

Liberal Arts degree

Liberal Arts degree
At the Denver Campus of Argosy University, the Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Liberal Arts program offers an integrative approach to learning which aims to develop competencies in the essential academic areas and disciplines in higher education.

IndiaPost.com - Kal Penn to help raise funds for rural India

IndiaPost.com - Kal Penn to help raise funds for rural India
NEW YORK: The Nanubhai Education Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on advancing the education of rural students in India, has teamed up with renowned actor and producer Kal Penn for a festive night of entertainment

Free Digital Texts and Free Online Course Materials

Free Digital Texts and Free Online Course Materials
It's important when the free digital textbooks and free online course materials are covered by the LA Times. The issues surrounding pricey textbooks and digital alternatives are compactly discussed in this news article. ___ JH (Thanks to the blog Free Culture News for this reference.)
____
"Caltech economics professor R. Preston McAfee finds it annoying that students and faculty haven't looked harder for alternatives to the exorbitant prices. McAfee wrote a well-regarded open-source economics textbook and gave it away -- online. But although the text, released in 2007, has been adopted at several prestigious colleges, including Harvard and Claremont-McKenna, it has yet to make a dent in the wider textbook market."
"McAfee is one of a band of would-be reformers who are trying to beat the high cost -- and, they say, the dumbing down -- of college textbooks by writing or promoting open-source, no-cost digital texts. Thus far, their quest has been largely quixotic, but that could be changing. Public colleges and universities in California this past year backed several initiatives to promote online course materials, and publishers and entrepreneurs are stepping up release of electronic textbooks, which typically sell at reduced prices."
"Open educational resources is an amorphous category for publishers, but basically it includes e-textbooks, courses, videos, taped lectures, tests, software and other materials released online free to the public without restriction on use."

AP IMPACT: Some nonprofits can't touch their money

AP IMPACT: Some nonprofits can't touch their money
The North Carolina Symphony has all the money it needs. But in this economy, the orchestra isn't allowed to touch it.

The ABCs of federal tax breaks for college education expenses (Los Angeles Times)

You can save as much as $2,500 per student, but how much you claim depends on your income, the student's educational status and how and when you paid the bill. If you're paying for a college education, you may need an advanced degree to figure out how to claim federal tax breaks for those expenses. Read the rest ...

Sunday Reflection On The 500th Post

Warning: Post Preface Okay, so I don’t really reflect on this, the 500th post, but sure, it’s a milestone worthy of mention. So, what d’ya wanna be when you grow up? Nine-Year-Old-Son-Alex is determined to be a professional skateboarder, totally unaware that he will not be drawing any sort of regular income and the money he happens to earn will promptly pay for his regular emergency room visits. I’m hoping it’s a phase… Twelve-Year-Old-Daughter-Kate would like to be paid to watch Read more ...