Education historian Diane Ravitch served as Assistant Secretary of Education under George H.W. Bush. She later advocated No Child Left Behind's strict testing standards and expansion of charter schools. But, Ravitch now says those initiatives have failed, and the real enemy of schools is poverty. Professor Ravitch talks to host Michel Martin.
MARTIN: ...the argument is that, in the absence of a testing regimen, a comprehensive testing regimen, there really isn't any incentive for the schools to demonstrate that kids are learning, especially in areas where the parents aren't strong advocates for themselves for whatever reason, or for their kids for whatever reason. How do you respond to that?
RAVITCH: Well, actually, Michel, that is wrong. I was going to say it's nonsensical. Testing does not close achievement gaps. Testing just shows that there are gaps, but then you have to do something about it. Testing should be used diagnostically. It should not be used the way we're using it today. It's being used to punish teachers, to close schools and to do all sorts of high stake things like merit pay and basing teachers' evaluation on testing, and that's wrong.
Transcript
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Microsoft's Surface Tablet:Summary: Surface Hardware and Software
Summary: Surface Windows RT Hardware and Software by Mark Minasi
"The Surface hardware is an impressive tablet in many ways and a worthy competitor to the iPad. Surface's pathbreaking keyboard cover, numerous easy options for add-on storage, superior wireless networking and USB port will make iPad owners jealous, at least until they see that the Surface inexplicably lacks 3G or 4G, although honestly given no shortage of small, easily-portable, inexpensive hotspots, that may not be the dealbreaker that it seems at first glance. Having to buy overpriced cables for video and having to deal with a lame magnetic power connector are negatives but not significant ones." "Windows RT is horribly lacking in available applications at the moment, but Microsoft includes Office 2013’s Word, PowerPoint and Excel in every copy of RT. RT Office is almost good enough to make up for the lack of apps, but it lacks Outlook. Instead, you get some weak contacts / email / calendar tools, and no syncing of your Outlook notes. Many people will, however, overlook that annoyance because the Surface includes a version of Internet Explorer that lets you visit Flash sites, if puzzlingly not Silverlight sites. Overall, I like the Surface quite a bit, but it hasn't entirely replaced my iPad yet — for now, they're cohabitating in my bag" "The Surface's operating system software — Windows RT — is solid in a way that the iPad is not and surprisingly replete with drivers." "The Surface turns out to be a visually pleasing, light and useful tablet, but with a cover that doubles as a quite functional keyboard and what may be the first touchpad that hasn’t raised my blood pressure. Why a touchpad? As you'll read later, RT has two very different desktops, the "runs old Windows apps" Desktop and the "runs new tablet apps" Start Screen. The Start Screen's great with big fat human fingers, but the old Desktop still needs you to click little check boxes, small text fields, and tiny "close" icons. The 3G broadband hardware: It ain’t there. Just Wi-Fi. This is by far the biggest screwup hardware-wise in the Surface, no questions about it and maybe a fatal screwup..." Wireless: Yeah, I’m bugged that there’s no 3G/4G. But the wireless is pretty good, I have to say. Recently I was just sitting in an airport restaurant and thought I might just indulge myself and get an Internet connection for the hour I’d be waiting (I hadn't gotten the hotspot yet), so I clicked the Settings charm and found several hotspots, but none more than a bar. Bummer, I thought, I bet the iPad would have done better, so I pulled it out, sat it next to the Surface, and …
Nothing.
It couldn’t see a single hotspot. I had seven on the Surface, zero on the iPad. Later, on the plane... Surface saw five networks, the iPad saw two. When I got to my hotel, I tried again and the iPad saw two, the Surface saw nine. Nice antenna. (It’s a “MIMO” or something like that, and I have idea what that means, nor do I care, but I will certainly be looking for it in the future.)
Encryption: RT also has Bitlocker, the drive encryption tool that makes it tougher for bad guys to extract data from a stolen or lost tablet. Even better, it's on by default -- my C: is encrypted. The iPad has nothing like that, but on the other hand the iPad has that wonderful free "find my iPad" feature. I'd sooo like to see that for the Surface.
the Surface is "the writer’s tablet."
