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Diplomatic Reality: As In Egypt, U.S. Often Relies On 'Useful Autocrats'

The Two-Way: Diplomatic Reality

US Often Relies on Useful Autocrats

National Public Radio®. Heard on All Things Considered (Transcript)

Guest: Mr. Joshua Keating (Associate Editor, Foreign Policy Magazine)
"And the interesting thing now is how the sort of old logic of supporting anti-communist authoritarian regimes has been replaced by supporting regimes in places like, say, Ethiopia, who are providing support to us in the name of counterterrorism efforts."

"So, you know, in this delicate balancing game of U.S. foreign policy, often it's necessary to make alliances with autocratic regimes. The problem is, as we're seeing in Egypt, that these guys don't last forever. And often, when they face major challenges to their influence, the people on the streets remember who's been supporting these governments and providing them with weapons for years and years."

"And I think that, you know, if you look at especially the Cold War experience, that many of these regimes that we supported - look at Iran, for instance. For years, the U.S. was supporting the shah's regime and in 1953, the CIA even backed a coup against a democratically elected leftist government there."

Haiti and Social Media

Most New York Students Are Not College-Ready

By SHARON OTTERMAN

Published: February 7, 2011

Most New York Students Are Not College-Ready
New York State education officials released a new set of graduation statistics on Monday that show less than half of students in the state are leaving high school prepared for college and well-paying careers.

 Related
community colleges
charter schools
standardized tests for third through eighth graders


The Board of Regents, which sets the state’s education policies, met on Monday to begin discussing what to do with this data, and will most likely issue a decision in March. One option is to make schools and districts place an asterisk next to the current graduation rate, or have them report both the current graduation rate and the college ready rate, said Merryl H. Tisch, the chancellor of the Board of Regents.


But New York City is still doing better than the state’s other large urban districts. In Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers, less than 17 percent of students met the proposed standards, including just 5 percent in Rochester.

The data also cast new doubt on the ability of charter schools to outperform their traditional school peers. Statewide, only 10 percent of students at charters graduated in 2009 at college-ready standards, though 49 percent received diplomas. The state has not yet calculated results for every district and school.


But the political will to acknowledge openly the chasm between graduation requirements and college or job needs is new, Dr. Tisch; David M. Steiner, the state education commissioner; and John King, the deputy state education commissioner, said in interviews last week.


While it has not gone so far as to calculate an alternative to graduation rates, the city has already begun tracking how each high school’s students fare in college, and in 2012 it will begin holding principals accountable for it. “Last year, well before the state announced this plan, we told schools we would begin including robust college readiness metrics in school progress reports,” said Shael Polakow-Suransky, the chief academic officer.

A Spoonful of Sugar – and Then Some - WNYC

A Spoonful of Sugar – and Then Some- WNYC

A Spoonful of Sugar – and Then Some. ... A new publicservice ad by the city Health Department shows that drinking just a ... The students take that empty cup and transfer the correct amount of sugar into it ... Still, this school is in a neighborhood with some of the highest obesity and ...

Untangling Hip-Hop for the Classroom

Untangling Hip-Hop for the Classroom

But the 1990s also presented challenges for hip-hop and education. Hip-hop matured. It was no longer a passing fad, like break dancing; it actually had chart-topping and moneymaking potential. Many argued that this changed the messages communicated in the music. Regional trends developed—gangsta rap, East Coast, West Coast, and Dirty South—and the voices were not always unified. Some may remember the East Coast-vs.-West Coast rivalry and the violence it sparked, most infamously with the deaths of Notorious B.I.G. and Tupak Shakur. The music was changing, experiencing some growing pains. The challenge was for hip-hop to maintain its authenticity, stay true to its roots, and avoid commercialization while exploring new musical horizons, reaching different audiences, and expanding beyond the musical expression to a cultural expression.


As a teacher, I had to take extra time to reach and understand my students. I needed a healthy understanding of what hip-hop meant in their lives because, for most, it was what they listened to, saw on music videos, and discussed in their peer groups. By making attempts to understand their world, I was able to make education more relevant to their lives. As a history teacher, I made the effort to foster connections between Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders volunteer cavalry and hip-hop’s Ruff Ryders record label. Hip-hop allowed me to build relationships with my students, to further their learning.


In the recent book Cultural Collision and Collusion: Reflections on Hip-Hop Culture, Values, and Schools, my coauthor Carlos R. McCray, an associate professor at Fordham University, and I said this about the power of music: “Music is indeed a form of entertainment and artistic expression. At the same time, it has meant so much more to African-Americans (as well as other groups). In all historical periods, the music is trying to tell us something. Encoded in the music are strife, distress, and powerful emotion. The music can also contain joy, peace, contentment, jubilation, and hope. This is the magic of music, to be able to take listeners on a journey to places they may have never imagined, or to give the listener an in-depth look into the soul of the person or persons making the music. This is the essence of the African-American experience; the highs and lows, the good and the gloom, the realization of the American dream in the midst of the American nightmare.”

Gamification Encyclopedia | Game Mechanics Resource | Gamification.org

Gamification Encyclopedia | Game Mechanics Resource | Gamification.org

Gamification is the concept that you can apply the basic elements that make games fun and engaging to things that typically aren't considered a game. In theory you can apply Game Design to almost anything including Education, Health, Workand more. See Gamification by Industry.

Your Brain On 3D Learning: The eLearning Coach

Your Brain On 3D Learning: The eLearning Coach

Resources:
Buy Learning in 3D from Wiley:
Learning in 3D Site: Go to the book website to learn more.
Slideshare Presentation: Learning in 3D Thought Leader webinar.
Karl Kapp’s Resources: Good list of resources for 3DLE.
Tony O’Driscoll’s Nuggets: Get nuggets from the book here.
Buy from Amazon: Learning in 3D.