Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 12/31/2011
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Curriculum changes could spark supply crisis - news - TES
The US is not the only country in government educational induced turmoil. Here is an overview of what is happening in England right now.
"Make teachers redundant or have them teach subjects they are not trained in - that is the stark choice cash-strapped secondaries will face if national curriculum changes proposed this week are introduced, ministers are being warned.
The bleak scenario is predicted by heads’ leaders and teacher recruitment experts if the Government follows the recommendation of its national curriculum review expert panel to make history, geography and modern foreign languages compulsory for all 11 to 16-year-olds from 2014." -
January is national slavery and human trafficking prevention month. I don't care if this is an unsavory topic to many, there are more human slaves in our world this moment than in the history of this big globe in the sky. Don't criticize the slave owners and people in early US history if you're not willing to speak out now. There are age appropriate ways to broach this topic. Think about how the people of pre civil war times felt when you toss this topic over in your mind.
January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking prevention month. Celebrate it well and plan ahead. Yes, there are slaves in this country and you can educate students on how to protect themselves as well as bring awareness to what is happening in other places. -
Content Filtration: A little dirt for your health?
I was rereading this old post for some writing I'm doing about filtering and it struck me that although this post was written in 2008 it reads like it was written this morning. I think there are some very valid arguments to share as you discuss content filtering in your school.
When asked about how to help kids with allergies, researchers have made the bold statement , "Let them eat dirt! " As I read these articles, I was struck with the parallel to the content filtration debate that rages in education today. -
Submissions | Apps for Science
A science app competition with a hodge podge of "winners." This isn't what you think. It is more higher level science websites that provide functions. One of the first mentioned is altmetric which measures the impact of research studies in social media. (Not sure if this is hugely important, but I guess it could be useful to those wanting to respond to the tweets, etc. of an article. I certainly hope scientists would also have offline conversations about these as well.)
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Anis Bawarshi and Steven Corbett — Learning & Scholarly Technologies
Overview of the use of efolios in the Expository Writing course at the University of Washington. along with some sample portfolios. Currently the electronic portfolios are optional although having a portfolio is not.
"The six TAs who chose to teach with electronic portfolios discovered many advantages to introducing this technology. They found that students learned to write for a wider audience and were able to better connect to the course outcomes by showing a greater variety of examples such as graphics and links to relevant Web pages. The electronic portfolios also simplified some logistics, allowing the instructors to easily show examples of online portfolios and students to review each other's work. " -
Daily Kos: Internet giants seriously considering 'nuclear option' to stop SOPA
If Amazon, Google, Facebook and other Internet allies turn their home screens black to bring attention to the censorship of SOPA don't be surprised. Right now, SOPA is still favored to pass. time to call congress or email them. This website tells you how.
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Researchers Build Terminator Contact Lens
Small projectors, contact lenses with displays built in. Here is where we're going. These things make the "ban cell phone" movement even more preposterous. It is about behavior not banning or blocking as limiting behavior is only going to become harder.
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8 Amazing Emerging Technologies From 2011
Transmitting data via LED lightbulbs tops this list of 8 technologies from mashable.
By the way, the beginnings of display contacts is here - although it can only put one pixel on the screen (created by your contact) it is the beginning.
Again, we must get at behavior of our students. Because we will move from cell phones to glasses and contacts. We have to focus on helping people learn how to focus on the task at hand and hold them accountable for the work they do instead of playing the role of jailkeeper. Focus may indeed be the most important 21st century skill. -
ADHD: Your Brain On Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (VIDEO)
ADHD, medicine abuse, and a video to show you what it "feels like" to have ADHD. This post from Huffington is a great one to share with those who don't understand this disorder. There are still so many questions to ask, especially that of if we've somehow become so desk bound that our physical bodies are crying out for more running and moving, but that is for another post.
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So Here’s What I’d Do : 2¢ Worth
It started with Tim Holt asking "edtech gurus" how to actually do it. How to stimulate change.
This is a wonderful post from David Warlick on what he'd actually do. Many of these are great. The tough thing this brings to bear is that unless you can actually do it - it is hard to speak to it. This is why there is room for great practioners who are doing it to share how it works and what the results are. The tough thing is that in the real world, it is rarely simple and interpersonal dynamics often get in the way. The book I'd recommend is Kerry Patterson's the Influencer on this topic. -
10 Bad Trends in Ed Tech 2011 #6: Ed Tech Gurus - Holt Think: Ed, Creativity, Tech, Adminstration
Lots of conversation on this guru's post. Funny how the easiest way to get edubloggers to talk is to talk about edubloggers. ;-)