Mark Minasi
"The Surface hardware is an impressive tablet in many ways and a worthy competitor to the iPad. Surface's pathbreaking keyboard cover, numerous easy options for add-on storage, superior wireless networking and USB port will make iPad owners jealous, at least until they see that the Surface inexplicably lacks 3G or 4G, although honestly given no shortage of small, easily-portable, inexpensive hotspots, that may not be the dealbreaker that it seems at first glance. Having to buy overpriced cables for video and having to deal with a lame magnetic power connector are negatives but not significant ones." "Windows RT is horribly lacking in available applications at the moment, but Microsoft includes Office 2013’s Word, PowerPoint and Excel in every copy of RT. RT Office is almost good enough to make up for the lack of apps, but it lacks Outlook. Instead, you get some weak contacts / email / calendar tools, and no syncing of your Outlook notes. Many people will, however, overlook that annoyance because the Surface includes a version of Internet Explorer that lets you visit Flash sites, if puzzlingly not Silverlight sites. Overall, I like the Surface quite a bit, but it hasn't entirely replaced my iPad yet — for now, they're cohabitating in my bag" "The Surface's operating system software — Windows RT — is solid in a way that the iPad is not and surprisingly replete with drivers." "The Surface turns out to be a visually pleasing, light and useful tablet, but with a cover that doubles as a quite functional keyboard and what may be the first touchpad that hasn’t raised my blood pressure. Why a touchpad? As you'll read later, RT has two very different desktops, the "runs old Windows apps" Desktop and the "runs new tablet apps" Start Screen. The Start Screen's great with big fat human fingers, but the old Desktop still needs you to click little check boxes, small text fields, and tiny "close" icons. The 3G broadband hardware: It ain’t there. Just Wi-Fi. This is by far the biggest screwup hardware-wise in the Surface, no questions about it and maybe a fatal screwup..." Wireless: Yeah, I’m bugged that there’s no 3G/4G. But the wireless is pretty good, I have to say. Recently I was just sitting in an airport restaurant and thought I might just indulge myself and get an Internet connection for the hour I’d be waiting (I hadn't gotten the hotspot yet), so I clicked the Settings charm and found several hotspots, but none more than a bar. Bummer, I thought, I bet the iPad would have done better, so I pulled it out, sat it next to the Surface, and …
Nothing.
It couldn’t see a single hotspot. I had seven on the Surface, zero on the iPad. Later, on the plane... Surface saw five networks, the iPad saw two. When I got to my hotel, I tried again and the iPad saw two, the Surface saw nine. Nice antenna. (It’s a “MIMO” or something like that, and I have idea what that means, nor do I care, but I will certainly be looking for it in the future.)
Encryption: RT also has Bitlocker, the drive encryption tool that makes it tougher for bad guys to extract data from a stolen or lost tablet. Even better, it's on by default -- my C: is encrypted. The iPad has nothing like that, but on the other hand the iPad has that wonderful free "find my iPad" feature. I'd sooo like to see that for the Surface.
the Surface is "the writer’s tablet."
Mark Minasi
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Ray Kurzweil: The Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence
How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed
The Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence
One of the eminent AI pioneers, Ray Kurzweil, has created a new book to explain the true nature of intelligence, both biological and non-biological. The book describes the human brain as a machine that can understand hierarchical concepts ranging from the form of a chair to the nature of humor. His important insights emphasize the key role of learning both in the brain and AI. He provides a credible roadmap for achieving the goal of super human intelligence which will be necessary to solve the grand challenges of humanity."
Kurzweil’s new book on the mind is magnificent, timely, and solidly argued!! His best so far!" – MARVIN MINSKY,
MIT Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, Cofounder of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab, widely regarded as the "father of artificial intelligence."
Kurzweil’s book is a shining example of his prodigious ability to synthesize ideas from disparate domains and explain them to readers in simple, elegant language. Just like Chanute’s Progress in Flying Machines ushered in the era of aviation over a century ago, this book is the harbinger of the coming revolution in artificial intelligence that will fulfill Kurzweil’s own prophecies about it." - Dileep George,
AI scientist, pioneer of hierarchical models of the neocortex, Co-Founder of Numenta and Vicarious Systems.
One of the eminent AI pioneers, Ray Kurzweil, has created a new book to explain the true nature of intelligence, both biological and non-biological. The book describes the human brain as a machine that can understand hierarchical concepts ranging from the form of a chair to the nature of humor. His important insights emphasize the key role of learning both in the brain and AI. He provides a credible roadmap for achieving the goal of super human intelligence which will be necessary to solve the grand challenges of humanity." – RAJ REDDY,Founding director, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, recipient of the Turing Award from the Association for Computing Machinery.
