tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30480772617106972762024-02-19T01:28:33.118-05:00Ratio StudiourmA blog dedicated to an intelligent engagement between traditional models of education and changes in pedagogy in the 21st century.David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.comBlogger371125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-35879511569519332652010-02-22T12:29:00.000-05:002010-02-22T12:29:26.501-05:00Emotions And Learning: Part I<a href="http://theelearningcoach.com/learning/emotions-and-learning-part-i/">Emotions And Learning: Part I</a>: "I’ve never done a formal survey, but I’m going to guess that the majority of online courses don’t have a strong emotional impact on their audience. This is true even though it’s been known for some time that appealing to the emotions is one of the keys to motivating people, attracting their attention and facilitating memory. <br /> I<br><br>Brought to you by: <a href="http://www.elearninglearning.com">eLearning Learning</a>"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-49796652619273087282010-02-11T09:33:00.000-05:002010-02-11T09:33:05.524-05:0010,000 Galaxies in 3D<a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OpenCulture/~3/ui571pCISlU/the_hubble_captures_10000_galaxies_in_hd.html">10,000 Galaxies in 3D</a>: "<p><span></span></p><br /><p>In 2004, the Hubble Space Telescope captured 10,000 galaxies in an image that’s now called the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Ultra_Deep_Field">Ultra Deep Field</a>. It’s our deepest look into the universe. The video above animates the Deep Field image and puts it into 3D. No need to read more. Just watch.</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.openculture.com/2010/02/the_hubble_captures_10000_galaxies_in_hd.html">10,000 Galaxies in 3D</a> is a post from: <a href="http://www.openculture.com">Open Culture</a>, the home of <a href="http://www.openculture.com/2006/10/audio_book_podc.html">Free Audio Books</a>, <a href="http://www.openculture.com/2007/07/freeonlinecourses.html">Free Courses</a>, <a href="http://www.openculture.com/2009/11/free_movies_online.html">Free Movies</a>, <a href="http://www.openculture.com/2006/10/foreign_languag.html">Free Foreign Language Lessons</a>, a <a href="http://bit.ly/opencultureapp">Free iPhone App</a> and other intelligent media!</p><br /><br /><br /><p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href="http://www.openculture.com/2009/07/the_open_culture_iphone_app.html" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: The Open Culture iPhone App">The Open Culture iPhone App</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.openculture.com/2009/04/when_galaxies_collide.html" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: When Galaxies Collide">When Galaxies Collide</a></li><br /></ol></p><p></p><div><br /><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OpenCulture?a=ui571pCISlU:xzWwyLMl2G0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OpenCulture?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OpenCulture?a=ui571pCISlU:xzWwyLMl2G0:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OpenCulture?i=ui571pCISlU:xzWwyLMl2G0:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OpenCulture?a=ui571pCISlU:xzWwyLMl2G0:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OpenCulture?i=ui571pCISlU:xzWwyLMl2G0:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OpenCulture?a=ui571pCISlU:xzWwyLMl2G0:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OpenCulture?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OpenCulture?a=ui571pCISlU:xzWwyLMl2G0:I9og5sOYxJI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OpenCulture?d=I9og5sOYxJI" border="0"></a><br /></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OpenCulture/~4/ui571pCISlU" height="1" width="1">"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-19632507757866102632010-02-08T11:42:00.000-05:002010-02-08T11:42:04.085-05:00Google Rebuilds the Tower of Babel with Real-Time Language Translation<a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/readwriteweb/~3/ANwPqjly7FQ/google_rebuilds_the_tower_of_babel_with_real-time.php">Google Rebuilds the Tower of Babel with Real-Time Language Translation</a>: "<p><img alt="googlelogo6.jpg" src="http://www.readwriteweb.com/images/googlelogo6.jpg" width="150" height="58" hspace="5px" vspace="5px">If our attempts at getting such simple information as bus schedules or account balances from automated voice recognition systems are any indication, then we imagine Google has a lot of work to do in its latest endeavor - real-time, spoken-language translation.</p><br /><br /><p>According to the <a href="http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/personal_tech/article7017831.ece">Times UK</a>, Google is working on developing software for a mobile phone that would translate what you were saying into the language of the speaker on the other end of the line and vice versa. </p><br /><p align="right"><em>Sponsor</em><br><a href="http://d.ads.readwriteweb.com/ck.php?n=18155&cb=18155"><img src="http://d.ads.readwriteweb.com/avw.php?zoneid=14&cb=18155&n=18155" border="0" alt=""></a></p><br /><br /><p>As you may have noticed, Google already has a hand in the translation business, with its web page translation service. <a href="http://translate.google.com/?hl=en#">Google Translate</a> currently translates between 52 languages, which includes a number of languages with completely different alphabets.</p><br /><br /><p>The Times UK spoke with Franz Och, head of Google's translation services, who said that this new service should be up and running and 'work reasonably well in a few years' time.'</p><br /><br /><p>'Everyone has a different voice, accent and pitch,' said Och. 'But recognition should be effective with mobile phones because by nature they are personal to you.'</p><br /><br /><p>Och is referring to the fact that the software would have the opportunity to learn your accent, dialect and general manner of speaking over time, becoming more accurate. But we can only imagine the difficulty of the task ahead, especially with languages such as Mandarin or Cantonese, which are tonally based. In Mandarin, for example, the word 'ma' can have four different meanings according to the tone used. If the speaker uses the first tone, a constant high pitch, then the word means 'mother'. If they use the third tone, a dropping then rising pitch, however, the meaning changes to 'horse'.</p><br /><br /><p>The fun doesn't stop there, the Times UK article points out, as handling the vast number of accents and dialects is also an immense task. Much like the web-based translation that Google does, though, the system would become more accurate over time, essentially learning from its experience. </p><br /><br /><p>We hope that one of the first things it learns is not to call our new Chinese friend's mother a horse.</p><br /><strong><a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_rebuilds_the_tower_of_babel_with_real-time.php#comments-open">Discuss</a></strong><p></p><div><br /><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/readwriteweb?a=ANwPqjly7FQ:1anJc3p9qyo:FFnlKYwJmN0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/readwriteweb?d=FFnlKYwJmN0" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/readwriteweb?a=ANwPqjly7FQ:1anJc3p9qyo:Ij26kaj3iuU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/readwriteweb?d=Ij26kaj3iuU" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/readwriteweb?a=ANwPqjly7FQ:1anJc3p9qyo:C2pbw5bZMiI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/readwriteweb?d=C2pbw5bZMiI" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/readwriteweb?a=ANwPqjly7FQ:1anJc3p9qyo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/readwriteweb?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/readwriteweb?a=ANwPqjly7FQ:1anJc3p9qyo:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/readwriteweb?i=ANwPqjly7FQ:1anJc3p9qyo:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/readwriteweb?a=ANwPqjly7FQ:1anJc3p9qyo:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/readwriteweb?i=ANwPqjly7FQ:1anJc3p9qyo:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/readwriteweb?a=ANwPqjly7FQ:1anJc3p9qyo:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/readwriteweb?i=ANwPqjly7FQ:1anJc3p9qyo:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/readwriteweb?a=ANwPqjly7FQ:1anJc3p9qyo:OqabYuBsmOY"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/readwriteweb?d=OqabYuBsmOY" border="0"></a><br /></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/readwriteweb/~4/ANwPqjly7FQ" height="1" width="1">"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-12293769012491891212010-02-08T07:15:00.000-05:002010-02-08T07:15:53.345-05:00Does slum tourism make us better people?<a href="http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/cUFWhwvlcNQ/100128142349.htm">Does slum tourism make us better people?</a>: "Slum tourism is a growth industry with more and more wealthy travelers opting to visit the poorest parts of the world. What is it that is prompting slum tourism? Is it a new trend? What impact does slum tourism have on the people who opt for this kind of ‘holiday’? Do they become better people as a result and does the experience prompt a call to action for social change?<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/~4/cUFWhwvlcNQ" height="1" width="1">"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-29083495869836935972010-02-08T06:51:00.000-05:002010-02-08T06:51:22.701-05:00Metric Map: Which Countries Don’t Belong With The Others?Let's just switch. No conversions. Just wake up one morning and we're metric. Get it over with!<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MatadorNetwork/~3/izN22zX6EQM/">Metric Map: Which Countries Don’t Belong With The Others?</a>: "<div><img src="http://matadornetwork.cachefly.net/matadorabroad.com/docs//wp-content/images/posts/20100203-metric.jpg"><br /><p>Map : <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.matadornights.com/">author</a></p><br /></div><br /><div>What sets the U.S apart from the rest of the world?</div><br /><p>The U.S. is one of only three nations in the world (the other two being Liberia and Burma) which clings to its outmoded system of measurement, failing to get on board with the rest of the world and use the metric system.