clifmims' shared items in Google Reader

A School Cultivates Great Educators

2009-10-28T22:28:53Z

At YES Prep, grabbing top-notch talent isn't always an option. Out of necessity they are developing their own.

A Program Teaches Students What to Believe in the Digital World

2009-11-04T20:29:10Z

The News Literacy Project helps secondary school students separate fact from fiction online.

Open Office 4 Kids

2009-10-23T13:43:22Z

Yes, Open Office 4 Kids is available now, based on OpenOffice.org’s OpenOffice suite. Sure, it’s a watered down verision for the target ages of 7 to 12 years old- but it’ll be a welcome tool for students and teachers (and parents) in search of some basic word processing and related tools. So far it looks pretty cool. I’ve got to play around with it some more, but for home and for a classroom I think it’s a great tool! Click on the image above to be taken to the download site- thanks OpenOffice.org! (Happy 9th Birthday OpenOffice.org)

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Free LeapFrog Systems for Kindergarten Teachers

2009-10-23T21:14:00Z

LeapFrog, the maker of learning toys like the Tag Reading System, is offering Kindergarten teachers the opportunity to get the Tag Reading System and books for free. LeapFrog is looking to partner with Kindergarten teachers through the Tag Kindergarten Program. The LeapFrog Tag Kindergarten Program will provide teachers with nearly $3200 worth of equipment and books for their classrooms. In exchange, Kindergarten teachers offer LeapFrog feedback about how they are using the Tag Reading System in their classrooms and how it affected student learning. The deadline to apply for the program is November 11. To get all of the application details, please click here.

The Lessons of the Good Teacher - New York Times

2009-11-04T04:24:34Z

Providence Journal

The Lessons of the Good Teacher
New York Times
Susan Engel's recommendations for the future of teacher education all sound great, but they rest on resources that are simply not there. ...
Why we don't need an education secretaryWashington Post
Education Dep't: Massachusetts did not break rulesThe Associated Press
Wisconsin lawmaker sends Education Secretary a letter detailing concerns over ...FOX6Now.com Milwaukee
Examiner.com -Lancaster Newspapers -The Keystone
all 140 news articles »

Four Years After Founding, Kiva Hits $100 Million In Microloans

2009-11-01T16:32:20Z

Proving that microloans can help to change the world one little bit at a time, Kiva.org hit a major milestone today. Since it’s founding four years ago, it has now made possible $100 million in microloans between individual lenders and entrepreneurs all around the world. The company has brought together 573,000 lenders (people like you and me putting in $25 or more towards a specific project), and 239,000 entrepreneurs.

Most of the entrepreneurs who benefit are in developing countries, but Kiva opened up its service to needy U.S. entrepreneurs last summer (which caused some controversy, but was the right decision). It also has APIs for other developers to build on its data set.

Kiva creates a personal connection between lenders and recipients. Each entrepreneur has a profile page with a picture and description of what they plan to do with the loan. Then every month you get an update on how much of the loan has been repaid. For instance, I joined other Kiva donors to give this furniture maker in Afghanistan a $1,075 loan a year ago. So far, he’s paid back 61% of the loan without ever missing a payment.

You can also create lending teams on Kiva. So far the 40 people on the TechCrunch team (join here) have loaned out $5,225 spread across 183 loans.

Once a loan is repaid, you can plow it back into another loan. I think of it as charitable giving, although it is not technically a charity. But the best form of charity is to help people help themselves . . . teach a man to fish and all that.

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

New iTunes Web site offered for Neb. teachers - The Associated Press

2009-10-30T22:02:20Z

New iTunes Web site offered for Neb. teachers
The Associated Press
The Nebraska Department of Education and Apple Inc. have partnered to offer teachers a new online educational tool. A new site on iTunes U will allow ...

and more »

Lowering standards - Spartanburg Herald Journal

2009-11-01T09:02:55Z

Truthdig

Lowering standards
Spartanburg Herald Journal
A study released last week by the US Department of Education shows that 15 states have lowered their educational standards. They did so in order to meet the ...
NCES Finds States Lowered 'Proficiency' BarEducation Week News (subscription)
Federal education study finds that Texas' proficiency standards lag in math ...Dallas Morning News
Student achievement standards higher in South Carolina than other statesAnderson Independent Mail
WatertownDailyTimes.com -Baltimore Sun -The Associated Press
all 289 news articles »

The Changing Nature of Professional Development

2009-10-27T17:25:13Z

This post is cross-posted here.

I love my new job for many reasons.

One of the cool things that I have seen in the few months of my new role is how social tools have the potential to cause an amazing change in the nature of how Professional Development is accessed and delivered. And the really cool thing for me in this new position, is I get to see others come to a new understanding of this shift in professional learning.

