Dec 29 2008
Did you Know?
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Archive for December, 2008
Dec 28 2008
Should the Obama Generation Drop Out?
By CHARLES MURRAY
Published: December 27, 2008 NY Times Editorial from the Week in Review
BARACK OBAMA has two attractive ideas for improving post-secondary education — expanding the use of community colleges and tuition tax credits — but he needs to hitch them to a broader platform. As president, Mr. Obama should use his bully pulpit to undermine the bachelor’s degree as a job qualification. Here’s a suggested battle cry, to be repeated in every speech on the subject: “It’s what you can do that should count when you apply for a job, not where you learned to do it.”
The residential college leading to a bachelor’s degree at the end of four years works fine for the children of parents who have plenty of money. It works fine for top students from all backgrounds who are drawn toward academics. But most 18-year-olds are not from families with plenty of money, not top students, and not drawn toward academics. They want to learn how to get a satisfying job that also pays well. That almost always means education beyond high school, but it need not mean four years on a campus, nor cost a small fortune. It need not mean getting a bachelor’s degree.
I am not discounting the merits of a liberal education. Students at every level should be encouraged to explore subjects that will not be part of their vocation. It would be even better if more colleges required a rigorous core curriculum for students who seek a traditional bachelor’s degree. My beef is not with liberal education, but with the use of the degree as a job qualification. Read the whole article in the NY Times here.
Dec 27 2008
Museum Box
by anne marie from Talking Smartboards Blog
I came across this site, Museum Box, that I wanted to share. This site is particularly beneficial when encouraging students to debate, reflect, and assess issues and ideas. Basically this site was inspired and modelled after the anti-slavery campaigner, Thomas Clarkson , who carried a box of items around the country to demonstrate his views on why slavery needed to be abolished. Museum box allows you to place items (including images, videos, text files, sound) in a virtual box to support your view. What I like about this tool is the versatility in allowing students to collect, organise and present information in a creative and different way.
“This site provides the tools for you to build up an argument or description of an event, person or historical period by placing items in a virtual box. What items, for example, would you put in a box to describe your life; the life of a Victorian Servant or Roman soldier; or to show that slavery was wrong and unnecessary? “
You have the option of uploading your own images, sounds, etc. or you can use the galleries provided. Just a note that you need to be logged in to use some of these features. There is a teacher section for registration and to set up student accounts. In addition to students using this tool it would also be a creative way for teachers to introduce a lesson. Once a box has been created it presents well on the SMARTBoard. ENJOY! View a video on Museum Box here.
Authored by anne marie. Hosted by Edublogs.
Dec 27 2008
BookSprouts, A Social Network For Book Worms And Clubs
from TechCrunch by
Reading books is usually a solitary experience, but it triggers social activity as well, as the ongoing success of real-life book clubs shows. BookSprouts is a fairly new online community dedicated to book readers who love discussing books over a nice cup of virtual coffee. The social network is designed to make it easy to start an online book club, discuss books with other individuals, organize meetings and write up reviews. Read the entire article here.
Dec 25 2008
Exploring US History Through Images and Documents
George Mason University has posted online four units of study for US History. Each unit is based on images and primary documents. The units are divided by century pre-18th, 18th, 19th, and 20th. Each unit has a selection of images and or documents that are the focus of a series of inquiry based questions. Each item in each unit offers resources for additional study.Applications for Education
These units could be used as individual student assignments or as group discussions in high school classrooms.
A related resource that could complement the units of study from George Mason University is the Picturing America series from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Dec 22 2008
Free Math Help
by
From Free Technology for Teachers
Every time I find a website like Free Math Help I wish that the Internet had been readily accessible to me as a high school student because my mathematics grades could have used the free help. Free Math Help, as the name implies, offers students free mathematics tutorials. Tutorials are available as text based lessons or narrated video lessons. Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus, and Statistics tutorials are available for free to students. If, after watching the tutorials students have more questions, students can head over to the message boards to ask clarifying questions.Applications for Education
Free Math Help is a good resource for middle school, high school, and some undergraduate students to find mathematics help when you’re not available. If you’re a mathematics teacher, Free Math Help is a good website to link to your class blog or website.
Dec 21 2008
A Tour of the Solar System
Nine Planets.org is a large collection information and images designed to be used as a virtual tour of the solar system. The information on Nine Planets.org is organized by planet working progressively away from the sun. Nine Planets.org also provides information and images on smaller bodies in the solar system.Applications for Education
Nine Planets advertises itself as a virtual tour, it’s not the type of tour that will instantly engage students. Nine Planets is best used as a reference resource as the content itself is excellent although the layout is not great. Teachers should find the lesson plan links quite useful.
If you’re looking for more space science resources take a look at Celestia, SkyServer, and Microsoft’s World Wide Telescope.
Dec 21 2008
Google Offers New Image Search Parameters
This afternoon Google announced that it has made it a little easier to refine image searches. Until now, if you entered a search term in Google Images you would get all kinds of images including photographs, drawings, paintings, and clip art. Now you can refine those results by selecting “faces,” “clip art,” “line drawings,” “photo content,” or “news content” from a drop down menu.
Applications for Education
Google calls the new image search options search-by-style, I call it just plain helpful. Any tool that can help students focus their searches is useful in my book. Less time struggling to find appropriate search results can translate into more time spent thinking, writing, and creating.
Dec 21 2008
Using Spreadsheets and Pivot Tables to Track Data. . .
So I’ve decided to give the Radical Nation their Christmas present a bit early this year—and it’s a home-made gem that you might just find to be your favorite gift under the tree. Here it is:
Now, I know what you’re thinking: “This guy is giving us an Excel spreadsheet for Christmas and he wants us to be happy about it? Why didn’t he just bust out a few hundred digital fruitcakes?”
Before you jump to any conclusions about the worthiness–or worthlessness—of my offering, though, be sure to give this spreadsheet a good once over. What you’ll find is that it’s a pretty complex little data management document that you might just be able to take real advantage of. I know my colleagues are pretty jazzed about the whole thing. In fact, it’s the first holiday gift that I ever truly made them happy with. Read the rest of the post here.
Dec 20 2008
Formative Assessment and Personalised Learning
Here are a few videos that show how England is using technology, and other methods, to integrate formative assessment into their classrooms creating empowered students and teachers. Both groups are then able to contribute to enhanced understanding of the curriculum. Here is a preview video. The links which follow contain full videos on the topic.
Here are the links to other great full length formative assessment videos.
Primary Assessment – Formative Assessment 1
Primary Assessment – Formative Assessment 2
Secondary Assessment – Formative Assessment
Formative Assessment and Personalised Learning – Secondary This is the complete video from the clip above.