</p><br /><p>We don’t even use the British Imperial system (that the British don’t even use anymore) – we use some bastard child of the Imperial system called <a rel="nofollow" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_customary_units">“the United States customary system.”</a> Ask any American how many ounces are in a gallon or feet are in a mile and you’re almost sure not to get a correct answer.</p><br /><p>What does this mean for you as an American? It means that when you travel you look like an idiot. When someone asks you for directions, you are suddenly at a loss, unable to estimate distance in kilometers. If one of your South American friends asks you how cold it is, you have no idea what to say. Is 30 degrees hot? Is it cold? </p><br /><p>There are <a rel="nofollow" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Communist_countries.PNG">more communist countries</a> than there are countries not using the metric system. Everyone else has come to the conclusion that it just makes for sense to use the system everyone else in the world is using in which all units are divisible by ten.</p><br /><p>Just try to pass the right wrench to someone and you’ll see how stupid this system is. “I need the five sixteenths hex wrench. No! I said the five sixteenths!” Of course you did.</p><br /><p>OK. Maybe it wouldn’t be cost effective to tear down all those mile markers, but just imagine the jobs it would create to start adding kilometer markers to every highway in the U.S. of A.</p><br /><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MatadorStudy/~4/fGCj18dzqgM" height="1" width="1"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MatadorNetwork/~4/izN22zX6EQM" height="1" width="1">"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-67281207662439255782010-02-05T20:02:00.000-05:002010-02-05T20:02:36.369-05:00The Truth About College Plagiarism<a href="http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/03/the-truth-about-college-plagiarism/">The Truth About College Plagiarism</a>: "Despite all the concern over increased plagiarism in the Internet age, concrete figures on the trend are hard to come by. In a new working paper, Brian Jacob (an occasional Levitt co-author) and Thomas Dee conducted a natural field experiment at a 'selective post-secondary institution' to shed light on the determinants of student plagiarism."David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-67160701656318558332010-02-02T13:39:00.000-05:002010-02-02T13:39:10.857-05:00WSJ: Playfish creating social game based on 'well-known EA brand'I have the feeling that this could be a big development: if not for Playfish, at least in the sense that something big's afoot for social networking.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/02/wsj-playfish-creating-social-game-based-on-well-known-ea-brand/">WSJ: Playfish creating social game based on 'well-known EA brand'</a>: "<div style="text-align:center"><a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/02/01/why-playfish-sold-itself-to-ea/"><img border="0" vspace="4" hspace="0" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2010/02/playfish-sims-020210-1265130390.jpg"></a></div><br />The Wall Street Journal today <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/02/01/why-playfish-sold-itself-to-ea/">examines</a> 'Why Playfish Sold Itself to EA.' Um, wouldn't you sell yourself <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2009/11/09/ea-acquires-social-network-game-dev-playfish-for-300-million/">for $300 million</a>? While such an investigation might seem trivial, the WSJ calls in Playfish president and GM Kristian Segerstrale, who reveals that several hundred million is merely <em>chump change</em>. Playfish certainly considered a road to riches paved in the arduous process of going public as an independent company, but 'as we advanced our conversations with EA, what became clear was that this would be genuine opportunity to accelerate our pace of growth and build a billion-dollar business faster,' Segerstrale explains.<br><br /><br><br />To realize this dream -- to get rich <em>really quick</em> -- <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/tag/playfish/">Playfish</a> clearly saw it would take more than its prowess as a stand-out developer in the burgeoning social games arena. It would take brand power. According to the WSJ, as suggested by Segerstrale, 'there will be a social game based on a well-known EA brand this year.' Hardly a revelation, to be sure, but it's at least confirmation of a <em>killer</em> strategy. Take an established IP -- likely EA's <em>The Sims</em> -- and adapt it for a network of social gaming experiences that spans persistent platforms like Facebook and the iPhone. Oh, so <em>that's why</em> Playfish sold itself to EA.<br><br /><br><br />[Via <a href="http://www.develop-online.net/news/33795/Playfish-to-build-on-EA-IP-this-year">Develop</a>]<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both"><a href="http://www.joystiq.com"><img src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Joystiq" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0"></a><a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/02/wsj-playfish-creating-social-game-based-on-well-known-ea-brand/">WSJ: Playfish creating social game based on 'well-known EA brand'</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.joystiq.com">Joystiq</a> on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:15:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both"></p><h6 style="clear:both;padding:8px 0 0 0;height:2px;font-size:1px;border:0;margin:0;padding:0"></h6><a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/02/01/why-playfish-sold-itself-to-ea/">Read</a> | <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/02/wsj-playfish-creating-social-game-based-on-well-known-ea-brand/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/forward/19341584/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a> | <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/02/wsj-playfish-creating-social-game-based-on-well-known-ea-brand/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-88178388056984735122010-01-28T14:57:00.000-05:002010-01-28T14:57:43.635-05:00Playing History - History GamesNot a perfect site, but there are some interesting games for students.<br /><br /><a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/freetech4teachers/cGEY/~3/2nig4UzkJpQ/playing-history-history-games.html">Playing History - History Games</a>: "<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4rhylbdywr9Mw3n7AxmFJtluxW0BhIwhuM37ubWzJCbYFSs2j8CK2FAtsbWAACofuT2kiaYN81psyOoDEzYzU5rfA2Fn-DDlpFdSryoKqesyf91hQylNxnA9tkAYYqUHMYlbhW-fbw9k/s1600-h/the+game"><img style="margin:0pt 10px 10px 0pt;float:left;width:175px;height:117px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4rhylbdywr9Mw3n7AxmFJtluxW0BhIwhuM37ubWzJCbYFSs2j8CK2FAtsbWAACofuT2kiaYN81psyOoDEzYzU5rfA2Fn-DDlpFdSryoKqesyf91hQylNxnA9tkAYYqUHMYlbhW-fbw9k/s320/the+game" alt="" border="0"></a><a href="http://playinghistory.org/">Playing History</a> is a collection of 128 games related to topics in US and World History as well as civics and geography. The games come from a variety of sources across the web. Feedback on every game and suggestions for future additions are welcomed by the hosts of the site. Visitors to <a href="http://playinghistory.org/">Playing History</a> can search for games by using the tag cloud, by using the search box, or just browse through the entire list. I clicked on the tag 'Supreme Court' and found nine games that I could use next fall in my US Civics course.<br><br><span style="color:rgb(0, 102, 0)"><span style="font-weight:bold">Applications for Education<br></span><span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0)"><a href="http://playinghistory.org/">Playing History</a> offers a wide array of educational games for use in elementary, middle, and high school social studies course. Find a game that matches your curriculum and add it to your classroom website or blog to provide your students with fun review activity that they can use at home or at school.<br><br><span style="font-weight:bold">Here are some related resources that may be of interest to you:</span><br><a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/05/heyzap-strategy-games-for-your-class.html">HeyZap - Strategy Games for Your Class Website</a><br><a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/04/think-about-history-trivia-game.html">Think About History Trivia Game</a><br><a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/04/200-free-games-for-your-class-blog-or.html">200+ Free Games for Your Class Blog or Website</a><br></span><span style="font-weight:bold"></span></span><div><img width="1" height="1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3164418075266604275-1772024906324302548?l=www.freetech4teachers.com"></div><div><br /><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=2nig4UzkJpQ:xWoZnsC87K8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=2nig4UzkJpQ:xWoZnsC87K8:dnMXMwOfBR0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=2nig4UzkJpQ:xWoZnsC87K8:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?i=2nig4UzkJpQ:xWoZnsC87K8:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=2nig4UzkJpQ:xWoZnsC87K8:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=2nig4UzkJpQ:xWoZnsC87K8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=2nig4UzkJpQ:xWoZnsC87K8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?i=2nig4UzkJpQ:xWoZnsC87K8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=2nig4UzkJpQ:xWoZnsC87K8:63t7Ie-LG7Y"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?d=63t7Ie-LG7Y" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?a=2nig4UzkJpQ:xWoZnsC87K8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/freetech4teachers/cGEY?i=2nig4UzkJpQ:xWoZnsC87K8:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></a><br /></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/freetech4teachers/cGEY/~4/2nig4UzkJpQ" height="1" width="1">"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-75398290700449596502010-01-28T13:01:00.000-05:002010-01-28T13:01:49.856-05:00Seventh Circuit Rules Dungeons & Dragons A Threat to Prison SecurityFinally, the true danger of d&d is revealed. It explains a lot.