The first instance was almost a month ago when I partnered up a new teacher at our school with a teacher at a private school 1000 kilometers away. While this in itself is interesting, what really struck me was the fact that these two teachers were both teaching grade 8 philosophy.

Why does the subject matter?

It struck me that this is an application of the “long tail” theory applied to Professional Development. If you’re not familiar with the notion of the long tail, it is an idea related to internet business models put forth in 2004 by Chris Anderson. The basic idea is that due to a number of innovations in technology, niche markets (in books, music, PD, etc) now have a voice and a demand that was impossible even 10 years ago.

Here’s a typical graph demonstrating the frequency of distribution of a particular item. Let’s say for discussion that the graph demonstrates the number of teachers of a particular subject matter. At the far left of the graph are high numbers of teachers, teaching the few number of core subjects (math for example). This means that accessing math PD is not that hard – there’s a wide range of books, workshops, conferences, etc on math education. (Right now I’m not judging the quality of the PD opportunities, just the quantity).

But what happens if you teach a ‘niche’ subject – like grade 8 philosophy? How many grade 8 philosophy teachers are there? Is there a conference you can go to in order to meet other grade 8 philosophy teachers? In the past, these niche subjects would have been beyond the line between green and yellow on the graph – where there was not enough of a market to drive professional development materials.

However, now due to social tools, teachers in niche subject can find other like minded niche teachers, and begin to build networks around their interests. This is where my grade 8 philosophy teacher comes back in. Dave knew no one who taught philosophy. This was his first time trying, and he was struggling to find resources – wanting desperately to find someone to help him build the course program and support with resources.

Luckily one day on twitter I begin chatting with Brad. Brad has taught philosophy at a private school for a number of years, and has built up expert knowledge and great resources over that time. I set up Dave and Brad on Skype – and before long – Dave has a mentor in teaching philosophy and the students in both schools are sharing their philosophical writing on a shared Ning site.

I see this as a great example of how the ‘long tail’ can have a significant impact on professional development. No longer are we tied to large, homogeneous, subject-matter conferences. Through social tools we can find, collaborate, mentor and be mentored by other teachers in the niche subjects we are about.

Here’s another example from the other side of the tail.

One day I see kids in our school doing a really cool looking art project. I ask the teacher what they’re doing, and it turns into a great blog post. Some teachers in another school read the blog post, and would love to know how the project is put together. Through Skype, we’re able to have the three teachers have a 15 minute chat, and everyone goes away amazed by the possibilities of these new tools.

Five minutes after the Skype chat, our art teacher sends me an email. She’s amazed by the possibilities. She’s amazed that someone would read her blog post. She’s amazed that other teachers would want to try her project. And most of all, she’s amazed that she was able to mentor and provide support to other teachers in ways she had never dreamed.

Here’s the last few lines of her email:

I’m still totally amazed that people are reading about my project and doing it….so cool. Now I’m really curious about who is out there that I could connect with for my First Nations art class. The world just got a bit smaller and the potential larger….hmmmmm.

The Long Tail. Teachers able to meet up – share project ideas and mentor each other on specific projects.

I love my job.

NCTM Advocates Teaching Reasoning in High School Math

2009-10-28T01:59:09Z

The national group's latest report calls for a focus on developing critical-thinking skills.

Parents protest Hawaii school closures - The Associated Press

2009-10-23T23:20:14Z

The Post-Standard - Syracuse.com

Parents protest Hawaii school closures
The Associated Press
HONOLULU — Hundreds of angry parents protested Hawaii's statewide public school shutdown Friday, saying their children are losing out on education due to ...
Schools in Hawaii Will No Longer Have Classes on FridaysABC News
Obama Administration on Furlough Fridays in HawaiiKGMB9
Hundreds rally at Capitol to protest 'furlough Friday' school closuresHonolulu Star-Bulletin
Newsday -Examiner.com -Honolulu Advertiser
all 266 news articles »

Schools in Hawaii Will No Longer Have Classes on Fridays - ABC News

2009-10-23T21:36:05Z

ABC News

Schools in Hawaii Will No Longer Have Classes on Fridays
ABC News
... believe me, but, you know, we have to face our challenges and not run away from them," said Garret Toguchi, chairman of the State Board of Education. ...
Obama Administration on Furlough Fridays in HawaiiKGMB9
"Furlough Fridays' begin with Capitol rallyHonolulu Star-Bulletin
Judge refuses to block Hawaii teacher furloughsNewsday
The Associated Press -Examiner.com -Honolulu Advertiser
all 165 news articles »

An E-Textbook Program Aims to Benefit Students and Professors

2009-10-20T18:15:00Z

The University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh’s College of Business is creating a new type of e-textbook that will give professors more control of their content while also saving students hundreds of dollars in the process.