…Ray's new book is a clear and compelling overview of the progress, especially in learning, that is enabling this revolution in the technologies of intelligence. It also offers important insights into a future in which we will begin solving what I believe is the greatest problem in science and technology today: the problem of how the brain works and of how it generates intelligence." – Tomaso Poggio
It is rare to find a book that offers unique and inspiring content on every page. How to Create a Mind achieves that and more. Ray has a way of tackling seemingly overwhelming challenges with an army of reason, in the end convincing the reader that it is within our reach to create nonbiological intelligence that will soar past our own. This is a visionary work that is also accessible and entertaining." – RAFAEL REIF,
President of MIT, MIT Maseeh Professor of Emerging Technology, former MIT Provost, former department head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), MIT’s largest academic department.
If you have ever wondered about how your mind works, read this book. Kurzweil’s insights reveal key secrets underlying human thought and our ability to recreate it. This is an eloquent and thought-provoking work." – DEAN KAMEN,
Physicist and inventor of the first wearable insulin pump, the HomeChoice portable dialysis machine, and the IBOT mobility system, and founder of FIRST; recipient of the National Medal of Technology.
The Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence
One of the eminent AI pioneers, Ray Kurzweil, has created a new book to explain the true nature of intelligence, both biological and non-biological. The book describes the human brain as a machine that can understand hierarchical concepts ranging from the form of a chair to the nature of humor. His important insights emphasize the key role of learning both in the brain and AI. He provides a credible roadmap for achieving the goal of super human intelligence which will be necessary to solve the grand challenges of humanity."
Kurzweil’s new book on the mind is magnificent, timely, and solidly argued!! His best so far!" – MARVIN MINSKY,
MIT Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, Cofounder of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab, widely regarded as the "father of artificial intelligence."
Kurzweil’s book is a shining example of his prodigious ability to synthesize ideas from disparate domains and explain them to readers in simple, elegant language. Just like Chanute’s Progress in Flying Machines ushered in the era of aviation over a century ago, this book is the harbinger of the coming revolution in artificial intelligence that will fulfill Kurzweil’s own prophecies about it." - Dileep George,
AI scientist, pioneer of hierarchical models of the neocortex, Co-Founder of Numenta and Vicarious Systems.
One of the eminent AI pioneers, Ray Kurzweil, has created a new book to explain the true nature of intelligence, both biological and non-biological. The book describes the human brain as a machine that can understand hierarchical concepts ranging from the form of a chair to the nature of humor. His important insights emphasize the key role of learning both in the brain and AI. He provides a credible roadmap for achieving the goal of super human intelligence which will be necessary to solve the grand challenges of humanity." – RAJ REDDY,Founding director, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, recipient of the Turing Award from the Association for Computing Machinery.
…Ray's new book is a clear and compelling overview of the progress, especially in learning, that is enabling this revolution in the technologies of intelligence. It also offers important insights into a future in which we will begin solving what I believe is the greatest problem in science and technology today: the problem of how the brain works and of how it generates intelligence." – Tomaso Poggio
It is rare to find a book that offers unique and inspiring content on every page. How to Create a Mind achieves that and more. Ray has a way of tackling seemingly overwhelming challenges with an army of reason, in the end convincing the reader that it is within our reach to create nonbiological intelligence that will soar past our own. This is a visionary work that is also accessible and entertaining." – RAFAEL REIF,
President of MIT, MIT Maseeh Professor of Emerging Technology, former MIT Provost, former department head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), MIT’s largest academic department.
If you have ever wondered about how your mind works, read this book. Kurzweil’s insights reveal key secrets underlying human thought and our ability to recreate it. This is an eloquent and thought-provoking work." – DEAN KAMEN,
Physicist and inventor of the first wearable insulin pump, the HomeChoice portable dialysis machine, and the IBOT mobility system, and founder of FIRST; recipient of the National Medal of Technology.
The Real Nat Turner By Dr. Molefi Kete Asante
Nat Turner's slave rebellion which occurred in 1831 in Virginia for the only sign of that rebellion that occurred for about two centuries was something called Blackhead Signpost Road, which was a street sign that existed not far from where the original rebellion was because it was a marker where a slave's severed skull had been placed at the head of a road by local whites as a warning to other slaves.
Slave Rebellions
Monday, November 19, 2012
"doom soul/gothic gospel”
When the Canadian singer-songwriter who performs as Al Spx had to categorize her music, she made up a new genre: “doom soul/gothic gospel.” Cold Specks, the band she put together, released its debut album I Predict a Graceful Expulsion earlier this year.
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