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.pheedcontent.com/click.phdo?i=9b19133cfa802c5e81b0558e8b969a14">Seventh Circuit Rules Dungeons & Dragons A Threat to Prison Security</a>: "<p><span style="display:inline"><img alt="Dungeons Dragons dice.JPG" src="http://abovethelaw.com/2010/01/26/Dungeons%20Dragons%20dice.JPG" width="235" height="216" style="float:right;margin:0 0 20px 20px"></span>Predictably, I used to play <a href="http://www.wizards.com/DnD/">Dungeons & Dragons</a> in high school. Just as predictably, I didn't lose my virginity until I stopped. It's an established fact that Dungeons & Dragons is a bigger threat to human reproduction than all the gay marriages in the world. </p><br /><br /><p>But I did not know until this day that D&D could also pose a security risk. A Wisconsin prisoner, <a href="http://www.wikio.com/themes/Kevin+T.+Singer">Kevin T. Singer</a>, sued Wisconsin's Waupun Correctional Institution after the guards confiscated his D&D materials. </p><br /><br /><p>Why did the prison guards take away this guy's D&D paraphernalia? I'll let <a href="http://underneaththeirrobes.blogs.com/main/2005/03/questions_prese.html">Judge John Tinder</a> of the Seventh Circuit explain: </p><br /><br /><blockquote>Waupun's long-serving Disruptive Group Coordinator, Captain Bruce Muraski, received an anonymous letter from an inmate. The letter expressed concern that Singer and three other inmates were forming a D&D gang and were trying to recruit others to join by passing around their D&D publications and touting the "rush" they got from playing the game. Muraski, Waupun's expert on gang activity, decided to heed the letter's advice and "check into this gang before it gets out of hand."</blockquote><br /><br /><p>A gang? A gang that needs to be checked? I've never been to prison, but I have watched <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oz_(TV_series)">Oz</a>. I'm forced to believe one of two things: (a) any D&D "gang" member would find themselves tossing salads faster than you can say "saving throw against horrific prison justice ... fails," or (b) if you could beat up the D&D kids in your high school, then you can go to Wisconsin, commit violent crimes with impunity, get sent to prison and live like a God.</p><br /><br /><p>Singer sued the prison for violating his First Amendment rights. The district court ruled with the correctional facility on summary judgment, and the Seventh Circuit affirmed.</p><br /><br /><p>Does that mean we get to hear the Seventh Circuit argue that D&D is gang-like? Yes it does. Will that be hilarious? More fun than hacking through an encampment of goblins with a dwarven ax of immolation. </p><br /><br /><p>Details after the jump. </p><p>Singer collected the affidavits of numerous prisoners and statements by three role playing game "experts" (i.e., eunuchs), who all stated that that Dungeons & Dragons is not a gang. The prison had the testimony of Captain Bruce Muraski, a gang specialist. His testimony makes me wish that we had better gang specialists:</p><br /><br /><blockquote>[Muraski] explained that the policy was intended to promote prison security because cooperative games can mimic the organization of gangs and lead to the actual development thereof. Muraski elaborated that during D&D games, one player is denoted the "Dungeon Master." The Dungeon Master is tasked with giving directions to other players, which Muraski testified mimics the organization of a gang. At bottom, his testimony about this policy aim highlighted Waupun's worries about cooperative activity among inmates, particularly that carried out in an organized, hierarchical fashion.</blockquote><br /><br /><p>Look, I know the title 'dungeon master' sounds scary and important. But don't let the words confuse you. We're talking about a guy who sits around all day drawing maps and debating whether a cloak of anti-venom can protect you from a fictional rat bite. (Note: It can't, rats have diseases, anti-venom contemplates poisons, those are two completely different things. Please don't tell my wife about this.) </p><br /><br /><p>But, the Seventh Circuit bought Muraski's logic: </p><br /><br /><blockquote>Singer maintains that his fifteen affiants delivered compelling testimony challenging Muraski's assertion that D&D could promote gang-related activity. His eleven inmate affiants--who collectively served over 100 years in prison--all testified that they had never heard of any gang-related or other violent activity associated with D&D gameplay or paraphernalia. In Singer's view, this testimony adequately rebuts Muraski's testimony that D&D gameplay mimics the organization of a gang and as a consequence could lead to gang behavior. In our view, it does not.</blockquote><br /><br /><p>Okay, 11 people who have been in prison for a hundred years say that linking D&D to gang behavior is ridiculous. In response, the court ignores them on the "silly criminals" theory of jurisprudence: </p><br /><br /><blockquote>The question is not whether D&D has led to gang behavior in the past; the prison officials concede that it has not. The question is whether the prison officials are rational in their belief that, if left unchecked, D&D could lead to gang behavior among inmates and undermine prison security in the future. Singer's affiants demonstrate significant personal knowledge about D&D's rules and gameplay, and offer their own assessments that D&D does not lead to gang<br />behavior, but they lack the qualifications necessary to determine whether the relationship between the D&D ban and the maintenance of prison security is "so remote as to render the policy arbitrary or irrational." ...<br /><br /><p>(Of course, many of Singer's affiants are present or former inmates, but their experiential 'expertise' in prison security is from the wrong side of the bars and fails to match Muraski's perspective.) The expertise critical here is that relating to prisons, their security, and the prevention of prison gang activity. Singer's affiants conspicuously lack such expertise.</p></blockquote><br /><br /><p>The Seventh Circuit conspicuously lacks the expertise in Dungeons & Dragons or role-playing games, but they get to wear the robes. I just hope they're happy when, stripped of their D&D responsibilities, Singer and his merry band of players join the Nation of Islam, become radicalized, and trade in their multi-sided dice for singled-edged blades. </p><br /><br /><p>I mean, let's be clear, it's not like Singer is a peaceful man. Singer is in jail on a life sentence for <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/25/us/AP-US-ODD-Dungeons-and-Dragons-Inmate.html">first degree murder</a>. He killed his sister's boyfriend <em>with a sledgehammer</em> (and now you see why I suggested that Singer probably plays a Dwarf, warrior class). If he's found an outlet for some of his more violent tenancies, isn't that a good thing? </p><br /><br /><p>The court says that it is <em>not</em> a good thing, not necessarily: </p><br /><br /><blockquote>While Cardwell and his other affiants, including a literacy tutor and a role-playing game analyst, testified to a positive relationship between D&D and rehabilitation, none disputed or even acknowledged the prison officials' assertions that there are valid reasons to fear a relationship running in the opposite direction. The prison officials pointed to a few published circuit court cases to give traction to their views. We view these cases as persuasive evidence that for some individuals, games like D&D can impede rehabilitation, lead to escapist tendencies, or result in more dire consequences.</blockquote><br /><br /><p>More dire consequences than what, precisely? He's already beaten somebody to death with a freaking sledgehammer; what the hell else can he do? </p><br /><br /><p>Sorry, obviously, this is where my bleeding heart gets the best of me. Because all this is about is punishment. It's not about rehabilitation, it's not about security, it's about old-school vengeance carried out by state actors. He killed somebody, and we as a society found something else he liked that we can take away. So we're going to take it away. It's Christopher Lloyd playing a Klingon in Star Trek 3 telling Kirk he won't beam up Spock 'because you wish it.' </p><br /><br /><p>I guess that is our right. I guess there is no compelling interest in making the life imprisonment of a murderer a little less horrible. But vengeance, even when legal, is still ugly. The Seventh Circuit just made a <a href="http://easydamus.com/lawfulevil.html">Lawful Evil</a> decision here. </p><br /><br /><p><span style="display:inline"><a href="http://abovethelaw.com/2010/01/26/Singer%20v.%20Raemisch.pdf">Singer v. Raemisch</a></span> [U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (PDF)]</p><br /><br /><p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/25/us/AP-US-ODD-Dungeons-and-Dragons-Inmate.html">Game Over: Inmate Can't Play Dungeons & Dragons</a> [New York Times]</p><br style="clear:both"><br /><br style="clear:both"><br /><a href="http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=9b19133cfa802c5e81b0558e8b969a14&p=1"><img alt="" style="border:0" border="0" src="http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=9b19133cfa802c5e81b0558e8b969a14&p=1"></a><br /><img alt="" height="0" width="0" border="0" src="http://a.rfihub.com/eus.gif?eui=2218"><br><br /><img src="http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?kw="> <br /><a href="http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=9b19133cfa802c5e81b0558e8b969a14&p=64&kw=Dungeons+%26+Dragons">Dungeons & Dragons</a> - <a href="http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=9b19133cfa802c5e81b0558e8b969a14&p=64&kw=Crime">Crime</a> - <a href="http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=9b19133cfa802c5e81b0558e8b969a14&p=64&kw=Dungeon+Master">Dungeon Master</a> - <a href="http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=9b19133cfa802c5e81b0558e8b969a14&p=64&kw=Crime+and+Justice">Crime and Justice</a> - <a href="http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=9b19133cfa802c5e81b0558e8b969a14&p=64&kw=Prison">Prison</a>"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-88985089343629714772010-01-28T08:28:00.000-05:002010-01-28T08:28:50.038-05:00High School, College Instructors Differ on Students' Readiness<a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CurriculumMatters/~3/2I-RSWlXxWY/high_school_college_instructor.html">High School, College Instructors Differ on Students' Readiness</a>: "<p>What does it mean when far more high school teachers think their students are ready for college than do the college instructors who teach them? It means we have a pretty big disconnect between what high schools think is needed for success in college and what actually is needed.