Jul 26 2009
From MSNBC.com
Smartphones now have hundreds of applications meant to educate kids — from graphic calculators to animation programs that teach spelling and phonics.
And while most public schools don’t allow the devices because they’re considered distractions — and sometimes portable cheating tools — some school districts have started to put the technology to use.
Read the entire article at this link.
Jul 15 2009
Textbooks. Remember bringing them home in sixth grade to cover them with brown paper shopping bags? And did you ever get a detention because they weren’t covered by the end of the second week of school? Did you ever lust for the Teacher’s Edition of the text, knowing that it did, in fact, contain “all the answers?”
In a July 5, 2009 article posted in the business section on the New York Times’ web site, “We Rent Movies, So Why Not Textbooks?” Miguel Helft writes about Chegg.com and their textbook rental business.
Jul 15 2009
From Instuctify
by Bill Ferris
BY JASON DON FORSYTHE
If only Wolfram Mathworld had been around when I was banging my head against the wall trying to learn calculus, perhaps things would have been a lot easier. A predecessor of Wolfram Alpha, Mathworld lives up to its motto of being “The Web’s Most Extensive Mathematics Resource.” It’s a clearly thought out resource of mathematical terms, concepts, and visual references. Think of it like a math version of Wikipedia, but it’s not open to the public editing it. You can enter a concept in the search area, and it’s quite good at matching up the relevant information. Or you can use the left-side menu bar to navigate to your area of interest.
Read the entire article at Instructify
Jul 15 2009
If you survived high school, or hope to, you probably made your peace with the fact that life is unfair: looks can compensate for a lack of brains and conscientiousness. Or to put it more bluntly, teachers give good-looking kids higher grades than homely ones, all other factors being equal, as numerous studies have found. The phenomenon is so well documented in science it even has a name: the attractiveness effect.
Read the entire article at Newsweek.com
Jul 15 2009
Christina Harris doesn’t believe kindergartners should have homework. So at the beginning of her son’s kindergarten year, she flat-out told the teacher he wouldn’t be doing any.
“I don’t believe that there’s any use for it,” said Harris, of Federal Way, Wash. “I think that’s a complete waste of childhood.” Read the entire article at MSNBC
Jul 12 2009
Here is an idea that is great for parents with students in college and may be the wave of the future as far as textbooks in school. Start by reading this blog which has links to several articles about the issue of textbooks, their cost, and future in education. Then click here for a site that allows students to rent their textbooks. A great way to save money in college.
