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Saturday, December 31, 2011

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Iowa Searches for the Anti-Establishment Pick - WNYC

Iowa Searches for the Anti-Establishment Pick - WNYC

“Maybe we are a bunch of hicks, but at least we've got values. We are what makes this country work because we understand that income can come from productivity. You can pass paper around all you want, but it doesn't produce anything.”

In Iowa, this has been complicated by local organizing that since 2008 has activated two distinct threads of the base: Social conservative voters who feel their values are under attack, and fiscal hawks looking to upend what they see as a culture of government spending.


check out whyronpaul.com and ronpaulmyths.com

At a town hall in Washington, Iowa, this week, Paul [Ron Paul] spent the first ten minutes of his thirty minutes laying out the rationale for his positions, unique in the Republican field, to end foreign aid, drastically reduce American overseas outposts, and bring troops home from Afghanistan. It drew enthusiastic applause.

Republicans are going to have to realize that we have a certain segment in our party that are tired of the wars and tired of the fighting and I think that's real and that may not fit with the intellectual elite out of Washington, DC, but it's a reality out there,” he said. “And it may be in part because in this state we've got a higher per capita population that serves in the National Guard and the Reserves than any other state in the nation, so in every neighborhood there's someone who's gone off to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Mother Teresa's Support for Haitian Dictator

The former psycho-dictator of Haiti has returned to the country and is facing charges for his crimes. What few are aware is how much support the mass murder had from the Vatican and Mother Teresa.

Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier was briefly detained and charged in Haiti following his return from a 25-year exile. Â He has been charged with corruption, theft and misappropriation of funds and is believed to have stolen close to $ 1 billion and condemed Haitians to decades of crippling poverty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Missionary_Position

http://www.truthseekersvideo.com/articles/catholics.php

Around the Web: Remembering Christopher Hitchens


Christopher Hitchens 
Christopher Hitchens -- a critic, author, journalist and habitual slayer of sacred cows -- died Thursday at the age of 62 from cancer. Hitchens' polarizing presence in public debate has spurred a cascade of tributes around the web.
author, essayist and polemicist who waged verbal and occasional physical battle on behalf of causes left and right
Eloquent and intemperate, bawdy and urbane
Hitchens was an acknowledged contrarian and contradiction — half-Christian, half-Jewish and fully non-believing; a native of England who settled in America; a former Trotskyite who backed the Iraq war and supported George W. Bush. But his passions remained constant and targets of his youth, from Henry Kissinger to Mother Teresa, remained hated.
Freedom Rider: Christopher Hitchens, White Man   Hitchens made it clear that he was not at all put off by the genocide of Indians and enslavement of Africans. As he put it, "1492 was a very good year and deserves to be celebrated with great vim and gusto." According to him, the coming of the European and the barbarity which ensued is just the way things happen, and in fact all for the betterment of humankind.

 don't forget Hitchens' love of war



He was a militant humanist who believed in pluralism and racial justice and freedom of speech, big cities and fine art and the willingness to stand the consequences.

But those who view the history of North America as a narrative of genocide and slavery are, it seems to me, hopelessly stuck on this reactionary position. They can think of the Western expansion of the United States only in terms of plague blankets, bootleg booze and dead buffalo, never in terms of the medicine chest, the wheel and the railway . . . But it does happen to be the way that history is made, and to complain about it is as empty as complaint about climatic, geological or tectonic shift.”

Slate



Reasons to Love New York

We are a city that rains prosperity down on the whole country, exporting everything from war heroes to canny socialites to great filmmakers rediscovering their top form. We offer hot dates, hot waiters, hot bands, and hot neighbors. We are the base of more political mojo than any state in the nation and of an angry guy who is single-handedly holding up one of the biggest real-estate projects in the city’s history. Plus we hold fast to the faith that our drinking water tastes better than everyone else’s, even though that is almost certainly not true. But if all that is just a little too hard-core for you, wake up early tomorrow morning and walk the streets at dawn. At that hour, the city belongs neither to the corporate machers who run the town nor even to the hardworking millions who sustain it. It belongs simply to you.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

YouTube launches schools-friendly video service

YouTube launches schools-friendly video service

Enter YouTube For Schools. YouTube just launched this video service, which encourages schools to curate YouTube educational videos for the classroom. Teachers and administrators can pick and choose from clips from college courses, big thinker lectures, and other videos geared towards getting kids to learn. A neat idea that YouTube incorporated: all the videos are posted without comments and without recommended videos.

Among the content are videos produced by the likes of MIT and the popular TED talks.