</p><br /><br /><p>This is not exactly news. We know there are many reasons that high school students fail to make it to college, or fail to thrive once they're there. But a new survey of thousands of high school and college teachers, conducted by ACT Inc., fleshes out a few of the key reasons why.</p><br /><br /><p>One reason is that high school teachers and college instructors have differing views of what skills are important in college. High school teachers, for instance, rate things like media literacy and financial literacy as far more important than do college professors, who value the content areas of math, English, and science more. </p><br /><br /><p>Another is that high school teachers think they've prepared their students for the rigorous types of reading they will encounter in college, but college professors disagree. Science and math teachers in high school say it's important for students to master reading strategies in those subjects, but they spend little or no time teaching such things.</p><br /><br /><p>Expectations play a role, too. High school teachers say that they or their colleagues have lower expectations for students who are perceived as not being college-bound. </p><br /><br /><p>These are key new findings of the survey. The report also reiterates many other interesting findings from earlier ACT curriculum surveys that are worth examining. For example, high school teachers tend to see as crucial for college a very wide swath of content and skills, compared with college professors, who believe in a shorter list of essential skills and knowledge.</p><br /><br /><p>This is interesting stuff to keep in mind as the debate about defining and measuring college readiness rolls on. The <a href="http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/NationalCurriculumSurvey2009.pdf">full survey</a> is packed with data; a <a href="http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/NCS_PolicySummary2009.pdf">shorter version</a> that highlights the findings and focuses on their policy implications is also available. </p><br /> <br /> <div><br /><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CurriculumMatters?a=2I-RSWlXxWY:DjJjSUnBtxc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CurriculumMatters?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CurriculumMatters?a=2I-RSWlXxWY:DjJjSUnBtxc:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CurriculumMatters?i=2I-RSWlXxWY:DjJjSUnBtxc:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CurriculumMatters?a=2I-RSWlXxWY:DjJjSUnBtxc:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CurriculumMatters?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CurriculumMatters?a=2I-RSWlXxWY:DjJjSUnBtxc:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CurriculumMatters?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></a><br /></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CurriculumMatters/~4/2I-RSWlXxWY" height="1" width="1">"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-83464395996931434652010-01-28T08:21:00.000-05:002010-01-28T08:21:13.690-05:00How Madden is Raising a New Generation of Football Player [Sports]<a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/kotaku/full/~3/iMiXf5A0Tps/how-madden-is-raising-a-new-generation-of-football-player">How Madden is Raising a New Generation of Football Player [Sports]</a>: "<p><img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/9/2010/01/500x_custom_1264550510951_ff_gamechanger4_f.jpg" width="500">When Denver's Brandon Stokely caught a game-winning pass against Cincinnati earlier this year, he veered parallel to the goal line en route to the end zone, to both burn time and celebrate. He told Wired it was a Madden-inspired move.</p><p>It's one of the more jaw-dropping anecdotal instances of how sports video games - specifically Madden - have raised a different generation of competitor, especially in American football. Increasingly, kids are reporting to the gridiron better versed in football terminology and more perceptive of circumstances on field, like disguised coverages and tricks to expose them.</p><br /><p>And it's not just innate knowledge. Madden and other sims are increasingly used in preparation for actual games, Wired says:</p><br /><blockquote><br /><p>At the Pop Warner Super Bowl in 2006, the winning team had 30 offensive plays, which it had learned through Madden. ('I programmed our offense into Madden to help me memorize our plays,' one 11-year-old told Sports Illustrated. 'It was easier than homework.') Dezmon Briscoe, an all-conference wide receiver for the University of Kansas, credited Madden 2009 with teaching him how to read when defenses 'roll their coverages' - move their defensive backs to disguise their strategy. Chuck Kyle, a high school coach who has won 10 state championships in football-mad Ohio, has programmed his team USA playbook into Madden and uses it to teach players their assignments. So have coaches at Colorado State, Penn State, and the University of Missouri, among other schools.</p><br /></blockquote><br /><p>I can tell you that Madden's effect isn't limited to performers. Simulation-quality Madden taught me to recognize certain formations and coverages, and how I wrote about high school football is noticeably different before and after my exposure to the game. It may not have as profound an impact as 22 players on the field, all growing up playing Madden, but it too influences the public's knowledge and appreciation of a very complicated sport.</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/01/ff_gamechanger/all/1">Game Changers: How Videogames Trained a Generation of Athletes</a> [Wired]</p><br style="clear:both"><br /><br style="clear:both"><br /><a href="http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=dde4341a761e64c15b509ecfbb7aee99&p=1"><img alt="" style="border:0" border="0" src="http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=dde4341a761e64c15b509ecfbb7aee99&p=1"></a><br /><img alt="" height="0" width="0" border="0" src="http://a.rfihub.com/eus.gif?eui=2226"><div><br /><a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=iMiXf5A0Tps:2yYZGiq-2-k:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=iMiXf5A0Tps:2yYZGiq-2-k:H0mrP-F8Qgo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?d=H0mrP-F8Qgo" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=iMiXf5A0Tps:2yYZGiq-2-k:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?i=iMiXf5A0Tps:2yYZGiq-2-k:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=iMiXf5A0Tps:2yYZGiq-2-k:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?i=iMiXf5A0Tps:2yYZGiq-2-k:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></a><br /></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/kotaku/full/~4/iMiXf5A0Tps" height="1" width="1">"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-5933805984694095372010-01-28T08:20:00.000-05:002010-01-28T08:20:28.307-05:00U.S. Navy: Video Games Improve Brains, "Fluid Intelligence" [Effects]Welcome to the new world:<br /><br /><a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/kotaku/full/~3/lTVwHggQmY4/us-navy-video-games-improve-brains-fluid-intelligence">U.S. Navy: Video Games Improve Brains, "Fluid Intelligence" [Effects]</a>: "<p><img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/9/2010/01/500x_jellobrain.jpg" width="500">The cognitive effects of certain video-game-style activities are not only impressive but can last a couple of years, a researcher for the Navy recently explained.</p><br /><p>If gamers don't want to believe that video games have an effect on them — at least any effect that will cause them to do antisocial things — will they accept research that suggests games make their brains work better?</p><br /><p>Here's Ray Perez, program officer for the Office of Naval Research's warfighter performance department:</p><br /><blockquote><br /><p>'We have discovered that video game players perform 10 to 20 percent higher in terms of perceptual and cognitive ability than normal people that are non-game players,' s</p><br /><p>...</p><br /><p>'We know that video games can increase perceptual abilities and short-term memory,' he said. They allow the player to focus longer and expand the player's field of vision compared to people who don't play video games, he added.</p><br /><p>While there is empirical evidence of increased brain plasticity in video gamers, Perez said, the process behind it is not well understood. His belief, he said, is that the neural networks involved in video gaming become more pronounced, have increased blood flow, and become more synchronized with other neural networks in the brain.</p><br /></blockquote><br /><p>Perez credits games and game-like simulations with giving people the ability to more quickly adapt new mental strategies for problem-solving. He says that, for 50 years, it was believed that no training could improve a person's "fluid intelligence" — the ability "to work outside your present mindset, to think beyond what you have been taught, to go beyond your experience to solve problems in new and different ways."</p><br /><p>But video games, the Navy researcher believes, are proving to be able to improve fluid intelligence, for two to two-and-a-half years. To get the nuances here, be sure to read this report in full.