The program, a result of a nearly $300,000 grant from U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, will commission professors to create texts personalized for specific classes and put them in a digital format that will

Netbook-Laptop Debate - Education Week News (subscription)

2009-10-21T14:43:24Z

Education Week News (subscription)

Netbook-Laptop Debate
Education Week News (subscription)
A consortium negotiated a deal for purchasing Asus netbooks for about 20 small districts, according to Sharon Betts, the educational technology coordinator ...

Cell Phones In My Civics Class = Parent Involvement

2009-10-20T18:19:00Z

Image Credit: Flickr user thegloaming

This afternoon in my civics class we were discussing some of the citizens' initiative questions on this fall's ballot in Maine. At one point in the conversation I saw one of my students playing with her cell phone. In an attempt to make sure she was paying attention I asked this student what she was doing. She said that she just received a text from her mom telling her that she could stay after school. So I said, kind only half-seriously, ask your mom what she knows about Question 4. Another student said, "can I ask my mom too?" And in a matter of minutes more than half of my class had sent a text message to their parents asking them what they knew about Question 4.

The responses from parents were interesting in that many of the responses echoed the various messages that have been running on local television stations. After we had received all of the responses we talked about why some parents knew more than others about Question 4 and the role of television and radio advertising in influencing voters' positions. Those discussions took place on top of the original pro v. con conversation that had started prior to breaking-out the cell phones.

Cell phone use during the day is against the rules in my school so what I did today came as a bit of a surprise to my students and probably to their parents. Hopefully, the surprise factor will prompt some conversations between parents and students about today's class and lead to my students having conversations with their parents about this fall's ballot. My guess is there will also be conversations about the use of cell phones in school. I won't meet with my Civics class again until Thursday, I'll find out then if my hunch about conversations between students and parents is correct. Even if I'm wrong, at least for today's class I was able to bring in opinions from real voters in real time.

Public college costs rising faster than private - Washington Post

2009-10-20T15:02:04Z

ABC News

Public college costs rising faster than private
Washington Post
The entire higher education sector has taken a beating in the recession: Private nonprofit institutions have seen their endowments wither and aid requests ...
Private Student-Loan Volume DropsWall Street Journal
College tuition cost rising again this fallThe Associated Press
College: More expensive than everCNNMoney.com
Kansas City Star -Providence Business News -NPR
all 346 news articles »

No, just having IWBs does not make learning engaging

2009-10-18T14:00:45Z

Unfortunately, school improvement is not this easy.

The SchoolCIO article, “Interactive Whiteboards Factor in Improved AYP” quotes Fayetteville, North Carolina executive director of technology Terry Williams as saying:

We believe that a great classroom is interactive… Having SMART products in our classrooms makes them interactive and engaging, inspiring students to learn.

Was that an accurate quotation, Terry? If so, I beg to differ on the second part of your assertion.

Yes, great classrooms are certainly interactive. The mere presence of interactive white boards (IWBs) in a classroom, however, offers absolutely ZERO guarantees that learning opportunities in the room will be interactive, engaging, or inspiring. They might be, but that all DEPENDS– mostly on the TEACHER.

See my September 23rd post, “Interactive technology access does not guarantee good teaching and learning,” for more elaboration on why this is not the case. Even better, see Dr. Jon Becker’s five part “Peer-review of Marzano’s IWB Study” from this summer: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.

H/T to Kim Cofino for this SchoolCIO article link.

I’m sure vendors of IWBs absolutely LOVE it when school officials make statements like this one, and they are quoted in the mainstream media. Unfortunately, however, assertions like this about IWBs are simply not true.

Technorati Tags:
board, interactive, iwb, promethian, smart, white

Discussion: Is Curiosity Valued in Your Classroom?

2009-10-19T00:05:55Z

In a recent discussion with Literacy Coaches and Instructional Facilitators, the habitude of Curiosity in the Classroom came up. Some great points came up at the back end of this short video. Would love your input in the comments -- or on your blog!

Online Programs: Profits Are There, Technological Innovation Is Not

2009-10-19T20:38:06Z

Online programs are generally profitable. But despite the buzz about Web 2.0, the education they provide is still dominated by rudimentary, text-based technology.

Those are two key findings in a recent report, “Benchmarking Online Operations: Snapshots of an Emerging Industry,” produced by the consulting firm Eduventures.

Online education has grown in popularity, yet it remains dependent on learning-management

ISTE 2010 Keynote Suggestions Wanted

2009-10-16T13:04:00Z

Last year, thanks to the generosity of many of you and the hard work of Beth Still, I was able to attend NECC/ ISTE 09. Malcolm Gladwell was the keynote speaker for the conference. For 2010, ISTE is crowd-sourcing the selection of the conference keynote speaker. There is a three phase process being used to select the keynote topic and keynote speaker. Phase one is currently underway. In phase one you can suggest topics and vote on the suggestions. Click here to suggest topics and vote.