LearnZillion

LearnZillion

The video is on a website called LearnZillion. It has hundreds of free, five-minute math lessons, for grades three to nine. A voice -- that young-sounding teacher you just heard -- explains how to solve problems as illustrations appear on a whiteboard.

Regulating Fannie and Freddie: Empire Wealth



Regulating Fannie and Freddie

On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged the former CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for their role in the subprime mortgage scandal. They're accused of intentionally understating how exposed Fannie and Freddie were to mortgages we now know were bound to go bad. Those losses led to the government takeover of Fannie and Freddie and a call for more regulation of the financial industry.

But commentator and business historian John Steele Gordon says there's still unanswered questions.

Fannie and Freddie were, in theory, independent corporations. They were listed on the New York Stock Exchange. But real corporations can go broke -- just ask the stockholders of Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns -- but everyone knew that the government in the last resort would stand behind these government sponsored enterprises. And it did.

Yearup New York City

yearup

OUR MISSION
Year Up's mission is to close the Opportunity Divide by providing urban young adults with the skills, experience, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through professional careers and higher education.

We achieve this mission through a high support, high expectation model that combines marketable job skills, stipends, internships and college credits. Our holistic approach focuses on students' professional and personal development to place these young adults on a viable path to economic self-sufficiency.

Year Up currently serves more than 1,000 students a year at sites in Atlanta, Baltimore*, Boston, Chicago, Providence, Puget Sound, New York City, San Francisco Bay Area and National Capital Region

Monday, December 19, 2011

Daniel Kahneman: Beware the ‘inside view’

In an excerpt from his new book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, the Nobel laureate recalls how an inwardly focused forecasting approach once led him astray, and why an external perspective can help executives do better.

In the 1970s, I convinced some officials in the Israeli Ministry of Education of the need for a curriculum to teach judgment and decision making in high schools.

10 Questions for Daniel Kahneman
About the Author
Daniel Kahneman is professor emeritus of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He was awarded the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his seminal work in prospect theory, which challenges the rational model of judgment and decision making. This article is an edited excerpt from his new book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (US), Doubleday (Canada), and Allen Lane (UK). Copyright © 2011 by Daniel Kahneman. All rights reserved.

 

Principles of Biology, an Interactive Textbook by Nature Education

Principles of Biology, an Interactive Textbook by Nature Education

Born Digital

As the first major textbook designed specifically for the digital world, Principles of Biology takes full advantage of the many benefits of the digital medium.

Born Digital
  • Integrated Learning Each module integrates text, high quality figures, interactive exercises, simulations, video, and assessments into a single, rich flow of learning for the student.
  • Customization Instructors can easily customize Principles of Biology by rearranging or deleting any of the 200 modules, adding their own material, and turning on and off particular sections within the modules.
  • Anytime, Everywhere Access All content in Principles of Biology is fully accessible on desktop and laptop computers, mobile phones, and tablet computers, ensuring that you and your students can take advantage of the material wherever you are.
  • Real-time Gradebook Each of the 200 modules in Principles of Biology concludes with a multiple-choice online test of key concepts covered. The results from this test feed automatically into a gradebook, allowing instructors to track how their class as a whole is grasping the material . . . down the level of individual questions and learning objectives.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Demos

A multi-issue national organization, Demos combines research, policy development and advocacy to influence public debate and catalyze change. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in New York City, Demos works with advocates and policymakers around the country in pursuit of three overarching goals:
  • A more equitable economy with opportunity for all;
  • A robust democracy in which all Americans are empowered to participate;
  • A strong public sector that can provide for our common interests and shared needs.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers : NACE Salary Calculator for Colleges

NACE Salary Calculator and Compensation Data Center

Give your students and employers access to current, accurate salary data through the NACE Salary Calculator—at no cost to you or your students.

NACE Salary Calculator & Salary Data Resources

Tools You Can Use

Create a New Rubric

Create a New Rubric

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

10 of the best apps for education

10 of the best apps for education

As iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches become included in curriculum, here are several education apps you might enjoy.


Name: Molecules Best for: Science Classes
Cost: Free
Features: Allows users to view and manipulate three-dimensional models of different molecules
How to Use: Visual learners can see how protein molecules are composed and can download new molecules from the RCSB


Android for Academics
edutecher
http://www.steppingstonestogether.com

 e Skills Learning e Skills Learning was founded to develop and publish instructional materials using the latest in mobile technology that will challenge and motivate students. With over 30 years of experience in traditional educational publishing, the staff at e Skills Learning™ have an experienced understanding of carefully developing materials that align with the new Common Core Standards, meet state testing standards, correlate with core curriculum and achieve successful learner outcomes.