<br><br /><a href="http://science.dodlive.mil/2010/01/26/adults-benefit-from-playing-video-games-podcast/"><br><br />Adults Benefit from Playing Video Games</a> [U.S. Department of Defense's Armed With Science site] [<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hurleygurley/4338767/">PIC</a>: Brain made of lime jello]</p><br style="clear:both"><br /><br style="clear:both"><br /><a href="http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=4e52ecb8e06dc6898624ff55876099fc&p=1"><img alt="" style="border:0" border="0" src="http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=4e52ecb8e06dc6898624ff55876099fc&p=1"></a><br /><img alt="" height="0" width="0" border="0" src="http://a.rfihub.com/eus.gif?eui=2226"><div><br /><a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=lTVwHggQmY4:u3_LmR7Povs:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=lTVwHggQmY4:u3_LmR7Povs:H0mrP-F8Qgo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?d=H0mrP-F8Qgo" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=lTVwHggQmY4:u3_LmR7Povs:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?i=lTVwHggQmY4:u3_LmR7Povs:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=lTVwHggQmY4:u3_LmR7Povs:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?i=lTVwHggQmY4:u3_LmR7Povs:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></a><br /></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/kotaku/full/~4/lTVwHggQmY4" height="1" width="1">"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-59335814425492552312010-01-28T08:19:00.000-05:002010-01-28T08:19:19.454-05:00Study: Not All Kids Are Computer WhizzesIs this really all that shocking to anyone who is even slightly fluent in the use of tech? From NPR:<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122893913&ft=1&f=1013">Study: Not All Kids Are Computer Whizzes</a>: "<p>A study reveals that kids have more trouble searching on the Internet than we may think. Guest host Audie Cornish speaks with Allison Druin, the director of the human-computer interaction lab at the University of Maryland. Durin discusses ways to help kids search more effectively online.</p><p><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/email/emailAFriend.php?storyId=122893913">» E-Mail This</a> <a href="http://del.icio.us/post?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2Ftemplates%2Fstory%2Fstory.php%3FstoryId%3D122893913">» Add to Del.icio.us</a></p>"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-90795343442688940622010-01-28T08:18:00.000-05:002010-01-28T08:18:07.279-05:00New, deeper AP programThis eases my mind a bit about the AP program...<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://feeds.voices.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=aa280061f016de6820890f59acb93283">New, deeper AP program</a>: "[This is my Local Living column for Jan. 28, 2010.] If someone told you the College Board was about to rip apart the SAT and rebuild it, would that excite/surprise/aggravate/frighten you? Me too. It’s about to happen, not to the SAT, but to our nation’s second-most influential test, Advanced Placement, with large consequences for our high schools and colleges. The AP program has such a tight grip on the school curriculums of suburban areas such as ours that it has come close to inspiring the same fear and consternation as the SAT and ACT. [See my new rankings of all Washington area schools, based on AP and International Baccalaureate test participation, this Monday on this blog and in the Post.] I think that’s good. AP is better than the SAT or ACT. It is a challenging series of courses in three dozen subjects ending in three-hour exams, independently written<br style="clear:both"><br /><br style="clear:both"><br /><a href="http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=aa280061f016de6820890f59acb93283&p=1"><img alt="" style="border:0" border="0" src="http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=aa280061f016de6820890f59acb93283&p=1"></a><br /><img alt="" height="0" width="0" border="0" src="http://a.rfihub.com/eus.gif?eui=2219">"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-82062264159695000412010-01-27T12:44:00.000-05:002010-01-27T12:44:41.670-05:00US Navy: Gamers '10 to 20%' better at fighting terrorFrom Joystiq:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/27/us-navy-gamers-10-to-20-better-at-fighting-terror/">US Navy: Gamers '10 to 20%' better at fighting terror</a>: "<div style="text-align:center"><a href="http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=57695"><img hspace="0" border="0" vspace="0" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2010/01/gettyimagesaolmil580.jpg"></a></div><br /><div style="text-align:right"><font size="1">[<a href="http://www.propeller.com/story/2009/10/21/american-soldiers-discuss-the-attacks-that-made-them-amputees/">Image Source</a>]</font></div><br />The <a href="http://www.onr.navy.mil/">Office of Naval Research</a> is currently conducting research in video game training that it says has 'surprising' results in regards to military personnel reaction time and adaptability in the fight against terror. According to an article available on the Department of Defense's <a href="http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=57695">official website</a>, doctor of educational psychology and program officer Ray Perez said the research has discovered that video game players perform '10 to 20 percent higher in terms of perceptual and cognitive ability' than non-gamers.<br><br /><br><br />Citing a need for soldiers to be 'agile problem solvers' and 'agile thinkers,' Perez notes that video game training can help field adaptability and the 'cognitive advances' derived from the training can last up to two and a half years.<br><br /><br><br />'We know that video games can increase perceptual abilities and short-term memory,' Perez said, adding games allow players to focus longer and expand the field of vision compared to non-gamers. If it means the brave men and women serving have a better chance of coming home, we're all for it.<br><br /><br><br />[Via <a href="http://www.gamepolitics.com/2010/01/26/onr-gamers-better-terrorist-fighters">GamePolitics</a>]<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both"><a href="http://www.joystiq.com"><img src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Joystiq" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0"></a><a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/27/us-navy-gamers-10-to-20-better-at-fighting-terror/">US Navy: Gamers '10 to 20%' better at fighting terror</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.joystiq.com">Joystiq</a> on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 04:00:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both"></p><h6 style="clear:both;padding:8px 0 0 0;height:2px;font-size:1px;border:0;margin:0;padding:0"></h6><a href="http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=57695">Read</a> | <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/27/us-navy-gamers-10-to-20-better-at-fighting-terror/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/forward/19332650/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a> | <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/27/us-navy-gamers-10-to-20-better-at-fighting-terror/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-33183899937946025092010-01-21T14:16:00.000-05:002010-01-21T14:16:11.443-05:00High School, College Instructors Differ on Students' ReadinessFrom Curriculum Matters:<br /><br /><a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CurriculumMatters/~3/2I-RSWlXxWY/high_school_college_instructor.html">High School, College Instructors Differ on Students' Readiness</a>: "<p>What does it mean when far more high school teachers think their students are ready for college than do the college instructors who teach them? It means we have a pretty big disconnect between what high schools think is needed for success in college and what actually is needed.</p><br /><br /><p>This is not exactly news. We know there are many reasons that high school students fail to make it to college, or fail to thrive once they're there. But a new survey of thousands of high school and college teachers, conducted by ACT Inc., fleshes out a few of the key reasons why.</p><br /><br /><p>One reason is that high school teachers and college instructors have differing views of what skills are important in college. High school teachers, for instance, rate things like media literacy and financial literacy as far more important than do college professors, who value the content areas of math, English, and science more. </p><br /><br /><p>Another is that high school teachers think they've prepared their students for the rigorous types of reading they will encounter in college, but college professors disagree. Science and math teachers in high school say it's important for students to master reading strategies in those subjects, but they spend little or no time teaching such things.</p><br /><br /><p>Expectations play a role, too. High school teachers say that they or their colleagues have lower expectations for students who are perceived as not being college-bound. </p><br /><br /><p>These are key new findings of the survey. The report also reiterates many other interesting findings from earlier ACT curriculum surveys that are worth examining. For example, high school teachers tend to see as crucial for college a very wide swath of content and skills, compared with college professors, who believe in a shorter list of essential skills and knowledge.</p><br /><br /><p>This is interesting stuff to keep in mind as the debate about defining and measuring college readiness rolls on. The <a href="http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/NationalCurriculumSurvey2009.pdf">full survey</a> is packed with data; a <a href="http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/NCS_PolicySummary2009.pdf">shorter version</a> that highlights the findings and focuses on their policy implications is also available. </p><br /> <br /> <div><br /><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CurriculumMatters?a=2I-RSWlXxWY:DjJjSUnBtxc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CurriculumMatters?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CurriculumMatters?a=2I-RSWlXxWY:DjJjSUnBtxc:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CurriculumMatters?i=2I-RSWlXxWY:DjJjSUnBtxc:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CurriculumMatters?a=2I-RSWlXxWY:DjJjSUnBtxc:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CurriculumMatters?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CurriculumMatters?a=2I-RSWlXxWY:DjJjSUnBtxc:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/CurriculumMatters?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></a><br /></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CurriculumMatters/~4/2I-RSWlXxWY" height="1" width="1">"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-55248755268050221442010-01-15T08:06:00.000-05:002010-01-15T08:06:20.444-05:00Google's Eric Schmidt on GamingFrom Google's Blogoscoped:<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2010-01-15-n34.html">Google's Eric Schmidt on Gaming</a>: "<p>From <a href="http://hplusmagazine.com/articles/art-entertainment/turning-work-play-online-games">H+ Magazine</a>:</p><br /><br /><blockquote><p>Google CEO Eric Schmidt made news at the recent G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh, suggesting that multiplayer video games provide good career training – particularly in technology – where workplace collaboration stimulates innovation. “The game world is good training for a career in tech,” he said. “It teaches players to build a network, to use interactive skills and thinking.”