Digital World is Exploding

Get past the advert and there are five-and-a-half minutes of amazing numbers. Then a bit more adverting and a great discussion by Khan on the future of education, tomorrow’s classrooms, the importance of self-directed education.

I wish they wouldn’t throw in their sales blurb so often.

Sunburst Digital – Inspiring Videos on Tranforming Education from Sunburst on Vimeo.

Credits to respective copyright holders.

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Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and author of two technology training books for middle school. She wrote Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a tech columnist for Examiner.com, Editorial Review Board member for ISTE’s Journal for Computing Teachers, IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything. Currently, she’s editing a thriller for her agent that should be be out to publishers this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.

Google Science Fair–Win a College Scholarship

Enter Google's second annual science fair by April 1, 2012 and win a $50k college scholarship--just for doing what you do best

32 Science Websites for Fifth Graders

This list covers all sorts of science from nature to geology. Like with the math websites, for my

students, occasionally I put a list on the internet start page and let students go there during sponge time (click the link and see what’s up this month, so close to the end of the school year):

1. Breathing earth–the environment
2. Dynamic Earth–interactive
3. Earth Science Digital Library
4. Electric Circuits Game
5. Forest Life
6. Forests
7. Geologic history
8. Geologic movies–great and fun
9. Human Body Games
10. Moon around
11. Moon—We Choose the Moon
12. Nature—explore it
13. Ocean Currents–video
14. Ocean Videos
15. Ocean Waves–video
16. Ology Sites
17. Periodic Table of Videos
18. Planet in Action via Google Earth
19. Satellite Fly-bys–by zip code
20. Science games
21. Science Games II
22. Science Games—Bitesize
23. Science Stuff
24. Smithsonian Museum
25. Solar System Video
26. Solar System in 3D
27. Stardate Online
28. Virtual tour (with pictures) of a zoo
29. Virtual tours
30. Volcano Adventure
31. Water Cycle
32. Wonderville

What Does Courageous Learning Look Like in a Science Class?

A survey of high school science teachers responded to the question: “What does courageous learning look like in science?” Here are the surprising results:

What Does Courageous Learning Sound Like?

Sunday Stats: What College Has the Most Medal of Honor Winners?

The answer will surprise you: It’s Harvard. More than any college other than a Military Academy.

Go Harvard!

Sunday Stats: Science Jobs

The average salary for Physical science post-doc graduates who worked in academia in 2006 was $40,000. Those who entered non-academic employment were paid on average $55,000. I won’t pass judgment. Too many factors other than money that compensates an individual in the job market.

Sunday Stats: Smart Is Positively Correlated to Healthy

The Washington Post reports, a new study indicates that mothers with better education typically have healthier kids.

Sunday Stats: We the People Consider Ourselves Better Informed

A democracy depends upon its people to be informed about the issues, willing to seek out answers and participate in the process of government, of elections. According to Rasmussen Reports, 67% say they are better informed than ten years ago.

Book Review: The Worlds of a Maasai Warrior

The Worlds of a Maasai Warrior: An Autobiography

by Tepilit Ole Saitoti

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read Tepilit Ole Saitoti’s The Worlds of a Maasai Warrior because I was so impressed with several books I read on the life of pygmies. The Maasai is another proud race that is disappearing, trampled by the march of so-called civilization. How other people live in the arms of nature while I’m snug and hidden in my man-made home with my store-bought food amazes me.

What About Our Kids Endangered Minds

Endangered Minds: Why Children Don’t Think And What We Can Do About It

by Jane M. Healy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I discovered Dr. Jane Healy’s 1987 book, Endangered Minds, researching a novel I was writing on early man. I wanted to better understand what parts of our brain show significant evolution since our species appeared (like the increasing size of the frontal lobe, and the evolution of the Wernecke and Broca areas). I admit, part of it was also I was a new mother and there are so many competing opinions about when kids should read, write, what they should learn when, I didn’t want to make a mistake and mess up my kids.

Did the Administration Act ‘Arbitrarily and Capriciously’?

According to a Louisiana District Court ruling, the Administration can’t prove that whatever caused the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is likely to cause another. The ruling handed down June 22, 2010 contends that the fact that one oil well collapsed doesn’t mean others will, as much as the fact that Toyota’s brakes failed doesn’t mean we must now recall Fords and Chevys (I know–I’m supposed to call them Chevrolets, but I’m too ornery).

How do I know this? I didn’t read news reports from MSM or the Other guys. Instead, I went to the primary source–I read the the court ruling that overturned the Admin ban on all offshore drilling over 500 feet. President Obama wanted time to figure out what caused BP’s problems. The court said, do it without shutting down other drilling.

The reasons the court cited are:

Sunday Stats: Does Homeschooling Work?

According to a study conducted by Dr. Lawrence Rudner, Homeschooled Children Continue Outperforming Their Public School Counterparts as Homeschooling Increases in Popularity

How Star Trek Changed the World

Finally, trekkies are validated. Even NASA admits that the futuristic musings of Star Trek’s writers provided a blue print for today’s inventions, something we fans have known from the beginning. What’s not to believe about:

• phasers
• transporters
• photon torpedoes
• universal translators
• communicators
• deflector beams
• tractor beams
• hyposprays

Look at this:

Sunday Stats: More About the Stupidity of Americans

Once more, it’s our fault–Everyman–that we don’t get what the politicians are trying to say. I’m pretty tired of being called stupid, uninformed, misguided. If I’m too stupid–despite being in the top 3% of education level for Americans–where’s that leave our politicians, who aren’t even required to have a Bachelors to run for Congress?

A pox on all their houses:

(I know I know–this is from 1999. It still makes me mad)

79% – Missing the Point Entirely

Sunday Stats: Do Americans Read

I’m in the 12.9% that reads 10+ hours a week. There’s never anything good on TV…

Where are you?

Thanks to Verso Digital

Robots Replace Teachers–Say it Ain’t So!

Don’t worry too much yet. This article is talking about robots to teach English in Korea–not all classes. It’s a peek into the future of an already beleaguered industry. America is reamed constantly by international and national academicians for our inability to compete globally on knowledge tests. (Here’re my reasons for not stressing over our dismal showing). I don’t know if blaming robots would be any better. 

Sunday Stats: Turn Numbers into Pictures

Here’s your site for all things number pictures:

Which Countries Have the Most Exposure to Science?

US is highest; Central Africa the lowest

Future Leaders Dismiss Columbus Day–My Response: Get a Life

A colleague at Brown University sent this story to me. It relays how colleges and universities seem to be losing site of their goal: to educate future American citizens. Why is renaming Columbus Day as Fall Weekend a critical educational move?  They claim that Columbus was tied to the enslavement and abuse of native inhabitants of the West Indies. Since when is it an acceptable standard in American academia to ignore history instead of use its errors to educate?

Grad Students–You’ll Love This

Click to enlarge