By 21 years of age, Digital Natives have spent an estimated 20,000 hours watching TV; 10,000 hours playing video games; 10,000 talking on cell phones; watched more than 500,000 commercials; sent more that 250,000 emails and texts; and spent a mere 5,000 (often less) hours reading! (Prensky; 2001)

KONGOROO - The Best of the Web, For Kids

Kongoroo

Are you looking for a safe place on-line for your children or students to explore? Then you should try Kongoroo!
Kongoroo is your child's free ticket to all that's exciting on the web.


Kongoroo is made of parents working together. We scour the web for the best and most interesting sites, and together we make a gigantic, amazing place that kids can visit and safely explore.

Get the all new FREE eduTecher App Today!

Get the all new FREE eduTecher App Today!




DONTCLICK.IT

DONTCLICK.IT

A cool experiment in whether clicks are necessary or not, dontclick.it toys with the notion that clicking is outdated and unnecessary. The site design is innovative and fun, even if it doesn't accomplish much.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Distilling the Wisdom of C.E.O.’s

Interviews  conducted with more than 70 chief executives and other leaders for Corner Office in The New York Times point to five essentials for success — qualities that most of those C.E.O.’s share and look for in people they hire.        by Adam Bryant, author of the weekly “Corner Office” column in The New York Times. The book, published Tuesday by Times Books, analyzes the broader lessons that emerge from his interviews with more than 70 leaders.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The Role of Mobile Apps

iPad Apps for Remembering: Part One of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy

" ...we live in an age of "too much information" where facts are readily available on the mobile devices carried in our pockets. Knowledge is now accessible with just a swift swipe of a finger. The level of immediacy that mobile technology offers is changing the landscape of the classroom and the skill set of the future workforce. More than ever, we need a nation of critical thinkers, able to successfully navigate the growing complexities of our world, and not just be proficient at recalling memorized information or using rote skills."

It is Benjamin Bloom's belief that the entry point to learning is the acquisition of knowledge.

Educators sensitive to these changing needs are embracing the cognitive domain of Bloom's Taxonomy as revised by Lorin Anderson and David Krathwohl. Its clear hierarchy and delineation of learning processes provide invaluable steps necessary for guiding curriculum towards developing higher order thinking.

Remembering

Apps that fit into the "remembering" stage improve the user's ability to define terms, identify facts, and recall and locate information. Verbs commonly used to describe this phase include naming; finding, labeling, listing, selecting, retaining, naming, retrieving, recognizing, registering or realizing. Many educational apps fall into the "remembering" phase of learning. They ask users to select an answer out of a line-up, find matches, and sequence content or input answers.

Criteria

When locating these "remembering" apps, consider the following questions.

Does the app help the user:
  • Define information?
  • Name facts?
  • Recite information?
  • List facts or details?
  • Recall facts or ideas?
  • Locate facts or ideas?
  • Retrieve information?
  • Describe information?
  • Recognize facts or ideas in context?
Cognitive Processes

    Google Apps and Tools meet Bloom's Revised Taxonomy: Bloomin' Google

    Google Apps and Tools meet Bloom's Revised Taxonomy



    Yet, we live in an age of "too much information" where facts are readily available on the mobile devices carried in our pockets. Knowledge is now accessible with just a swift swipe of a finger. The level of immediacy that mobile technology offers is changing the landscape of the classroom and the skill set of the future workforce. More than ever, we need a nation of critical thinkers, able to successfully navigate the growing complexities of our world, and not just be proficient at recalling memorized information or using rote skills.

     Bloom's Taxonomy as revised by Lorin Anderson and David Krathwoh





    Kathy Shrock's "Google Tools to Support Bloom's Revised Taxomy"

    Monday, December 5, 2011

    Lives At War - Play Online

    Lives At War - Play Online


    At this event we unveil our new online game made for young people. The game animates the dramatic history of Brighton during World War II, bringing the past vividly to life, and putting you in the centre of the story! We are proud to be launching Lives at War at Brighton Digital Festival (September 2011).

    Lives at War

    Lives at War from Corporation Pop on Vimeo.

    Saturday, December 3, 2011

    QuiBids : How To Buy New Must-Have Products For Next To Nothing | How Life Works

    How To Buy New Must-Have Products For Next To Nothing How Life Works

    The company is called QuiBids and they auction the hottest, most in-demand electronics like Apple iPads and iPods, MAC and PC notebooks, HDTV’s as well as other items like gift cards from the top retailers. Like other online retailers, everything they sell is brand new with manufacturer’s warrantees. But, unlike other sites, the prices people pay are nowhere near retail.