</p><br /><br /><p>“Everything in the future online is going to look like a multiplayer game,” said Schmidt to this international audience. “If I were 15 years old, that’s what I would be doing right now.”</p></blockquote><br /><br /><p>[Thanks Destinyland!]</p> <p><strong>[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: <a href="http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2010-01-15-n34.html">Google's Eric Schmidt on Gaming</a> | <a href="http://blogoscoped.com/forum/find/?postId=8948">Comments</a>]</strong></p><br><em>[Advertisement] <a href="http://blogoscoped.com/ad/?id=21&isFeed=1" rel="nofollow">Books about Google available on Ebay</a></em>"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-9455148132298018252010-01-04T11:38:00.002-05:002010-01-04T11:41:22.764-05:00Graduate School in the Humanities: Just Don't GoA great <a href="http://chronicle.com/article/Graduate-School-in-the-Huma/44846/">article</a> from the Chronicle of Higher Education about the dangers of pursuing an advanced degree in the humanities. It's a sad state of affairs, and I wish it were otherwise, but that's not the case.<br /><br />Here's the killer quote for me:<br /><br /><blockquote>Most undergraduates don't realize that there is a shrinking percentage of positions in the humanities that offer job security, benefits, and a livable salary (though it is generally much lower than salaries in other fields requiring as many years of training). They don't know that you probably will have to accept living almost anywhere, and that you must also go through a six-year probationary period at the end of which you may be fired for any number of reasons and find yourself exiled from the profession. They seem to think becoming a humanities professor is a reliable prospect — a more responsible and secure choice than, say, attempting to make it as a freelance writer, or an actor, or a professional athlete — and, as a result, they don't make any fallback plans until it is too late.</blockquote>David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-31666853567934900782010-01-04T11:35:00.000-05:002010-01-04T11:35:14.804-05:00Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen Calls for End to Homework in Elementary SchoolFrom the Blog Stop Homework:<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/stophomework/~3/EYArEM8_JCM/2010">Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen Calls for End to Homework in Elementary School</a>: "<p><em>(Welcome back and thank you so very much for your generous donations to Stop Homework)</em></p><br /><p>Over a decade ago, the economist and Nobel Prize winner, Amartya Sen, formed the Partichi trust to examine the issues of primary education and health in India. Last month, he released the Partichi Education Report II, which recommended ending homework in elementary school and focusing on reading, writing, and arithmetic during school hours. The report also stressed the importance of recognizing and addressing the role of class barriers in educational under-achievement.</p><br /><p>According to <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/2009/12/20/stories/2009122055451000.htm">thehindu.com</a>, </p><br /><blockquote><p>Prof. Sen said: “A somewhat counter-productive overloaded curriculum, incomplete education during school hours and necessity of homework are the reasons that there is a perceived necessity of private tuition since the parents try to supplement at home the education which could not be completed in school.”</p><br /><p>He recommended “re-examination of the curriculum and banishing the necessity of homework at the elementary level” to overcome the situation.</p><br /><p>Prof. Sen also emphasised the deep social impact the system has among the economically disadvantaged sections.</p><br /><p>“It [the problem of class division] applies particularly to the first-generation school-goers, whose parents remain illiterate … the parents can neither help their children with their homework nor can they afford a private tutor. So then, instead of removing inequality through education, we perpetuate inequality between the haves and the have-nots.”<br /></p></blockquote>"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-90608131602189091272009-12-18T12:14:00.000-05:002009-12-18T12:14:04.570-05:00Can a Smart Phone Make You More Patient?Pretty insightful stuff from Harvard Business Review's <span style="font-style:italic;">Conversation Starter<span style="font-style:italic;"><span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span></span>:<br /><br /><a href="http://feeds.harvardbusiness.org/~r/harvardbusiness/cs/~3/GpA4FjxYr3U/can_a_smart_phone_make.html">Can a Smart Phone Make You More Patient?</a>: "<p>On your way to meet a colleague, you get stuck in traffic. Radio traffic reports tell you it's a ten-minute backup. You can spend ten minutes inching forward, or you cut out and take a circuitous route that will add 15 minutes to your drive, but it'll be 15 minutes in which you're moving. Which do you you choose?</p><br /><br /><p>The logical answer, the rational economist's answer, is to spend ten minutes inching forward since it will take you less time to get where you're going. But if you're like me, you'd rather spend fifteen minutes actually driving than ten minutes staring at a bumper in front of you. It doesn't really make sense that I'd voluntarily choose to take longer to get where I'm going, but it's also proof of what I consider one of my personal failings: a severe lack of patience.</p><br /><br /><p>Lucky for me, then, that I have an iPhone, the impatient person's best friend. Just two years ago, I found myself tapping my foot or tugging at my hair during traffic jams or any of life's little waiting games. Bank queues. Lines for the bathroom. The wasted minutes at the start of meetings waiting for everyone to arrive.</p> <br /><br /><p>Today, my iPhone (any smart phone will do; I happen to own the iPhone) rescues me from all these micro-delays. A traffic jam becomes time to listen to a podcast. I check Twitter during a bank line-up. I can check Facebook while waiting for the loo and I can do email at the beginning of meetings.</p><br /><br /><p>Delays that would formerly have driven me into a frenzy pass very happily now. And if you're looking at measurable outcomes — my willingness to wait for a delayed colleague, the courtesy with which I (finally!) greet the bank teller, the number of hairs left on my head when traffic finally starts moving — then Alex-with-iPhone looks a lot like Alex-with-patience.</p><br /><br /><p>But it's not, really. Patience isn't just about measurable outcomes. Patience is an internal state. It's the ability to be present with the thoughts, emotions and anxieties in a vacant moment. It connects us with the inner voice that gets drowned out by the constant background noise of phone calls, e-mail and TV. And it's important. Being truly patient helps us improve and solve problems. In patient moments, we suddenly see the solution to an engineering problem, or come up with that tag line for an ad campaign. We think about telling the boss what we really think — and find a constructive way to do just that. We may realize that we've gone off-track and think of ways to get back on track.</p><br /><br /><p>Some people find this patience through exercise, meditation, church or other spiritual practices. Others — especially those of us attached to our smart phones — do whatever we can to avoid these moments and prevent them from finding us.</p> <br /><br /><p>In fact, far from fostering patience, my now-reflexive reach for the iPhone is an evasive action, a way to avoid reflection. On the rare occasion when my iPhone runs out of juice (I've got a backup battery. What, you don't?) or actually breaks (I've got a spare phone. What, you don't?) I quickly rediscover that I'm still that impatient person spending extra time driving around traffic. My intolerance for waiting, for quiet, for nothingness is still there and I'm forced to recognize that my iPhone isn't 16 gigabytes' worth of patience: it's 16 GB of distraction.</p> <br /><br /><p>So I thought the phone was good for my personal failing, but now I think that it's exacerbating it. The serendipitous gaps that used to be part of even the most hectic modern life can now be reduced to near zero. The emotional muscles stretched by those moments of emptiness — the ability to tune into one's self, to tolerate the anxieties that swim up, to even experience a moment of absolutely nothing — are quickly atrophied. We lose the inspirations and innovations that come from quiet, but we also escape uncomfortable, necessary questions that come from there, too. Am I doing meaningful work? Am I living with integrity? Am I happy? We keep them at bay, along with the possibilities that might arise from searching for real answers.</p><br /><br /><p>I still use my phone in those moments. And to the outside observer, compulsive smart phone users like me may look like the very picture of calm. With screens to fill our every waking moment, our lack of patience won't be betrayed by tapping feet or chewed nails.</p><br /><br /><p>But let's not kid ourselves: filling your time checking your phone doesn't make you more patient on the inside. Patience is a virtue. There's not an app for that.</p> <br /><br /><p><span style="display:inline"><img alt="samuel-110.jpg" src="http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/cs/samuel-110.jpg" style="margin:0pt 20px 20px 0pt;float:left" height="110" width="110"></span><p><em>Alexandra Samuel is the Director of the <a href="http://www.ecuad.ca/research/sim">Social + Interactive Media Centre</a> at Emily Carr University, and the co-founder of <a href="http://www.socialsignal.com">Social Signal</a>, a Vancouver-based social media agency. You can follow Alex on Twitter as <a href="http://twitter.com/awsamuel">awsamuel</a> or her blog at <a href="http://www.alexandrasamuel.com">alexandrasamuel.com</a>.</em></p><br><br /></p><br /> <br /> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/harvardbusiness/cs/~4/GpA4FjxYr3U" height="1" width="1">"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-76909359852283785792009-12-18T12:10:00.000-05:002009-12-18T12:10:55.615-05:00“Older workers don’t suffer from the deficiencies that a lot of people think they do.”This seems like an obvious point, but the discrimination against veterans seems pretty widespread and is, in my view, entirely too stereotyped and dismissive.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/workplacelearningtoday/~3/N1WQlDMUZ_k/">“Older workers don’t suffer from the deficiencies that a lot of people think they do.”</a>: "<div style="float:right;margin-left:10px"><a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.brandon-hall.com%2Fworkplacelearningtoday%2F%3Fp%3D8679"><img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.brandon-hall.com%2Fworkplacelearningtoday%2F%3Fp%3D8679" height="61" width="51"></a></div><p><a href="http://www.brandon-hall.com/workplacelearningtoday/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/clint.jpg"><img style="margin:10px" title="clint" src="http://www.brandon-hall.com/workplacelearningtoday/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/clint-300x233.jpg" alt="clint" width="147" height="114"></a>A study in which “seniors” (those over 50) were pitted against “juniors” (those under 30) in three different decision-making tasks – risk taking, competitiveness, and cooperation – found that seniors “hold their own.” They’re also more cooperative, contributing more during the cooperation test. The NY Times reports that researchers also found “<strong><em>groups with a mix of ages outperformed homogeneous groups</em></strong>.”</p><br /><p>(There are many great ideas in the NY Times series so you should click the second link too.)</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/projects/magazine/ideas/2009/#social_science-8">The Myth of the Deficient Older Employee</a> |<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/projects/magazine/ideas/2009/"> The 9th Annual Year in Ideas</a> | The New York Times | 18 December, 2009</p><br /><p>Via <a href="http://neuroanthropology.net/2009/12/16/wednesday-round-up-94/">Neuroanthropology</a> (where you’re <strong>sure</strong> to find a link you like in this list of research papers on culture, evolution, the mind, and anthropology.)</p><br /><div><br /><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/workplacelearningtoday?a=N1WQlDMUZ_k:z6xy9llCCN4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/workplacelearningtoday?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/workplacelearningtoday?a=N1WQlDMUZ_k:z6xy9llCCN4:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/workplacelearningtoday?i=N1WQlDMUZ_k:z6xy9llCCN4:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></a><br /></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/workplacelearningtoday/~4/N1WQlDMUZ_k" height="1" width="1">"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-3186011335701645782009-12-18T08:08:00.000-05:002009-12-18T08:08:24.997-05:00At Colleges, Humanities Job Outlook Gets BleakerThe New York Times outlines another reason I'm kinda glad I left academia for the independent school world.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/education/18professor.html">At Colleges, Humanities Job Outlook Gets Bleaker</a>: "Graduate students in languages and literature may face a sharp decline in faculty positions as the recession forces cutbacks in university hiring."David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-6808763007741883312009-12-17T16:03:00.000-05:002009-12-17T16:03:46.425-05:00Don’t force your child to fit in at school. Find a school to fit your child.Great post from The Innovative Educator<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheInnovativeEducator/~3/Krn2EF4mlR8/dont-force-your-child-to-fit-in-at.html">Don’t force your child to fit in at school. Find a school to fit your child.</a>: "<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMVVT2rXtwR0bqV4GjaCgDN3bQibalrBgusfDpJlWlY-_OyBJmoYWeQV9DeAkZUNnmZwrN69wJFUmKXHpYbtIHE3FArvusEVXGFxeXXxCQSsRGHT4PnFKZbQLScgw30_lYPD5rlHCthtJ9/s1600-h/classroombored.jpg"><img style="margin:0pt 10px 10px 0pt;float:left;width:320px;height:240px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMVVT2rXtwR0bqV4GjaCgDN3bQibalrBgusfDpJlWlY-_OyBJmoYWeQV9DeAkZUNnmZwrN69wJFUmKXHpYbtIHE3FArvusEVXGFxeXXxCQSsRGHT4PnFKZbQLScgw30_lYPD5rlHCthtJ9/s320/classroombored.jpg" alt="" border="0"></a>Anyone who has or works with children knows that we have a huge crises in education and it has nothing to do with test scores. Our students are literally bored to tears in disconnected schools that <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html">kill their creativity</a>, force them to <a href="http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2009/11/lets-stop-making-students-power-down-at.html">power down</a> as soon as they pass through the school doors and are completely <a href="http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2008/12/you-can-get-dalton-education-at-nyc.html">disconnected from their passions, talents, and interests</a>. In many cases these are students who are <a href="http://positivepsychologynews.com/news/christine-duvivier/200901091421">bright and gifted but struggling in school</a> in some cases to the point <a href="http://www.diigo.com/08jxz">of being medicated</a> (see highlighted portion of previous link) so that they can survive the day and fit into an environment they find boring and/or irrelevant. Sadly in many cases rather than <a href="http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2009/12/fix-boring-schools-not-kids-who-are.html">fix the boring schools, we try to fix the bored child</a>. This often leaves parents in deep despair and children and teachers frustrated and feeling stuck in their situation accepting this as “the way things are.”<br><div><br><span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 153);font-weight:bold;font-size:130%">But, it doesn’t have to be this way. There is help. There is a solution. And, it’s a little out of the box.</span><br><br><a href="http://www.wix.com/tomliamlynch/iZone-Presentation"><img style="width:408px;height:301px;float:right;margin-left:1em;margin-right:0pt" src="http://docs.google.com/File?id=dc79b7fj_73cs7dr9gx_b"></a>Get your child to a school that fits him or her…however you can. This is not as difficult as it may sound at first blush. There is a growing recognition that many schools are outdated relics from the past that sit awkwardly in a 21st century world. In response to this, there are pockets of educators, schools, even systems around the world that are rising up to the challenge of educating the 21st century child rather than the current <a href="http://www.lengel.net/123/">industrial model of education</a> that is pervasive in most schools. In fact a new batch of schools has just cropped up in New York City designed specifically for students who have <a href="http://www.wikihow.com/Zone-Out-when-a-Teacher-Is-Talking-to-You-and-Not-Get-Caught">zoned out</a> in the traditional system.<br><br>The <a href="http://izone.wikispaces.com/">iZone</a> schools have been specifically developed to challenge the following assumptions about current practice:<br><ul><li>Schools are comprised of similarly-operated classroom units in which one adult delivers content to a room of between 12 and 34 students, for a set number of minutes per day and days per year</li><li>Adults dictate a course of study to children, who receive and process information for adults to evaluate</li><li>As part of one job, teachers manage classroom organizations; research and deliver content; differentiate the course of study according to student needs; assess performance; and deliver feedback</li><li>Special education students are best grouped and planned for according to class size requirements</li></ul><br>These schools recognize the problem which they define as such. <ul><li>Since 2002, the number of New York City students graduating from high school has increased every year, and more students than ever before are headed to college. The fact that a full third of our youth still do not graduate from high school, however, is a call to action. And that of those who enroll in college, only 50% graduate from four year colleges within six years and only 28% graduate from associate programs within the same time frame, is a call to change. (Statistics are from public school graduates who enroll in CUNY colleges)</li><li>Today’s schools are structured for an industrial model that is increasing obsolete to the 21st century knowledge economy where students will spend their working lives. The foundation of education has in many ways remained unchanged in that it assumes that information and skills must be provided only by adults who are physically in the same room as learners, performing jobs defined in the 19th century, on a notably rigid and brief daily schedule ]</li><li>In today’s schools, students are grouped in ways that do not maximize the potential of each and every student to personalize their learning. </li></ul><br>The schools strive to address the problem with this powerful vision.<br><ul><li>Transform our schools from a traditional, industrial model to one that reflects and embodies 21st century skills, tools, and experiences, so that our students graduate ready for success in college and in the workforce, regardless of race, language or socioeconomic background.</li><li>Personalize each student’s learning experience to meet their diverse and individual needs to the maximum feasible extent.</li></ul></div><br><div>The Innovation Zone has adopted an approach of launching schools that embody a set of innovations that can be evaluated for scaling potential. The core innovations are:<br><ul><li>Expand student learning time, stretching the school day and the school year without adding teacher work time</li><li>Optimize a match between individual student learning needs, learning modalities, content and instructional resources through an algorithmic engine</li><li>Blend distance and online coursework modules and personalized learning management systems into a brick and mortar environment in ways that allow students to differentiate their pace of learning</li><li>Apply gaming theory to standards-based content, creating challenge-based curriculum and an instant feedback and assessment loop</li><li>Create job embedded teacher teams as a vehicle for teacher organization and adult learning</li></ul><br>If you're reading this and wondering how many thousands of dollars need to be dished out for parents to send their children to such schools, the answer is not a cent. In fact, schools like these have innovative leaders at the helm who believe that the fundamental right of children and responsibility of public education is to provide every child with the opportunity to attend the best schools. These leaders believe that in fact regardless of background or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socioeconomic_status">SES</a> <a href="http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2008/12/you-can-get-dalton-education-at-nyc.html">You Can Get a Dalton Education at a NYC Public School</a>.<br><br>If you are curious <a href="http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-21st-century-school-might-look.html">What a 21st Century School </a><a href="http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-21st-century-school-might-look.html">Might </a><a href="http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-21st-century-school-might-look.html">Look Like</a> here is a sampling of the iZone schools. You can see videos about each school <a href="http://izone.wikispaces.com/Innovative+School+Case+Studies">here</a>.<br><br><ul><li><a href="http://q2l.org/">Quest to Learn</a> - Design and innovation are at the heart of Quest to Learn (Q2L), a school committed to helping every student to achieve excellence in the skills and literacies necessary for college and career readiness. The school believe that students today can and do learn in different ways, often through interaction with digital media and games. Q2L builds on this belief to create a nurturing and vibrant 6th-12th grade school environment that supports all students in the pursuit of academic excellence, social responsibility, respect for others, and a passion for lifelong learning.</li><li><a href="http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2009/03/immunization-for-uninteresting.html">iSchool</a> - The NYC iSchool has taken a problem-based learning approach to education. Teachers collaborate on thought provoking topics to integrate into the classroom while ensuring they still meet state mandated subjects and testing standards. Students learn in the context of real world problems, and just like the real world, they have access to a host of technology and information anytime, anywhere, and from anyplace. The NYC iSchool is leading the way in creating a culture in education that truly engages students with successful results. </li><li><a href="http://www.thecinemaschool.org/">The Cinema School</a> - The Cinema School is an academic high school that prepares students for top level colleges through a liberal arts education grounded in creative activity. They emphasize filmmaking because it deepens students’ learning while building confidence, responsibility and leadership. Our curriculum helps students become stronger thinkers and develop the skills needed to accomplish great things. Admission to The Cinema School is competitive no film making experience necessary. </li><li><a href="http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2009/07/5-innovative-ways-to-differentiate.html">The School of One</a> - The mission of School of One is to provide students with personalized, effective, and dynamic classroom instruction so that teachers have more time to focus on the quality of their instruction. To achieve this mission, School of One re-imagines the traditional classroom model. Instead of one teacher and 25-30 students in a classroom, each student participates in multiple instructional modalities, including a combination of teacher-led instruction, one-on-one tutoring, independent learning, and work with virtual tutors. To organize this type of learning, each student receives a unique daily schedule based on his or her academic strengths and needs. As a result, students within the same school or even the same classroom can receive profoundly different instruction as each student’s schedule is tailored to the skills they need and the ways they best learn. Teachers acquire data about student achievement each day and then adapt their live instructional lessons accordingly. </li></ul><br>There are schools like these cropping up around the globe. Parents, students, and educators need to start voting with their feet, not as they are currently doing by leaving the school system with <a href="http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_baeo.htm">high school drop out rates above 50% in many cities</a>, but by investigating what schools will suit the needs of their 21st century learning and teaching styles and then figuring out how to attend or work in such environments. The schools are hungry for innovative educators and students who will thrive in these new environments. Now parents, go find the right school for your child and teachers who are frustrated by their outdated employment situation, start connecting with these school leaders. They're looking for you.<br></div><div><img width="1" height="1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8318734518772387227-548248366611200613?l=theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com" alt=""></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheInnovativeEducator/~4/Krn2EF4mlR8" height="1" width="1">"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-38403934522456693632009-12-17T14:27:00.000-05:002009-12-17T14:27:16.869-05:00Almost Everyone Is a Gamer Now<a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/workplacelearningtoday/~3/TOzFXa8eqxk/">Almost Everyone Is a Gamer Now</a>: "<div style="float:right;margin-left:10px"><a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.brandon-hall.com%2Fworkplacelearningtoday%2F%3Fp%3D8676"><img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.brandon-hall.com%2Fworkplacelearningtoday%2F%3Fp%3D8676" height="61" width="51"></a></div><p><a title="How Everybody Got Game" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704869304574595240421387178.html">Very interesting book review</a> in the Wall Street Journal about the casual-game revolution.</p><br /><p>The gist is that the original video games in the 1970s (like Pong) attracted people of all ages.</p><br /><p>Then video games got complex and attracted mostly young males.</p><br /><p>Then simple, intuitive games (like the Wii) came along and digital games attracted all ages again.</p><br /><blockquote><p>While the bulk of console gamers are still adolescent boys and young men, the Entertainment Software Association estimates that 40% of all gamers are women over the age of 18; and 25% of Americans over the age of 50 play videogames.</p></blockquote><br /><p>(TW)</p><br /><p><a title="How Everybody Got Game" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704869304574595240421387178.html">How Everybody Got Game</a> | 15 December 2009</p><br /><div><br /><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/workplacelearningtoday?a=TOzFXa8eqxk:0qxnDzFfoR0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/workplacelearningtoday?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/workplacelearningtoday?a=TOzFXa8eqxk:0qxnDzFfoR0:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/workplacelearningtoday?i=TOzFXa8eqxk:0qxnDzFfoR0:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></a><br /></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/workplacelearningtoday/~4/TOzFXa8eqxk" height="1" width="1">"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3048077261710697276.post-62786518614372783152009-12-14T12:52:00.000-05:002009-12-14T12:52:07.382-05:00Strategic Thinking About Informal LearningFrom Workplace Learning Today. A really interesting piece on setting up a strategic thinking process. Reminds me of what we are trying to do at Collegiate.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/workplacelearningtoday/~3/EAD28834iwc/">Strategic Thinking About Informal Learning</a>: "<div style="float:right;margin-left:10px"><a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.brandon-hall.com%2Fworkplacelearningtoday%2F%3Fp%3D8532"><img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.brandon-hall.com%2Fworkplacelearningtoday%2F%3Fp%3D8532" height="61" width="51"></a></div><p><a title="Innovative Learning Group" href="http://www.innovativelg.com/main.asp">The Innovative Learning Group</a> has a nice <a title="Strategic Thinking #5: Informal Learning" href="http://www.innovativelg.com/strategic_thinking/informal_learning/informal_learning.html">exercise to foster strategic thinking about informal learning. </a></p><br /><p>They present two scenarios and ask you to identify informal-learning approaches that would work there.</p><br /><p>They also list candidly some downsides of informal learning (difficult to track, difficult to control accuracy, and so forth).</p><br /><p>(And they list all five items in their Strategic Thinking series <a title="Innovative Learning's Strategic Thinking series" href="http://campaign.constantcontact.com/render?v=001Q54IKSLlf4HTeYGTq8FwXbBavWEc1SAMUCzNUgKIN7B2Caku7Y1xtY9h_lC4njatbI2OTRjaBLazFzy5uss66BW_cgmJVHvz3hgfbQo1v78jqAYa9qFjRp62n1W2YK1Vhd3O11Y_nOrrPNztD35w8d3P2VNjodkC1sTMj3w1E8ZMsROFvzdr8E9spKKW4gMvZwBYqaFFB-txbqy1_QRLwZtwDuhU4L1xq9dlPjWAm30%3D">here.</a>) (TW)</p><br /><p><a title="Strategic Thinking #5: Informal Learning" href="http://www.innovativelg.com/strategic_thinking/informal_learning/informal_learning.html">Strategic Thinking #5: Informal Learning</a></p><br /><div><br /><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/workplacelearningtoday?a=EAD28834iwc:O1QMSSHpOgA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/workplacelearningtoday?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/workplacelearningtoday?a=EAD28834iwc:O1QMSSHpOgA:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/workplacelearningtoday?i=EAD28834iwc:O1QMSSHpOgA:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></a><br /></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/workplacelearningtoday/~4/EAD28834iwc" height="1" width="1">"David Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12336659471239855161noreply@blogger.com0